May 27, 2006 – Welcome to Florida!

Well, the day had to come - the day we left "the tropics" and sailed toward the land of high rises, expensive marinas, and a holiday weekend filled with thousands of boats buzzing around raising huge wakes.

With a good weather forecast for calm water and light winds, we left Nassau with Bee Weems, but as they travel much faster than we do we could only maintain radio contact for a little while. After about seven hours of motoring, we arrived at the Chub Cay in the Berry Islands, where we were dismayed to find the marina closed and a dredge working all night on a major construction project. Not a picturesque last night in the Bahamas!

At daybreak we continued the long, tedious motoring trip, with only a two-hour dinner stop at the abandoned, but still impressive, Great Isaac Light. Thanks to the Gulf Stream and heavy large-ship traffic, the 24-hour trip from Chub Cay to Florida was like a real-time video game. Cliff spent the entire night glued to the radar screen, monitoring as many as five targets at a time within the twelve-mile circle. He resorted to calling two freighters (who answered) and one cruise ship (who didn't) to work out the strategy for passing. The other navigational challenge was how to take best advantage of the 3.5 kt current of the Gulf Stream, but not arrive at the port entrance before dawn. We saw lots of lightning and skirted several squalls.

At about midnight, Cliff discovered that the topping lift (the cable that holds up the boom when the sail is down) had broken. There was very little wind, but we had the mainsail up for its steadying influence so there was no immediate problem other than the sail drooping a bit. If we had to drop the sail in a hurry though, there would be a problem. So Mr. Fixit and his apprentice turned on the deck lights and had a temporary fix accomplished in no time. Fortunately, because the seas were oily calm, it was easy to do the job while we were underway. It was amazing to see the GPS showing a speed of 8 kts with the motor ticking over at idle as the boat slid through the water with little perceptible motion. The night flew by.

We arrived in Lake Worth, West Palm Beach first thing Saturday morning and then had a frustrating search for US Customs and Immigration. We found the former but not the latter. We were able to get an arrival number over the phone, which was good for 24 hours, but no information about where to find a working customs officer on Sunday. The US talks a lot about homeland security but they don't have much follow-through, at least with cruisers. Maybe they know we are a pretty low-risk bunch.

We were also looking for internet access and a particular ICW guidebook which we loaned to another boat six years ago and never got back. We went into a luxury marina looking for the book, but their store was closed for the holiday. However, we did land a good deal – for $10 we were given access to all the facilities available to megayacht crew members – an air-conditioned lounge with TV, computer for internet and access to wifi which reaches out to the boat, free fancy coffees, newspapers, etc., along with lovely washroom and shower facilities. It would almost be worth staying longer! For other cruisers heading this way, consider anchoring across from Rybovich Marina in Lake Worth to take advantage of this deal.

Our friends on Bee Weems called on the radio with the information that US Customs would be set up at a nearby marina at noon on Sunday, so we decided to stay an extra day in Lake Worth, West Palm Beach, to complete the clearing-in procedure. The dinghy trip to the marina was more challenging than many ocean passages we’ve made, navigating choppy water, dodging huge fast boats, and crossing their big wakes. The traffic jam of boats near the marina was unbelievable, making us glad we hadn’t tried to take the big boat there.

Tomorrow we will start the long trek north, back to Canada. Our re-introduction to the Intra-Coastal Waterway with Memorial Day weekend boat traffic is a real culture shock after the gentle pleasures of the West Indies. We are anchored right across from a marina where we spent a night six and one-half years ago on our way south, and we are reminded how blessed we are to have seen so many countries, had so many wonderful experiences, and met so many great people on our adventure. We still have a long way to go before Skylark is back in Vancouver, but it does seem that the exotic part of the trip is over.

May 24, 2006 – A Visit to Atlantis

We left Warderick Wells with Side by Side on a cloudy morning after a drizzly night, and motorsailed for six hours north to Alan’s Cays. Anchoring was tricky in the strong current between islands, and Cliff had to set and reset a stern anchor before he was satisfied with our location. This island is home for many iguanas, so we didn’t go ashore, but it was interesting to watch tourboats from Nassau bringing boatloads of tourists to see those ugly creatures, take photos, then jump in their boats and zoom out again.

We are not seeing the beautiful blue skies and turquoise waters on this leg of our trip, because the weather has continuously been gray and cloudy. The cooler temperature is definitely more comfortable for traveling, but the scenery is certainly not as photogenic. I guess it makes it easier to leave all these beautiful islands behind us.

After a last evening playing cards with our friends on Side by Side, we said goodbye and left Alan’s Cay to make our way to Nassau. Gray skies, no wind, motored all the way.

This would be Skylark’s first visit to Nassau. We had been warned that anchoring out was difficult in strong currents and poor holding in Nassau harbour, so we splurged and went into Hurricane Hole Marina on Paradise Island, just a short walk from the spectacular Atlantis Resort and Casino. This huge resort, built on an underwater theme, is a combination of tacky, garish, and spectacular. The grounds feature lakes, pools, streams and waterfalls stocked with tropical fish including huge eagle rays, colorful reef fish, and nasty predators, with underwater tunnels to walk through and feel part of the scene. In one window an enormous Nassau Grouper stayed almost immobile and posed for photos. I looked right down his mouth and wondered how Jonah felt when he was swallowed by a huge fish like that! The underground Dig area features windows looking at scenes of the lost city of Atlantis.

For the young-at-heart there are some amazing waterslides, as well as beautiful swimming pools and the white sand of Paradise Island Beach

The resort’s buildings feature ceiling mosaics, fantastic glass sculptures exploding from fountains, artwork and carvings on a massive scale, as well as the huge, smoke-filled, gaudy casino.

All of this is surrounded by a marina village with shops and huge yachts lining the maze of canals. We inquired about small yacht space, but they had no vacancy (they said) that day. Our spot at Hurricane Hole was just as conveniently located, but if we had been spending more time it would have been fun to stay one night and take advantage of all the resort’s facilities.

We had noticed a classy, smaller powerboat (a “Z – Boat”) anchored near us in both our last anchorages, and they were docked next to us in Hurricane Hole, so we finally got to meet the couple on it. We hit it off right away with Cathy and Peter on “Bee Weems” and spent as much time as possible comparing notes and visiting with them. They are from Seattle, but live in Annapolis now where they have a business called Weems and Plath, manufacturers of fine nautical instruments, kind of the Lee Valley for boaters. We look forward to calling on them when we get to Annapolis.

May 22, 2006 – Georgetown to Warderick Wells

We continued to enjoy Georgetown and stayed for a few more days, hoping that friends from home might join us for a day or two, and waiting for Side By Side, good friends from Venezuela, to catch up with us. Our friends from home didn’t make it, and just as well, as the weather turned nasty for a few days. A cold front came through, bringing with it periods of strong wind and heavy rain. Fortunately, our anchor held tight and we got nothing more than a good washdown and some bouncing around. We moved across to the west side of the harbour, closer to town, for protection from the westerly wind, and took advantage of the location to finish up our shopping and provisioning, then when the wind dropped, moved back again to the more scenic east side.

Side By Side arrived, having had a miserable night at anchor with 57 kt. winds, then a trip into 40 knots of wind on the nose to get into Georgetown. We were so pleased to see them, as it had been over a year since we last connected in Puerto la Cruz. Since they arrived a week ago, we have enjoyed several evenings of movies and games, and have eaten far too much at potlucks and birthday parties.

We were sad to say goodbye to Keith and Eva, who are still waiting in Georgetown for the part we unsuccessfully tried to bring back for them when we returned from Vancouver. Eva is a very hot volleyball player, and it was fun to watch her high energy games on Volleyball Beach.

One evening before we left, two men came by in a dinghy and invited us to a wedding, taking place an hour later on their boat. The captain of the boat had obtained, over the internet, a license to perform marriages, so that he could perform the ceremony for his friends who were vacationing with him and wanted to be married on the boat. I guess at the last minute they decided they should have some witnesses, so they threw an impromptu party. It was quite amazing to see that two people could get married so easily, and we can’t help wondering how legal it would be. Anyway, we said a prayer for their happiness, and enjoyed meeting some new and interesting people.

On our last night in Georgetown, Keith and Eva hosted a potluck for eight on their big catamaran, Seaview. The downside of owning the biggest boat is that you get to host all the parties! There we met Margie, a new widow, who has chosen to stay on the boat to continue cruising with the help of her daughter. I wondered how she managed on her own, and she answered that she could read manuals as well as any man. We were sorry that our acquaintance would be so short, as she was lovely and very clever. She was intending to go south to Luperon (D.R.) for the hurricane season.

On Saturday morning we left Georgetown with Side by Side (SxS), and had a lovely sail in cool, cloudy weather, 35 miles up the east side of the island chain, where we entered Little Farmers Cut, and anchored behind the island. We went ashore to walk around this picturesque, tiny community (population 50), where the people were friendly, attractive, and optimistic about the future of the Bahamas.

Sunday gave us an even better sail on a beam reach in flat calm water, where we averaged 6.5 knots even with light winds. When a line of black clouds and squalls overtook us, we dropped the sails and motored the last two hours to Warderick Wells, Exuma Land and Sea National Park. This was one of our favorite stops on the way south, and it is still just as beautiful. The sunset was spectacular as we dinghied over to Side By Side last evening. Today we went to park headquarters where we checked in, exchanged books, and signed up for internet, before meeting Tony, Bente, and Dorothy (SxS) for some snorkeling on the reef.

We are feeling very ambivalent about our trip as we get closer to home. We are now on a track where we meet other cruisers heading in the same direction, so the trip has become more sociable again. But the weather is pushing us along, with hurricane season officially opening June 1. Still, we hate to hasten the end of our cruising experience in these beautiful tropical islands. We have one more night at anchor en route to Nassau, then two more before crossing the Gulf Stream to Florida.

May 14, 2006 -- Mother's Day in Georgetown

We decided to leave the boat in Georgetown while we took a quick trip home to Vancouver. Our flights worked well and we were able to get all the way home in one day. Vancouver felt very chilly to us for the first week, but the weather was starting to warm up by the time we left and we felt a little sad to be leaving at the prettiest time of the year.

While we were home we attended to business (like income tax) and had good visits with family and friends, did a bit of gardening, and scrubbed the winter moss off the deck (scrubbing the deck is not just a boat thing!) Our church celebrated its fiftieth anniversary while we were home, and we were happy to be there to see old friends and join in the activities.

The two weeks passed very quickly and now we are back in Georgetown, Bahamas, enjoying the HOT weather, intending to move along any day. The night we arrived, our friends Keith and Eva on "Seaview" invited us to dinner along with Ron, Donna, and girls from "Moon Beam III". It was so thoughtful of them and much appreciated after a long flight.

We attended the special Mother's Day church service this morning at St. Andrews Anglican, then came over to St. Frances resort for hot dogs and internet time. We'll go to the beach later to cool off.














The next update will probably come from Nassau.