Heading Home to Cape Coral

Tuesday, June 21st

We are staying in Fort Lauderdale while the weather settles down.  Going south through the Keys looks very questionable most of the week.  We can go north through the ICW but then we have to go through over 40 bridges in about 40 miles where we have to wait for each bridge to open and may have to put our outriggers down for some.  Putting the outriggers down is possible but not fun or easy to do every couple of miles.  Additionally, the bridge tenders may give us a hard time due to our height.  It looks like tomorrow we may be able go north on the outside up the coast to Port St. Lucie.  We can then go inland and across the "ditch" (ICW) to Cape Coral.  Another reason to wait are the numerous thunderstorms around.  We will access the situation again tomorrow morning.  Thus the rest of the day was spent just relaxing and preparing to our return.

Wednesday, June 22, 2016 - Day 57



Rainbow off West Palm Beach

The seas look good to head north up the coast of Florida to Port St. Lucie.  It will be at least two more days before we can go south through the Keys.  With that thought in mind, I went onto the Army Corp of Engineers to check the water height in Lake Okeechobee and Notice to Mariners for coming across the ICW.  The water height in the Lake was over 15 feet which was great and according to Notice to Mariners the work that was being done on the Ortona lock was complete June 17, 2016 (last week).  Great!  We are good to head home.  The only alert was to keep an eye out for scattered thunderstorms all day.  Thus at 6:30 AM we headed out of Port Everglades and up the eastern coast of Florida.  The traveling was great.  The seas were out of the east at about 1-2 feet and the sun was shining.  This was one of the better days that we have had to travel in the last couple of weeks.  As we arrived at Port St. Lucie we could see a thunderstorm right over the inlet.  So we waited offshore about an hour for the storm to pass and then proceed inland.  A quick stop at Sunset Marina in Stuart for fuel and then on  our way once again.  We had thought that we might stay at Sunset Marina for the night, but by arriving there at 11:30AM it was a little early to stop TV show.  Bass boats are much smaller than the Marlin Striker so what are the chances they would have a place for a bigger boat?  I called and they actually said they would take us.  When we pulled into the marina, the bridge of the Marlin Striker was taller than the building and we had to back into the marina because the canal was not large enough for us to turn around once we got in there.  That was interesting.  Once in all was good, there was a small restaurant, store, and everything we needed.  All very inexpensive and comfortable.  We were advised to keep Stew close due to the alligators.  No problem. 

Famous Bass Fishing Resort, Tournaments, and TV Shows

The Quiet of Roland Martin Marina

Thursday, June 23, 2016 - Day 58

Traveling the "ditch" ICW toward Moore Haven

We could not get through the Moore Haven lock until 7:00 AM which means that we would have to wait until 11:30 AM to get through the Ortona lock so we slept in, visited the store which opened at 6 AM and then at about 8:30 AM headed toward the Moore Haven lock.  It was a great ride, the sun was out, no wind and the canal depth was about 20 feet.  Since there were no other boats in sight and no speed restrictions we cruised through wilderness at about 27-30 knots slowing only to take a look at some alligators.  We arrived at the Ortona lock with about an hour to spare so we tied off to the piles along with several other boats all waiting for the next lock opening.  

After passing through the scheduled lock of Ortona we put the hammer down and headed for the final lock, Franklin.  Then just a few minutes and a major rain and thunderstorm about one (1) mile from home.  It was down the Caloosahatchee to Tarpon Point Marina, Cape Coral.  Our new home port marina. 



Green Slim Water in ICW

The BROWN Water of the Caloosahatchee River

Well we stayed on the boat one more night.  After our arrival at Tarpon Point Marina we immediately ventured up to Pinchers for a relaxing dinner.  After dinner we were both exhausted and the thought of opening the house and starting to unload was more than we wanted to do so we thought that we would enjoy at little TV before bedtime.  It must be the relaxation at the end of the trip, but before we knew it neither of us saw much TV and we woke up at about midnight in the salon with the television still going. 
 
Friday, June 24, 2016 - Day 59

After a good nights sleep it was time to clean the boat and unload all of the extra supplies and fishing gear. 

Total Trip Time:  59 Days
Total Distance:  1267.8 NM
Total Travel Time:   162 Hours

The beauty of the Bahamas is gone but is nice to be home among familiar surroundings.  This was another great trip of which we thoroughly enjoyed and are grateful for being able to do. 

Thank you for all of your support during our nine (9) week adventure. 

Leaving Abaco for Grand Bahama

Monday, June 13 – Day 48

Glenn and Laurie are still vacationing with us and we all headed out on the Marlin Striker for Great Harbour Marina at the northern end of the Berry Islands.  The weather and seas were excellent.  So good that we stopped several times when we spotted birds to see if we could catch fish.  It was just not meant to be.  Entering the harbor at Great Harbour was very interesting.  We headed toward the shoreline and on course but could not see an opening.  As we approached the shoreline the course took a 90 degree turn and low and behold – a slice in the shore where we could slide through.  Can you find the opening?

 

Great Harbour, Berry Islands, Bahama

We found the opening

I think it is wide enough - maybe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The conversation, I don’t know what else to call it, in the office during check in was a local who spent the entire time arguing on the phone with whom we assume was her attorney over a divorce settlement.  We later found out that the lady lives on the boat next to us which was named “Poor Ole Harry”.  The tender was named POB (Poor Ole Bob).  We have to wonder how many others have been in what appears to be a long line of gentleman (husbands).  We then had to listen to one more, not so good conversation (from boat to shore), with another gentleman later that evening. 

Great Harbour Marina was reminisce of the 1960’s that had totally died.  The condos were run down, the grocery store had only enough room for one, maybe two people to enter at the same time and the Restaurant/Bar and Pool was quite a surprise. 

 

This is the ONLY Restaurant & Bar Open at 6PM
Cooking on an outside gas grill - about 100 years old.
We decided against it!

What NO WATER in the pool???  It's 100 degrees outside!

%

AND NO Lifeguard

Luckily we had decided to go on “recon” before putting on our swim suits and planning for a late afternoon swim and drink.  Needless to say, we spent the night and left as fast as we could go the next morning.  I don’t think we will be back to Great Harbour Marina without some much better reports from other boaters. 

 Tuesday, June 14, 2016 – Day 49

Another fantastic day!  That was good because the guys had their hearts set on testing some deep drop fishing holes on the way to Old Bahama Bay Marina at the West End of Grande Bahama.  We spent the entire day fishing our way to West End.  First, we saw birds so Bill and Glenn threw out some tuna rods.  We chased the birds and still had no luck.  After a while they gave up and we headed full steam ahead to the deep drop numbers that Bill had documented from one of his fishing shows on TV.  This was the first time that we had tried deep drop so the first line went down in 2200 feet of water.   Yes, we have electric reels for this type of fishing so no one had to reel up that much line, with a 10 pound weight on the end.  Once again, no luck.  We moved to some contour lines, no luck.  This is getting ridiculous!  I can’t believe we have not been able to catch anything.  When it got to be mid-afternoon we decide to head for West End.  The seas were completely flat – that was good luck!  And the temperature was just under 100 degrees on the deck. 

Can't use the deck cover fishing so the beach umbrella will have to do in 100 degrees plus

Time for a swim and drinks.  Old Bahama Bay Resort was beautiful.  The condos were bright Bahamian colors, it was clean, and there were lots of fishing boats.  We check in and headed to the pool.  That evening we decided to treat ourselves to a night out in the resort restaurant.  The food was very good and it was nice not to have to cook on the boat in the heat. 

 

Old Bahama Bay Resort, West End, Grand Bahama

Old Bahama Bay is the Bahama playground for many famous people like Liza Minelli, Lady Gaga, and John Travolta.  Unfortunately, it is here that John Travolta’s son, Jett, died so he and his family no longer come to the island.  It is no longer a happy place for them.  Travolta’s son had epilepsy and they believe that he had a seizure while in the bathroom and although there was always someone with him, at age 16 he was unattended in the bathroom. 

 

John Travolta House

John Travolta still owns 4 rental condos in this villa, but it is for sale for about $2 million if anyone is interested. 

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

This was a day of rest and relaxation.  The weather was sunny, calm and about 85 degrees.  We spent much of the afternoon lounging in the pool.  While in the pool we met Aiden, the first person to be bite by a shark in Savannah, Georgia. He is now 15 years old and we got to see the shark teeth marks in his ankle.  Glad he was young, 13, when this happened because it does not bother him at all and he continues to surf.  After an early dinner on the boat we retired early as we intend to head for Fort Lauderdale in the morning.  That way, Glenn and Laurie can get a flight out of Fort Lauderdale back to Manchester, NH sometime in the next few days before they have to go back to work on Monday. 

Thursday, June 16, 2016

We were up early and prepared the boat for crossing the Gulf Stream back to Florida.  The sea report sounded like it was going to be a rough trip but well within the doable range.  We had heard reports from the boats arriving the night before that the seas on the Florida coast were excellent but that about 15 mile from Grand Bahama the seas had turned into a rough ride for everyone as well as a very wet one with the sea spray and the thunderstorms.  So we prepared for the worst.  Good thing!! The reports called for SSE winds 10-15 and seas 2-3 feet.  Well that is not what we found as we left the breakwater of the marina.  The seas were at least 5-7 feet and the winds were SSE 15-25 with some higher gusts.  Because the entrance to the marina has lots of depth changes and the reports from last night indicated rough seas on the Bahama end we thought we would give it a little way and see if the seas flattened as we moved over the ledges.  NO it got worse the further we went so at about 1 mile out we decided to turn around and wait for another day.  At this point, looking at the sea reports we knew it was going to be at least Saturday before we could move.  In fact, if we did not get out in the small window of Saturday morning it looked like we could be in West End for another 7-8 days at least.  So Glenn and Laurie started looking for alternative options to fly home and we made plans to go to Port Lucaya Marketplace on Friday.  After spending most of the day on the fuel dock wall waiting for a new slip assignment we headed over to the pool for a late afternoon swim before cooking dinner on the boat. 

Friday, June 17, 2016 – Day 52

The weather prediction was for thunderstorms but the morning was beautiful so we rented a car and headed to Port Lucaya Marketplace.  Port Lucaya is about 1/3 of the way down the island past Freeport.   It was good to get out and see some countryside.  Although Freeport is the largest commercial shipping port in the Bahamas the area between West End and Port Lucaya was extremely poor and definitely representative of a third world country. 

Conch, Conch Everywhere

It amazed us to see all of the “mountains” of conch shells.  They were being used as break waters, docks, walls, just about anything that the Bahamian people could think to do with them. 

The Port Lucaya Marketplace and Marina were interesting.  There were shops and booths which provided everything from local Bahamian crafts to very expensive Rolex watches, John Bull jewelry and everything in between.  We stopped to get an ice cream after and early lunch at Molly Malone’s Irish Pub and got an earful about Bahamian politics and social life from one of the gals who worked there.  This is a story that can best be told in person so remind us to tell it when we see you. 

We returned in the late afternoon and once again prepared the boat to depart in the morning although none of us were very optimistic.  There were a few more small boats arriving who gave the same or worsening stories as we had been hearing from the previous couple of days.  And now the winds were well into the 25-30 knot range and the waves were rolling over the seawall. 

Glenn and Laurie once again looked for alternative flights from Grand Bahama to get them back to NH for work on Monday.  There current plan had been to fly out of Fort Lauderdale early Sunday morning.  They did find some options for late Sunday afternoon and if nothing worked they were okay with staying a few more days.  They both have lots of vacation time.  It was the boss’ reaction which were their concern.

Saturday, June 18, 2016 – Day 53

We were all up very early as the wind was howling and we were all wondering what the day was going to bring.  Now the marina is packed with boats that have been waiting 2-3 days to leave and everyone’s watching the weather, thunderstorms, and seas.  By 7:00 AM there were about 7-8 people out on the jetty watching the waves and wondering if it was going to be a day to move or settle back in for about another week.  The weather and sea reports look good but what we were looking at was very questionable.  By 7:30AM a couple of boats had decided to give it try.  One was a 47’ Ocean very similar to ours only smaller.  These boats made it past the ledges with no problem and did not turn back.  As they were leaving a smaller center console boat came in and put up their yellow flag indicating a new arrival which has not cleared Bahamian customs.  Bill and Glenn immediately went over to talk to them about the ride and where they were coming from, although it had to be someplace in Florida at 8:00 in the morning.  The report was good seas so we immediately left to give a try ourselves.  None of us looked forward to being in West End for the unforeseeable future.  It was a little rough but very manageable coming out of the entrance and for about the first 5-6 miles.  After that the seas settled down and with the expected wind and tide change the waves went down to a comfortable ride all the way to Fort Lauderdale.  We arrived at Bahia Mar Marina at about 1:30 PM.  I called in to clear customs with our local boater and global access numbers.  Bill and I cleared just fine, but Glenn and Laurie had received new passports which in good old government fashion had not been linked in the government computers to their old passports so they were told that they had to report to a US Customs office within 24 hours.  How do you do that on a Saturday afternoon???  After many phone calls and inquiries, they were able to go to the Fort Lauderdale airport (on Saturday night because their flight was before the office opens on Sunday) to get cleared.  What a hassle!  So beware, if you have a local boater card and update or get a new passport you must report IN PERSON to re-link the two prior to travel.  Who would have known?  After all of this we once again decide to treat ourselves to dinner out.  We went Anthony’s Runway 84 which is one of our all-time favorites.  The meal was great and it was a very nice last night with our friends. 

Sunday and Monday, June 19^th and 20^th

Glenn and Laurie left at the crack of stupid, 5:15 AM on Sunday morning.   Bill and I spent the rest of Sunday and Monday doing some errands to West Marine and some of the other great boating supply stores in Fort Lauderdale.  We replaced some of the things that we have used on the trip as well as got replacement parts for some items that had broken or we just needed in case something broke.  Then Bill worked on some mechanical repairs and I cleaned the boat and worked on this blog. 

We have not decide exactly when we will head for Cape Coral.  The weather reports for the next several days offshore do not look good and we are not excited about going north through the ICW and across Lake Okeechobee.  There are over 40 bridges to get through on the ICW which means slow go, waiting and possibly putting our outriggers down at each one.  Not to mention that Lake O is shallow and always a danger.  But if we wait to go south through the Keys it could be another 4-5 days before we can go anywhere.  Today the seas are 9-11 feet.  None of this would be a problem except that we are scheduled to go north next week to go camping with Bill’s sister through the 4^th of July weekend so we will need to get back fairly soon, so we can leave again.  I will let you know what we decided in the next blog.  Until then, smiles, it has been a great trip.

We are back in the US with phone and internet access again.  Yeah!!!

Abaco - Marsh Harbour & Fishing

June 4-5, 2016 - Day 39/40

We moved from the Hopetown Inn & Marina to Boat Harbour Marina in Marsh Harbour.  Our friends, Glenn and Laurie arrived at the boat at about 6:30 PM.  Upon arrival a boat had just brought in an 803 pound blue marlin that was hanging on the dock so that created a lot of excitement for the upcoming Abaco Beach Blue Marlin Tournament which was starting on the coming Thursday.

The next morning we all took our time getting up and having breakfast before we headed out in the tender to ride across the bay and show Glenn & Laurie Hopetown and get lunch at Capt'n Jacks.  The ride was fun but very wet most of the way over.  It is about 6 miles from Boat Harbour to Hopetown.  Luckily we had all put on our bathing suits.  We arrived at Capt'n Jacks to discover that they are closed on Sunday for lunch so we went to Harbour View instead.  It was very good.  Following lunch we walked over to the beach and around town (everything was closed).  The ride back to Boat Harbour Marina was much more pleasant. 

Monday, June 6, 2016 - Day 41

More friends arrived from Ft. Myers, Dave, David and Vicki.  We spent the afternoon at the beach and in the pool.  At the beach we experimented with the paddleboards (in the wind) and played on the trampoline float.  When we had enough of that, the sun, the salt water and sand we ventured over to the pool.  There we met the crew from Triple Net (a 92' boat).  We spent the next 3-4 hours chatting and enjoying the pool bar. 

Tuesday, June 7, 2016 - Day 42

Time to go fishing.  Everyone is excited and ready to get out there and catch fish.  Unfortunately the weather was extremely breezy and the day was filled with thunderstorms so we spent the majority of the day getting the fishing gear "tuned up" and preparing the boat for long days on the water with a full crew on board. 

 Wednesday, June 8, 2016 - Day 43

We finally got a good morning and headed out early to "tune up" the crew before the beginning of the Abaco Beach Blue Marlin Tournament which starts tomorrow.  We got out to the fishing grounds early, set up and began trolling.  Nothing!  By mid-afternoon the thunderstorms rolled in again and we had more friends arriving back at the dock so we headed in to meet Sandy, Rich, Lori, and Dean.  They came to Marsh Harbour to be our cheering squad for the tournament.  That evening we all joined together to attend the tournament Kickoff dinner. 

 Thursday and Friday, June 9 & 10

We fished, and fished, and fished!  Nothing.  What is going on?  The fishing was suppose to be "red hot".  Must be all of those thunderstorms that even the fish gave up and left!!  By early afternoon each day the weather turned very bad (thunderstorms) and the seas got bad.  Even for us.  So we ran as fast as we could back to the marina.  On Friday afternoon, it was terrible.  We had been watching the storms on our radar so we were almost back when the worst of it hit but the rest of the tournament boats were not about to come in early.  They might miss a fish.  And we heard some really bad stories.  One boat was hit by lightning and lost the electronic controls to the engines.  That must have been scary.  Others did not want to admit that it was bad but had their own way of saying that they did not want to do that again. 

Saturday, June 11, 2016.

This was the last day of the tournament and today, every boat was hanging very close to shore in preparation for what was predicted to be another repeat of the previous few days.  It was, by early afternoon the storms rolled in and we headed back to safety.  Once again, no fish.  Some of the boats did catch a few fish, but it was far from the previous weeks of "red hot".  We unfortunately were not able to be one of the boats that caught.  This was very disappointing but we can say that all of the crew and the boat arrived back in the marina each day - safe and in tact.  That is the positive for this tournament.  To better weather and luck next time.  It was still a good time with our friends and the other tournament participants. 

Sunday, June 12, 2016 - Day 47

A day of rest, relaxation and clean-up from the previous week and in preparation to move on to Great Harbour in the Berry Islands tomorrow. 

Nassau to Hopetown, Abaco

http://marlinstriker.blogspot.com – to view all past blogs.

Catch Up – We finally arrived someplace that has internet that works and is included with our slip.  Internet in the Exuma ranged from $25 per day for very limited access and megabytes.  Or flat fees of $70 for anything from 1-3 days of access and that was very limited in megabytes if you could actually make it work.  Anyway, now I can catch up on a couple of things from last week. 

We had an absolutely great week with Jessica.  She seemed to have a great time and wants to come back to the Bahamas.  We also had a wonderful time last week.  Jess kept us very busy with several activities every day. 
 

Compass Cay Remembrance  2016

Everyone who has been to Compass Cay Marina knows that before you leave a special remembrance must be left.  So Jessica created a special design from the Marlin Striker 2016. 


For our friends and family in North Carolina – We met the Larry Parker of yachting (boat name: Aquaholic).  Looks like him, sounds like him, and even acts like him!  What a hoot!!!

Just for Jessica...

Saturday, May 28^th, 2016

Jessica left at 8:00 AM, we were not able to go to the Staniel Airport with her because there were not enough golf carts so we said our good byes at the Yacht Club and Jessica got a ride to the airport with another group from Boston.  It was heartbreaking to see her leave.  We were all having such a good time.  The seas were like glass.  Bill kept saying, “Somehow we are going to pay for this day”.  The weather and seas were absolutely amazing so we were able to travel at 30 knots plus all of the way to Hurricane Hole Marina, Nassau.    Once we arrive we immediately began cleaning up the boat.  It had collected its share of sand and salt from the Exuma islands.  Bill worked on the tender and the outside while I cleaned the inside and did what seemed like tons of wash (sheets, towels, dishes, clothes).  We then decide to take a walk over to the Paradise Island Marina.  To our surprise we ran into our friends, Bob & Lynn from the boat Cocktails and it was docked next to Wheels and Reel Wheels owned by Rick Hendricks (NASCAR owner) and Aly works on as a deck hand.  After a long day of departure, travel, and cleaning we both crashed on the couch for an hour before heading over to the Green Parrot Restaurant next to the marina for a simple dinner and relaxation. 

Cocktails beside Wheels

Wheels and Reel Wheels (75' fishing tender)

Atlantis at night

Sunday, May 29^th, 2016 – Day 33

By staying at Hurricane Hole Marina we are able to use all of the facilities at Atlantis so we headed over to Atlantis to enjoy some of the water activities.  After several rides on the Raging River we headed back to the shops for a bite to eat.  While we were there a big thunderstorm rolled through.  It lasted about an hour so during that time we sat outside one of the restaurants and watched the lightning.  There was one really close lightning strike and heart stopping thunder.  Everyone commented that was very close and most suspected that the lightening had hit the bridge.  Hurricane Hole Marina is next to the bridge and the fuel dock for the Marina is actually under the bridge.  Poor Stewart (our dog) must have been really shaken during the storm!  Upon returning to the Marina we found out that the lightening had hit a boat and the fuel dock that were about 200 yards from our boat.  The lightening had jumped from the boat and blew the electrical panel for the fuel dock right off the wall!! 

Monday, May 30^th, 2016 – Day 34

Today was time to go across the bridge to the shopping center near the cruise ships.  We asked the Marina staff where to go to get haircuts and they suggested Windermere Day Spa and Salon at Harbour Bay Village Shops.  The facility was very clean and the staff were very friendly.  One of the gals had just entered her first body building contest this past weekend and had finished second.  She had her picture in the local paper so we all enjoyed her enthusiasm and excitement.  The haircuts were not the same as home but they would have to do.  After getting cleaned up we headed across the street to the Harbourside Marine.  This is a great boating store, they have everything you could think of or need.   It is always fun to look around and we also replaced some of the ballyhoo (bait) that we had used in the Exuma Islands so we would have plenty for the fishing tournament in Abaco.  While we were in the store we ran into Jamal from Compass Cay Marina.  Jamal was there to pick up their boat which was having a new engine put on it. 

Tuesday, May 31, 2016 – Day 35

We traveled to Hopetown, Abaco.  Once again we were blessed with flat seas that had a slight roll.  We traveled at 27 knots all the way to the Man O War entrance in Abaco.  We took our time entering Hopetown as we arrived at low tide and had very little water (5 feet or less), we turned sand on the way in at times.  The channel entering the harbor is very narrow so the harbor master asked us to wait a few minutes in the open water while other small boats worked their way out.  Even then when we got in we had to go to a temporary dock to wait for the boat that was in our spot to leave.  It was a sailboat that was not able to go out until high tide.  So while we waited we had lunch at the Hopetown Inn & Marina Restaurant.  The food was marginal at best. 

The Elbow Reef Lighthouse was erected in 1864.  When first built, the lighthouse showed a fixed light and did not flash.  In 1936, the Imperial Lighthouse Service saw the need for a light which could be easily identified by ships at sea.  Thus the Elbow Reef Lighthouse was given a major refit using the lens and turning mechanism which had been at the Gun Cay Lighthouse.  The fixed light was replaced with a rotating first order Fresnel lens with a unique character described on nautical charts as  GP FL W (5) EV 15 SEC 120 FT 15M.  That is five white flashes every 15 seconds at 120 feet above sea level with a visibility of fifteen nautical miles.  In 1953, the Imperial Lighthouse Service determined that the cracks caused by lightening to the brick tower were threatening its integrity and another major rebuilding process began.  Engineers from England Trinity House poured concentric rings of concrete in steps around the previously smooth tapering brick tower, making it noticeable wider.  The brick tower is 89 feet high and there are 101 steps to the lantern room. 

Wednesday, June 1, 2016 – Day 36

After breakfast we took the Shuttle over to Hopetown.   We walked around Hopetown which is like a very small, quaint Cape Cod village.  The streets are so small that even golf carts are not allowed to operate in town.  We visited several little village shops and then settled in for a great lunch at Capt’n Jacks Restaurant.  After lunch we called on VHF for the shuttle which took us over to the Lighthouse Marina Ships Store.  We walked back to the Marina and spent the afternoon catching up on the blog, emails, and some repairs (forward bilge pump).



Capt'n Jacks Restaurant - Excellent

Thursday, June 2, 2016 – Day 37

Today we took the ferry from Hopetown to Marsh Harbour where we took a taxi from one ferry pier to another ferry pier.  Then we took a second ferry over to Great Guana Cay to visit.   

Ferry Landing

We had lunch at Nippers on the beach.  The beach and water were beautiful.  We then walked around town and visited the 2-3 gift shops, dive store and general store.  With about an hour left before the return ferry we had a drink at Grabber’s.  Another local bar and grill.  Although the view and scenery are better at Nippers, I really liked the atmosphere better at Grabbers.  Both had a pool in the center of the facility (restaurant).  That was unique, but much needed.  It was quite hot.  The ferries were a unique experience as well.  In the morning after catching the marina shuttle over to Hopetown with the school children, we rode to Marsh Harbour with another group of slightly older kids, and on the return from Guana Cay we had a whole boat full of local workers returning home after the day’s work.  The experience and conversation was interesting to hear.  After returning and taking a swim in the Marina pool we once again loaded onto the marina ferry to go to the Hopetown Lodge for dinner.  The lodge looked like Tarpon Bay Lodge (for those of you who know this location) or an old time hotel and bar.  It smelled musty, the table linen was dirty and there was a palmetto bug (cockroach) on the floor in the bar BUT the meal (chef) was fabulous.  Our meal was definitely the best we have had since leaving Cape Coral.  After almost leaving because of the lack of cleanliness but then deciding that there really so no other place to go but back to the boat and I had not taken anything out of the freezer for dinner, we were pleasantly surprised by the meal.  Oh well, what can you do?  We are in the islands!

Frank - Nipper's Restaurant Cat

 Many thanks to all of our friends and family who continue to send us emails.  We love hearing from you even when our ability to respond is limited.  Hugs to you all. 

June 3, 2016 – AM   Thank you for all of the birthday wishes. 

We climbed the lighthouse and took some nice pictures of the area this morning. 

For a late lunch we took the ferry over to Hopetown and went to On Da Beach Bar and Grill.  This came highly recommended from the waiter whom we had meet last night while walking Stew.  We meet Roger on the dock, complaining about the visitors who had docked their boat in his personal spot.  He lives behind the marina.  Rogers family had owned the property where the marina is built.  He has a Pomeranian named Diamond, she is quiet but he said that she does not like most dogs so she and Stew never really met.  On Da Beach was okay, but nothing special and it is not easily accessed as once you get to Hopetown we had to call the restaurant for a ride to the other end of the island.  Pretty view and nice beach but not really worth the ferry, and ride. 

Hopetown Inn & Marina

Tomorrow we will move to Boat Harbor Marina at the Abaco Beach Resort in Marsh Harbour, Abaco.  Our friends Glenn and Laurie will join us tomorrow and then for the next week we will have 8 more friends joining us for the Blue Marlin Fishing Tournament.  With all of the events that will be going on each day of tournament I don’t expect that I will have another blog for at least a week.  If we are doing well fishing I may try to post some pictures with limited comment.   Thank you for all of the support we have and are receiving.  Smiles to everyone. 

Jessica's Vacation

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May 21, 2016 – Saturday – Jessica Arrives!

It was a long morning of waiting for Jessica to arrive at the Staniel Cay Airport.  We killed some time by working on the cockpit seat that Bill had installed earlier for fishing.  The seat worked but not well and some additional parts needed to be installed so the seat would close easier.  What was thought (by Bill) to be a short job ended up being a very long and complicated job (as usual).  In order for the seat to slide in and open easier some plastic slides needed to be installed.  This meant moving the seat about a ½ inch toward the wall of the boat.  When we did that, the seat now hits on the outside of the side step.  This is definitely a problem and not acceptable.  Thus it took Bill about an hour or more to figure out how to fix the problem, move the cabinet slightly and then reattach the seat.  Meanwhile I had to keep holding up the seat, which was very heavy so he could keep checking the measurements.  After all of that, we ran out of time so we went to Staniel Cay to meet Jessica without finishing the seat.  The seat is re-hung but the slides to make it open easier which was the original project is still incomplete.

Jessica finally arrived right on time.  It was great to see her!  Jessica said that they did not go into Black Point as the schedule indicated, but came directly from Nassau.  She got a kick out of taking the golf cart to the marina and then our tender to Compass Cay Marina which is about 7 miles away.  She immediately loved the water colors and the adventure.  Upon arriving back at the boat we all took a swim behind the boat and enjoyed the “aquarium-like” adventure and the nurse sharks. 

Staniel Cay Airport - Flamingo Air

 

Sunday, May 22 – Day 26

Today we took Stewart over to a sandy island on the southern end of the Land & Sea Exuma National Park and let him run.  To our surprise, Stew found the sun quite hot and decided that he was not interested in a flat out run today, walking was just fine.  He even decided to cool his feet in the water.  For those readers who are not aware, Stew hates water and never thrilled with getting wet so this was quite a surprise. 

After a few minutes at Stew beach we headed over to Rachael’s Bubble Bath on the northern end of Compass Cay.   We walked the creek to Rachael’s and enjoyed a cool swim. 

 

Rachael's Bubble Bath, Compass Cay

Monday, May 23 – Day 27

What a great day of fishing.  The seas were calm and in about an hour and a half we had 2 Blackfin Tuna and 2 large Dolphin (Mahi).

Black Tuna



Dolphin (Mahi Mahi)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, May 24 – Day 28

Morning we headed to Staniel to get fuel for both the Marlin Striker and the tender.  After that we headed out of Staniel to do a little more fishing.  This was not a very fishy day for dolphin or tuna.  We could not find a bird in sight and the seas were beginning to get rougher.  So after a couple of hours we headed in closer to shore to go after some Barracuda.  The barracuda make great bait for deep drop fishing which we hope to do in Abaco with our friends Glenn and Laurie.  We had great success.  Jessica caught her first barracuda. 

Wednesday, May 25 – Day 29

Today was off in the morning to the Sea Aquarium.  After the sea aquarium we went over to check out the caves.  These caves you have to swim underwater to get into them.  The wind and waves were pushing directing into the opening of the caves so Bill decided he would check it out before we all got in.  To his surprise it was not the waves that sent him back to the boat, but an about seven (7) foot barracuda that was guarding the entrance.  Given the circumstances we decide to try the caves another day and returned to Rachael’s once again.  Today the ocean waves were rolling right into Rachael’s so we thought it would be a little more interesting for Jessica.  She enjoyed the “bubbles” and crashing waves. 

After some threatening afternoon thunderstorms we headed back over to the caves for another try.  This time the tide was very low and there were many rocks showing along with the easterly wind and waves rolling into the entrance.  Tomorrow is another day and that may prove a better and safer experience. 

Thursday, May 26 – Day 30



Sea Aquarium between Soldier Cay and O'Brien Cay

The wind is still quite strong out of the east so we gave up on going to the caves again this morning.  We had a restful, quiet morning which bored Jessica but there was not much else we could do as we planned on leaving Compass Cay late morning and moving to Staniel Cay Yacht Club (Marina) for her last couple of nights.  Although we called to see if our slip was vacant before we left Compass, we ended up waiting over an hour idling once we arrived at Staniel.  While waiting for some people who had decided to pull in and go to the bar for the afternoon, we topped off our fuel and unloaded our tender.  Once we finally got our slip, we immediately headed over to Big Major with the tender to “feed the pigs”.  Jessica loved the swimming pigs. 

 

 

Big Major - Swimming Pigs

 

Friday, May 27 – Day 31

This was a full day of going back to Rocky Dundas caves.  The weather and seas were perfect today for this adventure.  We then cruised back to   Bitter Guana Cay where we got a lot of laughs watching the iguanas.  These are the endangered Cayman iguanas which now only exist in the Bahamas. 

Bitter Ghana Cay - Iguana Beach

 

 

Saturday, May 28 – Day 32

Jessica leaves to go back to New Hampshire at 8:50 AM and we are head to Hurricane Hole Marina in Nassau. 

A Restful Week at Compass Cay

May 16 -20, 2016 (Days 20-24)

The past few days have been very restful with very little planned each day.  On Monday, May 16^th we took a tender ride to Staniel Cay to pick up the Johnny Cake Bread that we had ordered from Rhonda a couple of days ago.  The “bread” turned out to be very different from what we had received last year in Spanish Wells.  It turned out to be good, just not what we were expecting.  On Tuesday, May 17^th we once again traveled to Spaniel.  Our friends, Randy and Laurie (Wastin’ Away) needed to get fuel in their dingy and were not sure if they would make it that far so we offered to travel with them and that would give us the opportunity to top off our fuel in the tender as well.  They ran out of gas about 200 yards from the fuel dock so we towed them in with our tender.  It was a cute site, a tender towing a tender.  No big deal, we all got fuel, had some lunch, visited the local General Store (bought nothing) and then returned to the Compass Cay Marina.  It was a very nice ride.  Back at Compass I decided to take a little swim.  Compass Cay Marina is the only place that I know of that you can swim with the sharks and at the same time see all kinds of reef fish.  There is live coral right under the docks in the marina.  I got to see Queen Angel fish, Parrot fish, Squirrel fish, Nassau Groupers, Barracuda, and lots of other reef fish.  After my swim, it was time to prepare for another Compass Cay Pot Luck dinner.  This is the last night for our friends, Bart and Nat (Dusty Seas). 
On Wednesday, May 18^th saw off Nat and Bart and then we headed out with Jamal, Randy, and Laurie to do some fishing.  With 5-6 foot seas we quickly decided that this would not be a pleasure fishing trip, but something that could become dangerous for the crew on the deck.  It was not worth someone getting hurt so we turned around and returned back to the marina.  After cleaning up and turning the boat back into our “camper” we took another swim and an afternoon snooze. 
On Thursday, May 19^th we saw off our friends Randy and Laurie who headed to Nassau to meet their family and visit Atlantis for a few days.  Bill and I took our tender over to Rachael’s Bubble bath.  It was interesting to see it at low tide.  It looks quite different at low tide.  Because the tide was low we were able to climb up on the ridge and see the Exuma Sound side.  It is hard to explain but it was very cool to see how deep the trench is that overflows into Rachael’s.  At high tide the bubble bath is much more interesting and fun, but it is not possible to climb up the ridge at high tide.  The view was fabulous as it is 360 degrees of beautiful scenery, colors, islands and flats.  After Rachael’s we cruised over to the “caves” but did not go in because it was beginning to rain and looked very threatening.  We did not want to be out in a storm so we headed back to the marina.  We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning out our guest room and preparing the boat for Jessica (our daughter) to arrive on Saturday.  We put together the fighting chair and packed away all of the fishing gear so our guest room is now available.  It seems nice to be able to pack everything away and neaten up but I am not thrilled with having the fighting chair filling the cockpit.  I loose most of my space for an outside dinner table, the hammock, and just plain chairs for sitting around.

Friday, May 20^th is a day of finishing up the laundry, making beds, and fixing the spreader lights in the morning.  In the afternoon we took the tender on an excursion of checking out some nearby islands and a trip up toward Warderick Well to “the aquarium”.  The aquarium is an island structure that has live coral heads on the inside that houses just about any kind of reef fish imaginable.  I will have more about this location next week as we intend to take Jessica up there. 

Tonight we had after dinner cocktails and Bahamian salad on Cronulla, Portsmouth, NH  with Heather and Richard.  It was a fun night of Portsmouth stories, boating adventures stories and lots of laughs.  Heather and Richard spend their time between Badgers Island Marina, Portsmouth (Bow Lake), Atlanta where Richard has a business and the Bahamas in the springtime.  The M/V Cronulla is a custom built Selene.   It had cherry interior and was absolutely gorgeous.  The name Cronulla came from Cronulla Beach in Sydney, Australia. 

This week has been fairly quiet with many of our friends heading back north or onto other locations and resting for what we expect to be a very busy adventure next week while Jessica is here with us.  We have a very busy and adventure packed week planned for her so it was good for us to have some down time.