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2018 Off to Slow Start to the Bahamas
Thursday, April 12th, 2018 - Day 1
After a very hectic last couple of weeks of reloading our boat from being down for painting and standard stocking for this trip and a few last minute repairs we are finally setting course for the Bahamas again this year.
After a very hectic last couple of weeks of reloading our boat from being down for painting and standard stocking for this trip and a few last minute repairs we are finally setting course for the Bahamas again this year.
Cruising with us or joining in route are:
L'L' Sum’n Sum’n - Rob and Kerry Howard. Little Sum’N Sum,N is a 46’ Grand Banks power boat.
Moon shadow - Jerry and Sandy Houlder. Moon shadow is a 49’ Beneteau power boat.
Argonaut - Whit and Mary Ann Courtenay. Argonaut is a 61' Tollycraft.
Mary Alice - Mike and Connie Spiller. Mary Alice is a 65' Pluckebaum (house boat).
Alibi- Patrick and Laura Magers. Alibi is a 41' Hunter sailboat.
Patrick left on Sunday, April 8 with buddies from California on board and arrived in Bimini on Wednesday April 11th were he will wait for his wife Laura to fly in on Tuesday, April 17th and for the rest of us to arrive, hopefully the same day.
Our first leg has taken us from Tarpon Point Marina to Marathon Marina. The trip was not without its trials and tribulations. First the Howard's, who had gone to Marco Island (Factory Bay Marina) the night before met the group at the Capri Pass entrance and with a couple of miles lost an engine and had to turn back to Factory Bay. They were able to get a mechanic and found that the water pump was missing teeth. Further investigation will be done on Friday to be sure there is no more damage before catching up with the group.
Seas changed from what was suppose to be a 2-3 foot following sea (North-Northeast) to a Southwest wind and much stronger than predicted. Wave heights from Cape Romano to into the 7 Mile Bridge channel (Green 13) were a solid 4-5' making for a less than comfortable ride for most. NBeing from the northeast, Bill and I found it to be a normal day at sea, anything less is a great day. However, as Marlin Striker was passing under the 7 Mile Bridge the fireboy system decided to shut down our starboard engine and we had to back out of the bridge while Bill changed the fuse and got us up and running again.
It was a slow bumpy ride for Argonaut and Mary Alice, they arrived approximately an hour after Moon Shadow and Marlin Striker. Mary Alice had a broken bow rub rail and will work on repairs during our planned down day in Marathon. All in all Mary Alice did an excellent job considering they are used to cruising on the Alabama rivers. This was one of their first journeys in open water and challenging seas.
Once at the Marathon Marina, we were all put on the new floating docks, what a treat! We thought. Marlin Striker was unable to plug into the electric because we have an inverter on our boat which searches for power and if it does not find any, it turns on for our refrigerator and freezers. Seems the new power system does not allow that to happen and when we plugged in shut down the power to the entire dock. Oh, inverters are not the only thing that shut down the power, if you own an older boat then it will probably shut down power. With that said, Marlin Striker ran on generator all night and will move to the old docks tomorrow so we can plug into electric.
All arrived safely in Marathon by about 5:30 PM and after washing the boats we all decided it was time for dinner and drinks at the marina restaurant, Lazy Days.
Seas changed from what was suppose to be a 2-3 foot following sea (North-Northeast) to a Southwest wind and much stronger than predicted. Wave heights from Cape Romano to into the 7 Mile Bridge channel (Green 13) were a solid 4-5' making for a less than comfortable ride for most. NBeing from the northeast, Bill and I found it to be a normal day at sea, anything less is a great day. However, as Marlin Striker was passing under the 7 Mile Bridge the fireboy system decided to shut down our starboard engine and we had to back out of the bridge while Bill changed the fuse and got us up and running again.
It was a slow bumpy ride for Argonaut and Mary Alice, they arrived approximately an hour after Moon Shadow and Marlin Striker. Mary Alice had a broken bow rub rail and will work on repairs during our planned down day in Marathon. All in all Mary Alice did an excellent job considering they are used to cruising on the Alabama rivers. This was one of their first journeys in open water and challenging seas.
Once at the Marathon Marina, we were all put on the new floating docks, what a treat! We thought. Marlin Striker was unable to plug into the electric because we have an inverter on our boat which searches for power and if it does not find any, it turns on for our refrigerator and freezers. Seems the new power system does not allow that to happen and when we plugged in shut down the power to the entire dock. Oh, inverters are not the only thing that shut down the power, if you own an older boat then it will probably shut down power. With that said, Marlin Striker ran on generator all night and will move to the old docks tomorrow so we can plug into electric.
All arrived safely in Marathon by about 5:30 PM and after washing the boats we all decided it was time for dinner and drinks at the marina restaurant, Lazy Days.
Depart - 8:00 AM
Arrive - 3:18 PM Marathon Marina
Total Travel Time - 7 hours 18 minutes
Trip - 130.8 NM
Wind - S-SW 15-20 was suppose to be N-NE 10-15
Seas - departing to Marco Island - 2-3 feet, Cape Romano solid 4-5 to Cape Sable and beyond back to 2' at about the Green 13
Average Speed - 18.3 kts, Max. Speed - 26.4 kts.
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