Wednesday, May 23, 2018 - Day 42
Our last day in Compass Cay, the sun actually came out for the afternoon so we headed to Thunderball Grotto. With the sunlight coming through the openings it was beautiful. The fish were spectacular. We saw several Queen Angels, huge Lion fish, Triggerfish and much more. This was the first time on this trip that I wished that I had brought dive gear.
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| Thunderball Grotto |
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| Queen Angel Fish |
Following our adventure at Thunderball Grotto we decided to go over to Staniel Cay Yacht Club for a drink. We sat outside to enjoy the view. While we were there our friends from Dusty Seas and Wild Child came and joined us. It was a fun afternoon.
Thursday, May 24, 2018 - Day 43
As luck would have it, the seas were the best they have been in several weeks and today we are going to Palm Cay Marina on New Providence Island (Nassau) to meet Whit's brother. The travel to Palm Cay was great.
Departure Time: 10:07 AM
Arrival Time: 1:00 PM
Travel Time: 2 hour 52 minutes
Trip Distance: 64.6 NM
Winds: 5-10
Seas: 1-3 feet, 5-10 ESE
Average Speed: 22.5 kts.
Max. Speed: 28.2 kts.
The entrance to Palm Cay is rather thin and narrow, but well marked. Be sure to go through the middle of the goal posts to enter the channel. On entering there is a large coral head near the surface on the port side.
Palm Cay Marina has 194 slips which are shared with the housing residents. They are in the process of building more condos. The pools are nice and well kept, the beach is very clean and the restaurant is acceptable. It has a limited menu and expensive. Some of the slips are a very long walk to the main areas with the restaurant and pool. We discovered that the marina in general is a long way from anywhere. They do offer a courtesy car for 2 hour trips but there was a long waiting list.
Friday, May 25, 2018 - Day 44
The seas are building and the weather report is rain and wind until sometime early next week. Both boats spent a rolling night as we are located on a T head just inside the front entrance which is exposed to open water. Given all of this and the fact that Whit's brother and his wife tend to get sea sick easily we decided to see if we could move over to Hurricane Hole Marina which is very protected from weather. After a few calls and some help from Raquel, the marina manager, we were able to get both boats into Hurricane Hole. So we packed up and moved the 8 miles around the end of the island to Hurricane Hole marina. The trip around the end of the island was quite rough but well worth the move.
Departure Time: 3:09 PM We had to wait until high tide to be sure we could clear the rolls at the entrance (exit) of Palm Cay marina.
Arrival Time: 4:00 PM
Travel Time: 44 minutes
Trip Distance: 8.79 NM
Winds: 25-30 kts.
Seas: 4-5 feet, 30-35 ESE (on the beam)
Average Speed: 11.8 kts.
Max. Speed: 32.8 kts. in the river
We were all very glad the move was over and happy to be back in Hurricane Hole (never thought I would say that). Exhausted we went to Carmines for a great relaxing dinner.
Saturday, May 26, 2018 - Day 45
Whit's brother, Urskine and his wife, Dawn arrived to torrential down-pouring rain. The rain and wind continued all day so we hunkered down and binged watched Outlander.
Sunday, May 27, 2018 - Day 46
The first tropical storm of the season is named, Alberto. Today here is actually better than yesterday. Today we have light rain and overcast. We all made reservations to go to dinner at Dunes Restaurant (formerly The One and Only) located at the Four Seasons Resort. For the first time since we left Fort Myers we had to dress for dinner. The men had long sleeve shirts and long pants, and the ladies were dress slacks and fancy tops. It was fun. The dinner was excellent and although we had to sit in covered area outside, it was overlooking the beach and open water. The nearby bar had a great vocalist that sang everything that we all enjoyed and it was great background music. Following the dinner we went to Atlantis Marine Shops and walked around the large boats and got an ice cream at Ben & Jerry's. To top off the night we ate our ice cream sitting on a bench occupied by a very large yellow cat, Garfield. The cat totally ignored us and held his ground on the bench. The whole evening was fun.
We also learned about the Whats Up App to talk to anyone in your contacts for free. Including overseas calls. We don't know much about it yet, but it seems pretty cool, Check it out.
Monday, May 28, 2018 - Day 47
During the night Whit and Erskine got word that their uncle had a stroke and was not expected to live more than a few days at the most. Erskine is Power of Attorney so this morning Erskine and Dawn scurried around and got a flight back to Louisville, KY. We are sorry that they had to cut their vacation so short and give prayers for their uncle.
More changes to our "flexible" agenda. Whits good friend, Drew, who is suffering with bladder and lung cancer has invited them to go on a cruise June 23rd. Whit and Mary Ann feel like they would really like to join him. With the less than desirable weather and seas continuing we have agreed to travel back to Cape Coral with them. Thus we all spent the afternoon making and changing reservations to begin our journey back to the states. The new plan is to be back in Cape Coral by approximately June 18th or before.
After a day or turmoil and "work" we all enjoyed a great steak from the grill on Marlin Striker.
We made plans to go visit the new Bahia Mar tomorrow which is said to be much bigger and more elaborate than Atlantis.
Tuesday, May 29, 2018 - Day 48
The day at Baha Mar was a pleasant experience. The hotels and grounds were beautiful and very modern. If someone is coming to this area for vacation or a get away, this is the place to come. It is beautiful, has 7 pools, beautiful beach, and very reasonably priced rooms.
Wednesday, May 30, 2018 - Day 49
The winds have been continual thus making the seas rough most of our trip thus far and that does not seem to be changing any time soon. We have given up on going to Spanish Well and Harbour Island as it looks like the crossing would be bumpy at best and getting back may be a long wait. So we are opting to head for home and move to Chub Cay Marina tomorrow if the winds and seas allow for a move. The day was spent putting things away and getting laundry done for the move tomorrow,
Thursday, May 31, 2018 - Day 50
The winds are down slightly and it looks like today is our day to get to Chub Cay Marina. The ride was the best we have had so far this trip. It is still mostly cloudy but no rain so all was good. We arrived at Chub about lunch time so we went to the Clubhouse to check-in and have lunch.
Departure Time: 9:30 AM
Arrival Time: 11:00 AM
Travel Time: 1 hour 44 minutes
Trip Distance: 38.5 NM
Winds: 10-15 kts. ESE with an east roll
Seas: 1-3 feet
Average Speed: 22.1 kts.
Max. Speed: 27.8 kts.
The day got even better, we had lunch with Eric Trump. He was visiting Chub to do a little fishing. The weather seemed to be getting better so we decided that tomorrow we would try to do some fishing ourselves.
I have no problem with staying at Chub Cay a few more days. It is beautiful and pool and beaches are pristine. It does not hurt that there is a wide variety of boats, large and small as well as a good selection of sport fish boats. The people are all very friendly and at any given time there is "fish" talk on the docks.
We will spend some time relaxing in the pool overlooking the beach and "Tongue of the Ocean".
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| Is L'll Sum'n Sum'n Back? Oh No, just a look alike. |
Friday, June 1, 2018 - Day 51
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| Marlin Striker trolling |
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| Whit Courtenay |
I believe this was the first morning that we actually woke up to bright sunshine. We got a late start for a fishing day but after some breakfast we all (Bill, Debbie, Whit and Mary Ann) headed out for a day on the water. That seems strange to say considering we have been living on the boat for the last 51 days. We only caught a small barracuda and king fish. There were lots of boats out and no caught much of anything. We talked to several other boats on the docks that night and we were told that no one has caught much of anything for the whole season. It was a little disheartening to hear that the only place that seems to be catching fish right now is near Marathon. The good news is that we are headed in that direction.
Fishing Stats:
Time: 4 hours 40 minutes
Average speed: 9.3 kts.
Trip Distance: 43.6 NM
Fish: 1 Barracuda, 1 King Fish
Seas: Flat
Saturday, June 2, 2018 - Day 52
We had planned another day of fishing before moving on to Bimini but given all of the poor fish reports, it appears that the fish are not here at this time. We just cannot catch a break on this trip! So we will spend the day putting away the fishing gear and tidying the boat and a little rest and relaxation at the pool before heading off to the World Resort in Bimini tomorrow.
