Many Changes at Chub Cay

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

The trip from Faro Blanco Marina in Marathon to Chub Cay, Bahamas was very enjoyable.  The seas were mostly 2-3 feet and easy traveling.  We watched the thunderstorms on radar come across from Ft. Lauderdale area and chase us most of the way across Mackie Shoal. Luckily the storm stalled out some when it hit the Bahama bank.  We also watched the storms hang just east of Chub all afternoon. We made it into Chub and got fuel long before the storms finally arrived at about 9:30PM.  Once the thunderstorms arrived it rained heavily all night.  This worked well for us as the boat got a good washing and we did not have to do it and we did not have to use our water.  Mother Nature was good to us.  For those of you who may be unaware, water in the Bahamas is 40 cents a gallon or we need to use our water maker and make it.  Thus we consider water at a premium either way.

Depart - 6:30 AM

Arrive - 3:20 PM

Trip - 194.1 NM

Wind - E-SE 5-10

Seas - 2-3 feet

Average Speed - 25.6 kts,  Max. Speed - 28.4 kts.

Thursday, May 5th  A day of rest and relaxation

Chub Cay is really thriving since the last time we were here.  Mr. George Bishop recently completed the purchase of the whole island.   Mr. Bishop is a Texas billionaire who is the founder and chief executive of GeoSouthern Energy Corporation.  Mr. Bishop sold his interest in Devon Energy for $6 billion in cash when he started looking for a place to invest.  George purchased most of the private houses on the island along with all of the other facilities including the 110 slip marina. The large building by the beach is rapidly being finished as the Clubhouse with a new bar, restaurant and lodging upstairs.  There are several new one room bungalows in a the open are between the beautiful Marina and the beach.  It is estimated that Mr. Bishop will invest $38.6 million dollars into Chub Cay.




The Clubhouse





New Bungalows' on the beach



Walkway to Rental Units


Mr. Bishops boat is the C'mon Man.  There are many more boats here than our last visit.  The boats include Wheels and Reel Wheels, in which pizza Toni's former employee Aly is now employed.  Wheels is Hendricks Marine (Sports), it is a 2009, 139 foot vessel.  Reel Wheels is the 75 foot sport fish tender. 

Wheels and Reel Wheels

C'mon Man

Chub Cay is about 800 acres located at the southernmost tip of the Berry Islands of the Bahamas.  It is located about 35 miles west of Nassau and 125 miles from South Florida.   

We really enjoyed Wendy, head of customer relations and her husband,  who is the General Manager. They are very excited about the growth of Chub and I must say we have never seen a more beautiful and well done Marina.  For our boating friends, the smallest slip is 60 feet, the main walkways are 15' and the fingers are 8'.  All concrete Bellingham concrete docks.  The Harbour is also quite protected from storm surge.

2016 Off to the Bahamas

Sunday, May 1, 2016 - Day 1

After a very hectic week of last minute surprises we are finally setting course for the Bahamas again this spring.  Our first leg has taken us from Tarpon Point Marina in Cape Coral, FL to Faro Blanco Marina in Marathon, FL.  We are staying in Marathon on Monday, May 2nd waiting for calmer seas to cross the Gulf Stream and Mackie Shoal.  We are hoping to get across tomorrow.  For those of you who are joining us for the first time, I want to let you know that Internet access in all of the Bahamas is limited at best, and the Exuma's is the worst.  Our plan is to cross from Marathon to Chubb Cay and then on to the Exuma's, probably Highbourne first but we will see how the seas and weather look as we go.

 Well our travels on the first day to Faro Blanco Marina in Marathon were not quite as eventful as our previous week, but came close.  The seas changed from 1-2 feet when we left to a solid 5 feet off Cape Romano.  About 3 hours into our trip we both smelt smoke!  The worse thing possible is a fire on a boat!  I jumped into the Captains seat and Bill began a frantic search.  Luckily Bill could not find anything and the smell quickly went away.  The next step was to wait and see what we would discover that was not working.  It did not take long when we stopped in Marathon to find that the bait freeze took in salt water

 

Depart - 6:57 AM

Arrive - 2:05 PM Faro Blanco, Slip B 107 (Excellent)

Trip - 124.8 NM

Wind - E-SE 10-15

Seas - departing to Marco Island - 2-3 feet, Cape Romano solid 5', Cape Sable back to 2' or less

Average Speed - 16.7 kts,  Max. Speed - 26.4 kts.

Tarpon Point Marina, Cape Coral, FL

Faro Blanco Marina, Marathon, FL

Faro Blanco Marina

Monday and  Tuesday, May 2-3, 2016 - Days 2 & 3

We found a Home Depot and replaced the bait freezer with a new one which we will now keep in the Salon.  We moved the "people" food from the bridge freezer to the inside salon freezer and put the bait on the bridge.  If I have to have a freezer in the salon, I would rather it be the food I need to get at for meals. 

Bill worked on finishing up some new connections between our electronics, not without a trip to West Marine of course.  Luckily West Marine is right across the street.   We also enjoyed some down time and watching the fish and tarpon around our boat. 

We meet up with Brad, the Captain from the boat "3" whom we had met when we were here in March with the St. Charles group.  This boat is not going to the Bahamas this year because the owner Bob Bull prefers to stay at Faro Blanco.  Bob is the owner/driver of the CMS Offshore Racing Boats, "3" and "03" 2015 National and World Championships.  We hope to meet up with Brad (and the race team) again at the Key West races in the fall or maybe even at the races in Marathon on our way back from the Bahamas in the end of June.

http://www.cmsoffshoreracing.com/offshoreracing/raceboats

"3"



If the weather and seas hold we will be off to Chubb Cay in the early morning.

2016 Voyage to the Bahamas

Later this week we will begin our summer cruise to the Bahamas.  Anyone receiving this email has either requested to be added to our blog or added yourself.  If at any point you wish to discontinue receiving the Marlin Striker (Bill and Debbie Lussier) blog,  please go to the blog and click unsubscribe.

We will post blogs whenever possible, but please note that Internet access in the Bahamas is extremely limited.  When we are able to connect we would love to receive emails from our family and friends.   Connection to our friends and family is important to us.

Enjoy your summer and be safe😊 🎣

Back in Florida

Thursday, June 11, 2015. (Day 41)

Sadly the sun is setting on our 2015 Bahama Cruise.  Marlin Striker and Stocks & Blondes left Key West early in the morning headed for St. Charles Yacht Club, Ft. Myers.   The seas were quite choppy when we left Key West but by the time we reached St. Charles at about noon the seas had smoothed out and we cruised into the Sanibel bridge at about 30 knots. 

What a great trip! We saw sights and water colors that were just so beautiful that the pictures do not do them justice and words can't describe.  We meet some wonderful people that we already have plans to meet up with again (new friends) and have become much closer friends with some of the people that traveled with us for the last 41 days. 

Plans are already in the works for future boat trips. 

Departed - Key West - A & B Marine - 6:40 AM
Arrived - St. Charles Yacht Club, Ft. Myers - 12:00 PM
Seas - 3-5 foot chop in Key West, less than 2 feet at Ft. Myers
Winds - E 10-15
Water Temperature - 79 degrees
Air Temperature - 88 degrees
Travel Time - 5 hours, 28 minutes
Average Speed - 22.9 knots
Total Distance Traveled Today - 125.6 NM


TRIP SUMMARY 


Total Time Traveled - 109 hours, 53 minutes
Average Speed - 13.7 knots
Total Distance Traveled - 1507 Nautical Miles

Abaco to Key West

Tuesday - Wednesday, June 9-10, 2015

Stocks & Blondes and Marlin Striker had a wonderful day seeing the sights in Key West. 

Tomorrow we will leave early for Fort Myers. 


Monday, June 8th, 2015

Stocks & Blondes and Marlin Striker had a great trip from Chub to Key West.  We crossed Grand Bahama Bank at South Riding Rock, the gulf stream, and onward to Key West. 

Departed Chub - 8:00 AM after fueling
Arrived - Key West 4:45 PM
Time Traveled - 8 hours and 54 minutes
Average Speed - 25.9 knots
Seas - 1-2 feet, 3-4 in the gulfstream
Winds - ESE 5-10
Total Distance Traveled - 230.6 NM
Total Trip Time Traveled - 104.24 hours and 24 minutes
Total Trip Distance Traveled - 1382 NM


Sunday, June 7th, 2015

The tournament is over and now it is time to head for home.  We would like to thank our St. Charles friends for joining us at the Abaco Beach Resort.  A special thanks goes to our friend Glenn for being our mate during the tournament, Laurie for preparing the lunch everyday, Dave R. for the photography (and laughs), and Dave G. for his fishing experience.  We had a great team!

After saying our goodbyes to our friends and new tournament friends, Stocks & Blondes and the Marlin Striker headed toward Chub Cay and home. We had a great day and arrived in Chub Cay early afternoon.  We enjoyed the remainder of the afternoon in the pool then dinner on Stocks & Blondes. 

Note:  Afterwires meet up with The Maine Event sometime last week while we were at the tournament. 

Departed Abaco - 10:30 AM
Arrived - Chub Cay at 2:45 PM
Time Traveled - 4 hours and 6 minutes
Average Speed - 26.3 knots
Seas - 1-2 feet
Winds - ESE 5-10
Total Distance Traveled - 108.3 NM
Total Trip Time Traveled - 95 hours and 30 minutes
Total Trip Distance Traveled - 1151 NM. (including fishing)

NOTE: PHOTOS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE TOURNAMENT BLOGH

Off to Marsh Harbour



 

 

 

Sunday, May 31 to June 6, 2015 (Days 30 - 37)

This week has been filled with FISHING for Marlin.  We practice fished the beginning of the week since we have never really done this fishery before.  We saw several fish and hooked up to one.  The Abaco Tournament started on Thursday and we caught one of the first Blue Marlin.  At the end of the day we were in fourth place overall.  One Blue Marlin was landed, one mahi escaped, and one GIANT who knows what managed to show Dave G. who is really boss.  On the final day we lagged behind the "professional" boats but managed to finish 7th overall in our first Blue Marlin Tournament.  A total of over $500K was given out in prize money.  We are extremely pleased with our first tournament.  

Day 1 - Marlin Striker is 4th

Final Results - Marlin Striker 7th Overall

Saturday, May 30, 2015 (Day 29)

The morning was filled with housekeeping chores and then off to the beach for the afternoon.  Gabby (Afterwires dog) loved playing on the beach and swimming.  I cannot express just how amazing the water colors are here and the water temperature is good also.  Although neither Bill or I are beach goers, we have really enjoyed the beaches on this trip. 

We will be doing a cookout on the back of the Marlin Striker before we leave for the Abacos in the morning.