Homeward bound: The Abacos to Florida

We've been moving too fast for much reporting-if it's Thursday, it must be Daytona Beach. We thought we would spend a leisurely two or three weeks in the Abacos, but got a weather window to rush across the gulf stream and cut it short. We love the Abacos and usually start our Bahamas travels there at the beginning of the season. The sea of Abaco is like a big lake bordered by many islands which we can visit without weather worries. But the weather there is definitely colder and windier, so the southern route through the Exumas was the right choice this year. Most cruisers said it was the worst weather they could remember, no surprise to most Floridians, I'm sure.Once we arrived from Eleuthera at the southernmost cut into the sea of Abaco at Little Harbor, we hurried through all our favorite anchorages: one night at Lynyard Cay, one at Little Harbor looking for sea glass, on to Hope Town to visit with several boater friends who spend the season there. There was a festival that afternoon, a walk through town, ice cream!!, sundowners on a friend's boat, a real homecoming. We had to hurry over to Guana Cay for the dish-to-pass the next night (homeowners with kitchens as well as cruisers make this a real feast). Then we had to rush to Marsh Harbor for a cruiser's get-together, then on to Man O War Cay for an overnight with dinner out and a hike, back to Hopetown for a long bike ride down to Tahiti Beach and friends over for lasagna on Easter Sunday. Back to anchor at Guana and the weather report that had us sailing west all day on the first of the three days to Florida. It might have been weeks before another weather window as good, so once I calmed down at the prospect of racing through the next three days I was resigned to go. Usually I can only take one passage at a time and don't trust that the weather could behave for three days in a row.

At the end of day one, we anchored at Great Sale Cay just at sunset. , a deserted island (in more ways than one, since I made a pie to take over to a buddy boat "Te Amor" for dinner). Phil on Falcons Nest also came. It is so comforting when you're that far from anywhere to have a feast with neighbors. The next day we stopped for a few hours at Mangrove Cay where Lee scrubbed the boat bottom, just long enough for hundreds of flies to move aboard-they must have been shipwrecked there a long time and swatting them became our entertainment for the next few days. That night we anchored at Old Bahama Bay, Grand Bahama, at the edge of the gulf stream, ready to up the anchor at 5:30 for the crossing to Fort Pierce, FL. It was a little lumpy, after all it is the infamous gulf stream we're dealing with, but a good sail. Only one wave made it into the cockpit as we neared the inlet. Lee finally managed to catch a large Mahimahi on the crossing.

It went into the fridge in a plastic bag to be dealt with the next day when we were safely anchored at Fort Pierce. Notice the harness he's attached to and the gaff, no falling off the back deck for him. That happened to him once, thankfully not while I was crew.

We anchored and met our crossing buddies, who have a car at the marina where they keep their boat, and drove to a restaurant for PIZZA! It was too late for customs, so they gave us another ride the next morning to customs at the airport. This car thing is addictive.

On to Vero Beach for two nights with a crusier's party and free bus rides and walks to the beach.

We had a guest on board the next day who refused to leave until we gently approached him with a boat hook. He would have been welcome except for the problem of not being housebroken. He worked hard to stay balanced on the lifeline and then nestled into an even better space. It's a pelican!

Then another day brought us to Doris's dock where we made Doris dinner with our Mahimahi.

We can always recognize her house from the street.

Then on to New Smyrna, where we found a great Mexican restaurant and then Daytona, still on the Intracoastal Waterway with no weather worries, to visit my aunt and uncle. The view from their sunroom is a little different from what we're used to.

So today I catch a train to NYC to visit kids and Lee takes off with his crew to head north. Another cruising season is almost over.

Lee's turn: Just spoke with my on air shortwave radio weatherman. We were advised the ocean is uncomfortable seas today, we should motor to St Augustine and leave from there Friday early for a 2-3 day passage north to somewhere between Savannah, GA or Beaufort, NC. Wayne is here and he brought his friend Larry Bivens from Owensboro KY along as crew. He should be very helpful with the night passages.