Fort Lauderdale was a stop we had to make to have the one leaky fuel injector on our engine repaired. We had tried to fix it ourselves, however, not having enough experience with diesel engines we finally decided that it was best if a real mechanic looked at it. It took all of an hour to fix and at the same time we obtained a lesson in fixing injectors as well. We had supper that night with our friends Yoli and Chris, the folks that are storing our car for us this winter (thanks guys) before moving further south along the ICW as the weather was still not right for crossing the Gulf Stream. 
That night, December 3, we ended up at No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne waiting for our weather window to cross. That was next morning. We left in the dark and made our way through the channel using our trusty chartplotter GPS and looking for the red and green flashing lights. Red on right when returning to harbour so it was red on left going out. An important thing to remember.
When we left December 4, it was one year to the day when we left last year from Tavernier Key and our cruising permit had elapsed at midnight. Oh well, we felt we had a 24 hour grace period before we had to check in with customs so we didn’t because we were out 6 hours later.
The water was a little rough when we first nosed out into the ocean but not unmanageable. We had 4-6 foot waves and the forecast was for them to diminish with time and they did. The wind was up at about 10 knots so we motor sailed south to get as much distance southward before hitting the Gulf Stream which flows north. When we slowed down to 4.5 knots we started our turn and started to pick up speed as the stream started to carry us northward as we headed east to Gun Cay in the Bahamas. We mad the crossing in a little less than 9 hours and took our first swim in the Bahamas by middle of the afternoon.
We had a pleasant night at Gun Cay and left there the next morning for our next stop, NW Channel light on the Great Bahamas Bank. There wasn’t a ripple when we left and we made 7 knots across the bank looking through crystal clear waters at the sandy bottom as little as 5.5 feet under our hull. We took the opportunity to do little chores on the boat including running the watermaker for the first time since we re-installed following the instructions from the manufacturer rather than relying on the old installation. We got great tasting water out of it on the first try and will use it to produce most of our drinking water and other freshwater needs on the boat from here on in. So much for plans we continued on to Chub Cay and arrived after dark which was an experience.
The next day we made the trip over to Nassau. I got a chance to try out my new ballyhoo lures and boy they worked well. Lost a big one lost a small one and never saw the third one. Have to get more of those lures. Tomorrow we head further south into the Exumas.
That night, December 3, we ended up at No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne waiting for our weather window to cross. That was next morning. We left in the dark and made our way through the channel using our trusty chartplotter GPS and looking for the red and green flashing lights. Red on right when returning to harbour so it was red on left going out. An important thing to remember.
When we left December 4, it was one year to the day when we left last year from Tavernier Key and our cruising permit had elapsed at midnight. Oh well, we felt we had a 24 hour grace period before we had to check in with customs so we didn’t because we were out 6 hours later.
The water was a little rough when we first nosed out into the ocean but not unmanageable. We had 4-6 foot waves and the forecast was for them to diminish with time and they did. The wind was up at about 10 knots so we motor sailed south to get as much distance southward before hitting the Gulf Stream which flows north. When we slowed down to 4.5 knots we started our turn and started to pick up speed as the stream started to carry us northward as we headed east to Gun Cay in the Bahamas. We mad the crossing in a little less than 9 hours and took our first swim in the Bahamas by middle of the afternoon.
We had a pleasant night at Gun Cay and left there the next morning for our next stop, NW Channel light on the Great Bahamas Bank. There wasn’t a ripple when we left and we made 7 knots across the bank looking through crystal clear waters at the sandy bottom as little as 5.5 feet under our hull. We took the opportunity to do little chores on the boat including running the watermaker for the first time since we re-installed following the instructions from the manufacturer rather than relying on the old installation. We got great tasting water out of it on the first try and will use it to produce most of our drinking water and other freshwater needs on the boat from here on in. So much for plans we continued on to Chub Cay and arrived after dark which was an experience.
The next day we made the trip over to Nassau. I got a chance to try out my new ballyhoo lures and boy they worked well. Lost a big one lost a small one and never saw the third one. Have to get more of those lures. Tomorrow we head further south into the Exumas.
1 comment:
Hey Beach Buddies, Great blog, keep em coming! Merry Christmas!
Wishing you happiness in your cruising, stay safe and dry!
Hugs, Gary and Mary
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