Honey Queen Adventures

March 29-Great Sale Cay to Crab Cay

Monday morning was purposely a late start.  We left at 9, as we both have felt like we’ve had factory jobs for the last week, rising early, and making long days on the boat. It is officially time to start that vacation we’ve been prepping for since November!  Today was a 40-mile day with plenty of deep water.  We arrived at 2:30 in the afternoon.  This anchorage was well protected from the East/SE winds.  Amanda took a nap and I caught up on the writing.  Steve and Susie jumped in their dinghy and offered to take us sightseeing, but we declined today.

March 30-Crab Cay to Manjack

Tuesday Steve’s suggestion yesterday to make it a little shorter sounded good enough to make us all happy.  We drove to Manjack (pronounced down here as munjack) Cay, a nice island with an accommodating anchorage, protecting us from the ESE winds that continue through Wednesday.  The 20-mile trip was ideal.  Leaving at 9:30 and driving till 1:00 pm is a nice boat day.  We did (what I hope is) our new routine: short drive, drop the hook, have a bite of lunch, splash the dink, and go exploring).  We’ve seen virtually no wildlife or fish in these beautiful waters, but today things changed a little.  We puttered around the byte and saw parrot fish, a bunch of sea turtles, and even a big sow on the beach.

This is the 4 legged kind that typically provides us with bacon, not the other kind that we see in swim suits on crowded beaches. She waded out toward our dinghies. We weren’t sure if she was looking for food or if she was protecting nearby young piglets. We decided not to investigate too thoroughly, knowing how vicious wild hogs can be. Turned out that she was pretty friendly, as we saw her later visiting other folks on the beach.

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After making our way around a little further, we met a Canadian couple on a nice trawler.  They gave us lots of good pointers for things to see over the next few days.  Tomorrow, we will ride 4 miles to Green Turtle Cay for a tourist trip.  We will see for ourselves how the community has recovered from the devastation of Dorian in September of 2019.  The Canadians, Duncan and Patty, told us we will hear lots of saws and hammers going as they continue to rebuild.  We were told there’s a special emotion you sense in the town.  People are working so hard to restore things to better than they were.  Many, on a global scale, have come to assist the Bahamians rebuild.  Apparently, this portion of the Abacos was more damaged by tornadoes that followed than the hurricane itself.  The most vicious part of Dorian came south of here, lagging for 2-3 days at wind speeds not seen for many years.  But these folks are still recovering from the tornadoes.  Many places are still closed, but not as many as there were.  We will enjoy our day and do our part to help stimulate the economy.

We left Hope Town at high tide, 8:00 am.  The weather forecast called for some wind, but not dangerous.  We wanted to give the snorkeling a chance, since we were going right by Sandy Cay on our journey, but when we got to the spot the wind was so strong and water so choppy, we decided the snorkeling would be more work than fun.  We drove a little further and anchored at Lanyard Cay for the night.  Still pretty windy, but somewhat protected, we made it through the night without serious incident.  We did drag our anchor a little, but the anchor held us in place for the night.

Day 56  April 11 Sunday

Sunday morning, I reached Pete’s Pub at Little Harbor (by email).  Their harbor had mooring balls for rent, so I arranged for our 2 boats to be there for 2-3 days.  We pulled anchor and travelled the short distance to the harbor.  We stayed on the boat most of the day, but took the dinghy over to the beach later and showed Steve and Susie what we had enjoyed just a couple days before (Pete’s Pub).  The food was just as good and got acquainted with another boating couple, Harold and Pearl, on a nice big sailboat. They are soon to be northbound, so our paths will probably not be crossing again.

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The main reason we holed up in this harbor was because of the weather forecast.  Stronger winds and squalls were predicted, and we didn’t want to be on the hook rocking all night long. So, after dinner, we went back to the boat for the evening, feeling safe about our location, if the weather did pass our way.  Just before dark, the wind totally reversed and came from the North and West.  The rain came.  With the wind gusting 30-40 knots (we estimate), the boat spun around on the mooring.  I was surprised how quickly it turned the opposite direction.  But turn, it did.  Our mooring was across from a dock, a dock with a 50’ plus yacht tied to it.  When I realized what was happening, I grabbed a fender to cushion the impact with the piling, if necessary.  But still not too concerned, I’m thinking this is a mooring.  There should be plenty of room for a boat to swing 360 degrees with no concern for contacting anything.  The boat swung around and bumped the piling (as strange as I thought this was). The piling was there to tie the other boat.  The piling stopped the swing of my boat.  I thought all would be well until I saw the piling start to lean toward the other boat.  The wind was pretty relentless.  No one was on the other boat, so I couldn’t get any assistance from their side.  Amanda and I continued to try to protect the other boat during the storm.  I jumped on their boat and hung fenders over the rail to stop or soften the impact.  We were losing the battle as the piling continued to lean further toward the other boat. After almost 2 hours, the boat owner (with a few drinks under his belt) and his captain came to the boat.  The ranting of the owner about how I needed to get my boat out of there did not bring the best out in me.  But I did agree, something needed to be done.  I asked the captain if he would board my boat and assist me in getting it moved.  He jumped on board.  I got the engine going and maneuvered the boat laterally to take the tension off the mooring.  Once that was done, I let the other captain take the wheel and I grabbed the mooring line off the bow. He held her steady so there was slack in the line and after 3-4 minutes, I was able to get us loose from the mooring. I moved the boat to a new location in the harbor and dropped the anchor, as the winds and rain began to slow.  Anthony, the young captain from the other boat, was a professional and a gentleman.  I appreciated his help and mostly, his attitude in addressing the situation.  His employer was not quite that way, but that is irrelevant at this point.  It turned out to be okay and all the efforts Amanda and I made insured the other boat owner had a boat without a scratch. The next morning, we rode the dinghy over to the dock to get my fenders off the other boat. It was then I realized the mooring had dragged no less than 20 feet.  Mystery solved.  My boat would have clearly missed the piling and the boat if the mooring had held. 

Day 57 April 12- Monday

Susie had contacted the folks at Little Harbor who operate the foundry. We were able to take the tour of the place and get an education on how the sculptures are made.  Frank, the lead in the foundry explained each of the 12 step process to us, from building the forms, the wax process, the hydraulics, the coating in silicate, firing the oven, and pouring the bronze.  And then the steps required to get the piece colored and sellable. So fascinating, we enjoyed learning and seeing the processes.

Pete’s Pub is closed M-W, so after the foundry, there wasn’t much left to do here at the most southerly portion of the Abacos.  We puttered back to the boat for a quiet evening (this time) with a 5-8 knot breeze air conditioning our boat all night.  With Steve, we discussed the weather for the next couple days and determined Tuesday was a better travel day to Eleuthera than Wednesday.  The sea forecast was virtually flat and the swells were to be well spaced.  We always opt for the calmer day when possible, so we settled to pull out tomorrow morning.

We caught the courtesy boat shuttle over to the other side of the harbor this morning and our first stop was the clinic.  I’ve been fighting an ear issue for more than 2 weeks.  I could hardly hear out of my right ear (which happens to be the better hearing one).  Amanda made me go.  As it turned out, I had an ear infection and it was full of fluid.  Sweet nurse Glory, gave me some antibiotics and drops and told me to come back in 2 days.  We had made previous arrangements to rent a golf cart for the week, so the company delivered it to us at the clinic.  We drove down to the Abaco Inn, where Luke’s family will be staying for the week.  We made sure all the details were in order and met Tom, who manages the inn.  All was better than we could have asked.  We explored more the area while we waited on their arrival.  We saw many very nice homes that are still in disrepair.  We don’t know if these homes are not being repaired for financial reasons or logistical.  Whatever the case, many homes have been repaired and several are slowly being restored.  Piles of trash from the inside of homes are everywhere.  How the trash is disposed of I don’t know.  Locals say it will probably be 5-8 years before things are back to normal.  We all hope that hurricanes will miss this area for many years to come.

Luke and Lauren and the kids arrived on the ferry about 4:30.  The Abaco Inn had someone at the dock to take their luggage and they all jumped on our golf cart (6 seater).  We cruised the island and ended up at the inn.  We enjoyed dinner in the inn’s restaurant, with a view that had the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Sea of Abaco on the other. 

Our week with the kids and grands was great.  We spent our days exploring the island, going to Tahiti Beach, eating out, and eating on the boat. With them at the inn, we were able to get to bed early each night, and restore our energy for keeping up with Lane and Haynes.  Easter Sunday, there was an Easter egg hunt at 10:30.  With probably 75 kids, it took about 10 minutes for all the eggs to be gathered.  At 11 am, we walked about 1 block to the Methodist church and enjoyed a very nice worship service.  It’s been a long time since I sang the traditional, original version, of the great Easter hymns.  It was a breath of fresh air. The message was spot on, and the music inspiring. The backdrop behind the platform was the Atlantic Ocean.  How could one not be filled with awe?  As the closing processional, the gifted organist played Vidor’s Toccata.  This piece was played as Amanda and I walked out of the church on our wedding day, almost 43 years ago.  It was pretty cool.

The early part of the week was unseasonably cool with lots of North wind blowing.  By Tuesday, the winds began to calm, and each day got a little better.  We spent one day at Man O War Cay.  With Steve and Susie’s assistance, we were all able to cross the bay in the 2 dinghies.  There we enjoyed a picnic lunch, ice cream, window shopping, grocery shopping, and even got a peak at a boat building facility, Albury Boats.  These very nice boats are popular in the states.  They are well built, last for generations, and are priced accordingly.  The little plant was virtually wiped out by Hurricane Dorian, but they have rebuilt their buildings and are cranking out boats as fast as they can.  Their frustration is the difficulty in getting materials and hardware for the boats.  There is a bottleneck in the assimilation of materials into the country.  Mr. Albury told me he never knows when he will get what he needs to finish a boat, sometimes a week, sometimes a month.  He hopes things will get better, but he had no indication as to when that might be.

Thursday, our best weather day, and the kids’ last full day, we all loaded up on the Honey Queen and drove the boat about 10 miles to a place called Sandy Cay.  This is one of the most popular snorkeling places in the Abacos.  We anchored the Honey Queen, splashed the dink, and piled all 6 of us in.  We puttered to the mooring and went snorkeling.  It was a spectacular experience for us all.  It was like swimming in a giant aquarium.  Of course, I forgot my underwater camera, so no pictures at this time.  Hopefully, more to come.  But we all enjoyed the experience, including Lane and Haynes.

From there, we drove 5 miles further, and ate at Pete’s Pub.  It’s a great outdoor restaurant and pub.  We enjoyed tuna, mahi mahi, and wahoo.  This little dive served the best food we have had since being in the Bahamas.  This day was our best, and we were grateful to have good warm weather so we could enjoy God’s creation named the Bahamas.

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Friday morning, we caught back up with the kids, had a last lunch at the Abaco Inn, and then sent the kids on their way back to the airport.  After some grocery shopping, we ate dinner at the marina restaurant one last time, and made ready for our exit, southbound tomorrow morning.

From G.T. Cay, we pulled anchor and headed for Hope Town.  The big anxiety creator for this leg was the passage through Whale Cay.  It is known for its big swells, unpredictable current, and the often hidden breakers that have been the demise of many a boater.  The advice of the experienced has said to go through the inlet at a slack or flood tide. 

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With the weather in our favor, we went for it.  Thankfully, the passage was boring and uneventful. The rest of our day was fairly quiet, except for a couple of big cruisers that seemed to be competing on who could throw the biggest wake at those of us who are puttering quietly along.  They must have been escapees from Miami.

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We made it to Hope Town Marina midafternoon and settled into our slip.  With Steve and Susie, we ate dinner at the outdoor restaurant servicing the marina.  It was a nice evening outside and Charlese (prefers to be called ‘shar’) served us well and got us acclimated to the local things to do and places to see.

Tomorrow, Luke, Lauren, Lane and Haynes will arrive to spend the week with us here, for their Spring break.

Wednesday Green Turtle Cay

Spent the day here and enjoyed a little sightseeing.  Kind of a beat up marina and not much to do in the town, but we rented a golf cart and scoped the place out.  The ladies explored the graveyards, we found a nice restaurant (McIntosh’s), shot a little basketball, and looked in a couple of overpriced, understocked shops.  Late afternoon, we stopped in the very nice lounge of the marina and had a cool drink.  The place is plastered, walls and ceilings, with dollar bills.  Apparently, it’s a ritual to leave one as a visitor. We just gave our dollars to the lady who served us, figuring she needed them more than the wall did…which is the case of most of the locals.  They’ve been hit hard and tourism business is the only livelihood of most.

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We left at low tide with a trail of mud following us out of the channel, many times showing less than 4 ½ feet on my depth finder.  Our boat drafts 4’-9”, so we had a few pucker moments getting out of there. We got back to our anchorage at Manjack and settled in for the night.

Ft. Lauderdale to West End/Bahamas

Saturday morning, 7 am, we met Steve and Susie at the fuel dock across the ICW to top off our tanks before crossing.  After 45 minutes there, we headed out to sea (literally).  The forecast called for a pretty rough start that would settle around noon, if we could endure it.  The start was exactly that. But because we were going ENE and the wind/waves were from the ESE, the boat responded much better today than it had yesterday.  It was rough, but not scary or rolling.  Our boat is considered a passagemaker, meaning it has the capacity, though small, to cross the ocean.  This crew DOES NOT have that capacity, so we will never know.  The Honey Queen had no issues today in these seas. As promised by our weather guru, the seas did calm almost on cue, around noon. 

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The day was very long, but we managed fine.  We experienced our first day in the Gulfstream, the warm South to North flowing waters. The stream often feeds and strengthens hurricanes. For us, we gained speed with the current pushing us. Our forecasted day of 10 hours turned out to be only 9. We were very happy to see land and the Old Bahama Bay Marina about 5 pm. 

The crossing behind us, we went to the customs office to clear.  All the hours spent on line, loading info, passports, Covid tests, completing the health visas, etc., was seemingly wasted.  Their websites are not user friendly, and also inaccurate.  Info we had input was not there when they opened up our files.  Better lucky than good, my process only took just over an hour. The young lady helping me was the best.  Her attitude and computer skills helped me work through and locate all the missing data that I had already entered before crossing.  She had no name tag, but if I could, I would put in a good word to her boss.  I hope to see her here again when we head back to the states. Steve was not quite so lucky.  He walked out just before 8 pm, finally cleared.  The guy he had “helping” needed a helper. We learned later that night that the fishermen who come to the Bahamas regularly, fill out the paperwork on the spot upon arrival.  They skip all the “easy” prep work that can be done online.  Lesson learned.

We ate fried shrimp at the little roadside stand adjacent to the marina.  We made a game plan with our buddy boat team to be ready to leave at 8 am, when the marina opened (to verify our bill was correct).

West End to Great Sale Cay

Sunday morning, we ended up leaving closer to 9 am, after learning we were charged for water (common in the Bahamas. We purposely had not used any, but since we had to pay, we topped off our water tanks and rinsed about an inch of salt from the starboard side of the boats.

Today’s destination was Great Sale Cay, a trip of about 42 miles.  Days like this really make me appreciate our autopilot. Most of the journey was long straight runs with very few waypoints, so the boat pretty much drives itself. My job is to soak in the glorious views and keep a close eye on that depth gauge. We had a quiet ride all day, got anchored in the byte of the little island, providing a little wind protection, and then I splashed the dinghy. 

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We picked up Steve and Susie and cruised over to the beach.  We explored, picked up a few shells, and headed back to our mother ships.  After Steve and I planned our day trip for Monday, we had dinner on our boats, and crashed (as soon as Amanda watched The Equalizer).

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To reach our Bahamas check in destination by Saturday evening, we had to leave Marlin Bay Marina (Marathon) on Thursday morning.  We said good bye to our Marlin Bay Community and dropped the lines about 10 am.

Our trip East and North took us back to Rodriguez Cay today. Friday morning had to be a long day to Ft. Lauderdale.  Seventy miles, to be precise. Much of this day was uncomfortable for us. The seas were on our starboard stern, so we rolled and turned for hours. Amanda and I both chose not to eat all day out of fear that we would only see our breakfast or lunch again. Never was scary, it was just yucky. We were very happy to pull into the inlet on the ICW from the Atlantic and feel the waters flatten. We made it to Lauderdale right at 5 pm and got settled into our slip at Pier 66 Marina, a marina that houses boats so large that ours could easily serve as their dinghy.  Because we were so tired and had a long day again ahead of us, we decided we would splurge and order from a restaurant that would deliver our dinner.  Steve and Susie were in full agreement, so Amanda spent 1 ½ hours trying to order something.  For reasons too numerous to count, we gave up.  Amanda baked a potato, mixed up some tuna salad and guacamole, and we ate very late.  Amanda did 3 loads of laundry while I worked on getting our phone for the Bahamas activated and finished (I thought). Then I completed (I thought) the rest of the online paperwork for clearing customs in the Bahamas. I got to bed at 12:45 and set the alarm for 5:45. 

This really marked the first day of our vacation trip, at least in my mind.  Until now, we have gone wide open, since completing the Great Loop last June.  As mentioned before, we prepped our home of 22 years for sale, got it sold, bought a new (to us) home on Skidaway Island, did all the work associated with a move (most of which we had forgotten or we probably would have never moved), and then immediately began preparation for this trip.

Planning a trip to the Bahamas requires a little different mindset.  Though we’ve never been there, conveniences of home are spaced pretty far apart in the Bahamas. As hard as getting boat work done at home is, it is even more challenging in the Bahamas.  We’ve heard too many stories like waiting 2 weeks on a part for an engine or a toilet or a cooktop.  It is our intention to be over prepared with spare parts, so if needed, I will be able to handle most things that could go wrong. 

We spent the weeks in Marathon continuing the prep, and repairing a couple things that were not a part of our prep.  Two days before we arrived in Marathon, the raw water (salt water ) cooling pump started dripping at the seal.  The bad news was there was a leak.  The good news was the problem started stateside and not on some remote island in the Bahamas. I searched and found what was supposedly the right pump and had it shipped to the marina.  It came in, wrong of course, so my vendor then figured out the problem, found the right pump, and had it shipped to me.  The better news is the right pump cost half as much as the wrong one.  I had to write this down somewhere so when I start complaining (it is inevitable) about how costly it is to operate a boat, I will remember this day when something only cost half as much as I had thought it was going to cost.  For the record, this half cost item was still twice as much as it should have cost.  I do remember: when the word “marine” is on the box, that word really means “times two”.

We did start having some plumbing trouble, as well, while in Marathon, so I procured those parts and made appropriate repairs.  We reviewed all the final lists from the Waterway Guide regarding the Ditch Bag.  This is your life bag, in the event the worst goes wrong on the boat.  Eprib, hand held VHF, 1^st aid kit, copies of driver’s licenses, passports and credit cards, and about 2 dozen other things (water food clothes), were added.  Things you take for granted every day, until you don’t have them.

Clint and Mali, with Stella and Will, came to visit us for almost a week.  They stayed in a hotel down the road from the marina and we had lots of good visiting time around the pool and the local beach.  We ate out, ate in, and enjoyed our time together. 

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Abigail, along with her dear friend Amanda Sills, joined us the same week, beginning on Wednesday.  They stayed on the boat with us, both of them sleeping on the tiny couches in the salon.  These two are very accommodating and took up very little space.  Our boat is quite comfortable for 2 people, but adding 2 more could certainly make life interesting, if it was the wrong two.  But Ab and Amanda were great.  Clint and Mali left on Friday, Ab and Amanda on Sunday.  We were sad to see them go.  Amanda (Dorman) did sleep 12 hours Sunday night, so we may never know how sad or relieved she was that everyone was gone.

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We started watching the weather on Monday, 22 March, looking for a good crossing date.  I subscribed to Chris Parker weather service that customizes a plan for us to cross the Atlantic to the Bahamas.  With a boat speed of 7 knots, the weather needs to be comfortable to our standard for at least 10 hours.  Since our comfort level means seas of less than 3’, that planning has to be done carefully. The forecast looked best for a Saturday crossing. With that tentative date, it was time to get focused.

We drove back to Stuart with the assurance our boat would be ready on Friday. We checked back into the quaint Colorado Inn, stayed Wednesday and Thursday nights.  Friday morning, we had breakfast and lunch, checked out of the hotel and caught an Uber to the boat yard.  We had already taken advantage of the rental car and had restocked the boat with groceries the day before. The boat yard manager, Steve, had told us he would get the Honey Queen in the water at 1:00 pm, right after lunch.  I coordinated with the stabilizer crew, who needed to calibrate the stabilizers after the boat was in the water.  They showed about 1:30, spent an hour doing their thing, and we were underway by 3 pm.  

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We made it to Palm Beach to an anchorage at Lake Worth, just before dark.  We had stayed here last summer as we were in the home stretch of the Loop, so it was good to be on familiar ground (technically: water).

The rest of the travel days were:

February 27—Anchored at Sunset anchorage, just north of Ft. Lauderdale

February 28—Anchored at Biscayne Cay, just south of Miami. Our memory from here was the charter boat that played Reggae-Rap for 7 straight hours nonstop.  Thankfully, they left around 8 pm, bringing quiet to the otherwise lovely anchorage.

March 1—Rodriguez Cay. We made it here with no serious challenge.  It is the leg of the journey that requires going into the Atlantic, because the ICW actually ends in Miami.  We had checked the weather and forecasted wave height.  It looked like it might be a little dicey for awhile.  As predicted, we pulled out of the Biscayne Channel the waves went to 4 footers. Thankful those very expensive stabilizers were functioning at their best, we made it Rodriguez Cay (near Key Largo) well before dark.

March 2–Tuesday morning, Amanda’s birthday; arrived Marlin Bay

No sleeping late on her birthday, mama had to rise early because we had a pretty long day ahead of us to get to Marlin Bay. We arrived at the marina just after 2 pm. Sort of like coming home, we were glad to see boater friends, old and new. The new dockmaster dictated to me the rules of staying in the marina. It was easy to tell that he and I probably won’t be besties, and after talking to just a few people, I learned that many others shared the same opinion.

We look forward to the days of relaxing here in the warmth of the Keys.

This morning, we got the verdict on the stabilizers. It will be 2 weeks on boat yard, instead of one.  Major problem, but like most things on the boat, it is nothing money can’t fix.  We hoped the stabilizers would only need tuning up but we weren’t so lucky. The work added a week to our game plan, which obviously put us a week behind where we hoped to be:  The Keys, in Marathon.

After much debate with what to do with the extra week, we touched base with Steve and Susie, already in Marathon. They talked us into coming there and hanging with them for a week.  So Wednesday morning, we rented a car and drove south.  We spent the better part of the week with them, enjoying the food and drink and pool.  It was nice to be in the warm weather.