Year: 2012

Great Guana Island and Nippers, and Grabbers Beach Bars

We arrived here at Fisher’s Bay after another wonderful day sail over from Marsh Harbor. This Sea of Abaco is so well protected and with Marsh Harbor as a base, one can easily explore all the beautiful islands surrounding this protected sea.

Our mission for going to Great Guana was to take in the beautiful beaches and to also attend the Barefoot Man Concert at Nippers Beach Bar. Barefoot Man is one of the most popular musicians in the Abacos, yet he is from Grand Cayman Island. He has written over 2,000 songs and has recorded 500 songs. His CDs and music is available for download everywhere and sold all over the Islands.

Barefoot Man and his band at Nippers, March 16, 2012

Nippers Beach Bar is THE place on Great Guana, although GRABBERS Beach Bar, which we are anchored off of, is just as popular. Nippers is built up high on a sand dune with a staircase of many steps down to the beach.

The beach is one of the most beautiful in the Abacos and just off the beach is a spectacular coral reef that you can snorkel out to and explore.

Island Packets at anchor, we are the gold flag to the right center

The day before the concert, we arrived and dropped anchor in Fisher’s Bay and then walked the beach over to Nippers to pre-test the “Nipper’s Juice” which we have been well warned about. The bartender said, drink no more than 3 and then walk the beach or else you will not know what you are doing!

As evident at the concert, most of us did not take to this warning and we all were under the influence of the NIPPER JUICE! Overall, it was a great time with our Island Packet Fleet. We had the best table in the house, thanks to SP Catspaw team for securing it at 1000am! The concert started at 1pm and lasted til 5pm with everyone dancing and having a great time.

Here are a few photos of the day…(note: these are the G rated photos!!!!)

Barefoot Man signing his autograph

Cheeseburgers and Kalik Beers overlooking Nippers

Barefoot Man takes the stage…i.e. Wood Deck next to the pool…

The crowd under control viewed from our upper deck table

Third Floor Deck was filled also and they were dancing on the tables….look out below!

The view looking out to the beach with table dancers and all..

The beautiful beach off Nippers on Great Guana Island

Your foot sinks into the soft powdery sand

Hayden and Radeen at Nippers working the Nipper’s Juice…

Local famous island girl to the left, Nipper Juice Girl to the right “Jean Jean the Dancing Queen” is the lady to the left, she danced more than anyone! I have no idea who the yellow bikini girl is….and Radeen took the photo!

The Nipper Juice Glass and a Kalik beer….da drinks of choice for the dance floor

Today’s mission, snorkeling the reef, walking the beach, and taking in another famous Island Musician performing at 1-5 at Grabber’s Beach bar. Then tonight is another concert at Nippers with the Barefoot Man…not sure we can take much more….this is killing us! 🙂

The trip from Green Turtle Cay, south to Whale Cay Channel and into the ocean and then back into the Sea of Abaco was a great trip today because Whale Cay passage was calm. After days of high ocean swells and strong winds, the whale was passable and many boats were traveling north and south to their destinations.

We ran south heading for Marsh Harbor and had a fantastic sail from the Whale into the ship channel and down the Sea of Abaco and into the Harbor entrance. Winds once again were on the beam, and we had a beautiful easy day of sailing. We have only run the engine a total of 9 hours since leaving Miami. This is incredible, as we have sailed every leg from Miami to Marsh Harbor, and most of it has been on a beam reach.

The Abacos have beautiful water, great islands, protected seas, and many destinations within a short day trip. “IT is BETTER in the Bahamas……

Here are a few sailing photos for today…

There it is….WHALE CAY….with calm breakers on the ocean side

The narrow opening in the reef, and Whale Cay to the SE….we are OUT

Set sail and beam reach for Marsh Harbor, what a great day to go sailing

Beam Reaching for Marsh Harbor, Abacos, Bahamas

IP420 Flatlander, one of our buddy boats under on boom at anchor

SP Catspaw, our leader at anchor with the sunset, Marsh Harbor

I am beginning to see why some many people sail down to the Bahamas for the winter. It is spectacular and the sailing is good, the water is so blue, and it is “Island Life” at its best. We just bumped into Bob and Nancy, friends from Rock Hall, our home port, and this is their 10th winter in Marsh Harbor. We are beginning to see why…..time for us to spend a few days, a week or more in this area…Our only schedule is…BAREFOOT MAN CONCERT Friday, March 16 and 17 at Nippers, the next Island over.

SP Catspaw and our IP Fleet on the docks at Green Turtle

Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, Bahamas is in White Sound on the NE side of the harbor. This makes it a fantastic place to ride out a NE blow of 30+ knots. The other special aspect is that dockage fees are reduced by every dollar you spend in the pub and dining room, so you can party away your dock fees ….well….sorta! See details here

So, with the winds blowing 30 knots for 3+ days, we docked at Green Turtle Club and had an Island Packet Rendezvous with 6 IPs and 12 owners. We played dominoes, rode golf carts all over the island, walked the beaches, explored the town, and enjoyed the clubhouse, pub and dining room. Live it up we did, because we usually do not take a dock and we rarely take a dock for 3 or 4 days, but at the Turtle, it is difficult to leave…why should you?

Here are some great photos from Green Turtle Club…

A view from inside the club looking out to the docks at sunset

The Green Turtle Clubhouse, very comfortable

The reason why we stayed…the WHALE KEY Passage was closed due to swells and high winds This is looking out to sea from Green Turtle, so way can you move south through the Whale.

The ladies of the fleet enjoy their own room

The men take over the pub room

Tom and Carie of IP37 Dragon’s Toy

Larry and Phyllis of IP40 Lark

Bobbi and Carey of SP Catspaw

Kathy and Alan of IP420 Flatlander

Radeen and Hayden of IP35 Island Spirit

Patricia and Eric of IP460 Cutter Loose

Drinking KALIK BEER and playing Mexican Train….ahhh

Hanging out on the beach at the Green Turtle Club….this is 200 yards from our boat

The “Girls” at the pub before dinner…what fun it is to spend time at Green Turtle

There it is…an Island Packet Mini-Vous at the docks of Green Turtle Club This is the view of our flags when walking out of the dining room.

So, it has been a dream stay, once again, and have really enjoyed the location. If you ever sail into the Abacos, you need to make Green Turtle Cay and White Sand Bay to the north a MUST STOP destination. This is nearly as well run as the Bitter End Yacht Club in the British Virgin Islands and that is saying a lot about this location…..

Great Beam Winds sailing for Great Sale Cay

After arriving West End and clearing into the Bahamas for our first time, we all enjoyed the pool and dinner at the Tiki Hut. From West End, we sailed 55 miles out to Great Sale Cay with a fleet of six Island Packets.

Dropping the anchor in 10 feet of water, we easily watched the 44 lb Bruce dig into the sandy bottom as we laid out 100 feet of 5/16″ chain. Sunset that night was so special and the clouds after sunset were even more beautiful.

One of our buddy boats, 420 Flatlander, yes from Kansas sails for Spanish Cay past Island Spirit

The next day we raised anchor at 0700 and set a reefed main sail at the north end of Great Sale Cay for a 35 mile sail on a close reach for Spanish Cay Marina. The winds were building as we were outrunning a well known frontal system predicted to arrive soon. This front we have been watching since Miami and we planned to take shelter at the docks on Spanish Cay. Now with winds 20-25 and 60 degrees off the starboard bow, we sailed at hull speed all day long.

Four Island Packets docked at Spanish Cay Two more are out of this picture to the left

We arrived Spanish Cay at 1430 and with 25 knots of cross winds and 2 foot seas, docking was a bit of a challenge for all members of the fleet. But with fantastic dock hands and help from Spanish Cay Marina, we all were secured and docked by 1530. Spanish Cay Marina has a very friendly staff and a fantastic chef who knows how to make the best conch dinners. Anita, the facility manager, made us all fee so welcome and we nearly had the entire facility to our fleet.

Exploring our first Bahamas Beach on Spanish Cay

We stayed at Spanish Cay Marina Sat and Sun and, with the frontal system through and the winds now down to 20 knots, we plan to move into the Abacos farther and take up base at Green Turtle Cay. The current weather system is blowing hard from the NE and then N and then E with winds forecasted to be 25-30 and even 35 knots! With weather like this, we have all decided to take slips at Green Turtle Club Marina. This is very unusual because most of us always anchor out, but then again the weather is usually 10-15 knots here in March.

Beam Reaching in 10-15 across the Little Bahama Bank

Overall, this trip into the Abacos has been a dream trip because we have sailed beam winds of 20-25 knots every leg from Miami!

Today, we will sail beam winds south into the Green Turtle Cay….this is unreal….lucky us….and we appreciate every second….

More Photos of this leg into the Abacos.

The fleet enjoys a sunset anchored off Great Sale Cay

Our first Bahamas Sunset from anchor, Great Sale Cay

The clouds illuminated after sunset over our bow. Notice the SW winds

SunRISE over our buddy boat 37 Dragon’s Toy from California!

Empty beaches, empty chairs…beautiful sand…beautiful day

Radeen walks the pink sand beach at Spanish Cay The sun is at noon and hats and shade are a must have

Yes…the Bahamas are really special and we have only seen TWO islands so far. We can’s wait to discover more as we plan to spend two months here exploring only the Abacos. A dream come true….Thank you for following us.

Radeen, happy ocean sailor girl, arrives West End Bahamas by sailboat

As planned for over a year, we arrived in the Bahamas at West End, Old Bahamas Bay Marina and Resort on March 1, 2012! The crossing over from Miami, Government Cut inlet, is 85 miles to West End. We hoisted our mainsail at 0200 hrs just off anchor behind Fisher Island, and we rolled out a full 135% Genoa/Jib at the sea buoy. After an hour of powering out the inlet in the dark, along with one of our buddy boats IP37 Dragon’s Toy, and we turned off the motor and set sail for a course EAST. The Miami skyline disappeared off our stern in the dark. We dodged one container ship named PAGO, who kindly altered course to starboard so we could pass port to port.

Close Hauled with full sails to the Bahamas

The sailing was close hauled, 55 degrees off the starboard bow because we needed to set a course of 70 degrees for a destination bearing 55 degrees due to the set and drift effect of the 3 knot north flowing Gulf Stream, called the Florida Current.

We thought we would have a beam reach, but this extra 20 degrees to the right made for a close reach or near beat. Team Island Spirit LOVES to sail upwind, so it was fine with us. With winds 15-18 knots, it was a perfect morning sail.

Sunrise over the bow of Island Spirit as we sail for West End, Grand Bahamas Island

The sun rose over the bow as we sailed East, and we each took turns napping and standing watch as our autopilot and wind vane steering drove us at speeds of 5 knots plus a current of 2.5 knots for a ground speed or SOG of 7.5+ nearly all the way. By 9am the winds backed and we were beam reaching for a wonderful sail in 2-3 foot seas. This backing winds also brought less wind and by 11 am we needed to motor sail since it was less than 10 knots of wind. 8-10 knots would be great in the bay or calm waters, but out in the ocean you need 15+ to really sail through the ocean swells. Usually there is too much wind in the ocean, so this 8-10 was the predicted light wind, which is why we crossed today to avoid high waves in the Stream.

Arriving into West End, we hoisted the solid yellow Q Flag, meaning crew and vessel are “quarantined” and have not been cleared into the country. The captain needs to fill out 5,000+ sheets of paper and take all passports and ship’s documents to the customs officer and clear into the country. The customs officer reviewed our papers and passports and collected our fees and gave us a 90 day cruising permit to explore all the Bahama Islands. We plan to explore the Abacos for the next two months!y All our buddy boats, Catspaw, Cutter Loose, Dragon’s Toy, Flatlander and Lark, arrived safely and we enjoyed the pool, the beach and the Tiki Hut Bar and Grill.

The water color all the way over was indigo blue, where the depths are over 2,000 feet! Then when we came up onto soundings, meaning water depth our depth meter can read, or sound, the water turned into a NEON BLUE….It is difficult to believe, but it is a truly spectacular color.

We feel blessed to be here and to discover this and take it all in.

Welcome to the Bahamas…mon…enjoy your stay….

Photos of the day…

Departing Miami at 2am, its DARK Here is what a well lit 1,000 foot container ship looks like passing us at 17 knots! Stay out of the way….this will NOT stop

NEON BLUE water color as we approach West End, Bahamas here the water is about 50+ feet deep and you can see the bottom!

Radeen drops the Q flag and attached the Bahamas flag. The Bahamas flag is flown from the starboard spreader, the US flag remains on the stern.

Hayden, with his sun hat, hoisting the first foreign country flag on Island Spirit.

Today, we plan a 50 mile sail across the Bahama Banks to Great Sale Cay where we will anchor for the night. Then, racing the approaching front, we will sail Saturday into the Sea of Abaco and make Allen’s Cay or a dock at Spanish Key for a few days. This next frontal system is showing 30-35 knots North winds and then NE at 30 knots. We have dock reservations in case this system really is that strong. Hey…it’s Radeen’s birthday on Saturday, so we need to bake a chocolate cake and celebrate!

CLICK ME for LARGER image Our Planned Run to the Abacos, March 1, 2012

Our preparation is nearly complete: Provisions bought and stowed, refrigerator stocked, wine purchased, and all boat systems checked, and upgraded. WOW, it is a ton of work preparing for a trip offshore out of the country. I always say, the hardest part of any trip is leaving and departing….just getting going. Because when in port, you can always buy one more item, get one more spare part, delay one more day for weather, make one more visit to West Marine, and just simply delay…delay…delay. Some cruisers get in this loop so deeply that they simply never leave. We planned over a year ago to depart for the Bahamas from Miami on or around March 1, 2012 and it looks like we will do it. The weather window is remaining, the frontal system is approaching which pulls the NE and E winds down to the south, and that is the exit you are looking for.

The Florida Current and Gulf Stream Runs 3 knots north between Florida & the Bahamas We will be running downstream.

A few miles off the Miami shore is the Gulf Stream, properly known here as the “Florida Current.” This stream flows north at 2-3 knots and, if any wind is blowing against it, that would be NE or worse N winds, then the waves stand up to 6-10 feet and it makes for a rough crossing. So, you wait for a front to approach and that pulls the winds to the south. Wednesday pm and into Thursday am this is exactly what will happen….so they predict. We plan to anchor near the inlet, Government Cut, Miami, and head out to sea at 3 AM. The run to West End Bahamas is 85 NM on a bearing of 055 mag. The winds are to be SE, or about 135 mag. 135-55= 80. So the course and winds will be close to a beam reach.

Old Bahamas Bay Marina Where we will check into the Country, fly the Q Flag and raise our first Country Flag off the Stb Spreader!

Once at West End, we will dock at Old Bahamas Bay Marina and Resort, clear into the country and we should be sipping Rum Punch by the pool around 4pm if all goes as planned. Friday am we depart the marina for a 50 mile run to Great Sail Key and anchor in the middle of now where. Saturday am we will sail 30 miles to Allans Cay or deeper into the Abacos and by that time we should be well protected by the reef to the East and Great Abaco Island to the west. By Sat/Sun the front will approach and the winds will be 25+ knots. The temptation with this weather window will be to REMAIN at the marina in West End. If we do that, then the front will pin us down there and we will not be able to make it EAST to protected waters as planned. So, that is our current plan.

We will be suspending our Verizon broadband card and our two Droids and going dark off the phone grid. We will reconnect into the OII, Out Island Internet system, for $150 for two months and hopefully get back online via our Bullet2HP WiFi rig. The cool aspect to Verizon is that we can suspend service for up to 3 months. When we return, we can reactivate our devices and the billing picks up again. No sense paying for Verizon service, CDMA network, when there is NO CDMA/Verizon service in the Abaco. OII broadband via WiFi will be our plan and then we will use Skype to make phone calls. Worst case situation…..we will be off the grid for two months and snorkeling 24/7….

Thanks for following our blog, we hope to post many great photos from the Abacos.

Hayden and Radeen, Coconut Grove Sailing Club FL

Biscayne Bay and the 6 places we have explored

Another great destination discovered and learned, that of Biscayne Bay, south of Miami FL. Water is 10 feet deep, beaches and great towns around the perimeter and great flat calm waters for sailing. We have taken mooring balls at Dinner Key Marina, and at Coconut Grove Sailing Club. We have anchored off Hobie Beach, and we have sailed to and stayed at Boca Chita Key. 

Arriving Boca Chita basin with yachts along the seawall

Boca Chita is a National Park located in Biscayne Bay just south of Miami. The site was originally in developed in the 1930’s by Mark Honeywell, an industrialist who specialized in heating controls. After his wife died on the property, he lost interest and sold the island. The entrance channel and inner harbor were completed, along with a small pavilion and then the development was stopped. The property became a Park in the1970’s and is accessible by ferry for campers or private boats.

Sunrise over Boca Chita beach with driftwood

Sunrise over Boca Chita and the mangroves….beautiful

Our Island Packet Fleet along the Boca Chita Seawall CAVU, CATSPAW, CUTTER LOOSE and ISLAND SPIRIT

Late afternoon sun on the lighthouse with blue skies

Cocktail hour on CUTTER LOOSE along the seawall under palm trees

The “Team” of IP owners: Debbie, Craig, Eric, Ron, Patricia, Mary Ann, Radeen, Carey, Hayden, Bobbie

Sunset over Biscayne Bay with lighthouse cove base and palm trees

Sunset looking back to South Florida from Boca Chita

Sunrise reflection off the glass dome

Sunrise reflection off the Boca Chita Lighthouse with Island Packet Yachts

This is a MUST STOP visit if you boat in the Biscayne Bay area, and thanks to our leader, Carey, we no know the way into the harbor. If you only go by your charts you would never go in here because the charts show only 2-3′ water depths…..go in….follow the channel and you will find 6-8 foot water all the way in.

HCC is a place we LOVE Valentine Party was outstanding

After a fantastic week back at Harbour Cay Club, HCC, our new winter home, we departed north for Biscayne Bay where we plan on preparing for our first Bahamas run. Since it was Feb 14, the club planned and organized a dinner where the men do all the cooking, serving and cleaning up for the ladies. The night was a great success with 28 people for dinner, with roses for the ladies and cocktails to fabulous flan for dessert. Yes, HCC is a very special place and it is the people that make is so. Thank you, Captain Jim, for insisting that we get past Vero and visit your paradise. Harbour Cay Club a must visit!

Looking out to the Florida Bay and the exit to sea Harbour Cay Club, Marathon, FL

Our run north to Biscayne Bay was in two stages: first day up to Channel Five and then out to Hawk Channel up to Rodriguez Key where we anchored for the night; second day up to Angelfish Creek where you pass over the rocky reef in 5-7 foot deep water and cut back into the bay side of the keys from the ocean side.
Once in the bay, it is easy sailing and flat water north up to Boca Chita where you MUST STOP for a night. From here, we will run up to Crandon Park and pick up friends for the weekend and then return back to Boca Chita for some beautiful, peaceful days.

Here are the photos of the day…

Our connection to HCC, our good friend and fellow Island Packet owner Capt Jim and Michele….thank you…

Great friend and fellow TiKi Hut converationalist “New York Jack”…thanks for the great times!

BJ and Ed, the club leaders, and all around great people. Thank you!

Radeen with roses at Harbour Cay Club

Patricia, Debbie and Radeen at Valentine’s Dinner Our Boat Buddies

Fabulous dinner served to 28 people!

Beautiful Sunrise off Rodriguez Key

Sailing North in the calm waters of Hawk Channel

Sunset over Boca Chita Lighthouse, a picture that is so beautiful

The Florida Keys are a very special place for boating and the Lower Keys are as near to a Caribbean feeling as we have had anywhere. The Keys far exceeded our anticipated expectations and we already planning our rapid return for next year. Thank you to Captain Jim and all the owners at Harbour Cay Club who made us feel so at home and so welcome. HCC was the highlight of this section of our voyage.

5 new Lifeline Batteries lifted into the cockpit 65 lbs each 325 lbs total. $299 each!

Time for a new upgrade our 8 year old house battery bank, so while docked at Harbour Cay Club, we installed 5 new Lifeline Group 31 batteries! We usually buy DEKA, East Penn Manufacturing Batteries, but the local S.A.L.T. Sea Air Land Technologies company gave us a fair price matching DCbattery prices and we bought them here in Marathon. The reason we went with Lifeline over Deka is that they have more life cycles than Deka. Life cycles in batteries is the term used to measure the number of discharges down to, usually 50%. Deka Group 31 AGMs have 370 life cycles to 50% discharge.  Lifelines have 1,000 life cycles to 50% discharge. So for an extra cost of $350, we moved up to Lifeline batteries over Deka and expect to see 10 years of life out of these.

5 old Deka batteries removed from the battery box 65 lbs each, 325 lbs. total

The problem with replacing our house battery bank is that they are very tight in the battery box. Then they are also bolted down with very nice custom hold downs to prevent the 65 lbs (each) batteries from flying around or moving when in a serious offshore sea state of large waves. They are also bolted down so that if the boat flips over, the batteries will still not fly out of the battery box. Of course if the boat flips over, we have other issues to consider.

So removing and re-installing a 5 battery house bank and a new starter battery is rather a large job. We started at about 10 am and by 5pm we had the job completed and all the systems back up and running! Remember…the freezer, refrigerator, network, computers and all lights run off the batteries, so with them out, all this is off. You need to work fast or your food will thaw and your beer will get warm!

Here are a few photos, I did not take many as this is not terribly exciting, but it is real life on a cruising boat….

Lifeline specs and 5 year warranty Each battery is registered and each measured 12.85 volts or higher!

The battery bank overview. This is the quarter berth footwell The original 3 battery box is to the left, closed off footwell to right

3 Lifelines with SS angle bar and welded plate bolted in to hold the batteries down. All wiring is 2.0 AWG wire, The small wires are sensors, temperature probes, regulators, etc.

The footwell battery box holds two more, plus the regulator Small wires are shunt wires, temperature probes, and sensors Notice the SS welded strap hold down bolted in to prevent batteries from moving.

“They Say”…..cruising is fixing your boat in remote locations. Well, that is so true. You leave your home dock and go off sailing / cruising. Then your boat breaks down, or a system needs serviced, so you do your best to repair it. Usually this is all done while out on anchor in some remote location. Here, with this job, we were at a dock, with many friends and cars and bikes so it was easy to do. It needed to be done as this was the 8th year on this battery bank and we have been leaning on it hard. So we figured it would be far better to do this here rather than in the Bahamas $$$$. Let’s hope we have no more big jobs for a long time now…..Thanks for following the Island Spirit Adventures…..tomorrow we head for sea, and press on for Biscayne Bay where we will spend two weeks exploring and preparing for our FIRST Bahamas run….