Sherry Pickett

Evening departure to arrive at Fort Pierce inlet at slack tidal current. Forecasted scattered thunderstorms we expected along south Florida coast and to move across north of us, bit of a gamble and we lost. Went through two significant thunderstorms. Lightning show off in distance for hours but also lots of lightning in the storms over us. Max gust 40kts in worst storm. A lot of the night was spent watching storms move around us while we could see stars and the moon above us. Later saw a shooting star. Cleared after 2AM. Otherwise winds were 15kts or less, waves pretty significant leaving Lucaya but then settled except in the storms. Motor sailed early on, then with reefed jib and the no sail. Motored through storms and after. Heading north in the Gulf Stream we were able to get about 3kts assistance. Top SOG was 10.4kts Arrived at inlet around 8:30AM in fog. Enough visibility to see markers and sun was clearing fog so we proceeded slowly. Waited for 9:30AM North Fort Pierce bridge opening then proceeded up the ICW to Vero Beach. Greeted by our good friends (boat buddies last summer/fall) David & Susan (SV Second Star). It was just by chance that they were here, so very nice surprise! Customs check-in with the CBP Roam App was fast, cleared in within 5 mins.

Winds light at first but built to SE 10-15kts, downwind sail on Genoa only all day and night. Waves built but we’re comfortable until there was cross waves creating confused seas for awhile in the afternoon and then again in the early hours of the morning. Best overnight passage we’ve done. Especially because we were under sail (not motoring) the whole night. We were happy to have SV Patience on the same overnight trip with us as they left a nearby anchorage at the same time Sunday morning and we formed the plan together to both carryon to Grand Bahama YC. On arrival we were happy to see Isle of Misfits docked here as well. Great resort style facilities here, restaurant, pool, water shuttle and rides to grocery store are available by the YC staff. Very friendly and welcoming staff.

Calm day, decided to leave the dock in Spanish Wells after reprovisioning and also had the anodes replaced on our prop and bow thruster. Extremely friendly people all over Eleuthera. Recommend using Kyle Pinder if you want a dock in Spanish Wells. (242) 470-8082 $75/night Enjoyed a visit to Wood n Things art gallery in Spanish Wells, they sell wood crafts made by students at the local school and other crafts by local artists. Also stopped at Ponderosa Shell & Gift Shop and bought some locally roasted coffee beans.

A great day of sailing and exploring on land with great friends from home who are visiting Eleuthera for a week. After picking them up by dinghy from Gauldings Cay Beach in the morning we set sail for Spanish Wells. It was a little sporty in the morning approaching Current Cut due to SE 17kt winds and the waves on our port stern quarter. Wind and waves were directly behind us and diminishing as we got closer to the cut. Arrived at slack tide to transit through the narrow but deep cut. Once on the other side of Current Cut it was a great broad reach to beam reach sail on flat seas for a while, waves building as we got out of the wind shadow from the land. Bumped the bottom twice right in the middle of the channel coming into Spanish Wells. Docked at a private dock straight in from the channel. Only tricky part was a big boat on the end of the dock. We had to pass through a narrow space to get in and dock in front of the big boat. Nice to have extra crew to have roaming fenders as we squeezed into our spot. Nicely tucked in to a well protected space for some windy weather coming through this week. Private dock, rented from Kyle Pinder. A great day of sailing with friends from home. Explored Spanish Wells: Wreckers bar, walk on calm Atlantic side beach at low tide, Shipyard bar and then Midnight Rider water taxi to Gene’s Bay N. Eleuthera and taxi back to Gauldings Cay Beach where we started our day. After dinner at Daddy Joe’s we returned to the VRBO villa where we staying with our friends for a few days.

Flat calm sea and less than 5kts wind. Motored north to an anchorage near where our friends are renting a villa this week. Saw a couple dolphins along the way. Anchored in about 11’ at low tide, tucked in to be protected from SE winds expected to build tonight and tomorrow. Good holding in sand. Only boat here. Hopefully we can snorkel tomorrow if wind direction is ok. Rocky shore/cliffs and small caves. Took a dinghy ride along the shore to explore up to The Cove resort and back to Gould Cay. Walked from Gould Cay Beach across to Daddy Joe’s restaurant. Best wings and fries I’ve possibly ever had! Guava BBQ sauce was delicious.

After sitting out two days of high winds at Rock Sound we motored into very light winds and clear skies up to Governor’s Harbour. Anchored in about 18’ of water.

Motored into the wind again. Light winds today. Anchored in front of town dinghy dock. Came to Rock Sound today to explore the town then get set up for some protection from big winds coming Monday/Tuesday. Very pretty little town. Took the dinghy to Wild Orchids restaurant and walked to the grocery store. Asked the staff at restaurant about garbage disposal and she said just put it in the back of that pickup truck. Very easy. Laundry is available on site too. Grocery store is pretty big and well stocked. Food and service at Wild Orchids was great. Loved the porch with a view of the water. Calm evening now. We will move over to the west shore tomorrow for better protection from the winds forecast starting Monday.

Finally cast off the lines from Cape Eleuthera after sitting out two blows there this week. Made great friends and enjoyed many sundowners this week with the crews of Patience, Nightingale and Luna. After an early morning goodbye to Suzanne & Joe on SV Patience we motored over to Ten Bay Beach as there was max 5kts of wind. The sea was cloudy, unable to see the bottom for the first time in the Bahamas, we think because of the west wind yesterday, it stirred up sand in the crashing waves on the west shore of Eleuthera. Anchored here with SV Nightingale, in front of a beautiful beach. Great beach for walking, shallow so need to watch dinghy or it will be high & dry when tide goes out. Enjoyed sundowners on the beach with Libby & Grant from SV Nightingale . Student group of grade nine students camping on the beach and having a bonfire tonight.

Decided to cross back over to Cape Eleuthera today as the sea was calm and given the upcoming forecast we wouldn’t find a good opportunity for a comfortable crossing for quite some time. Left Staniel Cay one hour before high tide and had a negligible current, easy going out through the cut. Very light winds most of the day. Picked up a bit mid day and we motor sailed for a while but couldn’t get a good angle and still make good time. Beautiful day on the water. Arrived at Cape Eleuthera Marina & Resort late afternoon, nice to be back here for a few days.

Light winds but picked up to 8-9kts, close haul sail for most of the day. Motor sailing at beginning and end of the trip. Beautiful day on calm seas. Arrived at cut 1 hour after low tide, current quite significant through narrows from cut to the Yacht Club. Picked up a mooring in front of the yacht club. Will stay here for two nights. Next day: Visited pig beach early in the morning, the piglets were very cute but the pigs were so skinny. Also saw a ray and a nurse shark which I liked better than the pigs. Felt sorry for the pigs and saw a pig skull floating at the shore ☹️ Later in the day we visited Thunderball Grotto at low tide, snorkelled inside, easy to enter at low tide. The colourful coral and fish were amazing. A bit challenging to anchor the dinghy on the west side but a larger boat there offered to let several dinghies tie up to his boat which was very nice. Saw the shark feeding frenzy in front of the YC. A busy place but we enjoyed it.