Sherry Pickett

Another beautiful and hot day. Moved the boat around to other side of Meeks Patch to get better protection. Winds not bad just breezy and fetch building up from S/SE

Short sail/motor out of the narrow cut at Royal Island. Easy entry/exit if you follow the chart. Anchored off Russell Island in front of Sandbar Beach Bar. Depth 4.5’ under the keel. 75F water.

Sporty sailing today! Great beam reach almost all day. Started off 10-12Kts then wind increased 18-20 with gusts 24kts. Waves were probably 2-4’ then increased to 3-5’ some bigger. We seemed to have a pretty good angle so comfortable most of the time. Only motored in and out of anchorages today. Beautiful sunny hot weather.

Long day on the water. Winds were 8-12Kts then dropped off to 4kts. Started off motor sailing with lots of assist from the sails but wind became light and variable and too close. Very cloudy all morning then ran into several bands of rain in the afternoon. Arrived just before dark in the pouring rain. Winds had picked up to 10-15kts by the time we arrived. Big anchorage with many boats here. Winds from SE are making it a very bouncy and now rolly anchorage so far but winds are expected to move more south, S/w so should be better tomorrow.

Great sail close hauled with 8-10kts gusting 12. Finally able to turn off the motor and sail! Originally planned to dock at Scarborough Docks but when we arrived there the docking wall was very rough and we were concerned it was too shallow so we got a slip at Grand Bahamas YC. Docked beside Duane. Staff & facilities here are great. They provide a water shuttle to the downtown area. Heather & Bill are here on vacation this week and met us at the yacht club. We went to the Rum Runner for drinks and the Flying Fish for dinner. Dinner was very good.

Conditions were great for crossing the Gulf Stream. Very light and variable winds from the east. We motored with the main sail up all day, got some wind assist off. Gentle swells. Clear sunny day and we loved the heat! Owen did a little fishing but no luck. Clearing customs was easy, I had completed everything online. Booked a slip and checked in at Old Bahamas Bay Marina. Passed the Margaritaville cruise ship in the Lake Worth inlet on our departure this morning, pilot boat told us to follow them and stay in their stern to guide us past the cruise ship safely! It was close.

Left Jensen early to try to arrive at Jupiter inlet as close to mid tide as we could as shoaling there has been a problem recently. We were following a sailboat going much slower than we wanted to but due to the narrow channel by the time we found a place we were comfortable overtaking them we had lost too much time. We arrived at Jupiter inlet one hour before low tide. Stuck to Bob’s tracks and proceeded slowly right onto a shoal. The boat behind us tried to pass on our port side and also ran aground. Both of us were able to manoeuvre off without assistance within about 5 mins. The bridge operator said stay far away from the red marker. The rest of the trip we were focused on timing the bridge openings which we managed quite well. I think we passed through seven bridges that had to open. Docked at Lake Park Marina, helpful friendly staff. We’re in a slip right beside all the facilities. Not the nicest area for walking around, a lot of construction right around the marina. Took an Uber to a cruisers meet up last night at O’Sheas Irish pub, in West Palm Beach just south of us, organized by the Boat Galley. Met lots of nice people. Had dinner at Hullabaloo, fun small restaurant with great food and service.

Strong north winds about 17kts all day which was directly behind us. Gusting over 20kts. Passing Fort Pierce inlet the cross current at the bridge was very strong. When we arrived at Jensen Beach another boat was on our assigned ball and we were told we couldn’t stay on the ball we took instead, moving to another ball winds were challenging and I tied the line very long just to keep us on but somehow the ball went under the boat to the port mid ship, with the only line attached wrapping under SB bow. So we releases the line, avoided all other boats in the mooring field and finally picked up a third mooring in 20-25kts. Looking forward to meeting friends from home, Michelle & Brent who are in Stuart and going out for dinner tonight. Shower facilities are good, basic but clean.

Nice downwind trip to Vero Beach. Some spectacular homes along the way and much more boat traffic. An enjoyable stretch of the ICW. First time rafting to other boats on a mooring ball but it’s the norm here. Most mooring balls have three boats rafted together. We have rafted along side Danielle from Montreal on a Bavaria monohul, and there is a larger catamaran rafted to the other side of his boat. Very nice guy who was a great help tying up to his boat as the winds were gusting about 18kts.

Beautiful day on the water. Easy trip to Melbourne Beach. Anchored just south of the bridge, just off the ICW. Boat traffic is gradually getting busier again.