Final Leg of our Journey South in the US

Vero Beach to Lake Worth - Tuesday 12/28/10
Lake Worth to Ft. Lauderdale - Friday 12/31/10
Ft. Lauderdale to Nassau, Bahamas - Tuesday to Wednesday 1/4-5/2011


We are finally in the Bahamas! Actually, we are finally in the Exumas working our way down the Exuma Chain of Islands. What beauty all around us! I have never seen water so beautiful and clear except in Bequia a Caribbean Island in the Grenadines.  Let me back up and share with you our trip from Vero Beach to Ft. Lauderdale and then our crossing to Nassau.

After many days in Vero(Velcro) Beach and spending a nice Christmas there, we dropped our mooring ball on a bright, crisp, cold Tuesday morning to begin our trip to Ft. Lauderdale. We said goodbye to our new friends, Ann, and her puppy, Lucy on Bees Knees. It was nice for us to be moving again. We anchored that evening in a beautiful anchorage in Hobe sound. It was a really nice evening even though still a little chilly.  We noticed on the way to the anchorage a pillar of smoke rising over the horizon and couldn't imagine what was causing it.  When we got our anchor down, the smoke seemed to be all around us with still no idea as to what was the cause.  The direction of the wind kept the smell and smoke from bothering us until the next morning when it changed. We woke to being engulfed in the smoke, smell and all!  It was really uncomfortable but as we pulled our anchor it seemed to be lifting somewhat. We were later to find out that it was a pretty massive wild fire that damaged about half a golf course and many other acres of land between Vero and West Palm Beach.  Luckily, none was hurt.

On to our next stop, Lake Worth.  It didn't take much for me to talk the captain into going into a Marina for a night or two.  After being on the mooring ball and at anchor for more than a month,  the boat needed a good bath as well as a good drying out down below.  Oh, the condensation really builds up from being on the water and the really cold nights with temperatures in the 20's! So we all welcomed the shore power which meant we could run the heat and humidifier for a night or two.  Our friend, Ann, had suggested Old Port Cove Marina at Lake Worth as a great place to tie up and enjoy the more modern conveniences, such as electricity and stepping onto the dock rather than crawling off the stern of the boat into the dinghy.  The old knees would certainly enjoy the break.  Magic was also happy to be able to lie on the bow of the boat while garnering all the attention from folks walking down the docks,  Ann was right.  This was a great marina with the nicest people working and living there.

While walking the docks and enjoying the mild temperatures, I noticed a boat named "Lady Anne" from High Point, my hometown. It was a large motor vessel, at least 75 feet if not bigger.  It became my mission to find out who owned it and if I possibly new them from my younger years. While taking Magic for a walk, I noticed a guy loading a truck with a NC licence plate. I walked up to him and introduced myself.  His name was Warren Winchester from none other than Minnesott Beach right across the Neuse river from Matthews Point. It is really a small world.  As we continued to talk, I learned that he was the Captain for Lady Anne. I told him I was from High Point and had seen the boat.  He said, "well the owners are from High Point. They are the Vann Yorks".  I could not believe it! They were my across the street neighbors when I lived on Brighton Avenue with mother and my step father. We continued talking about cruising and crossing to the Bahamas.  He has been cruising the Islands since l986 and willingly shared his experiences with us. WOW!  What a neat and unexpected happening.  You truly never know who you will meet on the way!

After a thoroughly enjoyable stay at Old Port Cove, we continued our journey to Ft. Lauderdale on New Year's Eve.  What is interesting, exciting, and a little daunting about this stretch of the waterway are the 28 bridges. the often narrow concrete-lined waterway and the heavy boat traffic, especially on Holidays and weekends. Did I mention that this was New Year's Eve and a Friday too?! Oh, well! It was a beautiful and warm day on the water so we just sat back and prepared to enjoy the ride. What was to follow was awesome, somewhat tedious and a little nerve wracking at times.  To say it was crowded with lots of boat traffic is an understatement. However, Buck and I both commented that it could have been worse! We really had only one snag along the way. That happened at the Hillsboro Bridge around
4:30 in the afternoon.  The bridge tender, bless his heart, lost control of the traffic and literally could not stop the cars going across the bridge. It was bumper to bumper with cars across the bridge and even with his red lights flashing they wouldn't stop. Eventually with a lot of "assistance" and many unkind words from some of the boaters around us and with his supervisor stepping in to help, the police were called in to stop the traffic so the bridge could open and thus alleviating the boat jam on the ICW

What can I say about Ft. Lauderdale is that I have never in my whole life seen so many big, mega houses and yachts!  Over the next couple of days, we saw homes and yachts owned by famous athletes, Hollywood Stars, and other big-time billionaire business owners and corporations. It was truly spectacular.  Something you want to see once in your life!  Just like navigating the bridges, that was a great experience once!!!  One home was a 28,000 square foot home with 2 people living in it.  I'm sure they could go for days, maybe even weeks, and never see each other.

We anchored in Middle River with Vic and GiGi. We would wait for our weather window to cross to the Bahamas.  Our good friend, Galen was coming on Monday to cross with us.  We are really looking forward to having him on board with us and thank his family for allowing him to come to cross with us!

I talked briefly about our crossing on Tuesday and Wednesday, 1/4and 1/5/2011 in my last short post.  I will say again that it was just spectacular being in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, especially during the night!  There really is nothing in my life that I can compare it to.  I stayed on alert the whole 28 hours looking at every thing in sight and listening to every sound!  We arrived in Nassau Harbor to a glorious blue sky with warm temperatures.  Checking in with Customs went pretty quickly and we were ready to clean-up, both the boat and us, and head to dinner before making it an early evening.  I don't think the 3 adults on the Victoria Gaye got much sleep during the crossing.  However, I can't say the same for Magic. He seemed to sleep just fine with his life jacket on. He acted as if he were on his pillow at home in front of the fire.  Crossing the ocean for the first time did not seem to phase him in the least!

We used our stay in Nassau to do any last minute provisioning since we had a very nice City Market right across the street from our Marina.  Buck and I both were pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness of the city and the kindness of its people - at least those we came in contact with.  We also enjoyed meeting and having dinner with William and Frances on Yacht Alexia.  They are from London which made for a very interesting evening of sharing stories of our past boating experiences.

Another addition to our increasingly long list of "its a small world" happened when we met Bob and Vicki Edelkamp on the S/V First Look.  Vic and GiGi had met them on a previous trip to the Bahamas.  First Look is an Offshore 40. Upon seeing the boat, we recognized it immediately.  We knew her when she lived on the Pamlico River in North Carolina.  Her owner was George Parrish and her name at the time was Wahoo.  During the late 1980's and early 1990's, Buck raced with George on the Wahoo as well as  against her during our racing days in Bath, N.C. Again, what a small, small world.  It was really neat to sit in the cockpit with our friends Vic and GiGi and now our new friends, Bob and Vicki, and just relive those days and those long ago friends on the Wahoo! Sharing these memories was such a special, special evening for both Buck and I!

We left Nassau Harbor Marina at 9:00 on Tuesday, January 11 for the Exumas.  I can't tell you how long we have dreamed of this day!  When we arrived at Allan's Cay, it was like "we finally made it"!!!  All the hard work and efforts over the last 30 years were definitely worth it. To see the look on Buck's face was just priceless! To punctuate the arrival, we were to be treated to the most glorious sunset I think either of us have ever seen!  What a journey thus far and to think that in many ways it is just beginning. Vic keeps saying we haven't seen anything yet as far as the beauty of the different Islands in the Exuma Chain.

I apologize that this post is so long but internet accessibility can be very limited so I will post when I can get it.  It can be slow so posting pictures may or may not be a possibility.

Until next time,
Fair winds!
Vicki, Buck and Magic

Finally Here and Happy New Year!

Yes, we are finally in the Bahamas!  I have been trying to enter a post for several days now but one of the things we have been dealing with in entering a new country is connecting with their internet service.  Even though we are in Nassau until 9:00 this morning, we have not been able to get on internet on our boat.  Thus, I have been walking to Starbucks, only across the street, buying a cup of coffee, and receiving an hour of internet usage.  Hard life but someone has to do it!!!  The crossing last Tuesday was a little rough with 6ft. swells that none of our weather reports predicted.  It did settle down and we ended with a beautiful crossing.  The sunrise Wednesday morning was as beautiful as I have ever seen.  There is really something to say about being in the middle of the ocean.  You are truly one with nature!  I thought I may be a little nervous since this was my first overnight experience in the ocean, but I felt very comfortable with the boat, the Captain(of course), and the crew!  Galen was great crew and we really did appreciate him being there to experience this with us!  Magic really loved having another person on board!  Speaking of Magic, he has been awesome and really been a trooper!  I think he really likes this life and has just adapted so well.  That's what English Cockers do!

This is going to be short because I don't want the others waiting for me. I will post again as soon as I can get internet down the way.  I have so much to share about our final days in the US and our stay in Nassau.  Have taken some good photos too that I will share.

So for now, we are off to Allen's Cay for snorkeling and then on down the Exuma chain!
Until next time -
Fair winds!
Vicki, Buck, and Magic