So of course we found the marine store right away. The dinghy motor Jeff was wanting had a dealer demo model at a much reduced priced so we now have a new dinghy motor
After we got back, we had a brief rainfall and then a beautiful bright rainbow in the Montagu Bay.
We left Hoffman Cay well after sunrise this morning on our way to Nassau.
The ride across was a bit choppy!
We found our anchor spot right outside of the Harbour behind Blue Lagoon island. The forecast is for rain tomorrow.
The weather finally warmed up and calmed down so we decided to leave Great Harbour Cay Marina. We got a sign pic yesterday while we were biking around. Although we are both smiling, this has to be one of our least favorite marinas so far.
Made it to Hoffmann Cay and it was a nice change of pace from the marina. We got here about 3:00 and there were three other boats here – a few we recognized from the marina. It’s a calm evening tonight.
The wind was pretty fierce last night and sleep was hard to come by. There was something banging outside all night that kept us awake. At one point Jeff thought that our dinghy’s oar got loose but luckily that was not the case.
Today we pretty much stayed inside since it was a bone chilling 55 degrees outside. We had a full moon tonight.
We are definitely staying put for the weekend with the weather forecast looking very windy and cold! Today we biked to the hardware store in town.
While Jeff was shopping I visited with a local fisherman. from Freeport. He was a lobster fisherman and said his best day he caught over 800 pounds of lobster. That would be about 500 to 800 lobsters!
The hardware store run was a bust. Back to the marina for the evening.
We borrowed a couple of the bikes at the marina and made our way to the beach.
It was a beautiful day – mid 70s. No indication of the storm that’s about to hit tomorrow.
Around 8 am we left the rocky Coco Cay and planned to go to Spanish Wells – a distance of about 70 miles. However about 20 minutes, we decided not to beat our way across and find something closer to ride out the upcoming storm. We were heeling between 15 to 20 degrees and the spray was pounding over the top of our bow. So we changed course and went around the top of Coco Cay and made our way to Great Harbour Marina. We had quite a mess below!
We had a couple of dolphins welcome us into the marina.
We had a fun dinner with fellow sailors at the restaurant at the Grand Bahama marina and enjoyed their good stories. Our two day stay at the marina was perfect – pool, groceries, flowers, laundry, showers and a pizza!
After debating whether or not to wait out the upcoming storm at the marina or Spanish Wells, we made the decision to go for it. We are going to stop at Coco Cay tonight and on to Spanish Wells tomorrow.
Jeff took down the main about 20 miles to Coco Cay because we thought a storm might be on the horizon.
Here we are – somewhat of a rolly anchorage spot but we are in for the night.
We left our abandoned development, Ginn Sur Mer, right around 9:00 am.
Below is an undated article from their website announcing what was supposed to be there. Now it’s just a super long canal – but a great anchorage spot!
Motor-sailed our way down to Grand Bahama Marina in Freeport. It was a nice day for boating – we arrived around 2:00. I found the pool while Jeff washed off the salt from Rita.
We celebrated Captain Jeff’s birthday on the 23rd of January in southern Florida out at anchor on Rita. We had crab cakes and a carrot cakes that I smuggled out of Vero Beach.
We had a video chat with the family and they sang a very special rendition of “Happy Birthday”. 😆
After the birthday celebration was over, we travelled south to Lake Worth. It was a Saturday, beautiful weather and lots of boats and bridges. Traffic was particularly crazy in Jupiter Florida. We were glad to get out of there!
After stopping at the marina in West Palm Beach for water and gas, we motored to Lake Worth and put out the anchor about 4:00. Jeff took a short nap before our crossing. We ended up leaving about 8:00 pm
From there we crossed the Gulf Stream to West End on Grand Bahama and arrived Sunday the 25th about 9:00 am. This crossing was MUCH ROUGHER than our first one. Our first crossing was smooth and a full moon. This one was lumpy, wavy, dark and LONG! (Or so it seemed). Total time took about 13 hours.
Here’s our floor after our rocky, rolly crossing.
But it was worth it when we got here! Blue sky, blue water and 70 degree weather.
After we passed immigration, we travelled a little farther South and anchored in an abandoned development we stayed in last year. Saw my first sea turtle and I got in a little dinghy driving practice. Tomorrow we are off to Grand Bahama Marina
