Waiting to Cross

So, we have spent the last 4 days in Vero Beach. It is an interesting experience meeting all the other cruisers heading to the same or other more southern destinations. The sailing community is very friendly so it’s easy to fall into a conversation with whomever you happen to be standing near. The funny thing is that people remember you by your boat name, not your real name. When you introduce yourself, the first question is “What’s the name of your boat?” And, you gotta love those Canadians. I have counted no less than 12 Canadian flags on boats, and that’s just on our side of the Marina. I even saw one from Winnipeg…how does one get a boat from Winnipeg to Florida you ask...You buy it in Michigan!

We have been working on our boat since arriving here…OK; Lynn has been working on the boat with help from David. He has successfully installed a new engine blower that conked out somewhere in the ocean, crimped the electrical wire that was causing problems and fixed our outboard motor. Today Lynn climbed the mast to fix the halyards for hanging flags (He seems to enjoy doing this but it makes me very nervous).

Unfortunately, Lynn has not been able to get the ice maker working, which, as you can imagine, has been causing a fair amount of angst. We are now planning to order a new ice maker and have it drop shipped to the Bahamas…because goodness knows we would be lost without it! Gini and I have spent our time shopping, cleaning the boat, cooking, doing laundry and, oh yah, sipping afternoon cocktails. I even managed to get some actual work done today (I made the misguided decision to work 12 hours a week)! We also had a nice visit from Todd and Ben, David and Gini’s son and grandson.

We have been having regular meetings with our cruising companions to assess the weather and plan our next leg. We have decided to leave from Fort Pierce, which is 10 miles south of where we are now. We then head out into the ocean in the early afternoon for an 8-12 hour crossing of the Gulf Stream until we reach the Little Bahama Bank entering at Matanilla shoal. Then we head to Great Sale Cay where we will anchor for the night (that’s the next night after spending the first night in the ocean). After that we go to Green Turtle Cay and check into customs. There we will again spend the night and wait for the weather window to navigate around Whale Cay (something we are told it is advisable to respect!) to our final destination of Hope Town Harbor. I was mistaken in my previous blog because I didn’t realize that we have another night at sea. Oh well, that’s OK, we are well rested.

The weather forecast is perfect for the crossing, with winds out of the south to southeast. It is not advisable to cross with any north winds as the water becomes very treacherous. As they say, don’t venture out if you see “elephants” on the horizon…that’s big waves! We are all excited to move on and are anxiously waiting to pull anchor. It will take 3-4 days to get to the next anchorage where we will be able to post a blog.

Meanwhile, our temporary home has been lovely, nestled close to the mangroves with dragonflies hovering and the occasional dolphin surfacing for a breath (Todd confirmed that we are seeing Bottle Nose Dolphins). I do consider myself very lucky to be here.

Important Note: I was rereading a previous blog and realized I neglected to mention that our friends on E dock gave us a great going away party. We had a lovely dinner out followed by a homemade cake, a poem and dancing on Dr. Paul and Diane’s boat. They are a wonderful bunch of boating neighbors!