Heading home through Ábacos

 Mon 1st Apr 2024 - There was a mass exit of +/- 30 boats leaving the staging area anchorage before sunrise this morning, we’re all heading to the Abacos. Exciting times! We hosted our Code Zero sail to begin our journey but eventually the wind disappeared and we resorted to engines. There was a bottle neck as all 30 vessels transited the first cut into the Abacos Bay, who needs that? We continued on for a few more hours north and entered the bay via Tilloo cut, closer to Marsh Harbor. Fishing was a little more productive today, Rob at least hooked a huge marlin which he involuntarily ‘released’ after several seconds 🎣 We know it was a marlin as we both watched it tail walk in spectacular fashion, probably just to taunt us. 🐟 What an adrenaline rush, too bad Rob was not able to land it but he said it was too big for our fishing gear anyway. 🤷‍♀️ Marlin are a catch and release fish,  never dinner. Once we were in the bay we anchored in the southern part of Elbow Cay for the night. 

Tue 2nd Apr 2024 - Woke up to a quiet morning though according to the meteorologist there is another storm expected later this week. Why, why why? Just because. 🙄 We are in a cycle of 1 cold front per week where the wind goes through a 360 degree direction change accompanied by a storm. The trade winds have not arrived this year, yet. It’s great to be back in the Abacos after two years. Completed a couple of boat chores followed by an exploratory dinghy ride, and walked along the Atlantic side of the island - oh my what a beautiful setting. Stopped for lunch at the Abaco Inn. Elbow Cay is undergoing transformation as there are many new houses along the bay. During our last visit hurricane damage was still very apparent, it is looking much improved.

Wed 3rd Apr 2024 - Another beautiful day in paradise! Though honestly this season has been quite challenging with all the “winter” storms coming our way. We keep thinking it will slow down as the worst winter months are behind us, but they keep rolling in. Another wet, windy, boat-bound few days ahead of us. Though we suppose it’s a better winter storm than those happening in the north east of the US, so we are fortunate. But those folks aren’t on a boat. 🤣 

Thu 4th Apr 2024 - Windy and wet again today. Mal viento, like you can’t get off the boat type of wind. 🤦‍♀️ In the afternoon the wind dropped off but it still rained on and off. We just chilled.

Fri 5th Apr 2024 - Sunny today but the water is still quite choppy so we pulled up anchor and motored to the west side of the bay close to Marsh Harbour. Our friends Candy and Mike, on their boat Phoenix, were just ahead of us pulling into the anchorage. Nice to see them again! Small world, this cruising lifestyle. We dinghy’ed to the Ferry dock and walked to a restaurant close to the town. The town is definitely looking better than 2 years ago, rebuilding post hurricane is in full swing everywhere you look. Of course it’s nice to see, but also always the thought “until the next hurricane 🌀 comes around”. ☹️

Sat 6th Apr 2024 - So calm, a beautiful sunrise this morning. Hard to believe that the water is probably choppy on the other side of the bay, just because of wind direction. Decided to stay here and wait for the right wind direction before heading to Elbow Cay again, really want to go to Hope Town! Took the dinghy to shore and went for a nice long walk, saw some dolphins when heading back to the boat. 🐬

Sun 7th Apr thru Mon 8th Apr 2024 - We headed to Marsh Harbor Marina for a few days to get some provisioning before we start our long trek homeward bound. Marsh Harbor is a beautiful harbor but usually packed full of boats so we didn’t want to take a chance on anchoring. We went to the best grocery store in the Bahamas (on a Sunday, nogal) and got great fresh produce (and some chocolate) which should last us until we get back to the east coast of the US. 🥬🫑🍅🫒🍌🍫

Tue 9th Apr 2024 - Headed to Hope Town, one of our favorite places in the Bahamas! Anchored just outside with a view of the iconic peppermint candy striped lighthouse. So pretty. Will venture into town tomorrow.

Wed 10th Apr 2024 - We went into Hope Town, excited to see what it looked like as the last time we were here it was still looking pretty bad after the most recent hurricane. A lot of rebuilding has happened in the 2 years since we were last there, so lovely: The pretty pastel colored homes and quaint little streets. We went to Vernon’s store and managed to snag the last Lemon Meringue Pie; an icon in the Bahamas, when walking down the street afterwards we get comments like “you got the pie!”. 👏 We walked around the town for a while and also went over to the beach on the ocean side which is always stunning. We had lunch at a little restaurant overlooking all the boats in harbor and saw our friends on Ohana Kai pass by to find an anchor spot. So many boats in that area all crammed together, something us nervous Nellie’s would never do in our boat. 🫨 We just anchor way out and dinghy in. On the way out we stopped by Ohana Kai to say hi to Chrissy and Eric, passing a lot of dolphins in the harbor and also on the way back out to our boat. 🐬  Had some great Lemon Meringue Pie back on the boat, such a treat cause Bahamians don’t do baking very well (or at all!). 🍋

Thu 11th April 2024 - Windy again today, shocker! The crazy season continues. Starting to plot our way home, though needless to say it will probably be slow this year due to weather patterns. 

Fri 12th Apr 2024 - Poured with rain this morning for a few hours, just enough to get everything wet. 😬 It was a pancake-for-breakfast kind of morning and that’s what we had! 🥞 Once the weather cleared up we pulled up anchor and headed north to Great Guana Cay. We took the dinghy to shore and went for a walk, as with everywhere else in the Ábacos the changes since we were last here is pretty significant. It looks like a real little town now and there was a lot of activity. We stopped by one of our favorite beach restaurants called Grabbers and had some pizza. 🍕 Nice ambiance. Back on the boat we had a really relaxing, calm evening with no wind. We commented on it because it has been such a rarity this season. 🙏

Sat 13th Apr 2024 - Left early this morning to do the Whale Cut to head further north. This is a section of the north route through the Abacos where you have to go out to the ocean side as the sound is too shallow and this cut is known to be somewhat treacherous in rough weather. The outgoing cut was pretty rough even though it wasn’t really windy and fortunately the trip is quite short so we toughed it out. The inbound cut was a little better and we are safely anchored just outside the Green Turtle Cay settlement. Took the dinghy down and went for a nice long dinghy ride exploring all the inlets around here before heading into town to dump some garbage. Walked around the town before going for lunch at the Pineapple Bar and Grill with Mike and Candy. And a long lunch it was with quite a few cocktails, great time had by all! 🍻🍹That is probably our last stop in the Bahamas with any civilization, most of the islands further north don’t have settlements. 

Sun 14th Apr 2024 - Headed out early to continue north, some wind so we were able sail. Stopped at Allen Pensacola Cay for the night, very nice quiet anchorage. Saw a lot of dolphins in the late afternoon. 🐬

Mon 15th Apr 2024 - Another perfect morning, the meteorologist says that the next week is great weather in the Abacos. Finally! But we are headed home, go figure. 🤦‍♀️ It is also great weather for crossing so we headed to Great Sale Cay thinking that we would stage there for our passage across the Gulf Stream. When we got to the Cay all the boats that were there last night were gone, including our friends Mike and Candy on their beast (it’s a big boat!) Phoenix. Reached out and she said they had left an hour earlier, so we just decided to continue. 🤷‍♀️ Got the sails up (including our Code Zero), engines off and off we go. Very flat waters, we were even able to cook on board which doesn’t happen very often on passage. The first part of the passage is through the northern sound of the Bahamas where the water is still shallow, miles and miles of nothing except Mike and Candy on Phoenix in the distance. Candy sent us a picture of Muti with our black Code Zero flying high. Once we hit the Gulf it gets really deep and probably a lot busier.

Tue 16th Apr 2024 - During the graveyard shift dark hours of the morning we hit the Gulf Stream. Not busy at all, which is strange. And quite cold for this time of the year off the coast of  Florida, though it warmed up quite quickly when the sun came up. Since the current in the Gulf Stream moves north we are going much faster than usual today, but we do have one motor on as there isn’t a lot of wind. Every little bit helps and we’re making good distance to avoid stopping in most of the places in Florida (expensive and busy). Still no traffic on the water, we saw only one cargo ship during the day. Usually we see a lot of cruise ships at Cape Canaveral but not this trip. 🤷‍♀️ Rob was so bored on passage today that he decided to bake us a sourdough bread. 🥖 👏 Rob put out some fishing lines out back, but the fish wouldn’t even bite. What’s a man to do but bake. 😁 One more cargo ship passed us in the night.

Wed 17th Apr 2024 - A quiet, uneventful graveyard shift. The wind died completely in the early morning hours, the ocean was as smooth as glass. BUT when we took the cut into Fernandina Beach FL we were met with 20 knot gusts S-SE. A little hard to anchor in that 😬 but we did it! 🎯 Took three tries though. 🫣 Looking at the color of the water 🤮 it’s hard not to miss the Bahamas. But hurricane season will soon be here and at least we are stateside 🇺🇸 again, it was a long passage (53 hours). Looking forward to putting our feet on solid ground soon, but first: REST. 😴 Hmmm, not yet. Due to opposing wind and current directions Rob was concerned about us being too close to the abandoned, derelict boat anchored next to us. 😱 So we pulled up anchor at 9:30pm, in the dark and howling wind and moved further away from that boat.  It goes without saying that all of the above is NEVER a good idea. 😳🤦‍♀️We moved into more current which caused Muti to rotate around the anchor so we had to watch to make sure the anchor wasn’t dragging until the tide turned and the current and wind calmed down at about 11pm. 😓

Thu 18th Apr 2024 - Calm waters and no wind this morning. Was last night a dream?? 🤯 A lot of bugs (tiny gnats) everywhere outside. 🦟 🫣 Checked into Fernandina Harbor  Marina for a few nights, walked into the town for Chicken Tostada salads and some drinks. And ice cream.🍦

Fri 19th Apr 2024 - We stopped by the local coffee shop to get our first coffee specialty drinks in 6 months (latte for Gerda, cortada for Rob) ☕️. The little things we miss. 🥴 We went for a long walk to do some provisioning. Quiet afternoon on the boat doing some chores.

Sat 20th Apr 2024 thru Tue 23rd Apr 2024 - Looks like there is a lot of north wind in the forecast for the foreseeable future which prevents us from continuing north. We moved into the mooring field and picked up a ball so that we can be off the dock but still be able to get to shore by dinghy. We went for long walks on Amelia Island, sometimes through some local parks and sometimes just to the grocery store. 😁 We enjoyed a local Mexican restaurant in the town a few times, joined by our friends Mike and Candy the last day. We all laughed as we discussed how ugly the water is here, how spending time in the Bahamas for 5-6 months has spoilt us for the beautiful turquoise waters. Weather-wise we had some crazy windy conditions with currents flowing in the opposite direction, causing the mooring ball to be below the boat knocking at the hull throughout the night.  And did I mention on top of this it also poured with rain for a day? 💨💦 

Wed 24th Apr 2024 - Left early this morning, headed to Charleston. It is quite nippy for this time of the year 🥶, another weird weather pattern. Usually when we head north after a season it is spring and the cold weather is gone. The trip is just over 24 hours. No wind at all during the day. Rob caught a little Dorado but he said it was too small to eat so he let it go. 🎣 🐟 A huge school of dolphins swam by on our starboard side. 🐬 Rob caught a few more fish that were not edible and let them go. Just before sunset another dolphin was spotted surfing our bow. 🐬 By this time the wind had picked up and we had switched the engines off and were sailing. Rob was trying to slow the boat down by trimming the sails, we didn’t want to get to Charleston before sunrise! It was a long night for Rob as the wind direction kept changing so the sails had to be adjusted all the time, something that is not in Gerda’s wheelhouse. 😬 Also, at some point during Gerda’s night watch a huge cargo ship was headed directly towards us. When motoring Gerda can adjust the course as needed but since the engines were off and we were sailing Rob had to be woken to come and change course by adjusting the sails to go in another direction (and once again change course when the cargo ship had passed). 🫨

Thu 25th Apr 2024 - It was a beautiful (almost) full moon night on the water. We arrived at the Charleston cut in the early morning. On the way to the Cooper River marina we saw a lot of dolphins, they seem to really like it here as we always see them in this location.🐬 Settled into the marina mid-morning, will be here for a few days as the north wind is starting again. 

Fri 26th Apr 2024 - Nice cloudy morning. Boat chore day. Though Rob did bake us a sourdough bread which is always worth mentioning. 🥖😁

Sat 27th Apr 2024 - Dusted off our bikes and headed to downtown Charleston for an outing. 🚴🏻🧋Saw some dolphins next to the marina again. 🐬 

Sun 28th Apr 2024 - Heading north again! Goodbye Charleston with its iconic USS Yorktown naval aircraft carrier ship in the harbor. Not much wind in the forecast though we did put the sails up as we want to go slower than our usual speed so that we can get there during daylight. The ocean swell was quite significant though so we were rocking back and forth which always creates worry in Gerda’s mind: Will I get seasick or not? Do I take something or not? The best way to avoid seasick is to prevent it rather than try to address it once it occurs. 🤮 Never fun. Gerda ended up putting that patch behind her ear when she felt sick after deciding to go downstairs for a quick shower. Probably not the best idea. 😬

Mon 29th Apr 2024 - The swell diminished a little overnight, but still here in the morning. very strange because there is still NO wind. A huge school of dolphins swam past us as we were having our breakfast. 🐬 By the afternoon the swell had settled but still no wind. Overnight the seas settled down with a little bit of wind, this suited us as we were able to slowly sail to ensure we only get there after sunrise. 

Tue 30th Apr 2024 - In the early hours of the morning the seas flattened out so easy motoring. Arrived in Beaufort with its very quaint downtown, a nice place to spend the day waiting for the weather window to make the final (always) precarious Hatteras passage. 

Wed 1st May 2024 - Started our final passage, headed around Cape Hatteras. Dolphins swam by as if to wave us off. 🐬 Not much wind for the first part but as we turned the corner of the first shoal we were able to put the sails up and turn off the engines. Rob caught a Wahoo which apparently is quite edible, but it slid off the sugarscoop when Rob was trying to find the alcohol to kill it. Lucky fish! 🎣 Hopefully there is another one in our future. Then he caught a little Tunny, apparently edible but hard to prepare so back into the ocean it went! 🎣😮‍💨 Beautiful sunset tonight. 🌅 Saw some more dolphins just before dark, they are everywhere along the east coast! 🐬

Thu 2nd May 2024 - Very little wind and reasonable swell in the ocean continued throughout the night, definitely preferable for this passage! 🙏 Turned the corner of Cape Hatteras in the early morning hours.  A few hours later, just before sunrise the water was as smooth as glass and it was foggy. And it got pretty chilly. 🥶 But then the sun came up, just beautiful over the smooth water. It warmed up fast after that. Also, more dolphins came to say hi! 🐬Which is more than we can say for boats, we didn’t see a single one during daylight hours. 🤷‍♀️ Saw a beautiful sunset, our last on passage for this season. As we arrived closer to Chesapeake Bay in the dark we finally saw some life! Many cargo ships anchored outside the entrance and the lights of Virginia Beach on the shore. 

Fri 3rd May 2024 - So much traffic at the entrance into Chesapeake Bay! We managed somehow to navigate the cargo ships in the dark. We motored the whole passage as there was no wind, that changed once we got into the bay. The sails were hoisted for the last few hours of our trip. Beautiful sunrise with many anchored cargo ships on the horizon, all waiting to go somewhere as soon as it’s light enough. 🌅 As are we….waiting to go somewhere. After dodging a minefield of crab pots (some even in the channel, nogal), we anchored outside the marina where Muti will be hauled out for the summer and safe from hurricanes. Then we can head home. 👏 That’s a wrap for this season! 👋

Peace out