BEACH? BAHAMAS? YES!!!!!

Our first view of land after 13 hours of cruising across the Atlantic...BAHAMAS....YA MAN! 

No internet these past fews days because we've been moving and shaking...and I do mean 'shaking'!!! 

Pelican Rose has begun another new adventure and is once again starting a life of cruising.  She has seen the Great Loop as Sea Dog with her 'birth parents' Julie & Roland.  Now she has made her way to the Grand Bahama Yacht Club under her new name, Pelican Rose with her adoptive parents, Peter and Thai.

http://www.grandbahamayc.com/

To back up on some history of our sudden arrival here....

Saturday January 29, we arrived at 3pm in Vero Beach...otherwise known as Velcro Beach because most boats arriving do not want to leave. 
We made a dash to anchor the boat (our ROCNA is 100%!) and launch the dinghy, loading it with our shopping gear....headed into shore to register and catch the local bus to take us to West Marine and Publix grocery store. 
The bus had finished it's runs for the day....for the weekend actually and West Marine was closed anyway. 
We showered, did laundry, had a BBQ and went to bed early.

Sunday we were up before the sun and hauled anchor, intending to get to Stuart, Florida. 
We departed at 7am and were making good time. 
LOTS of dolphins riding our bow and our wake waves.  They greeted us everywhere and were just so wonderful to observe. 

I looked ahead on the charts and saw that there was a fairly good inlet (St Lucie) that we 'could' make our first trek off the ICW and out onto the ocean.  I suggested this to Peter, we checked everything out and got some local knowledge from our Boat Tow US service....and out we went!

entrance to Haulover Canal

new C120W chartplotter showing our route to Lake Worth



shallows at our exit from the ICW to the ocean - St Lucie Inlet



A straight run south with no issues, and we surprisingly managed to make it all the way to Lake Worth at 4pm. 

Lake Worth was insane....boats and people everywhere, wakes all across the inlet....it was like arriving in downtown Toronto during rush hour.  We instantly disliked everything about the place. 

THIS JUST IN!   Robert and Cathy aboard their s/v B'n'G actually witnessed our arrival at Lake Worth and graciously took the following pictures and emailed them to us just as I was writing up this blog!  THANK YOU!!!!!  Hope to catch you both at some date anywhere, anytime!  Fair winds mates!
http://www.whereisbandgnow.com/Where_is_B_%26_G_now/Welcome.html


We topped off our fuel tanks with......$979 in diesel.  Pelican Rose eats caviar, we eat Kraft Dinner. 

The easiest anchorage was immediately to the south, so we dropped anchor and the view was directly into a marina jammed with multi-million dollar yachts.  Some of them had been shrink wrapped....several stories high!


big boats shrink wrapped



                               

I checked the current weather forecast, and just as I had forecast to Peter a month before, the day we arrived at Lake Worth we would have the perfect weather window. 

We made the decision to leave that very night at 1am and it was now 6pm, after a very long day of travel, including Peter's first ocean run through an inlet. (currents along with tide impact, are very strong and you do not just drive out the channel)
Peter checked the oil and I made ready for an immediate departure as soon as our alarm would sound off at 1am.

And so it was....off we went out into the great Atlantic Ocean at 1am in the night, and spent the next 13 hours heading into changing seas, currents and winds. 

I found it a not so difficult ride, but Peter was immediately not impressed.  If ever he thought he would like to circumnavigate the ocean, that dream has quickly been erased with a smile. 

There is quite a difference being out on the ocean in a sailing vessel vs a trawler.  You sit up higher on the flybridge in a trawler, so you also then experience more action...back and forth and side to side.  We did. 
Our new inherited coffee carafe was sent careening across the boat and coffee was sloshed across our upper deck. 
The entire trip was always 'one hand for the boat' to keep steady. 
The last part of our journey was the worst.  Once we rounded past West End, Bahamas, the ocean became very rough with high waves that pounded our hull every 3 seconds.  We were in water over 2000 feet deep and it registered 81F.

We happened to know that Ed & Deb of Ariel at Home, had arrived at the Grand Bahama Yacht Club just 24 hours ahead of us.  While our intention had been to check into Customs and Immigration at West End, we decided to spend a few extra hours and make our way further east and surprise them by arriving at the same location they were in....we ended up almost directly in front of their boat on the same dock...and they were very surprised.  We hope that it was a 'good' surprise!? 




Deb waving aboard Ariel at Home

 The sun is shining, the windows are all open, we are in bare feet and shorts...and I am sitting on the upper flybridge writing this blog, sipping (another) rum and coke.  Life is good.
Last nite we enjoyed 'happy hour' (Julie and Roland...you KNOW what that means!) and I tried conch fritters for the first time.  Not bad....after a few wobblypops!

We will meet with Ed & Deb for a fish fry tonite (I shall bring along a peanut butter sandwich....I don't do fish thank you very much!) and discuss plans to exit this location.  As we are all heading to the BVI's, we suggested we buddy up and go as far together as we can.  We can travel faster than their sailboat, but they have experienced some of this area and they have an 8 person liferaft.  The fact that they are both extraordinarily super fabulous, it just sounds like a smart plan.  Safety in numbers, right? 

Til next time folks, hope you are not all snowed in with the forecast for the biggest storm of the year.  But seriously, do you REALLY think we care? Muwhahaha!

Grand Bahama Yacht Club bar - note the boat shape...cool!

my new Pelican Rose jacket from Peter

Truly Canadian

 

Pelican Rose in her slip on the right, Grand Bahama Yacht Club

Pool at Grand Bahama

5 foot long tarpon under the boats today

blogging to family and friends from the flybridge at Grand Bahama Yacht Club....ain't life grand?  Retirement at it's BEST!