Friday, May 26, 2017

2017 Abacos Finale

Hello all,

Last input was through day 71.  This input takes us thru returning from the Abacos, closing up Galileo for the summer in Ft. Pierce, to our departure for places north toward Maryland (day 103).

Our last blog input was submitted while at the Green Turtle Marina waiting for a good weather window to be able to make it to Great Sal Cay and onto Ft. Pierce, Florida, but as most boaters know plans change.  The wind did not come out of the right direction, the engine impeller had to be changed half-way thru one of the days, and we decided to not make a night crossing without a full moon.

During the first day out of Green Turtle when the wind turned terrible on the nose we ducked into a new harbor that is being built on Abaco Island for ocean-going freighters.  Impressive, not on the charts, and being built by the Chinese for the Bahamians.  Unfortunately, they would not permit us to stay so off we went.  We stayed at Crab Cay/Angelfish Point.  A very nice private anchorage.
The next day we set sail for Great Sal Cay but then doused the jib and motor sailed with the main sail.  Started to hear more noise than usual from the water muffler which meant we had to change the impeller before proceeding.  Being close to Fox Town we anchored near town and waited a few hours for the engine to cool down so that we could accomplish that task.  Fortunately we found all the broken rubber impeller blades in the changeout process (always a concern to make sure coolant pathway isn't clogged).  After completing this task we were able to continue onto to Great Sal Cay and anchor right before dark.

The next day as we decided we wouldn't be making an overnight crossing back to Ft. Pierce, Florida we proceeded onto West End, Grand Bahama Island where we discovered a huge fishing tournament was about to take place.  We got the last slip.  Later that night we were able to buy tuna from one of the boats, enough for four (4) meals for each of us.  Yummy when fresh like that.

The following day (76 - April 28, 2017) we departed West End at 03:36 am arriving at the Ft. Pierce, Florida Inlet at 16:45 pm with strong winds and an ebbing tide.  Basically we arrived too early. Incoming tide wasn't supposed to start for another 2 hours.  Won't do that anymore.

The fishing lure we showed in our last blog input was not successful.  Oh well.

However, as we approached Florida we were welcomed by a huge pod of dolphins everywhere for at least twenty (20) minutes.  First small (young) ones then larger ones froliced all around us.  Nice.

Going into our marina we discovered that there was a huge dredging operation ongoing in the Intracoastal Waterway which made navigating around all the temporary marks a challenge.

Our 2017 excursion to the Bahamas was rewarding and relaxing.  We stayed longer this year (2 1/2 months) and met many interesting people and attended many community events.  We enjoyed our two (2) month-long stays at the Abaco Beach Club with the Royal Marsh Harbor Yacht Club gang, and on the mooring ball in Hope Town on Elbow Cay.

The weather was very enjoyable but breezy most of the time as the flag below shows:
Now that we were back in Florida, but with nothing pressing schedule-wise, Larry undertook some boat improvement projects over the next three weeks.  During that time Gerry visited with her Mom, brother and wife and their family in Indiana during which our daughter and granddaughter joined them for Mother's Day weekend.

Now we are on our way back to Maryland, We have stopped at our favorite town, Charleston, for the week to relax some more and take care of various medical appointments.

Here we are on top of the Arthur J. Ravenel Bridge with Charleston in the background.  Our first venture up to the top of this bridge.  Impressive.  Windy

Well, that concludes our 2017 Bahamas trip.  We are already making plans for a 2018 return.  See you then for more updates to the great adventures of Team Galileo.


Warmly,

Gerry & Larry