LILY'S LOG

Grand Bahamas being so flat, soon is out of sight.

Goodbye Bahamas. We are off to the United States of America! Contrary to forecasts we have enough wind to sail with the genaker at 8 knots, just as fast as motoring!

After 3 years of having no problems with the aquadrive, time has come to pay attention to those bolts again. Rod finds himself back in the engine room which must be at least a few degrees hotter than the current 34 Celsius it is in the shade… Lucky guy!

On great bahama island we prepare for our 3 day crossing to north carolina

Under way

From no wind to 35 knots lightning fest and downpour for 20 harrowing minutes. Don’t we love sailing!

We are only a 100 miles from Palm Beach Florida. But after reaching Grand Bahamas we will head into the great Gulf Stream by-passing Florida and ride the strong north north east current towards North Carolina for about 500 miles which would take 70 hours.

BBQ ribs and home made mash potatoes for dinner at the Berry Islands. Today we have no wind and loads of rain showers as we motor on 80miles north west to our last Bahamian stop of West End, Grand Bahamas. The red blobs on the radar show more downpours on our path to look forward [...]

Look at those teeth. This barracuda was easily unhooked and released. Light winds make for a slow 10 hour downwind sail with the genaker from Nassau to the chain of very small islands called the Berry Islands. Rod begins to watercolor our new-boat project…

After a day and night of tremendous rain and thunder we fuel up and at low tide just make it under the 2 bridges out the west harbor entrance of Nassau.

We tie up in Nassau Harbor Club and marina just minutes before the huge gusty downpour of crackling Thunder and lightning so close we thought a strike was imminent. The so called clubs bar and restaurant have been closed down for years and the famous Poopdeck failed to impress us. Nassau traffic jams are infamous [...]

The Bahamas have positively surprised us. We might not be alone this time in this small anchorage of a narrow channel just over 2 metres depth but it is still enchanting with again the clearest waters of mostly sandy bottom. Here in Allan Cay live the only remaining iguanas in the Bahamas. We are sailing [...]

In Highborne Cay fisherman dump in the waters fish guts eagerly chomped by dozens of nurse sharks

With difficulty getting the hook out and avoiding those sharp teeth, the Great Barracuda is finally released alive in the Exuma Banks.

Fearless birds come for breakfast

We follow the trail in the park and come upon the shy rodents hotias, a nurse shark, crabs and delicate mangroves.

Rod catches of the day are 1 Bar jack, 2 Blue runners and 1 Barracuda in Exuma Sound. We released all of them as none good eatin apparently. Today no wind. The Sound is flat. First time motoring in a long while.

Flat seas across the Exuma Sound thru Wardericks Wells Cut wide and deep enough for our boat. Tide coming in creating tricky currents first against us then with us. Captain Rod stears beautifuly into the narrow channel of the Exuma Park. We are thankful for the mooring and find ourselves in one of the most [...]

On west side of Cat Island we anchor off of Fernandez Bay where we meet lovely couple Sooner and Matt from Colorado at small cozy relaxed resort where we indulge in a few local Kalik beers.

Rod picks a lure and almost catches a leaping swordfish, laura bakes bread. Clear sandy waters on Conception Island.

Not much going on here in Clarence Harbor. Pleasant quietness and a bit forgotten from the world. Rod changes the generator oil and we replace a broken block.

We escape the waves for a day and follow up on some repairs at the marina of Clarence town.

A bit of civilization at last in our first marina in 3 weeks in Clarence Harbor on Long Island Bahamas. Half a dozen people in the local bar and restaurant form a crowd. The longed for burger was eaten so fast there was barely time to shoot the fries! Big waves, a few rain showers [...]

We discover there is not much meat to crabs. Lots of green and brown goop. Still, crab rissotto is on the menu!

Dramatic skies in the bay of so called Attwood harbor. The crabs are in the pot.

On our walk to the point we sink into fine sand and pick our way thru a carpet of old washed up shellfish and conch shells.

Surprise in the bushes along the beach. Huge CRABS! A washed up bucket serves us well and after a little chase we catch two.

Sixty mile sail to the north tip of Acklins island to find sheltered deserted anchorage with sandy clear waters. This is the Bahamas we came for!