Monday, April 27, 2015

Dick and Libby Mills - Blogger extrodinaire

Had the pleasure of meeting fellow Westsail 32 owners, Dick and Libby along with a tour of their boat. Dick has a blog for his boat Tarwathie at http://dickandlibby.blogspot.com on the Internet that has to be one of the best around.
They were passing through St Augustine on their way to Green Cove Springs,  where they will buy a car and become land lubbers for the summer.

Monday, April 20, 2015

St Augustine, Florida

Here am I moored at the St Augustine Municipal mooring field.
This is the nations's oldest city and has a real picturesque downtown tourist area opposite the Bridge of Lions.
The marina has a shuttle service so I don't have to row my dinghy against the fierce current here in the river.
And the best part of being back in the USA is the great selection of fruits and vegetables for dinner.

Fox Town, Bahamas to St Augustine, USA

Took me three days to get here with an overnight stop at Daytona  Beach.
I started out heading to Stuart in Florida but the winds were too far south, and with the gulf  stream pushing me north, I would never make the Lake Worth entrance so I headed towards Jacksonville. I started out on a beautiful downhill run and used my nylon honeybee option in a wing on wing configuration.
As I left the Bahamas I stuck my fishing line overboard and was rewarded by a nice sized skipjack tuna for dinner.
My luck ran out with the wind turning northerly opposite Cape Canaveral so I had to turn the motor on and duck into the Ponce de Leon inlet to get out of the swell. I immediately got stuck on a sand bar and had to wait for the tide to turn.
Here is a photo of my solar shower at the end of the day that I use nightly to bathe when not at a marina.
As you can see, it is plenty warm enough.

Here is a video of my trip.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Green Turtle Cay to Fox Town


Had a nice sail yesterday up from Green Turtle Cay with a 15 knot south westerly breeze pushing my Westsail with just the Genoa.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Marsh Harbor to Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos, Bahamas

I continue having a great time here in the Bahamas. Here am I on the hook in White Sound in Green Turtle Cay.
Here are some video clips of my journey

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Marsh Harbor

This is provisioning central for the Abacos, here in the Bahamas.  It has a supermarket that would rival any Walmart and a gigantic hardware store along with lots of marine services for quite reasonable prices.
Onapua is in the center of the photo.

140 mile day from the Exumas to the Abacos

It's not often that you get that perfect sailing day, but yesterday the winds were forecast out of the ENE at 15 knots so I took advantage of it and sailed from Black Point in the Exumas up to Lynyard Cay here in the Exumas. I carried the same set of three sails all day and averaged 6 knots. I did hit a squall around 4 pm at the top of the Exumas, so I reefed my mainsail beforehand and let my Genoa loose when the squall line hit. The rain came down in buckets and the wind died for about ten minutes afterwards and all of a sudden the sea came alive with a display of bonitos jumping.
Today I will head up to Marsh Harbor, just around the corner where I am hoping they will have some desperately needed coffee creamer.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Thunderball Grotto, Staniel Cay, Bahamas

Did some snorkeling at the Thunderball Grotto in Staniel Cay here in the Bahamas.


Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Nassau to Staniel Cay

Three videos of my travels
Next one is my trip south of Nassau

Last one is from Warderick Wells