June 13, 2015
This morning we returned to Twin Dolphin Marina in Bradenton (our old slip again) after completing our 2014-15 Bahamas Cruise.
We spent almost 6 months in the Bahamas visiting the Abacos, Eleuthera, Cat Island, and the Exumas.
We had a great time, the highlight of the trip was spending time with our Bahamian friends and 'family'. We have several relationships in which both sides call each other family - what a special bond. We will miss them and God-willing will see them next year.
Our return trip was long (568 nautical miles) and the weather was not favorable. We left Black Point, Exuma on May 29th and arrived in Bradenton today. We had an unplanned 5-day layover in Bimini due to the potential of a Tropical Storm in South Florida, but were otherwise underway each day, typically facing some squally weather. On the final leg of our trip as we were crossing Tampa Bay, we had one of the worst squalls we have ever experienced with torrential rain and 40 knot winds. We ended up 'killing time' for 30-40 minutes while the squall passed before we entered the narrow Manatee River Channel. There is some truth in the old saying "It is not the ocean that kills you - it is the hard things around the edges!", but motoring slowly in a high traffic area with zero visibility (visual or radar) is nerve racking.
Until next year!
Tom
Docked Twin Dolphin Marina
Bradenton, FL
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Monday, June 1, 2015
Small Change in Plans - We are in Bimini
June 1, 2015
For two reasons we did not proceed all the way from the Exumas to Miami as outlined in the previous post, but rather terminated our planned final leg in Bimini. We are currently docked at Weech's Dock in North Bimini.
The reasons are inter-related. There is a significant chance of a early season tropical storm (it would be 'Bill') forming near South Florida or in the Bahamas later this week. Our weather router advised vessels to seek a secure anchorage by no later than Tuesday. While we easily could have reached Miami before then, we were unable to secure a mooring at our preferred Coconut Grove Sailing Club. This would have probably forced us to stay at the not-that-well-protected Dinner Key Moorings - something we were not excited about.
We will probably stay here until the weekend when the storm track will be clearer and hopefully past us.
On a positive note, our first three legs went well:
For two reasons we did not proceed all the way from the Exumas to Miami as outlined in the previous post, but rather terminated our planned final leg in Bimini. We are currently docked at Weech's Dock in North Bimini.
The reasons are inter-related. There is a significant chance of a early season tropical storm (it would be 'Bill') forming near South Florida or in the Bahamas later this week. Our weather router advised vessels to seek a secure anchorage by no later than Tuesday. While we easily could have reached Miami before then, we were unable to secure a mooring at our preferred Coconut Grove Sailing Club. This would have probably forced us to stay at the not-that-well-protected Dinner Key Moorings - something we were not excited about.
We will probably stay here until the weekend when the storm track will be clearer and hopefully past us.
On a positive note, our first three legs went well:
- Black Point to Highbourne was a great sail/motor-sail
- Highbourne to West Bay was a motor-sail with light following wind
- West Bay to the NW Channel was a great motor sail and we proceeded motoring through the night across the Bank and to a morning arrival here in Bimini.
We have not been to Bimini in a while and are looking forward to our short stay here, after we rest up a bit from covering over 200 miles in the last 3 1/2 days.
Tom
Docked Weech's Bimini Dock
Alice Town
North Bimini
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)