Mettitt Island FL

Memorial weekend, Christina Sea (N47) and seaDee will cruise down the east coast of Florida. George and Christie will continue on to Marco, hopefully, through the canal, and seaDee will enter the Banana River and tie up at it's new home in Merritt Island FL. Our trip should take 3 days. Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Daytona, Titusville and across the Cape Canaveral Canal to the Banana River.

Marina Village will be seaDee's new home. Photos to follow.

Pete's Pub - Little Harbour

15 miles or so to the South of Boat Harbor, a 2hr cruise on seaDee, is a beautiful, small, fully protected anchorage called Little Harbour. Founded by Randolph Johnston in the 1950s as a art colony, as well as, his home. His son Pete now runs the place, and next to the foundry where artists still work in bronze, is Pete's Pub. It's an open air bar, the main road runs right thru it, that serves a fine grouper sandwich and cold beer.

A path leads you over the hill behind the bar and out to the Atlantic.

My buddy Jim tries his hand at the ring game. Notice the bra hanging on the wooden support on the left. I've been to bars that will cut off your tie if wear one. Pete's, apparently has different rules.

The beach on the other side is a mix of sand and rock carved over time by the Atlantic.

Superbowl in the Bahamas

What a great game. Even more fun to have the Becces onboard for the game. A 3 mile walk in the morning, an afternoon at the pool, followed by burgers on the grill.

Rosalie and Denise (a guest on Wink and Wilma's boat) admire the sites along our walking route

Dressed in full battle gear, Mike watches the game from the lower helm.

Rosalie kept us in the game with pasta in clam sauce. A day in Hopetown was another highlight of their visit.

The weather this week has been outstanding. The day after the superbowl, Wink and Wilma had me out on the reef snorkeling. Crystal clear water and warm sunny days with light winds. Now, if we could just pull a lobster out of a hole.

A day at Great Guana Cay

The settlement at Great Guana Cay is one of the smallest in the central part of Abaco, but is growing. Approx 200 people call this Cay home. The Great Guana reef protects a 5 mile beach. Nippers Bar and Grill overlooks the beach from high atop a dune. These photos are from Nippers. When visiting, be careful of "the Nipper". 4 or more may cause your eyes to permanently cross.

Marsh Harbour, Bahamas

We left Lake Worth, (West Palm Beach) at 5am Sunday Jan 13. Two hours before sunrise. Gentle swells greeted us at the inlet. Winds from the South were forecast, - good for a crossing of the Gulf Stream which is a strong current to the North East at about 3kts. We arrived at the Bahamas Bank about 12:30pm. Beautiful Blue/Green water, 12-15 ft deep signaled the arrival.


We pressed on to Mangrove Cay and anchored for the night. Spanish Cay was our next destination. Only two other boats were in the marina when we docked. Encountered my first problem. When I engauged the bow thruster, nothing happened. Thankfully, I tried it while Wink and Wilma were docking and I was standing off in open water. Even though the winds had picked up, docking was no problem. A night of fishing and drinking followed. We ate our catch and required another night in the marina to recover from the drinking, or, at least I did, and set off for Marsh Harbour.



At Marsh Harbour, we had plenty of help on the dock. Several Great Harbour boaters already here, were waiting for us to help with lines. seaDee and John Henry are secure, and it's nice to be in one place for a couple of days.

From the Bahamas Guide:

Abaco Island has naturally protected waters and dozens of offshore cays covering over 130 square miles of aquamarine water. The Abacos are a pleasure to yachtsmen and fishing enthusiasts. It is referred to as the sailing capital of the world. Here you will find excellent marinas, guides and boats for hire as well as a championship golf course, one of seven in The Bahamas, the others being in Nassau, Freeport, Abaco and Eleuthera.

Abaco is the third most populous island in The Bahamas and bears a resemblance to New England from which it attracts so many of its visitors and winter residents. Marsh Harbour is the commercial centre located on Great Abaco.

Home to the famous red and white striped lighthouse, Abaco with its numerous offshore cays and reef protected waters, once served as a safe harbor for British loyalists during the American Revolution. The first settlement on Abaco Was Carleton Point, located at the northern end of Treasure Cay a luxury resort development. Carleton was settled in 1783 by 600 Loyalists refugees from New York, fleeing the newly independent United States. Now it serves a more useful purpose as the one of the most favorite destinations among yachtsman the world over.

Filled with excellent marinas and boats for hire, not to mention a championship golf course, Abaco truly is a sailor's paradise.Its two major islands, Great Abaco and Little Abaco, have a myriad of small cays flanking the mainland. The sea channel between the islands allows for good cruising. Abaco, located in the northern Bahamas, typically boats pine forests and is frequented by hunters of wild boar and ducks. Its waters abound with fish, including the marlin and sailfish. It also has bonefishing flats.

Other settlements include its northern cays, such as Walker’s Cay and the Grand Cays; Crown Haven and Fox Town in Little Abaco, and Cooper’s Town on Great Abaco; Green Turtle Cay, Hope Town, Moore’s Island, the tourist resort of Castaways Cay, Great Guana Cay, Cherokee Sound, Little Harbour, Hole-in-the-Wall, Sandy Point, Crossing Rock, Spring City and Man-O-War Cay

Goodbye ICW

Red Bank NJ to West Palm Beach FL. My trip on the ICW ends tonight. John Henry and seaDee will depart Lake Worth (West Palm) at 4:30am Sunday and begin our trip to the Bahamas. Our first landfall should be Memory Rock at 1pm Sunday afternoon. Then we'll move across the Bahamas Bank towards Marsh Harbour. We expect to be in Marsh Harbour Monday.

Mosquito Lagoon

Back on the boat after a short trip back to NJ/NYC. Happy New Year! Green Cove Springs to St. Augustine yesterday. A 20 minute trip by car is a 7 hour trip by boat!! Today, we made it to Mosquito Lagoon. We? Traveling with Wink and Wilma on John Henry, a Great Harbour 47. Nice to have a buddy boat. Our plan is to move down the east coast of Florida to West Palm and cross to the Bahamas when we get the right weather.

The trip from Green Cove Springs to St. Augustine took us through downtown Jacksonville

The John Henry (Wink and Wilma's boat) enters St. Augustine harbor

This guy needs to get a better understanding of tides and depth charts

Another beautiful sunset on the water

I've never been successful in capturing a dolphin with the still camera. But, I did get some video!