The Trawler Beach House

Our time in Stuart was short, but it gave us a chance to visit with friends. The time to depart is always too soon, but our long, slow trek north to the Chesapeake had to begin. We took on about 200 gallons of that "cheap" U.S. diesel at Mariner Cay Marina. It was the least expensive we could find in Manatee Pocket. The night before had been stormy, but the morning broke sunny and light winds. It didn't give us a hint at what would lie ahead for us later in the day. One thing we have learned in transiting the Intracoastal Waterway over many years is that you never know what the day will bring. There is always a surprise just around the bend.

We are often asked how difficult it is to travel long distances on the Intracoastal Waterway in a boat. What size boat is ideal for doing the waterway? What equipment is needed? How long will it take? How many miles can be covered in a day? What will it cost? There really are no easy answers and there are no right or wrong answers. It's almost like asking, "How long is a piece of string?" We have done the Atlantic ICW so many times now that we have lost count. We have also done a couple of transits of the Gulf Coast Intracoastal Waterway and have a few ideas on what it takes and what works for us.

We left the small harbor on the south end of Manjack Cay with the idea that we would go to Great Sale Cay and then on to West End to stage for our crossing back to the U.S. The anchor was up and we were underway at 7:00 am after the weather guru assured everyone that winds would be light but out of the west, the direction we needed to travel. As we crossed over to the shores of Great Abaco, it was apparent that the light westerlies were more in the 15-knot range, and given our boat speed of at least 7 knots, the apparent wind was 22 knots. We have a hard rule - no transits in wind speeds that are 20 or higher. In the distance, we counted over a dozen other boats that had left Green Turtle and were all heading off to Great Sale. By the time we were underway for less than an hour, we knew this wasn't going to be a day we wanted to travel. But the forecast from the weather guru also said the winds would begin dropping about midday and become light and variable.

Beach House and crew had a great time at Green Turtle Cay, but it was time to move on and we had to do a little business. We headed out of Black Sound and of course it was almost at low tide. But the lowest depth in the channel was 5.9 feet and that was only in one spot. The winds had picked up early and we would be heading into about 10 to 12 knots right on the nose. Inside the Sea Of Abaco, the wind waves are small so it was not an uncomfortable ride. It would only be about an hour before we dropped anchor in a small, very shallow bay at the west end of Manjack Cay. The part of the bay we anchored in is not for drafts over 4 feet at low tide. There is a deeper anchorage off a small beach near the western tip that can carry up to 6 feet at low tide.

From Treasure Cay, there are two routes to get over to Green Turtle Cay. One is a route which takes you out of the Sea of Abaco, around Whale Cay on the outside, and back into the Sea of Abaco. This route is very dependent on the conditions outside Whale Cay since the route is through a reef system and large ocean swells can build as they approach the shallow water, making for some very hazardous seas. During the morning cruisers net on VHF channel 68, the reports for Whale and some of the other cuts are given to boaters planning to make the transit. There is another option for shallow-draft boats, but it can only be done safely at high tide. This is known as the Don't Rock Passage, named after the large rock at the entrance to the passage on the east side called appropriately, Don't Rock. We received reports from boaters that were using the Don't Rock Passage for the last few days that the lowest depths at low tide was 5.8 feet over the bar near Don't Rock about an hour before high tide.

Treasure Cay in the Abacos is indeed a treasure. UNLESS you don't enjoy walking on one of the top 10 beaches in the world (previously chosen by National Geographic), or you don't find security in a great harbor that offers good holding and 360-degree protection, or you aren't looking for one of the least expensive and relaxing locations in the Bahamas. Yes, I did say least expensive because we have found Treasure Cay to be the best deal in our Bahamas trip so far, and for several good reasons.

Beach House and crew had a fabulous time at Hope Town. We made new friends and walked a lot of miles up and down the streets as well as a really long walk on the beaches. It is good to know that a tradition we saw 20 years ago when we first visited here is still being carried on - the tribute to beach junk. It was here we first saw artistic monuments to the trash found along the beaches. But all good things must come to an end and we had other places we wanted to see. After our normal morning weather checks, which actually take us a couple of hours, we paid our bill, topped off the water tanks and stowed everything on the boat for the very long, one-hour trip over to Man O' War. Several other boats were heading out of the harbor at the same time we were, including the local ferry which couldn't wait to get past us and throttled up just off our stern. They have places to be and don't care much about us pleasure boaters.

Beach House and crew spent a week in Marsh Harbour enjoying the company of fellow cruisers and, of course, having repairs done. If things are going to break, this is the place to have it happen. Our windlass quit on us at Tilloo Cay and the thought of hauling the anchor and chain up by hand for the rest of the trip until we arrived back in Florida was not very appealing. Based on recommendations from other boaters, we took the windlass to a small repair shop called simply TSE that is across the street from Conch Inn and Marina. The owner Bryan did a great job for us and was able to repair the windlass instead of having to order parts and have them shipped in from the U.S. We also had him do some work on our spare alternator that was needed in case the current one fails, as it did on us once before. Bryan does work on electrical motors, starters, alternators, chargers, inverters, solar panels and a lot more. He can be reach by phone at 242-458-5418.

You can't spend time in Spanish Wells and not enjoy the stay. The dockmaster at Spanish Wells Yacht Haven is the local concierge and can provide boaters with about anything they might need. We rented a golf cart from there for the day and split the cost between ourselves and another cruising couple making it very inexpensive. This is a great way to reprovision and restock without carrying bags full of supplies and equipment for blocks from the store to the boat. We took the ferry to Harbour Island one day, and rented a car that our concierge arranged and drove south through Eleuthera another. We also walked the beautiful beaches along the north shore of St. Georges Cay and enjoyed all that the settlement of Spanish Wells had to offer. But it was time to move on and we looked forward to getting into the Abacos. The weather wasn't totally to blame; we had some perfect days with sunshine and light winds. The biggest, and I do mean biggest, hold up was the 8- to 9-foot seas in the Northeast Providence Channel between Spanish Wells and Little Harbor in the Abacos. But the seas couldn't stay up forever.

The first colonists to settle Spanish Wells were shipwrecked on the reefs at Devils Backbone. They lived in a cave on Eleuthera that exists today as Preacher's Cave and later moved to Spanish Wells. Later, British Loyalists that left the Colonies after the Revolutionary War relocated there. The name Spanish Wells comes from the Spanish ships that stopped here to replenish their water supplies from the wells on the island. For us, this is one of our favorite ports of call in the Bahamas. Our planned 3-day stay before a good weather window turned out to be a much longer stay, after the window not only slammed shut, but bad weather set in. But that's okay, if this is where we would have to wait it out.

We have gone to the provided link and left our comments. I would urge any of our friends and followers to do the same and let them know how you feel about this fee. Our thoughts are that if indeed they plan to institute a fee, then the renewal should at least be for multiple years rather than annually. Chuck

From BoatUS...

Dear BoatU.S. Member,

Do you own a federally documented vessel? The U.S. Coast Guard is proposing to charge an annual fee of $26.00 for the renewal of certificates of documentation for recreational boats. While the Coast Guard charges to issue new certificates of documentation for boats, currently there is no charge for annual renewal.

This fee will only apply if your boat is federally documented and would be in addition to any state registration fees. For current information on federal vessel documentation, visit the United States Coast Guard Documentation Center.

We encourage you to share your thoughts with the Coast Guard on this proposal before May 3rd, 2013, by going to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDeta ... -2010-0990

Please forward this email to fellow boaters with documented vessels. If you have any additional questions, please contact BoatU.S. Government Affairs at GovtAffairs@BoatUS.com.

There are just too many wonderful places to stop and experience in the Exumas to see them all in one season, given our limitations. Many will have to be left for the next time. From the Exumas, our next destination was Eleuthera. There are several ways to get there, but most cruisers will exit through the cuts at Warderick Wells or the Normans/Highbourne Cay area. We chose Warderick Wells because the cut is wide, deep and there are no reefs or obstacles to navigate around. Beach House exited the cut at 9:30 am, heading for Cape Eleuthera, and from there we would decide later. We had a good weather window for the crossing, but a strong front was due to arrive in a couple of days. A harbor with good, all around protection was an important consideration once again. It just seems like this entire trip has been weather driven for the most part. That makes it hard to really enjoy the experience.

Many of you have asked us to post more photos of our Bahamas cruise. The blog postings using the internet in the Bahamas can be problematic but for more great photos you can visit our Facebook page. If you like what you see, remember to click the Like button. Leave a comment too and let us know what you think and what you would like to see. Enjoy. Chuck and Susan

The Exuma Cays may well be one of the most beautiful cruising grounds we have ever experienced. Beginning with Sail Rocks and Ship Channel Cay, just slightly south and east of Nassau, the Exumas stretch down to Great and Little Exuma to the southwest. The Exumas offer anything from remote anchorages, to small settlements, to busy towns like Georgetown. Many cays offer fabulous beaches, unusual wildlife and some of the greatest anchorages you may ever experience. It has been a great joy to be able to experience this wonderful cruising ground once again as we continue our research for the next edition in our Great Book Of Anchorages series, the Bahamas Edition. Someone pointed out to us that there is just no way we can call this work, so we won't try.

It felt good to finally leave Nassau. The forecast wasn't great, but if we didn't move, we would be in Nassau for another week. We topped up the fuel tanks at Nassau Harbor Club because the diesel was only $5.74 a gallon, pretty good for Bahamas prices. It was about 9:30 AM and the sun was just beginning to get high enough for us to use eyeball navigation around the many patch reefs at the east end of the harbor, but more importantly, to navigate the numerous coral heads we would encounter crossing the Yellow Banks. Some of these heads are only a few feet below the surface and could do serious damage to a prop. With the sun overhead, clear skies and reasonably flat seas, they are easy to pick out. They appear as a bark blob in the water surrounded by white sand. There are many of these on the section known as the Yellow Banks, only a short distance from Nassau. The conditions weren't perfect - there were some clouds and it was a bit choppy, but all in all, doable. Once we reached Porgy Rock, it was a straight line to our destination at Highbourne Cay.

There are a few places to anchor in Nassau Harbor. The quality of the anchorages varies considerably, depending on your precise location. The two most popular are the west anchorage near the BASRA docks and the Green Parrot, a popular meeting place for boaters, and the east end of the harbor just past the marinas. This anchorage is a sand bar that divides the channel through the harbor. The inner channel runs along the marina docks and the outer channel is the main transit channel and favors Paradise Island. All of the anchorages and all of the marina slips, with the exception of Hurricane Hole and Atlantis, are extremely rolly. There is no speed limit on the boats and ships transiting the harbor and most run full speed and throw up large wakes which roll the boats at anchor from side to side and keep the boats in the marina slips bouncing all around. It begins around sunrise and goes on well into the night. Many might find this very uncomfortable, and is one of the reasons we usually bypass Nassau. But since it has been a while, we stopped for a few days.

Sail Magazine has just published a review of our current edition of The Great Book Of Anchorages, Norfolk to Key West. Have a look at what they have to say here. Susan is working hard on the Bahamas edition and we plan to have it ready for boaters heading to the Bahamas for the next upcoming season. Stand by for some exciting news regarding the Bahamas book. In the meantime, you can visit our website here and get your copy of the current book here.

We wanted to leave Great Harbor Cay as soon as the sun came up and had let the marina know of our plans so someone would be there early. Not only were they not there early, they weren't there on time either. Since our electric meter had to be read to settle our bill, we couldn't pay the night before. I had to call one of the marina staff at home to get them to come over and check us out. Finally it was all done and we left about an hour behind schedule. The wind forecast was for light and variable winds all the way to Nassau. As we headed north to the Stirrup Cays so we could go east then south, the swells working in off Northwest Providence Channel got a little larger. As we approached the top, the wind picked up some too and it got quite choppy and rolly. The day was also gray and overcast, and we hoped it wasn't going to be like this the entire day.

Our late arrival meant an overnight anchorage off Cistern Cay, just north of the channel entrance into the inner harbor near Great Harbor Cay Marina and Bullocks Harbor. The night was not too bad, but the winds shifted to the south and the wavelets bounced off the hull, making the annoying "slap, slap" sound that wakes you up every 30 minutes. It seemed that a few rogue waves would work their way in about every 20 minutes. Early the following morning, after we'd listened to the latest weather reports on the HF radio, we motored into the narrow channel that has been virtually cut through rock, into the piece and tranquility of this protected harbor. The Wavey Line charts showed good depths, but other chart sources showed the bottom as grass with poor holding. We found that our Manson Supreme set right away in the grass and held. We didn't expect any bad weather.

After 3 lonnnggg weeks in Bimini, the relentless winds were finally letting up for a couple of days. Anyone that owns a trawler in our size range understands the need for the right sea conditions to make a long open-water passage. Even smaller seas can become very uncomfortable from the wrong direction. Our destination was the Berry Islands and from our marina to Great Harbor would be about a 12-hour day. Needless to say that as the first light of day broke over the eastern horizon, we had the dock lines off and were underway. As luck would have it, the tides and currents were slack as we motored out of the harbor and back into the edge of the Gulf Stream. Winds were less than 5 knots so other than some small swells, it was flat. Perfect trawler weather. Thanks for the photo and the great Photoshop work Larry.