Bradford Marine to Lucaya…

Over the weekend of November 11th, we worked feverishly to get the boat put back together after sitting all summer in the boatyard, so that we could get the boat launched and back into the water by Monday because we wanted to join up with our friends in Lucaya as soon as possible. To our surprise the boat was in pretty good condition. No leaks, mold or bugs.The boat looked fairly clean probably due to rainfall throughout the summer, except for the teak deck in the cockpit which was coated with a black dust probably from the nearby oil refinery (we didn’t realize how dirty it was until we took a look at the bottom of our feet). We together, put up a brand new crisp Jib sail and the window/enclosures on the flybridge. Rick installed a new chart plotter, and changed filters for the water-maker, hosed off the boat, fixed our vacuum cleaner (which we also use to blow up our dinghy and SUP boards) , checked oil in the engines, and a lot of other odds and ends to make sure the boat was ready to go. We also had to find homes for all of the stuff we brought over.

Our boat bottom looked fantastic which had been painted a few days prior to our arrival. This was the first time that we have not sanded and painted our boat bottom ourselves. It’s a dirty, toxic job even with the proper protective gear. There’s no escaping it.

The boatyard was pretty much dead over the weekend and nobody was working except for the security guard at the gate entrance. There is only one key for the women’s restroom/showers so I had to go to the guard office each time I wanted to use the shower and bring it back when I was done. They were nice showers though and worth the trouble……good pressure and hot. And......you can take them as long as you want! On the boat…we don’t get that luxury. Always having to conserve. Turn the water on, rinse. Turn the water off. Soap up, rinse and get out!

On Saturday, I took a taxi ride just 6 miles away to Solomon’s grocery store (for a $50 roundtrip fee) just to get some food to tide us over for a couple of days. I could stock up later once we got to Lucaya. Rick later in the day discovered that our start batteries for both engines were bad. So we had to find a place to get new ones and the options were limited. Only one place on the island that would carry batteries and that was Car Quest. We didn’t want to pay another $50 + for a taxi ride along with the expensive price of what the batteries would cost, so we called our friend, Gilles (pronounced Jeel), who is actually the owner of the dock/condos where we were planning to move the boat to on Monday. He was more than happy to pick us up and take us to Car Quest in town to buy new batteries. We were going to bring the bad batteries in for the core charge, but Gilles said that they would not take them. We found out later while checking out that we would have only received .44 cents in the exchange. In the states you can get about $30 - $40.

Monday morning, 7:30am, as soon as the business office opened, we settled our bill (gasp!) and requested to be launched as soon as possible. Deepak our project manager, got a crew together and got us back into the water within the hour. Easy peasy and the engines started right up and off we went.

We made it to the dock at Gilles house in Lucaya, where Hope was already docked and waiting to grab our lines. But just before we got to the dock and we were still out in the ocean entering the channel at Ocean Reef Cut, Kory and Gracie met us in their dinghy!

We plan to stay here for a week or more to wait for a good weather window to continue heading towards the Exumas.

The Crossing...

The Crossing…..

Monday, November 6th, the early morning came with a beautiful sunrise! We were all up and excited to untie the dock lines and start our 4 day journey to the Bahamas. We shoved off around 7ish without a hitch. Things went smoothly for most of the morning and mid day. The waves were what was predicted ..3’ - 6 seconds apart, but for some reason we were all feeling a bit woozy. Especially me and Rick. I guess it had just been a while since we were on a boat in the ocean. Normally when we started cruising season in Mexico, we first spent several days to a week getting the boat ready while getting used to the motion of the boat. It could have also been that the waves were coming more to the beam. Kory and Kerry were wearing the Scopolamine patches behind their ears and even they felt a little queasy at times. The dogs seemed to be fine…finding cozy places to sleep up in the flybridge with us.

A typical day during the crossing was simply sitting up in the enclosed flybridge with it’s soft cushioned bench seat, assorted throw pillows and cozy blankets if needed. It was really the most comfortable place to be while underway. We had our meals up there..breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s not much fun being down below inside the boat for too long while the seas are rollie. The only reason TO go down below is to use the restroom and to get water or snacks. Kerry, brave soul, was always down there the longest, putting together something scrumptious for us to eat and then getting it up to us. I helped when I could and wished I’d been able to help more if I hadn’t been struggling with nausea. The guys were occasionally playing with lines, sails and attempting to fish…having a pole out the entire trip to no avail.

Kory was at the helm from morning until early evening when we started our 3 hour watches. The first night I did the 8-11pm watch with Rick and Harley lying next to me (for moral support). I was fighting sleep and nausea the entire watch. It being dark, I could not look at the Horizon which is usually what kept me feeling ok during the day. I couldn’t even look at my phone. Each time I would pick up my phone and look at it briefly, I’d feel sick and quickly turned it off and put it away. Kory came up for the 11-2am watch but about a half an hour early which was a welcomed surprise! After his shift, Kerry was on from 2-5am and then Rick came on from 5-8. At that point everyone is awake, dressed and making their way up to the flybridge. Sometimes Kerry and I along with the dogs, would lay out on the sundeck off the flybridge. I felt like I was in an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!

The first two days routine was pretty much the same until our third day..the wind was perfect for sailing and the seas were calm. We were able to put up both the jib and the mainsail. I felt much better this day as well. No more nausea! That evening the waves grew a bit along with the wind. It was not as comfortable of a ride as during the day. But that was ok, because I knew the next morning we would be in the Bahamas! Day four just after sunrise, we saw land and soon arrived at our destination at West End, Freeport, Bahamas! We anchored just outside the marina, raised the yellow quarantine flag and caught our breath and ate lunch. I was anxious to get Harley to shore because over the course of the 4 days on board, Harley only relived himself twice on the fake grass that was placed in the cockpit, but never pooped! But first, Kory had to take the dinghy to the Customs Office just inside the harbor/marina to check us all in. It was required that only the captain go to shore. Once that is done, you can take down the yellow flag and put up the Courtesy Flag, showing that you were granted clearance to go cruising in Bahamian waters. Then all of the other crew is welcome to go ashore.

Now the time came for Rick and I to take Harley to shore by dinghy! As soon as we got Harley on land, he was finally able to poop and poop he did! Luckily I was prepared with a handful of poop bags. Harley had a little skip to his step afterwards so we walked around a little bit longer before getting back to the boat!

We stayed one last night onboard Hope and the next day they delivered us to Bradford Marine where SeaBreeze had been on the hard all summer. On the way…we saw a small pod of dolphins swimming at the bow of the boat. It was so fun to watch! Last season we really never saw too many dolphins so this was a nice treat!

Once we got to the dock at Bradford, and unloaded all of our things from the boat, Kerry and Kory decided to stay the night which turned out to be an unexpected and outrageous fee to the tune of $500+. We cannot figure out why it was so costly. They had a pump out while they were there which shouldn’t have been much and the dock did not provide power or water.

Next morning, Hope left and headed to an anchorage closer to Lucaya where we would meet up with them as soon as we could get our boat together and out of the boatyard. Then the chore began to get our boat, cleaned up and put back together…ready to sail.