March 26-29, 2023 Crossing from Ft Pierce to the Bahamas and Green Turtle Cay

 3-26-23 Sunday. We left our mooring ball in Ft Pierce at 6:00am.  We went out the Ft Pierce inlet in the dark.  The tide was going out, but you still meet some waves as they come into the inlet.  Overall, it was one of the smoothest transits of this inlet in the 4 times we have left from here.  We had a beautiful sunrise about 7:30am.  The water was very smooth.  Again, the calmest we had ever seen.

 

 

We passed a couple strange objects floating in the water.  There was a fishing restriction area on the chart, so we thought they were marking the boundaries.  

It took 10 hours to cross the Gulf Stream and over to Bahamian waters.  We had a few ships cross our path, but no concern.  We also had a few other sailboats making the same trip we were.  We all traveled about the same speed but with several miles between us.  At one point, we had what Dave called “phantom ships” showing up on our chart.  He said it does that occasionally and then they disappear.  Good to know. 

phantom ships on the screen

We enter Bahamian waters at the Mantanilla Shoals- the the northern boundary of the Little Bahamas Bank where the water is less than 25 ft deep.  We cruised along to our anchorage at Great Sale Cay.  We arrived there about midnight, so 18 hours total.  There were several boats anchored there.  It’s always a little nerve wracking to anchor in the dark.  And the misty air didn’t help, and tired minds didn’t help, but all went well.  We crashed for the night (us, not the boat).  

raising the quarantine flag

3-27-23 Monday. We slept in, of course.  Then we spent some time in the morning trying to activate our cellphones.  This is the second year that we have bought Bahamian SIM cards before leaving the US from MRSIMCARD.  They activate our phone as we’re crossing.  Then we have service right away, not having to go to shore and to a telephone company to buy the sim card and plan.  We realized we weren’t close enough to a tower for service and worked on it later while on our way to Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos.  We were still having difficulty with calling Dave’s mom, so Dave decided to purchase the new International Verizon plan for his new phone.  He’ll use his old phone for the Bahamian plan.  Spent more than we usually do, but being able to visit with his 91 year old mom was important.

We arrived at Green Turtle Cay about 6:00pm and had a great dinner that I had been cooking in the oven while underway, meatloaf and baked potatoes.  

3-28-23 Tuesday. We collected our passports and paperwork from the Click2Clear app that we completed Saturday.  They no longer require us to have a negative COVID test within 3 days of arriving.  We took a slow ride in our dinghy to Green Turtle Club to see the customs agent.  Our dinghy motor is still running slower than normal.  
We enjoyed an appetizer and a drink at the club before returning to the boat.  Dave spent the afternoon working on the dinghy motor.  He replaced the fuel line and pressure bulb.  Still sluggish.  He did do a test of the 2 fuel injectors that he had read about online.  When you remove them, the motor should die.  He removed one and there was no change.  He removed the other and the motor died immediately.  So it must be running on only one of the fuel injectors.  Tomorrow, he will try to clean it, but he may have to order a new one.  
We made water today.  I cleaned the floors.  It’s amazing how much collects when we take our shoes off and haven’t been to shore much since they were last cleaned.  Housework! Never ends, but smaller area to clean.

grouper bites were excellent

 

quarantine flag is replaced with the courtesy flag

3-29-23 Wednesday
Dave emptied or diesel jerry cans into our fuel tank and took the empty cans to shore to refill.  It was a slow ride and the motor actually died on him a few times.  
One of our dock mates from Brunswick anchored near us today,  Terry and Michelle Springer on sv Ava.  Dave chatted with them as he went for fuel.

they say living aboard a boat is just working on your boat in pretty places