Memorial Day - Lucaya

We just returned from our vacation in the Bahamas. We took our boat Wonderfun to Port Lucaya and had the time of our lives. Our trip took four hours from Jupiter cruising at 22 knots in seas reaching 1-2'. We were joined by another SeaRay owner and his wife aboard their 34' Sundancer. We were all pleased to cross the gulf stream with another boat in the vicinity. You never know when you might need assistance from a fellow boater.

We departed our dock at 6:30 AM and were greeted by the flattest ocean we've seen in awhile. My wife and I floated at the mouth of the inlet anxiously waiting for our traveling companions to make their way from their dock. We were actually a little early departing and were anxious to begin the trek. We were fully on our way by 6:45AM with our way points set and tracking perfectly. We were motoring for approximately 10 minutes and our companion boat radioed and stated that he was having an issue with a bilge pump constantly running. This forced us to stop and give him time to assess whether he had a water intrusion issue or a pump/float switch malfunction. Upon investigation, Mark reported that he's had this problem for a while and would just let the pump run until it "burned itself out"... I personally would not have departed with a known issue that could result in an overheating problem, but he felt as though it wasn't an issue. We revved our engines and proceeded to the Bahamas.

We arrived Port Lucaya at 11:50 AM and were delighted to see the unbelievable colors of the Caribbean sea. I can't find the words to describe the beauty of these tropical waters surrounding the Bahama islands. After making our way in to Port Lucaya, we received our dock assignment (G58) and proceeded to the western most area of the docks. We were so happy to have such a pleasant crossing and were truly excited to be in paradise.

I prepared myself to spend the next hour and a half checking into Customs and Immigration which is quite a chore in the Bahamas if you arrive with a group of boats. Fortunately, my wife and I decided to beat the rush and arrive an hour prior to the arrival of our friends from Stuart. It took about 45 minutes to finalize the legalities. By legalities, I mean we paid our $150 (Cash only) for our cruising permit.

I returned to the dock to find that our friends had arrived from Stuart and we were docked next to Dan (the MarineMax guy that sold us our boat). I knew this would be a great trip and were fortunate to be in the midst of friends.

I have to stop typing for now, but will continue the blog in the next day or so...


Until next time,

M

Perfect...well almost..

The weekend weather was the best I've ever seen for this time of year. My wife and I spent Saturday and Sunday anchored just off of Blowing Rock Preserve and had a perfect boating weekend. We only wish we had our girls on the boat with us so they could enjoy the spectacular snorkeling conditions. The water was crystal clear and the sea life abundant. We must have snorkeled over 6 hours over the weekend and saw some amazing creatures. I was surprised to find a sand shark during one of my lone journeys from Wonderfun. I wasn't afraid of the shark because I know how docile they are and only want to be left alone. Sand sharks will only abrade your skin with their sand paper like teeth should you disturb them. I was also fortunate to see a small (trash can lid sized) Loggerhead turtle. I followed it for a short distance until he notice me and sped off into the abyss..What a great time!

Following Saturday's ocean anchorage, we decided to relocate Wonderfun to marker 44 on the intercoastal to prepare dinner. Earlier, we purchased two fillet Mignon, potatoes (for baking) and a bottle of KJ Merlot and I was so excited to have such a great dinner planned. I anchored and immediately retrieved the grill from the aft compartment and discovered that I previously lost the attachment handle overboard which rendered the grill useless on the boat. I was quite disappointed and wanted to head back to the dock but my wife said she wanted to stay longer and I could just pan fry the steaks...I reluctantly accepted that we would enjoy microwave "baked" potatoes and fried versus grilled steak. Anyway, I used our very cheap aluminum pasta pot to fry the tenderloins and "baked" the potatoes in the microwave. After all was complete, my wife and I sat at the salon table and enjoyed a pretty good dinner....I think the Merlot had something to do with masking reality.


Until next time,

M