Fort Pierce to Merritt Island
We departed West End, Grand Bahama at 6:30 am and arrived at Ft Pierce at about 4:30pm. By cocktail hour we were anchored, had checked in with our Local Boater IDs (customs), and were enjoying a well-deserved rum punch.
We saw a famous cruising boat on the way home: the Wind Horse. Check out this article, their web site, or search for your own; they have done some really cool and serious cruising.
On Friday we cruised all the way from Ft Pierce to Merritt Island, which took us all day. After a good scrub down, Seadee is sitting contentedly in its home port.
Andy checking in with the HAM Radio Net. They keep track of us to make sure we cross the Gulf Stream successfully.
This photo must have been taken during the 1% of the time that Annie was actually driving on the way home. Hey, somebody has to wash the dishes and make the margaritas!
This little plane went over and over and over us near Vero Beach, just skimming the treetops.
The Wind Horse: we saw them on the Indian River portion of the ICW headed North.
And this is the view of the Wind Horse passing us...they were just a little bit faster -- but just a little!
Stopover at West End
The Captain closing in on the Don't Rock
Do you have any idea how hard it is to take a picture of yourself in front of a rock?
The captain poised to swat a fly - no stowaways (of any species) on Seadee! Lord of the Flies?
Speaking of weather, West End boasts its very own NOAA Weather Station. You can visit it online here and you can see a picture of it below.
There it is: the NOAA West End Weather Station
...and a super-geeky close-up of the weather station's satellite antenna (the one with all the x's)
Stopover at Treasure
We’re headed back home now and our first stopover was at Treasure Cay for one night. Who could resist this beach, anyway?
On our way back from the pool we spotted one of our favorite boats from our 2010 Baseball Cruise, Phantasma — how exciting to see old acquaintances in new places!
Phantasma, if we recall correctly, is a 94' Nordlund which was custom-built on the west coast and brought through the Panama Canal by its owner, Philip. What a beautiful yacht!
A perfect day at the beach!
Marsh Harbour
Marsh Harbour is a good place to wash down the boat, stock up the ships stores, and buy rum at a good value. We bought rum at Bristol Wines and Spirits and they delivered it right to the boat!
We docked at the Conch Inn, on the same dock as the Great Harbour Charter Boats (Semper FI III, Spoonbill, and Capt Eric) and another GH47 named Pokey (what a great name for a Great Harbour). Annie was so impressed by the dockmaster’s ability to lasso the pilings with dock lines…you have to see it in action to believe it. We also liked the free water that is complimentary with Conch Inn dockage.
For lunch we made a special trip to Matilda’s Snack Bar to eat the world’s best cheeseburgers with fries. This is no exaggeration — and we highly recommend a grape Fanta to complement the cheeseburger’s well-balanced flavor (with just the right amount of condiments).
Curly Tails Bar at the Conch Inn Marina is kind of an obligatory stop, and they have the biggest lizard around.
The site of the old Maxwell's grocery store. Sadly, it burned down.
The new Maxwell's grocery store -- it's bigger and better than the last one (maybe even the prices are bigger?) and located just a little further down the same road
Tahiti Beach & Cracker P’s
On Friday morning we anchored Seadee off of Tahiti Beach and took the dinghy to shore. It was low tide so there was actually a whole beach there and we camped out with our cooler and beach chairs until lunchtime.
Lunch had to be at Cracker P’s, just across the channel, where they had the best coconut marinated conch we’ve tasted in the Abacos. The shrimp and Wahoo wasn’t bad, either.
After lunch we headed towards Little Harbour, but there were waves breaking 15′ in the air as we passed the ocean cuts. It was too much rolling around for a beer, a fish sandwich, and a game of ring-toss so there was a Dinghy Admiral revolt and Seadee made an about face for Marsh Harbour.
Adding to the ambiance at Cracker P's were the Cracker Dogs, who patiently waited to play clean-up crew, if needed.
Does eating at Cracker P's make you appear taller and more buff? It must be the marinated conch.
Hope Town
Hope Town is always a favorite. This time we sampled the frozen mocha frappes at the Hope Town Coffee House, which rival Starbucks any day. We strolled around and noticed that quite a bit of painting has gone on since we were here, as well as some dock-building on the lighthouse side of the harbor. We dined at Harbor’s Edge for dinner and it was both waterfront and finer dining than your average island bar food, especially the lobster dishes.
We did have some excitement in the afternoon when a thunderstorm blew in. The wind gust got up to 46mph on our anemometer when we heard a great crash. We stuck to our mooring like glue, but our bimini top blew off its hinges and “folded itself” back onto the flybridge arch. Thankfully nothing was damaged and we were able to right it after the storm passed, but there were a few tense moments. Our anemometer couldn’t register wind until we peeled the bimini cover off of it, but we think that there may have even been stronger winds than recorded.
The Dinghy Admiral at the Dinghy Dock
The Captain finishing a frozen mocha frappé at the Coffee House
Hope Town is such a picturesque location, Andy calls it the post card for the Abacos.
Do you remember the Mutiny aboard the HMS Bounty involving the Breadfruit Tree? This is the no-nonsense Dinghy Admiral standing next to a real, live Breadfruit Tree.
The Hope Town Harbour Lodge has a great bar/restaurant serving lunch with an Atlantic Ocean view (we watched dolphin playing) and good food. Don't order the bloody mary, though; it was bloody awful.
Man-O-War Cay
On Monday we headed over to Man-O-War Cay with some of the best weather in the world. The entrance to the harbor here is narrow and must be entered carefully, but we got a slip at the Man-O-War Marina for 2 nights with no problem — in fact, they have a 2-for-1 night special right now.
We spent Monday afternoon exploring the town, visiting the beach (which was surprisingly beautiful and unexpectedly close), and eating ice cream.
On Tuesday we set out early to get some fresh baked bread from Lola’s Bakery (highly recommended). Then we met Sue and Paul from Odyssey for lunch at the Dock and Dine. After a delicious lunch Paul helped Andy with a boat repair while Sue and Annie supervised and checked out the new eatery in town, Bradley’s on the Lane (looks yummy!).
On the beach at Man-O-War Cay
The Dock & Dine is where it's at on Man-O-War; we recommended the spicy chicken spinach quesadilla.
It's always important to locate the nearest ice cream parlor on any cay. On Man-O-War it is about 15 steps from the dock...how convenient.
Some of the local wildlife hide, but some flaunt their scaly selves for all world to see and all the tourists to photograph.
Merritt Island Weather
