St. Petersburg - A year goes by ...

In June 2016 we completed a year of sailing on our sailboat, D and me. We sailed 2,555 nautical miles (nm=1.151 miles) at an average of 4 knots (knot=1.151 mph).  Almost 3,000 (2,940) statute miles!

Our journey - follow the yellow X's
St. Pete to Dry Tortugas to Marathon to Bimini to Andros to Chub Cay
(sail back to Florida)
Titusville to Key Biscayne to Bimini to Great Harbour to Chub Cay to Nassau
to Exumas to Georgetown to Long Island to Little Exuma
Jumentos to Ragged Islands to Cayo Lobo to Grunchos to Cay Sal Bank

We left St. Pete, Florida, on June 1, 2015, with plans to sail open ended with no specific time line or itinerary. We sailed south to the Dry Tortugas, east up the Florida Keys, and across the Straits of Florida to the Bahamas. We arrived in Bimini and crossed the shallow Great Bahama Bank to Andros and then on to the Berry Islands. We found safe harbor at a marina as Hurricane Joaquin hit the Bahamas, then it turned and missed us.

For a brief respite we sailed to east coast Florida, before returning to the Bahamas sailing with our partner sailboat Fair Winds, and sailing back through Bimini, Bank, Berries, and across the deep Tongue of the Ocean to Nassau, New Providence. Then, on to one of my favorite places, the Exuma Islands, 365 islands in an island chain ending at Georgetown, Great Exuma. You could go to an island a day and spend a year! We sailed to Long Island, Jumentos, and the Ragged Islands, some islands so small you can’t find them on a map.  We sailed 15-20 miles offshore of the northern coast of Cuba to the Cay Sal Bank, which is my favorite group of islands, just 55 nm from Marathon, Florida Keys.  We left Marathon and sailed to the Marquesas and north to St. Pete, home. (If you have trouble reading the map, I apologize - I tried to capture it from MapShare, but couldn't convert to jpeg.  Just call me and I will be delighted to send you the pdf which is easier to read and higher resolution than the blog allows.)

It was a wonderful year. So many adventures – turtles, Cuban refugees, stunning reefs, lobsters, conch, local culture, friends – old and new, coconuts and hearts of palm, crossings, beautiful water, deserted islands and distant anchorages, perfection in paradise. There is a sense of accomplishment, too – it wasn’t all easy or comfortable.  There were storms, mechanical failures, mosquitoes, and day to day survival.

Loggerhead turtle
Cay Sal Island

Turtle tracks from the night before!
Cay Sal Island

21 Cuban refugees load onto a US Coast Guard cutter for the trip to Immigration office.
There were 2 'successful' boats to arrive in one week. Their boats are called 
'chuggers' because they are home made motor boats that 'chug' along, but are not typically seaworthy. 
Dry Tortugas 

Cuban refugees on home made sailboat with American flag on mast
Anguilla

Sailboat number 2
Anguilla

Group of Cuban refugees.
Small home made sailboat on north beach.
Cay Sal Island
Why? Why are they risking their lives to leave country and family?

Stunning elkhorn coral reef
Stocking Island, Great Exuma Island

Fabulous food! Lobster
Conch Cay Cut, Great Exuma Island

Conch - yes, folks, that's what they look like without their shells.
Chat 'n' Chill Conch Shack
Stocking Island

Local Culture - Junkanoo!!
Did you know that Junkanoo was brought to the Bahamas from the Carolinas in the US?
Did you know that it is celebrated only 2 times a year? Day after Christmas and New Year's Day.
Did you know it's one of the world's top ten things to do on New Year's Eve?  (per Trip Advisor)
Historian Cordelle Thompson told us his stories of Junkanoo at Shirley's Fish Fry Village restaurant.
We enjoyed a Junior Junkanoo - lots of noise, drums, horns, cow bells, kalik, kalik!!
Georgetown, Great Exuma

Fabulous friends from Florida
Chat 'n' Chill
Stocking Island

New friends - Sailors are very social and friendly
Warderick Wells sun downer

Coconuts...here's lookin' at you, kid.
Cay Sal Island

Hearts of Palm
Let me be clear - We did not cut this beautiful, tall, coconut palm tree down.
It was cut before we got to the island, but the fronds were still green.
Typically, hearts of palm come from cabbage palms,
so we weren't sure about a heart of palm from a coconut palm tree,
but it was delicious; hard work for D, but delicious for both of us!
Cay Sal Island

D gets to the heart of the palm. 

Delicious with tomatoes, rice and creamy dressing.

The sailing experience - crossings from one island to the next.
Georgetown to Long Island

Sailing into the night - full moon with lighted path or new moon dark with brilliant stars.
A refreshing break from the sun, easy on the skin and the eyes.
We watched Mars, Venus and Constellations. Learned about the Great Arc of Sirius.
Are you kidding?
West Coast Florida

Paradise and a great dinghy!
Cay Sal Island

Distant anchorage and deserted island...perfection in paradise
Fly Away in the center
Cay Sal Island

Sunrise over Paradise - Cay Sal Island

The biggest lesson we learned is that sailing is seasonal – summer is too hot and still, fall – hurricanes, winter – rough and windy, leaving spring – perfection in paradise. That is what we will do.

Sail in the spring. 







I have several back blogs to write, select pictures, and post, so stay tuned! The best is yet to come!!