Spot Map follow us

You can follow our passages and our trip using this near realtime SPOT map. When we are out of Internet connection, or when we are moving the boat, we place a pin location onto this map. To see our trip, drop down the HISTORY button and select as many days or weeks or ALL and then click GO. Then zoom the map out to see the trip.

2013-2014 Florida to Bahamas to Maryland Map

Start Palmetto Florida Dec 2013

End Rock Hall Maryland June 1, 2014

 For a full Spotwalla.com interactive map see this URL

https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=86e952b4252ab9f2e

Bahamas to Maryland Plan

We are planning to make some ocean runs this year on our run from the Bahamas to Rock Hall, MD. Our current plan, launching Thursday, 0700 April 24, 2014 will take us from Green Turtle Cay to Fort Pierce Florida where we will anchor by Friday 1900. There we will stage up for a run from Fort Pierce Florida to Charleston South Carolina, a 400 nm leg. We plan to spend a few days there taking in the great town of Charleston and then we will make a 200 mile jump to Beaufort North Carolina where our great friends Greg and Kate will NOT BE :-(.  From there we will run north into the ICW and up to Norfolk to our free dock at Portsmouth and then into the Chesapeake Bay.

So, Our Bahamas 2014 trip is drawing to a close with one last party at Green Turtle Club with our boat buddies as we enjoy the music of THE GULLY ROOSTERS. They start playing at 9 pm, "cruisers midnight" but we will dinghy in and enjoy the music. In the AM, we will derig the dinghies, taking off the motors, and fuel tanks and anchors and lashing them into the davits for the gulf stream crossing. Lucky for us, the winds and seas are calm, and the passage will be a casual motor run.

The weather fronts are not giving us the best sailing winds, so, we are taking this calm to run to the coast and stage up there for the next front to sail north in the Gulf Stream. Who knows, if our weather router, Chris Parkes says tomorrow night that it looks for for a go to Charleston, then we may just hang a right and keep going norht. WHO knows????

For, now, it is off to the Gully Roosters.....PARTY

Island Spirit at anchor off Green Turtle Club

NOTE:|
You can follow our LIVE map via SPOT and SPOTWALLA, here. This is the best and most live data we can publish from sea...
http://islandspirit35.blogspot.com/p/spot-maps.html

Jib Room to Man O War to Nippers

Stephen and Jason, the best Bartenders in Abaco.....

Here we are spending a week based out of Marsh Harbor anchored right off our favorite place, THE JIB ROOM. We have completed our boat services preparing for our exit north and run back to the US coast. We have been studying the weather every day at 0630-0730 with Chris Parker on SSB 4045 mHz. Then we look at NOAA weather, trying to keep up with the frontal progressions, watching for an exit window for our crossing. Meanwhile, life around here is really fun and easy. With Wednesday night RIB NIGHT, Saturday night STEAK NIGHT and toss in Thursday night with Cruisers POT LUCK, the Jib Room has it figured out. Great people, great atmosphere, great family, great food, great drinks, great friends, The Jib Room is one of the reasons why we are here! Thank you Tom, Linda, Stephen, Bradley, Jason, Desmond, Marvin, Latasha and the rest of the staff. What a fantastic team!

The Albury Brothers Boat Building, Man O War Cay

From Marsh Harbor, we motored over to Man O War Cay, anchoring off the island and taking the dinghy into town for a review of the shops and great businesses. It was fun to show our boat buddies, Dixie and Julie, the Albury Brothers Boat Building business, Albury Sail Loft, and Edwin's Boat Yard. Of course a stop at the ice cream parlor was a must and a walk to the ocean beach observing the beautifully kept homes and gardens of Man O War.  The residents of Man O War are very industrious and hard working. What a great island.

The Nipper's Easter Egg Hunt in the surf for ages 12 and up

Finally, no trip to Abaco would be complete without a trip to NIPPERS, especially on Easter Sunday. This year we traveled by Albury Ferry due to northhwesterly winds. The famous Nipper's Easter Egg Hunt on the beach and in the surf on Great Guana Cay is fantastic. Johnny has been doing the Sunday Pig Roast Buffet for 20 years and it is very well attended. Toss in the delicious NIPPER JUICE, and a beautiful beach, a gorgeous pool, great music, dancing and swimming and you will see the fun of Nipper's. Thank you, Johnny, for hosting a really great Easter Day!


Here are some photos of the week...

The Albury Brothers rolling resin onto fiberglass mat for an Albury 24

Varnish work on Island Spirit, coat #6 of Epifanes

The Jib Room: Marvin the master of the Grill, and Latasha the hostess

The Jib Room: Bradley and Latasha

Boat Buddies IP420 TRUE NORTH: Debi and Denny

Boat Buddy: GLASS SLIPPER, Mary and Radeen

Boat Buddies IP38 MOONDANCE, Bob and Nina

The Jib Room all smiles: Bradley and her good friends

IP 38 ALPENGLOW, Tim and Susan, with Hayden and Radeen at the Jib Room

The Jib Room: Steak Night, we cut these in half for Steak n Eggs in the AM :-)

THE LIMBO KING #1, Desmond at The Jib Room

OFF TO NIPPER's for EASTER SUNDAY

Hayden is holding 6 crumpled fishing boat stickers he peeled off The NIPPER's sign!
This idea of fishing boats slapping their stickers all over public spaces is really frustrating. We see it as vandalism.
We peel off every one we can. Hayden would love to find one of these fishing boats and put 1,000 stickers on its hull.

The NIPPER's Beach Bar on Easter Sunday

Easter Egg Hunt at Nipper's on the beach. Some eggs were hidden in the seaweed.

Nipper's Easter Egg Hunt on the Beach for ages 11 and under

Boat Buddy Colleen on GLASS SLIPPER holds her Nipper Easter Egg Prizes

The beach on Great Guana Cay is so beautiful

Radeen strikes a pose on Great Guana Cay off Nipper's

Happy Easter 2014 from Great Guana Cay, Abaco, The Bahamas

Our Boat Buddies, Debi & Denny and Julie & Dixey, walking the beach

Boat Buddies: IP420 TRUE NORTH, Denny and Debi

Radeen and Hayden, appreciating the sun after a windy, rainy Saturday.

Hayden with THE MAN, JOHNNY, owner of Nipper's Beach Bar. Thank you, Johnny!

Of course, the day is not complete without a walk to GRABBERS

So, our time is drawing to a close here in Abaco. We are looking at moving north of the Whale Cay Cut on Tuesday, heading up to Green Turtle Cay. There we will make a final study of the fronts and weather patterns and set our exit for the coast. We are looking at making a run from Great Sale Cay to anywhere in north Florida or South Carolina. We are thinking of trying a 2-3-4 day ocean passage with a few other boats, but it will all depend on if we can find a good weather window.

Tahiti Beach to the Jib Room

Wind and waves shape the sands on Tahiti Beach....

Cruising the Abacos is so wonderful and so easy. Most anchorages and popular destinations are 8-10 miles apart. The Sea of Abaco is protected and almost always calm as it is only about 3-4 miles wide and maybe 20 miles long. With the much of the orientation of the sea north and south and the trade winds blowing from the east, we can beam reach nearly everywhere. Many times, we are lazy and simply roll out a jib and sail the 8 miles under jib only. There are so many places to anchor and find protection, it is easy to see why so many cruisers make Abaco their only destination.

Radeen taking a break on Tahiti Beach

Hayden walking the sand bar

We brought our own shade this year, it is HOT here

Island Spirit anchored off Baker's Rock, Tahiti Beach

The rocky shoreline of the Bahamas

Tahiti Beach, a perfect place to kite board

Boat Buddy Dixey, found the largest HERMIT CRAB ever inside a conch shell

Exploring Lubbers' Landing, a great beach resort with cabins accessible only by boat

Colorful Bahamian Money, front, with dark shapes embossed in foil

Colorful Bahamian Money, back

Radeen, ready for steak night and limbo at The Jib Room

The anchorage at Marsh Harbor is fantastic, lots of room with great holding

Yacht services, Fuel Filters and Oil Filter change, ready for sea

Good friend Linda, owner of The Jib Room, poses with Hayden

Boat Buddy, IP38 SLOW FLIGHT, Steve and good friend Mary of GLASS SLIPPER

Boat Buddies IP32 MORNING GRACE, Julie and Dixey

THE GIRLS at The Jib Room. MARY, RADEEN and JULIE

STEAK NIGHT at the JIB ROOM.....as perfect as can be

Desmond the KING of the LIMBO performs at the Jib Room

Local landscaping, Hibiscus in bloom 

-------------------- and then we wrecked the dinghy ---------------

Stupid us! It was windy and we ran the inflatable dinghy into a sharp propeller that was tilted out of the water!
This is the 4 inch cut with glue applied and drying. It went through the rub rail, too.

We made it back to the mother ship and quickly hoisted the dinghy
up for repairs, before it sank!

The final repair and finished patch.
Great to know how to glue on a patch and to have all the necessary supplies!

We are now living on the hook in Marsh Harbour, walking the town and visiting with boat buddies. We are beginning to look at weather windows over the next two weeks to make an ocean run for the USA coast. Time is running out here in the Bahamas for our 2014 trip. Soon we will return to the land of connectivity, marketing, shopping, and conveniences....