Rocket Launch, Nope.

Just by coincidence we plan to stop at Addison Point, Cape Cenaveral and SpaceX has a launch planned for 17:38, bonus!

Never happened, not sure why.

Daytona Beach, Seabreeze

We decided to pull over here, just North of Seabreeze Blvd. Bridge. Good holding with the Delta, 100' of chain, 15-20 kt NW-N clocking over night to NE, but finally dropping to 15 kts. Nice evening on the hook, running the genny, heat, after the cold front we are now seeing 45F.

Cheers
K&S

Back Aboard

Always Interesting on a Boat. We left Sylken Sea at St. Marys Boat Services,  GA. Rocky, Terri & staff are good folks. A very good DYI yard if you are looking for one.

Anyway, we are always in a rush (at least I am, type A). We are in the sling and the engine start BATT is dead, shows 12.5, but no AMPS, as soon as we load it 0.0 V, it's dead and my fault for only checking the voltage not the capacity. Luckily, Rocky has a brand new 4D, flooded cell start battery, his guy Bill is awesome, knows his stuff,  switches out the battery but also questions and checks the wiring, turns out all is well, he just wants to get it right. Now she starts, I run through the checks, thumbs up, all gauges "green". Then as they are about to release us an alarm, Trac, low oil level, what the F***? I just checked it, the tank was full, Oh, Oh! Hydraulic leak? Yep, very strange, the mechanical pressure gauge mounted on the control manifold for the bow thruster had a catastrophic failure, rare (I hope), spilling hydraulic oil like a cut juggular. Bill pulls the gauge, turns out the connection is not standard, 7/16-20 thread, what now? Well thanks to the course I took at TRAC (where I met our now good friend Ray Nordstrom, Cracker Jack) we have a variety of hydraulic fittings for just such an occasion. We block the port and after a three hour delay are on our way. Thanks Rocky, Bill, Jeff, Terri & team.

K&S

It Finally Stopped Raining

It has been really wet. Sometimes having your own arc is a good idea.

Home For A Few Weeks

Hi All. Sylken Sea is on the hard, St. Mary's GA. We are home a few weeks before we head off to Turkey to see first hand a real protest, back 2nd week of August. Not really planning next cruising season yet. A lot of stuff going on. How about the rest of You?

K&S

Cam, Meg and Friends In Great Guana Cay

April 28 to May 5/13
From Lynyard Cay in the Abacos we eventually made our way to Great Guana Cay to rendezvous with our son and daughter in law, Cam and Meg. They rented a house there along with our niece Maria and her fiance Bill and five other friends. It was a total blast meeting, and meeting up, with everyone. Although the weather was not typical for the Bahamas for that time of year (cloudy and overcast most of the week, and a little cool) the gang found plenty to do. They enjoyed it all including the short excursions on the boat.


In the dinghy on the way back to the boat from Man-O-War Cay.

Swimming and snorkeling off of the swim platform, Great Guana Cay

Fishin' from the bow at anchor.

April 28, Abaco, here we come

Eleuthera was a blast as we toured the town together and stocked up on supplies etc. We all spent a couple of days there. Crossing to Abaco from North Eleuthera was a bit bumpy but the 4-6' swell was 10-12 seconds and on the beam with, at times, a 2-3' wind chop on top of the swells, Thank goodness for stabilizers! We did a bit of corkscrewing coming into Little Harbour! Glad to be anchored at Lynyard Cay. Escapade is here already. They were just a couple of hours ahead of us. Dream Weaver will catch up tomorrow.




Sylken Sea anchored at Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera.  Dream Weaver and Escapade also here. 

All of us waiting for a taxi to take us to the 'Leon Levy Native Plant Reserve’

Long Island, Cat Island and Eleuthera

From Dollar Harbour we move on to Thompson Bay, Long Island and meet up with Escapade. We leave Dream Weaver and Escapade the next day and head to Hog Cay to prepare for a pleasant crossing to Cat Island. We connect with Betty and Jill on LiLi there. Mom flies into New Bight. She'll be with us for three wonderful weeks! The five of us do an island tour with Danny King, highly recommended. His uncle's cracked conch, where we had lunch, was heavenly! From Cat it's on to Rock Sound where we again meet up with Escapade and Dream Weaver. There was at least one "party night" before we headed to the Glass Window, Current Cut and Meek's Patch.

Beaching with friends on Long Island

Ken, Mom, Betty and Jill, in our own private little pool, Old Bight, CI.

Dollar Harbour Anyone?

We had a great day and are trying to decide on whether or not to go to Rum Cay. The wind and seas are not in our favor for a crossing in that direction. Karin on Dream Weaver has a brilliant option.  Let's go to Dollar Harbour, Long Island instead!. Looks like bonefish/ conch heaven. I had looked at this in the past but from the north there were no easy routes. From here in French Wells it's a cinch. And what a spot it is!  It's stunning in here and for 4 days there are only 3 of us at anchor. The pictures say it all

!

More on French Wells, Crooked Island

What a destination! Today we take the tenders and go to Goat Cay. Paul makes a cast off the beach and hooks up on a nice mutton snapper with his first cast, then trips on a conch. At low tide we walk out and pick up conch in 6" of water. Conch salad and snapper for supper tonight. Yum!

The carcass of that mutton snapper we're going to have for dinner.

Fire on the beach at Goat Cay, French Wells.