TCI's to the Dominican Republic

Marina Puerto Bahia, DR

We checked into South Side Marina to enjoy a great but far too short stay in the Turks and Caicos. Thanks for the hospitality Bob. Met up with Duane & June on "Sea Clearly". We shared a rental car to tour the island, go for a snorkel then have lunch at Ocean Reef Resort; a beautiful spot right on the beach. Nice lunch, great service! This  island has really "grown" since we were last here 12 years ago! The resorts are beautiful and it looks like they did it right!

We depart Friday after getting our "outbound" clearance. 15-20kts out of the NE so it was a bit "bumpy" crossing the banks but we were setting ourselves up for the overnight to the Dominican Republic. Checking with Chris Parker and WeatherBouy the upcoming forecast is another great opportunity to take action. After a night at anchor just west of South Caicos we are off Saturday am. The winds are light and other than a few squalls we have a smooth crossing often on glassy seas to Samana, Dominican Republic.

Miami to the Turks & Caicos

I decided to break from my past routine and go into a bit more detail, we are both retired now, gotta do something with all that free time!

Ceviche 101

Well, it was not planned to be a 72 hour direct crossing but man did it work out great! Let's back up a bit here; we are waiting in Miami for a good opportunity to cross the Gulf Stream and carry on to perhaps the Exumas, or maybe Long Island and wait there for a good window to move south to the Turks & Caicos Islands. We are using NOAA,  XM, PassageWeather, WeatherBuoy and Chris Parker in addition to a trusted advisor (you'll know who you are) who  has done the trip many times (thanks!). Some of you may remember that week, as Chris put it, the models were not in good agreement. After a great lunch with our friends Ron &Nicole in South Beach at Ceviche 101, we pick up a few last minute supplies and head to the boat, planning on leaving early the next morning. We give CP a call just to confirm. Yep, the Gulf Stream crossing might not be ideal but "doable" and the weather moving in behind is favorable for a run to Calabash Bay, Long Island. A South Beach mega party starts up in our anchorage, loud, loud, loud. If it was Hendricks or the Stones we might have stayed but at 19:30 the winds have dropped the party is in full swing so we weigh anchor and off we go towards the Caribbean.

Dec 6th
19:30, weigh anchor, head out Gv't cut.
19:45, a huge cruise ship right on our stern, blows its horn, hard to starboard, yikes where the h*** did he come from? We entered the cut only moments before with an 80' yacht leaving Miami Beach Marina and the Fisher Island Ferry the only traffic in sight. Then all of a sudden this huge 'building' is on our tail!
19:50 out the cut we go, a bit lumpy, tug traffic, we get out of the channel as soon as we clear the break wall.
23:20 in the Gulf Stream now, winds NE @ 12-16kts, steep 3' seas, not too bad at all.
Dec 07th
03:30, North Rock, Bimini, winds NE @ 13kts, seas 2-3'
13:00 Enter Tongue of the Ocean, wind NE 12-15kts, seas 2-3', we are heading SE, sweet!
19:30 round the SW end of New Providence, Coral Harbour. On the bank wind NE @ 10kts or so, light 1-2'chop
Dec 8th
01:30, Turn south at Norman's Cay
06:30 out Dotham Cut, Exumas to cross to Calabash Bay.
15:30 weather is good, a real nice opportunity to go outside Long Island and direct to the Turks & Caicos Islands. We decide to carry on. Call on the radio from sailboat "Sea Clearly". They wanted to make sure their radio was fine.
Dec 9th
Another good night running offshore
09:15 finally the big swells find us off Plana Cays and down through the Mayaguana Passage, 6-8' then 10 maybe 12 but big long and lazy, on the beam to stern quarter. Stabs work hard but the ride is great.
11:40 the wind has made a sudden shift, clocking to the NW @ 10-12 kts; the seas with 2' chop. Is there a front coming?
15:30 Wind has backed to 250-270 @ 12-15kts.
20:30, after sunset we approach Sandbore Channel, Turks & Caicos.  We're looking forward to dropping the anchor. It's getting pretty rough out there.
We follow Bob from South Side Marina's advice, "move into the channel about 2 miles, turn to port and anchor in 15-20 feet do not try coming east in the dark". We drop anchor, deep soft sand, we can hear the surf pounding on the reef, a steady distant roar. We roll once in a while but have a comfortable night (we are dead tired) protected from the swells by the reef only.
Miami to TCI, 72 hours non stop!

Krogens in Miami

Stevedore and LiLi arrive. We are waiting on weather. They are moving south to the Keys. Tom and Phyllis of Cocoon II, stop by in their big tender. It's a nice ride, and like us,  they too are waiting on weather. All reports are looking like late Sat, early Sun to cross the stream. Sylvianne and I spent the day on boat projects and last minute provisioning. We're really looking fwd to moving south but we are going miss cruising here in the states and Bahamas and hooking up with the likes of LiLi, Crackerjack, Follow Me, CloverLeaf, Steadfast, Wanderer's Rest, Mystic Moon, Silver Bay, The Good Life, Gratitude, Coral Bay, Morning Star, Compass Rose, Ariel, Salt & Light, Seaclusion, Sea Quill, Epilogue, Puffin , (Sandy & Glen in the not too distant future perhaps?). Sorry if we missed anyone. Happy travels and safe passages to all of the cruisers and people we meet along the  way.

Now In Miami

Left Stuart, headed down the ICW to WPB. Spent a day at anchor.  We were expecting to be in WPB for a few days, the forecast offshore being NASTY, but we did not relish the Bridge run south of here.

We wake up in the morning to find there's no wind so at 7:00 am we depart WPB and head 'outside' to travel directly to Miami.  Yes, the winds did kick in as forecast but by then we were already well underway. So here we are, on the outside, 15-20 kts from the E-NE, mostly 3-5' seas,  an occasional 4-6', with a few 8's just for fun,  beam to stern quarter. The stabs worked hard but all was good.  New auto pilot pump combined with a Scotty auto pilot setup and all systems are working GREAT!

ICW to WPB

Thanks Dr Brown,  Mark, Mary. Off the dock, ICW to WPB, Lake Worth. All looking good. We'll be offshore in the am, sea trial on the new systems. It's a short run. Ft. Lauderdale next.

Finally!

OK, it's been a very busy few weeks here at Sunset Bay, Stuart. A huge "Thank You" to all who helped us get "ready".
Kudos: Scotty, Philip, George, Angel, Bill & Ann, did I mention Bill who spent a day on our boat with Scotty and I??  Thanks Bill.

Also thanks to all who were sympathetic, yes she now looks "just like new".

At the "Seal trial" this morning we had some adventure. Scotty and Sylvianne manned the lines as getting off the fuel dock was interesting to say the least. A big nasty squall decided to make itself felt just as we were untying from the fuel dock. We went bow in at the slip. I did not want to even think of banging the swim platform on the dock, so I chickened out on the usual stern in  docking plan. Bow in was easy! It was nice to have Scotty on board to help with that one and a huge relief once we were securely tied down.
We are departing in the am.

Virginia to Florida

After a comfortable night at Great Bridge, Virginia, we woke up the bridge tender at 5:50 am declaring we were here for the 6 am opening. He sleepily replied "Good morning capt, stand by we are opening in a few minutes". Down the canal we go, love the big searchlight for the ICW in the dark. Within an hour we see the beginning of daybreak, looks like a pretty day ahead. We run "down the sounds" stopping near Long Shoal River on the Pamlico just as the sun goes down. Beautiful calm night. Next am (Mon 27th) we again depart in the dark; easy here, no need for the light, just radar and the chart plotter. At around 13:00 we talk to Steve and Julie on Erban Renewal as we approach the Neuse. Originally, we were planning to stop in Adams Creek for the night then go offshore Tuesday for a run to Fernandina Beach, however looking at the longer term weather it looks like a wonderful window today right through to Friday the 31st. If we carry on now we will head out of Beaufort, NC Inlet in late afternoon. Let's go!  It is now 19:00, Thursday the 30th, and we are just south of Cape Canaveral.  Our  ETA in to Fort Pierce, Florida is about 2 am Friday just ahead of the weather moving in over the weekend. We have had great weather all the way, only 5-6 hours where we saw anything over 15 kts and 3' seas. Mostly 5-10 kts, 1-2 feet! Don't you love it when a plan works out even better than expected?

Great Bridge Virginia

Great weather, looking like a whole week of light winds 10-15kts, seas are forecast to be 3 feet or less, mostly 1-2'. I usually double the forecast, shoreline effects, currents and local winds all impact. so we are expecting 2-4', in the ocean the interval should be about 9 seconds, let's hope I am right and we will make a speedy passage to Florida. Tied up at the free dock between the lock and Great Bridge, Virginia.

You Tube

Thanks to those who suggested Y Tube, that was super easy.  You just might have to put up with their ads, guess somebody has to pay for it. Hope y'all enjoyed the clip.

Cheers,
K&S

A Taste of Cuba