This is the first Easter in our 45 years of marriage that we haven't been home and celebrated with our families. The COVID virus has certainly created a new normal for all us us.
God is so good, though. He knew our isolation in our marina and supplied a new little friend. This tiny gecko was on our back cockpit area so Jim carefully picked him up to usher him to shore. He jumped away and then climbed up his leg to pose for this shot. How cute.
Happy Easter everyone from Samba!
Our family tradition is to have a big brunch, usually on the Saturday before Easter so we can all go to church. We decided to dress up for the first time in many weeks. Carol made an amazing Wahoo benedict with some of the fish we caught. We also had french toast rollups with fresh homemade Bahamas bread. Wow, what a feast.
After watching the weather very carefully, it looked like Tuesday would be the only tenable day to cross the Gulf Stream in possibly 2 more weeks so, we decided to bite the bullet on a less than great day for Monday and begin our 2 day adventure to get back to the States.
And an adventure it was!
Since our stabilizers weren't working due to a blown seal, we were quite at the mercy of the seas. All day Monday and much of the day Tuesday, it was pretty ugly. Though we didn't get sick, we spent most of the day hanging on and just enduring the non-stop rolling.
Saturday was pretty sporty all day with winds close to 20 knots and following seas that were banging us around pretty good.
As we approached the commercial harbour in Freeport, we noticed that it was pretty quiet. Possibly they were shut down for the virus?
We passed 2 sets of what looked like offshore drilling platforms just standing on their 3 legs in 80 feet of water.
After 10 hours of non-stop rolling, we were so very ready to find an anchorage. The place we had planned to stop was not an option due to the high seas. Fortunately, some boater friends had found this amazing place in an abandoned housing development. It was the perfect place to get some badly needed rest.
Finding the opening and going in were a bit exciting due to the seas all around us. Once in, though, it was wonderful.
The stone work throughout this development was stunning. Too bad they abandoned their project!
Here is a picture of us anchored. There were a couple of other boats anchored on in the development.
The winds were supposed to lay down during the night Monday and be under 12 on Tuesday. Of course you know that didn't happen.
We upped the anchor and headed out at 5:00am on Tuesday in order to arrive at Florida early afternoon before the winds picked up again and a chance of storms increased. The winds had not gone down, of course, and, to make matters worse, the seas were pounding us broadside - - all morning. Ughhhh!
About 1/2 way across the Gulf Stream, the winds finally started to moderate and the seas eased up quite a bit. Thank you Lord!
Twice in the Stream, we had to alter our course in order to avoid hitting first a cruise ship and then a container ship. That helps to keep things interesting.
This picture of our navigation chart shows samba 14.3 miles from the St. Lucie inlet near Stuart, Fl. Notice the strange angle the boat is at in comparison to the actual route we were following. The current in the Gulf Stream is so strong that we had to crab over 30 degrees off of the course in order to make landfall at the right locaiton.
You can see that our heading was 261 degrees but the course we were following was actually 295 detrees. A 34 degree difference. Wow.
This is always an interesting exercise in Stuart. We go under a highway bridge and dogleg past a railroad drawbridge before getting to the highway drawbridge that the bridge tender so kindly opened for us.
This water is sure not the Bahamas water. Lots of tanins coming downstream from Lake Okeechobee.
Once up the river a ways, we had to try to not run over these kids who were wakeboarding right in front of us. The skier, of course, fell a couple of times. Argghhh.
One final hurdle we had to work through before getting to our boatyard for the night was the St. Lucie lock. One of several in this river that controls the output of Lake Okeechobee.
Once the doors behind us are closed, the water pours in quickly as they open the upstream doors.
We try to hold the boat off of the walls to keep from banging into it when the current is running hard.
Here, we're near the top and ready to head out.
This is a new boatyard for us so we weren't sure quite how to get in and where to go.
Here we are tied up to the boatyard wall. We were able to clear US Customs just fine using an app we have on our phone. PTL!
We arrived at 3:45, just in time for the guys to help get us tied before they left for the day at 4:00. Phew! Timing really is everything!
We hope you have enjoyed our adventures. As always, feel free to share the link with anyone you thing would like to see them.
We may have 1 final blog entry once Samba is on blocks.
Until the next time, may all of your days be filled with God's eternal love and grace. He will provide you with so much more than you can ever hope for, especially during these difficult virus times.
God bless you and yours and godspeed as you navigate these uncertain times.
Jim & Carol and Samba's Never Ending Adventure
