Bahamas 2024 – Jacksonville to Exuma

Our plan was to leave on Tuesday March 26th which would get us into West Palm for a crossing on April 1st, meeting our 2024 insurance requirements. Our first stop on trips south is always Palm Coast, but by Sunday we were all provisioned and ready to go. Sian asked “is there any reason not to leave tomorrow?” So we called St Augustine Municipal Marina and booked in for Monday and left! This is the flexibility of taking your hotel room with you!

Monday March 25th -St Augustine

It was an easy run to St Augustine, and we were in no hurry so cruised along at 7 knots through Palm Valley, down to Vilano and across to the Country’s Oldest City. Along the way we passed dozens of Loopers heading north. We had read on multiple FaceBook forums that they had been holed up further south due to weather – but now the migration was back under way! We also noted that about fifty percent of the boats were Mainships of one model or another.

As we approached St Augustine the wind got up significantly from the east. Backing into our designated slip Sian gave the stern line to the dock hand and asked him to take a couple of turns around the nearest cleat so Paul could use the engine to spring the boat against it and bring Sonas in against the wind which was pushing us away from the dock. The dock hand told Sian that there was no way he could pull the boat in against the wind and threw the line back to her! Paul decided to go back out and come in again just when a half dozen rental jetskiis decided to pass under his bow. A couple of shouts got them to clear. We ended up going into an adjacent slip where the wind pushed us easily onto that finger!

Seas outside St Augustine inlet

We went to OC Whites for dinner, which was OK, though due to the touristy nature of the town a little overpriced . However the two gentlemen providing the live music were very good!

Tuesday March 26th – Palm Coast

Palm coast was less than a four hour run from St Augustine so we had a lazy morning and left around ten thirty and made the marina a little after 2pm. We hit the notorious Matanzas corner around high tide so had no issues. We were aware that some dredging was taking place in the area, but the markers still showed the channel running right along the western edge by the beach, Then when we got to the straight between Matanzas and MarineLand we saw the dredge. It didn’t look like it was dredging the corner but the part of the AICW beyond that.

After Securing Sonas on the face dock at Palm Coast Marina and walking Bella, we strolled the short distance to the European Village and had a wonderful meal at The Fifth Element Indian restaurant. They never fail to impress with the quality of their food.

Matanzas dredge

Wednesday March 27th – New Smyrna Beach

We had purposely planned to have nice short days running south and today was no exception, a 40 nautical miles passage between Palm Coast and New Smyrna. We ran down through Ormond Beach, requiring the L. B. Knox bridge to open, then into Daytona where we needed the Main Street bridge to open (they are rebuilding a taller bridge there), through South Daytona and into New Smyrna.

Full Hammock Beach Marina
Sian doing the pre departure engine room check
…and tidying the lines after departure!

We had a transient slip booked at the New Smyrna Marina and radioed on 16 as we approached. No response. After trying a few times we called on their land line, no answer. As we hung off the marina a lady on a boat on the face dock called the restaurant for us and managed to get a dock hand to come down to show us our slip and help secure Sonas.

Later when we were eating at the very good on site Outriggers Tiki Bar and Grill we saw the dock hand and asked him why they did not respond to the VHF. “Oh we don’t listen to the radio.”

Well don’t you have a hand held?”

“Nope, no handheld.”

Point noted for next time!

Thursday March 28th – Cocoa Beach

Again we had a short run today, down through Mosquito Lagoon, through Haulover Canal, past Titusville and on to Cocoa Village. They had planned on putting us in one of their “outside” slips on the east side of the marina. However when we got there the dockmaster and Paul agreed that the slip was not wide enough. They decided on the face dock also on the east side of the main marina. The wind was still howling and it took a while to get us alongside and secure, but all completed without mishap.

We walked into town and had a very light meal at the Ossorio Bakery and Cafe.

Helpful only to the cormorant!
New Garmin cameras on the split screen monitor
The new NASA Causeway Bridge

Friday March 29th – Vero Beach

We did not have to get away too early today as Vero Beach Municipal had no available slips and had offered us their fuel dock so long as we arrived no earlier than 4:45. While the winds were not as strong, it stayed quite breezy. The run from Cocoa Village down to Vero Beach is in wide open and easy going most of the way. The last six or seven miles narrows somewhat through mangroves, but there is still plenty of water.

The wide open AICW towards Jensen Beach

We go to the marina right on time. Sian took Bella over to one of her favorite dog parks right by the marina. In fact this was the first dog park Bella had been to four years ago! After getting cleaned up we walked over to the Riverside Cafe for dinner.

Its a dog’s life!

Saturday March 30th – Sunday March 31st Safe Harbor Old Port Cove, North Palm Beach

We would have preferred to run outside from Fort Pierce down to West Palm. There are some tricky areas to pass through and there are numerous slow zones. Added to this it was a holiday weekend with warm sunny weather, so many boaters would be out. However due to the recent winds the seas were running pretty high, so we decided to stay inside.

Replacing the Fort Pierce North Causeway Bridge

We cruised south through Fort Pierce, made it through The Crossroads where the St Lucie River meets the AICW and headed into miles and miles of mangrove lined waterways. We ran through Hobe Sound and through the winding Jupiter inlet junction. As we expected the waters were teeming with boaters, not only running the river but pulled up onto the banks.

Busy Jupiter
Busy Jupiter
Weekend fun!

Finally we popped out into Lake Worth Lagoon, turned left and into the marina at Safe Harbor Old Port Cove. We went to the fuel dock first and topped up the tanks prior to our crossing, then backed into our slip without issue, well actually with a small one. There were already a number of large fender balls on the slip (we guess the usual tenant was away) and we had our fenders down not knowing this. One of our fenders popped free after getting caught on one of the ball fenders. It floated over to another slip and a dock hand retrieved it.

We were surrounded by mega yachts, with Tiger Wood’s yacht Privacy just a few slips down from us.

There is still some money around!

We grabbed an Uber to take us to the nearest Publix store where we did our final provisioning before crossing. In the evening we walked up to Cod and Capers for a dinner on their outside veranda.

Next day was Easter Sunday and we took an Uber over to the beautiful St. Clare’s Catholic Church for services. We cooked a leg of lamb for dinner as is our Easter tradition!

St Clare’s
Lamb dinner in the cockpit

Monday April 1st – Crossing from West Palm to Lucaya, Grand Bahama

The Safe Harbor Old Port Cover marina is about four miles from the West Palm inlet so we were away at first light. The forecast for the Gulf Stream looked very promising; much better than last year when we spent a week waiting for a good day to cross.

Pre crossing early morning departure towards Lake Worth inlet

Dare we say it, the crossing was long but uneventful just the way we like it! Pretty much two foot seas on slight rolling swells all the way across. We made Lucaya around 4:30 pm, in plenty of time to clear customs and immigration without issue. Bella got a nice long walk as her reward for good behavior on the crossing, then her parents went up to the pool bar for drinks and dinner.

Margaritaville cruise ship in Lake Worth

Tuesday April 2nd = Lucaya to Petit Cay, Berry Islands

We had a one day window to run south to The Berries, after which the wind would get back up again. We usually run about half way down the island chain and anchor behind Cabbage Cay. However this anchorage is open to the south and west which is exactly where the wind was forecast to come from. So we stopped short and anchored close to the south west shore of the Petit Cay anchorage.

We had not been into this anchorage before and we found plenty of water and very good holding. There was a nice long beach for Bella and human walks. We saw that there was a recommended Great Harbour Beach Club bar and restaurant right by the beach, though we didn’t get to visit this trip.

Wednesday April 3rd and Thursday April 4th – Petit Cay

The wind from the south had picked up again with three to four foot seas, which would be on our nose running south. While Sonas was very capable in these seas we were in no rush and decided to stay put and wait for better conditions. We relaxed, explored a bit and did plenty of walking on the beach. Midway through the second day we got a surge coming into the anchorage, likely because the wind had started moving from the south west to the south east.

Friday April 5th – Petit Cay to Anchorage at Athol Island

The wind had died away to a light breeze and clocked more to the north, so it was time to head on south. When we anchor further south at Cabbage Cay we can easily make Highbourne Cay in a days run. Because we had stopped further north this was no longer possible. So we headed for the anchorage at Athol Island. We had an easy run south, crossed the Tongue of the Ocean, ran through the narrow channel between Paradise Island and Athol Island and turned into the inside anchorage by the floating Hideaway Bar and Grill. It is a pretty small anchorage but we were there early enough to grab a prime anchoring spot. Other boats joined us later, with a number of them having to anchor outside. There is a small beach on the west side of the anchorage, just about enough for Bella to do her business but not much else.

Passing Atlantis on Paradise Island
Sunset over New Providence from the Athol anchorage

Saturday April 6th – Athol Island to Norman’s Cay

It is just a half day’s cruising across the Yellow Bank into the northern Exuma, so we didn’t hurry our departure this morning. After doggie walks and breakfast we upped anchor and headed south east. The bank was flat and calm allowing us to enjoy the clear waters. Lots of boat traffic was moving in both directions.

Our usual first stop in Exuma is the anchorage at Highbourne Cay. Because we started the day closer than usual we carried on and anchored off Norman’s.

We were in Exuma!

Crossing Yellow Bank

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