Hula Girl arrived safely at John Sawyer Bank, off Marathon, from Marco Island today. We departed at 8:30am and dropped anchor at 11:45pm, a bit over 15 hours. We will wait until sunrise to go into port.
First, a quick nap then at 2:30am will get up to watch the lunar eclipse way out here away from light pollution. The full moon helped light up our way tonight.
The morning sail was incredible. Hula Girl was busting 7kts for a while! In the afternoon, the wind shifted to be on our nose so we ended up motor- sailing for a while and finally motoring. Unfortunately we can’t motor as fast as we can sail.
We left Ft Myers Beach and motor-sailed south to Marco Island. After blowing 20-25kts all day yesterday we only had about 5-7kts today, so we had to run the engine at 1200 rpm’s. Just enough to boost our speed up to 5kts so we could arrive before the marina closed, but still conserve fuel. It was a pleasant trip. Delaying a day per the weather guy’s recommendation was a good plan.
We stayed at Rose Marina because Marco Island Yacht Club didn’t have room for us. 1 Star, Do not recommend. I mean, it’s ok but they put us on the Key West Ferry dock. Lots of people around. And the gate code didn’t work nor did anyone answer the after hours phone. Fortunately someone came by and let us in after dinner.
The highlight of the day was meeting up with my friend Peggy and her husband Dave for drinks a local dive called the Sandbar. Peggy and I had cubes beside each other way back in the late 90’s and we’ve worked together again for the last 10-12 years or so. She also recently retired and we were lucky to meet up between her European vacations.
Alicia, Peggy, me and Dave at the Sandbar
We will make for Marathon in the morning. It’s about a 16 hour passage, so we’ll arrive in the middle of the night. Plan is to anchor out once we are close then go into the marina after day break. We will likely be there for a bit as the weather looks like it might get spicy over the weekend.
We were stuck in port as a stiff northern wind churned the seas up to a state that would have made an unpleasant sail to Marco Island according to our weather service. After an overnight low of 55 degrees, it warmed up to the low 70’s and made for a nice relaxing afternoon at the pool, strategically wind blocked by a mountain of sand for beach repairs after the hurricanes. There are definitely worse places to get stuck!
Someone on the trolley recommended we join the Royal Marsh Harbour Yacht Club because there are some discounts available as we cruise around the Abacos Islands. I checked it out and joined so we are now members of a Bahamian yacht club.
I also decided to sign up for Sea Tow. I’m a member of Boat US for towing assistance but it occurred to me they may not have much if any service in the Bahamas. Just in case…
We head for Marco Island first thing in the morning.
