March was a pretty solid month of moving, going a total of 561 miles and about 52% of those being pure sailing miles. We had great sailing while in the Bahamas, but had to motor across the Gulf Stream since our weather window was dead calm between two major storm systems. Now that we're back in Florida we're seeing the challenges of coastal cruising again where it's never the right wind to go where you want. We've had two major gales and several days in the 25+ knots of wind since returning to Florida, followed by dead calm days that you also cannot sail. It's a bit frustrating, as this year's weather continues to be very unusual (according to everyone we've talked to)
29 Nights on Anchor 1 Night on Mooring 1 Night on Passage
We spent one night at the Warderick Wells mooring field since it's a beautiful spot that is only accessible if you stay on the mooring. It's worth it so we stayed the night there before crossing back to Eleuthera. The one night on passage was our crossing back to Fort Pierce, we did the passage overnight from Pensacola Cay in the Abacos.
72 kWh of Solar Generated
In the month of March we generated 72 kWh of solar power. This was the most ever, and we're really seeing the benefit of longer days, and the sun being higher in the sky. Now that we're making more power, we're also using more power, as we can flex to high usage items like our induction stove and watermaker. Weather in the Bahamas was great for generating solar, but since being in Florida our weather has been much more hit and miss.
$1,223 Total Spent $39.45 Average Per Day
We're back in the US! Which means we're back in the land of abundance. There isn't much to buy in the outer islands of the Bahamas. Now that we're back in the US it was time to restock and splurge a bit on some luxuries (bacon!) We spent a bit more on restaurants this month, and likely will going forward with our current plans to return to Muskegon by the end of the summer. We want to get a better taste of the East coast on our way North, although we may just go to every brewery and pizza place we can find :). The first stop after getting back to Fort Pierce was Sailfish Brewing Company for some Pizza and Beer. Other than that, we went to Cap'n Jacks in Hope Town and a brewery in New Smyrna. We got our of March only spending $1,223 which included topping off all of our fuel.
We started March in Staniel Cay in the Exumas. Here we grabbed some groceries, gas for the dinghy and waited out some higher winds before continuing north. We had been in this anchorage before, on our way south through the Exumas but we found a nice beach we hadn’t visited the first time. The anchorage is really well protected and just a nice place to spend a few days.
Once the winds died off a bit we headed north. We hoped to anchor at The Mice anchorage but getting in there we saw some shallow water so we turned around and continued to another anchorage. We ended up at Fowl Cay. The anchorage was really pretty and gave us access to Rachel’s Bubble Bath which is a pool with waves that crash over the rocks and the foaming water gives it a bubble bath feel. It was really pretty and we both decided it was one of our favorite stops.
The anchorage there was a bit rolly and shallower than we expected. It was a squally evening and just at low tide a big squall came through with a wind shift that moved the boat into shallower water. We were touching the bottom until the wind shifted back and moved us into deeper water once again. The next morning we left first thing, before the next low tide hit.
We moved north, into the Exumas Land and Sea Park to O’Brian’s Cay. From here we snorkeled at The Aquarium spot which was amazing! There were so many fish that swam right up to you. The coral here was great and we had the place to ourselves! We also took the dinghy to nearby Cambridge Cay for some hiking before spending the rest of the afternoon hanging out at the nearby sandbars, enjoying the crystal clear shallow waters.
The next morning we headed off to the Wardrick Wells mooring field which would be our final stop in the Exumas. We got a ball in the north mooring field which is stunning! Wardrick Wells has lots of hiking trails that we really enjoyed. We hiked up to Boo Boo Hill for great views of the mooring field and the crashing waves of the Exuma sound across the island. The tradition is to leave a piece of driftwood or other small momento with your boat name at the top of the hill. We completely forgot and didn’t make a sign at all, I guess we will have to go back some day!
Wardrick Wells was a beautiful spot that we could have stayed at longer but the next day we had a great weather window to cross the Exuma sound back to Eleuthera. We had a fantastic sail over and landed at Govener’s Harbor which is a town we didn’t stop at when we headed south through Eleuthera.
We spent two days in Govener’s Harbor. The town has several little cafes, a couple grocery stores, gas station and free water. It was one of the cuter towns we wandered around in the Bahamas. Friday night the town has a fish fry event. They serve dinner and block off the nearby street for dancing. It was mostly cruisers and tourists, not many locals but a really fun event we were glad we could attend.
We then had our window to sail north, stopping for a night near Spanish Wells before continuing to the Abacos. We skipped over the Abacos on our way south through the Bahamas so we were excited to see some new places before crossing back to the U. S.
We had a rolly, but overall good sail north to the Abacos. We landed at our anchorage and ended up being right by our friends on Sandpiper. The next day we enjoyed catching up with them and taking a walk on the beach and island trail nearby.
Our next stop was a short jump up to Snake Cay. We had the anchorage to ourselves and it was so peaceful! We took the dinghy through the shallow, mangrove lined waters and saw several eagle rays and turtles.
The next day we motored through the calm to Hope Town. We stayed here three days. The town is really cute and the beach on the ocean side is lovely. We wandered through town, got some ice cream and lunch at the waterfront restaurant. It was a nice change of pace to get back into some civilization as the Exumas, where we were most of the previous month was very remote.
We also visited the lighthouse in town and enjoyed a beach bonfire with several other young cruisers before we continued north. We caught up with some boats we had seen previously in the Exumas and met some new friends.
Our next stop was about 10 miles north at Great Guana Cay. We stayed one night, taking the afternoon to wander through town and along the beach. We grabbed some groceries and planned to continue north the following day.
Our next passage had use going through the Whale Cut, which is a few miles out in the ocean rather than staying inside on the bank. We had several days of very calm weather so we went through without any issues. We anchored at Nunjack Cay where we planned to wait out some heavy north wind forecast to come in the next couple days. We had two nice days/nights on anchor there before the weather set in. Ryan had a great final spearfishing session- he got us three lobsters!
During the nice weather we enjoyed taking the dinghy through the mangrove lined river, seeing plenty of sea turtles. We also hiked on some of the island trails. The bay on the north side of the island is a common place for tour boats to take people to feed sharks and rays. We walked the beach and saw plenty of small sharks and big rays as the tourists were tossing food out to them.
Our final day and night here we had some heavy winds bringing waves and a sleepless night. Our midnight storm brought plenty of lightning, rain and 43 knots of wind! Thankfully our anchor held and we made it through.
After the storms and wind died down we made a run for it to get closer to our jumping off point to cross back to the U.S. We sailed to Allans/Pensacola Cay and had a nice calm night. The following morning we headed off first thing to start our crossing. We were able to sail several hours along the bank (shallow Bahamas waters) before our wind totally died and we had to motor. Although it was alot of engine hours we were happy we had a calm crossing in the gulf stream back to Florida. Along the way we caught a cer0 mackerel and a little tunny.
We made it into Fort Pierce the following morning around 10:30. After checking back into the U.S we walked the pier and enjoyed some pizza and beer at a local brewery. After picking up a large grocery order we went to bed early.
The next few days brought wind and rain. We were glad to be back in Florida for this weather as it was forecast to be worse in the islands where we were in the Bahamas. We did however get hit by a line of strong winds bringing 46 knots in the middle of the night unexpectedly. Thankfully, once again our anchor held us in place and it was over in about an hour.
Before leaving Fort Pierce we checked out the farmers market and had a nice walk around town. Our next stop was just 12 miles north in Vero Beach. Here we spent two nights, waiting out some strong north wind before continuing on. Thankfully we had sunny skies along with our north wind so we got out and walked the parks, the town and to the beach and back.
Our way down the east coast it was cold and we had quite a lot of bad weather so we felt like we were just moving quickly to get south. On our way back north we are hoping for better, warmer weather so we can enjoy it more and make more of an effort to get off the boat and explore all the towns we stop in.
Our next stop was in Titusville, where we stayed a few days and visited with Erika’s aunt Nancy and uncle Tom. We actually had great wind to sail up the ICW the entire way there. We enjoyed catching up with Nancy and Tom and sharing travel stories as they had just returned from a big trip to Australia and New Zealand.
We also got to see a rocket launch while anchored in Titusville. Our final day here brought wind and rain once again. Finally after it all blew through we had some sun and calm the following day for us to continue north.
We stopped in New Smyrna beach and spent and afternoon walking around town. We enjoyed a couple of calm evenings here on anchor before heading off again.
We are ending March, sailing up the coast to St Augustine. We have calm seas and light winds.
