cruising log

December 2023 Florida to the Bahamas

The month started with us leaving the marina in Titusville and heading south. The wind was coming from the south and pretty light so we took the ICW for the day. We anchored just off the ICW in a quiet little spot, nothing much around to do but we slept and then headed off again in the morning and made it to Fort Pierce.

We stayed in Fort Pierce for two days. We enjoyed finally being somewhere with clear water. There were several small islands around the anchorage with little beaches to explore. We walked to the ocean beach and actually got in the water for the first time since the Great Lakes! We briefly met Brain and Erin aboard SV Lost and will hopefully catch up with them again in the Bahamas.

We chose a perfect weather window for the 45 mile sail south to West Palm Beach. We were finally able to sail pretty much the entire passage! We had flat seas and sunny skies. We threw a lure in while sailing and to our surprise, actually caught and got a fish onto the boat! We caught a good sized Mackerel or Wahoo ( we aren’t 100% sure) and it was so good! We ate it for days, and the cats also had plenty!

We had then finally made it to what we thought would be our final anchorage in Florida. West Palm Beach is where we planned to stage and wait for our weather window to cross over to the Bahamas.

Well… We ended up stuck in West Palm for a while. Our first week we had wind 15-20 knots most days but some sunshine. We met up with several other boats all waiting to cross to the Bahamas. We had a great time playing beach games and going out in downtown West Palm with our new group of young cruising friends. We also met up with family friends of Ryan’s. They took us to a nice lunch and gave us a gift basket full of goodies.

Our second week in West Palm there was a big low pressure system setting up, we thankfully were able to grab a marina slip to wait out the storm. This front brought clouds, rain, storms and heavy wind (gusting into the 50s on the worst night of it). Erika did not feel comfortable staying on anchor through the days long storm. We had sustained winds 25-35 for about five days. We hunkered down at the marina and waited it out. We were really glad we did because several boats dragged anchor during the worst of the storm. A boat we met in West Palm was hit by another boat dragging anchor. We had our dock lines doubled up and although it was still wavy and uncomfortable we made it through without any damage.

With yet another week before any possible weather window was forecast we set off about 10 miles south to Lantana to get a change of scenery for a few days. We spent some time with SV Sunwise and got to meet SV Explorer. Getting a change of scenery was really nice. We took a few walks through town and after much deliberation decided to go further south and cross from Miami instead of going back to West Palm.

We took off from Lantana and traveled on the ICW to Fort Lauderdale. This stretch of the ICW has a lot of bridges! Waiting for them to open slowed us down for sure but we made it to the anchorage late afternoon. The anchorage was very busy but we squeezed in for the night.

The next day we took off, heading outside in the ocean for Miami. The wind was up a bit more than we had hoped. We had a wavy ride down to Miami. With one reef in the main and stay sail only we averaged 5.5 to 6 knots in 3-5 ft waves. Once inside the inlet at Miami we had a wonderful sail in Biscayne Bay to arrive at our anchorage in Key Biscayne, No Name Harbor. SV Explorer who we met in Lantana sailed down with us. We enjoyed dinner with them onshore and met SV Cloud.

With a weather window insight we headed to shore for a final grocery run. We had been stocking up again and again since Titusville while we waited for weather to cross. Our pantry was jam packed but we needed some fresh veggies before crossing.

We spent a rainy Christmas day in Miami and then the following day it was finally time to cross to the Bahamas!

We woke up early and raised the anchor. The wind hadn’t died down as quickly as forecast so we set off with wind 18-20 knots. Big waves had us almost turning around to try again later on but we pushed through. Actually as we got further off shore and into the gulf stream the waves become more spaced out and manageable. We made landfall in Bimini before dark and anchored in a peaceful bay for the evening.

The next morning we got officially checked into the country and headed across the Bahamas bay to the Berry Islands. The bay is about 10-15 ft deep all the way across with a sand bottom. The water is so clear you can see the ripples in the sand as you sail by. The Berry Islands lay about 80 miles across the bay. We arrived at our anchorage at about 1am, anchoring in the dark for the first time ever.

We crashed for the night after arriving to Chub Cay. The following day was rainy and windy in the afternoon. We spent a lazy day onboard , relaxing after many ocean miles traveled. The wind shifted overnight making our anchorage very uncomfortable. We headed out at first light in search of a more calm anchorage.

We got our fishing line out right away and very quickly had a king mackerel on the line! We sailed around the outside of the Berry Island chain up to Great Harbour Cay. We caught a blue runner and a barracuda on the way as well. We didn’t keep the barracuda but the other two fish we had were great eating! The cats were super excited for all the fresh fish!

We spent the remainder of December in Great Harbour Cay. We walked the beach, explored shark creek which winds through the island, paddle boarded, snorkeled and went spearfishing. We saw plenty of fish, turtles, a few eagle rays and a lemon shark. Ryan got a huge lobster spearfishing on new year’s eve. We had a fantastic feast to finish out the year.