A Memorable Crossing - Rodriguez Key to Nassau

We said our goodbyes to Jack & Susan and headed to Rodriguez Key shortly after 3:00 p.m. on Monday, March 30th. The seas had calmed nicely and we were anchored within a couple of hours, along with "September Song," "Gypsies in the Palace," "Lucky Stars" and about twenty other boats, most of which were sailboats.  Our group of four decided to haul anchor at 5:00 a.m. Tuesday morning so we had a mellow evening and went to bed early.

At this point I should note that our group of four boats includes ten people. In addition to "Life's2Short," we have Bob & Stephanie aboard "September Song," Doug & Tammy and John & Colleen aboard "Gypsies in the Palace," and Dan & Carol aboard "Lucky Stars." The "Gypsies" are actually on a much longer journey than the rest of us and are planning to make their way to South America over the course of the next couple of years. Quite an adventurous foursome!

Todd and I got up at 4:20 a.m. Tuesday morning and by 5:15 we were following "September Song" out of the anchorage. "Gypsies in the Palace" fell in behind us and "Lucky Stars" brought up the rear. The seas varied during the eight-and-a-half hours it took us to reach the Bahama Bank and we experienced a fair amount of rolling motion, but mostly it was confused, unorganized turbulence.

The fearsome foursome heading across the Gulf Stream.


Everyone had at least one line out at some point as we crossed the Gulf Stream, but Don & Carol aboard "Lucky Stars" worked the hardest at it and were rewarded with a nice fourteen-pound Mahi-mahi. Todd also had a hit and brought in a Yellowfin tuna weighing about six pounds and "Gypsies in the Palace" hooked a barracuda, which they promptly released.

We were hoping that the water on the Bahama Bank would be calmer than what we had experienced in the Gulf Stream but it, too, was on the rough side. We decided to stop at 4:30 that afternoon and call it a day. Everyone was tired and looking forward to a restful night. The seas calmed down a bit over the next few hours and it was actually pretty nice when we went to bed at 8:00 p.m.

September Song arrives on the Bahama Bank with its beautiful blue water!


By 10:30 we were see-sawing badly in three- to four-foot waves that were slapping our swim platform so hard we were certain it was going to break off. Sleeping was virtually impossible and about 1:30 a.m. "Lucky Stars" came on the VHF radio and told us that they had, in fact, lost their swim platform. No one got much sleep that night!

Dan got in the water at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday to search for the swim platform but was unable to locate it. We hauled anchor at 8:00 a.m. (not an easy thing to do when you are see-sawing in four-foot waves!) and made a few passes in the vicinity to see if we could see the swim platform on the bottom, but it was nowhere to be found. Between the wind and the current, there is no telling where or how far it may have gone.

Once we were underway the water seemed much calmer than it had been at anchor - that is, until we neared the Northwest Channel of the Tongue of the Ocean. The seas got progressively worse and by the time we reached the Northwest Channel we were plowing bow-first through six- to eight-foot waves! We even took a few over the flybridge as we slammed into the troughs of the swells. Our original plan was to separate from the other three boats at this point and head south toward Andros, but when we attempted to turn that direction the waves rolled us from the side and we quickly decided that going to Andros was no longer a viable option.

"Lucky Stars" cruising on the Bank.


"September Song" and "Gypsies in the Palace" following "Life's2Short."


Heading into the powerful Tongue of the Ocean in less than desirable conditions!


Shortly after that "Lucky Stars" radioed to say that their dinghy had broken loose from one of its chocks and they were in danger of losing it overboard. A chock is essentially a cradle or brace that the dinghy sits on, and is strapped to, to hold it in place. Their dinghy, like ours, is mounted on top of their sundeck and the stern of the dinghy had come out of the cradle. Dan scrambled to secure it as best he could under the circumstances while Carol manned the helm, and we all braced for a rough sixteen-mile ride to Chub Cay.

Bob aboard "September Song" hailed Chub Cay marina to inquire about dockage for the night and was quoted a rate of $4.75 per foot, per night! We all decided that was also not a viable option and ended up anchoring outside the marina channel about 4:00 p.m. We had anchored there last year and found it to be uncomfortably rolly, but compared to what we had just gone through, it was heavenly!

We had prepared pretty well for the rough seas, moving things to safety that have never budged before, but we still had a few things to pick up and a lot of things to put back in place. After we were all settled at anchor, Dan swam some of their fresh Mahi-mahi over to each of the other boats and we gave him some of our Yellowfin tuna. That evening everyone enjoyed fresh fish for dinner and we were all grateful for the relative calm of our anchorage.

By 8:00 p.m. the Captain and I were in bed, exhausted after a gruelling day. Todd & Bob dinghied in to the marina Thursday morning to buy a bag of ice and to ask about clearing customs. They were told it would be $100 per boat, in addition to the standard $300 fee for cruising and fishing permits, so we elected to wait and clear customs in Nassau. Apparently the entire Chub Cay operation is going bankrupt, which is understandable based on their rude manners, dockage rates, and the additional customs fee. It's a wonder anyone goes in there at all!

Ice run for the Admiral who needs her cold cerveza.


Later that morning Todd was monitoring the VHF radio and heard some boaters talking about Chris Parker's weather forecast for the next few days. Unfortunately, what he heard was that the wind was going to clock around to the southwest by Friday morning, which would make the anchorage at Chub unbearable. We knew we had to go somewhere; we just didn't know where! Since the conditions hadn't changed in the Tongue of the Ocean, no one wanted to attempt the forty-mile trip to Nassau and we also were not interested in paying the marina's outrageous dockage fees, which they wouldn't budge from even though Tammy, our resident lawyer aboard "Gypsies in the Palace," did her best to negotiate with them.

We finally decided to leave Chub Cay and go around the corner to Frazer's Hog Cay, which is north and east of Chub, to take a mooring ball at the Berry Islands Club for an extremely reasonable $15 per night. Our only hesitation about going to the Berry Islands Club was that we would have to go back outside and face the dreaded seas to get there. But we didn't have a lot of options so we once again battened down the hatches and pulled anchor at 1:30 p.m.

The trip to the Berry Islands Club was shorter than anticipated, maybe five or six miles, and we were secure on a mooring ball an hour later. The seas were still quite rough, but they weren't as bad as the previous day and we weren't exposed for very long. All in all, it wasn't a bad trip and we were glad to be away from the surge at Chub Cay. "September Song," "Gypsies in the Palace" and "Lucky Stars" ended up tying up to the dock at the Berry Islands Club where the rate is a very respectable $2.00 per foot, per night, plus $25 for electricity.

A must-stop for cruisers headed to the Berry Islands.


That evening we all went to the Berry Islands Club and were waited on by Herbie, the owner/manager, who mixed a killer rum punch and made some tasty conch fritters. We ended up crashing on "September Song" until about 4:00 a.m. when we got up to help Bob & Stephanie add some fenders to keep their boat from rubbing on the dock. At that point we decided to dinghy back to "Life's2Short" for the remainder of the night.

Welcome to Frazer's Hog Cay.



Herbie, the man can cook AND mix rum punch all at the same time!


Having way too much fun!


You can take the Captain out of the kitchen but he always finds his way back.


Herbie & Eddie preparing Jerk pork.


Troy & Eddie, divers from Andros and just all-around great guys!

Todd took off in the dinghy mid-morning on Friday to go exploring. He later stopped by with Dan in Dan's dinghy to drop off some ice and then they were off to look at some wood he had found earlier that he thought might be usable to build a temporary swim platform for "Lucky Stars." The next time I saw him was about 1:30 p.m. when he stopped in long enough to eat a sandwich and then he was off again with a couple of locals (Bahamians) who were going diving for conch.

Heading out to find some conch.


Troy, the Conch Slayer!


Todd, the Rookie.


Coming in with a mess of conch!


The Bahamians dropped Todd off at "Life's2Short" about 3:30 and he promptly got in his dinghy and went to shore to help them clean the harvested conch. He finally returned shortly before 5:00 p.m. - with some fresh conch, I might add - and settled down long enough to have a couple of beers before taking a nap. A busy and fun day for the Captain - welcome to the islands, mon!

It ain't as easy as you think cleaning those conch.


That evening we dinghied over to "September Song" about 7:00 p.m. for a late happy hour and then walked up to the Berry Islands Club for dinner. Herbie had another large group to feed prior to us, so our "reservation" was for 8:30. The ten of us were served family-style and had salad, pigeon peas & rice, macaroni & cheese, corn on the cob, grouper fingers, cracked conch and lobster, all for $22 per person. Everything was wonderful and we all got more than enough to eat!

A feast fit for hungry cruisers.


Saturday morning we left Frazer's Hog Cay at 9:00 a.m. to make the forty-mile trip to Nassau. With a light and variable west wind, the water in the Tongue of the Ocean had calmed down beautifully, the fishing was good and everyone had a great trip. Todd caught another Yellowfin tuna; Bob, aboard "September Song," caught a thirty-six inch Mahi-mahi and a Yellowfin tuna; and John, who was traveling with Dan & Carol aboard "Lucky Stars" for the trip to Nassau, also reeled in a thirty-six inch Mahi-mahi. Way to go, guys!

The trolling trawlers, Nassau bound with fish on the line!


"You can tune a guitar but you can't tuna fish!"


After entering Nassau harbor, "Life's2Short" and "Lucky Stars" stopped at Brown's Boat Basin to top off with fuel. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that the cash price for diesel was $2.42 per gallon, which is great considering we paid more than twice that when we were here in April last year and nearly as much ($2.35) when we topped off in Islamorada less than two weeks ago.

Once we were docked at the Nassau Harbor Yacht Club we took our tuna and joined "September Song" and "Gypsies in the Palace" at the fish cleaning stations. "Lucky Stars" also joined us with their catch of the day a short time later. Colleen wanted to learn how to clean a tuna and Todd was happy to oblige. With a little intermittent coaching, she did a fine job and we ended up with a nice bag of tuna fillets that we were happy to donate to dinner for the group.

Bob and Todd with their catches. It's gonna be another great dinner!


The entire gang, left to right: Colleen & John, Todd & Brenda, Tammy & Doug, Carol, then Bob & Stephanie, and Dan (Carol's husband) behind Stephanie. What a fun group!


We met on "September Song" at 6:00 p.m. for happy hour and appetizers, followed by grilled fresh Mahi-Mahi and Yellowfin tuna, macaroni & cheese and salad for dinner. The majority of the group was very enthsiastic about eating some of the tuna raw (Sashimi-style), but a couple of us preferred our fish cooked! Nonetheless, everyone was relieved to finally be in Nassau and a good time was had by all. Thanks for hosting us - again - "September Song" (a.k.a. Big Boat Bob - and Stephanie, too)!

Big Fish Bob with his Mahi-Mahi killer lure.


Enjoying our first evening in Nassau.


Sashimi anyone? It can't get any fresher!


Sunset on the way...


Bob & Stephanie blowing their conch horns at sunset.



Girls Gone Wild!


Big Barbecue Bob grilling the "Catch of the Day" with Dan alongside.


Today is Sunday, April 5th, and we plan to stay at the Nassau Harbor Yacht Club a few more days. Another front is supposed to be moving through by Monday so we will monitor the weather and make a decision on Tuesday as to when we are going to make the final jump to the Exumas. In the meantime, the Captain and I have some chores to take care of, both on and off "Life's2Short," and will make good use of our time at the marina.