Day 57. May 18. On to Norman's Cay. Miles 29.7. Total miles 801.8

Day 57

Change of plans. The weather presents us with two good travel days in a row, so we opted to not stay another day in O'Brien's Cay, but will leave for Norman's Cay so we can stage for a big water crossing to Nassau Monday.

We loosed our lines and took the channel around Bell Island, in between sand bars and back out to Exuma Banks. The seas are calm and wind light on this sunny day.

Was interesting to read about Aga Khan who owns Bell Island. He built his house, beach pavilion and also built his own cell tower. Cell service in the Exumas is scanty at best!!

Heading Northwest past the northern islands in the Exuma Land and Sea Park, then finally leaving the park and turning further east to make our way to an anchorage off the west shore of Norman's Cay.

Norman's Cay is infamous as it was once owned by a "business associate" of Pablo Escobar, well known Colombian cartel leader. A sunken plane off the south coast of the Cay hails back to the days when drugs were ferried in and out of Norman's.

We anchored just off the beach with three other boats. After making sure the anchor was set, we launched the dingy to explore the partially sunken plane and the nearby marina.

The marina is partially finished and houses a few mega yachts, and also has a small restaurant on the beach just down from where we anchored. Should be real nice once completed.

From the marina we took the dinghy in search of the sunken plane. Having gotten directions from a passing boater, we located the wreck easily, especially since there were 15 people snorkeling all around it! We tied up to a charter boat and begged off a snorkel mask, so Bill could see the wreck. He got some good pics.

Gumby wanted to snorkel also but the mask was a bit big!

The wreck is in about 8-10 feet of water and has been in the water since the late 70's early 80's.

Is amazing how mother nature reclaims tht which invades the sea!!

We then returned to the boat to clean up, have dinner and finalize the route to Nassau for tomorrow.

Enjoyed a beautiful sunset!

Have been remiss in not mentioning how the Bahamian is lit up with stars at night!!!

June 4-5. Day 63-64. On to Cape May New Jersey. 53.4nm. Total 1534 miles.

Left Delaware City at 5:35am to be able to take advantage of the strong currents going with us while traversing Delaware River and Delaware Bay. The Delaware River goes south about 15 miles and flows into the Delaware Bay. As we travel south, New Jersey is to the east and Delaware is to our west. We are traveling just outside the shipping channel and are really moving at 10.9 knots. That is three knots faster than we normally travel, as the outgoing tides are pushing us along. Nice to have Mother Nature helps us save on fuel. The Delaware River is about 8 miles wide so there is plenty of room for the freighters and the pleasure boats. So far, we have not encountered any commercial traffic, but there is a large freighter behind us that will eventually pass us as they travel at 14 knots. The Delaware Bay proper varies from 23-29 miles wide and 26 miles long. There are five lighthouses on the Delaware marking the shipping channel. We went by Ship J...

Reflections on the Bahamas

Reflections on the Bahamas Over the past 10 weeks, we have traveled through Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma Islands and enjoyed the hospitality of the Bahamian people. We have learned all about the islands, its unique geography - limestone, caves, blue holes and chalk cliffs; and colorful history-pirates and rum running, salt ponds and cotton plantations, boat building and wrecking/salvage. Traveling over 1300 miles through narrow cuts and wide bays to vast depths of ocean, we negotiated the islands and found safe harbors, calm coves for anchoring, bays filled with moorings and marinas large and small. This trip required us to pay close attention to the weather, the tides and currents as we traveled between and through the islands. The Bahamian people are warm and friendly, willing to give us rides, advice and directions, as well as some secret recipes!! We enjoyed hiking trails, walking the beaches, snorkeling the coral rocks and reefs, discovering ruins and ol...

Day 64-65. May 25-26. On to Peck Lake, Jupiter, FL and then on to Indiantown/ Okeechobee Waterway. Miles 63.5/ 29.1 Total Miles 1122.1/1142.0

Day 64 We started early to get ahead of the holiday boat traffic. Weighing anchor at Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale, we traveled on the Intracoastal Waterway past the iconic Pier 66 Tower and Bahia Mar Marina. We then turned north and passed the older sections of the city - Las Olas( older homes), Galt Ocean Mile (one mile of condominiums on the beach), and the famous miles of beaches on the Atlantic. I used to live here in the early 70's and the biggest change I see is the older smaller homes on the water are being replaced with larger versions and a few more condo towers have been built. As we go further north towards Commercial Blvd, North Fort Lauderdale, and Pompano Beach and its Lighthouse at the cut, there is less reconstruction. The next town we traveled through was Boca Raton with its Spanish architecture, Camino Real and its landmark tower. The sand bar at the cut was just beginning to fill up with Memorial Day revelers as we went by. Next were t...

Crustacean Travels

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