Hey Yall:
Wow what a crazy two weeks this has been for us. Before I start the report I must say a big thank you to Coconut here for being a great Commodore and teacher. Rob is a great guy, very patient and was very helpful with the trip planning answering a million plus questions. This forum is awesome with some very kind and helpful folks willing to go out of their way to be a friend and support the passion of boating and of course their Grady Whites!
We departed on Friday June 16 from the Palm Beach/Lake Worth Inlet to avoid building seas on the Gulf Stream on Saturday. Coconut's crew could not get to the marina until afternoon and we departed a little after 1:30 for West End. The seas were choppy near Florida and eventually turned into gentle rollers as we headed east. Thanks again to Coconut's experience we had our customs paper work all filled out in advance and the three boats with 17 people cleared customs in less than 20 minutes. since we left a day early we had no place to stay but once again the Coconut love fest continues here, he acquired several rooms at the Treasure Cay Marina in a last minute deal. About 2/3rds the way there Coconut spun a prop and we all stopped to offer assistance and moral support. This delayed us for about 30 minutes until the new prop was installed. This delay coupled with our late start put us in a bind for time as we had to be at the marina by 9 pm. So we pushed it in 2 to 3 choppy seas and made the marina just at 8:50.
I will post some pics when we get back to the mountains. The trip was loaded with fun and games for all. We fished some catching some black fin tuna. We snorkled on some awesome reefs. We went to the Bahamas famous Nippers and even went to the Stranded Naked Party at Fiddle Cay. We laughed, we cried and drank some fine spirits along the way. The drama comes at the end. It was windy down there with a tropical wave that evenutally turned into tropical storm Debbie blew through and last Friday before departure we checked the sea state for Saturday...4 to 5s with 6 footers in the stream. We had a captains meeting and Coconut had to go due to several members of his crew had to be home for work while I and our new friend Wally decided to stay until Tuesday because the forecast called for 2 to 3s. Wally and I wake up to send Coconut off from the dock and the air is dead calm, but alas we were not packed. So we stayed.
Big Mistake...see Tropical Storm Debbie pretty much ignored Jim Cantore and headed north and east and at a snails pace at that. This dramatically changed the weather in the Bahamas and we were stranded on a Sandbar as it were as gail force winds with nasty rain blew through the Abacos for nearly 3 days. Our week long trip turned into a two week trip with crappy weather for half of the second week. We returned today and all is well. I burned just 74 gallons of gas to go from Palm Beach to Treasure Cay on Abaco. The boat handled well and Wally who captains his 31 foot Contender even noted he was impressed with my 22 footer and its ability to run with the big dogs. He said he might be in the market to go from his center console to a cabin boat and he liked what he saw with the Grady.
So I made perhaps my first of many crossings from Florida to the Bahamas in my own boat and I made some new friends in doing it as welll. So to conclude this Coconut love fest, I am very thankful for Coconut in taking us under his wing and showing us the ropes of the crossing as well being a great Grady buddy boat.
Wow what a crazy two weeks this has been for us. Before I start the report I must say a big thank you to Coconut here for being a great Commodore and teacher. Rob is a great guy, very patient and was very helpful with the trip planning answering a million plus questions. This forum is awesome with some very kind and helpful folks willing to go out of their way to be a friend and support the passion of boating and of course their Grady Whites!
We departed on Friday June 16 from the Palm Beach/Lake Worth Inlet to avoid building seas on the Gulf Stream on Saturday. Coconut's crew could not get to the marina until afternoon and we departed a little after 1:30 for West End. The seas were choppy near Florida and eventually turned into gentle rollers as we headed east. Thanks again to Coconut's experience we had our customs paper work all filled out in advance and the three boats with 17 people cleared customs in less than 20 minutes. since we left a day early we had no place to stay but once again the Coconut love fest continues here, he acquired several rooms at the Treasure Cay Marina in a last minute deal. About 2/3rds the way there Coconut spun a prop and we all stopped to offer assistance and moral support. This delayed us for about 30 minutes until the new prop was installed. This delay coupled with our late start put us in a bind for time as we had to be at the marina by 9 pm. So we pushed it in 2 to 3 choppy seas and made the marina just at 8:50.
I will post some pics when we get back to the mountains. The trip was loaded with fun and games for all. We fished some catching some black fin tuna. We snorkled on some awesome reefs. We went to the Bahamas famous Nippers and even went to the Stranded Naked Party at Fiddle Cay. We laughed, we cried and drank some fine spirits along the way. The drama comes at the end. It was windy down there with a tropical wave that evenutally turned into tropical storm Debbie blew through and last Friday before departure we checked the sea state for Saturday...4 to 5s with 6 footers in the stream. We had a captains meeting and Coconut had to go due to several members of his crew had to be home for work while I and our new friend Wally decided to stay until Tuesday because the forecast called for 2 to 3s. Wally and I wake up to send Coconut off from the dock and the air is dead calm, but alas we were not packed. So we stayed.
Big Mistake...see Tropical Storm Debbie pretty much ignored Jim Cantore and headed north and east and at a snails pace at that. This dramatically changed the weather in the Bahamas and we were stranded on a Sandbar as it were as gail force winds with nasty rain blew through the Abacos for nearly 3 days. Our week long trip turned into a two week trip with crappy weather for half of the second week. We returned today and all is well. I burned just 74 gallons of gas to go from Palm Beach to Treasure Cay on Abaco. The boat handled well and Wally who captains his 31 foot Contender even noted he was impressed with my 22 footer and its ability to run with the big dogs. He said he might be in the market to go from his center console to a cabin boat and he liked what he saw with the Grady.
So I made perhaps my first of many crossings from Florida to the Bahamas in my own boat and I made some new friends in doing it as welll. So to conclude this Coconut love fest, I am very thankful for Coconut in taking us under his wing and showing us the ropes of the crossing as well being a great Grady buddy boat.
