Saturday, December 18, 2010

Towed into Great Harbour Cay Marina








Our journey began at 9am Wednesday the 15th, we headed out from Stuart with a temp of around 49 but sunny we made very good time and not to many hassles at the bridges along the ICW . As usual we did run into a few boats that thought they needed to be in the front of the line which by the time we made North Lake Worth the count was ten behind us. We anchored in Lake Worth with Hey Jude and Quest, this is a nice anchorage and has a place to dingy up to with a store just down the road. We all had planned on crossing together in Stuart and decided to go all the way to the Berry Islands which would be around 22 hours, all of us have dogs and knew it would be the hardest on them. The crossing was wonderful with only 3 to 4 ft waves and swells but our speed was under 3.5knots with the wind on our nose all the way. Once in the North West Providence Channel the sea flatten right out and we were able to sail with the wind more to the south so our speed was around 6.5. At sunrise Judy on Hey Jude and I let some line out in hopes to catch dinner. Judy was the first to hook a huge sailfish which broke her line and of course she lost her lure, about an hour went by and something was on my line so I started to reel it in with lots of fight from him. Well no dinner for us! The fish ended up being a barracuda so we took his picture and let him go.
We started to make our way onto the banks at Great Stirrup Cay which is a hang out for cruise ships, Hey Jude and Quest were about 2 miles ahead of us and as we all started to make our way in the engine slowly stared to die like it does with a clogged filter. Jon
called the others to let them know we would be a moment and one moment after another lead to an hour so we called back to them to let them know it might be a problem and to go to the marina to check in with customs. Jon found the raw water impeller had broke two of the impellers off and one was lodged in the outlet port and blocking the outgoing water so the engine had overheated without us taking note of the temp rising. Needless to say we sailed as far as we could to the opening of the marina and Steve ended up coming out by dingy and towing us in(Thanks guys). We are at the dock now and Jon is starting to pull the engine apart to see if we can get her running or if we need to order parts. So if anyone would like to visit us and enjoy the Sunshine and gorgeous beaches here in the Berry Island now would be the time and there and flights every day to the island. Total time for the crossing was 30 hours.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Great to hear you are safe and sound in paradise. Enjoy!
Tim

Jon and Arline Libby said...

Thanks Tim, We are still having a good time and this is just another adventure in Paradise:). We are headed to a beach party put on by the Marina, there is only one other boat here with us so this should be interesting. Jon has pulled the head apart and now has a diesel guy here we need some major parts so will have to order from the states, if possible.

Jon and Arline Libby said...

Just found out we have a crack in the head. Engine may need to be pulled or may need to sail her back to Florida without an engine....any volunteers???????Please step up:)

Pamela said...

We were so hoping to meet up with you in the Bahamas. Let's hope the engine problems can be resolved. We'll be watching.

Pam and Glen
Blue Pearl

Jon and Arline Libby said...

Thanks guys, we were also looking forward to meeting up. Every day is a new day and plans are always written in sand at low tide:).

Grey Hound said...

Hey guys,
Don't know of anyone heading over right now but we will be in Ft Myers Beach by weeks end. If we hear of anyone going your way I will touch base with you. Cell and internet coverage is spotty in Cayo Costa but I got on this morning.

Best of luck and we'll touch base with you when we can.
D&A