Still in Palm Beach

Sunday, April 29, 2018
0 miles since last post
Day 392

We arrived back in Florida on April 18, and had planned to have moved the boat to Jacksonville by today.  But we are still at Old Port Cove Marina in North Palm Beach.  Greg, Mike and I flew home last Sunday as we all had business and appointments to take care of.  We enjoyed a little mini-reunion dinner with family members after our flight.

We had the marina staff change our fuel filters while we were gone so the mechanic had Mike start up the engines when we got back to the boat.  It was quickly apparent all was not right.  The initial diagnosis was dire - expensive and setting us back a month before resuming the Loop.  A second look the next day by an independent certified diesel mechanic was much better - seal replacement on heat exchanger (radiator) on both engines and he hopes to have the work completed by Friday afternoon.

In the making lemonade out of lemons category - there are A LOT of worse places to be "stuck" for a week than North Palm Beach Florida!  Along with the great weather and nice marina, the biggest benefit is we are 20 minutes from our nephew Ryan and his wife Christine.  Before we went back to Michigan, they had us over to their new home for dinner, took us to their favorite burger joint, and Ryan drove us to the Ft. Lauderdale airport.  We met for breakfast after church this morning and made plans to have a cookout this week.  It's been a real treat spending time with them!

Greg, Ryan, Christine and me.

The extra time here also gave me the chance to visit the Flagler Museum in Palm Beach (per Ryan's suggestion).  Have learned of Henry Flagler during our RV trip to St. Augustine several years ago, and becoming more aware of his accomplishments during our time in the Keys (he built the Overseas Railroad to Key West), I was eager to go to the museum.  (Mike not so much - I went alone!)

Henry Flagler was born in 1830, the son of a minister.  He is a prime example of the American Dream.  With an 8th grade education, he worked in his brother-in-law's store and saved enough money to open a salt company in Saginaw, Michigan in 1862.  Salt was used as a preservative by the Union Army and when the Civil War ended, the demand for salt dropped and Henry was out of business.  He then partnered with John D. Rockefeller to start Standard Oil, which made him one of the richest men in the world. 

Flagler's first wife was in poor health and upon a doctor's advice, brought her from New York to the warmer Florida climate.  After retiring from Standard Oil, he devoted himself to the development of Florida.  He envisioned a land where people would live and work along with providing a place for tourists to vacation.  "It would be no exaggeration to say that Henry Flagler literally invented modern Florida".  (taken from a bio of Flagler).  

The museum is housed in Whitehall, the 75-room winter home Henry built as a wedding present for his 3rd wife, Mary Lily Kenan.  It is just down the street from The Breakers, a Flagler hotel that is still in operation today.

Of Flagler's 3 residences (New York and St. Augustine), this Palm Beach house is the only one still standing.  But even as a home, it was like a museum in the decor and art contained inside.  Built in 1902, it boasted indoor plumbing, central heating, and electric lights.  The New York Herald described Whitehall as "more wonderful than any palace in Europe, grander and more magnificent than any other private dwelling in the world."  It is a perfect example of life in the Gilded Age.

Henry Flagler

Instead of zooming in closer, I chose to stand back and include the statue on the right as an example of the art in the home.

The entrance hall

The Grand Ballroom

The dining room

Flagler wanted to keep automobiles out of Palm Beach and guests at his 2 hotels in here

were transported in these early versions of pedi-cabs.  He would have loved Mackinaw Island!

This is his personal railroad car that he traveled in and that he arrived at Key West in when his Overseas Railroad from Homestead to Key West opened.  

Henry died in 1913 and his wife Mary Lily in 1917.  They had no children, so Mary Lily left Whitehall to her niece, who sold it to investors for a hotel in 1925.  In 1959, when the hotel was struggling financially, Henry's granddaughter, Jean Flagler Matthews, purchased the property, saving it from demolition.  It opened as a museum in 1960.  Mrs. Matthews is the daughter of Henry's only son by his first wife, Henry (Harry) Harkness Flagler.

Homes along the intracoastal in West Palm Beach.

Just to keep us humble in the land of mansions and mega yachts and 70 to 80 ft Viking sport fish boats with tuna towers, when I went to the office to sign up for a pump out, explaining what boat we were, the worker said, "Right.  You are the little sport fish on A dock."

Greg and Karen plan to return to True North this Wednesday, and if all goes well with seal replacement, we will be resuming our Loop by the weekend.  Just like when we started out, we are excited and a little nervous.  Back in 2016, it was being on the rivers and going through locks that were a first time experience for us.  Now it is the large tide swings, strong currents and shallow water on the east coast that will demand our full attention and give us butterflies!

Unique and Random Photo of the Day:

Mike down in a hatch in the floor of the back cockpit replacing a burned out underwater light.

It is always something on a boat!

West End and Back to Florida

Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Day 381
71 miles to North Palm Beach Florida

Before going to West End we knew we would be there 3 or 4 days because of high winds, which was exactly the case.  I know I keep saying it was a windy day, but then the next would be even more so.  For example: Knowing a storm was coming, we put extra lines on the boat Sunday night to keep the boat from hitting the dock.  Monday morning, early riser Mike saw the wind direction had changed.  The wind was now blowing us away from the dock and it was so strong he could not pull the boat over to get off to readjust the lines. He had to wake up Greg and I to help do so.

But those conditions did not stop us from enjoying the Old Bahama Bay Resort and Marina.  With pastel colored condos, manicured lawns, pool and beach, this resort is an attractive destination. 

I made use of the complimentary bikes and rode into the settlement of West End three times – about 1 ½ miles each way.  That distance could have been a thousand miles with the stark difference in the landscape.  Hurricane Matthew devastated West End and it really has not recovered.  There is a small grocery store and I was looking to buy more lettuce. (no luck).

I had to make two trips to the post office as it was closed the first time I biked to town.  (only open on Tuesdays and Fridays).

The Health Clinic, police station, small grocery store and Government offices were

about the only buildings that were functional

Greg and I walked to the rocky beach on the south side of the island on Monday in search of sea glass.  That is broken bottles that get tumbled by waves and rocks until the edges are smooth.  At low tide, the pieces are easy to pick up off the sand.

This was a subdivision that was next to Old Bahama Bay that we walked through on our

way to sea glass beach.

To me, it looked a street in Florida!

We may have to dub our Loop journey the “Poop Loop”.  In 2016 the problem was we couldn’t get one of the holding tanks to pump out.  This time, there was only one Bahamian marina that had pump out services. That was back in Hope Town.  We found what we thought were the valves to open to do an overboard discharge.  We tried it on the run from Green Turtle Cay to West End. (That meant me down in the engine room, while the boat was running, with cotton in my ears, opening the valve handles while Mike stood in the back of the boat to see if anything was flowing out into the water, and Greg up top driving.)  That was all for naught, as it didn’t work.

Steve and Debbie from Gypsies Palace were also at Old Bahama Bay and Steve spent most of Sunday with Mike and Greg getting into hatches and exposing the plumbing to try to figure out if indeed, True North did have overboard discharge capability.  The short answer is no.  At one time, we believe it did, but the system was disabled by the previous owner (Canadian).  That is our best theory.

All that to say, for our last 3 days in the Bahamas, the men had to squeak up and join the mouse as we knew the tanks were close to full so we couldn’t use the toilets on the boat.  We were now all using the marina bathroom facilities.

To thank Steve for his help, we had he and Debbie over for dinner Sunday night.  Mike grilled brats as Debbie and I took on Steve and Greg in a game of euchre and I introduced Debbie to Shut The Box.  Monday night we all dined on Gypsies Palace, with Debbie making Skyline Chili from Ohio over spaghetti.  Tuesday night we were back on True North.  Mike grilled pork wings and the euchre game resumed, with the guys winning the rubber match.

Also on Tuesday, I declared an end to training camp and lined up all my sea shells to see which ones were going to make the cut.  Which ones were going to find good homes back in the United States. (residing with children and grandchildren). 

All the weather reports indicated Wednesday would be a good day to cross back over the Gulf Stream to Florida. The guys wanted to add 100 gallons of fuel to be on the safe side and we planned on being at the fuel dock when it opened at 8 am.  Others had the same idea, mainly smaller fishing boats and the dock was tied up until almost 9.  True North left her last Bahamian port at 9:15.

It was a relatively smooth trip and we reached the Lake Worth inlet to enter the Florida intercoastal waterway at 12:15.  We did have 5 to 6 foot rollers that were about 4 seconds apart, but they were coming on our starboard (right) side and True North handled them great.

Another hour at less than 10 mph on the ICW meant that we got tied up at Old Port Cove Marina in North Palm Beach at 1:30.  And immediately asked for a pumpout!!  You have to be thankful for the big things, too . . .

A welcomed sight!

Mike taking down our Bahamian courtesy flag.

We flew our big stars and stripes on the back of the boat the whole time in the Bahamas

We made it back from the Bahamas on our OWN boat!  What an adventure!

West End is a popular stop when crossing to the Bahamas as 

Customs and Immigration are in the same building right on the dock.

In Bimini, Greg had to walk several blocks to two different locations to clear.

This young man came around selling conch shells that you can blow into like a horn.

Steve from Gypsies Palace celebrates sunset every night with a long toot on his

Posting this one for our banking family

Last day in the Bahamas

Unique and Random Photo of the Day:

Have no idea the story behind this

But it is an example of how careful we always had to be in watching depths

Green Turtle Cay to West End

Monday, April 16, 2018
Day 379
152 miles to West End, Grand Bahama Island

I'm posting this on Monday morning, catching up from last week.  The last post ended with our arrival at Bluff House Marina on Green Turtle Cay on Wednesday, so I'll pick up from there.

Thursday morning was spent on boat maintenance.  We bit the bullet and paid 25 cents a gallon to hook up to the marina water supply so True North could get a good washing.  It just gets to the point that every outside surface you touch is covered in salt.  I gave the inside a thorough cleaning, too.  It just gets to the point that potato chip crumbs are everywhere!  J

Then a trip into the engine room for one thing led to several more things which meant we didn’t get done with boat stuff until mid afternoon.

After inquiring on the best spots for seeing turtles and shell hunting, I took off on a 20 minute walk to Coco Bay.  My exercise was rewarded as I immediately saw a stingray, and then turtles from an old wooden dock.  While walking the beach, I had my head down looking for shells.  When I looked up, there was a shark about 15-20 feet off to my left. I was close to shore, the water just above my ankles and the shark was out a little deeper.  By the time I got my phone (camera) out of my backpack to take a picture, he had blended into the sea grass and I couldn’t spot him.  I was glad I wasn't snorkeling!!

Others arrived at the bay and brought squid to feed the turtles.

Stingray

I was a little to the left of the sandy shore and the shark was swimming 

along the edge of the dark color!

The ocean beach was just a half mile farther so I walked there, too.  Definitely not a day for traveling through the Whale as the wind was driving breakers in with considerable force. I had been gone quite a while and knew I had a long walk back so I didn’t spend too much time beach combing.

Windy conditions on the ocean beach

The settlement on Green Turtle Cay is called New Plymouth.  We tried to rent a golf cart for the day so we all could get to the ocean beach and New Plymouth, but none to be had.  Partly because they prefer to rent by the week and not just one day.

We went by dinghy instead.  First we went past New Plymouth to a long stretch of beach that I thought was Gilliam Bay, the place I was directed to for shelling. I later discovered after looking at a map, we were not at Gilliam Bay but we found some good shells anyway  And I don’t think we would have went that far as the wind was against us and we were getting soaked on the dinghy ride.

We didn't bring an anchor so Mike had to stay with the dinghy

while Greg and I looked for shells

My first starfish sighting!

We tied up at the public dinghy dock at New Plymouth. It is another settlement founded by British Loyalists.  It has a few gift shops, 6 or 7 bars/restaurants, post office, museum, and two bakeries.  The buildings are all painted in the pastel colors that are so common in the Bahamas.  It just makes everything look cheerful and pleasant, even when things are a little run down.

In the time it took me to tour the Albert Lowe Museum, the guys had walked the entire town.  The museum was a good look at the history of New Plymouth and the Abacos.  The lady guide is a direct descendent of the builder of the home the museum was in.  Albert’s son Alton Lowe is a famous painter and his works depicting Bahamian life added color to my education.

Alton Lowe's painting of his father Albert

Alton built this model of the schooners that were the mode of transportation

for people and supplies in the Bahamas

A four-seater outhouse meant you were well off!

Sculpture Garden with busts of important people in the history of New Plymouth

and the Abacos

Loyalitst Landing

Our next stop was Miss Emily’s Blue Bee Bar.  Like Colonel Sanders’ secret recipe of herbs and spices, Miss Emily’s claim to fame is she invented the Goombay Smash, the signature drink of the Bahamas.  While I did my tour around town, Mike and Greg sat on the patio of the Blue Bee Bar and watched a group of local kids on the playground across the street.

Miss Emily's had a non-alcoholic version of the Smash for me!

Mike and Greg are sitting in front of the blue building in the background

We were going to have dinner at one of the restaurants in town, but time got away from us after we met up with Steve and Debbie from Gypsies Palace and with the sun setting and no lights on our dinghy, we had to get back to the boat.

Our last stop in New Plymouth was Sundowner's

Someone on board True North like the color scheme in the place-

Maize and Blue

We definitely will!

At marinas in the United States the cost of electrical power must be built in to the price they charge for dockage because it is not an extra.  In the Bahamas it is.  So our electrical use is metered at the slip.  At home, when checking in to a marina, I say how many nights we are going to stay and pay right then.  Here, before we can move on to the next place, we have to wait for the office to open – usually 8 am – and have the dockhand read the meter, relay that info to the office and then I pay.  And in this case, our water usage was metered also.  So we didn’t leave Bluff House Marina until 8:40 on Saturday morning.

Destination: West End on Grand Bahama Island.  West End is the most common stop either on the way to the Bahamas from Florida or it is the last Bahama stop on the way to Florida.  That would be us, which means our grand Bahama adventure is nearing completion.   Just like when we went to Bimini to start our trip, weather dictates when you can travel back across the Gulf Stream.  Mike says that looks like Wednesday. 

It was an eight hour ride to West End.  The first 6 were beautiful with the wind at our back.  It was smooth enough that I could make lunch, climb up the fly bridge ladder with the plates in my hands and the guys could eat up top.  And I could sit with my laptop and work on the blog.  All that while traveling 23 miles an hour. When in open water like we were, that doesn’t happen often.

We slowed down and Greg put out some lines.  Soon one was screaming and I started reeling in.  Suddenly it got easier and I was sure I had lost the fish, but Greg said he could still see it.  When I got it up to the boat, we saw why it got easier.  A shark had bit off the back half of the wahoo!  Don’t see that back in Michigan!  We had one more hit but lost that one.  Time to bring in the lines as we were making a course turn.

The lighter blue water in foreground is 20 ft. deep

When we got to the darker blue, the depth went to 1,200 ft.

The last two hours to West End were into the wind with constant pounding along with occasional slamming.  Water spray was flying over the bow and thru the open isinglass, which got quickly closed.  We pulled into Old Bahama Bay Marina at 4:45. 

Tomorrow – exploring West End.

                 

                                                          Unique and Random Photo of the Day: