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Published: December 16th 2009
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Life in Ocean Reef - 2009
We are now safely tied to a slip in the “Ocean Reef” resort near the town of Lucaya on the south coast of Grand Bahama island. We crossed over from Lake Worth (Palm Beach) Florida on Monday the 30th of November. The trip across the Gulf Stream is always a bit exciting. The gulf stream is a river of water that is about 30 miles wide and moves from south to north at anywhere from 1.5 to 4.0 knots. Since we are moving from west to east it is necessary to cross this current to reach the Bahamas.
We left Vero Beach and traveled down the ICW to get a little farther south before attempting our crossing. We spent the first night in a very picturesque place called “Manatee Pocket”. This anchorage was very nice with a new town dock to land our dinghy and a small town called Salerno FL about 3 blocks from the harbor. There we found a good sized West Marine, a couple of restaurants, a seafood market where we bought fresh shrimp, and best of all a marine consignment store where I found a used weight belt to
help with my diving adventures.
The next day we went out Stuart Inlet and sailed down the coast to Lake Worth inlet. This is the inlet used by the ships calling at Palm Beach and is quite safe. We saw several ships coming and going during the short time we were anchored there. One had a complete deck load of yachts including an ocean racing sailboat about 70’ long and a couple of mega yachts.
In order to arrive in the Bahamas during daylight, we decided to sail from Lake Worth at midnight. This way half of the dark hours would be behind us. Plus the Baltimore Ravens were playing on Sunday night football and I wanted to see the game. It worked out pretty good with the Ravens winning in overtime just as it was time to raise the anchor. We saw another boat, Samaria II, in Lake Worth that we knew from a previous winter in the Bahamas. They asked if we wanted to buddy-boat across to Lucaya, so we had company on the crossing.
The wind was light out of the East when we cleared the inlet and we motored into a small easterly chop.
However, instead of the wind and seas dying out as was predicted by NOAA, the East wind built to about 10-12 knots and the steep short seas grew to about 3-4 feet. This meant that we had to motor into them most of the voyage. I kept both engines on and at times was able to get some lift from our mainsail. Our course across was 115 degrees true which meant we were bucking the stream slightly. That along with the pounding seas knocked our speed down to between 4.5 and 5 knots. This meant we did not see the Bahamas until about 10:00 the next morning. The first thing we spotted were the huge container cranes from the port of Freeport.
Shortly after sighting land we saw a large military vessel coming right towards us. I thought it was a Bahamian gunboat checking us out but to my surprise it was a US Coast Guard Cutter, the Blue Fin. They called us on the VHF radio and wanted to know who we were, where we were headed, how many people on board and all of our vital information including dates of birth and passport numbers ( Not the
Waiting for the Bus
Cameron Doug & Sharon type of information I normally want going out over the airways for anyone to hear). Finally, just when we thought they were finished, they told us they were sending over a boarding party. The RIB inflatable boat arrived alongside shortly with four young Coasties dressed in full battle gear. They wanted to see all of our documents, look at all of our required safety equipment, and search the boat looking in every nook and cranny. The lead member of the boarding team saw my Ravens shirt and from that point on the mood improved substantially. It turned out he was from the Baltimore area and had been able to watch the football game the previous evening. After about 30 minutes of inspection, we received a real time printout of our boarding report. They had a PDA with a belt printer much like the check-in clerks at Hertz. We had passed all of the tests and were allowed to continue on our way.
We arrived at Port Lucaya about 14:00 and began the check in with Bahamian Customs and Immigration. The office in Lucaya is very efficient and the check in process went smoothly. By this point we were really
tired of government forms and questions. From here we were able to move to the next harbor where the Ocean Reef resort is located. Our friends Doug & Sharon were out snorkeling and motored over in their dinghy to welcome us and to show off the very large lobster Doug had speared. When we arrived at the marina a half a dozen boaters were on the dock to greet us and help tie up our lines. It is a very friendly place and the cruisers seem to manage the docks.
Ocean Reef is a time share resort that has a marina which wraps around the facility. There were already about 35 other cruising boats in the marina. Some folks come year after year with a few spending the entire season at the resort. There are lots of planned activities for everyone at the hotel & marina including a Monday evening meet and greet dinner, Tuesday night Karaoke, Thursday night movies and bingo most afternoons. There are two pools, a hot tub, tennis court, and a grill and a good restaurant on site.
Besides the activities planned by the resort, the cruisers get together for their own events on some
Ocean Reef Pool
Mural of Hope Town in the Background evenings. We have had a couple of potluck dinners. One was followed by a great evening of singing and playing old rock and folk songs. There are several excellent musicians amongst the group and Anthony & Judy on “Swan of Tuonela” have put together a song book with about 500 hit songs from the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s. They have about 20 copies that they passed out to the group. Another night we all gathered and sang Christmas carols for about two hours.
Another great benefit of staying here is the ocean reef that is located just outside the harbor. There are large coral heads and millions of colorful fish. Some of the cruisers have been able to bring back lobsters but so far I have not been so lucky.
The town of Freeport is not far from the marina and we have been riding the local buses to go grocery shopping and for the occasional trip to the hardware store. The buses are really 10 passenger vans and each driver seems to have his own route into town. They only charge $1.25 a person and will often take you where you want to go even if it
is not strictly on their route.
Many of the cruisers have started leaving to fly back to Canada or the US for Christmas. It looks like we will be in the slim minority that has chosen to stay here for the holidays. Julie & Dan are planning to fly in just after Christmas for a visit and be here until New Years. We are anxiously waiting to see them.
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Dennis
non-member comment
Kewl Place
Sounds like a blast. It is interesting the USCG picked a boat headed to the Bahamas - seems like they would be looking for the ones going the other direction. Guess you were in the wrong spot at the right time :) Anyway - sounds like you are in a great place and having a great time!! Keep the cards and letters coming - I love to hear and see what you guys are up too!! Flat Seas and Kewl Breezes Dennis