Friday report
 

We had another great day here today at Great Exuma. Dove on some reefs, chased sting rays and lots of colorful fish. Got more unbelievable pics for posting later. Went surfin in the DUX boat. What a blast. Anyway the fun and games are over. Tomorrow at 7 am we will leave here for Turks and Caicos. The winds have let up some and we are going for it. When we were out in PREDATOR today we went outside of the barrier islands and while there were some big rollers it was a whole lot better than yesterday. We could run 45 MPH and not launch and that was in an exposed area. When we get some protection from Long Island and Acklands Island we expect we can run closer to 55 or 60 so will make up some time we hope.
Anyway I am looking forward to the next phase of this adventure and it's time to move on. Be sure to check on our progress on Saturday by going to the link to our "SPOT" GPS tracker. The link can be found at the end of post #!.
Bob

Goin no where, fast LOL
 

Hi everyone from - Nassau!! LOL We got started at 7:30 am and did not get far when we had an overheating issue in the starboard motor. I expect we picked up some grass and sand from some of the shallow water we ran in just before putting the boat away yesterday. Anyway we returned to the dock, cleaned the strainers and flushed our engines and were back on our way by shortly after 8. No more overheating and that was fine.
The winds had picked up overnight again and swung to the SE so we were going right into it. Some areas were fine but as we were heading across towards the south tip of Long Island we started to take a beating and had our speed backed down under 40 MPH. The forecast from Weather Routers, Inc had it even worse after we cleared the tip of Acklands Island and crossed the big water to Provo. We had gone about 45 miles and I just did not feel up to an all day beating so made the decision to return to Georgetown. We then secured the boat at February Point again and caught a ride to the airport in time to catch a 1 PM flight to Nassau. We will catch some (more) R &R and fly back to Toronto from here tomorrow afternoon as my crew needs to back to work Monday. I will return again if and when these relentless winds ever settle down. Sorry for the false start. :(
Bob

at least you tried! better luck next time!

Thanks , Jeff. When we left this morning I knew it was marginal but also knew I had to give it a shot. We could have stuck with it and toughed it out but I want this to be an enjoyable trip and not get the crap beat out of me. I've done too much of that over the years and am paying the price now with lots of aches and pains. I have another Canadian crew on standby for the next attempt and we will come back in a week if conditions are better. This kind of trip is much easier done in the summer months when winds tend to be lighter.
Thanks for following along. I should be able to post pics on Monday. :)
Bob

Bob,
I'm sure that had to be some pretty big water for you to turn around!!!!! Glad the overheating was nothing serious. Make sure that Hans is NOT with you for your next attempt, he angers the weather Gods!! Stay safe and will talk to you soon.

Awesome trip Bob. It seems like the winds have been blowing here for months!

Thanks, John, Tom. Hope all is well in SW Florida. One thing about when Hans is with us, the laughter never stops. :)

Bob, I love hearing about your adventures! It is so cool how much you love boating and are fearless about taking on new challenges on the water. Keep on Rockin'!

Bob,

I spoke to the captain of a Hatteras 54' that arrived here in P.R. yesterday and he told me he had a pretty rough time!.. He said the winds were blowing pretty hard and that even in the shallow, protected waters the waves were pretty big. They could only maintain about 20-21 knots. I hope you get better luck next time!

Julian Jr.

Picture time :)
 

1 & 2 ) Jason & Bob in DUX

3) snorkelling off the beach at Stocking Island

4) Jason / Bob / Lee @ Chat n Chill

5) dingys on the beach at Chat n Chill