The sail from Manjack, Abacos to West Palm...plenty of wind and a comfortable ride. After crossing the banks we turned to the south and pointed as high as we could. Although West Palm is about the same latitude from our Bahamas exit point, we had to sail south before getting into the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream current flows north so to compensate, we have to sail south of where we intend to land.
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| From the Abacos to West Palm |
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| Another beautiful Hallberg Rassy, "Tenacious" a 53', leaving the Abacos. |
While in the Gulf Stream and while I was napping Jerry caught a mahi! I didn't hear a thing. I woke up and he was in the cockpit filleting the fish! Perfect - we had fresh fish sandwiches to make for Jerry's brother Dan and nephew Nick when they visit in West Palm!
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mahi!
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Clearing in to the US from The Bahamas is a snap. There is an app, the ROAM App, that I set up ahead of time with all of our boat and passport information. After anchoring in West Palm and choosing to Report Entry on the App we were cleared in within minutes. I remember the days of going to Beaufort, NC to clear in and having to go to the town dock to have a customs officer come and inspect. We usually made sure all root vegetables were eaten by then. One year we gave the officer some cookies and he confiscated our box of UHT milk...hmmmm...
Upon return to US grocery stores we were overwhelmed with the choices, the freshness, and the low prices compared to The Bahamas.
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| We walked 3 miles to the Aldis in West Palm and got an Uber for the ride back to the boat. |
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| We had a great visit with Jerry's brother, Dan and Dan's son Nick at West Palm. |
After our visit we headed up the coast to Blount Island on the St. John's River. It was a slow sail with some to little wind.
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| Sunrise approaching St. John's River Inlet - time to start the motor! |
We could have kept going on the lite southerly winds but promised Chris Jones we would stop. We didn't have time to see him on the way south in the fall. Jerry prepared mahi sandwiches and his special oven-baked French fries for lunch! Chris and Jerry spent some treasured time together talking and working on cars at Chris' house. We also were able to stock up on fruits and veggies when Chris took Jerry to the grocery store a couple of times. Thanks for taking time for the visits Chris!
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| More mahi sandwiches and fries with Chris. |
Next leg, a short one, a day hop up to St Mary's Inlet/Fernandina Beach.....
Next leg, 2 1/2 days from Fernandina to Beaufort, NC.
This leg started with plenty of wind and heeled over bouncing into large seas. By the next day the wind died down and then not enough wind to keep going without the motor. As we approached Beaufort the wind picked up on the stern and we had 10-15 knots for the rest of the trip. With the wind blowing on our backs it felt pretty chilly out at sea!
So here we are anchored in Beaufort, NC. We finished our chores the first morning here: I did a couple of loads of laundry (At the laundromat! We put our laundry buckets back in the locker!) while Jerry walked 3 miles to the grocery store. After a visit today to the Mattie King Davis Art Gallery and the Beaufort Maritime Museum we're ready to keep plugging our way up the creek to Oriental tomorrow.
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| Persephone anchored at Beaufort (right side of the picture behind the catamaran) |
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| A close up of the 160' sailing yacht "Kaizen" tied to the dock. |
