Bahamas Expedition—Four Days “On the Hook”

Days 9, 10, 11 & 12

Kyle chose the title, from a couple options I gave him, so let me go ahead and clarify—Four Days “on the hook” equals being at anchor for four days.

After our splash (relaunch) on the morning of Day 9, we motored a short distance, to the south side of the Lake Worth Inlet. Kyle reviewed all the improvements and checked the boat over. We dropped anchor approximately one mile south of the boatyard—close enough to still see the very top of their neighbor (cruise ship) when in port.

This cruise ship’s port was next door to our boatyard. We could see the orange “tail” from anchor about one mile south.

We spent the rest of the day catching up on kid-time (fishing, arting & hanging out) and resting from our project-packed time on land.

​Most of Day 10 we were still recovering from Days 6-8, but later in the day decided to pull anchor and finish our final provisioning. Our next weather window was only two days out. The idea was to head to a nearby marina where we could take on water, fuel and groceries. It was a windy day with gusts up to 25-30mph. As Kyle began to bring in the anchor a gust came and before he could get the line cleated off it pulled his back out of place. He was on the bow laying flat out in pain and could barely move!

​On Day 11 his back pain continued, but we got up early to check out his condition and the weather. The weather window indicated a small craft advisory in the Gulf Stream due to scattered thunderstorms. With the combination of Kyle being out of commission and the unfavorable weather we decided to stay put. Side note: By 11am the forecast had totally changed—all the projected thunderstorms had dissipated and the wind became ideal for a crossing, but it was too late for us to head out.

When we woke up on Day 12 we were devastated to find that Zion’s pet Betta, named Robot, had passed away. We spent some time working through that.

​Kyle’s back started to feel better and he regained some mobility that morning. There was no foreseeable weather window. The choices were to remain in Lake Worth or to continue down to the Miami area (approximately 75 miles). Heading south was the original plan so we decided to go for it. There were a few other factors, like, our need for sunny skies. Currently our only method of charging our house batteries is solar. Cloud cover doesn't allow for full wattage, so in the case of cloudy days, we are required to conserve energy (lights, charging electronics, etc.). Zion has several sweet gadgets that he always has handy (headlamp, flashlight, solar charger/light, handcrank radio, etc.! It was fun roughing it—playing chess by candlelight, etc., but we saw clearer forecasts to the south and opted to get civilized again.

Next up—!
Lake Worth to Miami
Our First Ocean Outing
Miami