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We were going to cross the Gulf Stream back to the US today, but sadly our only functioning holding tank decided that it would be a good idea to become blocked.

So instead of going back to the US, we are at a boatyard. On the plus side, the hourly rates and haul out fees are half the price!

Hmm… what other boat jobs need to be done???

Wind from behind most of the way. So we only got the genny out and motored all the way.

On the way we organize getting some work done on the boat in Freeport. At Bradford Marine.

We just stopped here as we needed to catch the right tide to get through Barracuda Shoal

No wind today, so we motored for 5 hours North to Allans Pensacola.

Spent the afternoon on the glorious beach.

Today we left Donny’s, filled up our tanks, headed out of Black Sound, and headed around the corner to Coco Bay.

We spent the afternoon on the beach playing with the sting rays. Sage hung out with her friend Riley, on the back of her paddle board.

Looking yummy!

We hit the most important highlights…

1. The new laundromat (we will be checking that out tomorrow!)
2. The Ice Cream shop. Only open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! (So we had to go 🤩)

Lovely sail over. We got a little over 8 kts close hauled.

We met Donny at the ‘Family’ dock and filled up our water tanks. (We are still unable to make water)

Today we got up early and caught slack tide so that we could go through ‘The Whale’

Today we sailed (yes, we had the genny out!!) from March Harbour to Scotland Cay to stop for lunch and a snorkel. Scotland Cay was AMAZING! the water was so warm and clear. There is a car wreck that was teaming with fish that we swam around. We also stood on a beach and had Rays and a turtle come up to us.

Then we sailed again up to the North end of Great Guana Cay so that we can catch the early tide to go through ‘The Whale’.

Got up early to catch the tide. Nice sun rise over the Atlantic :)

Here to get some water and provisions before heading to Green Turtle Cay.

Sadly, still no joy with the Watermaker.

Lovely trip up to the top of the lighthouse. Fantastic views from the top!

We spent all day yesterday cleaning the membrane with a special compound known as MCC-1 to no avail.

On top of that we almost lost one of our fenders - we had tied it to our mooring buoy to keep other boats from using it while we were out testing our Watermaker. Somehow the fender got loose and headed into the marina. Thankfully another boat caught it and put it on the doc.

Sadly we have not been able to make water for the last week or so. Yesterday we changed the pre-filters for the Watermaker but that didn’t work. So today we are cleaning the membrane.

It uses 20 gallons of water to clean the membrane, so we also had to buy some water. Hopefully this will do the trick!

Hoping to sort out our Watermaker or at the very least get some water from the marina.

Also hoping to have a nice hot shower. (UPDATE: Showers are $8!!)

The wind was pretty much on the nose all the way from Treasure Cay so we motored over. We went slowly in the hope that we’d be able to make some water on the way. Sadly, the water was still too salty and our water maker couldn’t make potable water :(

Tomorrow I’ll change the pre-filters in the hope that will help.

Super nice sail over. We even got up to 9kts!

This is us going through Whale Cay Passage. This can be a tricky stretch of water to pass through, but we picked a gorgeous day with no ‘Ragers’.

Bit rolly so far - but kinda expected as the wind is coming directly at us - it would be much better if it was coming in the opposite direction :)

Today we took the dinghy to Coco Bay - it was lovely!

Beautiful soft sand and super warm water.

Plus, and this was the reason for going, we saw a turtle, some sting rays, and a shark!

We moved the boat from the marina (a dock really) around the corner to anchor off the Tranquil Turtle Beach Bar.

Later we will check out the beach

Today is a rainy day. It was meant to be gusting up to 33 knots - hence we are at a dock - however, it seems pretty calm in the Black Sound (Green Turtle Cay)

Today, before the rain came, we went to Gillam beach.

It’s the beach that we’ve been looking for in the Bahamas! Absolutely gorgeous

Today we moved from Nunjack Cay to a dock in Green Turtle Cay as there is a storm coming and I didn’t want to be on our anchor during the storm.

To clarify, our anchor is fine, but we are a little short in chain.

It was windy on the way over, but as Suzanne pointed out, it was just like sailing in ‘The Slot’ in San Francisco.

Nice gentle sail over. Totally smoked a monohull on the way :)

We will be going to the beach later.

Nice gentle sail over to Fox Town.

Super shallow on the way in, but I guess we are going to have to get used to that!

We took the dinghy ashore to the public dock. It was super high up and we needed to climb a ladder!

Once ashore we got some ginger lemonade from the bakery - delish!

It was a little bit shallow on the way over - a bit uncomfortably shallow - but we made it.

We moved from Bahama Bay Marina to Gin sur Mer to relax before moving on with our first tour of the Bahamas.

It was a loooong day and eventful day - but we made it.

I was sooo exhausted I had trouble filling out the forms to check into the Bahamas.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/sailingfreddy/3884907634239634424?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=MTI5MDRndTk3N2plMw==

Today we sailed across the Gulf Stream!

We got up crazy early and managed to catch the 4:15 am Las Olas Bridge. Mind you, I had to call the bridge tender as he didn’t answer the VHF!

It was a nice and calm crossing for most of the way. It was a bit lumpy leaving Port Everglades (Ft Lauderdale).

We had some excitement on the way over - our outhaul broke and our main sail was free to flap around at the end of the boom!

I had a go at solving the problem, but ultimately we dropped the sail and motored the rest of the way.

Suzanne did it! She put the Freddy logo and name on our boat. It’s really official now - we are Freddy!

Not much happening today. Just doing a job that I’ve been avoiding…. Figuring out what spares we have and the stuff we want to keep.

Also wondering what has happened to our boat 😬

It was soooo windy that a fender on the super yacht opposite us came off and sailed up the river!

We managed to snag it when it came back our way.

Our new buddies from U Betcha took some great pictures of Freddy.

We decided to go to an Easter Egg hunt at a place called The Wharf. We had walked passed the place quite a few times, but had never been inside - so I, for one, was interested to see what was inside.

The place was quite cool, but there were clearly a lot of people there - which was an indicator that the egg hunt would be probably be a bit chaotic. That turned out to be an under statement!

We are at the jazz festival and saw that there was a blood donation bus. So, we decided to give blood!

Just letting S get some of her wiggles out :)

Some lady got on our boat today and asked if it was the free water trolley 😳

Err…. nope

(We were having dinner at the time)

Sadly our VHF radio needs to be sent off to the manufacturer to get repaired. Which means that we can’t really go anywhere until we get it back - that could be 2 weeks :(

So much happened today! We saw flying fish and our first turtle!!

We had planned to go out sailing with Domonic as it was going to be a bit windier. The plan initially was to go out for a sail and then head back to our dock. But we ended up sailing quite far North, so Domonic suggested that we drop the hook in lighthouse bay for the night. So glad that we did! Not only did we see our first turtle at anchor, but the water was much clearer, so we jumped off the boat and went for a swim!

Today we ventured out into the Atlantic for a little shakedown sail. We had a few snafus, but we got the sails out and had a fantastic sail!

On the way back we had some fun with the 17th Street bridge. As we approached the bridge tender radioed us to tell us that one of the spans would not open! So we had to thread our way through just one side - nail

Finally, we are off the mooring buoy and on an actual dock - downtown no less!

Dock #4 - Mooring Buoy by Las Olas Bridge

This was interesting as we did this all on our own!! Big news for us. We had to get out of a tight spot in the marina, and then get into the …

Well, just as we turned into the river, there was another boat bearing down on us!! That was a close one 😳

Dock #3 - Harbour Towne

Here to get some jobs done on Freddy

Today we fired up Freddy Jr. and took him into town!

Dock #2 - Dom’s house

Dominic helped us move the boat to behind his house. Just as well, because we had to navigate the New River with it’s many, many bridges, including a super tight swing bridge. Plus, on top of that, he helped us back into the spot behind his house.

The wind really picked up last night. Thankfully I had just bought some new Elite fenders :) Incidentally, I bought the fenders off the owner - super nice guy.

Dock #1 - Pier 66

Our new friend - Dominic - helped us move the boat to Pier 66. Just as well, as the slip they gave us was crazy tight!! Desperately expensive with no toilet or showers!!

Somehow the onward wire got messed up and the seller didn’t get his money - so no boat for us :(