Jim Jackson's Blog (10)

Well, hurricane season ended and now we are headed north with Wind Whisperer, Abasaroque, and Emerald Seas. We have had some great sails on the way north. Celebrated Thanksgiving at Saline Bay on Mayreau in the Tobago Cays. What a beautiful spot. The next day we sailed around to the Cays and snorkeled around the islands. We saw sea turtles, and lots of tropical fish on the reefs. The water was nice and clear and warm. The Cays are on the top of the list for must visit places if you like to… Continue

We have been in Grenada for over a month now and have had a chance to explore some of the bays that line the south coast. Each one has it's own personality and style. Some are very well protected and some are rolly. Some are handy to shopping and some are very isolated. If you are in the mood to get away from it all, you can find a place or if you like lots of action you can find that too. The people are very friendly and we feel very safe here. There was a burglary on a boat during Carnival… Continue

Well, we are in Grenada and have been here for a week. Yee Haw it is great to know that we don't have to go anywhere for a while. We had some great sailing days down the islands and saw a lot of places that we want to visit after hurricane season passes. Just heard on the cruisers net that the hurricane season has been downgraded again. Although we are now officially out of the box according to our insurance company, we still keep a close eye on the weather in case something develops. That's… Continue

Hello Everyone :o)

I can't believe that it has been so long since I added a post to this blog. We are in the Virgin Islands! Yes we crossed the Mona Passage and spent time in Puerto Rico and now we are at St. Thomas. It is great to have the Mona in our rear view mirror. Our last big passage will be from Virgin Gorda to St. Martin and then it is south to Grenada for the Summer and Fall. We are enjoying St. Thomas and we had a good time in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Our sail from Ponce to St.… Continue

We spent 10 days in the South Side Marina at Provo TCI enjoying the wonderful hospitality of Simon and Charlynn. We were waiting for a good weather window for the long trip to the Dominican Republic. Our wait paid off. Simon gave us waypoints for the trip from Provo to Ambergris Cay then through the reefs and off the Caicos Banks to Big Sand Cay and then from there to a waypoint on the north shore of the DR near Luperon. The motorsail to Ambergris was a little rough with choppy seas and winds… Continue

Ok, so a great deal of time has gone by since my last post. We have been on the move most of that time. We spent 20 days in George Town, Exumas where we finally got our dingy repaired using a bottle of sealant. That worked much better than the patches that were applied in Nassau. They started to come off and I used goop to stick them back on but they really didn't get the job done as there were many tiny holes due to chafing. The sealant works like the stuff in fixaflat and under the right… Continue

Wow! What a great sail! Gentle rollers with a nice breeze just off our port bow. We left Chubb Cay around 11:00 a.m. and headed for New Providence and Nassau Harbor. The day was perfect with sunshine and warm temperatures all the way to Nassau. Cleared in with Nassau Harbor control and proceeded by the big cruise ships to Nassau Yacht Haven arriving at 5:00 p.m. just as they were closing for the night. It's a nice marina if a little run down and funky compared to the ultra nice marina at Chubb… Continue

After waiting 10 days for a weather window we set off for Nassau and the Berry Islands at the end of February. Sail Flow promised 10 to 12 knot winds with calming seas. What we got was 18 to 25 knot winds with 7 to 9 ft. seas! It was dark by the time we reached Mackie shoals and the thought of dropping the hook in the dark with big waves pounding our boat did not have any appeal. We decided to press on towards the Northwest Channel. Turning south meant we started taking the sea on our beam. If… Continue

Just spent a great morning at the Shark Lab here on South Bimini Island. They are studying Lemon Sharks and the effect that habitat destruction is having on the population. Kristine Stump took time from her busy schedule to explain the process and the work that they are doing. It was fascinating and very informative. We went out to the beach and waded out to a shark pen where we got to meet a young nurse shark and a lemon shark up close and personal. Did you know that if you hold a shark in… Continue

Finally, after many months in Florida getting Blue Heaven ready for extended cruising, we made our way down the ICW to Port Everglades and then went outside to Miami. Came in through Government Cut to Miami (what a trip) then down Biscayne Bay to Rickenbacker Marina. Spent a night there and then on to No Name Harbor on the south end of Key Biscayne. The next morning we looked for someone to go to Bimini with but everyone had left that morning or the day before. Even though it was late in the… Continue