or... "Why we're back in Florida a few weeks early."
After spending a few windy days near Staniel Cay, we moved down to Cambridge Cay (part of the Exuma land and Sea park) and spent 3 days swimming and snorkeling at a dozen great reef spots.
On the morning of March 9th we ran the generator for a few hours to charge the batteries and bake some muffins.
As the muffins were cooling we heard a squeal from inside the engine room. Charles stopped the generator right away. Smoke poured from the engine room when we opened the door and Charles soon found the source of the sound - the fan belt attached to the generator's water pump and alternator had burned through.
Replacing a belt would have been easy but the reason it broke was because the 12V alternator had seized up. We needed a new alternator or we could not run the generator.
We looked at each other and began imagining life without a generator. We could have stayed in the Bahamas (at one of a few very expensive marinas) and wait for an new alternator to arrive (add ridiculous shipping cost and import fees) or we could head back to Miami where we knew we could get anything shipped overnight.
We plotted out course - 230 miles in 36 hours. The weather window was there and we could do just it; non-stop. At 9:30 Wednesday morning we headed out.
Without the generator we were forced to run our engine occasionally to charge our batteries but for the most part the sails provided our power. We crossed the Exuma Bank during the day and then made the long northerly run up the Tongue of the Ocean through the night. At 2am we approached the NW Channel light on the Bahama Bank and navigated the reef onto the bank and beyond.
Some time after lunch we weaved our way through the last reef south of Cat Cay in the Bimini islands then we were on our way across the gulf stream.
We had kept good speed for most of the trip so we were expecting to arrive at the Miami harbor channel around 5:30pm. That was before the squall line met us 29 miles off the coast of Florida.
A dark gray line formed on the horizon and traveled fast. In a few minutes we had all sails put away and we were in 35-45 knot winds, rain, hail, and zero visibility.
The radar showed a few large freighters nearby but they were holding course and no danger to us. We maintained our heading under power and slowly worked our way through the squall line.
We made the Miami channel at sunset with the Miami Beach skyline glowing red.
Fast forward a few days - new alternator installed (Thanks to a quick response from Carol at www.genset.com), water tanks full and groceries stored, we headed out of Miami Beach Marina and over to Stadium anchorage for a few days. We found the anchorage to be a fun place to watch the sea planes come and go!
Our friends Brook and Terrence met us there and we spent a relaxing Saturday afternoon hanging out on the boat and catching up.
Monday morning we left Miami and headed south past Stiltsville and into Biscayne Bay.
Because of our mast height (76 ft) and bridges (65 ft) we can't travel inside past Key Largo but we will spend a few days inside the bay enjoying the light winds and flat water sailing before heading out to Hawks Channel and ports further south.
