Our first hiccup, we forgot we had a fishing line out, and as we set our anchor we ran over it, fouling it in the propeller. Kate had to dive on it to untangle it. Luckily the water was warm and calm. Roxy the sailing dog supervised the work

It is still Christmas time in the Caribbean, so we head out and explore the town near Hatchet Bay, a well known hurricane hole. You could surely weather a storm in that harbor. We found a local bar and after a few beers made some new friends. They took us on a tour of the town for a Boxing Day celebration.

While we were here we did a much needed oil changes to our Yanmar 4JH3-TE 75hp Turbocharged Diesel Engine. 

Next we were off to meet up with out friends aboard SV Sargo for a floating dock party, snorkeling, and sundowners. 

Lastly we were off to Rock Sound. It was a beautiful day for sailing. We tried to get a nice photo shoot in. Sargo found an uncharted blue hole on the way, which we stopped and dove with them. Inside we found sharks! Our first time in the water and swimming with sharks. 

After cooling off we finished the trip by sailing around Rock Sound. We noticed less power and some extra smoke from our Yanmar engine though. It was time to investigate. Finally, after exhausting all the options, we found the issue was a small engine mounted fuel filter. What could have been a 5 minute fix cost us days of downtime.

The downtime was OK though. This gave us a chance to reprovision, relax, and make a YouTube sailing vlog video.

Next we get ready to sail nonstop from the Bahamas to the USVI and BVI. We hope you enjoyed this episode. Please subscribe, share, and hit the like button

The post [Ep. 18] Blue Holes & ENGINE WOES appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

0:00 Intro

0:36 Bahamas Sailing

We raise our anchor at the deserted island in North Eleuthera Bahamas and head west. We sail through the crystal clear but shallow water of the Bahama Banks to Chub Cay, Whale Key, Bimini, and then on to Miami.

3:49 Gulf Stream Crossing

We crossed the gulf stream with a northeast wind, perfect for some downwind spinnaker sailing on the way to Miami and Biscayne Bay. We hit 10.9 knots of boat speed during some great and fun sailing conditions.

7:00 Stiltsville

We entered Biscayne National Park through the Stiltsville Cut. It was pretty cool to sail between the old houses and buildings on stilts, which have been long since abandoned. This is a tricky entrance and we must be careful as we draw over six feet.

7:25 Coconut Grove Sailing Club

We got the last open mooring ball at CGSG, which thankfully was the only one that would fit our 46 foot sailboat. We were very thankful for the clubs hospitality. What an amazing place with excellent staff and friendly members. It helped that they were a racing club and we had visited there before while racing Melges 24’s.

7:41 Sail Loft

One of the main reasons for coming to Miami was to get our staysail fixed up. When it was originally re-cut down from a #4 jib in Annapolis the sail loft there made a mistake and made the sail longer than the hoist. So we were able to have the sail re-recut and fixed in under a week. We were super thankful to get this done.

8:39 Melges 20 and Bacardi Winter Series in Miami

It just so happened that the Melges 20 Winter Series and Bacardi Miami Winter Series was going on. Was this planned? Well, it certainly was a good enough reason to sail back to the USA and see all of our racing friends. On top of that, the race committee boat broke down, so we volunteered to be the RC boat for the day. It was lots of fun, but there were a few close calls. Luckily no boats were harmed in the filming of this video and SV Sweet Ruca came away without a scratch in her Awlgrip!

12:52 Coconut Grove

We ended our time in Miami with a stroll through Coconut Grove. It is a lovely little suburb on the south side. We took advantage of this time to get our last meals out in the USA for what we be a long time. We were also invited to go to the CGSC staff Christmas party, so we celebrated the holiday in style with our new friends before we sail away again to the Bahamas.

#sailing #boatlife #bahamas #sail #sea #boat #yacht #sailboat #yachting #travel #ocean #sailor #yachtlife #boating #boats #sailingboat #sailingyacht #adventure #yachts #vlogger #youtubesailing #vlog #rescuedog #sailingdog #boatdog #snorkeling #paddleboarding #desertedisland #jboats #saltydog #saltlife #sailingvlog #liveaboardlifestyle #rocna #anchoring #cruising #sailaway

The post [Ep 15] Hard Decisions…Do We Turn Around? appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

We are sailing offshore from Cape Fear North Carolina, across the gulf stream, directly to the Bahamas. 0:32: Catch a Mahi Mahi Usually, we bring our fishing gear in at night, but this night, we forgot to. Fish On! We reel in a Mahi Mahi in the dark while going 9 knots under sail. Kate fries him up and we have a delicious fresh fish meal.

2:47 Offshore Sailing

We keep on trucking! We are almost to the Bahamas. We can feel things getting warmer, which is much needed. We needed shorts weather, rather than the nasty cold of the East Coast in November. Luckily we didn’t have to dodge any storms or hurricanes, but we did sail through some winds up to 35 knots on the way down, making for an exciting sailboat passage.

9:31 Arrive in Eleuthera

We made it to Eleuthera, the Bahamas after almost a year of hard boat work. It seems like everything is coming together. We navigate the shallow waters, dodging coral heads, on the way to Meeks Island (one of the Bahamas Pig Islands) in the crystal clear turquoise waters of the Bahamas.

10:53 Anchor Down

This is what we went sailing for. Dropping anchor in the Bahamas and cooking some steaks on the grill! Yes! Watch a beautiful sunset with us.

12:04 Good Morning

We wake up in the morning and Kate climbs the mast to get the lay of the land. What other girls would do a mast climb? Kate is a superwoman! The water is glass calm and beautiful clouds dot the horizon. We jump in and dive our Rocna 33kg anchor to see how it is set!

15:02 Paddle Boarding

It is time for some paddle boarding and to explore a beach at a deserted island in the Caribbean! Woo Hoo!!! We made it.

#sailingvlog #bahamas #gulfstream #sailing #atlantic #bahamas #caribbean #sail #sailinglife #sail #sea #boat #yacht #sailboat #yachting #travel #ocean #boatlife #sailor #yachtlife #boating #summer #boats #sailingboat #sailingyacht #adventure #yachts #vlogger #youtubesailing #vlog #rescuedog #sailingdog #boatdog #snorkeling #paddleboarding #desertedisland #jboats #saltydog #saltlife

The post [Ep 14] Gulf Stream Crossing p2 – Sailing Offshore to Bahamas: Land Ho! appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.