Explorer Chartbooks, A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET PARTNER, has long been the standard navigational supplement for enjoyable, informative, and safe cruising through the beautiful Bahamian waters and island visits.
Bahamas Chatter: West End Old Bahama Bay
West End Old Bahama Bay
Posted: 19 Dec 2016 11:04 AM PST
Passing thru Old Bahama Bay in the next few weeks. Last update was no water,electric, but docks OK. Any update from boaters who have stayed? Thanks, Jimmy
The Matanzas Inlet/Waterway intersection has been the cause of several recent groundings. See a Nav Alert from November. Our thanks to Charles Solomon for sharing his unfortunate experience.
26′ Searay Sundancer thrown aground at marker 81C on Friday night 12-16-16 just before sunset. Operating at 6-8 knots. We were manuvering to West side of ICW after sighting green floating / temp marker 81C northbound and caught by a stiff current. This area is a dogleg channel deep to the west shoreline (per SeaTow). Boat rolled over almost 45 degrees on the starboard side . Backed off the engine and she righted but we were hard aground sideways to the current. Had to wait about 2 hours for the tide and powered off. Brand new engine overheated and we took a tow to St. Augustine.
Charles Solomon
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To This AICW Problem Stretch
Explorer Chartbooks, A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET PARTNER, has long been the standard navigational supplement for enjoyable, informative, and safe cruising through the beautiful Bahamian waters and island visits.
Bahamas Chatter: Chub Cay
Chub Cay
Posted: 18 Dec 2016 10:09 AM PST
FYI Chub Cay Marina closed until sometime 2017. NO CUSTOMS CLEARANCE in Chub Cay.
Understand they are trying to open in April 2017. You can contact them by email .
Planning Abaco trip from SW Florida (Punta Gorda) via Okeechobee leaving April 7, 8, or 9. 17+ knot power boat. Would like crossing buddy boat. swansontyler7@gmail.com
With a closed vertical clearance of 17ft, Longboat Pass Bridge crosses Longboat Pass which separates Longbeach and Bradenton Beach, south of Tampa Bay near Statute Mile 85.
Longboat Key petitions for bridge-opening fixes
-Terry O’Connor News Editor
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, said he would intervene with the Coast Guard to help change the bridge-opening schedule.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY from www.yourobserver.com
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Longboat Pass
Hillsboro Beach is a barrier island on the east side of the Waterway between Deerfield Beach and Pompano Beach.
BROWARD NEWS
Burning boat drifts into another boat, sets it afire
by Anne Geggis
No one was hurt, but a lot of boat went up in smoke Saturday afternoon when a burning, unmanned craft drifted into a docked boat suspended above the Intracoastal Waterway in Hillsboro Beach.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY AND VIDEO
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Hillsboro Beach
The US Coast Guard doing what they do so well. Thank you Coast Guard!
FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — The Coast Guard rescued three boaters Friday after their boat took on water 12 miles west of Sanibel.
Watch standers from Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg received an emergency relay call at 4:05 a.m. from Sea Tow National dispatch, stating three people were aboard a 35-foot sailboat taking on water and were in need of emergency assistance.
A Coast Guard boat crew aboard a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium from Station Fort Myers Beach responded.
The crew arrived on scene and provided dewatering assistance, which enabled the vessel to remain afloat while under tow. The tow was transferred to Sea Tow National who took them to Fort Myers. No injuries were reported.
“Thankfully we were alerted quickly, which enabled our boat crew to get on scene and prevent a bad situation from getting any worse,” said Lt. Cmdr. Brittany Poley, command duty officer at Sector St. Petersburg.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT AND PHOTOS
Explorer Chartbooks, A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET PARTNER, has long been the standard navigational supplement for enjoyable, informative, and safe cruising through the beautiful Bahamian waters and island visits.
Bahamas Chatter: Submitting Bahamas Chatter posts via email
Submitting Bahamas Chatter posts via email
Posted: 16 Dec 2016 08:20 AM PST
Hello cruisers!
For those new to the group, we welcome your comments and posts! We offer two ways to post to accommodate your needs.
1. Go directly to chatter.explorercharts.com and post or comment from the web.
2. Cruisers can now comment directly from email. Once you subscribe to the group, please email info@explorercharts.com and request permission to post to Bahamas Chatter via email. Your forum membership will be changed to “author” status at which point you can post or comment directly by sending your message to chatter@explorercharts.com.
Thanks for your participation in this great group of cruisers willing and ready to share ideas and experiences!
Kate Fears
Hokulea and its enthusiastic crew visited Charleston earlier this year and this is their report of the completed Leg 25.
Hokulea’s Worldwide Voyage Leg 25: Virginia to Florida
Using nothing but traditional non-instrumental navigation techniques, members of the Polynesian Voyaging Society are embarking on a multi-year journey around the world on board Hawaii’s legendary Hōkūle‘a canoe.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL REPORT from National Geographic
This information and good advice comes from Salty Southeast Cruisers’ Net Resource Partner, Marina Life.
Know Before You Go (Exclusive Savings On Cruising Seminars)
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
Explorer Chartbooks, A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET PARTNER, has long been the standard navigational supplement for enjoyable, informative, and safe cruising through the beautiful Bahamian waters and island visits.
Bahamas Chatter: T-mobil in Bahamas?
T-mobil in Bahamas?
Posted: 15 Dec 2016 01:17 PM PST
hi all,
is anyone using their usa t-mobil data plan in bahamas? if so, is performance adequate for email, weather (windfinder), facebook, etc?
john (duetto)
Except as noted, most of these displays begin at midnight and last about 10 minutes. As usual with night time navigation, great care must taken in the vicinity of anchored spectator boats, especially following the displays.
St. Joseph Bay 10PM
Panama City Beach Midnight
Mexico Beach Midnight
Cinco Bayou 8PM and Midnight
Fort Walton Midnight
Santa Rosa Sound Midnight
Destin Harbor 8PM
Mobile Midnight
Enjoy!
This is sad news for cruisers hoping to navigate this historic and beautiful canal next year. It is also bad news for the community of SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR, Elizabeth City, whose citizens have always gone the extra mile to make transient canal cruisers welcome. Affected, too, will be Dismal Swamp State Park Welcome Center whose staff has welcomed boaters from around the world as they transited the canal. Our thanks to Donna Stewart, Director of the Welcome Center, for keeping us all updated on conditions in the canal during this post-Matthew time. PLEASE NOTE that the Dismal Swamp State Park, also a SSECN SPONSOR, is still open to the public and easily accessible by car. See /161350.

NORFOLK, Va. — Officials at the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have announced that the Dismal Swamp Canal will be closed indefinitely.
The canal, which was closed due to extensive damage from Hurricane Matthew in October, requires dredging, debris and tree removal, and an investigation into reports of shoaling at various locations in the canal.
The Norfolk District derrick boat Elizabeth has been working since October to clear debris from the waterway. The canal must be clear for engineers to perform a survey and assess the shoaling.
The storm also damaged Lake Drummond Reservation facilities, which are also closed and need repairs.
District officials have requested federal funds to assist with storm-related work.
Previously scheduled work to refurbish the Deep Creek Lock river gates will begin in the first week of January and will last approximately 75 days. The gate work is regularly scheduled maintenance and occurs about every 15 years. During gate refurbishment, the crew of the Elizabeth will continue to remove debris from the canal.
Vessels transiting the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway during the closure may use the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal. The controlling depth of the canal is 12 feet. The lock and bridge have operating staff on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The North Landing Bridge on the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal opens every hour and half-hour, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. On-demand openings are provided for commercial traffic as needed, and for private vessels after 7 p.m. North Landing Bridge operators can be reached at 757-482-3081, and will monitor marine radio channel 13.
The Dismal Swamp Canal was completed in 1805 and is the oldest continually operating, hand-dug waterway in the United States. It is part of the Intracoastal Waterway connecting the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia with the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina.
Kerry L. Solan
Public Affairs
Norfolk District, USACE
Desk 757-201-7258
kerry.l.solan@usace.army.mil
http://www.nao.usace.army.mil/
Is there anything that cruisers can do to help with the canal re-opening. Letters, petitions, donations. I have transited the canal 25 to 30 times, this would be a terrible loss. Put information ou t on all cruiser nets a nd active captain.
Be the first to comment!