Columnist, nature photographer and retired state park superintendent Sam Bland is back from a cross-country adventure, guided home by familiar coastal beacons.
After Travels West, NC’s Coast Beckons
Coastal Review Online
A new review of the scientific literature confirms that anthropogenic noise is becoming unbearable for undersea life. Humans — and their ships, seismic surveys, air guns, pile drivers, dynamite fishing, drilling platforms, speedboats and even surfing — have made the ocean an unbearably noisy place for marine life.
In the Oceans, the Volume Is Rising as Never Before
NY Times and USHarbors
More photos. The wreck of the capsized PCTC Golden Ray has taken more than a year to remove from St. Simons Sound, Georgia. Also see Safety Zone and Golden Ray.
Cutting operations to separate Section Seven from the Golden Ray wreck resume, Feb. 4 (St. Simons Sound Incident Response)
Golden Ray Wreck Removal Resumes After Broken Chain Connector
Maritime Executive
Bahamas Chatter is published by Explorer Chartbooks, A CRUISERS NET PARTNER, which has long been the standard navigational supplement for enjoyable, informative, and safe cruising through the beautiful Bahamian waters and island visits.
Bahamas Chatter: Abacos Update 2/21
Posted: 07 Feb 2021 08:51 AM PST
Our contacts in the Abacos have updated us on things our Bahamas Cruisers will want to know before they go. The Explorer Chartbook Near Bahamas 9th edition contains a more detailed update as of fall 2020. Since then, the able Abaconians have made amazing progress on restoring what was devastated by Hurricane Dorian. Please send us first-hand updates to share when you get them. Here’s the latest from locals:
Marsh Harbour
BANKS:
Commonwealth is open at Maxwells.
Royal Bank has a small office in town.
1st Caribbean CIBC is reopening soon.
ATMs are located in various places in town, including Rubis Gas Station and the airport.
BOAT RENTALS: Harbour View, Cruise Abaco.
CRUISERS’ NET: Tune in to Channel 16 for announcements of Cruisers’ Net time and VHF channel. Announcements are being made with daily updates for area services and facilities. Listen for the ever-changing updates.
DINGHY LANDING: Union Jack dock has been repaired as a dinghy dock in the harbour.
FERRY SERVICE: Two services are now operational with service to Hope Town, Man o War, Guana Cay. The former Albury’s Ferry is now “The Ferry.” G&L also offers a full schedule of trips.
FUEL: Boat Harbour Marina.
GROCERIES:
Maxwells is fully open, also offering an ATM machine.
Abaco Groceries is also open, with a liquor store as well.
HARDWARE: National Hardware open. Also Yamaha has a new building . The Outboard Shop now services Suzuki, Evinrude and Yamaha (no sales).
LODGING: The Island Breeze Motel on the harbour is open. They also have car rentals.
MARINAS: Harbour View Marina and Cruise Abaco have some rentals available.
Harbour View Marina is working hard to get their docks fully functional. Docks have been stabilized and new wiring is being installed now. The reception area buildings will be next.
The Conch Inn docks are gone. Reconstruction has begun with expectations of reopening in 2022. The Moorings charter companies are still operational, keeping their boats at anchor. Snappa’s will be rebuilt on the Conch Inn site with a summer 2021 opening planned.
Marsh Harbour Marina has one dock open. Work is being done to restore the Jib Room Restaurant and boutique.
Boat Harbour at Abaco Beach Resort offers full services with dockage and fuel. The reception area and restaurant areas are still under tents, but reconstruction is ongoing. The marina plans three fishing tournaments for the spring.
MEDICAL SERVICES: Hospital was used for refugee shelter and is being renovated. Integrated Medical Services mobile medical unit offering assistance and treatment.
PROPANE: Abaco Gas will fill your propane tank on the spot.
RESTAURANTS: Wally’s will be opening soon. Snappa’s will be coming to the Conch Inn property. The Jib Room is being rebuilt. Stay tuned for opening dates. Several takeouts are available in walking distance from the harbour. A waterside cabana, located at the old site of Long’s Seafood, is serving food.
TELEPHONE: Some land lines have been restored by BTC, but not all telephones are connected. The local land line exchange is 365. Cable Bahamas phones are more reliable with 699 numbers. Also ALIV with 559 and 801 exchanges are reliable. Many folks switched to ALIV, which generously gave free phones and phone cards at the outset of Hurricane Dorian. Since there is no directory, we are slow to get new phone numbers listed for these customers.
CAUTION: Although progress has been made, there is still much debris in the water, particularly in the inner anchorage area of Marsh Harbour. Some obstructions are buoyed; some are not. Proceed with great caution. Also, locals warn of increased crime ashore. Because most streetlights are still not working, it is unwise to wander ashore at night.
HOPE TOWN
Mostly cleaned up with businesses in various stages of reopening. Lighthouse Marina has fuel at the dock. Hope Town Inn and Marina is yet to be fully opened.
MAN O WAR
Harbour cleaned up. Marina docks are gone with no current progress on reconstruction. Hibiscus Restaurant is open.
TREASURE CAY: Treasure Cay Marina is under reconstruction with a few slips available. Moorings are available as well. The fuel dock is open.
GUANA CAY
Progress continues with waterfront businesses beginning to reopen. A new grocery is coming on the harbour. Orchid Bay Marina has some services and is making progress.
GREEN TURTLE CAY
Green Turtle Cay, as a community, has made great strides to getting the cay back to normal. The Green Turtle Club is fully operational and welcoming visitors. Bluff House Marina is still undergoing repairs before reopening.
During NFL Green Week, which precedes each year’s Super Bowl and serves as a way to galvanize community greening efforts in the host city, NFL Green, the NFL’s environmental and sustainability wing, planted 150 elkhorn corals, another threatened coral species.
Story by Tiffany Duong, Feb 6, 2021
UNLIKELY BEDFELLOWS’ — THE NFL’S GROUNDBREAKING CORAL COLLABORATION
Florida Keys Weekly
Rocket launches will require monthly closures of St. Andrews Sound, Christmas Creek, offshore waters, and the Intracoastal Waterway. We won’t be able to fish, crab, shrimp or boat around Cumberland Island. If a launch is scrubbed, the closures will extend for days.
Contact the DNR to oppose Camden spaceport. It’s not consistent with Georgia’s Coastal Zone Management. Send your comments by March 8, 2021, to Diana Taylor, Department of Natural Resources, One Conservation Way, Brunswick, Georgia 31520 or CRD.Comments@dnr.ga.gov.
Camden’s spaceport will close our waterways
Brunswick News
Winter is annual maintenance time for many anglers, and respooling with new line and recycling the old is a common task. Ever thought about what happens once you dispose of the old line in a fishing line recycling tube?
An Angler’s Winter Chore May Spark an Idea to Make the World a Better Place
BoatUS News
According to NASA, the shallow estuary is one of the most biodiverse in the United States. because it straddles temperate and subtropical climate zones.
The Indian River Lagoon on Florida’s Atlantic coast
Earth.com
Underwater photographer and columnist Robert Michelson illustrates the habits and management of “the relatively unknown ocean bass called the black sea bass.”
Robert Michelson
What’s on the Line? NC Black Sea Bass
Coastal Review Online
Another beautiful photo by Keith Green, Sr.
This full moon, learn how animals have evolved bioluminescent capabilities to breed, feed and survive.
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The team at the wind forecast app WINDY explain why the Gulf Stream is perhaps the most famous current in the world’s oceans.
Let’s talk about the Gulf Stream
Scuttlebutt Sailing News
In the last of a three-part series, author Kevin Duffus writes about the “miracle” that saved Ambrose Burnside and his crew during the January 1862 Hatteras Expedition.
Burnside’s Miracle Happens in Hatteras Inlet
Coastal Review Online
But, as I’ve often said, there’s no such thing as too much information when you are on the water, so there are two more observations concerning this anchorage copied from the AGLCA forum. For more reports, enter Pelican Bay in the search window of our Homepage.
1/26/2021
Highly recommend the Punta Blanca anchorage. We spent a few nights there December 20-23 2020. I have attached our route getting in on our 5.5’ draft sailboat. We entered and left at high tide, there’s one little bar we bumped over on the southwest side, otherwise stay close to the mangroves. We only saw kayakers and fishermen and a park ranger checking for campers on the island. About a mile and a half dink ride to Cayo Costa State Park dock and Cabbage Key.
cheers,
Greg Scannell, AGLCA Member
S/V Dragonfly
— Attachment(s) —
89F8EB0D-489B-4306-AEEF-
Alan is absolutely correct about Pelican Bay; it’s one of the premier anchorages you will find anywhere. However, “local knowledge” is important getting in there. Neither the approach to the bay, nor its entrance channel, are marked. So, ass/u/ming you are southbound on the G-ICW, turn west at a point south of G “75,” and about 200′ north of R “74.” Note that just off the shoreline, there is a Florida Speed Sign visible. Head toward that sign. Just before you reach the sign, turn SW and follow the line of the beach on Cayo Costa Island there, holding your course parallel to the beach and holding the shore close by to stbd at 50′ – 75′. Yes, a boat length or slightly more off the beach line. That “channel” carries 9′ of water, but it shoals very rapidly to the south, to 3′ or less. Many, many unwary boats go aground there. When you have passed by the beach, you will
see the Cayo Costa State Park docks at your 11 o’clock, at a distance of about 1/2 to 3/4 miles. Aim at those docks, and set a rhumb line to them until you are past the shallowest water. There are slips there, with no services, but cruising boats generally can’t use them. Only the very outermost slips carry sufficient water depth. The dock tee heads are reserved for tour boats, of which there are several that ply those waters. Plan to anchor. The bottom is sand, and the holding is excellent.
The gulf coast of Florida has diurnal tides; that is, one high and one low per day. Water depths are lowest in the morning and moderate to high in the mid-to-late afternoon. The tidal range at Pelican Bay is only about 2′. The rhumb line from the beach to the State Park docks will get down to 5-1/2′ at MLLW. By the time you get to the docks, you’ll see 6-1/2′ or more. There is a deep pool correctly charted on the current charts that carries 9′, which is the deepest water in the bay. Some older charts that are still widely circulated do not show that 9′ pool correctly. If you do not see that deep pool, you do not have the current charts of the basin. The basin is actually a “pass” between Cayo Costa Island to the west and Punta Blanco Island to the east. To the south from Pelican Bay, the water appears visually to be open; but, it is shoal, and not navigable by cruising draft boats. The only access back to the G-ICW from Pelican Bay is the one to the north of Punta Blanco Island, described above.
Armed with this “local knowledge,” you will find Pelican Bay to be a delightful, well protected anchorage with a lot to see and do.
Hope this is useful.
Jim
There are two really good anchorages near Boca Grande entrance to Charlotte Harbor. The second is Pelican Bay at Cayo Costa. This is one of our favorites. Many people avoid it because of the shoal at the entrance. Just hug the beach – stay 25-50 feet off the beach and you will be in 6-9 feet of water. We draw 4.5 feet and anchor here a lot. The beach and park at Cayo Costa are great and again the park is only accessible by boat.
Marty & Jerry Richardson
Pelican Bay is right in my backyard, and I have been there a number of times. The descriptions above are reasonable, although the details change often.
However, the discussion about tides is not correct. The tides in this part of the world cycle from diurnal to semidiurnal twice each month. The diurnal tides are near full moon and new moon, while the semidiurnal tides are near the first and third quarters. There is also an important annual component. The lowest tides tend to be mid-day in the winter and mid-night in the summer.
There are no simple rules that can be conveniently remembered. Even thought the average tidal range is only a couple of feet, tide tables are essential if depth is important to you.
Gene Fuller
Punta Gorda
The nun has now been replaced with a post R74. We were just there 1/20/13.
Frank Cushing
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Pelican Bay
Is there any updated info on Pelican Bay accessibility/ permission to anchor there, etc????? Last I've seen is Dec 2022.
We went by several days ago on saw a number of boats anchored there. Can’t go ashore but great location for nice anchorage. Looked like the boats were following the same route into Pelican Bay. Sign is still up.
I did dig a bit deeper and made some calls including to the Florida Park Service where I spoke to a real person. ( I had googled state parks and they gave me a list of other places still closed.) She said that the Cayo Costa is completely closed down and that included the anchorage. She was quite firm about the anchorage even when I said we would not go ashore. Has she ever even seen the place? Probably not. We are going that way anyhow in the next day or two so…….
I’m also looking for status of Cayo Costa. Currently anchored off Ding Darling for our second night. Mangroves look really browned out. Have not tried the dinghy yet to go inside as the entrance looks partially blocked off. Hopefully the tide is still coming up but… We are going to move to Cayo Costa probably tomorrow and will keep our fingers crossed. Came across the lake on Tuesday and very saddened to see Fort Meyers and Cape Coral and now Pine Island.
Jérôme – not a word – have tried for info via Boats US – nothing – seems either no one knows anything – or notinterested in answering.
Paul
I am looking for the same info on Pelican Bay and if boats are even cruising the ICW between Fort Myers and Venice. Have you by heard anything Paul?
Since the passing of Hurricane Ian can anyone tell me if the main entrance off of Marker #74 off the ICW is still navigable with a 5 foot draft???
Thank you.
Paul
Bahamas Chatter is published by Explorer Chartbooks, A CRUISERS NET PARTNER, which has long been the standard navigational supplement for enjoyable, informative, and safe cruising through the beautiful Bahamian waters and island visits.
Bahamas Chatter: Sand “bores”?
Posted: 25 Jan 2021 04:27 AM PST
I’ve got a question that I’m hoping you might be able to help with, and the internet so far has been less-than-helpful. I notice in the Explorer charts and many other guides the use of the term “sand bore.” Explorer defines this on several charts as a “fluid, shifting, live sand bar.”
Can anyone shed some light on the origins of the term, or perhaps point me towards some reference materials? How exactly is a bore different than a “shifting sand bar,” a term often used on the same chart near the same feature? I know there are several geographic places where the term is used, but my question is mostly academic. What exactly is a sand bore?
Thanks in advance!
Matt Claiborne
s/v Dulcinea
This advisory is from Tripadvisor and the US Embassy in the Bahamas.
Dear traveler,
Are you considering an international trip? If so, read on. The CDC has issued a COVID-19 order that may impact your plans for re-entering the United States.
Effective January 26, 2021 travelers arriving in the U.S. must:
1) Get tested for COVID-19 no more than 3 days before departing to the United States and show a negative test result to the airline before boarding OR 2) show documentation of recent recovery from COVID-19 to the airline before boarding.
This new order applies to all air passengers — including U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents — aged 2 years and older. It also applies regardless of the length of time spent outside of the United States.
Acceptable documentation of recovery from COVID-19 includes both a positive viral test result within 3 months of travel (or the time period specified in current CDC guidance) AND a letter from a healthcare provider or public health official stating that the passenger is cleared to end isolation.
Passengers who have tested positive for COVID-19 will need to delay their travel until they meet the criteria to end isolation; learn more here.
Need more information? Visit this FAQ page at CDC.gov.
For more details, see COVID-19 Information for The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands
US Embassy in the Bahamas
This week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced it will expand the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary to nearly triple its current size.
Gulf of Mexico Marine Sanctuary Nearly Triples in Size
National Audubon Society
The National Defense Authorization Act for FY2021 includes a little-noticed provision that will improve waterway safety: it is now a felony crime to aim a laser pointer at any vessel operating on the navigable waters of the United States. See also Coast Guards Seeks Info Re Lasering Events.
New Law Helps U.S. Coast Guard Crack Down on Laser Strikes
Maritime Executive
Now, if we could only get them to "crackdown" on unsafe operators and unsafe operations….
As a follow up to my last article about security while cruising, I want to address the question that started this conversation. People are buying boats and going cruising in a big way. And when new boaters plan to go on their first extended cruise, such as the Great Loop or other adventure, a common question is whether they should carry a gun for protection.
Click here to continue: I Am Going Cruising, Should I Carry a Gun?
Seattle Yachts
Comments from Cruisers (1)
I loved Sam Bland's story of returning from the Rockies to coastal North Carolina. For me, the places are extremes of joy and spirituality with little in common, except that both stir the heart and imagination.