05/08/08

05/03/02

With the family and estate issues we need to deal with we have been trying to make miles day, but on the 28th there were some sever thunderstorms forecast and on the 29th Lynn had a conference call with her Mom's nursing home and we needed good cell phone coverage, so we opted to spend those two days tied to the dock at Isle of Palms near Charleston. On the 28th we did some of the tourist stuff and tried to have dinner at a highly rated sea food dive called "The Wreck". This has to be the hardest to find restaurant ever. All the locals seemed to know about it and gave us directions. They got us close but not there. Finally while in the immediate area, two locals gave us directions that worked, but even when we got there, we couldn't find it. There is no sign. Of course the fact that they were closed Mondays and there were no cars in the lot or lights on in the building to give us a hint contributed. We found another Shem Creek sea food dive and ate there.

On the 30th we headed to Georgetown, SC. Along the way we met Breaking Wind and Barbara's Joy, two other boats from our dock, headed south. We chatted on the VHF and it was great. The May flies, however were out a day early, so we were doing the steer and swat dance in the cockpit. Still not as bad as on some other cruises.

Georgetown is one of our favorite anchorages. We were in early enough to do some extra preparation since we hoped to go outside between the New River and Cape Fear on Friday. We had beer and grouper bites at a water front bar looking out on Sunspot Baby and an early evening.

Thursday we rose early to listen to Chris Parker, the weather guru, for the forecast on the offshore portion planned the next day. We got away a little later than desired and fought adverse currents all the way to Myrtle Beach. We hit a submerged log in the Waccama River but suffered no damage. Then in an area of Myrtle Beach called "The Rock Pile" the starboard side of the boat slowed suddenly and the sail drive started making strange noises. I shut her down immediately and we started considering contingencies. The Rock Pile is a narrow canal cut from solid rock so there are rock ledges on both side. At high tide these are covered but lurking just below the surface. A lot of boats suffer problems here. We had little room for error on maneuvering, only one engine and a bridge ahead. We called a marina on our side of the bridge hoping to go in there. They had no room but recommended Anchor Marina, which could take us and had a yard that could haul us. The choice was obvious, so we called them, and then Tow Boat US to help us get in.

Yesterday afternoon, they hauled the boat and there is no visually apparent damage. On Monday we will get water to the engine and start it to see what we can hear.

Lynn, Toby, and George rented a car and drove to New Bern last night. We have a stack of mail waiting and a stack of laundry we brought. Monday early we will drive back down to manage the repair. As I said AAARG!

04/27/08

We did get a chance to have friends aboard for drinks last night and will have another couple tonight and then go ashore for dinner.

Adverse currents have been the rule of the day. Going from Fernandina to the Duplin River we were at less than 4 kts much of the time. It was emotionally draining trying to make the miles and going so slow. George said he felt like he had picked the boat up and carried on his back to get there. Some other days have been tough but not as draining as that was.

We had dinner at a favorite dive in Thunderbolt, GA where the marina gives complimentary Krispy Kremes each morning. There was our carb quota for the next month or so.  :-)

We hope to go to Georgetown, SC tomorrow but there are some thunder storms forecast and some members of the crew are a little nervous. We need to stay in one place on Tuesday to make sure we have cell phone coverage to participate in a conference call.

04/19/08

The road trip to NC was a whirlwind but we did take care of a lot of things. There is much to do yet, but at least we made a dent in some of the actions hanging fire on Dad's estate.

04/13/08

04/08/08

04/07/08

We left Warderick Wells on Friday and sailed a few miles to Shroud Cay. Although the anchorage was protected from the wind, the swells turned the corner around the end of the island and we had a rolly night.  The next day, Saturday, we ran down wind in 15 to 20 knots to Nassau. It was a great day sailing. Would have been miserable if we had been beating into it.

We have done a little provisioning, laundry, tanking up (fuel and water), and some light maintenance. Today we plan to make a bus trip into town, buy a few more small gifts, have lunch at the "Fish Fry" (see Bahamas Southbound photos), and get ready to leave tomorrow.

03/30/08

What an unusual event, the weather was milder than forecast. It seems to always go rougher. A smooth sailing day, almost not enough wind to sail effectively but we did get over 7 knots for a while.

Saturday morning, we took it easy and made sure we had a mooring at Warderick Wells before committing to a course. We could have run a little further and maybe should have, but there is some serious weather forecasted and the mooring field near park headquarters is well protected.

If the current forecast holds, we may try to move slightly further north Wednesday, then on to Nassau on Friday. We will probably have to stage up there for several days before there is a chance to cross the Gulf Stream. Of course, we are looking pretty far into the weather forecast and that many days out, it is seldom very accurate, so it is likely things will change. Probably not for the better.

It was a week ago today we returned to the boat and our general goal was to be in Nassau by now so you can see waiting for weather is slowing us down.

Day after tomorrow is April Fools Day, and I have been known to pull a few pranks. I will not, however, send any false alarms this year. We have had so many difficult situations in the family recently, no one needs any further stress.

03/26/08

Toby stayed at home with our neighbors watching him. Boy, do we own them Big Time!

We are sitting out a blow, unwilling to take the beating required to move north from here right now. The forecasters call for better conditions for a couple of days Friday and Saturday. We would like to jump all the way to Nassau in that window, but that is probably biting off a bit too much. More likely, we will go north to Warderick Wells and ride out the wind and rains early next week there. Then on to Nassau, maybe Wednesday.

We are using this time to replace the fresh water pump, one bilge pump, clean the bottom, do some laundry, and reprovision. Lynn gave away all the perishable food before leaving the boat on 3/3.

Monday after Easter is still part of the holiday and everything was pretty much closed. We rented a car and drove south to Little Exuma and attended a benefit barbecue in Williamstown. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon and then we had a car for shopping Tuesday morning. We loaded up at Exuma Markets in Georgetown, but the shelves were almost bare. Not much selection. People had loaded up before Easter for the 4 day shut down.

The front hit Monday afternoon and we received lots of rain that evening. We walked up to the lounge and watched the cable TV for the Monday night comedies. On Tuesday the wind and waves were coming right into the marina and even Sunspot Baby was swaying sloppily at the dock. The floating docks were heaving and made walking a challenge.

03/21/08

Hopefully our position report page will start showing some movement early next week.

03/08/08

We will get back to the boat and bring it north, but some things are more important than cruising.

02/27/08

Coming back this way was also windier than forecast but from the right direction so we had a great day on the water. We fished both ways and were skunked, but coming back George had a hard time keeping the boat speed in the low six knot range so that we were not trolling too fast. We frequently run an engine to keep batteries charge up and run all the electric and electronic stuff on board. We will put the engine in gear if needed to keep speed up but on this run, George just shut down both engines and the wind generator and solar panels pretty well kept up with electrical demand.

We are having some trouble with raising and lowering the main. George keeps looking for a simple cause, but so far it has eluded him. Yesterday it would not drop and George had to go up on the cabin roof to pull it down and stow it. We were bouncing in the waves but this time he kept his feet.

We are back in Emerald Bay, attracted by the convenient internet access. We have a lot of things requiring attention and need to be connected right now.

Due to a variety of reasons, we have made Conception our turn around point and will start working our way north as weather allows. Cold fronts moving off the East Coast of the U.S. every few days allow us a couple of days of sailing followed by a few days of hunkering down. We are not racing back or taking chances going out in weather that is unsafe or uncomfortable.

02/22/08

While we both have family health issues back in the U.S. we will continue our cruise for now. We will, however, abort plans for going further south than the Bahamas. We will hang out here in the Exumas and/or the Far Bahamas for a while, and then start working our way north earlier than planned. Tomorrow, we plan to fill with fuel and water then head east toward Conception Island. If we are not making good time or have conditions rougher than expected, we will turn down to Calabash Bay on Long Island.

Another front is expected Wednesday and the forecasters have very different opinions of how rough it might be, so probably Tuesday we will head back to George Town and a protected anchorage. As the forecast changes, we may alter plans.

With any luck, our position report dot will begin to move. It has been stuck in one place for a long time.

02/08/08

We have been in the George Town anchorages for about a week, having come over last Monday from Red Shanks. The most active place with all the cruisers is an area called Volleyball Beach. It is not on the map, it just what locals and cruisers call it. There is a lot of activity so if we take Toby ashore there he has to stay on the leash. He is, however, being a good boy and has socialized with a couple of girl dogs. We still don’t trust him with other males.

Early in the week, we attended a lunch for HAM operators.  There was lots of HAM chat, and the Peace & Plenty beach bar served up Bahamian style fish along with burgers and chicken and cold drinks.  We opted for the fish, which came with the ubiquitous Bahamian style mac and cheese and cold slaw.  Our choice was the best – it was grouper.

We have sat in the chairs along the beach, drinking a cold one from the Chat & Chill, a beach shack/bar with Toby lying quietly by our feet. Last night, we stopped at the Chat & Chill beach conch stand and bought fresh conch salad for dinner. Tasty.  The conch stand is painted lime green and yellow and manned by an employee from the Chat & Chill.  One medium sized bowl of conch is $10 – so we really splurged to do this.  However, here’s what went into it:  One live conch – gutted and chopped up on the spot, ½ of a large tomato, ½ of a medium onion, ½ green pepper, all chopped. Juice of two oranges and two limes, and topped off with some finely minced “goat pepper” same as scotch bonnet or habanero.  Just enough to cover the tip of his very sharp knife.  While we waited for our salad, two big sting rays were cruising the beach for conch trimmings.  We took our salad back to the boat with us - it was quite delicious.

There was a boat count yesterday and they found 218 among all the anchorages. By Regatta time (March 6 thru 18) it will grow to over 400 and some years goes over 500.

Our Wi-Fi connection has been very spotty. Sometimes good, sometimes almost non-existent. We signed up for a week, so tomorrow will need to get into George Town and get another week.

Hopefully, before that one runs out we will be headed south and east. It looks possible that a period of settled weather will occur late in the week and we will probably start working toward Turks and Caicos. While that could be a couple of day sails, we will probably break it into three chunks, could be more.

Friday we organized a meeting of other southbound cruisers and those with experience. All us newbie’s got lots of questions answered.  George moderated, and there were about 50 people.  There were many favorable comments afterward, and Lynn is feeling a little better about the trip.

We are anxiously awaiting a forecasted weather window on Thursday to start working toward the Turks and Caicos to arrive before Sunday. Next week is supposed to be windier so we may hole up there for a while. Possible stops along the way are Rum Cay, Mayaguana, and then T&C. If we get out there and the weather is good, we are making good time, and the crew is comfortable, we might skip a stop or two.

We will post a couple of new photos of meetings and the anchorage on the web site if we can keep the Wi-Fi connection running.

Note: We are having some issues with Skymate so if you see a seemingly incredible position, it is probably in error. We are attempting to change things so that these occur less often.

The first section of this report is from a family email Lynn sent 1/24/08

We haven’t had Wi-Fi since leaving Emerald Bay, and to send this email we have dinghied from Red Shanks to George Town with the laptop. 

There have been a number of fronts moving through this area, which means that we have very settled weather for a day or two, then the front comes through with high North winds right behind it for several days, in the 20-25 knot range.  So we are staying tucked in at Red Shanks.  However, it looks like next week might have a bigger window of settled weather so we might move closer to the George Town area.

There is a large construction project going on adjacent to our anchorage, and it has been underway since we have been coming here.  They have done a lot of dredging, and although Red Shanks is a great anchorage, the water has not been as clear as in other spots.  However, now the dredging appears to be done (they are busy building a bridge which will prevent sailboats from entering this area from the North), and the water is now very nice. We can see the bottom clearly, and have even run the water maker every now and then.  [Later note – we have just learned that the “back way” into Red Shanks will be closed beginning Wednesday 1/30, for the final bridge construction, and the closure is indefinite.  That is our go-fast dinghy route to George Town from this great anchorage, and the round about method will significantly impact the time factor.]

We are anchored near an elderly British gentleman who has an older 1968 Prout.  He spent some time in Singapore after WWII, and we invited him for a chicken curry dinner.  We had a nice evening with lots of conversation about Singapore.  I have been thinking about Singapore a lot lately, since I am reading a book Don and Peg Higgins gave us called The Singapore Grip.  It’s a novel about the fall of Singapore, and very much details the business tactics of the major players in the rice and rubber industries at that time.  I think George will enjoy it too.  The names of the streets are often mentioned, and I find myself wondering where they are all…River Valley Road, Maxwell Street (I think it’s downtown), Stevens Road, and so on.

A few days ago we were taking Toby ashore to a beach we don’t usually frequent, and the outboard prop hit a rock.  On the way back, we couldn’t get much power and could only put-put along.  The rock incident had “spun” the prop, ruining the rubber bushing on the inside.  This was good news and bad news – Bad News – Spun Prop – Good News – this is the first cruise we have brought a spare along!  So George replaced it the next day and we are now back in business on the Chase Boat. 

There is a big DeFever power boat anchored near us, with a hard dinghy (Carolina Skiff) and 4-stroke outboard.  We had high winds and rain the other night (lots of rain), and in the morning I looked out to see their dinghy upside down, with the motor under water.  We tried hailing them and other boats in the anchorage but not luck (it was about 7 am and most cruisers are listening to various weather reports at that time on their radios), so George (with our not-yet-repaired-spun-prop) put-putted over to Sea Fox, the DeFever.  Steve, the owner, came out on his deck, and was watching George’s progress, thinking “why is he coming to see me at this hour?” and then he saw the turtled dinghy.  In a few minutes, there were about six dinghies from other boats there to help.  By nightfall everything was back in order and Steve and Sofia were able to attend the Red Shanks Royal Yacht and Tennis Club cocktail hour in the very dinghy that was under water earlier.

I made Stacy’s Boursin for the cocktail party, and it was a big hit with crackers, carrot and celery sticks.  Sea Fox brought a big bottle of wine as a thank you, but unfortunately they didn’t bring any cups and we only had beer with us, so we didn’t participate.  It’s a rare incident when we don’t partake of offered wine!

Yesterday we took the dinghy to town with a long list of errands, including an on-the-spot propane fill.  Unfortunately, the propane guy’s truck broke down and we ended by leaving our tank somewhere else, having to go back today to pick it up.  Even though we have a spare, we can’t use our propane unless there are two tanks in the connection circuit, so we nuked leftover chicken curry for dinner last night, and this morning nuked coffee and had biscotti and fruit for breakfast.  We are hoping when we go back to George Town today the tank will be filled, because there is another front coming through soon.

And the conclusion is by George

When we made the trip into town Lynn mentioned above, we filled 2, 2 gallon gas cans and the small extra outboard fuel tank. There was a sign at the station saying self serve and this we did. The next morning, our little Honda generator started running poorly and finally died. I figured we had some bad fuel or some with water in it. I don’t have the manual on board, shame on me, so thought while in town, I would download one from the internet.

The extra trip to town was because we didn’t get back to pick up the propane tank on Wednesday. While in town, I decided to fill the regular dinghy fuel tank. I docked behind the Shell station and prepared to fill the tank from the same pump as yesterday. An attendant asked if I wanted gas or diesel. I reply gas. He said, use this pump, that one is diesel. Oops, mystery of the dieing generator solved.

At the propane supplier, we learned that the tank was still not filled. I think we have mentioned before that we find the people in George Town less friendly (sometimes down right surly) than elsewhere in the Bahamas. The young woman behind the desk was among the surly ones. After virtually cross examining her to get information, we learned that their truck is not working, and that they haul the tanks to another supplier for filling. They would go Thursday afternoon and be back about 3:00. Well they did go, but it was apparent they were not going to return by 3:00 so we left town.

At this point we have wasted the better part of 2 days waiting for propane.

Thursday afternoon late, I drained the bad fuel from the generator, and pulled the handle a couple of hundred times to get the diesel out of the carburetor. Friday, using a little starting fluid to coax it along I got it running and it now seems happy. Then into town in less than optimum conditions to pick up the tank which I received with my daily dose of abuse from the young woman at the counter.

On Friday, I finally spent some time on the ground plane of the single sideband radio with a temporary fix suggested by Steve on Sea Fox (a very knowledgeable HAM). That afternoon I got on a couple of HAM and marine sideband stations and made contact with some distant stations. Saturday morning, I was able to converse with Chris Parker of the Caribbean Weather Center, so think I am on the right track. I need to make more permanent repairs, but am pretty sure the ground plane is the biggest issue.

Sunday we spent time in the water cleaning the bottom of the boat. I really only got the inboard side of each hull done and have about the same amount of work to do on the outboard sides. Lynn spent time in the dinghy cleaning the outside of the port hull above the water line. We had an ugly black mark from the fender on a fuel dock. That side now looks great

There is a Mail Boxes Etc. here that is a FedEx shipping agent. John and Marge have picked up a couple of needed replacement parts for us and have shipped them to that location. We are following the tracking number and as I write this, it is on its way from Miami to Nassau. With some luck, it will arrive tomorrow.

We knew our house batteries were near the end of their useful lives, but hoped to get one more season out of them. It doesn't appear that they will last through the cruise, their ability to hold a charge is dropping precipitously. There is actually a Trojan dealer on the island and I should have replacements on Friday. I thought I was being really shrewd when I saw all the golf carts here had the same Trojans I have on the boat. I figured I would talk the resort into selling some of their spares. Apparently, I am not the first to have approached them and they had a quick and firm, NO at the ready. They did, however, offer contacts to fix the problem and as noted above, we should be all set.

Weather may keep us here a while, there are some forecast big winds for the next few days, but this is a very pleasant place and we will just sit tight until the weather is right. We don't need much of a window to run down to George Town, it's only about 10 miles further southeast.

Along with another boat moored nearby, we took a taxi and ate at Cocoplum's, a charming beach cafe, with a wonderful owner/chef (formerly of Ritz Carlton). 5 star food in a rustic setting. We thought of Don and Pam who were with us when we discovered it on Cruise #3.

Our single sideband radio, while broadcasting, does so very weakly. One of the parts John is sending is a new mic. Our cord is breaking. I think the base problem, however, is the ground plane and will work on that once in George Town.

While our potential destination of the Dominican Republic is still Plan A, we won't go that far offshore without good long range communications from the single sideband.

The wind is being friendly so far this year and we are having some nice sails. It was an easy day down to Big Majors Spot near Staniel Cay. After Toby got a beach run and swim, we opened the pool at the stern and Lynn & I cooled off in the 76^o F water.

We dinghied into Staniel the next day to order some parts and arrange with our neighbors to ship them. The Wi-Fi connection was not good enough for voice, so we used phone cards and spent a chunk.

Today we sailed/motored to Black Point, the location of the nicest Laundromat in the Bahamas. It is $3.50 for a load in either washer or drier, but sooooo much better than doing it by hand.

If the forecast holds we will head south to Emerald Bay Monday. It just depends on wind speed and direction. It is supposed to be out of the north so either way it should be an easy day, just different fuel mileage.

Good news about the mechanic being closed for the weekend; George dug into the problem and corrected it. A $40 taxi ride to buy $11 worth of parts, but no labor. He really didn’t think finding the instrument problem was within his skill set, but luckily, it was a simple thing. By 4:00 we had checked out of Yacht Haven again ready to go Sunday morning.

A nice weather window opened Sunday and we saw at least 16 other sailboats, either ahead or behind, making it a real jail break.

We had a wonderful sail to Shroud Cay and picked up a mooring. We immediately launched the dinghy for Toby’s shore trip. He hadn’t had a beach romp in ages. He was so anxious he leapt from the dinghy about 100 yards from shore and swam in. He got to play ball and generally just let out the ya-yas. The really good news is that while he still occasionally favors that right rear leg, he was not gimpy after the exercise.

We stayed on the mooring until 9:00 to make sure we had a mooring assignment at Warderick Wells, then stowed the dinghy and were underway under foresail only by 9:30. We knew that after the first couple of legs of our voyage, that we would be beating into wind and wave and on only one leg would the main help us much for about an hour, so we didn’t mess with hoisting it.

It was a short sail, and then motor to Warderick but we are all checked in and doing well. George grilled lamb patties Monday night but the high winds made it a different experience.

While on the way down, Lynn video taped another catamaran that was passing us, so George copied the file to disk and took his flash drive to their boat and loaded it on their computer. They seemed most happy to have it. They also had a couple of pictures of us, so I will include one on the photo page.

Our single sideband radio is receiving OK, but transmitting is not working well. I don’t know if that’s related to the ground plane issue which is still not repaired, a small break in the mike cord (just found that today) or something else. We will probably wait until George Town to really get into it. If we need parts there is a Fed Ex office there where we can have them sent and there are a ton of experienced HAM operators there to offer help and advice. If we don’t get it fixed, we may have to rethink the DR possibilities because we don’t want to be far offshore without a high Frequency (long range) radio.

Right now, it looks OK to move tomorrow so we will probably sail down to the Staniel Cay area. If weather doesn’t let up a little, we will sit tight right here.

Escape plan foiled. Returned to NA$$AU.

Seems like we never just go for a day sail. Well that’s what we did today, but it wasn’t our plan.

We got away from the dock early and were at the Porgee Rocks waypoint by 8:30. We raised the sail, but it was pretty rough and we were beating into wind and sea, so we only had the main up and kept the engines on. After about 5 miles of this, the port engine temperature alarm came on, but the gauge showed normal. We have had problems with a connection on the alarm sensor at the engine end before and decided no problem. George dashed below and was able to lay his hand on the engine. Definitely, not over heating. After playing with the sensor connections with no result, we decided we would just live with the alarm until we got into a protected anchorage and could find and fix the base problem.

When George returned to the cockpit, however, the oil gauges on both engines were fluctuating wildly. Deciding this might be beyond his capabilities he prepared to turn around. Normally, it is George who is “press on, this is OK” but today it was Lynn who said, “are you sure you don’t want to just keep going?” She has so much faith in his ability.

On a side note, George proved he is still pretty durable for a fat guy. It was choppy enough that he wore his harness and tether to go on top of the dodger to raise the mainsail. No sooner was he there than a wave took the boat right out from under his feet. He clung to a halyard, but eventually no place to land appeared and a fall ensued. The tether caught him sprawled across the deck house and deck with one leg out of the life lines. Except for a couple of scrapes, he seems OK with only a crushed ego to show for the event.

Kudos also to the “lid latch” tether that kept his cap from blowing over the side.

The sail back to Nassau, down wind, was much smoother and faster than going out. Nassau Yacht Haven still had our slip empty and we got right back in, even though other boats have been calling trying to get into the marina.

We have called a mechanic (closed for the weekend) who will come on Monday. Maybe (fingers crossed) we will be way again by Tuesday

It also looks like the strong winds may stay with us a while. If they will drop below 25 knots this weekend, we may try to work part of the way down the Exumas. The wind is supposed to move out of the north and become more easterly. There are some good anchorages further down well protected from the east. However, we won't move until we're pretty sure the sail down won't be too bumpy.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We had planned to depart Nassau today having most of the mechanical things we have been working on ready. However, late tonight or early tomorrow a front with near gale force winds moves into the area and until conditions subside a bit, we will stay right here. It’s not that the winds are beyond our capability, just outside our comfort zone and this is supposed to be fun.

George had already fixed our fuel line problems and we were preparing to go, but the starboard engine was getting cranky about starting (pun) and he thought it was related to a solenoid. Turns out, the battery was just not putting out enough volts. The battery was 4 years old so its death was a little premature, but not much. Since starting batteries on both engines were the same vintage, we decided to replace both. We picked up some new marine starting batteries for only about 10% more than we would have paid in the U.S. It was good to find the problem here because we won’t have prices this good again until, maybe, the DR.

New Years Eve we had kind of a happy hour dinner with crab quesadillas and champagne. We watched a movie and then at midnight saw the fireworks from the Atlantis hotel, a very impressive display.

A traditional celebration of New Year in the Bahamas is Junkanoo (click the link to learn more of its history). It traditionally starts at midnight and runs through until almost mid day. We cheated, got some sleep, then took the dinghy downtown this morning and watched the festivities for a while, took some photos (see the photo page), and then returned to our boat. We have never seen the harbor this empty. Very few boats were on the move. It made for an easy dinghy ride and we were downtown in about 10 minutes compared to the usual land combination of walking and riding the bus.

12/27/07

The following is an excerpt from Lynn's family email.

Greetings from Nassau in the Beautiful Bahamas!  We arrived here mid-day yesterday (Wednesday, December 26).  Probably we had our best crossing ever, but it was not totally uneventful.

We were prepared to spend our Christmas tied to the side of the beautiful New River in Fort Lauderdale, eating our pre-roasted duck dinner, and watching the decorated boats go by amid the holiday decorations along the Riverwalk.  However, the weather started looking pretty good, and by Christmas morning we were certain it was time to go.  The biggest downside to this was not getting to talk with family on Christmas Day, but we called everyone Christmas Eve so that helped.

The Bahia Mar fuel dock was the only one open on Christmas morning.  They are proud of their fuel there – Diesel was over $4 gallon.  Our 25 gallons cost us over $100!   

The forecast was for south winds, less than ten knots (Not a problem having done a boisterous crossing before at over 20 knots!), 2 foot seas, and (this was the not-so good part) a northeast swell of two feet on top of the seas, which was to diminish through the day.  Picture the Gulf Stream as a river running north in the Atlantic Ocean at a speed of about 3 knots, and us wanting to get across it, headed eastbound, and not get carried too far north in the process or have opposing winds to the gulf stream.  So we don’t really want north, or east winds – the best would be south of east at around ten knots, without a contradicting northeast swell.   But it worked out ok.  Probably our smoothest crossing over to the Bahamas, with relatively little slamming and banging. 

About 12 miles out of Fort Lauderdale, one of our engines died!  George was switching from one Racor filter to the second one (they filter the diesel fuel) when the second engine died.  He quickly sorted out that we had a clog in the fuel line of our forward fuel tank, and before we could turn sideways to the waves (which is what boats with no power do), we were on our way again, running on the aft tank – and we arrived in Nassau with diesel to spare in that tank (each of our tanks holds 55 gallons).  Now he just has to sort out the clog issue and repair it before we move on again.

Our waypoint to cross onto the Great Bahama Bank was a series of rocks named Hen & Chickens.  We usually try to get on the Bank before dark, but that was not to be on this trip.  About 15 miles from our waypoint, George spotted a disabled boat in the water with the passengers waving a yellow shirt on a fishing pole.  Turned out to be a low-end cigarette style boat, with 2, 225 hp outboard engines.  They were Spanish speaking (a little English), completely out of fuel (gas), had a marine radio but no antenna, and because they spoke Spanish didn’t understand the radio transmissions.   There were four men on board.  We complied with the law of the sea, which is not to leave people stranded.  Hopefully someone would do the same for us.

George originally thought these people were from Bimini and had run out of fuel.  He gave them a gallon of water and sold them 5 gallons of gas to maybe run on one engine and get back to Bimini (about 20 miles away), but they didn’t want to go to Bimini – said they were from Miami (Cubano?).  Another guy appeared from the hatch in the bow of the boat.  They wanted us to tow them but we refused.  They didn’t have Sea Tow insurance, but offered to pay if they could get towed.  We called Sea Tow, but there were problems with that and we ended up standing by this boat (by which time two women had emerged from the bow), for about 2 hours until a Coast Guard helicopter arrived.  We couldn’t decipher the Coast Guard on the radio – their transmissions are too powerful, I guess, booming and full of static, so we were helped immensely by “Ricky J” who relayed for us from his station on South Bimini.  We talked to the Coast Guard helicopter on the radio fine, however, and once they arrived we hot-footed it out of there toward Hen & Chickens.

We think they had drifted for hours before we saw them – and during the process we were drifting north at about 2 knots.  We only told them “help” was coming but not that it would be the Coast Guard, because we suspect there could have been some illegals on board.  We had no intention of letting them on our boat, and from the get-go transmitted their boat description and boat registration numbers on the radio to the Coast Guard.  (The Coast Guard could hear us fine).   I can say that I would have been pretty scared having a helicopter prop-washing over me for a considerable time – it was still there as we moved out of sight – and they said a CG cutter was on the way.  Sea Tow called us later for a boat description – sounded like they were going to let the boat drift through the night and pick it up the next day.  Not something a cruiser likes to think about – encountering an empty boat out there.

There was very little boat traffic the entire trip, but what there was of it was shipping.  These drive Lynn crazy, but George always does a good job of sorting out whether it’s a ship, tug pushing, tug towing, etc. and keeping us from getting run down – always a concern after our close encounter with a tanker off Bimini a couple of years ago.  You have to figure it out yourself, because the ships will rarely answer a radio call.

The Banks route was smooth and beautiful.  The moon was one day after full, so most of the night we had beautiful moonlight.  Then clouds moved in, then the wind died, and then light fog.  Sometimes you could see the bottom through the clear water (our Banks route was over 15-20 ft. of water most of the time and the water is crystal clear aqua blue).

Our watch schedule was off due to our late arrival on the Bank, but we changed the length of time to 2.5 hours, and for the most part stayed on that so we each got a little sleep through the night.  Instead of regular meals we eat piecemeal on passages (quiche, chicken pieces, cheese chunks, Captains crackers with peanut butter and honey, muffins, fruit, and so on).  We try to eat often to avoid seasickness. 

Once we were off the Bank and headed down the channel to Nassau, the sea state continued to be good.  We have had some pretty rough transits here, but this was very nice with just enough wind to sail.  George had been concerned that with our delay with the disabled boat we might not make it into Nassau in time on “Boxing Day” (December 26).  However, we were here by early afternoon – Toby got a much deserved shore walk even though that was somewhat illegal while we waited for Customs & Immigration to clear us in.  He managed once again, to wait the entire trip for a potty break.

We have learned to call Nassau Yacht Haven for a reservation before we leave the US.  They were full, but one of our favorite dockmasters told us to come ahead, they would find room for us.  So we are here.  The boat has been washed down, George has re-attached the wind generator (it was coming loose) and pulled down our quarantine flag and put up the Bahamas Courtesy flag. Lynn has scrubbed down the decks.

We are docked with the Quebec Navy :-) There are several boats of French speaking Canadians around us.

Today we rode our bicycles down to the Thursday Cruiser’s Lunch – hosted by Nick & Carolyn Wardle of Bahamas Air Sea Rescue.  We always enjoy meeting folks at these lunches.  I had conch fritters – hopefully the first of many on this trip, I hope.  Our bicycles are a first for us – they are folding, second hand and not beautiful but they work well, and the trip to lunch was easier because of them.  On the way back, we stopped at the open market on Potter’s Cay to buy fresh limes, a green pepper, and some bananas.

Our position report web site has a fresh new look, thanks Bret. Check it out. We will add more pictures and reorganize the photo page in the next day or two.

Tonight we’ll have our Christmas duck dinner! 

After hiding from cold weather for three nights, we had a nice day on the water going south to Vero Beach Municipal Marina where we fueled and picked up a mooring. We had expected to raft up with other boats, but ended up on our own. That’s really better for us, not because we are antisocial but because Toby can be a little over bearing to others.

Two boats of friends from our home marina were there, Delfinis and Scandia. We also made contact with Discovery, cruising fiends of our old Kentucky next door neighbors.

We rented a car and did the final provisioning stuff we usually do in either Stuart or Ft. Lauderdale.

We spent a night anchored in Peck Lake (really just a wide spot in the ICW and not a lake at all) just south of Stuart. We walked across the small barrier island and Toby got to run and play on the Atlantic beach. Then on to an anchorage near the Lake Worth Inlet. This was an anchorage near the inlet and one we had not tried before. No where near as protected as North Lake Worth, but there is a nearby park with docks so dog shore patrol is pretty easy.

We met another boat from our marina, the Winnie W who are north bound near the end of a voyage around the Great Loop.

We could have made more miles that day, but wanted to be near the inlet to take advantage of forecasted favorable weather to go outside for the run down to Ft. Lauderdale. We had a great day sailing, then motoring and skipping dozens of bridges. There were a ton of sport fishermen we had to avoid along the way, but better that than big wakes and bridges in the ICW.

We are enjoying have the dinghy davits we installed early this year. While launching and stowing the dinghy are still good aerobic exercise, it is a lot easier than it was. What used to take two of us 1/2 an hour, now George does mostly unaided in about 15 minutes. We have not been in any really heavy weather, but the roughest waters we normally encounter are the wakes of sport fishers, it seems to ride pretty securely. If we expected to be in tougher conditions we would stow the motor separately and in the event we ever plan a really big offshore voyage, we will stow the motor and deflate and stow the dinghy. Enough about that.

On 12/22, the first day of winter, we had a great sail down the coast with temperatures reaching the 80. Our thoughts were with all of those in colder climes. We are now in the New River Marina right in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. We plan to take advantage of the convenient shopping, start preparing the boat for a crossing, and hopefully watch the Bronco game Monday at a nearby pub.

Our plan is to move to Key Biscayne on Tuesday, Christmas Day, and stage up, waiting for favorable weather to cross the Gulf Stream. That could be a short or very long wait. Then an overnight sail to Nassau to make entry into the Bahamas. Until we are in Nassau, probably won't have Internet access once we leave this spot.

Recognizing that we may not have Internet access for a while when we leave here, let us take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

We are holed up for a couple of nights in Cocoa, FL. The remnants of Tropical Storm Olga were headed up the coast and a cold front is coming down from the northwest. When the two meet, chances of vigorous weather abound. We decided, rather than be on the water in 20+ head winds and thunderstorms that we would settle in and let it blow over. As of now, Olga has mostly moved through and the skies are clearing. The colder weather should move in tonight. We will be in long pants for a couple of days again, but we can do that.

We spent a night at the public dock in New Smyrna on the way here. Toby likes it when we are at a dock, because he gets more walks. George likes not having to launch and retrieve the dinghy. Still, be both prefer being at anchor.

Right now the plan is to move onto Vero Beach tomorrow. We need to buy a few things, see if Verizon can fix my phone, and start to look for a chance to cross to the Bahamas. Plan A is still to go south to Key Biscayne, then cross to Nassau in one jump. Plan B is to cross earlier if a window opens and enter into the Abacos, then work our way south from there.

George is on the mend from his cold, but Lynn seems to be catching it. Maybe a day to take it easy will keep it from knocking her for a loop.

Only 9 days til’ Christmas. We wonder where we will spend ours

We are tied to a dock at Palm Coast, another favorite stop from voyages past. Lynn has walked to the “European Village”, a shopping and dining complex about 1/2 mile from here. George has a cold and is taking it easy on the boat.

Our days on the water have been easy except for the fog. We are not stretching to make every mile, but are stopping at nice anchorages and doing a little sight seeing along the way.

After Fernandina, we stopped in the Fort George River and visited the National Park Service Kingsley Plantation facility. We didn’t do the full tour but it is pretty and we enjoyed it.

Next was St. Augustine. We tried a new (to us) anchorage right off old down town. We dinghied in and did a little walking tour. Due to George’s cold, mentioned above, he took it easy while Lynn did a little extra shopping. Total purchases less than $3 for a couple of ice creams. We are living large and loving it.

The new anchorage is past the Bridge of Lions and all the related construction, so getting away this morning was easier. Although, the forecast included fog every day recently we have had to deal with it only twice. 

George’s cell phone has gone on the fritz so if you need to reach us, call Lynn. We may stop at a Verizon store in Vero Beach to see if it can be fixed. It is not a big deal because as soon as we head off shore, we will put our cell service on vacation hold anyway. 

Our weather is wonderful, but the weekend is forecast to cool off considerably. We may actually have to put on long pants again 

Toby’s surgery was a month ago today. He still favors his right leg if he thinks about it. If there is something else to occupy his mind, he is the same old ball of energy. On the boat though, he is pretty well confined and spends a lot of time napping

Lynn’s Note:  The past few days have been busy, with little time or connection for posting updates.  From Beaufort (“Beewfort”) South Carolina, we motored to Thunderbolt, Georgia, where we tied up at Thunderbolt Marina.  We are aiming to anchor more and stay in marinas less, and we’re doing pretty well at that, but Thunderbolt is a favorite stop.  We walked to the local pub for dinner, and in the morning the marina delivered our box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and USA today newspaper before we departed. 

Even though there was some whining beforehand (by me) we had an easy offshore trip, and a nice day on the water.  We left by way of the Wassaw Inlet just south of Thunderbolt, and came into St. Catherine’s Sound, where we anchored in Walburg Creek, a new spot for us, just inside the inlet.  To take Toby ashore, we dinghied about 2 miles to a spot where the headland of St. Catherine’s meets the sound and beaches start occurring.  Toby had a great run at the beach, and as we returned the marine layer of mist and fog was setting in.  The New York Zoological Society maintains an exotic species farm here – we could hear peacock like sounds, and through the binoculars I saw something like a giant gray goose.  Emu?  I think the neck was too thick.  The cruising book says not to be surprised if you see a zebra staring at you, but we weren’t so lucky as that.

Morning found us socked in.  When it cleared a little we started out, but we were in heavy fog a good part of the morning – with steaming lights on, radar running, and me on the computer giving George range and bearing information to the next mark.  High Anxiety, until about noon when things cleared up and the rest of the day was beautiful.  We anchored for the night in the Duplin River, and took Toby ashore at the University of Georgia ferry dock in a strong current.

More fog the next morning, but not as bad.  We made 51 miles (considerable for fog delays and the short days of December), and anchored at Cumberland Island in the Brickhill River off the historic Carnegie estate of Plum Orchard.  We walked the estate grounds, amid ancient live oak trees with hanging Spanish Moss, and enjoyed the huge white house in this beautiful setting, although we couldn’t go inside. 

Today, December 10, we left an hour before high tide with a 4 ft. shallow spot to pass over, and more fog in the distance.  By the time we got to the military facilities at Kings’ Bay things had cleared up, and we arrived here at Fernandina Beach (Amelia Island) in 80 degree temperatures and sunny skies.  We have had a busy day here – fueled, caught up on some Internet financial stuff, filled water tanks and water bottles, did laundry, and had a nice blue plate lunch special (meatloaf with onions, mashed potatoes and gravy) at the local café. 

Tomorrow – the dreaded St. Johns River with its swift currents and shipping traffic.  With perfect conditions we might make it to St. Augustine, or if it’s more-of-the-same and fog, we might stop short of the St. Johns at Fort George.  The days are just slightly too short and the distance slightly too long to make St. Augustine offshore.

Monday morning we did a few boat chores, then Don & Peg picked us up. We did some running around and topped off the visit with an "all you can eat" crab leg dinner

Tuesday we motored to Steamboat Creek, a favorite anchorage, and stopped at the dock of some new friends, Jim & Amy, Lynn met through a gardening forum on the Internet. Toby got his first exercise since surgery in their beautiful yard/garden. He over did a bit and has been gimpy the last couple of days.

Today we motored to Beaufort, SC where we are on the anchor. Weather outside has not been favorable for offshore passages but the weekend is looking better. We will have to see what really develops. It has been cold but not frigid and we are doing fine.

There are a few pictures on the photo page now and we will try to add more soon.

We fueled tonight and are at Coquina Yacht Basin in Myrtle Beach as Wi-Fi bandits. In other words, I found an unsecured Wi-Fi connection to use. Our plan is to anchor in Georgetown, SC tomorrow evening and then to Isle of Palms near Charleston Sunday to visit the Higgins on Monday. Weather permitting, we will then continue the voyage. At least we will soon be going more south than east or west.

Sorry, no pictures yet.

We only went as far as Cedar Creek, mainly to stage up for the next nights anchorage.