Unfortunately, this site has become too darn hard to use (and I suspect it "ate" a bunch of photos I had put together for my second blog of this trip south. As a result, I've shifted to WordPress under the name of: cruisingmagicblog.wordpress.com My latest blog can be found there. Not perfect but a lot better than this site.
At least until I find something better, that's where I will be entering my rambling thoughts as we work our way south. For those of you who have been trying to follow us both in my blog and on our GPS tracker, I also have to figure out how to provide a link to the tracker on the new site so please bear with me.
Diane and I will be heading back to VA by (a very expensive!) rental car for a few weeks, but I promise to catch up on my postings while there.
Tim
SOUTHBOUND AGAIN!
Three years ago Tim retired from American Airlines and we headed south on Magic for the first time. We're ready to go again! Hope you will continue to follow our journey and keep in touch!
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Monday, November 9, 2015
SNEAKING UP ON THE ICW!
Authors
Note: Yea, we’ve been underway for
over two weeks and I’m finally getting around to writing my blog. For the one
or two of you who will actually read it, sorry! I hope to do better the rest of
the time, but for now, here’s my first installment.
Diane waxed all 40' of Magic herself! |
The last time Diane and I took Magic south for the winter we were on a mission…get to warmer weather as quickly as we could. That was partly because we left in early November (I kind of had to retire first and then there was a slight delay due to Hurricane Sandy) and partly because we were traveling with great friends on two other boats that were on the same mission!
This time around it’s just the two of us…for better or worse, and we’re taking our time. Heck, the first day we made it all of 7 miles to the City of Hampton Town Dock! That was mostly to get away from home and finish stowing the myriad stuff we just couldn’t help put on the boat. If the zombie apocalypse happens on our way south we’re ready with enough food, drink (read wine!) and spare parts to last a really long time!
Great first night dinner! |
On this trip, we decided to take an alternate
route down the initial portion of the Atlantic ICW (Intracoastal Waterway),
which runs from downtown Norfolk, VA to Key West. Just south of Norfolk, we
turned right into the Dismal Swamp canal and were almost immediately
transported to a place that time has almost forgot. In fact, an early version
of the canal was actually surveyed by a then-young George Washington and parts
don’t seem a lot different today! This pretty narrow canal has locks at both
ends that raise, then lower boats about 16 feet to the level of the Dismal Swamp.
Kind of a mini version of the Panama Canal! In between the locks, the water,
which is fresh, takes on a brown almost coffee color from the tannin's in the
trees that line the canal. Quick historical note; in the day of sailing ships,
crews would barge huge wood water casks to the source of the canal water, Lake
Drummond, to fill them with this tannin-laced water. The tannin's kept the water
fresh and without slime far longer than well water. So now you know… Despite the name, this canal is anything but dismal and is an
absolutely beautiful stretch of tree-lined water where navigation is pretty
simple (it’s a canal!) and all you have to do is watch out for limbs that
overhang the waterway to snag your mast and the inevitable
floating log. This
section of the ICW is also the only place in the country where there is a rest
area that caters to both cars and boats! That night we tied up to a 120’ dock
with 9 other boats (rafted out to the middle of the canal!) and shared this
spot with cars and long-haul trucks catching a few winks.
Locking up |
Foggy in the canal |
Yum!! |
Up next...North Carolina!
Monday, May 13, 2013
MAGIC IS HOME!!
A rare calm day for Magic on the way home |
We
spent a couple great days enjoying the amenities at the River Dunes Marina in
Oriental, NC, but even their comfortable hot tub couldn’t keep us in place,
especially since Diane was really jonesing to get home and pick up our Golden
Retriever Cruzer. He’d spent the past 6 months with wonderful family friends,
but just like us, his “winter camp” full of new adventures had to come to an
end! Magic and buddy boat Veritas once again executed a dawn departure for yet
another really long day following the “magenta line” of the ICW northbound. You
wouldn’t know it from the calendar and even though it was now May, the
temperatures
never got over the low 60’s and with the wind building from the
north, it was a cool, sloppy day as we worked our way through eastern North
Carolina. It was a huge relief when we emerged 70 miles later from the
Alligator Canal and spotted our anchorage. Our anchor went down and soon after,
so did we! OK, not exactly since I made one last homemade pizza for us and we
toasted our last really long day on the water with a couple slices and a nice
bottle of wine. Then we crashed!!
So much for warm temperatures! Diane and one of our "buddy boaters" Laura (Tehani) trying to laugh off the chill. |
Our
next day wasn’t a particularly long one but we had to transit the notorious
Alligator River and then cross the equally infamous Albermale Sound toward
Coinjock, NC. Alligator River mud must be the most tenacious in the world and
our anchor reluctantly came up…coated with a ton of sticky, gooey mud that took
me almost 10 minutes to clean off!
Not long after we
got underway we were treated to an awesome low altitude air show from two F18
“Super Hornets” as they conducted low level bombing practice at the Dare County
range just east of the Alligator River.
This is a terrible photo, but shows one of two F-18's that "buzzed" us on the Alligator River. They really did get a LOT closer than this! You could almost see the sweat on the pilot's brow! |
I’ve talked about
the “magenta line” of the ICW a number of times in my blog and I have to admit
it can become mesmerizing spending hours and hours following that line on our
chartplotter. Unfortunately, there are a number of cruisers (both power and
sail) who become too attached to that line...and pay the price. There are a
bunch of places where localized shoaling on the ICW has forced the Coast Guard
to position temporary floating buoys to assist boaters to remain in the deepest
part of the channel. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always follow the “yellow
brick road” of the magenta line. At the north end of the Alligator River there
is just such a place and during our transit of this admittedly confusing area,
two different sailboats ran aground as they unerringly followed the ICW line,
smack into a shoal! Yea, I know…but for the grace of God go I, but come on
guys!
As the wind
continued to build from the NE, we crossed a very angry Albermale Sound and
fought 6+ foot seas for a couple hours. We just couldn’t catch a break as I got
a great workout driving the boat through/around the largest waves and saw our
normal 7 knot speed drop to less than 3 as we slammed into wave after wave.
None-to-soon we were finally in the lee of the Outer Banks shoreline as we
worked our way to what we hoped would be our last overnight stop at Coinjock,
NC. OOPS…Again!
THE LAST BRIDGE OF THE TRIP! Our small convoy had just passed under the new Gilmerton Bridge in Hampton Roads. That thing is huge! |
The next day, after
consuming what seemed like 5 pounds of the marina restaurants’ signature prime
rib, we again departed early for what we thought would be our last push home. This leg of the trip is a maze of bridges and locks, all of which open on schedules
that required us to keep just as good an eye on the clock as our course! Lucky
for us, our timing worked out well and we soon emerged into the bustling
Norfolk harbor. Unfortunately, the wind had continued to increase which would
make getting into our inlet in Hampton iffy at best, so we decided an early
stop was in order. Of course, all the docking space in Portsmouth was taken and
when we tried to tie up to a “free” area of Norfolk, we were informed that it
would cost us $60…no thanks! So, our little convoy of Veritas and Magic were
off once again, this time for downtown Hampton. Of course, it was another
crappy slog north along the Elizabeth River, made even more exciting as we
passed no less than 6 large container ships as they made their way to docks.
We finally made it
to the Hampton City Marina, cleaned up with one last onboard shower and were
soon mobbed as friends from our neighborhoods all came to greet us, retell
stories of our collective adventures over the winter and enjoy a nice shoreside
meal together. A wonderful way to almost end our trip. Of course, once again we
were up at the crack of dawn for the 8-mile run home, but both boats wanted to
get in early and take advantage of a very slight lull in the winds and enter
the Salt Ponds channel near high tide. But finally, after almost exactly 6
months, 3000+ miles, 500 engine hours (420 gallons of diesel), many dozens of
Kalik beers/gin tonics/rum drinks, WAAY too many “Cheeseburgers in Paradise,”
and priceless memories, we returned to our home slip.
Magic on her last run up to our canal-front home in Hampton. She did great! |
A number of you
have asked how much a trip would cost. My answer remains the same; depends. I
kept fairly accurate records throughout the trip but although we had a goal, we
didn’t really follow a budget. We tried to avoid marinas, but didn’t deprive
ourselves of occasional shoreside meals and excursions. Food and fuel was
incredibly expensive (over twice stateside prices) but we still wound up spending
almost exactly $100/day. Many we met spent far less or a lot more, but the
great thing was that we all got to enjoy the same sun, warm beaches and crystal
clear water and very few seemed to go “without.”
MAGIC’S TOP FIVE “MUST HAVE’S” FOR THE
BAHAMAS
For those of you reading this who may be
contemplating a similar trip to the Bahamas I offer my “Top 5” list of items I
would not leave home again without. Mind you, I’m neither an expert on cruising
necessities nor are these items in any way absolute requirements to safely and
happily go cruising; they are just things we did for Magic which were critical
to OUR enjoyment. Your mileage may vary:
1.
Full enclosure around our cockpit. We expected this addition to be helpful during our fall trip south and
again on the way back up the east coast, but had no idea how we would rely on
it once in the Bahamas. The side panels reduced morning dew in the cockpit, and
kept the wind/rain out to allow more use of the cockpit even on the worst days.
Even when offshore in heavy seas, the side panels deflected seas and kept the
cockpit dry. Of course, it was really nice to cruise along the ICW on the
coldest of days, clad in shorts and light shirts! I almost felt guilty as we
passed enclosure-less boats with crews huddled under a dodger wearing heavy
foul weather gear even on sunny, nice days!
Good shot of our enclosure, davits and 3 solar panels. Liferaft is mounted on the other side of the arch. |
2. Davits/Arch. I wanted an easy way to hoist our rigid-hull inflatable out of the water and that desire led to either davits or an arch. For davits there are a number of good ones out there (my favorite
would be Gauhaurer) but we chose to have an arch made by a local SS fabricator
which has davits attached. Hoisting the dingy was a breeze and so easy I pulled our dingy out of the water nightly, both for its' security and to eliminate the noise from water slapping on its hull. On the arch I was able to mount all the antennas
previously attached to our stern rail, hang our liferaft for easy access and
deployment, and provide a unobstructed, secure mounting location for our…
3. Solar Panels. Since I
didn't want to sacrifice our scarce onboard storage space for additional
batteries, we went with 3 135-watt Kyocera panels. Coupled with a high efficiency
controller, I was able to produce about 180 amps per day (on a good, sunny
day), more than we normally needed. For days when it was overcast and we
didn't move the boat, we relied on our…
4. Generator. I'm cheap, so we went with a Honda portable 2000-watt
generator (less than $1000) and couldn't be happier. It was amazing to see the
number of these little red machines on the decks of boats in the Bahamas!
Lightweight, reliable and extremely quiet. Our generator, which I stored in the
aft lazarette did double duty, both to occasionally provide DC charging energy
and provide a source of power for our...
Control panel in an aft locker for our water maker |
5. Watermaker. For me, this easily made the top 5 although many boats do
without. Just watching crews lugging water cans around, standing in line for
use of a water hose, or paying .60/gal for sometimes not great tasting water
convinced me that we made the right decision to install our water maker. Ours
is a system from “Cruise RO” in California and is powered by our Honda
generator. The real beauty it is that is produces 20 gph, far more than
many/most others on the market at less than 1/2 the price. I ran it every
3-4 days for 1.5 hours or so to keep our tanks full. I installed mine in the
aft port-side lazarette, totally out of the way and it took up literally no
useful storage space. If I were only planning one trip to the islands or just
coastal cruising in the US, I wouldn't have purchased this item, but if you are
planning multiple trips to the Bahamas, I'd seriously look at one.
Once I
have a bit more time to reflect and put my thoughts together, I’ll post more
information on the trials and tribulations of first time cruisers to the
Bahamas.
For those
of you who followed by blog, thank you for allowing me to ramble on and take up
your time these past 6 months. If I was able to entertain, just a little, or
inform, just a little, great. I’d originally intended to keep a daily journal
and create this blog from that, but like many things in life, other events
conspired to prevent me from maintaining such discipline…great sailing, cold
adult beverages in Magic’s cockpit, relaxing walks on pristine beaches, meeting
Bahamanian people, some of the most wonderful in the world, cruising with our
“buddy” boats; Veritas, Peaceful Easy Feeling, and Tehani, and meeting other
cruisers who provided us invaluable advice and camaraderie.
Most importantly,
and although it wasn’t easy at times for either of us, I got to renew my
relationship with my “First Mate for Life,” Diane. Yes, we had our moments but
she was the perfect partner for this trip and I cannot wait to head out again
with Diane at my side.
As
I said in my last blog, this trip is finally over but our adventure continues….
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
HOMEWARD BOUND!
St Augustine Lighthouse. Pretty sight! |
It seems like a month since I last posted a blog, but in
reality it has only been about 10 days. As I said in my last posting, it feels
like we’ve been on the express lane since our return to the states and heading
north. We are anxious to get home, but in many ways neither of us wants the
trip to end.
After
leaving Marineland, we made a short run to St. Augustine, FL, one of my
absolute favorite places along the ICW. This, the oldest city in America, has
just the right amount of history, nightlife and yes, even tourist traps. Heck,
Diane almost bought an alligator head here! We enjoyed two days at the city’s well-run
mooring field and spent a lot of time enjoying the sights and sounds….and
flavors of this great place with the crews of Veritas and Tehani. I even made
not just one, but two pilgrimages to what I’m convinced is the best pizza joint
south of NYC, PIZZA TIME. I “discovered” this place last fall and fell in love
with their crispy, New York pizza and enjoyed meeting owner Dominic who brought
his family recipes with him from their place in Brooklyn. If there had been
room in the fridge, I’d have purchased several of his pies and eaten them the
rest of the way north!
There are parts of St. Augustine that aren't doing all that well. It appears as if this "Good Times" restaurant fell upon Hard Times! |
All
too soon we had to leave St. Augustine and, with the crew of Veritas, made an
offshore run up the coast to St. Simon’s Island, GA. In order to ensure a
daylight arrival over 70 miles north we had to leave the mooring well before
sunrise, never a pleasant option. We did wait just inside the channel for good
light since the route offshore can be tricky with shifting sandbars requiring
the Coast Guard to continually move the channel markers. Even with good light
it was an interesting run with 10-foot seas that had both boats bobbing like
corks in a bathtub! We thought that after we got away from land and headed
north the seas would subside but once again the forecasters were wrong and we
rocked and rolled for the next 50 miles. UGH!
Shot of Veritas as we depart the St. Augustine channel. The photo doesn't do justice to the pitching we were both doing! |
After
an all-too-short night at anchor in St. Simon, we again turned north on the ICW
for another series of long, boring days as we wound our way along the tidewaters
of Georgia and South Carolina. Unfortunately, at our next stop in Kilkenny
Creek, GA, Diane lost her “almost new” IPhone 5 overboard. She tossed it onto a cockpit cushion and
we watched it bounce…onto the side deck and bounce…right into the water! Our
hearts sank faster than the phone as we watched her $600 phone drop out of
sight and down into the muddy bottom 18 feet below. Big time ouch. Bless her
heart, even though it was blowing 35 mph at the time, she insisted on launching
the dingy and using our longest boat hook with a net on the end to try to find
it. For those of you who know Diane, you know any attempt of mine to derail
this futile attempt (the pole was only 10 feet long!) fell on deaf ears. Trust
me, she has REALLY missed her phone ever since and has basically taken over
mine! Not fair!
A comorant dries his wings on an ICW daymarker |
Spanish Moss hanging from trees in a Port Royal park |
You have to be over 60 to know what this is and how it worked! |
"Pigs on Sticks" outside the Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station. Korean War all the way to the present represented. Can you name them? |
We’d
been on the water for something over 5 months at this point and although we’d
had our share of mechanical failures, only one minor incident with “boat meets
bottom.” Well, over the next couple days we made up for it! On at least three
occasions, Magic touched bottom as we worked our way along, unfortunately
arriving at the most “thin” spots at/near low tide even though we were in the
middle of a channel or closely following the advice of other boaters. We were
lucky, Magic only bounced a few times and kept moving but we heard of other
boats that found the bottom in the same areas and were stuck until they could
be pulled off. Still, it was a nerve-wracking couple of days as Diane kept
track of shoaling area after shoaling area while I tried to keep the boat away
from the shallowest of spots.
A white heron comes in for a landing. Looks like his buddies could care less as they sleep! |
I
write this from another favorite stop, River Dunes Marina near Oriental, NC. We
arrived here yesterday just like we did last fall on the way south…in a
rainstorm! After several days of hard driving, both Veritas and us are ready
for a short break so decided to remain for 2 nights, clean up the boats and
recharge our shore batteries for the last drive home. We face just three more
long days on the water before pulling into our freshly dredge Salt Ponds harbor
in Hampton. My next blog will be my last for this trip and I plan to put
together a few thoughts of this journey as a whole and maybe provide a bit of
advice for others who are contemplating the same thing. For those of you who
have continued to follow our trip, I thank you for hanging in there and hope to
see all of you on the water sometime!
Diane celebrates scoring one of her favorite snacks. I just don't get it!! |
Monday, April 22, 2013
THE SLOG NORTH BEGINS...
Magic has been back in the states
for just a bit more than a week and I feel like we’ve gotten on an Interstate
highway! We’ve seen more miles under our keel in three days than we did for a
month when we were in the Exumas! I’m writing this from a mooring in St.
Augustine, FL, arriving just an hour ago. Let me retrace my steps…
After
what I’m convinced was the easiest arrival customs/immigration I’ve ever been
through (and remember I did this for a living when I flew internationally for
American Airlines!) we spent a quiet night at anchor in Ft. Pierce, had a
wonderful celebratory dinner of our last stash of Stone Crabs (purchased cheap
in Spanish Wells), and crashed by 8pm! We weren’t in any hurry the next day so
even I slept till well past 7am the next day. I’d spent the last 4+ months
waking up at 0600 just about every morning, making coffee then climbing
(stumbling?) into a still dark cockpit to listen to weather guru Chris Parker’s
forecast on short wave radio.
No, we didn't take on 150 gallons, but the price of less than $4/gal floored us after paying over $6/gal in the Bahamas! |
Sensory overload at a HUGE Publix supermarket. We bought a LOT of fresh veggies and fruit! |
From
Vero Beach we decided to make tracks northbound and did a couple really long
days…70-80 miles is a LOT for a sailboat moving along the ICW! We left Vero
just a bit before dawn and cruised up the ICW to Titusville, FL which is very
close to Cape Canaveral. This leg of the trip was a run through some very
pretty parts of mid-coast Florida and we saw tons of birds, dolphins and intriguing
plant life. There were also a number of interesting homes along the channel but
most were just that, interesting, not the monuments to their owner’s success
further south. Still, it was a long day and we were both glad to pick up a
mooring ball at the city marina and accept an offer for dinner from Dean and
Nancy full-time cruisers we’d met in the Exumas and who were there for some
boat maintenance. Nancy is a wonderful cook and although anything would have
tasted good that night, her corned beef and cabbage was to die for! Kind of an
odd dish for a devoted Cajun from Louisiana! On top of that, she made one of my
“favorite of all time” deserts, Amaretto bread pudding. We left with full
stomachs and even a CARE package of leftovers…including more bread pudding! You
know what I had the next day for lunch!
This didn't come out as well as I wanted, but what we thought were rocks or even large shells on an island we passed were actually thousands of heron's...still sleeping! Quite a sight. |
This place was known throughout the world in its heyday. It is hoped an infusion of cash will rejuvenate the world's first "Oceanarium." |
No, this isn't some beach in the Bahamas! Just south of Marineland is the only rocky coastline in all of Florida! |
The place fell on hard times until a
couple years ago when the world-renowned Georgia Aquarium purchased it and has
since infused several million dollars into upgrades. It isn’t a “must stop”
place on the ICW, but if you happen to be in the area…
Now,
a quick word on how we almost sunk our boat! HUH? The first night we were at
this marina, I was reading in the aft cabin with Diane watching TV forward when
she commented she heard water. I didn’t hear a thing but wisely decided to look
around and soon found water near the top of our bilge! NOT GOOD! I did some
quick checking and found a slow flow of water from a leaking water pump cover
late on the engine. I quickly stopped the water flow by closing the thru-hull
valve, but couldn’t immediately understand why our automatic bilge pump hadn’t
kicked in to rid the boat of the inflow of water. Turns out that the float
switch (which detects rising water in the bilge) took that exact time to fail!
I was able to manually turn on the bilge pump and rid the boat of the water so
the immediacy of our problem was over.
The failure of the original (replacement shown) could allowed a lot of water into Magic! I now have a backup and a spare! |
The next day I replaced the engine water
pump cover and looked into my spare parts box for a new bilge pump switch. Of
course, that was another item that I didn’t have a spare part for but an
ever-helpful marina staff member volunteered to stop by a local West Marine and
pick up a switch for me. I had him get two! Bottom line here; thank God Diane
has better ears than me because in a few hours at the most the water level
would have been over the cabin floor! Also, I was shown…once again…you can’t
have enough spares on a cruising boat! Trust me, I have lots, just not the
right ones!
My
next blog will take us from one of my favorite destinations, St. Augustine,
north to…well, wherever. More adventures await including a loss which is
guaranteed to cost us….stay tuned!
Monday, April 15, 2013
MAGIC BID’S THE BAHAMAS A FOND FAREWELL…
When I last wrote we were basically
trapped on Magic at the Bluff House Marina on Green Turtle Cay as we were
experiencing torrential rain, wind and even some lightning. In the harbor, a
couple boats dragged anchor but luckily no damage was done.
My "arty" shot of an old house at Green Turtle. I loved the weathered clapboards. Very reminiscent of New England. |
The marina was
pretty much full since word of this latest frontal passage had spread quickly
and we got to watch more boater antics…not just from charter boats this time!
One very large powerboat, after unsuccessfully trying to back into a very
protected slip was given a far easier (but slightly less protected) spot to put
his boat. I think this guy was a fighter pilot in a past life since he knew
just two speeds on his engines…full ahead and full astern! In the course of about
15 minutes while attempting to bring his boat alongside a dock he rammed two
pilings, the dock itself, and just about snapped one of his (far too small)
dock lines as the assembled boaters tried to help this idiot from taking out
more of the dock. I don’t know what the deal is. During our time in the Exumas
we saw nothing but superb displays of seamanship on boats of all sizes by sailors with a wide range of
experience. In the Abacos, it seemed as if a huge number of boat skippers were
(paraphrasing the song from Grease) “…Power Squadron Dropouts.” I’m buying more
fenders before we go back!
In
any case, after looking at the weather a zillion times, and listening to the
inevitable wharf-rat discussions on crossing techniques, Diane and I decided to
throw our hat into the ring and head toward the states. Word from just about
all the forecasters was that conditions would not favor a crossing for at least
another week to 10 days and while it was tempting to extend our stay, we knew
we needed to start working our way home. We had a narrow window and decided to
go for it.
Green Turtle monument to the Loyalists |
Before
we left, Diane and I had an opportunity to visit the small Green Turtle Cay
museum (there is one on just about every island as residents try hard to
preserve their history). This particular one, the size of a small house, did a great
job of showing the history of not just the Green Turtle Cay, but the Abacos as
a whole. I knew, but never fully appreciated the sacrifices these reluctant
settlers made when they arrived at the most remote parts of the Bahamas just
prior and during the Revolutionary War. To these displaced people, still loyal
to their mother country, the colonists who insisted on independence from
England were truly the terrorists of their era. Maybe that is a bit strong, but
the 100,000 or so people who remained loyal to the crown were terribly
persecuted as the independence movement gained strength. Many were murdered,
their houses burned, businesses/farm destroyed and children shunned…sound
familiar? These “loyalists” (or Tories as they have also been called) received
little help from the British government other than an offer for cheap/free land
in the Bahamas where they once again had to start anew. The United States was
formed and has flourished on the backs of the immigrants and stories of these
people, some of whom were second generation Americans, deserved far better.
They were forced to pick up the pieces of their lives and immigrate once again
to an unknown, desolate place. Kind of sad that a country that has always
embraced and even encouraged immigration to our shores actually has in its
history a period where the reverse happened. Sound familiar? Bottom line, the
history of the Bahamas is fascinating and next time we come here, I’m going to
spend more time studying it. OK, class dismissed!
We bid adieu to our last Abaco layover, Green Turtle Cay. Loved this place! |
Our approach to the small Great Sale Cay at the western end of the Little Bahama Bank where hundreds of cruisers every year wait for crossing weather. |
In our case, we’d decided to break the 190 nautical mile (nm) trip
up into two sections. The first leg was a 60-mile sail to Great Sale Cay, a “Y”
shaped, uninhabited island that is used as a jumping off point for many sailors
headed back to the states. Many boats love the place with its well-protected
bay and stay for days or even weeks at a time. Our stay was somewhat shorter…about
6 hours, enough time to eat dinner and get some sleep before heading out again
around 10 pm. Well, we had a nice dinner, but sleep, not so much! Both of us
were pretty ramped up about the next leg and sleep just wasn’t in the picture. Interestingly
enough, in the middle of nowhere we actually were getting good TV signals so we
even tried to watch some of that to lull us to sleep but no such luck. It was
going to be a long night!
This is about as much "rest" as either of us got during our crossing! |
The
first 50 miles was on the “Little Bahama Bank” where water depths are never
more than 12 feet and can be extremely choppy in the wrong wind. We were lucky.
The wind was light and the “bank” was almost flat. Throughout the night Diane
and I took turns at the helm (actually monitoring the autopilot) while the
other napped either in the cockpit or down below. As dawn was breaking we left
the shallow bank and entered the Atlantic Ocean, watching the depths rapidly go
from 12 to 3000 feet in less time than it takes me to type this sentence! Unfortunately, we also started seeing
the effect of a sea swell of 5 or more feet that gave us a somewhat uncomfortable
rolling motion. We’d both taken a very effective (and side effect free!)
sea-sickness medications so we were fine…although neither of us planned to
spend much time whipping up gourmet food in the galley! We still had no helpful
wind and had no choice but to motor along toward our distant waypoint at the
entrance to Ft. Pierce, sucking down that $6+/gal Bahamas diesel fuel. As we
entered the grip of the strong northward 3 knot Gulf Stream current I found we
were being pushed well north of our projected landfall and had to make a 30
degree course correction just to stay on our original course line! For you
non-sailors this is a little like walking sideways to cross a room! This was
the strongest Gulf Stream I’d ever seen and it was just a bit frustrating since
this heading put the seas off our right stern and made the ride even a bit
worse! Oh well, so much for the glorious cruising life!
We were lucky. This was the only ship we encountered during our crossing. Just a small adjustment in our course and we cleared by lot! |
At mid-day, both of us were kind of
hungry so I volunteered to make sandwiches in the galley despite the seas.
Although we don’t have any photographing evidence, I’m sure it was pretty funny
watching me try to (literally) throw together bread, some sort of meat, cheese,
lettuce and mayo as the boat lurched around under me. My job would have been a
lot easier had God given me three arms!
Right
on schedule around 2pm we sighted the tallest buildings of Ft. Pierce and soon
after was released from the clutches of the Gulf Stream. Our timing was just
about right and 2 hours later we were on time for a slack current entry into the
harbor. We cruised into Ft. Pierce and anchored in a very snug cove recommended
by other cruising friends. Magic and her crew were back in the United States!
Well, not so fast! For those of you used to international travel, you know of
the formalities, paperwork and endless lines when your flight returns to the
US. I steeled myself for the same with possibly an expensive taxicab ride to
the airport to complete the entry customs and immigration paperwork. Luckily
for us Diane had done some preliminary work even before we left for the Bahamas
and, believe it or not, our entire re-entry into the US was done with a simple
5 minute phone call! I was stunned when the agent on the phone provided me with
our entry “code” and wished me a good day. What, no drug test, no questions
about activities abroad, no uniformed agents tearing apart the boat looking for
an illegal apple? What has this country come to??!!! I wasn’t complaining and
before the agent could change his mind, I hung up and we toasted our return
with a glass of wine!
The Bahamas part of our trip complete, we lowered our courtesy flag and celebrated a successful crossing. We obviously had to leave...the flag was in tatters! |
Saturday, April 6, 2013
OUR BAHAMAS ADVENTURE SLOWLY DRAWS TO A CLOSE...
I’m sitting on the boat in Green
Turtle Cay watching the heavens dump on us like a cow does to a flat rock
(how’s that for a simile!) as a very strong low pressure passes over the
Abacos. Thus far the dire predictions of weather guru Chris Parker have not
materialized with a minimum of wind and only brief lightning storms, but we
know more is to come and the rain amount is incredible! Even so, our time here
has almost come to an end we have very mixed emotions about leaving. But, I get
about a week ahead of myself…
One of our favorite marinas of the trip...and they have a wonderful baker! |
After
a week at Hope Town, both Diane and I were anxious to continue moving and ready
for a change in venue, even though we had a wonderful time and met equally
wonderful people in this picturesque harbor. Our next destination was to be our
last “big city” before heading home, so we were looking forward to both a
marina stay, a place to stretch our legs and do a bit of shopping. We stayed at
what has become one of my favorite marinas, Mango’s Marina in the heart of
Marsh Harbor. We’d had a bit of a run around with our slip reservation with
both parties thinking we were coming on different days.
The Marsh Harbor anchorage flanked by several very nice marinas. |
When I’d called them
the day prior to our arrival I was told that they were “hoping” to have a slip
for us. What about our reservation?!!! The morning we crossed over from Hope
Town I called the marina on the radio to hopefully confirm our arrival and get
a slip assignment. The voice on the other end of the mike (Ray, the
dockmaster), in a heavily accented Bahamanian accent immediately came back with
a; “….sorry Captain, we are full up and have no space!” There was a short delay
and then he came back with; “…JUST
KIDDING, come on in, we’re ready for you!” A few minutes later we pulled into
the last available slip at this small marina with Ray ready to take lines and
generally scurry about both the dock and our boat to ensure we were securely
and correctly tied up. I must say that he was easily the most professional
dockmaster we’ve seen since leaving home last fall and actually knew what all
our lines were supposed to do. During our entire stay, we was a wealth of
information and interesting to chat with.
At
the same marina and in the anchorage were a couple other boats we’d been with
throughout our Exuma cruise and it was fun to reunite with the crews of
Pegasus, Java, Lipari, Hooligan and Sunbow. Tied up to a marina dock for the
first time in over 2 months, we took advantage of the free water (almost
unheard of here in the Bahamas where water is metered and costs between .20-.60/gal!),
inexpensive electrical power (unlike most US marinas, power at most marinas
here is metered and usually costs a fraction what is charged at home), and the
ability to jump off the boat for a walk, trip to the grocery or a jog. We were
livin high on the hog! Oh yea, the restaurant at Mango’s has a baker who made
the best sticky buns I’ve ever eaten! Just a few second walk from Magic was
bakery heaven!
Marsh
Harbor is the largest “settlement” in the Bahamas after Nassau and Freeport and
has almost all the amenities found in similar-sized towns in the US, including
a really nice grocery, hardware stores, shops, etc. Although this is slowly
changing as the internet generation homogenizes our societies (not sure if this
is entirely a good thing), every settlement in the Bahamas has a distinct
flavor. Dialects and customs are different and all are fiercely independent.
For those of use who sail on the Chesapeake Bay, once again the residents of
Tangier and Smith Islands come to mind. Only a few miles apart geographically,
they are totally different, just like all the towns here. It was interesting to
meet the locals and get a flavor for each place.
The "Castle in the Clouds" in Marsh Harbor. In an area with lots of interesting architecture, this one stood out! |
Both
Diane and I were keeping one eye on the calendar, knowing our time here in the
Bahamas was necessarily coming to a close. Our stay in Marsh Harbor was only
three days, but we both felt we got a great feel for the place. We walked (and
occasionally jogged) all over the place and even found the “Castle in the
Clouds” a beautiful home built by the “Out Island Doctor,” Evans Cottman, who
moved to the Bahamas in the early 1940’s and although not a “real” MD, was
licensed by the government as a “practical doctor” and traveled throughout the
islands taking care of the locals until his death in the late 1970’s. A
fascinating story detailed in his autobiography, “Out Island Doctor.” Anyone
interested in reading about life in the islands before the days of phones,
reliable transportation, electricity, etc., should pick up a copy….you just
can’t have mine!
Cold beer, toes in a pool Doesn't get much better! |
Charter catamaran. STAY CLEAR!! |
Bluff House Marina in Green Turtle Cay. Another great place to relax for a few days! |
Our
last real Bahamas stop was Green Turtle Cay, This is one of the last
settlements in the Abacos chain and, in my opinion, one of the prettiest! We
motored into “White Sound” at high tide (yup, we are still slaves to water
level!) and proceeded to the Bluff House marina/resort. For those of you who
may eventually come to the Abacos, this marina is a true do-not-miss place.
First of all, it is well run with experienced, friendly staff and up-to-date
facilities. Best of all it is the cheapest place we’ve been since leaving home
over 5 months ago! Although we were only here 4 nights, we thoroughly enjoyed
our time even though we experienced yet another bad cold frontal passage.
Tomorrow
(Sunday, 7 April), Diane and I plan to leave here and begin a two day sail back
to the US mainland. We are both terribly sorry our time here in the Bahamas is
coming to an end and very excited to be getting back to the “world.” If the God
of calm seas and gentle winds behaves, we will drop anchor in Ft. Pierce, FL
just 36 hours from now. Not sure how we’ll react when we walk into our first Publix’s
SUPER GROCERY STORE, or see our first traffic light in 5 months, but we’re
looking forward to it all! I'll blog more about our hopefully uneventful crossing adventure as soon as we have internet access back in the states. Thanks for reading. The adventure really does continue!
Peaceful anchorage...somewhere in the Abacos! |
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