BYE, BYE MIAMI...HELLO BAHAMAS!

Ok, end of the story first, for those of you who haven't seen Diane's Facebook postings...WE'VE MADE IT TO THE BAHAMAS! Now, here's the rest...

Our small Christmas tree!

  After sitting either at the marina (really expensive) or on a mooring ball (far less so) at Dinner Key Marina in Miami for something over 2 weeks, the crew of Magic was really ready to leave! Don't get me wrong, Miami is a pretty interesting place and the Coconut Grove area has more restaurants, shops and things to do per square foot than just about any place I've visited! Of course, we were lucky to be with some of our best friends on Peaceful Easy Feeling, Veritas, and Tehani (along with Steadfast and Sanity II who basically live in the area and were more than gracious opening up their homes and feeding our motley team). Still, Diane and I were itching to get the heck out of Dodge and head east. So, after final preparations (don't even ask how many trips to West Marine!) on 23 and 24 December, Magic was basically ready to head east and a tenuous "weather window" looked to open the day after Christmas...Boxing Day!
  A quick note on weather windows is appropriate here. This time of year, frontal systems march through Florida on a fairly regular basis. About every 4-7 days a 2-4 day "window" open on the back side of the frontal passage where the winds work their way to south of east and allow boats to cross the swift north running Gulf Stream in relative comfort. Try to cross with the wind out of the north and unless you are on a big cruise ship or an aircraft carrier, you are in for a pretty wild, very uncomfortable ride. This is why boats congregate in several places in S. Florida waiting for a window and the VHF radio is alive with weather conversations with everyone asking basically the same question; "when will the window open?"
  In our case, we decided that December 26th would be about the best we could expect and planned our crossing for that day, accompanied by Bob & Marilyn Oats on Peaceful Easy Feeling (PEF). After a few last minute preparations on Christmas morning, Magic dropped her mooring ball in Dinner Key for the last time and shaped course for an overnight anchorage named "No Name Harbor" on Key Biscayne. Have no idea why there isn't a name for the place...I guess they ran out. BTW, for all you old(er) folks this island was prominent in the Nixon presidency since this was where they had their "summer White House" where Tricky Dick and his cronies (BeBe Rabozo) hung out and played golf. After a run up the Biscayne channel to check out "Stiltsville" (a number of fish camps that line the main channel, now owned by the governments), we snuck into No Name. This place is pretty small and part of a large park...and REALLY POPULAR! We got there early enough to claim a good anchoring spot, but as the afternoon continued, it seemed like every boat in the Miami area squeezed into the harbor and either anchored (it's always fun to watch small powerboats moor as they throw out their tiny anchor like you throw a horseshoe!) or tied up to the bulkhead. Party On! I'd figured that on Christmas Day, most people would be home watching a basketball game and eating too much...I would be wrong! Although we didn't go ashore (there wasn't room!), we did meet several fellow cruisers headed for the Bahamas the same day as us and got a chance to ask crossing questions, talk about the better anchorages in the islands, and (mostly for Diane) to get good information on fishing! For Christmas dinner I once again got use of the galley and made a very nice rib roast with all the trimmings. We toasted our adventure with a tasty red wine and turned in early...

Magic buries her bow in 6' Gulf Stream seas. A wet, wild ride!

  Boxing Day (Dec 26th is big deal for the Brits) came early and Diane and I were up and ready to depart well before dawn. Joining PEF just east of the main channel, we actually sailed for the first time in almost 2 months! Even though dawn was just breaking, it was a wonderful sight to see our sails actually doing the job they were intended and moving us at a brisk pace toward Bimini. Of course, the National Weather Service (NWS) was, once again, wrong in their forecast and both winds and seas were somewhat higher than we'd seen on their website.  As we entered the "west wall" of the Gulf Stream, we saw seas in excess of 6 feet and literally buried our bow in green water any number of times. Still, we were sailing and Magic was moving as fast as I'd ever seen her...well over 7 knots (that really is fast for a sailboat for you power boaters and non boaters out there!). The only problem was that both Diane and I began to feel a bit queasy and although neither of us contributed breakfast to King Neptune that day, neither of us really felt great until we were tied up at the marina in Bimini a bit over 7 hours later. Even though we didn't feel all that well, both of us marveled at the beauty of the water in the Gulf Stream. As the depths below us dropped dramatically to over 3000 feet, the turquoise blue sea turned the deepest shade of dark blue you can imagine and the temperature of the water climbed from the low 70's to mid-80's in just a few hundred feet! Absolutely amazing, even for someone like me who has seen it many times before.
  Luckily for us, the seas calmed dramatically for most of the rest of the crossing and just after noon we spotted the radio towers of Bimini rise over the horizon. I don't care how many times you make landfall, every one is an unique experience and both of us had a feeling of accomplishment. The ocean wasn't quite ready to give up on us entirely however, and as we approached the somewhat tricky channel leading into the harbor, large swells rose from behind, causing us to surf and roll, making for an interesting, intense few minutes!

I think this guy missed the channel!

  After negotiating the tricky channel, we worked our way along the waterfront toward the marina we'd chosen. Interestingly, as we passed each marina along the way, a dock hand would wave at us, beckoning us to moor at his facility! Talk about marketing! Just 7 hours, 10 minutes after we departed No Name Harbor we tied up at the "Bimini Bluewater Resort and Marina." Well, it is a marina, but the resort part...not so much. The pool has been out of commission since late last spring and the restaurant which had received such great reviews was boarded up! Still, at just $1.00/foot, the price is right. Of course, if you need water, they charge .60/gallon!! Thank God I installed a water maker last summer!
  For the past few days we've been exploring this "Island in the (Gulf) Stream, a favorite haunt of Ernest Hemingway and 60's civil rights leader Adam Clayton Powell. Even Martin Luther King strode the street (not a misspelling, there is basically only one!) of Alice Town here. Closer to my heart as a pilot, Pappy Chalk started the first seaplane route from Bimini to Miami in 1919. Although Chalk's Flying Service went out of business about 10 years ago, we've seen a number of seaplanes land and takeoff just off our marina. The big business of this island is fishing...big game fishing and the number of large sport fishing boats we've seen come and go is staggering. And it isn't even high season! We've met a few and most are very nice (one even shared some of his catch with us!), even to us "rag baggers."

Seaplane takes off from Bimini Harbor

  Enough history, you can get that in a Google search! Magic and Veritas will leave tomorrow (1 Jan) to cross a large, relatively shallow area called the Bahama Bank and after a night anchored basically in the middle of nowhere, will call at "Chub Cay" in the Berry Islands. We'll stay there 1 or 2 nights and then move on to Nassau where we will do some reprovisioning, relax for a day or so, and then head for the Exumas.

Crews of Magic & Veritas

  One final note; PLEASE DO NOT CALL OUR CELL NUMBERS AND LEAVE A MESSAGE! Turns out that even if we don't answer or listen to the message, we pay $2.50/minute! That's at least one Kalik beer lost for each  phone call you make here! Thanks!
  I'll check in again when we get to either Nassau or the Exumas, and Diane will be doing her Facebook thing whenever we have wifi.

  Till next time....

FLORIDA...FLORIDA...FLORIDA (BRIDGES...BRIDGES...BRIDGES!)

Diane practices guitar

I must start this blog with an apology to the one or two of you actually reading it for the delay since my last entry. Although I truly enjoy writing, both the demands of traveling along the ICW in Florida (more below), the lack of easy WiFi access, and my own laziness conspired to keep me away until now.

One of the prettier bridges

Once we left Daytona Beach, we started to feel the pull of south Florida and decided to crank up the speed (remember, we are a sailboat with an auxiliary engine…cruising speed a blinding 6.5 knots!), or at least just keep moving as quickly as we could toward the Miami area, only 250 or so miles south. Not so fast there Captain! I’d not really taken into account the number of draw bridges we would have to pass which seemingly multiplied like rabbits the further south we went! Many would open on our radio call.  “…keep ‘er commin Cap’n, I’ll pick her up when you get right close,” but others opened on a schedule (let’s not inconvenience the “real” tourists driving to the beach!).  So here we were, existing in some perverse parallel universe, actually beginning to enjoy ourselves and slow our hectic lives just a bit when all of a sudden my watch became a primary navigation instrument. Until we reached Miami, we would be at the mercy of bridges, their schedules and my watch. Unfortunately, strong southerly winds precluded any foolish idea of mine to leave the ICW and travel offshore down the coast…at least if I wanted to stay married!

  A short word about distance and speed is appropriate here. For some inexplicable reason, mileage on the ICW, used by both commercial and private boaters, is measured in statute rather than nautical miles (I can imagine some Congressional staffer, obviously not a boater, getting a big laugh out of that!). It wouldn’t be a big deal except that our chartplotter (electronic map) and most other instruments display nautical mile information, forcing me to at least try to make the adjustments in my head…I’m not real good at that and remember quite distinctly deciding to be a Navy pilot only when they assured me that there was very little math involved! Well, since many of the aforementioned bridges opened on a schedule and were a specific STATUTE distance apart, I had to translate. Much of the time I was unsuccessful, which meant that there were several occasions when we would miss a scheduled opening literally by minutes. UGH! You have to remember as both a Navy and airline pilot, I lived my entire professional life by a schedule, and missing a bridge opening by minutes was a slap in my face. Diane finally brought me back to reality by reminding me (again) that we were retired and so what if we missed a bridge….there would be another opening in half an hour! Nuff said.

Vero Beach mooring field

  After leaving Daytona Beach the thorny path south is fairly straight but through some very interesting areas. First on the list was the so-called “Space Coast” near Cape Canaveral. We could see the now-defunct Shuttle Assembly building from many miles (statute and nautical!) away and the sight brought me back to the days when the Navy was tasked to provide airborne radar assistance for shuttle launches and we would get to view a launch from the air. The waterway topography changed by the hour from marsh to tree-lined channels. As we continued south, the apparent wealth of the residents rose as the homes along the ICW went from simply nice to OMG! As our good friend JL Lyon said, “…this is how the .1% live! After short overnight stops in Titusville and Coco Beach, we picked up a mooring in Vero Beach, sometimes referred to as “Velcro Beach,” because many boaters get there and…never leave! Easily the most protected anchorage we’d seen in Florida, we found the people incredibly friendly, a free bus service to shops, and a short walk from the beach. I could easily see why people hang there for a long time. We even decided to remain for an extra day to enjoy the sights and even got to see a very colorful holiday boat parade and enjoy some great food and adult beverages.

Nice, but no where near the biggest mansion!

  From Vero Beach, the bridges became more numerous, houses more glamorous, and powerboaters far LESS friendly as they would pass us at cruising speed, putting out enormous wakes which would violently rock even our relatively large boat. They must have been owners of those houses, in a hurry to count their money! Familiar places like Ft. Pierce, St. Lucie and Palm Beach fell behind over the next couple days as I continued to work on my bridge timing skills.

  We finally reached the absolute Mecca of mega-yachts, Fort Lauderdale, after yet another day of staring at houses that cost more than the gross national product of many small countries. Don’t get me wrong, someone has to make money, inherit it, win a lottery, or be really good at drug smuggling! Might as well flaunt it! Diane and I spent 2 days on a mooring in the city, taking in the sights (people watching on the beach front is their national pastime!), visiting the largest West Marine in the country, and drinking some of the best margaritas in the free world. Great place to visit, no desire to live there.

My old home away from home - The Sherry

  Finally, on Thursday, 13 December, Magic passed under the last drawbridge of this trip south and headed out into the Atlantic Ocean for the short run down to the Coconut Grove part of Miami. I’d hoped to exercise those funny white sheets that occasionally make the boat move during the 15 mile offshore run, but alas, one more time the wind was right on the nose, forcing us to rely on our “iron genny.” That was OK, we were on the way to our jump-off point for the crossing to the Bahamas. As we motorsailed (I just had to put up the mainsail!) south, we passed just offshore one of my favorite American Airlines layover hotels, the “Sherry Frontenac,” one of the few hotels around which caterers only to airline crews. I have to admit I felt more than a twinge of nostalgia remembering many wonderful visits to this iconic hotel, spending quality time with the best flight crews in the world. While I don’t miss much of my life as an airline pilot, I do miss the people and the flying itself. OK, back to reality!

Miami at last!

  So, here we still sit, 10 days after our arrival at the Dinner Key Marina mooring field, waiting for that elusive “weather window” which will allow us to cross over to the Bahamas. Of course, winter has followed us here with some of the coldest temperatures seen this time of year for a long time. I’ve actually had to shift back to jeans and long sleeve shirts! We need to get to the islands! The marine offshore forecast (which is no more accurate than what you see on TV!) shows there is a good crossing opportunity the day after Christmas, with fairly light winds and seas. We will most likely take advantage of this small window and “buddy sail” across with good friends Bob & Maryln (with daughter Katie) on their sailboat “Peaceful Easy Feeling.” Exactly where in the Bahamas we will initially go (again, it’s all about the weather) is still up in the air, it will be nice to know there will be a friendly, helpful voice at the other end of the radio as we cross the Gulf Stream.

  By the way, if you are watching our progress on our “In-Reach” GPS tracker as we cross to the islands and our course seems somewhat erratic, don’t call the CG and report a drunk sailor is causing mayhem on the Atlantic. Because the Gulf Stream is so powerful down here, running at 2-3+ knots, we will scribe an almost “S” shaped course east to minimize the effects of its current and save time during the crossing (which takes anywhere from 6-9 hours). So if it looks initially like we are headed to Cuba, don’t despair, we really will wind up in the Bahamas…I hope!

  Our trip to this point took 40 days, 168 hours of motoring, exactly 1-½ hours of sailing, no major breakdowns…and most importantly, Diane is still here! If you thought it took a long time for me to update this blog, well, it will only get worse as we hit the islands since WiFi availability will dwindle and get pretty expensive even when available. I promise to add more when I can, but even then, our GPS tracker will (as long as we have batteries for the darn thing!) keep you informed of our position.

  Until next time…

THE MARCH SOUTH CONTINUES!

OMG! AIR CONDITIONING!

   Once again, I get ahead of myself, but I have to announce that when we tied up at a marina in Daytona Beach, we actually turned on air-conditioning! What a treat; we went from using a blanket to A/C in just one day!

St Augustine, Bridge of Lions

   When I last made an entry, we were in St. Augustine, FL, enjoying one of the nicest and most historic places I’ve been in this country. It turned out to be worth the slog to get there. We left Fernandina Beach on a chilly, windy and rainy morning. After taking on fuel at the cheapest depot in Florida, we turned our bow south. The first few hours were just fine with a following current speeding our way to the St. John River which leads to Jacksonville, FL. We decided to bypass that city this time and continued on the ICW toward St. Augustine. Of course, what God gives, he takes away…in this case as we sailed south of Jacksonville, we were hit by a an adverse current that brought our speed down to less than 4 knots! Going under a few bridges, we actually saw less than 3 knots! It took a couple hours, but the current eventually slackened, but it was s l o w going for a while.

Sunset in St. Augustine

   St. Augustine is, by far, our favorite city of the trip so far. We picked up a mooring just south of the Bridge of Lions and spent almost 5 days exploring the city, visiting just about every wine bar around and sampling the local cuisine…which was great! We even rented bikes for a day and did the mandatory trip to West Marine and the grocery store and even visited a local winery for a sampling tour! By the way, if you are ever in this picturesque city and have a craving for pizza, definitely go to PIZZA TIME restaurant on St. Charles street. We had good ole pepperoni slices and they were the best since we lived in Bayonne, NJ as a kid! Even got to talk to the owner who was originally from Brooklyn and knew the pizza joint we went to in Bayonne! Small world.

  After our extended stay in St. Augustine, we decided we needed to make tracks south and started reeling in the miles as we worked our way south. Next stop was Daytona Beach where we actually got to stay at a local yacht club (at a really good price!) for a couple days. Great place as well and the yacht club personnel and facility was fantastic. Superb restaurant, cheap laundromat  and even a heated pool made the stay memorable.

  From there, we continued to work our way south, but I’ll put more in my next blog. Suffice to say that while it has gotten much warmer, we have a few tales to tell as we worked our way along the east coast of Florida!

  Till next time….

"THE OCEAN IS SO LARGE...AND MY BOAT SO SMALL!"

   When I last blogged, we were in Hilton Head, SC, enjoying a really nice marina and drinking the "free" wine provided by the dock hands. Maybe it was the wine or the dreaded anticipation of a tedious  3 day motor(sail) through Georgia (where the ICW meanders like a really large snake, occasionally actually heading the southbound boat NORTH as it winds around the low country streams), but the night of our arrival, Diane pretty much decided that she was ready to head offshore once again and tackle an overnight run from Hilton Head to Fernandina Beach, FL. A distance of right at 110 miles, this could not be done in a single day and would take about 16 hours. Since I wanted to arrive at the Fernandina Beach channel during daylight, we needed to leave Hilton Head around 2-3 pm. Added to her anxiety, the channel leading to sea from Hilton Head is just a bit tricky and should only be attempted during the day. Still, it was totally doable and Diane was determined to go, especially since there was a small weather window where the winds and seas would be very low, a bright full moon to guide us and an easy, straight shot between ports.

Moonrise in Atlantic

   We checked the weather one last time as we cast off our lines and our last excuse not to head offshore was gone...the weather remained perfect! Even the "tricky" run to the main channel offshore was a non-event and we quickly set course for Florida. Since both of us knew it was crucial I get some sleep during this overnight, I set watches to ensure I was in the cockpit during potentially critical times and still would be able to rest.  As the sun set and moon rose over the horizon, my first mate served a wonderful, hot dinner of homemade turkey noodle soup...it really hit the spot as the temperatures began to drop! In the distance, we would both see and hear (on the radio) several other sailboats, all headed in the same general direction. This gave both of us a slight sense of security, knowing we really weren't alone on the Atlantic!
  The only part of the sail where I had any concern was our nighttime crossing of the main shipping lane for the city of Brunswick, GA, about half way to Fernandina Beach. I'd checked and only 1-2 ships transit that channel every day, so I had no problems having Diane on duty in the cockpit when we would approach that channel. OOPS! Of course, the only ship of the day just happened to be headed to Brunswick just as we were approaching the channel! Diane did the right thing and called me to the cockpit early to help us figure out both what those strange lights in the distance were. Both of us were totally baffled for quite a while. Even with a good radar fix on this ship the lights were confusing. I finally called this "unknown" ship on the radio....of course with no answer! However, a few seconds later, a boat delivering the channel pilot to this ship came on the radio and informed me what the ship was doing and gave me advice on how to avoid. After that it was a non-event as this really large automobile carrier slipped by behind us. Just another day (or night!) on the water!

A smiling Diane at end of offshore trip!

   As predicted, we neared the entrance to Fernandina Beach just as a crimson orange glow in the east signaled the start of a new day. After a bit of maneuvering around several working shrimp boats trailing nets a very long way behind, we made it to the city mooring field and after securing the boat and eating a hearty breakfast....crashed until mid-afternoon!
  We spent 3 days in this, the most northern port in Florida and had a ball! F-Beach has great restaurants, very nice people and even the oldest bar/saloon in the state. Of course, that saloon allows smoking and every time we tried to go in, were beaten back by the smell of stale cigarette smoke!
  Magic is now in St. Augustine, FL where we have spent the last 4 days. This is, by far, our favorite stop of the trip and we have spent a lot of time exploring the city, shopping and, of course, sampling the local food and adult beverages. More in my next blog!
  The best news right now is the temperatures have risen into the 70's and we are sitting around in shorts and t-shirts most of the time! We both feel like we've really arrived and are looking forward to our continued journey south.