Bahamas

 

Just after we made plans to leave Thursday night round about 1:00am, a couple stopped by our boat looking for people to cross with.  They happened to have an identical plan to ours with one small exception, they were leaving at 12:00am.  One hour earlier sounded like an easy change to our plan, so we agreed to go together.  After a few hours of sleep, we were up at 11:30pm, made radio contact with our buddy boats, Wind Dancer and Nido, pulled up the anchor and we were on our way.  Our trip across the gulf stream was calm and uneventful.  We would have preferred to sail the entire way but we didn't have any wind, so we were stuck with listening to the motor.  Once past the gulf stream, the wind picked up a little after sunrise and we had a few hours of nice sailing.  It was good to see those sails again! 

Our first night in the Bahamas we anchored at Great Sale Cay.  After anchoring, there was cocktail hour with our friends on Wind Dancer.  We relaxed in the cockpit, happy we all had a pleasant voyage, as we watched the sun set over the clear turquoise water.  The following day we woke up to look out on paradise.  Not a sound to be heard and beautiful water everywhere.  Saturday we headed over to Spanish Cay, so we could clear customs.  Customs was very painless and quick.  With a front moving in Monday we decided to stay until it passed.  Tied up at Spanish Cay Marina, we had access to the private island, the marina bar, restaurant, swimming pool and hot tub.  Our first night there, we had cocktails on the veranda with the other cruisers that came in that day, followed by dinner in the restaurant.  We made a lot of new friends, many of whom we recognized their boats from traveling down the intercoastal at the same time although we had never met. 

We took our bikes out one day and explored the island.  All 3 miles of it.  There were two little beaches, and we took our first swim in Bahamian waters.  We made good use the hot tub, spent a lot of time socializing, and IB surprised me with a proposal.  We are now engaged.

Gettin Ready to Go

    

The winds are beginning to turn around to the South, and it's nearly time to cross the Gulf Stream and go to the Bahamas.  For some time now we have been thinking about when we actually want to go to the Bahamas.  Part of the decision depended on if we have everything that we need (food, water, spare parts, working electronics), and the other half of the decision depends on weather.  We've been waiting for those nice southerly winds to cross the gulf stream.  With any winds from the North that are opposing the current of the gulf stream, the crossing can be difficult, the seas can be high and rough, and at times dangerous.  So we wait on weather.  According to our current forecast's we should have the weather we want at the end of this week, and we will be on our way. 

In the midst of our preparations we have loaded the boat with groceries.  Although food will be available in the Abacos, we have been warned that prices can be ridiculously high.  So we've bought as many non-perishables as we can.  We have flour, cornmeal, pasta, pasta sauce, dried beans, chips, soup mix, beer, rum and wine.  We plan to supplement our supply with some fresh vegetables (given we can find them). 

After a few days of work, IB re-grounded the SSB Radio and it is now working.  We have subscribed to Chris Parker weather, and have been checking in with him in planning our weather window.

After much debate about the performance of our dingy in the islands, we made the decision to upgrade.  Just to look at the new dingy, it's hard to tell that it was that much of an upgrade, but riding in it, the difference is obvious.  We bought an Achilles, with high pressure inflatable floor and inflatable keel.  It's about a foot longer than our old one, which makes hauling our bikes or friends much easier.  We also upgraded to an 8hp motor from our 2hp.  The motor makes all the difference in the world.  From barely moving to going somewhere.   We'll have much more confidence that we can go out to a reef to snorkel and make it back to the boat.

All that is left to do is pack the ditch bag, fill up the diesel tanks and wait on weather.

The Anatomy of a Sewing Project

   

To do any project on a boat requires a lot of patience, and a lot of taking things out / putting things away.  One day I found myself with some spare time, I already had the sewing machine out from a small project and thought it would be a good opportunity to make a new cover for the kayak box on deck.  So I gathered up all my materials, took measurements of  the box and was ready to start cutting when I realized I need to fold out and use the full table to cut the sunbrella fabric.  Since my 50lb sewing machine was already out (the instigation for starting this project) I first had to clean everything up.

 

There's the salon all cleaned up.

I was then able to lay out the table, lay out my fabric and get all my pieces cut out. 

The sunbrella laid out on the table.

Once everything was cut, it was time to put the table back up, (as you can see it's really hard to move around once the table is all the way out).  With the table up, I could use the empty surface to pin my fabric together, take it up on deck to make sure it fit the box, and then back down, ready to sew.  Of course sewing means I need to get that heavy machine back out!

All ready to sew.

After sewing the main seams and making sure it's the right size, it's time to fold up the hem, which I tape in place instead of pinning.  To do this I need a flat surface.  A flat surface would be an empty table.  An empty table means it's time to put the sewing machine away again.  So away it goes.  The hem gets taped and folded, and then it's time to sew.  Time to sew means getting the machine back out.  So out comes the machine, the last seam gets sewn, the elastic gets put in the hem, and I have a finished product.

A finished cover!

The Kindness of Strangers

 

Our trip to Fort Lauderdale took us through 12 bridges to land at an unexpected destination.  Just before pulling up anchor at Lake Boca Raton, we were met by my friend Rachel who was traveling with us for the day to Fort Lauderdale.  The trip that would take us from 10:00am to 2:00pm to complete only took about 20 minutes for her by car.  The weather was warm and sunny, which made for a very enjoyable day of travel.  Rachel's boyfriend had moved his boats to a neighbors dock just so we could tie up at his house for a few days.  Just past Las Olas, we turned into the New River and traveled up the narrow waterway for about 4 miles to arrive at Paul's house.  His house is three docks in, in a very narrow canal with boats lining both sides.  We arrived at low tide and made several attempts to enter the canal, but there simply wasn't enough water we hit the ground each time.  A little perplexed as to what to do next, we tied up at an empty dock right next to the canal planning to wait for high tide and go into the canal then.  The docks owners were not home at the time, so we wrote them a note explaining the situation and they were very understanding.  Later that evening when the tide was up, we released the lines and gave the canal another go.  Unfortunately there was no going in, we hit the ground hard on every attempt.  Returning to the dock we had left, we tied up again.  John (the owner of the dock) had come out and witnessed our failed attempt at the canal.  Very kindly he offered to let us stay at his dock as long as we'd like.  We thanked him, and stayed 10 days.  We had a great visit with Rachel and Paul, as well as our new friends John and Susan.