Bye Bye Bahamas

The Exumas turned into a whirlwind trip. Wasn't really planned that way, but weather had it's way with us and that's what happened. The northern Exumas really seem like a great tropical place, and someday maybe we will enjoy them a bit more! As it was, we transited through the islands in a weeks time only making three stops before Georgetown. Our first stop, Royal Harbour, Eleuthera. It was just an overnight stop after crossing from the Abacos, time for some cocktails and dinner before bed. The following day took us across the banks to arrive at Allen's Cay in the Exumas. We stayed put here for a couple of days, visited with the Rock Iguana and spent a day in the water hunting lobster and conch. We were successful, returning to the boat with 10 conch and a large lobster. Dinner was very good.

A bit about Rock Iguana. They were once found throughout the Bahamas but were wiped out as a food source. They are now protected by Bahamian law and there are two colonies in the Northern Exumas. These are the relatives of the iguanas that were used as dinosaurs in the old horror movies.

From there we followed the western coast south to Norman's Cay, two nights there, then on to Staniel Cay. We got stuck in here for a few days with weather blowing us around, as soon as it cleared we headed out the cut into Exuma Sound and spent the day sailing down to Georgetown. We arrived the day before Chris Parker's weather seminar. We explored Georgetown, didn't take very long, learned a little more about reading weather fax and gribs, and met our weather guru. What we didn't realize before arriving in Georgetown, was that we arrived the week of the Regatta. Basically meaning there were bunches of boats, well over 300. We enjoy meeting and spending time with other cruisers, for us, this number was a bit daunting. There were quite a few people there we knew and didn't get to spend too much time with, although we would have liked too. Of course there was also the weather, it turned around to the Northwest and blew for three days, and the anchorage was a rockin. One morning I got out of bed, stumbled outside, looked around at the clear blue sky, beautiful turquoise water, and wondered how this could really be a day of bad weather. The I looked at the waves rolling under the boat, the white caps on top of them, sunk back down below, felt a little queasy from the rolling about, went back to bed and said, yep it's a bad day.

I was quite elated after three days of this weather when our weather guru, Chris Parker, announced to us that it would be a great opportunity to sail straight down to Puerto Rico. We had planned on taking our time and visiting the southern Bahama islands, but they are 250 miles of islands scattered about to the southeast. That would be the usual direction of wind. With a little issue of boat insurance, resulting in us changing our insurance company and needing to wait a week for all the changes to take effect we needed to stop in the Turks and Caicos till the insurance was finalized. Not quite Puerto Rico, but still about half way, besides we did want to see it anyway. For just over 48 hours we had some beautiful Northwest winds gently pushing us straight to our destination.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

After two and a half weeks of some ridiculously windy weather and great times with friends, it is time for us to move on southward. Last night we said good-bye, tomorrow morning we leave the Abacos and head to the Exumas via Eleuthera.

One of the best things about meeting new cruisers while traveling is that it’s just like summer camp as a kid. Friendships that can oftentimes take months or years to develop happen overnight. But since we are all traveling in different directions, we are often saying good-bye to our newfound best friends. On this trip we were able to re-visit with friends we made last year, and enjoy the company of new friends. With email, blogs, and facebook it is easier than ever to stay in touch, looking forward to the day we will meet up again. Tomorrow will just be me, IB and Passport alone on the great big fishpond, knowing new friends and a glass of rum await us somewhere ahead.

February 14, 2010

Day after day of being stuck in Marsh Harbour as fronts keep rolling through, we think we may have found a day to leave, until we listen to the morning weather report. Tonight would be fine somewhere else but tomorrow we would just have to be back, the weather is not so fabulous anyway, so put we stay. Friday morning we awake to a beautiful, calm, sunny day, could this really be the day that is forecast for gale force winds? At least the morning looks good. In desperate need to stretch out our legs and get off the boat, we head over to nearby Mermaid Reef with our friends on Makani for a little snorkeling. It’s a protected reef, so the spears stay on the boat, no fish for dinner tonight. The sun is warm, the water is completely calm, it all made for an enjoyable snorkel. Heading back to the boat less than two hours later, the winds have picked up to 10kts and getting stronger. It has begun. The winds slowly build all day, the gale force winds are expected to arrive as the sun set. It was late… but it did not disappoint. While IB was on anchor watch, I drifted off to sleep for a short nap. I was abruptly awakened, as the boat heeled over to port, dumping the contents of the galley counter on the floor. We were battered with steady 35-40 kt winds with gusts up to 50. Fortunately, the strong gusts only last a couple of hours and the wind settled down to around 30kts for most of the night.

The following day anxiously hoping to get off the boat, I went outside and what did I see, but 20kt winds, choppy seas and white caps in the harbor.. I went back to bed. The day passed with naps, movies and a wonderful dinner my husband cooked for me. At one point in the day as I had recently awoken from a nap, IB looked up from his book to find me contentedly staring at the walls.. he suggested maybe we should play a board game.

Finally, Sunday morning greeted us with not only a pleasant looking day, but also a pleasant weather report, at least for a couple of days anyway. It’s time to leave. We pulled up the anchor, and prepared to head up to Guana Cay, today is the day we get off the boat. Before leaving, our first mission is to fill the water and diesel tanks. That of course, required waiting for the marina to open at 11:00am. Oh well, no hurry. Since we added a water maker to the boat this year it may be a wonder why we need a marina to fill the water tanks. The answer is simple, the water maker… not hooked up. That’s a project still waiting for mañana. Calm winds and an empty fuel dock made tying up easy and uneventful; filling the fuel tanks was seemingly uneventful. No problems? No way. Everything went great until we finished and I went below decks to find a puddle of diesel on the galley counter and seeping into the freezer. Apparently there is a leak somewhere in the overflow line. Guess that’s the next project.

We had tentative plans to have a nice romantic dinner out at a restaurant, being Valentines Day and all, but plans are made to be changed. We hopped up to Bakers Bay, to visit our friends on Windfall. Our restaurant plans were scrapped when we decided to have dinner together on our boat. There will be many opportunities for romantic dinners for two yet to come, a great evening with good friends we will be leaving soon as we head farther south, is not to be passed up.

Building a Hard Top Dodger

We have several reasons for wanting a hard top dodger. IB’s top reason: to be able to stand on it to reach the boom. My top reason: less canvas to replace, it’s so much easier to make panels of windows rather than a full canvas dodger. I’m glad IB has his own reasons, since I’m still trying to explain the finer aspects of sewing and why it’s so much harder to sew the full dodger. After all, everything is easy when someone else does it, as I’ve often commented on his projects.

Never having tackled fiberglass, our first step was getting a quote to have it made… professionally. We were quoted a figure around $4000. Somehow the summer slipped by and a decision was never made, there was not enough time left for the professional route. Decision made through indecision. In the meantime, I ran across a website of a cruiser who made his own fiberglass hardtop and he gave us some simple directions. It didn’t look so hard, so we figured we’d give it a try. Our total cost: under $800.

The plan: reinforce our existing dodger frame with four stainless supports; bend an FRP panel to fit the frame, fiberglass and paint. It was one of those super easy projects, since circumstance took me home to visit my family while my husband tackled the project.

Since we were fortunate enough to have the use of a friends backyard the entire project was completed off the boat. (Thanks Paul and Rachel!) The frame was attached to a wooden base and the FRP panel then bent to the shape of the frame and secured to the frame with fishing line. The panel was then marked and cut to size. Our choice for fiberglass materials was biaxial mat with epoxy resin. The mat was laid over the panel and cut to size. We pre-cut three pieces, planning to lay three layers the first day. The first piece was laid over the FRP panel, slathered with epoxy resin, and any bubbles were smoothed out. This process was then repeated two more times. Sort of like making baklava, but not so good to eat when it’s done. Now comes one of the most important steps that must be executed with the utmost precision: crack open a beer, drink and enjoy! Tomorrow the fiberglass process is repeated again, or in the words of our dear friend Frank, “Same f*&%#@! Thing!”

The rough edges get cut to size and sanded to a nice round edge. Now begins the faring process. Epoxy resin I mixed with glass micro bubbles, not to be confused with microbrew, that’s what you get at the end of the day. Apply the faring compound with a roller over the surface and smooth with a squeegee. In this case, the bigger, the better. Allow to dry; repeat as necessary until happy with the result. Prime, paint and it’s done. The finishing touches include the track to hold the canvas windows, and the canvas windows; my job, that’s not yet done. I have a good excuse; by the time I got back to Fort Lauderdale it was time to leave, so nothing else got done. Before I can pattern to make the canvas, the track needs to be in place. That’s IB’s job. He has a good excuse too. Before he can take the hard top off to install the track we need a day (preferably two) that the winds are not blowing 20 kts. And so the project will get completed .. mañana

The FRP Panel bent over the frame and cut to size.

Cutting the fiberglass sheets.

Applying the resin.

Sanding and faring.

The finished project, well almost.

Arch and Davits

We told them we wanted an arch and davits. The said, “We’d love to help you.” We said, “We want to keep our wind vane.” They said, “It can not be done. We put the idea aside.

At the Annapolis Boat show, we saw a display at Wells Marine, it looked just like the arch and davits we had in mind. We told them what we wanted. They said, “No problem.” They showed us pictures. We thought they looked good. The next day, they came to our boat and took measurements. Several weeks later we received drawings of the arch they would like to build us. The drawings were nothing like the pictures they showed us, and did not look like they would result in a functioning product. When we asked them about our concerns the reply we received was, tell us what you want, give us measurements and we’ll build it. Not quite the expertise we were planning to pay for. We scratched them off our list.

In a last ditch effort we tried to call stainless manufactures in Fort Lauderdale. No one returned our calls. A canvas shop recommended Alex Castro, with Ocean Tops, and gave us his number. Our attempt to call left us with no new result. Living and traveling on a boat has a way of allowing one to forget about conventional schedules and holidays, our life is scheduled around the weather. Given we tried our calls just after Christmas, we were a bit surprised when first thing after the New Year Alex returned our call. By then we wanted to leave in two weeks time and didn’t think there was anyway to get an arch built in that time frame. Alex surprised us again when he told us he could not only build what we want but he had some time available and could complete it in two weeks. He showed up that afternoon to take some measurements, evaluate the project and give us a quote. We shared our ideas, concerns, and goals; he knew just what needed to be done. The next day, he showed up with his tools and got started.

The bones of the arch were built in one afternoon on our boat. Alex worked with us, involving us in the design, position and function of the arch. We are typically do-it-yourselfers, but on this project; we did not have the knowledge, skills, experience or the time to acquire them. Being so closely involved in the construction assured us that the result would be just what we wanted.

IB did appear a bit concerned when Alex first brought out the grinder and began cutting apart the stainless rails on Passport. The point of no return, after the rails are cut apart there’s no backing out. At the end of the day we cold see what the arch would look like, and no guessing as to how it would fit. Until the day of installation, the remainder of the work would be completed back at Alex’s shop. As he packed up his tools and loaded the arch in his truck, we looked at our boat, where there used to be rails and said, “See you soon.”

We were quite impressed with the quick efficiency in which he completed the project. Within a week he returned with the arch finished and ready to do the installation. For the arch and rails around the cockpit to flow together as one unit, the cockpit rails were completely replaced. The end result is not just a strong functional arch, davits to lift and carry our dingy, or a rope swing, but a work of art.

The back of the boat before we started.

Another view of the back before the destruction.

IB's expression when the grinder touched the first rail.

That would be our boat being torn apart.

Deciding how to attach the rails.

Boat with no rails.

Unloading the arch.

Welding into place.

The finished product.

Freezing in Florida

I realize that all you northerners that are covered in snow are not at all sympathetic with our sub 60's temperatures, but it's cold down here! I feel that after our great effort, and slow travel by boat to southern Florida we deserve to at least put away the sweaters and down. But oh well, perhaps next week.

We have arrived

at our "final" US destination, Fort Lauderdale (that is a very loose final, since I'm not so sure that any our decisions are really final until they are executed). We actually managed to leave Vero Beach on December 27th (Velcro Beach, and yes we stayed at least a week longer than planned). Our stay at Vero was great, we met some wonderful friends that we hope to see again down the way. The trip to Lauderdale was easy and uneventful, we had great sailing for half the trip before we

had to turn on the motor as the wind died. Early monday morning we arrived at Port Everglades inlet and

headed up the New River to our home, for now. We are very grateful to John and Susan for letting us tie up at their house and enjoy this beautiful river. We even had a welcoming party come out to greet us.

Since we found ourselves in Fort Lauderdale over New Years Eve we decided to take the dingy out and see what the town had to offer on this celebratory evening. The evening began with a very pleasant and warm (the last warm day we had for quite some time) boat ride down the New River. Along the way there were many decorated houses and yards full of lights for Christmas. We arrived downtown earl

y in the evening to enjoy dinner out before the night life fully enveloped the streets. As we sat at our outdoor table on the street, we were able to watch as the streets slowly filled with people and the bands began to play. At midnight we witnessed a balldrop and fireworks.

Some of the night life.

When pine trees are not available, decorate palms for Christmas.

Florida

We thought we were leaving late when we pulled out of the slip on November 15th, but here we are in Florida by December 1st. We left Maryland with three main goals in mind: get south, get warm, and avoid the intercoastal. We have done quite well. We followed the intercoastal down to Beaufort, NC (That is 'BOW-fort', not to be confused with 'BU-fort' which is in SouthCarolina ). Once there we looked for our weather window to jump out in the big pond and head to florida. Ideally, we would be able to go to sea for about five days and end in Florida. Life however is rarely ideal. We did however get a two day opportunity to go down the coast to Charleston, SC.

We had some great sailing for a while, but then the winds died off and we had to turn on the engine. We even had a chance to pull out the new fishing gear and give it a try. In no time at all we had an Atlantic Mackerel for dinner. According to IB it was around 18" when we caught it, but it's probably up to 30" by now depending on how many times he's told the story. It was a smooth, easy trip and after two nights at sea we arrived at our destination.

We were laid over in Charleston for a couple days, same old story, waiting on weather. While there we did get off the boat to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner out with our friends on Clear Day. We had been traveling with them since we left Norfolk, VA.

The Charleston anchorage is not one of those places that feels comfy and safe to hang out, especially with strong winds. The strong current, with strong winds sends the boats moving about every which way. The tide change is even less fun, causing even more confusion among the boats. After a particularly uncomfortable night at anchor, with slightly less than ideal weather conditions we headed back out to the pond to continue south. Just out of the inlet, everything seemed okay, moderate waves, and steady winds. It wasn't too long before the winds, that were forecast to be more north, were mostly all west, sailing sent us too far from the coast and into bigger waves. Down came the sails and on came the motor. Crashing into the waves trying to stay close to shore and still head south, my stomach sent us to the closest inlet, the North Edisto River. There we found a calm anchorage, peaceful evening and even better sleep. There's not much better in life than a calm anchorage on a nice evening. The following morning we headed back out to sea, thankful for a good nights rest and made an uneventful trip to St. Mary's Inlet on the Florida border.

Knowing that there was another front coming through the area we went up the river to St. Mary's and waited out the weather before traveling again. We listened to weather reports and studied our charts, trying to decide if we should go down the ditch or back out to the pond.

Due to the wait required for weather and a desire to stop by Sailor's Exchange in St Augustine, FL we opted to do the ditch for a day and wait out the next front there.

After our shopping was done and the weather cleared we pulled up the hook and headed for the inlet, another night at sea. Although we had 4 - 5 ft seas, there was a nice steady breeze and the sailing was great. At least it was great for everything but my stomach, the contents of which were left in the sea. Sometime soon my stomach and I need to have a serious conversation about this, or much better drugs.

We were not quite sure how the winds would shift in the morning, leaving us with the question to come in Cape Canaveral or be able to continue down to our intended destination of Ft. Pierce. With some nice cooperation of the winds and subsiding waves (happy tummy), we made Ft. Pierce. It's finally, really warm! About midway through the trip we slowly started peeling off layers: first the hat, then the foul weather jacket, the fleece, the extra pants and finally shorts! We'll now be taking a rest at Vero Beach for the next several weeks, getting some boat projects done and enjoying the weather before jumping down to Ft. Lauderdale, currently our last US destination.