Georgetown, Grand Exuma Island, Bahamas

Nurse Shark at Staniel Cay                                  Staniel Cay Marina

Harry at BooBoo Hill, Warderick Wells Cay                                    Farmers' Market, G'Town

Fowl Cay Sunset                                                        

                                                               Dinner guests at Fowl Cay: Bill, Ted, Jose, Suzanne, Linda, Harry

Staniel Cay                                                                 Anchorage between Big and Little Majors Spot

                                           Arnold's Eggs Benedict and Dress-up breakfast

From Marsh Harbour, Abacos, Bahamas we slipped between fronts and low, green and rocky cays to pull in to Buckaroo (no kidding) Bay for the night with Caper and Harlequinn as part of our little fleet. Next stop was Little Harbour just down the way where Caper couldn’t get over the 3.5 ft. bar across the entrance. Pete’s Pub has a delightful rum concoction whose name escapes me, but wonderful just the same at $6.00. The weather continued to be cooperative and we headed out at first light for the Exumas. This is across the N.E. Providence Channel which we have crossed before going NE. Wind and waves were a little high, but all in all a good sail through beautiful blue waters; unfortunately no fish rose to our lure. We arrived at Little Egg, turned N and sped up to Royal Island Harbour under full sail and a delightful NE fresh breeze.

Next morning we shot across to Current Cut still with a nice NE breeze and trailing a bright red diving (has a bill on the front) plug with three sets of very sharp tri-hooks. “Fish on!!” and I’m reeling in a large, unfortunately, barracuda: unfortunately because if they are bigger that elbow to wrist the chances are they carry ciguatera, a nasty poison found in the reef fish they eat. Anyway, Harry forgot to get the hook puller so he tried to release the monster by hand. BANG, THRASH, WHAM!!!! And the next thing I know I’m hooked and trying to get us both off. BANG, THRASH, WHAM!!!! And I’m hooked again this time the right little finger. Holy Crap!! And you are not going to believe this (yes you are), but “numba tree” (Hawaiian pidgeon for # 3) BANG, THRASH, WHAM!!!! And now my hands are hooked together. “Linda!” and she’s there like instantly. “Get a pair of cutters!” The stainless kooks are too strong for the dykes we have. “OK, get a razor knife!” She does and we cut thru the one in my little finger freeing my right hand. Somehow I got the hook out of the monster and he slid back into the deep: dead I hope; bugger. Now at least I don’t have the thrasher pulling more hooks into me. Yah, I know, poetic justice. Anyway, we’re coming up on the Cut under full sail and I’m still the “Fish On”. Next thing is to stop the boat by turning into the wind, starting the engines, and taking the sails down. Linda was magnificent. Next, get the Dremel with a cutting wheel and tap-cut, so it doesn’t get hot, through the hook. (Almost) Free Last. I shove the hook all the way thru and pull it out with my trusty, dusty Leatherman needle nose pliers. While I’m cutting, gently the last hook with the Dremel, Linda calls Harlequinn who has gone thru the Cut and asks them for help. They anchor in a small cove just S of the Cut. We whipped thru the Cut at around 12 knots as the tide was running in towards Exuma Sound, swing the right turn and spot our salvation: a doctor (retired) who surely has an extensive medical kit to include drugs and Novocain. James dingys over and produces needle nose pliers! At least he confirms my feeling that going on thru would run the hook thru the nail bed. So, James grabs the cut end of the hook with vice grips and pulls it back out the way it came in. Thank Linda as she had some left-over hydrocodone which helped to dull the pain. Are we having fun yet living the dream?!? Oh, yah. We continued on to Highborne Cay with Linda as Captain, and anchored for the night, just S, at Oyster Cay which had the right price (nada) and better protection from the wind and waves.



We decide two days later, yes another front, to see Carlos Lehder’s x-drug smuggling hot spot and the home of the “famous” MacDuff’s cheeseburger. Boohoo, the place is an abandoned dump with working airstrip and a not-even-up-to-McDonalds’-standard $18 (with fries) burger The Kaliks were $8. Yes, about $3 higher than anywhere else. To beat the next front, we went out the Cut (and caught a 6 lb. grouper, yum yum) next morning and negotiated/navigated NE to Exuma Sound and then SE skirting the leeward islands down to Warderick Wells Cay and the Exuma Land and Sea Park where we took a ball for two days at Emerald Rock, the S mooring field. Unfortunately, the weather is still too cold as is the water for swimming, so we hiked over the Cay for a couple of hours. The water was the color and clarity of Sapphire gin: almost unreal.

Next stop was Cambridge Cay which is still in the Park, so no fishing or taking anything. Hadn’t changed must from our first visit in 2007 except for more $20 mooring balls. Harlequinn left us to head straight to Georgetown. We opted for a more leisurely run thru Cambridge, The Pipes, Staniel Cay (to pick up Suzanne, a friend of Jose on Caper), and Fowl Cay so we could dine in luxury at the Fowl Cay Resort now owned by Sandals. What a meal; what ambience; what great all-you-can-drink booze! Well worth the $100/head. Thunderball has closed. This is the club/restaurant on the bluff at Staniel overlooking the islet grotto featured in the James Bond movie of the same name. We hung out between the Major Spots to hide from another, you guessed it, cold front.

We left Staniel Cut on an outgoing tide which made for a very rough (water over the bows with lots of plunging) 10 minutes until we got into the Sound. Next stop Little Farmers Cay off the southern tip of Great Guana Cay. We tucked in on the SW edge of GG Cay and hooked up to a motley mooring ball that ended up holding for the two days we were there weathering another front. We visited Ocean Cabin and were beered, dined, and regaled by Terry Bain, owner and local color mayor.

Caper decided we should run down to The Marina at Emerald Bay (a Sandals’ property) 15 or so miles N of Elizabeth Harbour and Georgetown to wait out another front (Are you as tired of these freaks of nature as I am?). We rented a van and drove to Berraterre on the N end of the island. Sleepy, little village where the people are very long lived (100+ is not uncommon) and very friendly. We met Julia at the store there who had lived many, many years in Cocoa, FL. She had moved back with her Bahamian husband to take care of his 95+ parents who were still going strong. She said that she’d lost 40 lbs. and reduced per B. P. by30 points both top and bottom in a very short time. We had lunch at Big D’s on the way back. Good prices and the best conch salad and cracked (batter fried strips) conch we have ever had. A definite spot to visit is you are ever down that-a-way.

Once again out the Cut after 5 days of free laundry, ice, and WiFi into an outgoing tide with its turbulent bumps and rolls SE to Conch Cay Cut and Elizabeth Harbour. Lovely sail between fronts – they seem to be getting farther apart – to Chat ‘n Chill at Volleyball beach on Stocking Island. There are not the usual 600 (yes, that’s right) boats this year: probably closer to 300,and another sign of the economy. We’ve seen the Harbour race and the around the island race. Great fun. We were also at the Chat ‘n Chill for Racquel and Scott Watson’s, owners of the Indiantown Marina (FL), advertising/thank you party with free drink tickets. Lovely couple with three small kids. Georgetown in the winter playground for retiree sailors from Canada and the US who come here year after year for 3 or 4 months of games, races, volleyball, bridge, basket weaving, golf, beaning (collecting strange/foreign beans to make jewelry from) etc., etc., etc., ad nauseum; very organized.

Here We Go Again

After a night of HEAVY drinking at the Jib Room, Marsh Harbour Marina, Abacos, Bahamas and then back aboard while playing Mexican Train, I woke to my first hangover in years and a guilty feeling that I haven’t updated the blog in months. So …

We left, hopefully for the last time this time, Titusville, FL on 1/14/2010. It was 69⁰ and sunny with the wind out of the NE for a lovely sail south to Port Canaveral. From there we sailed down to Ft. Pierce where we anchored and waited for four days for the weather to moderate. We met our Canadian friends, Bill and Jose Andersen on Caper, at Port Salerno (Manatee Pocket)and headed straight for Memory Rock and Great Sale Cay. We beat the next weather front anchored over night and then checked in (Customs and Immigration) at Spanish Cay where we waited out another front. Sadly the marina had only five boats and no fuel for us or their own electric generator. Tough economic times continue for the Bahamas, too. Next stop was White Sound, Green Turtle Cay where there were a lot more boats, but more evidence of the poor economy: the Bluff House Marina was empty and on the verge of bankruptcy. While trying to get into the pocket off the E side of the anchorage there, we had our first bottom encounter and had to wait for the tide to lift us off; thankfully no real damage. From there we made an aborted try to round the Whale, turning back when Caper developed engine trouble and encountered the Atlantic swells. Our second attempt was fine with 18-22k winds out of the NE and four foot swells. We sailed through Bakers Bay, a huge resort with multi-million dollar LOTS (40% sold would you believe!), to Fishers Bay, Great Guana Cay, home of the Guana Grabber (a very sweet rum drink) and our first Wi-Fi hotspot. This is the place we had our dingy “grabbed” the last time we were here. We found it with the help of the Cruisers Net in Marsh Harbour the next day. For the next blow, we shifted off the anchor and went into Orchid Bay Marina, a lovely, sheltered and mildly expensive spot. The number of boats and Canadians has been increasing as we move E, but the atmosphere is still that of hard times. Today we are in Marsh Harbour Marina at 65¢/ft. plus $4/day for water, metered electric at 65¢/Kw, and $3 laundry tokens (one per wash and one per dry). We are still having front after front roar through every three or four days: the one for tonight (2/12/2010) is suspected to have sustained gale force winds (34-40 mph) and gusts to 50!. The Harbour has pretty much emptied out with everyone seeking shelter in the various marinas.

The current plan is to stage to Little Harbour SE of here on Sunday, cross the Northeast Providence Channel and tuck in at Royal Island, Eleuthra, near the site of Bill’s near drowning. From there, weather permitting, we’ll go through Current Cut, and cross the shallow flats at the top of Exuma Sound to the Exuma island chain.

If anyone is using Google Earth or similar program to follow us, let me know and I’ll put the lat/lan back in.

All the boats at Spanish Cay 

Looking N at Great Guana on a typical morning

 

Caper and her new sails off the Whale Cut

TITUSVILLE, FL - December 12, 2009

Just a quick note to say we broke down to our youngest’s angst and will stay put through Christmas. Need to be here for the mother-in-law, the kiddledees and the grand kiddledees. Jim Caltrider has again graciously loaned us his Ford Ranger and even put on two new radials to replace the failed (I’ve never seen or heard of radials delaminating internally) ones: drives like it used to.

The current plan, subject to wind, change, etc. is to head out after Christmas (New Years) and head back to Manatee Pocket to meet-up with our Canadian friends, Bill and Jose Andersen of Caper. From there, south and east to West End, Grand Bahama Island, and on to the Abacos.

Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year to all.

Brunswick, GA (31°09.059N; 81° 29.985 W): 10/16/09

St. Simon Island Lighthouse

It’s raining today, cloudy and cool. We’re sitting at Brunswick Landing Marine ($2/ft. plus $4 for electricity per day transient rate) just north of the shrimp docks where a fleet of colorful shrimpers with their nets high up on their outriggers are rafted up three deep at the quay. We came in two days ago from Murrells Landing, SC where we spent a long weekend with Betty and Byrl Raper, our (hopefully sooner than later) partners to be. We had planned to refinish the salon sole floor by sanding as the wood was at least ¼” thick. Well, it turns out that the maple strips are at best 1/32” thick and we quickly ground through one as proof. So, now we need to put in a new sole over the old, but the maple cove base was glued on and will only be destroyed if we try to take it off with our experience, actually lack thereof. We need to find some one with the requisite experience to do the job once we get back to Titusville. I wonder of Don Thomas, our friend and resident guru, knows about this delicate “cabinet” work?

Ops, just got hit with another (it’s a boat after all) problem: the mechanic we hired (all I’d do is get oil all over everything) to install our new hydraulic autopilot steering pump went home sick after he found out that the parts he hadn’t ordered arrived. Yes, the supplier didn’t fill the ordered correctly, so the right ones will be here Monday. Hopefully West Marine will have our new main halyard ready to I can go up the mast and replace the original one which lost (ripped) its outer casing. Boy, that was exciting as we tried to bring down the sail in the Brunswick channel with a huge, green RoRo Swedish freighter bearing down on us at about three times our speed. The pilot was very pleasant to Linda who was on the helm (and radio) asking her to keep to the green (port) side of the channel so they could pass. The casing scrunched up as it went through the rope clutch (why “rope” as a sail boat has only one rope which is associated with the sail?) and prevented the halyard and then the hole in the mast from passing through until we pulled it back, straightened the casing out, and then rethreaded it through. All in a days work for a sailor!

Out of the blue last night our Canadian friends, Paula and John Godfrey of Our Way called and said they had just entered Georgia on their way back to Titusville. An hour and 20 minutes later we were all having drinks with James and Roni Redman on Harlequinn (yes, two “n’s” ‘cause it is their son Quinn’s name) and being regaled by John and his story of being “attacked” (shooting antimissile flairs) by USAF fighter jets at 8,500 feet over Pittsburg, PA. Seems he had been misdirected into restricted airspace and was perceived as a threat to the G20 Conference going on there. He was commanded (by the USCG who were the first people he was able to communicate with: the USAF wouldn’t/couldn’t find the emergency frequency he was transmitting on) to land at an airport in OH where he was escorted by a USCG helicopter with machine gunner at the ready. On landing and pulling off the runway he was surrounded by the FBI, Homeland Security, FAA, State and local troopers and ordered to stick his hands out the window to show he was unarmed. He was taken off the plane after telling them at their request that he did have a pocket knife in his carry on bag and interrogated by each branch for four hours. After the Secret Service interrogation (yes, they arrived late) telling him they’d check his story of being misdirected, they let him take off, fly north away from Pittsburg, and then turn north for Toronto where he arrived in the rain after dark with almost no fuel due to headwinds and the unexpected landing. On Monday, the FAA investigator called and told him his story checked out, that the threatened fines and incarceration (and black mark in his record) would not happen, and that he hoped there would be no hard feelings. He even went so far as to give John his telephone number and tell him to call (to shoot the breeze) if he needed anything. They spent the night aboard with their cat, Faye (named after the hurricane she was born it at Titusville), and got back on the road to Florida this morning.

Tomorrow-week we take off for San Francisco, CA with our daughters Marnie and Aimee for my Step-mother’s memorial service on Monday the 26th. She died last month at Villa Marin in San Rafael. She was 94 and led a remarkable and excitingly long life. She married my Dad back in 1983 and we had kept in touch over the years. From there, we’ll visit my 95 year old Aunty Sally Lowrey in Honolulu and then fly back to Orlando (?). That presupposes we get out of here Monday noon-ish and head straight back to Titusville (a 35 hour trip with an overnight at Port Canaveral). If that’s not doable, then we’ll drive back leaving the boat here until our return from Honolulu. We’ll know Monday about the pump installation and the weather.

Monday dawned a cold, at least for us Floridians, 55°with fog swirling off the warmer water. James came by with a friend of his who spliced the thimble into the new 7/16 Sta-Set polyester braid mail halyard. We sent him up the mast in the boson’s chair (yup, I’ve given into hiring out the dangerous stuff whenever I can) to re-thread the line. After that Wayne from the boat yard came by with the correct parts and put in the new (and improved) hydraulic auto steering pump. Now it’s 3:00 pm and we’re getting fueled up: should have been out of here by noon to get to Cape Canaveral by 5 pm (and still light) according to the chart plotter if we maintained 6.5 knots. Well, we did and then some. With 15 to 19 knot winds and a following sea of 3-5 ft. we made great time and got in just at last light. We anchored on the west side of the Florida Barge Canal lock and went to bed. Next morning we motor/sailed (jib only) to the Inter-Coastal Waterway, set all the sails for the NNE 18-24 knot wind, and sailed back to Titusville arriving “home” to E dock (28°37.167N; 80° 48.464W: Remember I am giving you the coordinates so you can go to Google Earth and plug them to see exactly where of I speak.) and a wonderful reception by our old friends and the Westland Marina staff.

Back in Florida

We left Brunswick, GA (31° 09.52N, 81° 29.59W), June 21after refueling and an overnight stay, for Fernandina Beach Scorpion Marina's 100 ton lift                            (30° 40.274N, 81° 28.031W) just a few hours away.  After going on a ball in the mooring field, we went ashore into this pretty, restored town.  Next afternoon we struck out for New Smyrna where we planned to stay for my surgery.  This time we made the inlet on a slack tide in daylight: piece of cake.  We anchored in  our spot north of the north causeway bridge ((29° 2.569N, 80° 54.400W).                                      

After three weeks and surgery to fix my deviated septum, we took off for Port Canaveral and Scorpion's New Port Marina (28° 24.433N, 80° 37.837W) where we were lifted out and put "on the hard" to have a thru-hull put in dedicated to the air conditioners' raw water pumps, the sail drives maintained, the props checked, and stage for our trip back to the Bahamas for our 40th anniversary .
   

On July 23, 2009 we left for our party in the Bahamas. I made the decision that given the lack of wind and having to motor we'd head straight (SSE) across the northerly flowing Gulf Stream for the Bahama Banks. Two hours into the Stream, we discovered a leak in the port hull. After pumping and vacuuming I saw we could easily control the flow, so we continued on to the Bank. Turned out there was a crack forward of the keel probably caused by a grounding by the prior owner and exacerbated by the two haul-outs we had had. It was allowing about a gallon of sea water in every half-hour.

On July 23, 2009 we left for our party in the Bahamas. I made the decision that given the lack of wind and having

The Crew: Jackie Williams, Bob and Pat Hoover, Harry and Linda

 to motor we'd head straight (SSE) across the northerly flowing Gulf Stream for the Bahama Banks. Two hours into the Stream, we discovered a leak in the port hull. After pumping
and vacuuming I saw we could easily control the flow, so we continued on to the Bank. Turned out there was a crack forward of the keel probably caused by a grounding by the prior owner and exacerbated by the two haul-outs we had had. It was allowing about a gallon of sea water in              

As you can see below we did make it to West End (26° 41.440N, 78° 59.590W) by 1600 hrs., July 24, in time to check in with Bahamian Immigration and Customs. Not a good trip boat or weather-wise.

West End: Old Bahama Bay Marina

Next morning we headed down the coast past Freeport to Ocean Reef Yacht Club (26° 30.245, 78° 39.740) where we tied up for the night, checking in with the Club in the a.m.  We then relocated to two slips large (wide) enough to take our 28' beam.

 Byrl Raper, Kathy and Lee Maidenberg, Linda  and Harry                                  















Kyler Vaughn, Marnie and Mark Vaughn, Betty and Byrle Raper

Marnie (Arnold) Vaughn and  Marion McGrath at coctail party

"Mama mia" in the kitchenette

Duane and Jackie Williams

Limbo at the Lucaya Market Place. (Note: Kalik bottle)

The anniversary party went off on August 1 after two coctail parties: one at Bob and Pat Hoover's and the second at Marian and Jack McGrath's Taino Beach condo next to the restaurant.  It started inside, but the A/C was on the fritz, so we settled out on the varanda with the ocean waves on the beach and a nice SE breeze.

Relaxing the next day at the pool at Ocean Reef

Jackie, Mark, Harry, Linda, Byrle, Betty, Kathy and Lee

Mark, Parker and Dalton Vaughn
 fishing at Ocean Reef

We headed back to Canaveral on August 8 slowing at Freeport hoping to have the Discovery cruise ship pass us with the grandkids and Marnie and Mark.  No such luck, but we tried.  We got back to Scorpion's on the 9th and got hauled out again to fix the leak which I had tried to fix from the inside, but not to 100%.  Linda alsao decided we should have the Kuhela painted and the generator fixed, again.  We got a great price on the painting and fiber glass repairs, but the generator turned into a nightmare.  It seems vibrations (?) on the generator end broke all four the legs on the backend bearing holder allowing the stator to wobble and graze the windings.  Kaput!  So we priced new generators and settled on a Norpro 7.0 kV with a 3 cylindar Yanmar diesel engine.  It operates at 1,800 RPM and is therefor quiet.  It comes with a five year warranty.

The weather has not cooperated (lots of rain) and we've been here ever since moving back and forth between Altamonte Springs (the Williams and the 'Hood), Longwood (Jim and Jane Caltrider), and Titusville (Jack Fitzgibbon and Peggy Penridge).  Maybe by Wednesday, 9/16, we'll get back into the water and back to our cruising life style.

May 22 to June 16, 2009

Pushed off the dock at Manatee Pocket with the generator fixed! Finally someone who knew what he was doing: the hydraulic pump had somehow lost its rubber inspection port and gotten a little corroded and was frozen. Luckily with a twist of a screwdriver it freed itself and now works just fine: Yahoo!!! Still gotta replace it. Anyway at 1130 we headed for the Gulf Stream and 26 hours later we watched as a Coast Guard cutter came crashing out thru the 3'-4' chop on an outgoing tide coming out Ponce De Leon Inlet (29° 04.5N, 80° 54.54W) at New Symrna: just like in the movies: Wow, spray flying out everywhere and the Coasties all lined up on the top bridge in their red life jackets. After fueling up, we headed south 2 NM and pulled to the west side of the channel at channel marker Red "20" and dropped the hook for the weekend (29° 2.713N, 80° 54.468W). Jackie and Duane Williams joined us in the afternoon and Jim and Jane Caltrider sailed up from Titusville to raft up with us and bring our mail. We were joined by Pat and Bob Hoover; Jack and Marion McGrath; Missy and Bob for a fun Memorial Day weekend.









Storm over New Smyrna

Up anchor on the 26th - and we managed to bend the shank on the Fortress anchor trying to put up the sail in the current before leaving - at 1500 hrs. bound again for the Gulf Stream (it gives a 2.5 - 3 NM speed kick northeast) and Southport, NC. This time, after 56 hours and 359 NM, we arrived in the dark - great timing - at the outer mark. The chart plotter worked perfectly and guided up into the Southport Marina's (33° 55.038N, 78° 1.728W) fuel dock without incident at around 0030 hrs. Other cruisers who happened to be up at that un-Godly hour helped us tie up to the floating dock. This time Betty and

Summer Wind, Jim & Jane Caltrider

Byrl Raper from Monroe, NC joined us. We spent our time sight seeing the cute, little town to include a run to the Boat US liquidation sale; eating; and drinking .















Betty and Byrl Raper with Linda Southport City Marina

Off to Little River Inlet, NC and the town of Calabash (33° 53.096N, 78° 34.242W) on 6/1/09 where we "moored" in an abandoned marina (Marsh Harbor) by dropping the hook in the mud and tying off to two trees on the shore. When the tide went out, we sat on the bottom (mud) in 2 ft. of water. Betty and Byrl returned for the weekend and I worked him nearly to death. We put in the new main sail traveler and track from Garhauer along with two new cars for the jib sheets. These have blocks and ball bearings so




















they can be adjusted under load. We also got Betty to take the measurements for a new A/C panel face as the existing one is full of holes for instruments and switches we used to have. All was not work, however. We did get to the beach where we found a warm salt water pool and took "showers" with boaters' soap and Joy. On 6/10 we were hit by a torrential thunder storm with 30+kn winds which pulled the anchor thru the mud and landed us up against the sea wall where we had tied off. In getting the engines started and moving back out into the middle again, one of the mooring lines fouled the port propeller. But we were successful in resetting the anchor and hanging off one mooring line until morning. Next day I had to dive the prop and cut the rope free. Thankfully I had purchased the necessary fittings at Ace Hardware to hook up my SCUBA regulator to the oil-less electric air pump and was able to "stay down" while hacking the miscreant line. The yucky mud bottom was down just enough that I didn't have to wallow in it.

Man, that was enough for Calabash and we took off for Murrells Inlet, SC, a beach condo enclave (no town that we saw). We anchored at the end of the channel and to one side (33° 33.466N, 79° 01.181W). Winds still steadily out of the SE - S which kept us out of the marsh. Yup, you guessed it: the wind shifted during the night pushing us on the high tide slightly (one pontoon) onto the fringe of the marsh. High and dry, but at only a slight cant: a cat can do that where a sloop would

Murrells Inlet marinas

be a lop-sided mess. No problem, right? Wrong. The morning's high was 1/2 ft. lower that the night's high, so we had to wait until that evening and a higher tide to kedge ourselves off with our new and improved Fortress anchor. Seems it has a lifetime warranty and they replaced the shank for the cost of shipping. Yes! This time we anchored further out in the channel, kept an anchor watch (we took turns staying awake watching for other boats coming back in), up anchored at 0615 hrs., and headed for Winyah Bay inlet and Georgetown, SC (33° 21.768N, 79° 16.925W). Once again we mostly motored into the wind on our nose until we hit the Winyah River. Then for 2.5 hrs. we were able to motor sail up to Georgetown, a deep water port from where they export metal products, paper and lumber. Another cute town with a little history. Seems Mrs. Obama's great grandfather was a slave on one of the plantations there and helped to found the local AME church which was instrumental in educating the slaves to read and write. Apparently she still attends services there

Shrimper

when she's in town.

We decided to try our hand at "sailing" the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW) south. We'd hoped to get as far as Beaufort and Hilton Head, but were thwarted by a fixed bridge (maximum vertical height at mean low water 65' and our mast is 67') just south of Beaufort. So we opted to go as far as McClellanville, SC (33° 5.064N, 79° 28.040W) where we could cut over thru the marshes to the sea. Holy cow, the yellow headed, monster biting flys were everywhere. Linda, no kidding, must have swatted 3 dozen back to the Hell they came from. But we still got a bite or two with Linda in the lead for most succulent. McClellanville is a very small shrimping/fishing community as far as we could tell scouting up the riverfront in a rain storm. Boats rafted up to wharfs three at a time were all along the riverside: pretty crowded. We anchored in Five Fathom Creek (33° 3.976N, 79° 27.826W) just east of the ICW and just off Clark's Creek which lead to the inlet. Next morning (6/15/09) we headed for sea only to find the entire coastal configuration had changed from what we saw on the chartplotter. The entire barrier island at the mouth of the inlet was gone and the channel went right through where it had been. There was a dredge making the channel deeper and wider. Thankfully the Coast Guard had relocated the buoys so we got back into the Atlantic without incident.

Yup, another short motor (winds under 5 kn from the SE) passage (26 hrs. and 168 NM), this time to the backside of St. Simons Island, GA ((31° 9.807N, 81° 25.083W) near Brunswich, GA where I'm penning this blog.

Back to the US of A

We made it on time (4/30/09, the day our immigration cards expired) from Sale Cay (26° 59.004 N, 78° 12.842 W) to West End (26° 41.857 N, 79° 59.814 W) to renew our status until the end of August. The Immigration Officer was reluctant (she wanted us to leave and return to pay another $300 for our still good, 1 year cruising permit), but when Linda explained about our 40th wedding anniversary party scheduled for the first of August she relented.

Everyone is invited
and gets a free dinner and free drinks.
BUT, you must pay your way to
Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas
AND get your own place to stay.
We’ll be at Ocean Reef (www.oryc.com).
Please email (harnold@cfl.rr.com) us with questions and RSVP so we can plan the food.

Manatee Pocket and Pirates Cove Marina

After confirming with Brightling Star the next morning who had left West End an hour earlier that the seas were flat and the winds crisp and brisk out of the SE, we upped anchor and set sail for the US of A to refit and fix our various problems: generator that wouldn’t recognize that it is making electricity; our Merc outboard’s broken cover, sticking throttle (boy is that fun when you come into the dock on a plane!), and gas line connection leak; and mutiny of Otto, our autopilot. You guessed it, winds promptly died to less than 5 knots: so, we had to motor the whole way. Couldn’t put up the spinnaker ‘cause the autopilot was in revolt and it takes both of us some time to fly it with only Otto at the helm. All in all, I guess, it’s better to have too little wind crossing the Gulf Stream than too much. We got to St. Lucie inlet (27°10.00N, 80° 8.38 W) at around 1830 hrs. and were at anchor in Manatee Pocket ((27° 08.853 N, 80° 11.671 W) before sunset.

Brightling Star had a scare when they discovered they were taking on water 30 miles out through one of the rudder wells. Seems a fitting on the bottom of the hull had slipped down creating a scoop that shot water up the rudder shaft into a rear compartment. Captain Ron (yes, that is really his moniker) got it under control with an extra bilge pump and they made it to Ft. Pierce with time to spare. One good thing, the USCG cutter lurking in the Stream to board some poor sole, heard Capt. Ron’s and our conversation and headed across our rhumb line (shortest distance between two points) northward to see what was up. Next morning we called Customs and Boarder Protection’s 800 number and learned that the checking in procedure had changed again. The DTOPS sticker we had to buy is now only for the boat even though they have all our particulars (name, rank, serial number, etc.) on file with it for both us. We now must have a new, numbered plasti ccard (Local Boaters Program) for each of us aboard. Thus, rent a car and drive 33 miles to the airport to have an Immigration Officer look at our passports. Dumb. dumb, and dumber! Later in the week we ended up making an appointment in Riviera Beach (yes, another 30 miles in the opposite direction) to hand in our passports and a form with all the info DTOPS already had. In 12 minutes, voila! a new, handy dandy plastic card which may or may not be acceptable in the future as the rules are constantly changing. Frankly, it is easier for a Mexican national to enter this country than its own citizens.


We spent the week visiting family and friends in Orlando and returned to Manatee Pocked Friday to turn in the car and get with a marine mechanic to fix the generator and maybe the autopilot. Well, it is now Monday the 18th and we are still working on the generator (now it might be the circuit board we replaced two years ago in Titusville). But it’s not the water pump (it had a seal leak and had to be replaced), nor the fuel pump (we changed and
cleaned the filters), nor the abraded and or lose wires we found, nor the salt crystals (Salt-Awayed) from the leaking pump. The other parts (West Marine for the Lewmar electric winch switch [under warranty!]; Mercury Outboards (gas valve, throttle spring, and cover: black with no decals as the better it looks the more inviting it is to steal [also under warranty!]) should be in by week’s end at worst, we hope.

Chris Aimee Mark, Marnie Linda, Millie
Caiden Alexis Kyler Dalton, Parker

Oh, I almost forgot Magic, Bill and Jose Anderson’s cat. When they stayed with us for a few days, they brought Magic down from Indiantown where they were putting Caper on the hard (out of the water and on stanchions) ‘till they come back in November. (Canadians have to be in Canada six months out of the year to stay eligible for their socialized medicine.) Magic has the run of the boat except our cabin and likes to wander around to include the sail bag on the boom: nice and high, plus cool, I guess. We were listening to music, talking and of course drinking, in the outside salon when we heard a loud scamper/thud and Magic swept past us headed for the bow. Some how, some where she’d slipped over the side, climbed back up the stern steps and took off as if the Hounds of Hell were in pursuit. Jose almost had a he art attach and Bill had the fun of squirting fresh water from the outside shower on his clawing pussy. Oh, ya!

The generator is fixed! And with just one check of the panel to see if there was 120v on two wires. Yup, there wasn’t any voltage as demonstrated by the lack of a light on the Output Gen indicator light on the panel. I’m going to ask Mase for some refunds, especially for the new relay circuit board to replace my good one. We’ll see. The autopilot, on the other hand was not fixed by replacing the broken tip on the rudder position sensor. Gotta look deeper with the Furuno tech.

Our plan is, once all is fixed hopefully this week, to overnight (26 or so hours cruising) north to New Smyrna and take on more on-order supplies from our mail box, Jim and Jane Caltrider. From there we’ll head north hopefully as far as Southport, NC to see Betty and Byrl Raper: our soon to be owner/partners in this adventure, and then up to the Chesapeake. Weather permitting, we’ll see.

Great Guana Cay: Fishers Bay (26° 40.0N, 77° 07.0W) and Orchid Bay (26° 39.89N, 77° 06.65W)

Yup, there's Kuhela

Fisher Bay anchorage

Bill’s foot (actually metatarsal) is no better. If anything its worse and he has resolved to stay off it as much as possible. So we have decided to stay put for now back and explore this idyllic little cay. We have re-anchored at Fishers to forgo the $15/night mooring ball fee now that the most recent front has passed. Great Guana has grown up over the years we’ve been coming here with much more development: mostly winter homes ($1+ million). The “Snow Birds” stay several months and then fly “home” for their parents, kids, grand kids, etc. This is typical behavior all over the Bahamas. A new development at Baker’s Bay is under construction: a huge marina with channels cut all over the center of the area; a bulldozed golf course; home sites (lots for $2+ million); paved roads and underground utilities. This is all off-limits to anyone wanting to poke around.

Fishers Bay looking at Grabbers

(Baker’s was originally “improved” by one of the cruise ship lines to create a seaside, beach themed recreation area where passengers could eat, drink, recreate, and make merry on land. They abandoned it all in-place, literally walked away, several years later.)

This is the same stance Orchid Bay Estates has taken at the other end (SE) of the island, so one is now relegated to the central portion of the cay only. As this is the part with the “town” (hotels, bars, marina, grocery, neighborhood, etc.), it is somewhat acceptable. The very rich do not want to rub shoulders with the unwashed peons.

Grabbers looking out into the anchorage

Grabbers after Nippers

Kuhela at Fishers off Grabbers

Easter Sunday was a time to hunt for eggs hidden on the beach for the kids and on the reef for the adults at Nippers up on a white sand dune facing NE.

Nippers

Adult hunt at Nippers

Nippers Beach