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| Great Bahama, Berry Islands, Nassau |
Pictures: The water really does look like this Leave a comment
Nassau Leave a comment
Well, we’re in Nassau. Lee, Pirat, and I have managed to avoid running into coral, dragging our anchor, getting chased off of private islands for stealing coconuts, being devoured by man-eating tropical fish, melting in the hot sun, and going crazy from lack of civilization. Our first week in the Bahamas has been a true success!
We spent most of the week anchored in an idyllic spot in the Berry Islands. It took a night and most of the next day of tacking upwind to get their. Yesterday we beat into the wind again to go the 30 miles to Nassau. Now we’re in the land of cruise ships, throngs of pasty tourists, and insane driving. Somewhere around here there is rich Bahamian culture and relics of British colonialism but right now we’re in Starbucks using the internet. I know, I know. It’s criminal.
I promise more of an update soon.
Turquoise water; pictures update Leave a comment
First things first. I have to tell my Manatee story. It’s not really a story, I’ve just decided that I love Manatee’s. There were signs warning boats against running over them in Palm beach so I was on the lookout the whole time we were there. Finally, on one of our last days, I was standing on deck and heard a sea mammal breath near the boat. I looked over to see two Manatee’s coming up for air a short distance away. They flopped their disc-shaped tails and were gone. Hey, I saw Manatees! I’m in love!
There are tropical fish in this harbor. Fish with stripes swim around under the docks in water so clear you can see all every detail of the sandy bottom.
So far, the Bahamas is an otherworldly, sometimes bizarre place. Crossing the gulf stream itself was pretty strange. Imagine sailing across a river, perpendicular to the current, with the wind blowing the boat somewhat into the flow of water. We expected some steep waves but nothing too terrible since the wind wasn’t directly opposing the gulf stream.
As it turned out, the waves were occasionally 6 feet or so and very close together when we first entered the stream. It was a roly passage to start out but Pirat broad-reached along at about 7 knots. Things calmed down as we worked our way east. It was impossible to sail a straight line due to the 3+ knot current pushing us north.
The ocean water was eerily warm. Lee persuaded me to stick my foot in so I could see how warm it was and he was right – it felt like a bathtub!
The wind remained steady at 15-20 knots, dying only as we sighted Great Bahama Island and knew we were almost to our entry port of West End.
I docked Pirat masterfully in our first foreign slip and then served as captain (the only one allowed off the boat for the time being) to clear customs. My first encounter with the entrance procedure was hilarious. I was so nervous and I’d dropped the paper work in the water so I had to fill it all out while the customs agent watched. He talked ridiculously fast and I could barely understand his accent.
At one point he asked “Just the two women on board?â€
I stood bewildered, then answered “You mean two men?â€
He looked confused.
“I mean one man and one woman!†I corrected.
I have no idea what led to the confusion but I wasn’t helping things by being half brain dead.
I did finally get everything sorted out and walked away with a stamped cruising permit/fishing license etc. and an overwhelming feeling of relief.
Lee and I spent one night at Old Bahama Bay Marina in West End. On our morning run there yesterday we saw some local sights. The homes and businesses closest to the marina were somewhat run-down, pastel painted, one-story buildings. People passed in regular cars but drove on the left side of the road. The police cars were Volkswagons and looked very european. The shore was littered with old, half-sunken boats, makeshift beach bars, and piles of conch shells.
Yesterday afternoon we motored (not much wind) East along Great Bahama island to a much cheaper marina near Freeport and Lucaya. Getting through the entrance channel was a little hair-raising. We knew we had to come in a high tide but didn’t get there till about an hour after. The depth sounder went down to 7 in a couple place and we held our breath while I shifted into neutral. With Lee spotting shallows from the bow and me driving we eventually crept in to a dock at Sunrise Marina.
That was yesterday. Sunrise Marina has been pleasant so far. There are a few boats here but no people other than the resort employees. The hotel looks empty but is very well kept and tidy. There’s a tiny pool and a deserted “sport’s barâ€. Everyone is very friendly and I’m getting a little better at understanding the Bahamian accent.
We ran to Freeport and back this morning (6 miles round trip) to get the lay of the land. My first impression is that people here are really into painting. All the buildings look like they have a fresh coat of bright paint on them and we saw a guy painting a Burger King a nice tropical beige color.
There are palm trees with genuine coconuts in them all over the place! The water really is turquoise and there really are tropical fish in the harbor!
Now we’re resting up for a possible bike into Freeport for dinner. Maybe we’ll just go play pool in the sport’s bar.
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| Disneyworld to the Bahamas |
I finally got some pictures uploaded to Picasa. This album covers Disneyworld through the Bahamas.
On a dark and stormy night Leave a comment
Here’s a backdated post to tide you over till the story of our gulf stream crossing is finished. I wrote this a few days ago, Wednesday to be exact, but was not able to finish and post it at the time.
Sunset our first night in Palm Beach.
Palm beach is starting to get old. The weather isn’t all that great. There isn’t much to do on land, not that we have time to do anything but frantically prepare the boat. The marina where we’ve been docking our dinghy and getting packages is a bit ghetto and the employees are less than helpful.
At least we have plenty of entertainment! Peanut island, site of JFK’s vacation bomb shelter, is next door and we’ve had some pleasant runs along it’s shores. The water is beautiful and warm enough to swim in. We got a glimpse of the local culture on the long, long bus ride to the airport, where we picked up a rental car.
As always, we have plenty of amusing boat neighbors. A a very friendly guy is alone on his 36ft sailboat next to us. There was a Hallberg Rassey here when we arrived and there are a couple big catamarans and various other sailboats as well.
Last night brought a little drama to the anchorage. A strong front moved in around 10pm, when Lee and I were about to go to bed. We knew it was supposed to be a stormy night but felt confident in our anchorage. As the first gusts hit, Pirat healed over dramatically and the rigging howled. At the time, Lee was on his way to the helm to turn off the engine (running for refrigeration). He saw all hell brad loose around us.
The single-handed boat seemed to pop it’s anchor free immediately and began dragging towards the nearby home-lined shore. It was dark out, of course, and rain started coming down in sheets shortly after the wind hit. Lightning occasionally lit up the monotone grey sky.
Instead of turning off then engine and going to bed, Lee put on his foul weather gear and went up on deck to make sure everything was secure. We decided it would be best to leave the engine on. If our anchor dragged we wanted to be ready.
The Schooner at a dock after the day after the storm.
Back to our neighbor in distress: Seconds after his boat went galavanting away, the large schooner anchored behind him followed suit. It looked like the first boat’s anchor may have snagged the schooner’s anchor line. The wind, gusting to 35+ knots, pummeled both boats towards shore faster than I expected. It was like their anchors meant nothing.
We saw the single-hander pop up in his cockpit before too long and held our breath as we waited for him to drive his boat out of danger. The schooner was holding steady again but the smaller boat was beam to the wind and practically on the waterfront lawns. Finally the boat backed rapidly away from shore and the skipper retracted his anchor from the cockpit using an electric windlass. He eventually re-anchored about where he’d been before.
Shore where boats nearly ran aground (the next day).
The schooner, however, was still in trouble. Strong gusts hit persistently and, before long, it was dragging again. We watched the helpless schooner, wondering if the guy we’d seen aboard earlier that day was there now. The Rachel B. Jackson, as the schooner is called, takes people on cruises from Peanut island. It really looked like she was aground and I was thinking about calling someone when I hear voices on the radio (I’d turned it on earlier because it seemed appropriate). The guy on the schooner was hailing the coast guard but his messages were very weak and garbled. The coast guard got the message, though, and dispatched a boat right away.
The little coast guard boat zoomed into the anchorage and over to the Rachel B. Jackson. We weren’t sure why the guy onboard didn’t just motor out of his predicament. Maybe he had engine trouble or something. In any case, Lee watched the coast guard boat help the schooner to the Peanut Island dock. I collapsed in bed as soon as the rescue started.
What a night it was! The storm was calming down when we both got in bed but the lightning was all over. I woke up hours later to complete stillness and silence. It was wonderful but eerie.
The night-time spectacle reminded me how tenuous safety can be on the boat. One second we’re safe at anchor, and the next we could be barreling towards jagged rocks. I realized that I wasn’t really scared that night. Lee has proven his anchoring skills in every situation and I knew that he could handle anything that might happen. That is, I knew we could handle it together. Lee had put out a second bow anchor earlier in the day so we had double security. At my suggestion, we tied fenders to our anchor lines after the front arrived so we could drop our anchors and get away quickly if need be. Lee stood on deck in his red suit through the torrential rain and wind. I monitored the radio and watched from under the dodger.
We survived. Everyone survived. It was just another night of boat life!
WE MADE IT to the BAHAMAS!!!! Leave a comment
I can’t believe we’re here! I can’t believe we crossed the gulf stream without a hitch and didn’t even have to wait for weather.
There is a lot to catch up on, since preparing for today’s passage occupied 99.9% of my time for the past few days.
All I can say is we’re at West End, Great Bahama Island (look at the map – Lee updated it). We are both exhausted and stupefied by all this.
Florida! Leave a comment
Some miles have passed, and some time. One state fell away over the horizon and another surfaced ahead. Lee, Pirat and I are in Florida now. The temperatures are in the 70’s. The water is blue and clear. Only one port stands between us and the Bahamas. I can’t believe we’re here!
Florida is a little bit like I expected it to be a little bit of a surprise. The weather is tropical and reminds be a lit of Hawaii but the state isn’t filled with old-folks homes and golf courses. Beautiful, natural scenery abounds and friendly, ocean-oriented people are everywhere.
The Port Canaveral Yacht Club, where Pirat stayed while Lee and I visited Disney world, is a great little club that is very friendly to cruisers. It reminded me a lot of Ventura Yacht club in attitude and appearance. Everyone was laid back and friendly. There were lots of live-aboard cruisers on the dock and Lee and I hit the jackpot of local knowledge. We got tons of great advice on sailing to the Bahamas and beyond. The club members were as excited as we are about our trip.
Lee and I spent one rainy day in Orlando and another, sunny day at Disney world this week. We stuck to one park – the Magic Kingdom – and had a blast on all the rides and attractions. I made Lee go on the Teacups with me and he enjoyed spinning our teacup as fast as humanly possible. Lee got the giant turkey leg he’d been looking forward to and I got the Disney world visit I’ve been wanting for years!
After a day of serious provisioning in our rental Smart Car (yes, it held us and our groceries) and serious laundry at PCYC, we set sail for Fort Pierce yesterday morning. Pirat covered the 60 some miles mostly under engine power. We had just enough wind to sail for a while in the afternoon. It was a calm, relaxing passage except for my mild seasickness throughout the day.
Our first encounter with Florida dolphins was memorable. A handful of them swam along with Pirat yesterday morning. They were huge – the biggest dolphins I’ve ever seen! I stretched out on the bow, watching them play in the wake and occasionally turn sideways like they were trying to look at me.
Since then we’ve seen dolphins everywhere, including in the anchorage where we are now. We also saw some giant fish jumping out of the water a fair distance away from us yesterday. Whatever they were, something big was chasing them!
We waited out some rain in Fort Pierce today but tomorrow we’re off to Lake Worth (near Palm Beach), our last stop in Florida before we cross the Gulf stream to the Bahamas. Ahhhhh! I can’t believe we’ll be out of the country by the end of the month! There are still a few things to do before we’re ready to go. We want to leave with as many supplies as possible and we’ll need a good weather window for the crossing. Once we’re in the Bahamas it’s time for blue waters, desert islands, and new experiences!
Pictures: Christmas in Seattle Leave a comment
Person, place, or thing? Leave a comment
Is home a place, a thing, or a state of mind?
View from Mom’s house on a clear and frosty New Year’s eve morning.
I say it’s at least one but as many as all three of the above. I only came to this conclusion after spending all of yesterday deep in thought. Long, cross country flights are perfect for pondering weighty subjects.
Lee and I spent almost two weeks at my mom’s new house in Seattle. Even though I’d never seen it before or spent more than a day in Seattle before this trip, I was home. My mom’s home will always be one of my homes. The boat, or whatever space I share with Lee, is my other home. The way I see it, that means I have person and thing homes. It’s the home place where I’m adrift, literally.
I don’t miss California. I have no problem with my mom moving away from where I grew up. That hasn’t been my home for a long time. Colorado was nice. I did like having my own apartment but I was lonely there until I met Lee. We set up out own place with the boat in Rhode island. That was only temporary. We moved on. Maine was comforting, but again, temporary. Now Lee and I move every few days. We experience new places more often than we typically change our socks.
I enjoy this lifestyle. I have my person (Lee) and my thing (the boat). Together, we are exploring. Still, I can’t help but feel displaced – like I’m drifting somewhere between leaving and arriving. It’s a difficult feeling to explain and Lee has trouble understanding it. Will we ever stumble into a place where we feel right or can I be content with person and thing? I know it shouldn’t matter where we are as long as we’re together but a base of operations would be nice. There are so many things I want to do…
Pepper on the jelly cabinet.
Sorry. Christmas was nice. Wonderful. Seattle was as cold and wet as anyone could want and my mom’s new house was cozy with cheer. Pepper and Jack (the cats) were their usual goofy selves. Lee and I ran in the Arboretum and slept in my old bed. We helped my mom with some new house jobs. We all drove out to Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula one day and went up in the Space Needle on another. There was plenty of Trader Joe’s, cooking, and cookie decorating.
My mom and I got to go wedding dress shopping and I actually picked out a dress! I’m so glad we were able to do that together. Looking at invitation stationary wasn’t nearly as much fun but I found something with input from Lee and Mom. The glares from the couple in front of us when I expressed my disdain for spending gobs of money on invitations were priceless.
I must be leaving something out from the trip. It was a long one so I don’t remember everything. Lee and I got back to Charleston just before midnight last night. We were in a cab on the way to the marina when 2010 began 2011. It’s much warmer here than it was before and certainly warmer than Seattle. The fog hangs just above the water.
Yesterday we took the dinghy to the grocery store. It was a wet ride but easier than the bus. The afternoon’s activities consisted of unpacking and cleaning the boat. Lee vacuumed and mopped (I know, I’m so lucky!). We slept till after 8 this morning, a travesty for us. Jet lag may get in the way of our planned Monday morning departure.
The routine at rest Leave a comment
It’s Santa’s feet!
Without an intense schedule of passage making, Lee and I have settled into a routine not unlike that of teenagers in their first days of vacation. At least we don’t stay up till the wee hours of the morning or drive to the mall to hang out with our friends. We have been sleeping in a bit and then taking it easy for the better part of the day.
Reveling in the luxuries of docked life is nice but I don’t think I could do it for very long. Lee and I spend way too much time in front of our computers when we’re not sailing. It doesn’t help that it’s been cold and rainy for most of our week in Charleston. Most days start with a run around part of the old military base, either before or after a leisurely breakfast. The marina has fabulous showers to warm us up after our run. By the time we’ve showered it’s usually almost lunchtime. Afternoons are either spent holed up in the boat with our computers or out exploring Charleston. I’ve made dinner on the boat every night but one and we’ve been watching TV or a DVD most evenings. We went out to one movie, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest (good but not nearly as good as the book).
Charleston is an interesting place. Downtown, the colonial architecture combined with palm (or palmetto) tree-lined streets evokes the quintessential Old South of my imagination. People are indeed friendly and there is a lot of fried food around. I’ve also noticed a higher incidence of extra e’s on the ends of certain words since we crossed into the Carolinas. Shoppe, towne, ye olde…all those silly spellings are all over the storefronts. I know I saw Ye Olde Towne Shoppe somewhere.
Because the marina where we’re staying is a ways away from everything, renting a car made the most sense for transportation. Our little rental Yaris has been very handy for getting to the grocery store, procuring frozen yogurt, and making hardware store runs. Lee has been working on a few projects that necessitated such errands. The propane for the stove stopped working one night and Lee ended up taking the stove apart after ruling out other potential problem sources. It turned out there was nothing wrong with the stove but disassembling it led to some broken screws. That resulted in broken drill bits, minor puncture wounds, and a couple days without 3 functional stove burners. We blamed the propane valve but, in the end, that wasn’t the problem either. The electronic switch that turns the propane on and off wasn’t sending it’s signal to the valve. Such is life on a boat.
Tomorrow our lazy days in Charleston come to an end. Lee and I are flying to Seattle, another cold, rainy climate. I can’t wait to celebrate Christmas with my mom in her new home! Pirat will be safe in the hands of the dedicated Cooper River Marina employees and I know we’ll be anxious to get going when we get back from Seattle.
Sail sail sail sail sail…sleep Leave a comment
Charleston at last! I never thought this city would feel like such an important destination on our journey. It turns out Charleston is special for several reasons. One, it’s our first stop in South Carolina (a new stat for us). Two, we sailed here offshore overnight in the cold and wind without mishap or disaster! Three, as a coincidental reward, we will be staying here for a week before flying to Seattle to visit my mom for Christmas. Pirat will have a snug berth in a marina while we’re gone.
Charleston seems pretty cool. The marina where we’re staying has great rates and is really nice but it’s far from downtown. The marina guy gave us a ride in their free shuttle over to the grocery store yesterday but we had to take a cab back. Some combination of bikes and bus should work in the future but we’ve been warned against biking through the local neighborhood at night. I’m looking forward to exploring an old Southern city, seeing the sights, and just relaxing in one place for a little while.
Le put the new wind generator on before we left. The blades aren’t
actually bent. This is just what it looks like when it’s spinning
really fast and you take a picture.
The sail from Southport, NC to here started with some entertainment. A funky little sailboat with three texans on it pulled into the fuel dock at Southport before we left. They were friendly and we chatted withe them about the trip. They had just bought their boat and were taking it home to Texas, mostly by way of the ICW. They were considering going out in the ocean for part of the leg to Charleston and became more enthusiastic about the idea when we told them we were sailing there overnight. They ended up leaving before us and when we pulled out it looked like they were heading towards and inlet part way to Charleston. After we raised our sails and set our course they altered theirs to follow us. It was pretty comical because we blasted ahead of them in no time and they couldn’t follow our dead down wind heading because they didn’t have a pole to wing out their jib.
We sailed wing-n-wing with full sails all evening. The wind was light (10 or below) and we flogged around a bit. The highlight of the sail was the pod of dolphins that joined us after sunset. Lee and I went out on deck to check the chart plotter before the first night shift. Lee thought he heard dolphins but I told him it was just waves. After listening for a second, though, we both agreed that there were dolphins surfacing alongside the boat. We could hear them breathe and even heard some chirping dolphin speak. From the bow, I could see dolphins swimming all around us, dashing under the boat and racing the bow wave. The water was so clear, I could see their bodies under the surface and then glistening as they rose to breathe. I spent quite a while lying on the foredeck on my stomach with my face poked under the lifelines. It felt like I was swimming along with the dolphins.
My shift started then. I was in charge of the boat from about 7:30pm to 10:30pm while Lee tried to sleep. The rolling boat made sleeping hard and the shifty wind kept me busy. I was constantly adjusting our course to keep the wind directly behind Pirat. In between, I read my book, drank tea, and listened to my ipod. The shift went by so slowly!
Lee took over for the second watch and the wind increased shortly afterwards. He jibed onto a reach. I finally got comfortable then, since the rolling stopped, but my sleeping time was almost over. Lee was so sweet, he gave me an extra hour and a half to sleep, taking a long watch himself. I was back on duty at 3am. By then we were blasting along on a broad reach. The wind was up to almost 20 knots and the waves were steep at our stern. Pirat surfed like mad and set a new speed record: 13.6 knots!
When I couldn’t keep my eyes open any more I roused Lee, who wasn’t sleeping anyway. We considered reefing, since the wind was gusting well above 20 and heading us to more of a beam reach. Reefing didn’t seem too urgent to either of us and it was nice to go fast so I turned in and Lee went on deck for a wild ride. I don’t know if I slept at all. I was listening to a boat we’d met a while back broadcasting various things on channel 16. I got up in time to fix us both breakfast before we turning into the harbor. First we reefed the main and switched to the solent for a turn upwind. We avoided a freighter in the channel and felt intensely proud of ourselves as we scorched past a few southbound boats coming from the ICW. We sailed here! We sailed really fast (our average speed was well above 7 knots overall and more like 8 knots from midnight on)! The two of us can handle the cold and the ocean!
Enjoying my breakfast after a long night.
After tying up at Cooper River Marina Lee and I kind of collapsed. Lee literally fell asleep after taking a shower and I bustled around frantically, trying to keep moving because I knew I’d zonk out if I stopped. I did my zonking after we’d gone to the grocery store and eaten our meal in a couple days that included fresh vegetables. We made up for our lack of sleep on the sail.
Today it is rainy. We’ll probably go for a run eventually but right now we’re relaxing. This morning I accomplished a few things I’d been putting off for a while. That felt good.
Follow us, a wandering family with a sense of adventure.