Super Storm Sandy

We were a little annoyed that although we had Symphony ready to be hauled Wednesday before the storm she was never hauled.  We put extra lines on her in preparation for the storm with its projected 12 foot tidal surge.  The surge had the potential to lift the floating docks right over the pilings.  On Tuesday after the storm we approached the docks with more than a little trepidation.  Symphony was unscathed as were all the other boats in the marina.  (Brewer's Glen Cove).  Although we had no power at home we had our batteries, solar power, and engine on the boat to generate power.  Best of all, we have an Espar diesel heater aboard, installed thanks to the ingenuity of Jay Lesynski of Merri-Mar Yacht Basin in Newburyport, MA.

We moved aboard Symphony in the marina.  After a few days of cloudy weather and about 3 hours of engine time the Marina's electric service was restored.  We plugged in and have been here for 10 days. We've used about 12 gallons of diesel fuel.

Our home is frigid but our boat is cozy.  Having lived aboard for 9 months sailing to and from the Bahamas 10 days isn't bad  (but it is BETTER IN THE BAHAMAS!).  Unfortunately, tonight we are experiencing a Nor'easter with thick snowfall and 35kt winds.  The docks are too treacherous to walk on.  We are constantly being startled by loud bangs on the deck.  We have figured that these sounds are caused by falling pieces of ice.  It is so strange to look out the portholes to see snow swirling in the lights and collecting on the deck.  This is a completely new boating experience for us.

The major discomfort right now is caused by all the condensation on the hatches.  When you least expect it you get a nice cold drip on your head or down your neck.  The temperature in the main cabin is about 66 degrees - a little colder in our pullman berth forward - and a whole lot colder in the forward head where you have to be highly motivated to take a shower.  The hot water quickly warms the shower stall so it really is bearable.

This gives you an idea about how difficult it was to get around after the Storm.
Hard to see how electric service can be restored anytime soon.
We have utility crews from Nova Scotia, Alabama, and Massachusetts.

Super Storm Sandy was truly a super storm.  The effects have been long lasting.  Our biggest problem right now is getting gasoline.  The gas stations all have power but no deliveries.  People are waiting on lines outside gas stations overnight hoping that there will be deliveries the next day.  

We made our way up to Deltaville from Hampton, VA.  We fueled up and went for a quick walk through the boat yard identifying the boats on the hard that we had seen in the Bahamas or en route from the Bahamas.  The next day we motored up to the Solomons and stayed at one of our favorite guest docks.  The guest dock is close to Safina, another Caliber 40 owned by Dennis and Carolyn Chandler.  Dennis and Carolyn invited us to dock there and join them for a sumptuous dinner on their screened in porch overlooking the water.  We may be slightly prejudiced but all the Caliber owners we have met so far have been a pleasure to spend time with.  It was fun comparing our sailing adventures in the Bahamas.  We saw them too briefly in Georgetown.  We also talked some potty talk - Vacuflush that is.  We all love the Vacuflush when it's working but Carolyn has a much better working knowledge of hers - having had multiple experiences assembling and disassembling Safina's Vacuflush.  The Vacuflush eliminates the need to manually pump water in and out of the boat's toilet.  It has a vacuum tank that sucks the contents of the toilet out with a sometimes startling implosion and then electrically pumps out the tank re-establishing the vaccum for the next flush.  The Vacuflush uses a small amount of fresh water instead of the odor laden saltwater that most marine toilets use. But enough potty talk.  The Chesapeake is a wonderful cruising ground.

A typical Chesapeake Bay lighthouse -
moved and preserved in the Solomons

More to come!  We've been busy but more info about the last legs of  our return trip will be up soon!  Symphony is now sailing without us and is in Mattapoisett on Buzzards Bay.

Norfolk-Hampton VA

This morning we sailed past the little cove that we were warned against and found that it was empty.  Next time we'll consider staying there.  We tucked in behind a tug who got us through a restricted bridge a few minutes early only to get stuck at a RR bridge for 20 minutes.  We heard a ferry captain make a comment about all the sailboats in the "Southern Branch."  One tug skipper remarked that "It makes me feel so safe when those sailboats run into each other."  It took us a little while to figure out what he was talking about but after passing a bend in the river we saw what looked like hundreds of sailboats wandering around in all different directions across the river.  

Picking our way through them was a real challenge.  We were under power and they were all sailing - so every last one of them had the right of way over us.  We managed to get by most of them but as we cruised along the leeward side of the channel a cannon went off.  We found ourselves at the start of one of the divisions.  I wish my timing was as good in any of the races I've entered.  We crossed the line just as the cannon sounded - a perfect start!

Everyone in the Norfolk area must own a sailboat.  I don't think I've seen so many sailboats in one place since Block Island Race Week!  The wind was gusting to about 25 knots so boats were moving fast and rounding up in the gusts - but what a beautiful scene.

We ended up following this little Hinckley yawl for awhile.
Pretty boat but over-canvassed as were most of the boats in this race.

Combining our boat speed with the true wind we were getting readings of 32 knots in the gusts.  We figured maybe this wasn't a good day for us to motor directly into the wind up the Chesapeake so we headed across the harbor to Downtown Hampton Pier Marina.  The marina is conveniently located next to the Virginia Air and Space Museum.  Last October I had wanted to visit the Imax theater at the Museum but we didn't have the time.  Today we saw the 3D Imax movie: "Into the Arctic."  I love 3D regardless of the quality of the movie.  This one was fun.  I marveled at the divers who swam with the large IMAX cameras under the ice.  Underwater shots of swimming polar bears and walruses made me wonder how crazy you have to be to film them.  Two thumbs up!

Maybe tomorrow we will be able to head into the wind to Deltaville, VA.

We're Baaack!

Keeping up a blog is difficult - especially when you are pushing as hard as we are to get back to NY.
We have covered over 1000 miles in about 25 days not counting the time we took to fly to NY, Tampa, and finally to Wilmington, NC.  It's also hard to be quite as excited about heading away from the Bahamas as it is to be headed toward them for the first time.  We are pretty excited about the progress we have been making.  Tomorrow looks to be a little rough for much of a passage so we'll look for a short run in the Norfolk area.

The Great Dismal Swamp Canal
first built in 1805.  Beautiful.

We are anchored just north of the Deep Creek Lock on the Great Dismal Swamp Canal.  The locktender, Robert, suggested that we might not like the little cove we were originally headed for since it is a crazy Party Central on the weekends.  He told us that we could anchor in mid-channel just outside the lock.   We were the last boat to pass through the lock today so we’re good until tomorrow morning’s opening at 8:30.  It feels a little strange to be anchored right in front of the lock.

Our 2 Calibers in front of Paul and Joyce's Home

We spent yesterday at our friends' dock on the Pasquotank River just south of the GDSC.  Paul and Joyce are generous hosts who give the term “Southern hospitality” new meaning.  Paul helped with a temporary repair on our autopilot.  The autopilot broke free from its mount again in heavy seas on Albemarle Sound.  We hope if we baby it, it will get us home to NY where we can get a proper repair done on it.  Paul also showed me how to properly tighten the fan belt that has been loosening up on my engine. 

It was hard to take our eyes off the Pasquotank River and our two Caliber 40’s from Paul and Joyce’s laundry, dining and living rooms!  The views of the river with the big cypress trees are exquisite.  Paul also cooked us a sumptuous manicotti dinner – vegetarian style for Maryanne topped off by rich chocolate brownies prepared by Joyce.  Once again we had a wonderful time at the Wheeler's.

The Great Dismal Swamp Canal did not live up to it's original expectations because the water in it was not deep enough.  That issue was partially solved with the addition of locks that lift boats 8 feet for a portion of the canal.  Locking through is fun - watching the water boil in front of you as it comes in and the boat rises slowly 8 feet up the wall of the lock on the rising water.

At the bottom

Going up

Higher

and higher

Are we there yet?

OK, We're finally 8 feet higher.
Time to open the gates.

Northbound

After anchoring in Fort Pierce we didn't feel like dealing with customs right away.  We waited to call an 800 number the next morning with our passport numbers, our location, and the personal info that they required.  We were then directed to head to the nearest customs office within 24 hours.  We were a little apprehensive about questions we might be asked about why we didn't call in immediately and exactly when we arrived etc., etc.  As it turned out the customs official at the Fort Pierce International Airport asked only for our assigned number from the earlier phone call and for our passports.  It took him all of 5 minutes to do the paperwork and to send us on our way.

With all the time it didn't take to clear customs we had enough time to motor up to Vero Beach.  As we approached Vero we could see an impressive lightning show in the dark ominous clouds ahead of us.  The radar showed them to be about 2 miles ahead.  Luckily, we only saw a few drops of rain before we picked up our mooring in the Vero Municipal Marina mooring field.  Melbourne airport (about 30 miles north) reported a record 1.8 inches of rain and 53 mph gusts in the squalls that just missed us.

The view from our mooring in Vero.  Nice view, good laundry & showeres -
easy access to town on the free shuttle.  Delicious breakfast at TooJays
Deli - maybe the best deli south of NYC.

We took advantage of Vero's free shuttle bus system to visit an Optical Store for a badly needed sunglass repair  and to re-provision at Publix.  The optical store opposite Publix was great.  They spent 20 minutes working on the glasses and charged nothing.  Maryanne did laundry while I cleared the fuel vent and added a strainer to our fresh water system.

Here I am posing with some of the original
people of the City of Cocoa.

I loved the redneck wineglasses but not enough to buy one
in Cocoa Beach.  

We had heard that the City of Cocoa was worth a visit so we headed there - 8 hours away.  It was worth the visit.  We landed at a lovely waterfront park and after a very short walking tour had a wonderful breakfast at Ossarios.

Ossario's threat to inattentive parents.
Great breakfast - pastries to die for.

We decided to do a shorter hop north to Titusville to give us time to do an oil and oil filter change.  The fan belt is problematic since it can't be aligned perfectly so we find ourselves doing adjustments on it every couple of days.  Our engine maintenance chores went smoothly.



We are trying to push north as fast as we can but after our 7+ hour motor with nice currents pushing us up to 8 knots we decided to take a lay day in St. Augustine.  We did a tour today at Flagler College, formerly the Ponce de Leon Hotel.


The setting that the Flagler students have is unbelievable.  Their college was built as a luxury hotel for the wealthy elite of the East Coast back in the late 1800's.  In its heyday you had to have a written invitation from Mr. Flagler to be allowed to pay him the minimum 3 month stay in the hotel.  If you did not have the proper social standing you had to look elsewhere.

Our guide at Flagler College.  Her dining room
is nothing like any other college I have seen -
Tiffany windows, tiffany chairs, and
elaborately painted ceilings.

A detail of the dome at the entrance to Flagler.
This woman is supposed to represent
adventure.  Do you see any resemblance
to Maryanne?

St. Augustine Lighthouse ca 1874

Good Bye Abacos

We landed in Marsh Harbor on Wednesday, May 2nd.  We were a little worried about how our boat had fared in our 2 week absence.  In the prior week 50 knot winds had buffeted the harbor.  It was all good.  The lines had not chafed through and the boat had not banged up against the dock.

After a quick trip to Maxwells, one of the 2 really good grocery stores in the Bahamas, we were sufficiently provisioned for our return trip to the states.  Brown Tip, the bottom cleaning service hacked away at the bottom of our boat for an hour using a version of a compressed air hookah to breath underwater.  As he worked it looked like chunks of turf were being expelled from our stern.  Having the bottom cleaned at this point in our voyage was one of the smarter things that we have done.  Our speed increased by about 1.25 knots after the cleaning.

We filled water tanks, water jugs, and lugged 4 five gallon containers of diesel down the dock and onto the boat the following day.  Maryanne did her usual stowing magic, making everything disappear into places where they would not fall when we heeled to starboard or to port.

We had a little bit of a dilemma.  Chris Parker, our weather guru, indicated that there would be a weather window open for a few days that would allow us to make a comfortable Gulf Stream crossing.  I thought we would need a week just to reach the staging point for our crossing.  If that were the case we would have to wait at Great Sale Cay for a week (where there is nothing to do) or wait at an expensive marina at West End on Grand Bahama for a week for the next weather window.  Maryanne thought we could make it.  She suggested a short hop Thursday afternoon to Great Guana Cay and then a stop at Green Turtle Cay about 20+ miles further.  We thought we might get a last chance at good snorkeling on the way.  We left Great Guana at 8:15 a.m. on Friday headed for Green Turtle Cay by way of the Whale Passage.  The Whale Passage is a cut in and out of the Sea of Abaco that requires calm seas and in-flowing currents for safe passage.  Our passage went smoothly.  On our way to Green Turtle we decided to push further along get to our staging point.  We decided on Foxtown.

I had asked Chris Parker by way of SSB radio what the difference would be if I sailed from Foxtown straight through the night to Fort Pierce, FL or if I went first to West End and sailed a day later.  He reported that there would be little significant difference but that we would be bucking headwinds in the Gulf Stream if we waited until Sunday.  As we made our way west I spotted Romanta Sea on the AIS ahead of us.  I had a pleasant conversation with George, the skipper, who said he was headed for Great Sale, then to West End for fuel and ultimately to Savannah.  Savannah was way more than we were ready to do!

Sunset at Great Sale Cay
(Phew - we made it before dark!)

Despite the fact that we might not make it into Great Sale with good light we decided to go for it.  George assured us that the moon was closest to the earth tonight and that we would have no trouble finding our way  in the light of the full moon.  We made it by sunset - 11 hours.  The next day Chris Parker told George that he needed to get north quickly to avoid some nasty weather.   George who had offered to lead us through the tricky shallow Indian Channel set off directly for an overnight sail to Cape Canaveral.  Before he left he let us know that a Beneteau 50, French Kiss, had been trying to contact us because they were headed to West End also.  We spoke with Michael, the skipper of the Beneteau, and planned our joint departure for 8 to arrive at the Indian Channel on a rising tide.

At the center of the picture is a starfish 12 feet below the surface.
This shot was taken as we motored at 6 knots over the Little Bahama Banks in a flat calm.
The shadow of our mast is in the upper right corner.
This is the last time this year that we will see this beautiful turquoise water!

The water was so still we could see the bottom clearly 12 feet below us.  We could see dinner plate sized starfish on the bottom.  Dolphins appeared at our bow.  We could see them above and below the surface as they swam all around us and then back to French Kiss.

As it turned out we arrived at the Indian Channel with very little water to motor over.  Despite the fact that it was a little past low tide the close pass of the full moon meant that the water was still lower than mean low water (the average low tide).  French Kiss with her 6 foot draft followed slowly behind us as we radioed back the shallowest spots as we crossed them.  We saw 4.1 feet on our poorly calibrated depth sounder but we know that we will hit bottom at 3.8 feet.  3.8 feet if it were properly calibrated should read 5 feet which is our draft.  We had a good 3 1/2 inches to spare!  After 9 hours of motoring we arrived at Old Bahama Bay Marina at West End on Grand Bahama Island.

We had some refueling problems with a faulty diesel pump and then fuel clogging our fuel vent but we managed to pour a couple of our containers of fuel into the tank and then filled the containers from a different pump.  (after waiting for another boat to fill up with 225 gallons!)  We docked without incident and went ashore for a celebration of our last night in the Bahamas at an outdoor restaurant on the beach.  (While we were there we saw someone send their glass of wine back - it wasn't good enough!  Who does that at a beach bar in the Bahams?!!!  Usually you don't even get a glass - most wine is served in clear plastic cups!  Yeesh!!)

Sunrise as we leave West End with a trawler passing us.
83 miles to go.

At a little before 6 am in the dim light of pre-dawn I tried quietly backing our boat out of our berth in the marina.  At first it went well - the stern wasn't kicking to port as usual and we were almost able to back into a berth behind us in order to make a left turn into the narrow channel between all the docks.  Almost able.  I couldn't get back far enough to make the left turn.  I headed back for our berth and tried again.  No good.  This time I was getting too close to a small power boat on the wall to the right and behind our berth.  Again I headed into our berth this time beginning to drift with wind too far to the right side of the berth.  OK Maryanne had another idea.  I tried using the left kicking reverse to back out to our left.  Down the narrow channel between the rows of 16 boats each I backed the boat.  It worked!  I was able to turn the boat around at the end and turn to head the boat out the entrance into the Atlantic.

This guy startled me when he appeared just a few feet from my head 20 miles out to sea.
I wasn't expecting anyone to get up and close and personal with me on my Gulf Stream Crossing!

A fresh WSW breeze allowed us to sail close hauled and fast toward Fort Pierce - for 3 hours then the breeze clocked to the west and we had to motor into the wind and waves.  The boat would go well for 10 seconds or so and then hit a wave - rise into it and then fall hard on the back side with a little bang.  I hoped this wasn't going to be the west wind that Chris Parker had warned me about.  I thought the wind was supposed to be 10 knots or less - this was more like 18.  Eventually the wind settled down and the waves disappeared.  We motored through flat seas checking the water temperature to see when we were in the Gulf Stream.  We started out in 79 degree water but watched the temperature rise above 81.  Suddenly it seemed a little warmer and the seas became completely flat.  Our speed increased from 6 knots to 8.5.  We were in the Stream.  After 13 hours we put down our anchor in Fort Pierce harbor.

We felt accomplished!  We had 3 days of travelling - 11 hours, 9 hours, and 13.  If we had been driving a car from Glen Cove that many hours would get us to Santa Fe, NM!  Sailboats are really slow!

We really enjoyed the Abacos.  Fun places were a short easy sail from Marsh Harbour.  We loved Hopetown with it's beautiful pastel colored homes and its well-protected harbor.  Nippers, the bar scene, was something to behold above the beautiful Atlantic beach and the barrier reef.  Our snorkeling off Fowl Cay in the Atlantic was excellent as was our swim over Mermaid Reef outside of Marsh Harbour.  We enjoyed the cruisers we spent time with in Hopetown.  We definitely want to come back for more.  We need to explore Little Harbor with Pete's Pub and the foundry where sculpture is made.  We also would like to spend some time at Green Turtle Cay.  We definitely plan to return to the beautiful turquoise waters of the Abacos and the Exumas.  The Berry Islands may also be on our agenda.

Heading back to Marsh Harbour

We're heading back to Marsh Harbour.  Our spot messenger should start showing some movement within the next few days as we try to find a place to stage for our Gulf Stream crossing.

Our flight should bring us back over these islands near Marsh Harbour

Assorted photos

I found these guys hanging out in Spanish Wells.
A guy stopped his car and actually asked them
how they were doing!

Typical tidy homes of Spanish Wells on the waterfront

Spanish Wells was clearly one of the more affluent of the Bahamian communities that we visited.  The manager at the marina told us the community did well because it did not depend on tourist dollars.

We met this guy in Warderick Wells Land and Sea park.  Although he did a nice job of cleaning up the crumbs in our cockpit he was a bit of a pest.  He moved into our cabin.  It took a little coaxing to get him to understand that we didn't want him there!
I thought I saw some blue-gray birds in the surf during our rough passage from Georgetown to Cave Cut but no - they were flying fish leaping out of the waves and gliding 60 feet or more.

Here we are on the pink sand beach.
There is the slightest of pink hue in the wet sand.

We made it to Harbor Island from Spanish Wells by way of the Devil's Backbone.  We cheated.  We took the high speed ferry.  At points it seemed like we could reach out and touch the beach as we flew past.  Some of our new friends hired a pilot to take their boats across the Backbone but the shoal depths made me wary even with a pilot.  It would have been a quicker way to get north to Little Harbor in the Abacos but it wasn't for me.  We rented a golf cart with Alan of "Unabated" and toured the island that is reputed to be the vacation destination of the rich and famous.  The famed pink sand beach was a little less pink than I was expecting - but nice.

Here's the Bo Hengy II our 25 knot aluminum
catamaran ferry to Harbor Island and back.
It felt like sailing in fast forward mode!

An example of the cuteness factor in Hopetown.
This was on someone's front lawn complete with
the Hopetown Lighthouse

This path was lovely - no cars allowed - but the telephone
cable didn't even clear my head!

Hopetown was almost too cute but as you can see from my picture some of the infrastructure in the Bahamas is a little below the standards we have in the states.

If you have money you can do anything you like.  We saw more than one big motor yacht with water slides like this.  They usually also sport 4 or more jet-skis.  Who decides to market water slides to these guys? http://freestylecruiser.com/
This is the latest in "must have" toys for the big boys.    You can't buy them off the shelf - they have to be designed "to the exacting standards of your yacht."
We'll be ordering one of the first slides designed to be deployed from the spreaders of a sailboat.

The ubiquitous Bahamian lizard - chameleon?

These little guys are everywhere all over the Bahamas.  We were surprised to find one in our cockpit at anchor.  We couldn't figure how he got there.  I carefully unfurled a ziplock bag and tried to urge him to enter it.  I'm a little squeamish so I didn't really want to handle him.  He was not happy with the bag.  He preferred to jump onto my hand.  You'd be surprised how sticky his little feet are.  I reflexively shook my hand but he wasn't leaving his perch.  I also used some salty sailor language but he was unmoved.  Finally with my hand in the bag I was able to rub him off and give him a ride to shore.

Alan from the Pearson 424, "Unabated" and I explored a ruins on Royal Island.
It doesn't take long for tropical plants to take over the structures. 

Royal Island was our jumping off point for about a 65 mile sail out in the ocean from the Eleuthera area to Little Harbor in the Abacos.  Our AIS showed plenty of ship traffic traversing the Northwest Channel.  We even saw a 3 masted sailing ship shortly before we were hit with a drenching squall.  Fortunately, there was no lightning and very little wind associated with the downpour.  One of the boats sailing with us reported seeing huge whales that they thought might be sperm whales.  I'm sorry I missed them - Maryanne is not.

It's hard to keep up the blog with such poor internet access.  We had a wonderful time with Chad & Nicole.   We went snorkeling off the beach on a small island north of Great Guana Cay, also snorkeling on the Atlantic side of Fowl Cay, and finally swimming Mermaid Reef outside Marsh Harbor.

After rigorous training Chad & Nicole show some aptitude for
relaxation.  The sailing life agrees with them.

Homes on the Sea of Abaco outside Marsh Harbor
near Mermaid Reef where we did some of our best
snorkeling.

Chad and I went scuba diving with Above and Below off Fowl Cay.  When Kay, the dive master began stroking a big friendly grouper I began smiling too widely causing my mask to flood slightly.  Clearing the mask is simple but the fact that I had to do it made me laugh.  Fortunately, I kept my regulator firmly in my mouth.  The dive was so much fun - being able to do it with my son made it even more special.

Maryanne has become very comfortable with swimming and snorkeling.  We had to swim a couple hundred yards from the beach to get to Mermaid Reef.  We were able to swim together only a foot or so above the shallower parts of the reef.  The yellow snappers came right up to us probably looking for a handout.  Other fish and lobsters were more shy, hiding in little nooks under the reef.  We didn't see any barracuda at Mermaid reef but there were a few at Fowl Cay.  Fowl Cay was a bit of a challenge since we had to dinghy out to the reefs beyond the Cay.  We also had to board the dinghy from the water.  Maryanne and I have mastered the technique of going vertically underwater and then swimming and kicking hard straight up to scramble into the dinghy.  The entry onto the dinghy isn't particularly graceful but it beats having to swim a mile and a half through a cut with strong currents.  We are really enjoying the snorkeling in the Abacos.

We will be leaving the boat in the Abacos for a couple weeks while we return to NY for Maryanne's teaching.  In NY I may be able to get some more pictures up on this blog.

Swimming in Marsh Harbor is not recommended.

Marsh Harbor is not a good place to swim - too many boats discharging effluent.  I did take a little dip at the dock on Friday.  The wind was pushing our boat too far away from the dock for Maryanne to get off the boat.  The wind was strong - but so am I.  I put my feet on one of the dock lines and pushed it down to get the boat in.  Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing my tight rope walking shoes.  My foot slipped and then instantly I found myself swimming in Marsh Harbor under the dock.  It happened so fast I was swimming before I realized I was in the water!  So...my BaTelCo wireless card is not waterproof.  No more posts via BaTelCo.

The docks pose many problems.  I landed at the dock at the Conch Inn on the downwind side with strong cross winds.  As scary as the landing was - it went smoothly with help from the dock hands.  The dockmaster when he returned later was unhappy with the berth that we had taken and told us that we would have to move.  The wind was blowing 30 mph so I let him know that moving would be difficult in the extreme.  He reluctantly agreed to make some adjustments while I stayed put.  The next day he announced that we would have to switch berths.  He left but gave us two dock hands to help out.  The wind was again gusting over 30 knots sideways.  When the boat backs the stern tends to walk to the left - in the same direction the wind was pushing us.  To complicate matters, as we left the dock there were 2 pilings we had to thread 20 feet behind us.  The situation was really close to impossible.  To make everything really bad our stern line slipped off the cleat just as we were beginning to back out of the slip. Our stern swung 45 degrees off the dock toward another boat and a piling.  A dock hand was able to throw the line back to me and pull me in for our next attempt to leave.  We backed out smoothly thanks to an amazing performance by a cruiser who pushed our boat into the wind as we pulled away from the dock.  With his dinghy acting as a side thruster or tug boat we were able to back in a straight line.

Our departure on Sunday was less smooth.  As we backed out of our slip into strong wind another boat came off their dock blocking the path behind us.  We pulled back into the slip and managed to barely hang on until the boat passed.  Again we backed out of the slip but didn't get far enough into the wind to make our turn going forward.  With the boat at right angles to the slip our stern began drifting into the bow anchor of a sailboat next to us while our bow pulpit looked like it would hit a piling in front of us. Chad was able to push hard against the bow pulpit of the boat with the threatening anchor while I tried to power the side of the bow to slide past the piling.  Nicole pushed against the piling and somehow we managed to escape with only a splinter in Nicole's hand to show for it.

We have a new definition for docking:
Good docking is when no one is bleeding after the attempt.
Great docking is when you can still use the boat afterwards. 
 So far we are doing somewhere between great and good docking.

Hopetown, Abacos

Hopetown Lighthouse from our mooring.
Kerosene flame lit by lighthouse keeper each night

The first harbor we visited after successfully anchoring by Linyard Cay in the Sea of Abacos was Hopetown.  Hopetown is a village of charming little homes of all different pastel shades overlooking the harbor.  The entrance was challenging.  We were warned not to attempt to enter until half tide or more.  To enter the harbor you have to aim for a beach about a half mile away and then follow the beach to the left.  Depths are about 6 feet with nearby patches of 4 feet.  The harbor is one of the prettiest we have seen in the Bahamas.  

Cemetery restoration project in Hopetown

We took a walk up a street closed to vehicular traffic to an historic cemetery that is being restored.  If it mattered to me where I was to be buried I would choose this cemetery.  It has one of the best views I have ever seen.

The perfect way to end a dead end road.
We saw this on our tandem bike ride through Hopetown.

This is a fun building in Hopetown -
a good place for ice cream but not for lunch

We spent two days in Hopetown - met some really nice people - a couple aboard Katahdin - from Cape Elizabeth, Me.  We also enjoyed spending time  with Richard and Ward from Bagheera - a trawler that we met on our crossing to Rock Sound, Eleuthera.  Ward gave us a ride to a restaurant in Spanish Wells on his rented Golf Cart. 

A park on the Atlantic Ocean in Hopetown.

Entrance to Hopetown

In the next Blog: Mishap in Marsh Harbor

Eleuthera and beyond

We departed Warderick Wells in the Exumas Saturday morning as soon as we had enough light to see the channel out of the park.  We were a little apprehensive about getting through the cut but only a little - the tide and wind seemed to be right.  It was a little bouncy but the wind was perfect for a fast passage into the ocean and 35 miles across to Rock Sound in Eleuthera.  Once we hit the banks next to Eleuthera we had to pay attention to the channels through the shallow sand and coral for 10 miles.  We only had to dodge a few coral heads.  Our Furuno Navnet 3D Chartplotter gives us a clear picture of where to steer the boat through the channels.  If we had to do it all without the electronics we would have an incredibly difficult job.

We anchored in Rock Sound in about 8 feet of water.  The entire harbor is very shallow.  We dinghyed in to Pascal's restaurant where we had a fabulous meal.  Maryanne's vegetable quesadilla has set the bar for all future vegetable quesadillas.  We were concerned enough with the lack of business that we and one other couple who happened to be dining there the next night offered to publicize the restaurant to the other cruisers.
Pascal, the chef/owner, volunteered that he would do a happy hour the next day with free appetizers.  The next morning Maryanne made an announcement on VHF radio to the other cruisers about lunch at Pascals and about the happy hour.  From our boat we could see a good crowd at the restaurant for lunch.  We had a nice gathering at the happy hour where we were able to met a number of interesting people who were anchored in the harbor.

After our first night at the restaurant we decided to take a short walk to the local grocery store just to see how far it was.  When we got there it was closed but I went up to the door to check out the hours.  As I turned to leave one of the several employees who were closing up opened the door and asked if we needed any items.  It was 7:20 - 20 minutes after closing.  I was sure they wanted to go home but we mentioned that there were a couple items we would like to buy before the store closed until Monday.  We were invited in to do some quick shopping.  I couldn't believe they were willing to open up for a couple of strangers well after their store hours!

On Wednesday we left the harbor for Hatchet Bay.  We had a wild ride with very strong winds and some chop.  The entrance to Hatchet Bay, a man made harbor, was different.  The entrance was cut through cliffs and was supposedly 90 feet wide.  It looked a lot narrower.  We aimed at the middle of the channel, watched the cliff walls on either side of us and held our breath as we glided into a perfectly calm pond-like harbor.  Once again, like our experience with Cave Cut, we felt like we were entering a different world.

Jon of Langeline, one of the cruisers we met at Pascal's happy hour was incredibly helpful to us.  He met us in a dinghy at a mooring near his boat and threaded some lines through the mooring for us.  The mooring was  well coated in bird poop but he didn't hesitate to string our lines.  Later we had a good time aboard his boat with his co-skipper, Nancy and with Alan of "Unabated."  Jon and Nancy's boat is an immaculate Tartan 43 in showroom condition.  I wanted to volunteer to toss a little clutter around but I resisted the impulse.  Alan had been sailing his Pearson 424 single-handed from the Caribbean and through the Bahamas.  This is also his first time in the Bahamas.

We sailed with Alan the next day to Current Cut while Jon and Nancy hitchhiked to Governors Harbor for the day.  We arrived at Current Cut well ahead of time.  The current is very strong so we had to wait a coule hours for the tide to change.  We turned off the engine and sailed at 1.5 knots or less for a couple hours until the tide change.  While we drifted toward our destination I replaced a noisy fan in our berth and rewired a quieter fan.  At least I got something done during the wait.

We arrived in Spanish Wells on Thursday and decided to spoil ourselves with a couple nights on a dock at Yacht Haven.  Spanish Wells is a picturesque fishing community that produces at least 50% of the lobsters from the Bahamas.  This town is different than any of the others we have seen.  All of the homes are well kept and painted all different pastel shades.  In all the other communities we have visited many of the homes and buildings looked care worn with some real poverty evident.  This community has enough water so that there are lovely gardens and lawns around most of the homes.

For a little change of pace we decided to take the high speed ferry to Harbor Island - supposedly the hangout of the rich and famous.  The ferry took us across the infamous "Devil's Backbone."  This is an area of shoals that cruisers are advised to cross only with a pilot.  The ferry zoomed across the shoals - at one time close enough to the beach that I could touch it if the windows opened.

A Blue Hole: The water in this pond comes through caves from the ocean.   In
some of the caves above water there is graffiti from the 1700's.  This Blue Hole
is just outside of town in Rock Sound

We rented a golf cart with Alan and toured Harbor Island.  We visited the famous pink sand beach which looked pretty much like any other beach to me but there were a few grains of reddish coral that gave wet sand a slight hint of a pink hue.  Lunch was at Valentines - and was excellent.  As we ate outside in the shade we could see "Happy Destiny," another Tartan 43 arriving with a pilot aboard - pulling his boat behind them.  Cindy and Pete hired "Bandit" as a pilot.  We spoke with him as we finished our lunch.  He explained that for him piloting isn't difficult.  He's been driving boats around here since he was a young kid.  Born in Spanish Wells, he is no young kid now.

Big Majors Spot and Warderick Wells

We did get to spend a second day anchored in high winds near Thunderball Grotto.  We did some more snorkeling and saw even more varieties of fish the second time.  Thunderball has become our favorite snorkeling spot.  After Thunderball near Staniel Cay we  went to Big Majors Spot.  No one seemed to be on the beach - no pigs - no nothing.

We heard a call from Andrea Cay, a megayacht next to us, for anyone who would trade some benadryl for a bottle of wine.  We were all over that but on second thought we declined the wine.  The skipper of Sunrise took some benadryl over to Andrea Cay before they were able to come over to us to pick it up.  Bill, the skipper of Sunrise, said he was concerned when he heard the request.  Since he had some special medical training it was good that he checked out the situation.  (It turned out not to be serious.)  He explained to us that the pigs would come out when we sent ashore.

We set off to the beach and were quickly approached by two extremely enthusiastic swimming pigs.  One of the pigs snorted and repeatedly butted our dinghy with his snout.  These pigs were gourmets.  They rejected the carrots we offered.  They obviously expected something better.  Oh well.  We departed munching on our carrots. They seemed fine to us.

Hey, I  didn't swim out here for some lousy carrots
from a cheap ass sailor!  Give me a break

After our visit with the pigs we had a fast downwind sail to Warderick Wells.  Our autopilot started acting up again.  As we tried to make a U-turn to grab our mooring, the steering seemed balky.  It got stuck and released in time for us to slowly approach the mooring to pick it up in the strong current.  Once again I found the autopilot in the bilge and a box holding the rudder sensor ripped off the bulkhead.  I spent some more time in the engine compartment trying to get a large bolt deeper into the autopilot than I had before.

The next day we headed to Boo Boo Hill to see if Maryanne could summit this time.  She got way ahead of  me and was ready for the final assault when I reached her.  Up, up and away she went - all the way to the top. She found our driftwood sign at the top and spent some time searching for Chad's 2010 Sabbatical sign.  No luck with Sabbatical but she did find Alesto from our friends Lee and Sherry.

Chuck & Maryanne atop Boo Boo Hill

Since we had so much fun snorkeling at Thunderball we decided to try Exuma Land and Sea Park's coral garden again this time.  Last time we saw only one or two fish.  This time as we were climbing into our dinghy next to Symphony's transom we saw two schools of good sized fish.  Some of them hung around as though they were expecting a handout.  We headed out to the dinghy mooring at the coral garden.  We were a little concerned because last time we were unable to climb back into our dinghy.  That time we swam the dinghy to Alesto to climb out of the water on their ladder.  This time there was no catamaran for us to board.  We planned to swim the dinghy to a sand bar to climb back in.  The coral garden surprised us.  There were many more fish than we had seen last time and they were bigger than the fish that we had seen at Thunderball.

When it came time to move the dinghy I decided to try a strategy that Al from Windancer had suggested.  He told me to push myself underwater straight down and then kick my swim fins hard to get as much altitude out of the water as possible.  I tried.  It worked!  I was able to tumble into the dinghy and figured I could tow Maryanne into the sand bar.  I suggested she try the technique.  She was less than enthusiastic about receiving lengthy instructions.  She was getting pretty cold.  She also tried the technique - and with a little help  she, too, was able to scramble into the dinghy.  We now know that we can snorkel from the dinghy and do not need to be able to stand  next to it in order to climb in.

Today Monday, March 26 we are sitting in Rock Sound Harbor with barely a breath of wind at 9:30 p.m.
We arrived here from Warderick Wells on Saturday after a beautiful full day of sailing.  We moved across the harbor yesterday in anticipation of strong winds and squalls from the west.  The squalls arrived this morning and did a great job of washing the salt off of the boat.  Fortunately, the winds were not too bad.  We will probably spend some more time here waiting out strong winds associated with a secondary front due here tomorrow evening.  It's ironic that we are in a sailboat and that most of our delays have been from too much wind!

Thunderball

We were very happy to find that the autopilot works fine.  We used it to sail from Black Point on Guana Cay around Harvey Cay to Staniel Cay.  We topped off our fuel and water tanks at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club.  Water is 40 cents a gallon.  The Bahamas would be virtually uninhabitable without RO water.  Reverse Osmosis water is seawater that has been squeezed through a membrane at high pressure.  The membrane allows only water molecules to pass through.  Salt molecules are too big to pass through the membrane.  RO water is very pure but expensive to make.



We sailed through a very narrow passage between two rocky islands to an area on the chart that said: "Good holding."  I hope so because as I write this the wind is howling again through the rigging as a squall passes over us.  I'm seeing a pretty consistent 25 knots, the rain is pounding us, and we are pitching up and down a bit.  Chris Parker says expect 36 hours of this.  We hope to go back to Thunderball Grotto tomorrow but if it gets too rough we will pull up anchor, thread our way back to the channel, and head over to Big Majors Spot, home of the swimming wild pigs.

Entrance to Thunderball Grotto

Today was our absolute best snorkeling experience.  We are anchored not far from Thunderball Grotto (of James Bond fame).  Both Maryanne and I were able to swim into the Grotto and out.  The grotto was impressive with sunlight streaming through a hole in the roof.  Near the entrance it felt like we were swimming in an aquarium with all kinds of fish swimming with us.  We saw beautiful blue fan coral and fish of every hue and color!  The fish hang out at the entrance to the cave because people feed them there.

After our swim we celebrated with supper from the bar menu at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club.  The Yacht Club was a great people watching spot.  Tommy Lee Jones and his brother were spotted there the day after our last visit.  No celebrities were in evidence today but it was fun people watching anyway.

After freeing up the autopilot yesterday I wondered all night if I would be able to put it back together.  I hoped that I had put all the bolts back in their respective holes and had not dropped anything essential into the bilge.  I also wondered if a large bolt had broken off the left side of the autopilot because I could only see a short shaft sticking up from the bottom stringer that supported the autopilot.  The shaft looked like part of a bolt that might have sheered off.  I find myself regretting that mechanical work was not a big part of social work school.  There doesn't seem to be much overlap between social work education and working with tools.  Who knew?

Dealing with first things first I went through a number of contortions to try to unscrew the box that had half ripped off a supporting wall.  It is really hard to use one hand to unscrew and use the other one to support your upper body at the same time.  Working in the lazarette and engine compartment is a little cramped.  If you imagine what it would be like for a mechanic to work on your car engine from under the dashboard you'll get a good image of what it's like to try to fix something down there.  I don't know how many parts of my body I bruised and strained to reattach the box to the wall but I did manage to get some large screws into it.  I tried to put it in as close to the original position as possible - but I really couldn't tell.

Next I tried to see what was going on with the support on the left side of the autopilot.  The shaft that I had seen was part of a very thick bolt that looked like it went into the autopilot.  After taking apart a hinged plate I was able to fasten the bolt through the plate into the autopilot.    I then reattached the other end of the autopilot to the rudder. With Maryanne turning the wheel I was able to guide the plate and bolt back into position to receive a shaft and pin to hold everything in place.  Did I mention that all of these parts were covered with thick black grease - and that the latex gloves I used were too old and broke when I put them on?  Messy.

I had Maryanne turn the wheel with the autopilot attached.  It worked!  We then turned on the autopilot and pushed the 10 degree left button.  An alarm sounded.  The alarm was letting us know that we had no boat speed for the autopilot to function.  The good news is that the autopilot did start turning the rudder.  I think it is working.  We'll test it out for sure when we next move the boat.  Phew!  It was really hot down in that compartment!  The autopilot better work - there aren't many mechanics on this island - and I know for sure that parts are not available down here.  

I heard some poor guy in Georgetown skyping with someone.  He was saying "but I told you to send it UPS - if you sent it through the mail it may not get here for a month if ever!"  He told me it was medication that he was waiting for.  We know several cruisers who are waiting for parts that are being held up in Nassau by Customs.  I know we wouldn't be able to wait for parts even if they were available.

What a day!  We finally got a weather window to get out of Georgetown.  We loved it there and found the well organized community to be friendly, fun and helpful.  We made new friends who we know we will see again.

Conch Cut leading out into Exuma Sound from the harbor had less than ideal conditions.  If wind is blowing into the cut you want the current to be flowing with the wind.  If the current is flowing out of the cut into the wind you can get some very steep nasty seas.  Today despite Chris Parker's assurances that there would be less wind today than yesterday we had 20 knot winds with gusts to 25.  We did hobby horse in steep 5 foot seas leaving the cut.  We had been forewarned by a boat that went out a half hour before us that the seas were rough but "not a problem for a good boat."  We felt good about our Caliber 40 and she handled the incoming waves well.  There were significant wind driven waves on top of some rollers for about 30 miles.  With the wind blowing as hard as it was we barreled along at 7 knots under sail - about one knot faster than we could go under power.  On the VHF radio we heard more than one skipper commenting on the rough conditions.  Finally, we came within sight of Cave Cay Cut.  It was difficult to make out the cut as we approached but our chart plotter led us  in the right direction until we could make out the entrance to the Cut.  The water changed color from a deep indigo to a lighter blue as we approached.  The channel was narrow but not difficult to follow.   We emerged from the cut between Cave Cay and Musha Cay (owned by David Copperfield) into another world..  The water  was flat and brilliant turquoise.  We had doused our mainsail outside the cut and now were comfortably cruising at 7 knots with only half of the jib unfurled.  We were feeling pretty accomplished.  

Approaching Black Point we had an unhappy sequence of events.  Maryanne noticed that a halyard was swinging free in the breeze.  I looked up to identify it and lost my "Around Long Island Race" hat.  It clung to the rail and our plastic enclosure for a few seconds before flying overboard.  I told Maryanne to keep her eye on the hat while I went forward to secure the errant halyard.  I got back to the cockpit as quickly as I could and tried to turn the wheel hard to starboard to make a U-turn.  The wheel wouldn't move.  A half second later I realized I had to disengage the autopilot to make the turn.  I disengaged the pilot and headed back for the hat.  Maryanne had lost sight of it but we retraced our track on the GPS chart plotter to search for it.  No luck.  I turned the wheel to head back to Black Point.  The wheel would only turn a quarter turn.  I tried the other direction.  Again it wouldn't turn far enough back to change our direction.  I tried again several times making sure that the autopilot was disengaged.  Again - the wheel was stuck.

Maryanne used the VHF to call a boat that had been sailing behind us.  She informed them that we had no steering.  They asked if we needed help.  Maryanne replied that we weren't sure and that we would anchor to try to figure out the problem.  Immediately, a boat anchored in Black Point Harbor called to let us know that they had a 15 horsepower engine on their dinghy and could pull us in if we needed help.  Another boat chimed in that their dinghy was up on their davits but they, too, would put it in the water if we needed help.  We let them know that we were anchoring and would see if we could fix the problem.  It was 5:10.  Windstar IV, the first boat, reminded us that we had limited daylight.  The anchor set quickly in about 20 feet of water.  This was one time that we were very happy that the Exuma Banks are so shallow.

I pulled out all the paraphernalia that is stored in our lazarette.  Out came 3 large fenders, a milk crate full of lines and a dinghy anchor - more crates, large jugs of oil, a cart and just plain stuff.  I removed a board that separates the engine compartment from the lazarette - held in place by 4 deadbolts.  Wishing that I hadn't grown so much in 9th grade, I bent my 6'5" frame into as small a shape as I could and put my head under the cockpit sole.  I could see that the autopilot arm had broken free and was getting caught in the bottom of the compartment.  I couldn't see where the left side of the arm had been attached.  As I moved a life preserver I could see a small object disappear deeper into the compartment.  I searched and found a little plastic and metal pin.  Maryanne sent down a pair of needle nose pliers to me to help me remove a cotter pin from the linkage holding the autopilot to the rudder.  I was able to free the cotter pin and bolt.   After I removed the bolt I found another linkage that was holding the autopilot arm and motor to the rudder post.  A few quick turns with the vice grips freed up that linkage.  As I freed up the second linkage I could see that a box that it had been attached to had ripped off the wall.  

I asked Maryanne to turn the wheel.  She said it felt very stiff but turned all the way both right and left.  Phew!  When I was able to get out of the lazarette we called the boats that had offered assistance to let them know that we were OK and getting under way.

When I pulled up the anchor I realized that the reason the wheel was so stiff was because the lock was partially tightened on it.  Maryanne released the lock, I pulled up the anchor and we were on our way by 5:45.  Tomorrow I get to see if I can repair the autopilot.  Just another day in Paradise!  And despite all of this we are still having a good time.  It is very reassuring to know that the cruising community is comprised of individuals who are so ready to lend a hand to fellow cruisers in need.