Provo - Conch Farm

Conch Farm

We had signed up with a local dive shop to do a two tank dive this morning. Of course the weather system that we were trying to outrun yesterday caught up with us here, with squally and windy weather conditions that forced the divemaster to cancel our dive. The waves were breaking pretty hard out at the reefs and it would've been a rough and uncomfortable ride to get out there. We're disappointed because today is pretty much the only day we would've been able to dive -- tomorrow we have a narrow weather window to motor 100 miles down to Luperon in the Dominican Republic. So here we are in a place where diving is the primary tourist attraction and we didn't get to go. But we took it in stride. Because Provo has other tourist attractions. Like conch.

Gerry the trained conch

Since we had the rental car we took a drive out to the east end of the island where the Conch World Provo sea farm is located. Our tour guide, Denver, explained why and how they farm the queen conch. Why? Primarily for export and to take advantage of size regulations. Local fisherman have strict requirements on how big the conch has to be before you can take it, whereas at the conch farm they can sell the smaller baby conch which are prepared in the same fashion as escargot. As to the how, the sea farm has leased 60 acres of sea bottom for their "sub-sea pasture" where they have pens to hold the conch (not that conch wander around all that much but they do have a foot and can travel). They also have onshore pools where they keep the younger, smaller conchs before they are big enough to be put out to "pasture". Total number of visitors on the tour: 2. Total number of conchs: 5,500,000. The highlight of the trip was when Denver introduced us to Sally and Gerry, the farm's "trained" conchs. When picked up these two guys come as far out of their shells as possible so that you can see what the whole animal looks like (normally conchs kind of hide when picked up). So all in all it was an interesting way to spend the morning. Not surprisingly, this is the only conch farm in the entire world.

The rest of the day we just ambled around in the rental car before returning to the marina. Our boat happens to be docked right behind two police boats that are continuously staffed. I got to talking with the captain of one of the boats and asked him if it was like a fire station, where the guys hang out on the boat and wait to be called to an emergency. He said that actually it was unusual for them to be at the dock but the weather has been so bad that they couldn't go out and do their patrols. Apparently the sole purpose of these police boats is to prevent illegal immigration from Haiti. According to the captain, every single night at least one boat tries to make the crossing from Haiti (about a hundred miles away), sometimes filled with hundreds of people (he'd seen as many as 200 crammed into a single small boat). So these policemen go out every night in search of small boats running with no lights that are barely visible on radar. He said that despite the challenges of finding a small boat on the open sea, they do manage to catch and deport most of them. Very few get in, which is why he seemed upset that they couldn't go out due to the weather because "they'll come anyway, even in weather as bad as this."

Providenciales, Turks & Caicos

Our guard dog

Some background: the Turks and Caicos (KAY-kohss) are two groups of islands to the southeast of the Bahamas and north of Hispaniola. Looking at a map, the Caicos group of islands are on the left and the Turks islands (including the country's capital on Grand Turk) are on the right. Reading left to right you'd think they'd call the country Caicos and Turks but you'd be wrong. You'd also think that the island with the capital would be the most happenin' place. Wrong again. Instead the Caicos side is more developed with more tourism, mostly due to the fantastic diving and beautiful (but dangerously shallow) Caicos Bank just south of the big islands. Providenciales is where everything is at: trendy restaurants, dive outfits, boutique hotels, and shopping. If you're like me and your tongue hurts when you say "Providenciales", then just call it "Provo". Everyone else does.

Our unlucky neighbor

So here we are. We are both running on just four hours of sleep, but it has been worth it to get here ahead of a fast-moving cold front. We arrived in Provo around 10 am after crossing the Caicos Bank (very shallow, lots of coral heads. For part of the trip, I was standing like Mary Poppins on the bow holding an umbrella to block the sun and pointing out the nasty looking heads for Kevin to avoid). We knew we needed fuel and enlisted the help of our friend Tanya in Phoenix. While we were in Mayaguana w/o internet access she looked up and emailed us which marinas had fuel docks that were open. (Our SSB email is a lifesaver, and great friends are even more so -- thanks Tanga!) When we started into the marina entrance, the narrow channel was blocked by a boat that was anchored and doing some dredging. The guy on deck motioned us to go around him on the left, which put us near some shallow coral heads. It was nervewracking for a time but we got through it and made the 90 degree turn to enter the marina. Of course we had one more obstacle to get past which was the two dogs that decided to swim across the channel directly in front of us. We slowed down to avoid running them down and managed to get tied up and checked in with Customs with no further trouble. There are dogs everywhere.

After some discussion we decided to rent a car, since that seems to be the best way to see the island. We drove (on the left side, as they do in Britain) over to Turtle Bay and had a fantastic dinner accompanied by the local beer, Turks Head. We got back in the car and had some more fun with roundabouts before stopping for ice cream in an area called Grace Bay. Provo is interesting in that it has one main "highway" going the length of the island and a handful of paved roads, only in the touristy areas. Everywhere else it's dirt roads and rocks. Of course we are driving around in this tiny daihatsu clown car, trying to avoid scraping the bottom on the potholes while passing dismembered parts of other cars that did not fare so well (specifically an unlucky crankshaft smack dab in the middle of the road). Yeah, we signed on for Avis' collision/damage insurance.

Where we are:
Location=Provo, Turks and Caicos
Lat=21 45.827
Lon=72 10.505

En Route to Turks & Caicos

Snorkeling at Mayaguana

Kevin went for a snorkel this morning to dive on our anchor and scrub a little more crud off the underside of the boat. I was inside when he called me out to take a look at an enormous 4-foot stingray that had meandered over and was laying on the bottom right under the boat. It swam away when I came out but I guess when I went back inside it came back again to keep an eye on Kevin's progress. Then later in the afternoon I also jumped in and snorkeled around a bit and after I got out and started rinsing myself off on the transom I looked over and there it was again, just hovering off to the side of the boat, watching me. Very Hitchcockian. He may have just been curious about what these strange-looking interlopers with the flailing arms and legs were up to, but seriously sometimes when we snorkel I wonder: who is watching who?

We turned in early and set our alarm for midnight so that we could get started on our next passage. Goodbye, Bahamas -- hello, Turks & Caicos! We were glad we saved our chartplotter track on the way in (a la Hansel & Gretel's breadcrumbs), as it made going out the west entrance of Abraham's Bay a no-brainer. We're expecting to land in T&C around lunchtime on Friday.

Where we are:
Location=Passage to Turks and Caicos
Lat=22 14.685
Lon=72 58.554

Mayaguana, Bahamas

We got into Mayaguana at lunchtime today after being underway for 29 hours. The passage to Mayaguana is reputed to be one of the more difficult sections of the route south since it is so long (against the prevailing winds of course) with no good anchorages along the way. So we are glad to have it behind us. Mayaguana will be our last stop in the Bahamas, the Turks & Caicos lies about 50 miles SE of where we are. We are anchored behind a reef on the south side of the island. We plan to stay here tonight and tomorrow, so hopefully after some rest we'll get a chance to do some snorkeling.

Where we are:
Location=Mayaguana, Bahamas
Lat=22 19.526
Lon=73 01.874

En Route to Mayaguana

We heard on the news that it snowed a foot in Tucson. Brrr! Hope everyone back in AZ is managing to stay warm. We are putting miles and miles under our keels on our way to Mayaguana. So far doing this leg in one long passage is really working out well. The wind is very light and the seas are so calm that we are each able to grab some solid hours of shut-eye on our off-watches. For us, three hours on and three hours off seems to be about right. Any longer and you start to get fatigued when you're on watch, and any shorter you don't get any sleep.

You may wonder what it's like to be at the helm in the middle of the night. Well picture this: you have nothing beneath you except miles of empty ocean and nothing above you but a billion light-years of cosmic history. You start to think about big questions such as: is this clod of dirt the only planet in the universe that supports sentient beings? And if not, how can we possibly contact some other civilization if all the stuff we see in the sky is so old it may not even exist anymore? Deep, huh? Your thoughts wander all over the place but that's pretty much the kind of thing you think about when you are alone on watch at 2 a.m. That, and "yo quiero Taco Bell". Sadly, there are no drive-thrus in this neck of the woods.

It was cloudy earlier but the skies just cleared and I think I can pretty much see every star there is (or "was". Whatever...my brain hurts). I wish I knew more about astronomy; the only constellations I recognize are Orion and the Big and Little Dippers. It is strange to me that the ancients had to resort to naming constellations after make-believe monsters like Capricorn and Sagittarius. When I look at the stars, I see shapes that take a lot less imagination to envision: Tabla Ikea (crooked table), Serpento Twisticus (long twisty snake), and Pasta Farfalle Major/Minor (big and little bow ties). Give it a try sometime. Poke your head outside on a clear night and see if you think you're looking at a creature with a fish body and a goat's head or something that more resembles an unbent paperclip (can't think of a good latin name for that one).

Where we are:
Location=Passage to Mayaguana
Lat=22 45.135
Lon=73 39.142

George Town, Exumas

We had a busy weekend here in George Town. On Saturday we took a dinghy ride into town to hit the book exchange, stock up on fruits & veggies, swing by the liquor store (rum was less than 5 bucks/liter), and find a few parts at the hardware store. Top II Bottom is the name of the hardware store here and as the name implies they are surprisingly well-stocked. We were able to find a thimble for one of my rope splices, an energy-efficient fluorescent light bulb to replace the one we broke, and silver duct tape aplenty (we had run out). Couple that with faxing in our US Coast Guard registration (which we did on Monday at the "Business Center" whose computers sport neither MS Word nor Adobe Acrobat -- sure made printing out the CG's online form difficult but we managed!), and we've finished all our shore errands for a while.

Sunday we went ashore at Stocking Island to hang out for lunch at the Chat N Chill beach bar. We kicked back with some burgers and a couple Kaliks and watched the scene at Volleyball beach. There were three games of volleyball going, folks playing bridge, dominoes, and even a bocce game (don't ask me who won, I can't figure out the rules). We hung out for a while and watched the games and wandered up and down the beach a bit before heading back to the boat.

Today is Monday and we are looking at a couple of days of light and variable winds, so we are planning to leave George Town tomorrow morning. If we're lucky, we will make the long 180nm passage to Mayaguana either motorsailing or just plain motoring. Normally the prevailing trade winds make this passage a tough one, so we'll take a light & variable motorsail if we can get it. Comfort is key. Plus landing in Mayaguana will put us in a good position to head over to the Turks & Caicos soon. If we don't like the conditions and decide not to go to Mayaguana, we'll just head over to Rum Cay where the snorkeling is supposed to be fantastic. Either way, we'll be going somewhere we've never been before so we are looking forward to it.

George Town, Exuma

So Thursday we went 40 miles from Shroud Cay to Little Farmer's Cay. We met up with another couple there and had them over for drinks. Bruce and Lin are on "Alize", and we met them while we were in Charleston. It was nice to meet up with some familiar faces and it sounds like they are headed the same way we are, as they plan to spend hurricane season down in Trinidad & Tobago. I'm sure we'll see more of them down the road.

We arrived in George Town yesterday morning. You may remember that last year this was as far as we got. Funny that last year it took us two and a half months to get from Lucaya to George Town but this year it took only five days. We seem to be flying through the Bahamas, but it's only because we want to spend our time in places we haven't been yet.

So we anchored and not an hour later we see a very small seaplane come taxiing in and pull up right to the beach at the Chat N Chill. Not sure which island he came from, maybe a smaller island without a bar? An hour and a half later the plane weaves its way back through all the anchored boats and takes off. So I guess he just wanted to knock back a couple before heading off to wherever he came from. That's what you like to see. Between this experience and the one last year where we saw the other seaplane crash, you could never pay me enough to ride in one of those things.

Where we are:
Location=George Town, Bahamas
Lat=23 30.952
Lon=75 45.301

Shroud Cay, Exumas, Bahamas

[Kevin's Post]Amanda fried us up some fresh mahi mahi for dinner last night and then we both slept for 12 hours straight. This morning we left the Nassau area and motor-sailed about 45 miles to where we are now, Shroud Cay, in the Exumas. I remember when we first bought the boat, we took a trip from Warwick to Block Island. That's about 30 miles and afterward I told Amanda that was too damn far to go in one day. We were both so tired. Now 45 miles is practically a day off.

We got here early afternoon and set about on some boat projects. Amanda got to work replacing the lacing that supports the trampolines, and I put on my wetsuit and started cleaning the hull. I've been looking forward to getting to the clear water here to scrub off the 8 months worth of growth that has accumulated. It's pretty hard to do in the murky water in the US. I spent 3 hours underwater and am about 1/3 done. The bottom of the boat has become an ecosystem in its own right. We definitely need a new coat of anti-fouling paint. With the slime, seaweed, and barnacles gone I'm sure we'll go faster. As I brush all the growth off, I notice that there are these tiny sea monkey creatures that are attaching themselves to me since I have disrupted their preferred home. Nice. That was about when I decided to call it a day.

Where we are:
Location=Shroud Cay
Lat=24 32.013
Lon=76 48.027

Kevin's Mahi Mahi

Kevin's latest catch. We figured out a way to post small photos with the SSB, so hopefully we'll be able to post more photos going forward.

Nassau - Catch of the Day

Spoiler alert: Kevin caught a fish. For those of you who want to know details, skip to the last paragraph.

So while all you people were sleeping, we made it 120 miles to Nassau. We'd been hoping the weather would hold and it did so we left at 4pm on Monday for a night passage across the New Providence Channel. It was just us and the big boats: cruise ships, motor tankers, cargo ships, and the like. A few hours after we left, a cruise ship caught up with us and it was so brightly lit it looked like a small city. Weren't sure if he even realized we were there until we heard a northbound tanker hail it on the radio (by name of course. All the big ships have the AIS system which tells them each other's important data like boat name, home port, and astrological sign.) The northbound tanker wanted the cruise ship to turn more to port and thankfully the captain said that he couldn't go to port as there were two small ships there (we were one of them). So at least the mega-giants can see us on their radar. That is encouraging.

We were motoring straight into the wind all night (it seems like that is always the case, doesn't it?) and it was ridiculously rolly with large nine-second swells, which basically means that you get hit by a swell and small waves and then the boat spends the next eight seconds pitching and yawing to recover itself only to be hit again on the nose by the next swell. Oh, and guess what -- we were down to our last seasickness patch (Kevin got it because a. he is more essential to boat operations, and b. I have inherited my dad's iron stomach). The waves slowed our speed down to a mere crawl at times (2.3 knots) and then the boat would recover (back to 5 knots - not setting any speed records here) before getting knocked on its butt again. So it was a rough night that didn't really let up until we got within a few hours of Nassau. But we made it to Nassau in one piece.

One good side effect of the exasperatingly slow speeds was that Kevin caught the most beautiful Mahi Mahi I have ever seen. He used a new "Alien" lure that he trolled out on a line around 6:30 am, and by 8 am he had a hit! I've seen illustrations of this kind of fish in books and the colors were always so vivid that I thought the artist might be exaggerating the hues - aquamarine, deep blue, and bright yellow - but that is what the fish looks like. This one was small, about 5 lbs, and my photo (when I post it) doesn't do it justice. In my photo the colors are kind of drab but Kevin says they are only vividly colored when they are alive. Plus I suck at photography anyway (you try taking a photo when the floor beneath you is jumping around like a rollercoaster). Actually better yet, try filleting the fish while the boat is jumping around like a rollercoaster, because that was Kevin's job. Blood and fish guts -- yuck. Tasty grilled fish cakes -- yum.

Where we are:
Location=Nassau, Bahamas
Lat=25 05.023
Lon=77 12.578

Port Lucaya - You Can Check Out Anytime You Like

"...But you can never leave..." Well that's how it's starting to feel, anyway. Since we are stuck here in Lucaya we decided to make the best of it and made reservations for the Champagne "Jazz" Brunch at the swanky Harbor Room. Free champagne, the buffet was excellent, and the jazz? Well, it was basically one guy playing a couple of keyboards, but he sure jazzed up his arrangement of "Hotel California". But it was a nice way to celebrate our wedding anniversary. One year of marriage under our belts and so far no complaints. Well, no serious complaints anyway.

We spent a few minutes contemplating a bizarre structure that wasn't here last year. At first we thought it might be a very compact driving range -- there were tall lights surrounded by all kinds of netting, but then we realized that it was a trapeze act (the guy who climbed up and started swinging back and forth was a dead giveaway!). They have mocked it up to look like a pirate ship and I guess they plan to eventually stage a Vegas-type Pirate-themed acrobat act. You can tell that this past hurricane season was a mild one -- it seems that all the cash the businesses would have normally spent on hurricane repairs has gone instead to improvements. Some examples: the marina we spent a month at last year used to be called Lucayan Marina Village, but now it is the more imposing Grand Bahama Yacht Club; and the Pelican Bay Hotel has re-roofed nearly all of its buildings from spanish tile to a more wind-resistant metal sheeting and they are building a covered enclosure over the pool bar. Nice.

After lunch we walked out along the beach and just enjoyed the sunshine. It's still blowing pretty good out there so even though we've been here a week longer than intended, we will hang out here one more day and see if the weather moderates a little before pushing on further south.

Port Lucaya - Kayaking

Kayaking in Lucaya

The cruise is ruined. Well, nearly ruined. Okay, we'll manage. This morning I pulled a jar of peanut butter out of the pantry. I opened it and Kevin and I both stared in absolute horror. Chunky! Who bought chunky?! Not only was it chunky Jif, but it was EXTRA-chunky Jif. I double-checked the other three unopened jars in our stockpile and sure enough there wasn't a smooth one in the bunch. I guess during our frenzied shopping at Sam's Club we had grabbed the wrong kind. Ew. I guess we'll live -- we just have to chew it more.

Last time we needed a splice in a line I was the one who sat down with the book and figured out how to do it. So now I am the designated "splicer" in the crew. (A splice is a way of putting a loop in the end of the rope without tying a knot). This time it was a different type of line (8-strand Brait) so I had to learn a whole new set of instructions. After more than an hour of bruising my fingers and cussing up a storm I came to the last step. All of my strands were about an inch too short for the final "tuck"! I was totally ticked off, because now I will have to start over at the beginning. My extra-supportive husband did not hesitate to point out: "Well you would've had to do it two more times anyway since I need three lines spliced not just one. It's good practice." Thanks, honey.

To cheer me up, Kevin decided to inflate the kayak that he got me for Christmas. He pulls the thing out of the bag and goes to inflate it with our dinghy pump when we realize that the pump doesn't fit the nozzle. We find some attachments that *kind of* fit and start filling the thing with air. But because we didn't buy the "right" pump, every time we close the valve it loses a lot of air. So the thing won't inflate all the way. We are kicking ourselves for not trying it out in Florida so we could've bought the right damn pump, but it has enough air to float and we are both able to try it out. It's nothing like a real kayak (the bow wiggles back and forth with every stroke of the paddle) but it's still pretty fun.

We are anchored in the same spot, tucked back into a cove. Both the glass-bottom boat tour and the booze cruise come through here to turn around, so every day we get a boat full of tourists staring at us like fish in a bowl, and today was no different. Can't blame them, really. I'd stare too if some yahoo was paddling around in what looked like a deflated pool toy.

Port Lucaya - Daytrippers

Tuesday morning we woke up around 8:30am after sleeping a solid 11 hours. We looked at the weather and spur of the moment decided to try to cross south to the Berry Islands because the winds are supposed to strengthen all week and we wanted to get as far as we could before hunkering down. So by 9:30 am we were on our way, headed out the Bell Channel, sails up and engines on. After about an hour the winds started building and of course the seas did too. On the chartplotter, our ETA to the Berrys showed as 5:40 (right at sunset) even though we were cruising along at 8+ knots. We discussed going on (for another 7 hours with wind & waves building) vs turning back. We decided we probably would've been fine if we'd left before sunrise but we knew that it was foolish to push on. Not that we would be in danger, just that the whole point of this is supposed to be fun and if we're getting knocked around by the seas it's not that fun. So we decided to call it a daysail and turned back towards Lucaya again to wait out the weather for the week. There are worse places to be stuck, that's for sure -- at least there's lots to do in Lucaya. We first anchored off the marina where we stayed last year hoping to make use of the free wi-fi, but the ferry guy came by and said we weren't allowed to anchor so close to the marina. So we moved on down the channel and tucked into one of the man-made coves. There's no internet signal here, but it's nice and secluded and protected from the wind. This morning Kevin looked at the weather forecast and it's looking like we'll be here til Sunday at least, which is our anniversary so that will be kind of cool to celebrate it here where we got married.

Where we are:
Location=Port Lucaya, GB
Lat=26 31.110
Lon=78 37.868

Back at Lucaya

We woke up and were on our way out the Lake Worth inlet by 3:30 am. Last year when we crossed to the Bahamas, the sea was smooth as glass and we motored the whole way in record time. We weren't so lucky this year. Winds were out of the southeast at 15 knots with gusts up to 20. We got pounded by the waves, which weren't very big but it's still annoying to bash straight into them. As the sun rose both wind and waves picked up even further. Poor Boris, who was hiding in the forward port bathroom, must've gone airborne several times when we hit some big ones. And our lamp, the only freestanding piece of furniture that we own (everything else is bolted to the boat - now it's clear why) fell over one time too many and the bulb shattered. We have all kinds of spare lightbulbs on the boat for running lights, anchor lights, steaming lights, etc, but not a spare for a "normal" light. We still have plenty of lights but they are all "car dome light strength" -- dim enough so that you can just make out writing on a page. Our real lamp somehow made it feel more civilized. Only one day out and already something is broken -- guess we'll add "lightbulb" to our latest "boat fix" list. Supposedly these were ideal conditions in which to cross, but then again most people cross from further south in Florida and would've had the wind behind them instead of slamming into it headfirst, so we only have ourselves to blame. All in all it was a pretty relentless day, I guess we were spoiled last time.

Rumrunners

We arrived at Port Lucaya around 4pm and got checked in with customs and immigration no problem. We left the dock, motored around a bit, and found a decent spot to anchor. As soon as we were settled we dinghied back over to the Lucaya Marketplace to -- you guessed it -- RumRunners for some coconut drinks. Ah...it feels like home.

Where we are:
Location=Port Lucaya, Grand Bahama
Lat=26 30.877
Lon=78 38.504

Lake Worth, FL

To Lake Worth

[Kevin's Post]We left Ft. Pierce yesterday morning and decided to go out the inlet and head down to Lake Worth on the outside to avoid the bridges and the weekend boater traffic on the ICW. So we knocked out the whole distance in one day. The wind was pretty much due south so we had to motor the whole way with the wind and waves coming straight at us. It wasn't too bad, we arrived about an hour before sunset.

Today we are taking care of some last minute tasks including fueling up the boat. Normally we would avoid going to a fuel dock on a weekend, but today we had no choice. The boat traffic here in Lake Worth is incredible and it is a nightmare trying to maneuver a big slow boat with a zillion small fishing boats zipping around like flys. Imagine trying to pull into a gas station, if the gas station were located in the median of I-10. We make our first pass with all our fenders on the opposite side of the boat from the dock. We were planning to turn around so our bow would be into the wind when we dock. No dice. There are half a dozen boats right behind me so I can't turn around. I try to turn into the marina past the fuel dock to let the boats go by, intending to back out and slide up to the fuel dock. But, it takes too long for the boats to go by and I can't hold our position with the wind and current. The current grabs us and pushes us sideways pinning us against a piling at the bow and the end of the fuel dock at the stern. Fortunately the slip that we were pinned in front of was empty and our rub rail protected us from any damage from the piling. After the boats went by, I was able to pivot the stern away from the dock and back out. No harm done. I tell Amanda to move all the fenders to the other side of the boat since the current was stronger than the wind and coming from the opposite direction. We set up for another pass. This time a small fishing boat sneaks in ahead of me. We set up for a third pass. This time we actually get tied up (with great difficulty since it was the dock hands second day and he didn't know how to tie up a boat). Of course from his perspective, he's probably thinking I don't know how to drive a boat. Anyway, we filled the tank and 5 jerry cans and filled the outboard tank too. $260. Ouch, but it's cheapest fuel we'll see for a while.

We're planning to leave tomorrow morning by 4AM and head for Lucaya on Grand Bahama, a distance of about 80nm. This is the same route we took last year and it took just under 12 hours. Hopefully we can make even better time this year since the wind will be out of the south. If we can't make it to Lucaya before dark, we will divert to West End.

Where we are:
Location=Lake Worth, FL
Lat=26 45.557
Lon=80 02.663

Ft. Pierce, FL

[Kevin's Post]Today we did another 40 miles south on the ICW. This was one of those days we were glad to be on protected waters since we saw apparent winds as high as 33 knots. That's a lot of wind. We're still about 60 miles from our planned departure point, Lake Worth. We're going to try get to Lake Worth tomorrow, but may break it up into 2 days depending on how bad we time the bridges. There are 8 drawbridges between here and there, 6 of them have restricted opening times. If the forecast holds, we will be able to cross the gulfstream on Monday.

Where we are:
Location=Ft Pierce, FL
Lat=27 28.211
Lon=80 19.509

Palm Bay, FL

This morning we topped off the water tank, rinsed the bird crap off the deck (stupid birds), and left the marina for parts south. Today was an easy day, only a 40-mile stretch to an anchorage near Palm Bay. So far things have been in working order -- both engines fired up first try, that's always a good thing. We weren't able to put the sails up since the wind was coming straight from the direction we wanted to go, but we made good time on one engine and arrived at the anchorage around 3pm. We have a couple more days of motoring south through Florida before we can get to our jumping off point at Lake Worth. It is looking like there will be good weather early next week for our crossing to the Bahamas. We are looking forward to being in clear water again. Right now both transoms are covered in sludge and there's no point in cleaning them off since the dark brown water just stains them again right away. Ick.

Where we are:
Location=Palm Bay, FL
Lat=27 59.428
Lon=80 32.375

Titusville, FL - Provisioning

[Kevin's Post]Today we made another Sam's Club run to fill the freezer. Just how much can we cram into a 16" x 16" x 24" space? Well here's what's in there now: 14 lbs chicken breast, 13 lbs ground turkey, 10 lbs cheddar cheese, 10 lbs mozarella cheese, 10 lbs frozen vegetables, 3 lbs deli sliced ham, 3 lbs deli sliced roast beef, 3 lbs deli sliced turkey, 6 lbs steaks, 3 lbs frozen bread dough, 2 lbs ricotta cheese, 2 lbs italian sausage and a few other odds and ends. And we still have some room to make ice. The refrigerator is still empty, that's one of tomorrow's chores.

We have ported our phone number over to Vonage so that we will be able to keep our old phone number as we travel through the caribbean. You'll still be able to call that number and leave us voicemails. We will get an email notification any time a message is left which is pretty cool. Plus we have a USB telephone which we can plug into any internet cafe computer (or our own on the boat if we have wi-fi) and call home for free.

We're starting to look at the forecast watching for a weather window to cross over to the Bahamas. This year we are subscribing to a private weather service to get weather information. Last year we primarily used the NOAA forecasts, but listened in on Chris Parker on the SSB later in the spring. We were pretty impressed with the detail and accuracy of his forecasts, so this year we subscribed to his service which allows us to hail him during his morning SSB broadcast for personalized weather routing. Plus we get daily emails detailing the current weather conditions and outlook for our area. As of right now it is looking like we probably won't cross until the beginning of next week.

Titusville, FL - Back at the boat

[Kevin's Post]Happy New Year! We left Phoenix early this morning and are now back at the boat. We are always nervous returning to the boat after being gone for a while and this
time we were especially nervous since the marina we left the boat at is a bit sketchy. And the tornados that hit 50 miles from here last week didn't ease our worries either. But all is well, the boat is exactly the way we left it, just a little extra dirt. We are busy trying to get the boat and ourselves ready to leave the country, hopefully within the week. We'll have a rental car for the next few days in order to finish our provisioning and run some last minute errands. It seems like our list of last-minute tasks gets longer by the hour as we try to pick up the odds and ends that we think we'll want or need during the next year and a half. Everything costs at least twice as much once you leave the land of plenty, so we are packing every nook and cranny of the boat with food, supplies, and boat parts. Now the real challenge is remembering what we have and where the hell we put it.

Phoenix, AZ - Happy Holidays

Wow, didn't realize how long it had been since the last post. We locked up the boat, boarded the cat, and headed out to Arizona to visit the family for the holidays. So far it has been a busy trip -- we've been running around getting last minute shopping done and visiting friends and family. We stopped by the office to see some familiar faces, and we also drove up to Flagstaff to visit my brothers and sisters (who are attending Northern Arizona University). Kids these days -- they've spent the last couple months without heat bc they thought the furnace was broken. Of course with all the system break-downs Kevin has had to deal with on the boat, he was able to troubleshoot and get the heat up and running within 45 minutes. My husband rocks. Hope everyone has a great holiday season!

Titusville, FL - Shuttle Launch

[Kevin's Post]Well, I guess the photos eliminate any chance of suspense in this post. We saw the Space Shuttle Discovery launch. It was originally supposed to go up Thursday night but was scrubbed due to weather. Today was the second attempt and they were anticipating only a 30% chance, again due to weather. But in the last few hours before the launch the skies cleared up and the wind stopped. At 8:47 PM we were staring at the launch pad waiting. Then all of a sudden we could see the flames and smoke and night became day. Smoke billowed out to sides of the launch pad and the shuttle lifted off. It was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen. The flames were so intense it was like staring at the sun. After a few seconds we could hear the rumble of the rockets. We were able to clearly see the shuttle ascend from the launch pad all the way to orbit 9 minutes later. By the time the main engines cut off the shuttle looked like a bright star.

Our boat is docked at a marina in Titusville only a few miles from the launch pad, and we were able to watch the launch from the dock. Every parking lot up and down US 1 was charging at least $20 for parking. I think the parking lot owners must hope the launch scrubs, because then they get to charge everybody again the next day. An enterprising boat owner could have probably charged $100 a head to view the launch from the water. Maybe next time.

Titusville, FL - Thirsty Manatee

Today I was cleaning out our shower sump (a job that is exactly as glamorous as it sounds) when Kevin called me outside to look at something. He was standing on deck spraying the hose into the water, excitedly saying "look at this!". I had no idea what he was talking about until he said "it's a manatee". It was confusing because at first all you could see was its snout, which looks like a weird alien-head. But when it stretched out behind the boat you could see the whole body and it was huge, about 500 lbs. Kevin had been cleaning the boat when it showed up and started slurping up the freshwater that was running off the side -- I guess manatees love freshwater. Kevin just kept letting the hose spray into the water and the manatee actually rolled over on its back with one flipper on the transom, enjoying the free drink.

So we were looking forward to watching the shuttle launch this evening, but the weather had been iffy all day so we didn't have high hopes. NASA kept counting down until the last possible minute when they finally decided to scrub the launch due to low cloud cover. Because the launch window is only open five minutes per night we will have to wait until tomorrow, hopefully the weather is better then. So the closest we came to seeing a shuttle in the air was this shot of the cheesy christmas light display on one of the boats on the next dock.

Titusville, FL

Sorry for the lack of posts. Kevin wrote a post while we were in St. Augustine and we sent it to the website via email but didn't realize that it didn't show up, so I've put it on there now. We spent the past week in Daytona, FL watching boats run aground trying to get into the anchorage. In Daytona, the ICW becomes a narrow channel in the middle of a shallow river that runs pretty much straight north and south. There is an anchorage off to the west side of the channel but there is a huge shoal running parallel between it and the anchorage. To anchor, you have to motor south until you are clear of the shoal, and then you can make a right-hand u-turn to get into the anchorage. We saw four or five boats run aground trying to come straight in. Despite the fact that I got on the radio and tried to tell them how to get into the anchorage. But when they don't have a radio on, what can you do, other than sit back and watch the show? It was like they saw some boats anchored and figured they could just head right on over without consulting their charts or anything. One guy who was singlehanding ran aground a couple hundred feet from us. While he was waiting for high tide, another boat came up and ran aground about 20 feet away from him. We could see them talking to each other from their boats, and then the second guy managed to use his engine to get himself back afloat, did a 180, and proceeded to run himself hard aground again. Yeah, that's it, take navigational advice from the guy who's run himself aground. We ended up hopping in the dinghy and helping the singlehander (an older gentleman whose charts were so old they did not show the shoal) by sounding out the depths around his boat to help him find deeper water.

On Tuesday we continued south to Titusville. I had never heard of Titusville before but I had heard of Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. Titusville is directly across the river from the NASA launch site. Kevin specifically chose to time our visit so that we could watch the shuttle launch, which is supposed to happen on Thursday night. From our slip we can see the shuttle sitting there on the launch pad, waiting to rocket off into space. So we will have the best seats in the house.

We will be at this marina for about a month since it's close to Orlando and about the same price as the moorings in our usual December spot (Stuart). We have already met some of our neighbors, who seem very friendly. The website made the marina out to be a paradise complete with jacuzzi, fitness center, raquetball courts, wi-fi and a sauna. We couldn't believe the monthly rate would be so low with all those amenities. Unfortunately they haven't updated their website in a long time. Seems they are under new ownership so the fitness center equipment has been sold off, the raquetball courts no longer exist and the jacuzzi has been filled in with dirt and turned into a planter. Kevin is especially disappointed that the wi-fi signal is too weak for us to pick up at our boat. So I guess the moral is: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But it's not all bad; the sauna still works.

Where we are:
Location=Titusville, FL
Lat=28 33.258 N
Lon=80 47.709 W

Daytona, FL

We waited out the weekend at Cumberland island so that we wouldn't
have to deal with all the weekend boat traffic on the ICW. Just as we
are getting ready to get going, it starts raining. Great. The
anchorage at Cumberland island has a pretty strong current, so we had
two anchors out. Our boat had spun around several times over the
weekend so our two anchor rodes were wrapped around each other. After
about an hour of work in the rain we had both anchors up and were
underway. We crossed the border of Florida pretty early on and the
skies cleared up. We had a favorable current almost all day and could
have made it all the way to St. Augustine, but decided to stop at a
place called Pine Island about 10 miles to the north. As we pull into
the anchorage, we see another catamaran, a Manta named Caribbean Call.
They hailed us on the radio and complemented us on our boat. As it
turns out, they are hull #14. We are hull #17, so their boat is only
a few months older than ours.

Tuesday we headed into St. Augustine and took dockage at the city
marina. We stayed here last year and really liked it, but this time,
the bridge adjacent to the marina is under construction and they were
working on it all night making a lot of noise. It was a little
disconcerting watching them hoist these massive steel structures about
50 feet in front of the boat. I guess they weren't too worried about
dropping them though since there were guys standing under them as the
crane moved them around. We really like St. Augustine, but were glad
to get away from the construction. Tonight we are anchored in Daytona
Beach where we plan to stay for a few days to go ashore and look
around a bit.

Where we are:
Location=Daytona Beach, FL
Lat=29 12.040 N
Lon=81 00.387 W

Cumberland Island, GA

We left Golden Isles Marina Thanksgiving morning and headed down to Cumberland Island. Cumberland is a national park (a National Seashore, in fact) and has miles of hiking trails, wildlife, and ruins to explore. The last two times we anchored here it was too rainy to go ashore so this time we were determined to check things out. When we got to the trail we discovered that the armadillos were out in full force. Or is it "armadilloes"? Either way, the little guys would ramble across the trail right in front of you, completely oblivious as they foraged through the leaves for food. I don't think they are native, the brochure just says that they were first seen on the island in 1974. How did they get here? The only way to and from the island is via boat so maybe some guy from Texas smuggled them over in his backpack. We'll never know.

Farther down the trail are the ruins of Dungeness, a sprawling mansion built by Thomas Carnegie (not to be confused with his wealthier brother Andrew, or the very popular and influential writer, Dale) for his family. The building was consumed by fire in the 1950's but the stone ruins are still very impressive. You aren't allowed to wander inside the buildings since they've been taken over by diamondback rattlesnakes. But there is a herd (posse? troop? gaggle?) of wild horses that roam the island and we saw plenty of them munching grass near the Dungeness ruins. They were so intent on eating they barely even noticed the tourists creeping up close to take photos. There are a bunch of private residences on the island and I guess the horses keep everyone's front lawns in pretty good shape.

Anyway it's been a quiet week - hope everyone had a nice turkey day!

Where we are:
Location=Cumberland Island, GA
Lat=30 46.008 N
Lon=81 28.288 W

St. Simon, GA

Sunrise at the helm

[Kevin's Post]We left Port Royal Saturday morning before sunrise and headed out the inlet to the open ocean. As the sun came up we saw just one other sailboat, they were coming down the ICW from the opposite direction toward the inlet and converging on our course. As it got closer we recognized it as another Manta. It is bizarre how frequently we see other Mantas considering how few there are. They were going a bit faster than us since we were only running one engine (no wind)and they were out of sight within a few hours. In the afternoon we saw our first real whale. We saw pilot whales last spring, but I don't count those since they are barely bigger than a dolphin. Amanda spotted it and we both saw it spout water 10 feet in the air. Then as I ran to get the camera, it flipped its tail in the air and disappeared so we didn't get any pictures. The new fish lures were a disappointment. They are designed to dive down and stay under 20-30 feet without a downrigger, but at the speeds we cruise at they pretty much just skip along the surface. The fish didn't show any interest, but given enough time I think I could have caught a bird. Birds were circling the lures all day and a few even dove down and tried to pick them up. We went in St. Catherines sound to anchor for the night in Walburg Creek.

Another stowaway

Sunday morning we left before sunrise again to make the most of the short day. We had made reservations at Golden Isles marina in St. Simon for Sunday night as the weather forecast was starting to look ugly. The NOAA weather synopsis kept ominously referring to a 'significant marine event' for the beginning of the week. In this part of Georgia all the anchorages have really strong currents and very little wind protection so we decided to hole up at a marina. They are currently forecasting 50 knot winds for tomorrow.

Where we are:
Location=St. Simon, GA
Lat=31 09.972 N
Lon=81 24.892 W

Steamboat Creek, SC

[Kevin's Post]We had planned to leave Charleston on Monday but unfortunately our boat and our vet had other ideas. We had taken Boris (our cat) to the vet in Charleston last Thursday because he has lost a lot of weight over the last few months and we wanted to get him checked out. The vet said it was probably hyperthyroidism, but they would have to do bloodwork to be sure. So they take some blood and say they will have the results overnight. So Friday morning we call them and they say to call again Saturday morning. Saturday morning they tell us Monday morning. Monday morning they tell us Monday afternoon. Monday afternoon they won't return my calls. Tuesday morning they have the results and sure enough it is hyperthyroidism and they prescribe some medication for him. Hopefull Boris will respond well to the medication but we'll have to have his blood tested again in a month or so when we get to Florida.

While we were waiting for the bloodwork results we had a plumbing issue with the boat. Over the weekend we had noticed the port bilge pump had been coming on periodically. It would come on for about 2 seconds and stop a couple times a day. Usually that means you are taking on water, i.e. sinking. Most boats that sink at marinas have some sort of slow leak and a failed bilge pump. So Monday morning I am tearing apart the boat checking all the through hull fittings for leaks when I shine a light at the back of the engine compartment and see a slow drip of water coming from the shelf where the rudder quadrant is. Last summer we had a problem with our port rudder bearing leaking and it took me 3 days to dismantle it, fix it and put it back together. So I get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I take apart the bed so I can get at the rudder and I am ecstatic to see that it is a plumbing fitting above the rudder leaking and not the rudder bearing. As soon as I touch it, it explodes spraying water everywhere. But I don't care, I'm just glad it's not the rudder bearing. Ironically, when I went to West Marine a few days earlier, stocking up on spares, one of the things on the list was spare plumbing fittings. And of course they didn't have the right kind so I didn't get any. Luckily we still had a rental car and I found what I needed at Lowes. $5 and 5 minutes later the leak was fixed.

We finally left Charleston yesterday morning and motored down the ICW 30 miles to Steamboat Creek. A front came through last night and it has been blowing really hard, 20-30 knots, ever since. So we took a day off and are waiting out the front here in Steamboat Creek. Hopefully on Saturday conditions will be good for us to go outside from Port Royal to St. Catherine's Sound which will allow us to avoid some of the worst parts of the ICW. And I bought some huge lures in Charleston that that I want to try out.

Where we are:
Location=Steamboat Creek, SC
Lat=32 36.632 N
Lon=80 16.747 W

Charleston, SC

Boone Hall Plantation

So we are back in Charleston. It was the perfect place to stop for a few days and fly my sister Margaret in for a visit. We are trying to get south as fast as we can, but our insurance requires us to be north of Savannah until November 15th, so this will be a nice little stopover.

Margaret arrived on Friday morning and trooper that she was, stayed awake all day (with the help of some java) and she and I went on a carriage tour of the city while Kevin did boy-stuff like running to West Marine and Home Depot. That evening we had a fabulous BBQ dinner at Sticky Fingers.

The next day we headed off in the rental car to Boone Hall Plantation. Not only did we want to tour the plantation and grounds but also that weekend the plantation just happened to be hosting a real live Civil War re-enactment: "The Battle of Secessionville"! You hear about these things but you have to see it to believe it. First of all, it is sort of like the Renaissance Festival, only with cannons and artillery. Not only are the battle participants and vendors dressed up in period costume, but it seems like many of the locals dust off their hoop skirts and sabres and drape themselves in the confederate flag before heading out to enjoy the show as spectators. You have to admire the soldiers because they take this stuff

Confederate Soldiers

SERIOUSLY. They put up authentic style tents and actually spend the weekend encamped with their fellow soldiers. They march around in formation to get to and from the battlefield to the camp, and there was no laughter or goofing off among the ranks at all (although I did hear one soldier ask another about the point spread on some football game). We watched a cannon fire demonstration and even though they were firing blanks (ie no projectiles), they treated those guns with respect and had the drill down to a science, so you know that while other guys are sitting around on the weekend watching ESPN these guys are out there drilling and practicing their firing technique. I don't really do justice to this whole re-enactment thing, but if you want to read an account of the same re-enactment from a few years ago, check out this link: http://www.awod.com/cwchas/sfight.html Anyway, although there were lots of women dressed up, I think re-enactments are essentially a guy thing, what with all the guns and fighting. Also it would seem they are a Southern thing -- the old adage that the South is still fighting the Civil War is in some way true -- note that they choose to stage a battle that was won by the Confederacy. But for those of you reading this in Arizona, don't despair! Every March, Picacho Peak State Park hosts a re-enactment of the Battle of Picacho Pass. Although that was a smaller skirmish involving some Union soldiers attacking a rebel scouting party, I guess every year they have so many people wanting to be involved in the re-enactment that they end up with more soldiers than there were at the original battle. So next year, skip the nancy-boy Rennaissance Fair and head down towards Tucson for some fun with guns, horses, and American History.

Artillery Video

Click on the third picture to see a video of the artillery demonstration.

We said goodbye to Margaret on Sunday morning and were so glad to have her for a visit, even though it was brief. We are really looking forward to spending some more quality time with our families and friends when we come home next month for the holidays.

Where we are:
Location=Charleston, SC
Lat=32 46.510 N
Lon=79 56.942 W

South Santee River, SC

Well we had an interesting time today. After staying several days at Thoroughfare creek we decided to get a move on and head 30 miles south to Minim Creek. The wind was blowing a bit today, gusting up to 20 knots, but we motored down the ICW without incident. But once we started getting ready to anchor it was a different story.

We have anchored in Minim Creek before and we know that the current runs pretty strong in that area. Last time we anchored in the creek there was no wind. But this time we had the wind pushing us from the north and the current pushing us from sort of a southerly direction. Our normal routine (without current) is to point the boat into the wind, drop the anchor, fall back as the wind pushes us back, and then back down on the anchor with our engines in reverse to get a good set. But with wind and current opposing, we did a little trial and error. We first did our normal routine but after dropping the anchor, the current pushed us forward and past the anchor, so that didn't work. We hauled it up and tried again, this time pointing into the current. After dropping the anchor the wind gusted and we started looping around in drunken circles. It was impossible to get the anchor directly out in front of us to back down on in and after several minutes of trying, Kevin just gave up and said "well it's probably set enough for us to stay here one night, go ahead and shut down the engines". We were in the middle of the creek and the anchor seemed to be holding so I shut the engines down and went inside to grab the cruising log and the instrument covers. I walk through the door a couple minutes later and hear the depth alarm going off (it is set to go off if we are in 2 feet of water). Kevin is at the helm and we are up against the bank of the creek. What? In just a few minutes we had gone from anchored to aground. Guess the anchor wasn't set after all.

So we start the engines and go about the process of getting ourselves floating again and hauling the anchor up. No easy task since the wind is now steady at 17 knots and the current has increased as well. Easing ourselves off the bank is no problem, only the tip of our bow was just barely aground. But trying to get the anchor up is another story since it is behind us between the hulls and we have to be careful about putting the engines in reverse so the propellers don't get fouled on the anchor chain. We finally have the anchor partway up but as I put the starboard engine in reverse it starts making this horrible sound. We realize that our prop must've gotten fouled on one of the several crab trap floats in the creek. We were fortunate because I put the engine in neutral right away and used only the port engine and I think somehow the trap worked itself loose because sure enough when I looked over, there the float was, floating about 100 feet away from where it originally had been (we had picked it up and moved it). We were really lucky because usually if something like that happens someone would have to get in the water and unwrap the line from the prop (in the conditions we were in it would've been next to impossible).

In the end, we gave up on Minim Creek and motored another 10 miles south to the South Santee River, where the current was still strong, but the river was wider and aligned better with the wind. Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong in Minim Creek, but the anchoring gods gave us a break and we were able to set the anchor on the first try in the Santee.

Where we are:
Location=South Santee River, SC
Lat=33 09.018 N
Lon=79 19.312 W

Thoroughfare Creek, SC

[Kevin's Post]Yesterday, we left Southport and crossed the border into South Carolina. There's really only one anchorage on this 70 mile stretch of the ICW, and when we anchored there last year, another boat hit us at 2am because of the reversing current. So, we decided not to even try it this year, and instead went on to Myrtle Beach and tied up at a marina called Dock Holiday's. We had cable TV for the first time in months. For some reason, the cable at the marinas never work, even when they advertise that they have cable. So of course we wasted a lot of time watching tv, did a few loads of laundry, and had burgers and beers at the marina bar. A cold snap is going through the area right now, so we were glad to be able to run the heat too. This morning we got up and the temperature was in the low 40s with a 15kt wind putting the wind chill in the 30's. As we were motoring south we heard the coast guard repeatedly try to hail a vessel named Moonbow. A while later the coast guard issued a 'Pan Pan', which is an announcement typically regarding a vessel which is missing or otherwise in distress. A sailboat named Moonbow had turned on their EPIRB (emergency satellite beacon) somewhere between Cape Fear and Charleston. Conditions were supposed to be pretty bad out on the ocean today with winds 20-25 knots, which is why we are motoring down the ICW instead of going outside like we did on the way north. The Coast Guard never said exactly what happened to the boat, but about an hour later they issued another Pan Pan stating that the boat was adrift and the location. Presumably the crew had been rescued by the coast guard and forced to abandon their boat. We also heard a Securite saying that a bridge between us and Charleston is not working and so we are stuck north of Charleston until it is fixed or conditions are good enough to go outside the rest of the way to Charleston.

Where we are:
Location=Thoroughfare Creek, SC
Lat=33 30.862 N
Lon=79 08.662 W

Southport, NC - The Eagle Has Landed

Cruise Ship Aground

Another day on the ICW. We left Wrightsville Beach around 8am; most of the boats in the anchorage had already left and were well ahead of us. On the VHF radio we started hearing chatter about a boat aground about 10 miles further, near Carolina Beach. One by one, we heard all the other boats hail this boat ("American Eagle"), asking "are you aground?" and "which side should we pass you on?". As we approached the area, we realized why so many boats had been worried about the grounded vessel -- it wasn't just a boat, it was a 160-foot cruise ship! The ICW channel at Carolina Beach is only about 120 feet wide and here is this behemoth turned sideways and stretching nearly across the entire channel. If you look closely at the photo, you can see that the waterline at the bow of the ship is at least a couple feet higher than it should be. As we got closer we could see that one other poor sailboat had misjudged where to pass, and tried to slip by the American Eagle's bow. Yep, they ran aground too. We heard the boat ahead of us radio the ship and they were told to pass behind it, so that's what we did, although the water got pretty shallow. We passed close enough to talk to one of the passengers on deck, an elderly lady who seemed to find the whole situation pretty hilarious. Strangely, the cruise ship was keeping kind of a low profile about the whole thing -- they didn't radio the coast guard, they didn't respond when TowBoat US hailed them on the radio. Normally, a vessel that big would periodically announce a "Security Call" on the VHF, to inform other boaters of what had happened and to use caution. But maybe the captain thought that nobody would notice, and they'd be able to get going again as the tide came in. I'm sure it was embarassing, but he's lucky a tug and barge wasn't trying to transit that section of the ICW this morning, or there could've been real trouble. I'm sure the Coast Guard was pretty irked when they finally found out what was going on. Some other boater must have called them because about two hours later, as we were heading south on the Cape Fun And Games River (Cape Fear River), we finally heard the Coast Guard issue a Security Call warning on the VHF, and they didn't sound too pleased about it.

Where we are:
Location=Southport, SC
Lat=33 55.238 N
Lon=78 02.666 W

Wrightsville Beach, NC

Happy Halloween

[Kevin's Post]Happy Halloween! Today we got up at 4am in order to make the 83 mile passage outside from Beaufort to Wrightsville Beach. There's only a few places we can go out on the ocean and still get back inside before sunset with the days being so short and this was one of them. There was virtually no wind so we ran one engine the whole way. In the afternoon the wind piped up out of the south to 10 knots so we could at least raise the main and get another half knot on top of the engine. We trolled a line most of the afternoon. I tried a few different lures, starting with my smaller lures and working my way up to my biggest lure changing it out every two hours. I finally caught a fish on my largest lure. Briefly. It escaped before I could reel it in. It was so small that I'm not even sure when I caught it. Usually the reel make noise when there is a fish on it, but this one just bent the rod slightly. It somehow managed to wiggle off the hook as I was reeling it in, but it is just as well, I don't think the fish was much bigger than the lure. I think I need to get a 3' lure so I can catch a 3' fish. Anyway, we made it to Wrightsville Beach about an hour before sunset and are anchored with about 50 other boats just below the bridge.

The picture was taken at the Norfolk maritime museum and I have been saving it for Halloween. Don't ask me why the maritime museum had an exhibit on bones.

Where we are:
Location=Wrightsville Beach, NC
Lat=34 12.380 N
Lon=77 48.043 W

Cape Lookout, NC

Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Boy, am I annoyed. I am annoyed for two reasons; one reason being that today is the first day that we have been underway since daylight savings time started. DST is the stupidest concept I can think of. I can understand that it made sense back in the days before electricity, and supposedly it cuts down energy costs and has many benefits that I'm sure make it worthwhile for millions of people to have to remember to simultaneously reset their clocks. But for cruisers like us it means that on Saturday we had until 6:30pm to get to our anchorage safely, but on Sunday we now have to be done by 5:30 (or earlier as the days get shorter). And what's worse is that in order to make the most of the daylight, we now have to get up an hour earlier. Damn you, Benjamin Franklin!

Solstice at Cape Lookout

The second cause of my annoyance is the railroad bridge in New Bern. Yes, the same one we were stuck waiting for on our way in! This morning we wake up and have the anchor up well before sunrise (remember, we are Saving Daylight!) We know that the US 70 highway bridge (the one after the RR bridge) is restricted due to rush hour and only opens once between 6:30am and 8:30am. So we want to get to the US 70 bridge at 6am and get on our way. We motor up to the railroad bridge and, sure enough, it's closed. No VHF response, no response to horn signals. We can see the lights on in the little bridgetender house but can't tell if there's anyone inside. So we wait in front of the bridge for half an hour, maneuvering the engines to keep ourselves in place. Finally at 6:30 we turn to the side and re-anchor, since no train has come and the guy is clearly ignoring us. Kevin put it this way: "he has the easiest job in the world -- keep the bridge open unless a train is coming. But obviously he figured out that his job is even easier if he just leaves the bridge closed ALL THE TIME." I am royally ticked off, so I actually plug in the PC, get on the internet, and look up the phone number for the Norfolk and Southern railroad to register a complaint. By 7am, just as I am speaking to the right person on the telephone, we finally hear the telltale whistle of a train and the bridgetender walks down the train tracks to the bridgetender's house. So all this time he wasn't even there! Where was he? Who knows? Maybe in his car with the heater turned on, or getting a latte at Starbucks. But he sure knew the train schedule well enough to know exactly when to walk out across the bridge on the tracks. You'd think if he knew the schedule so well he could've left the bridge open and just came out ten minutes earlier to close it for the train. Details, details.

So it's the longest train ever, and we are on the VHF to the next bridge asking if they'll hold the 7:30 opening for us because otherwise we will have to wait an hour til 8:30 when rush hour traffic clears. Luckily the train passes and the railroad bridge slowly opens and we race through it just in time to catch the next bridge and we are on our way. Phew! That's the last time we anchor in New Bern!

So it's been a long day but now we are at Cape Lookout. It is a fairly protected spot with pretty sand dunes and a lighthouse. The anchorage is actually outside the Beaufort Inlet. Since we are planning to "go outside" tomorrow to Wrightsville Beach, this means we can get up before dawn and within a few short minutes be out on the open ocean and on our way. The best part of going outside? No bridges!

Where we are:
Location=Cape Lookout, NC
Lat=34 37.298 N
Lon=76 33.048 W

New Bern, NC - Southbound Cruisers Rendezvous

As I mentioned in a previous post, we are in New Bern to attend the Southbound Cruisers Rendezvous. We wanted to see what a gathering like this was all about, and so far we have really enjoyed ourselves. There have been discussions on weather, safety, internet/wi-fi antennas, etc. Some seminars have been more useful than others but it is always interesting to hear other people's experiences and opinions. Cruisers are an opinionated bunch and even on the rare occasions where there's a general consensus there always seems to be a few dissenters. So you can ask a simple question, such as "Will I find wi-fi access in the out islands?" and you will invariably get answers ranging from "it's not reliable, and you have to have an expensive high-powered antenna to pick up a signal" to "great -- I have never had a problem finding a free connection with just my internal PC antenna". So while it is nice to hear someone else share their information, no two cruising experiences are the same so you just gather the info and make your own decision. We are planning to head south in January and work our way through the Caribbean islands down to Grenada, so we wanted to hear other people's experiences, good and bad. We still plan to hit each island (within reason) and form our own opinion, but sometimes it is so useful to hear firsthand information. For example, we met a wonderful couple (John and Jenny from Al Shaheen) who have been that far south already and are heading back down this season. We had previously read that it wasn't worth spending too much time in Puerto Rico so we had just planned it as a provisioning stop, but they offered a different opinion and recommended renting a car to see all of the island. So now we are planning to spend a little more time there and rent the car for more than just provisioning. We have met many other couples who have also given us sound advice based on their experience. So the side trip up the Neuse River to New Bern has been well worth it.

The town of New Bern has been a nice stopover as well. Did you know that New Bern, NC is the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola? No? Well, now you do. Some of the local cruisers have volunteered to shuttle people back and forth to Wal-mart, and a few trusting souls are willing to just give you the keys to their car. So this morning we and several other cruisers piled into a van driven by a soccer dad who lives here now but has sailed with his family (including three boys all under the age of 14 and a dog they added while in Puerto Rico) throughout the Caribbean. After hearing how they all lived pretty cozily for several seasons on a 42-foot (I think) monohull, I vowed never to feel cramped on our boat again!

This evening we headed to a restaurant run by a local Mennonite family. The food was simple but inexpensive and, after being welcomed personally by the owner, as a bonus he and one of the traditionally-dressed waitresses serenaded the dining guests with an a capella spiritual hymn. It was very moving and an interesting change from the waterfront pubs that we usually head to. Of course a drawback is that Kevin now wants to grow a Mennonite-style beard (no mustache). I told him to go for it, but I'm not going to wear a lace hat.

New Bern, NC - Train in Vain

Another long day on the ICW. We woke up well before dawn and had the anchor up by the time the sun rose. Our plan was to make it from Belhaven to New Bern, NC. This week the Sheraton in New Bern is hosting the Southbound Cruisers Rendezvous, which is a three-day get-together with information sessions for cruisers who plan to go south for the winter. It starts on Wednesday but the weather on Monday and Tuesday is supposed to be kind of iffy so we wanted to try to make it all the way there today - 70 miles. Luckily today's route included lots of rivers with deep water so we could use the autopilot and just set it and forget it. (It's much less stressful when you don't have to worry about staying inside a narrow channel.)

So at the end of the day, around 5pm we are approaching New Bern. To get to the anchorage, you have to pass through a highway swing bridge and then a railroad swing bridge a couple hundred feet apart. We hail the first bridge and the operator opens right up for us. The next bridge is a railroad bridge. Typically the RR bridges are left open all the time except when a train is coming. However most of them are not manned and they operate automatically. Just our luck the railroad bridge is closed. We try hailing the bridgetender (in case there is one) and the other bridgetender answers and says he doesn't know what the train schedule is for the railroad bridge but it always opens up after the train comes through. So we wait. It is fifty minutes til sunset, but the bridge was already closed when we got there so surely the train will come soon, right? We can see the anchorage which is literally a few hundred feet away on the other side of the bridge. Ten minutes pass. No train. Another ten. For a brief instant I see someone at the door of the bridgetender's shack on the bridge. I yell to Kevin to get the binoculars but it is too late, whoever it was went back inside. Nothing on the radio. A guy dinghies by and we wave him over and he says, sure, the bridge was open a couple of hours ago. So now we think the train must be just around the corner. We are a little nervous because if the bridge doesn't open it means we have to go back through the other bridge and find some other, less ideal, place to anchor. In the dark. We have now been waiting for thirty minutes and sunset is twenty minutes away so Kevin goes below to look up the correct sound signal for bridge openings (the plan being to blast the guy with the air horn), when the train guy peeks out the door of the shack again. We frantically wave at him and he waves back. Kevin shouts to him to find out when the bridge will open. He shouts back something unintelligible. I maneuver the boat closer to the bridge so we can hear what he's saying but he ducks back inside. We hear a loud mechanical clank that might be the bridge. Nothing moves. Five more minutes pass. The guy walks out onto the bridge with some tools. He goes back in the shed. Slowly the bridge begins to swing aside. And when I say slowly I mean it takes a full ten minutes for it to open. The guy peeks out the door and waves for us to hurry on through. We look at each other and wonder if he is supposed to even be opening the bridge for us, what if a train really is coming? Regardless, we want to get anchored so we go through and hope that a train doesn't come barrelling down just as we cross. We get to the anchorage and spend another twenty minutes trying to find a decent spot (there are already several boats parked in there). It is fifteen minutes after sunset when we finally shut down the engines and then, only then, does the train appear. If the guy hadn't opened the bridge for us we would've waited for almost an hour! But at least we got through and are anchored and looking forward to spending the next five days in one spot.

Where we are:
Location=New Bern, NC
Lat=35 05.849
Lon=77 02.552

Belhaven, NC

[Kevin's Post] 75 miles! Today we crossed Albemarle Sound motorsailing with light winds out of the north. Last fall when we went south we motored the whole ICW with both engines cranked because we were worried about how long it would take to get to FL. This time around we are trying a bit harder to conserve fuel and use the engines less. Running both engines burns twice as much fuel, but you only go about 10% faster. Of course that 10% made us faster than everybody last year, this year we are slower than everybody. But we don't care too much, running on only one engine means fewer fuel stops and fewer oil changes, etc. So today we ran on one engine, sails up as long as we could use them and were pretty pleased with the miles. We literally motored through the Belhaven breakwater at 2 minutes past sunset and got anchored just as it was getting dark.

Where we are:
Location=Belhaven, NC
Lat=35 31.741 N
Lon=76 37.219 W

Broad Creek, NC

Motor Yachts on the ICW

[Kevin's Post]We only made another 30 miles today since the wind was a bit too strong to cross Albemarle Sound (for us anyway). The forecast was for 15-20 knots, but we saw winds 25-30 with a few gusts to 32. So we are anchored at the last anchorage north of Albemarle Sound and plan to cross it tomorrow. From Norfolk south, there are two routes you can take: the Dismal Swamp route and the Virginia Cut route. We've always gone the Dismal Swamp route before so decided to try the other one this time. The Dismal Swamp is too slow for all the big motor yachts, so they all come this way. Every hour a parade of massive motor yachts would blow past us all bunched together due to the bridge timings. You would think that in 20 miles they would spread out, but they don't. I guess one of them decides to go 25 and the rest want to go 26 and they tailgate just like they were in cars. Most of them slow down when they get close to us, but even going slow they throw up huge wakes. And when a bunch go by in succession the wakes seem to build on each other and today we got hit by some big ones. We're in North Carolina now.

Where we are:
Location=anywhere
Lat=36 12.050 N
Lon=75 57.227 W

Blackwater Creek, Va

Downtown Norfolk

[Kevin's Post]We actually set an alarm to get up early this morning since we wanted to be waiting for the first drawbridge south at 8:30. One look out the cockpit door and we knew we weren't going anywhere anytime soon. The fog was so thick we could only see about 150 feet. We haven't seen fog like that since New England last summer. So, we went back to bed. The fog finally broke around 11:00 and we got moving. Today was a slow day, we went through 1 lock and 7 drawbridges having to wait for each, and only covered about 30 miles. Some of the bridges open on request, and some of them only open on the half hour or hour. So if you don't time your arrival at the bridge, you have to maneuver around and try to hold your position against the wind and current. Tonight we're anchored in some marshes just north of the VA / NC border.


Where we are:
Location=Blackwater Creek, VA
Lat=36 35.888 N
Lon=76 04.011 W
#end

Norfolk, VA

USS Wisconsin

[Kevin's Post]When we originally got to Hampton they said we had to leave by this morning as lots of boats were scheduled to arrive for the Caribbean 1500. The Caribbean 1500 is a race of cruising boats from Norfolk to the British Virgin Islands, a 1500 mile trip taking 8-14 days. It starts in early November, but boats are starting to arrive to provision and get their boats ready. We left Hampton this morning and traveled 12 miles down the Elizabeth river to downtown Norfolk, VA and anchored off Hospital Point. The Norfolk piers are packed full of Navy vessels, including a couple of aircraft carriers. In fact if you look on Google Earth and follow the Elizabeth River north looking to the east side you'll probably see a bunch of big Navy warships. The last two times we went through Norfolk we didn't stop so this time we were determined to go ashore. We dinghied across the river and tied up at Waterside marina. There is a pretty cool naval museum (I know we said we weren't going to go to anymore, but we did anyway) which is worth going to. The museum has an actual battleship, the USS Wisconsin, that you can walk around. This particular battleship was used in WWII through Desert Storm. They said it is still in reserve and can be redeployed if necessary. The Wisconsin had retired navy volunteers aboard, some of which had served aboard it as far back as the 1950's. After the museum we went to see the movie 'Departed', and then to Outback for some beers and a bloomin' Onion.

We're anchored at mile 0 of the intracoastal waterway, which as we've probably already explained, is an inland waterway of rivers, bays, and dredged canals stretching from Norfolk to Florida allowing you to travel the entire distance without ever going out to open ocean. This time we hope to go outside some of the distance from Beaufort to FL, weather permitting. 987 miles to go to Stuart, FL.


Where we are:
Location=Norfolk, VA
Lat= 36 50.729 N
Lon=76 18.068 W

Hampton, VA - Man At Work

So this past week we have been at a marina in Hampton Virginia. We usually try not to spend so much time at marinas but this week was an exception for two reasons: 1. we wanted to have our rigging inspected, and 2. Kevin did some remote computer programming work for Starwood (our previous employer).

The rigging inspection was set for Wednesday. Basically since the boat (and its rigging) is ten years old, we wanted to have it inspected before we leave the country in January. When we first bought the boat over a year ago we had the rigging inspected and the inspector recommended having it replaced within 1-3 years. So we figured we'd have it re-inspected by a different company and if they recommended to replace it we would have time to do that before we left the US. So the guy goes up the mast and looks at all the standing rigging (which are the wires that support the mast) as well as the running rigging (which are the lines that raise and trim the sails, etc). They also inspected other stuff like our lifelines (which run around the boat and -- hopefully -- stop a person from falling overboard) as well as our dinghy lift/tackle system (which helps someone as wimpy as me lift our couple-hundred-pound dinghy). We were pleasantly surprised when they said there were no problems and that they couldn't see any reason to replace the standing rigging. They did say we should replace a few of the lines (ropes in the running rigging), but that is going to cost much less than replacing the standing rigging would've been. So we are happy.

The other reason we wanted to stay at a marina was to use the wi-fi access so that Kevin could do a little programming work for Starwood. Of course the minute he agreed to start on the work, the wi-fi access stopped functioning, so he ended up having to use our cell phone to dial in. Since our cell phone charges 45 cents a minute if we go over our minutes, Kevin was working nights (between 9pm and 9am) and all weekend (when our calls are free). He worked like a fiend and finished everything, but I think he got a total of eight hours of sleep over the past five days. Two words: grumpy bear. But now he is well-rested and back to the normal, non-grumpy, Kevin I married.

Where we are:
Location=Hampton VA
Lat=37 00.443
Lon=76 18.982

Hayes, VA - Severn River Marina

Storm Surge

[Kevin's Post]After leaving Fishing Bay we made our way south to Mobjack Bay where Severn River Marina is located. Our plan was to get dockage for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night, crank out some boat projects on Wednesday and Thursday, do some provisioning, then rent a car and go to Busch Gardens on Friday. That was the plan at least. On Wednesday, we pulled all our anchor chain out on the dock so that we could rotate the chain end to end and put some more zinc galvanizing on it. It's kind of like rotating the tires on your car, the galvanizing on the chain doesn't wear evenly, so you are supposed to rotate it periodically. On Thursday we dropped off some parts we needed modified at a local machine shop and went to Sam's Club and Walmart in our rental car. Back at the boat, we re-marked the chain, hauled it back onto the boat and reattached the anchor. Then, Thursday night we go to check the weather for our day of Busch Gardens fun and see that it is probably going to rain. We decide to wait and see, sometimes they are wrong, you never know. Then Friday morning we check the forecast and see this:

GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH LATE SATURDAY NIGHT

TODAY
NE WINDS 20 TO 25 KT EARLY THIS MORNING...INCREASING TO 30 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 45 KT THIS AFTERNOON. WAVES 3 TO 4 FT EARLY THIS MORNING...BUILDING TO 4 TO 6 FT. RAIN WITH VSBY 1 TO 3 NM.

TONIGHT
NE WINDS 25 TO 30 KT. GUSTS UP TO 45 KT...DECREASING TO 35 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WAVES 4 TO 6 FT. RAIN WITH VSBY 1 TO 3 NM.


(BTW, for you non-nautical types 45 KT is 52 mph)

It hasn't rained in about 10 days, and now we get a full blown Nor'easter. No Busch Gardens for us. The weather deteriorated throughout the day. We were able to make a run to the video store at low tide. Shortly after we got back, the finger pier next to the boat disappeared under the water. The strong winds are causing a storm surge and tides which are several feet above normal. The main dock here is typically 4-6 feet above the water and then there are finger piers which stick out from the main dock and go between the boats. The finger piers are supposed to be 2-3 feet above the water. High tide came at about 9:20 PM and at this point 2-3 foot waves were coming over the dock and through the marina. The boats in the slips on either side of us were bucking wildly against their dock lines. The water level was so high that the pilings were only sticking 3 feet out of the water and didn't even go up to our rub rail. We listened to the wind howl all night and wished we were at anchor instead. At least then we would be laying with the wind. This morning high tide came again at 9:40. The main docks were underwater, the parking lot was underwater, the marina office and ship's store were flooded, the power was out, and the only way to shore was by dinghy. And of course, the rental car was due back by noon. I dinghyed to shore thinking that maybe the roads would be ok. Before I even got to the car, I ran into the marina manager who said the roads were 2-3 feet underwater and he barely made it through in his full size truck. My Hyundai wasn't going anywhere. He also said that this was the worst storm surge they have seen since Hurricane Isabel. We called the rental car company and told them what the situation was and they said to try to return it after the water went down. So we waited for low tide at which point the water level was low enough to return the car and hurry back before the finger pier disappeared again. The wind has started to subside and we think it will be ok to leave tomorrow.

The picture shows the marina floating docks 2 feet above the fixed docks which can be seen just above the waterline. They are typically 3-4 feet below the fixed docks and are used by smaller boats and skiffs that would be too far below the fixed dock to climb off. Our rental car is the blue one in the background.


Where we are:
Location=Hayes, VA
Lat=37 18.238 N
Lon=76 27.249 W

Fishing Bay, VA

[Kevin's Post] After spending 3 nights tied up at Jack and Jo's dock we left this morning to continue south. Not much wind today so we didn't bother to even take off the sail covers, we knew we were going to be motoring. Recently the boat hasn't been motoring as fast as it used to, so I swam down to check the propellers while were at Jack and Jo's and found that the propellers had a pretty good growth of barnacles on them. The antifouling paint that is on the rest of the boat underwater doesn't stick to the props, so stuff can grow on them, especially if you sit for a long time like we did at Solomons. I scraped them all off, and it seemed to make a difference. We were going about 1/2 knot faster today at the same engine speeds.

We motored south out the Rappahannock and into Fishing Bay. As we entered Fishing Bay, we noticed a very large sailboat that appeared to be anchored off the channel. As we got closer, we could tell there was no anchor rode, they were aground. I looked at them through the binoculars and they were waving at us trying to get our attention, apparently they didn't have a radio. We motored over as close as we could get without going aground ourselves, the charted depth was 4 feet, and it was exactly low tide. They said their draft was 9 feet, so they were just on the edge of the shoal. We said we would anchor and try to haul them off with our massive dinghy which probably has more horsepower than their primary engine. We were in the process of anchoring, and fortunately they managed to get off the shoal under their own power without our help. So everything worked out.

Where we are:
Location=Fishing Bay, VA
Lat=37 30.486 N
Lon=76 20.807 W

Lancaster, VA - Fugawee Wharf

Jo & Jack

Earlier this week, we emailed our friends Jack and Jo on Maggie Rose (we met them last November in Myrtle Beach, SC). They live on Myer Creek, which is a tranquil spot off of the Rappahannock River. They invited us to tie up to their dock behind their house, and we took them up on the invitation. Their home (which they designed themselves) is on a beautiful spot, surrounded by shady trees, with lots of windows and a view of the creek out back. The first night they had us over for dinner and drinks and we had a great time catching up on each other's respective trips south (us to the Bahamas, them to Florida). Over the next couple of days we hung out and ate lots of good food (including Jack's awesome fried chicken and Jo's delicious sweet potato pancakes -- not at the same meal, of course!). Both Jo and Jack are such personable people we had a great weekend with them and by the end of it we felt like family. It was such a pleasant visit and so nice to see some friendly, familiar faces.

Where we are:
Location=Myer Creek, VA
Lat=37 41.703 N
Lon=76 29.469 W