The BVIs Part II

The wind was still light as we sailed in light winds back to Tortolla and Trellis Bay the sight of the monthly full moon festival, another great excuse for eating and drinking on the beach.  Julie, Stacy, and I had been looking forward to this party for awhile.  We had a beautiful sail under clowdy skys and managed to catch an 18 inch Bonito on the way. The wind eventually died and we lowered the sails, fired up the Perkins diesel auxillary, and meanderd through the fantastic narrow pass at Marina Cay on the way to Trellis Bay.  We thought we were heading into a dead end until the narrow opening revealed itself only when we were very close.  We passed between steep hills studded with empty vacation homes of the super rich. I was getting apprehensive of our chances to find a place to moor as we passed a packed anchorage at Marina Cay.  We approached Trellis Bay and they were jammed in there tight with no mooring balls available and many boats searching for any remaining space.  We lodged ourselves in between some boats on moorings to the consternation of a few.  I thought we would be safe until the light wind changed directions and we were about to touch another boat.  Amid stares we weighed anchor and headed to the edge of the anchorage which also happened to be in the flight path of Tortolla's airport, oh well time to party.  We set the anchor down in 30 ft. of water using all of my 200 ft. of anchor rode.

     Our luck at finding space changed on shore as it started raining and we claimed a couch under a porch at one of the 4 beach bars.  The $25/person for food was a great deal as we carried our heaping plates of BBQ back to our couch.  With all the rain though there was no full moon to see and the crowd was a bit subdued despite the steady flow of pain killers and the lively band playing so we retired to the boat, wet and stuffed.

At this point we felt we had seen and experienced the BVIs yet Julie and Stacy still had more than a week of time left on the boat.  While Julie and Stacy had lunch and drinks at Trellis Bay with Martin and Johanna of Snow Bird I took the ferry to Spanish Town to investigate a potential hurricane season haul out spot for the boat.  The marina was very nice with Florida prices so I left a deposit and a promise to return in 3 weeks to end the trip for the year.

     I hadn't realized how much I had been stressing about what to do with the boat and when to go home so with this all decided I felt releaved and ready to finish the Caribbean adventurere with a bang.  Getting off the ferry I joined the burgeoning party waiting for me in Trellis Bay and we all returned to Top O' The World for Bonito and rice.

     The next morning the wind had freshened and we decided to head back to Virgin Gorda for another beach BBQ and a revisit of the $2.50 painkillers a Saba Rock.  The sailing was carzy good with 15 knots of head wind.  We had another wet BBQ party in Leverick Bay and met Snow Bird and Zero to Cruising at the Saba Rock happy hour the next day.  Richard Branson, the billionare owner of nearby Necker Island, stepped off his hobie cat to join the happy hour scene, just another guy in a bathing suit and wet hair.  We reminisced about our sailing trips since the Turks and Caicos and said our good byes as my friends were continuing their voyage to Grenada the next day. 

     With less than a week remaining we decided to check out Jost Van Dyke and then return to our favorite place so far, St John and Cruz Bay.  We mostly motored to Jost amid passing showers.  A visit to some of the famous bars there, Foxy's and Corsairs, was a bit anti-climatic as the chartering season had ended and we were the only ones there.   We had been having a running contest of the best Conch fritters in the world sampling an appetizer portion at every opportunity.  The contest has been going on for a couple of years and the uncontested winner was Alabama Jacks on the Card Sound Causway in Key Largo.  Jacks got a serious challenge from the Anegada Hotel but the fritters at Foxy's topped them both, a generous and tender portion of conch in each bite with the spicy sauce accompaniment.

     Our return to St. John was great.  We took time to visit many of the day moorings throughout the national park and swim.  Stacy and I had a rich experience in each place.  The variety and health of species was much greater in each place that can only reached by boat.  Julie loved the beach at Cinnamon Bay and the showers at the camp ground.  One day while Stacy worked on the boat Julie and I took the dinghy to the beach where I had stayed 35 years before with the late Victor Hall. We walked under the shade of palm trees along the beach admiring the homes that had sprouted up since my previous time.  A caretaker of one of the homes gave us a tour of an amazing house that is only used one week a year by its Virginia owners.  The remainder of the year the house rents for $15,000 per week.  That is about a year of sailing expenses!

     We revisited Cruz Bay with its great bars and eateries to finish up the trip and headed back to St. Thomas.  The rain had finally stopped but we had very little wind.  They left me pretty empty feeling but I focused on the work at hand to catch up on some boat maintenance and to prepare to leave the boat in a marina for a week while I flew home for a greatly anticipated visit to Sheril, David, and my family in Orlando.

     I have learned so much since I left Florida on February 8th.  Thanks to my visiting crew of Jack, then Steve, then Corey, I was able to learn about the boat and then learn how to sail and anchor it alone.  The high point of the trip was the visit from Sheril, Julie, and Stacey.  Their visit reminded me of the riches of love and family. I don't know what it is exactly that I love so much about the cruising life.  It is very uncomfortable at times and I miss my family and friends at home often.  Much of the lure I've decided is the next horizon and what it may hold.  What will the land look like as I approach, and what cool market or bar may I find? Will I catch a big fish?  Another aspect that I love is the direct connection between staying alive and personal responsibility.  It makes for a certain level of anxiety but I love the chance to fight to live.  The last 3 months went very slowly.  Cruising is like stepping in a time machine.  I feel like I've been gone for 3 years rather than 3 months.  Normally, I am amazed at how life is flying by.

     I am excited and happy to be back home with Sheril.  I was very surprised at the comfort level at home, the old normal, juxtaposed with the spartan conditions that I had gotten used to on the boat.  I shall try to remember this as long as I can.  Simple things like hot showers and air conditioning are quite a treat for me right now. The boat awaits our return is St. Thomas.  Sheril and I shall return together for a final week of cruising with the final haulout in Virgin Gorda.

Sunset at the Bitter End Yacht Club

 Great view of the Caribbean from Biras Resort

 Now I don't have to buy the shirt

 Hohum, another awesome bar view

 Squall approaching Little Jost Van Dyke

 Jost police and immigration dept.

 Dread Dog, yet he has no hair.

 Cool dodge, the owners vehicle from Corsairs

Can one get used to this?

The British Virgin Islands Part I

The British Virgin Islands

One of the big changes in the sailing trip now are the close distances of all the anchorages.  This area deserves the great reputation for the great experiences on the thousands of chartered boats that ply these historic waters.  Until the Virgin Islands I would be up early getting the boat ready for an entire day of moving to make 40 or 50 miles to the next safe area before dark.  Once in the Virgin Island chain we often didn't even raise the sails as you can see the next anchorage a couple of miles away.  This was the case for the epic one mile journey to a new country, British Virgin Islands, and Sopers Hole the customs check in point.

Sopers Hole is well named, a small deep harbor with steep sides into which the surrounding sewage flows.  Even the expensive Pain Killer from Pussers Bar couldn't keep us there long so the next day we sailed off to Normans Island in the Sir Francis Drake Channel.  These gems have very few people but the beaches are perfect and there is usually a beach bar or two to provide pain killers.  We made a brief stop along the way to snorkel at the Indians, a small collection of coral and rocks nearby.  The coral was healthy and varied, maybe the best I have every seen with great visibility.

We anchored in The Bight on Normans and tied to one of the ubiquitous $25/night bouys dotting the bay.  Julie and Stacy found some electricity and a good internet connection at the beach bar while I tidied up a bit.  The other establishment in The Bight is Willy Ts, an old schooner anchored in the bay serving food and drinks.  Famous for topless girls jumping of the cabin roof, Willy Ts was not kind of quiet as the charter season in rapidly waning.

Next Day, new harbor, Road Town, the capitol of the BVIs on Tortola where we reprovisioned.  The busy capitol city reminded me of Nassau but with the sewer system of Luperon, rivers of stench in culverts flowing into the sea.  We explored a little and walked by the recently closed prison dating to 18th century prison where the some pirates were hung no doubt.

We decided to go as far east as we could in the temporary light conditions and motored all of 10 miles or so to the North Sound of Virgin Gorda, the pregnant virgin.  Aptly named for its distinctive shape, it is the favorite island for many.  We stopped briefly at the Baths, a famous pile of boulders which has great snorkeling but the visibility was not good.  My first attraction in the North Sound is the Bitter Island Yacht Club.  Visitin the famous Quarter Deck Bar has been on my list for 3 decades.  Sipping the painkiller overlooking the sound and my boat was serene.  The real gem though was the Saba Rock Resort next door, a cool marina and bar totally covering all of the small rock on which it sits.  Food and drinks in the BVIs are pretty pricey.  A large bag of chips can be $6 or more, so a happy hour serving $2.50 painkillers like at Saba Rock is something to get your attention.  We sat with our buddies on Zero to Cruising as the sun set and large Tarpon swam right off the dinghy dock in front of us.

There is an oddball island in the BVIs, Anegada.  It is the largest of all the BVIs with about 300 permanent residents.  The island is flat like the Bahamas with almost no trees but surrounded by coral reefs and shallow water.  Julie and Stacy fell in love with the place.  The restaurants surrounding the harbor offer up the gems from the surrounding waters, big lobster, about $50 for the bug and all the trimmings.  We rented a car with Mike and Rebecca for the 30 minute drive to the north side of the island famous for its beaches.  They did not disappoint.  The extensive reef system is right off the sandy beach with shacks nearby selling food and drinks.  Our second stop was my favorite with its 20ft. coral canyons and large tarpon swimming along side.  I saw big grouper, snapper, and all the usual colorful reef specimens but no lobster.  I could have gone nuts with a spear but spears are illegal in the BVIs.

To be Continued...

Another goal accomplished, a drink and The Bitter End Yacht Club in Virgin Gorda

Rainy day in the Virgin Gorda Sound

Top O' The World in the BVIs

A wealth of sunsets

Small dinosaur

A little hike to the Biras Resort, Virgin Gorda

Well worth the effort

 dinosaurs everywhere

 Now hike back, almost happy hour

The rain is even pretty

The American Virgin Islands

I left beautiful Culebra for a daylong tacking sail in 15 knots of headwinds to St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.  It was a great day of no problem sailing and I got a boat invitation over the radio for drinks from Happy Times, a cruising cat with Sheril, Mike, and daughter McCayla.  After setting the hook down I set a record deploying the dinghy to meet with all the people at Happy Times, including my good buddies on Snow Bird, Zero to Cruising, and Samaya along with several others.  We were anchored right next to the airport where Sheril, Julie, and Stacy were to come from the sky in 2 days.
Julie and Stacy dropped out of the sky and we walked down to the dinghy, about a 5 minute walk from the terminal.  We motored over to a beach bar and got aquainted with a couple rounds of Pain Killers, a popular Island drink.  We saw Sheril's American Airlines plane fly by so blasted back in the dinghy to pick her up and then repeat the Pain Killer rounds.  It was so great to see them all especially my wife, Sheril, who I had not see for 3 months.

We headed for St. Johns the next day with a detour through the Chalet Amalie harbor where a large seaplane came in for a landing right over us, and to Cowpet Bay to meet a cab with Julie and Stacy's lost luggage.  The luggage didn't make it but we enjoyed the stop at the St. Thomas Yacht Club where they kindly let us use there bar as a waiting base for the luggage.  With Carnival celebrations in full swing in Chalet Amalie the luggage delivery was on island time so off we went to St. John.  75% of this green island is US National Park property.  Anchoring is forbidden but there are numerous $15/night moorings in every anchorage.  The place is so beautiful and the swimming is superb.
On a visit to Caneel Bay Plantation, a 50 year old resort in the National Park, we were enjoying the $12 Pain Killers like rich people under the beach veranda when I asked our waitress about someone I once knew there, Victor Hall.  Victor befriended me and a good buddy, Steve Harper, when we took a trip to camp out in the National Park when we were about 18 years old.  Seeing myself as Robinson Crusoe I took a home made spear on to the reef and we were kicked out of the park and fined.  We were sitting on the beach later that day contemplating what to do when Victor came cruising down the beach.  We said hello and the next thing we know he invites us to his beach to camp out right next door to the park.  We had a great few weeks there and I was anxious to find him to see if he remembered me.  I asked the waitress about him and she went to ask someone else.  She came back and told me he had died one month before.  Later some landscape guys said he was kicked off the beach front property some time ago and was never the same again.  He died alone with a daughter in NY.  Pretty sad I think and a reminder that we must use our time wisely.
 The few idyllic days we spent with Sheril hopping from mooring to mooring within the national park came to an end and I accompanied Sheril on the ferry and taxi to the St. Thomas airport.  Upon my return to St. Johns I found Julie and Stacy had set up an office of sorts at the Beach Bar in Cruz Bay over looking the Atlantic Ocean.  With smiles on there faces and several empty cups they welcomed me back and the evening wore on.  We got back to the boat anchored nearby in the dark and motored back under clear skys to our favorite mooring so far, Francis Bay, St John.
We had done a pretty good job snorkelling and hiking in St. John so far.  There are trails all over the island.  Stacy swam and snorkeled around the regularly, enjoying the cool clear water.  Julie enjoyed her Kindle books and we happily wasted each day.  My quest for catching a fish was thwarted though, a minor problem that I planned to remedy.  I caught some grunts on little hooks off the boat just for giggles.  I left one baited rod out all night and in the morning the line was taught and in a different direction.  It was wrapped around the mooring ball and I could not free it.  I would have dove on it to see what we caught but we were in 50 feet of water.  A bit later Stacy saw what happened to our imaginary fish, a large shark cirlcing the boat about 20 ft down waiting for more gifts from the frustrated fisherman.

The Spanish Virgins

I'm getting the hang of single handing.  With all systems working again I left Salinas for Vieques, the first Spanish Virgin Island for for sailors heading east.  Typically the calm morning of tacking in light winds turned into a motor-sail in a freshening breeze in the face.  I saw a couple of boats ahead of me and so I radioed them about their plans.  They were headed for the same anchorage in Viequez, Green Beach.  The US Navy used to bomb the crap out of the island for target practice, but that has stopped, however land access is restricted due to unexploded ordinance.
The wind was picking up right in the face of course and rather than bash through it I checked the chart and saw a small village with some protection from the building seas.  There was a bit of reef dodging, no problem in the clear Caribbean water, so the anchor went down and I watched the world.
I do alot of watching of the world when sailing alone.  I sit in the cockpit with a drink and just watch.  This is a new experience for me as I fill my time with tasks normally.  It is part of what I call the new normal.  The new normal is waking about 6, getting the boat ready to be tossed about in the wind and waves, storing the dinghy and outboard, closing the hatches tight, closing all lockers so stuff isn't falling out.  I listen on the SSB radio for the weather report for any changes from the night before.  I start the engine, watching it run for a bit then pull the anchor up with the electric windlass and head out of the harbor.  Using the chart plotter screen I plan a coarse, raise the sails, set the auto-pilot and then think about fishing.  I have 2 heavy duty fishing rigs with a variety of lures.  The problem recently is that I'm fishing in water 60 to 80 feet.  Baracudas are the kings of the shallow water and I hate catching them.  They have big teeth and extra slime.  I pull them out of the water and while they hang over the side I use pliers to exticate the hook thereby keeping them off the boat.  Once I catch one I lose the desire to redeploy the lure.  Then one of my friends tells me they caught some big Jack in the same water and out come the lures again.
The next morning I vowed to sail the 10 miles to Green Beach no matter the conditions.  With the wind building I set the sails and turned off the engine and deployed the lures.  The reel sang an hour later and I pulled up a nice Spanish Mackerel, good for 3 meals.  Green Beach was beautiful as advertized.  I found a large conch right under the boat so had a feast of stewed conch and the mackerel with brown rice and a mango salsa.
The next morning the wind was blowing and small craft warnings announced on the radio.  I decided to find some better protection and sailed to a Navy owned little island called Isla Pineros.  I was the only person anchored there behind a some Mangroves and I needed to wait out the rain storms and strong winds so out came the fishing gear and some remnants of the conch.  Good sized grunts bit all day so with the fish coffers full (no freezer) I had to relax and watch the world with occasional rain showers.
The rain stopped the next day but the wind and small craft warnings continued.  With all my friends at Culebra, 20 miles to the east I chose to go for it despite the sea state.  As I've said before Top O' The World loves bashing through seas and wind but this was the most I've dealt with to date.  Tacking between the tiny islands bordering Vieques Sound the waves came constantly over the bow.  A solid stream of water drained out the scuppers.  When I tacked and the boat leaned the other way I notices water streaming across the floor inside the boat, a leaky hull to deck joint.  A really large wave came at me and I had to yell like riding on a roller coaster.  The 35,000 pound boat was weightless for a second as the steep wave passed and then what a splash!

After 9 hours of sailing I traversed the 21 miles to Ensenada Honda harbor and could see my friends boats as I set my anchor down in the protected anchorage.  St. Thomas was looming in the dinstance to the east and I felt I had really accomplished something.  My goal, the American Virgin Islands was within sight.

Beautiful Puerto Rico

Cruising the South Coast of Puerto Rico
     Boqueron was a great anchorage.  After all the wind and waves in the Mona passage, the calm anchorage at this small tourist town was a welcome respite. We arrived on a Monday and our first impression was that it is a failing little dirt hole but some people we talked to enlightened us to the fact that it was hangover Monday, the slowest day of the week.  On the weekend, they assured us, the place would be rockin like spring break in Ft. Liquordale.  We took the dinghy out and snorkled the reef guarding the anchorage and then explored a small beach nearby.  A path led to a marsh at low tide bjillion little crabs.  The mud squished through our toes as we found another path leading to an open field and some trees.  Puerto Rico is very beautiful .  It reminds me of the Florida gulf coast but surounded by mountains.  The country deserves months of exploring.
     We hung around here for a few days as Corey departure was impending and I was waiting for engine parts via Fedex.  Corey left and my parts came, new fuel delivery pipes.  A pipe had cracked in the run to the Mona passage steadily squirting fuel into the bilge with each pulse.  It was a great relief to have the engine back to its normal reliable steadiness.  With all systems go and my confidence in myself as a solo cruiser growing I was ready to move along the next morning.  The day dawned with the usual PR loveliness, cleas skys and the sea glassy.  This condition has been pretty constant with the wind picking up from the east about 10am.  Several other boats were already underway as I got the boat ready to go.  I got a radio call from my friend Mike, on Zero to Cruising, who claimed Boqueron was not letting go of him.  His anchor was well stuck.  I offered to swim into the murky water and see what the problem was.  I took a breath and pulled myself down the chain about 10ft to see his anchor chain dissappear into a 20 ft. wreck that he had unknowingly anchored right on top of.  This is a very unusual occurence as we can normally see the bottom and large hazzards are normally marked some how.  Repeated dives did not reveal any solutions as I could not stay down enough to figure out where the rest of his chain was.  To the rescue came Dave on Promise with a scuba outfit.  I donned the tank and then I could see that about 15 ft. of his chain was well buried and unlikey to be pulled out with anything less than a crane.  Reluctantly Mike handed me a pair of big bolt cutters that I used to cut the 15 ft. of chain off, a big bummer for Zero to Cruising.
     They left the anchorage bound eastward and I got back to getting going myself.  I had just gotten the anchor up when I hear this horrible knocking coming from the engine.  Somewhat panicked I checked the engine where the knocking sound was unmistakable to me as a major malfunction but everything looked fine and the engine ran the same.  I quickly weighed the choices of putting the anchor back down and commence a 3 week engine tear down to see what the problem was or turn up the radio and try to ignore it until a catastrophic failure occured.  I chose the latter and reluctantly headed into the beautiful Caribbean Sea.  Fishing and the gorgeous scenery got my mind off the noise which wasn't getting worse.   Caught a Barracuda, not good, and continued to La Paguara, a weekend party town and tourist dive destination.  Afer a beer and burger in town with Mike and Rebecca I settled down for a nice calm night behind a small mangrove island.  Love this life.
     The next morning off to Ponce, a larger city with access to parts and reprovisioning.  The small yacht harbor was not to my liking, deep and surrounded by manmade improvements like a boardwalk and wooden pier so I was ready to move on the next day.  My friends needed to stay as they had some repairs to do take care of.  The next morning I headed for Salinas.   As I came down the mangrove lined channel I said to myself, this is more like it.  A natural mangrove lined harbor with about 50 or 60 boats, a nice dinghy dock, and good holding ground for the anchor.  I met up with some other friends who had preceded me and we had a good happy hour  session aboard Top O' the World.  Cruisers are quick to party with no fanfare and they always bring their own booze and some food to share.  This makes invitations to watch the sun set easy to give out.  Bob and Janice from Tsamaya are very interesting retired folks who spent much of their youth in Botswana as Peace Corps voluteers.  Martin and Johanna are a young Swedish couple who are very kind and tell great stories as well.  We added a new friend, John, on Dancyn, a 32 ft. boat on which he had just completed a 10 year circumnavigation.  This was an amazing feat to me and I soaked up his many cool stories.
     One morning I was patching the dinghy and I looked up to wave at a passing dinghy with a man and a dog.  The man looked familiar but I didn't have my glasses on and as I was psyferin'  he turned back and approached.  "Is that you Henry?" I said.  Yes it was a fellow from Titusville who had given me much good advice when I started the boat project.  We caught up and I told him about he engine noise.  He said he wanted to hear it so I fired up the engine and was able to produce the noise.  He said he thought it was an injector and explained that a bad injector can make a hell of a racket.  He grabbed a wrench and within 30 seconds he diagnosed the problem as the number 2 injector.  I as so relieved and happy I insisted that we have a beer right then.
     I happily waited for the part in Salinas doing boat projects and getting great sleep as the wind in the anchorage was nil every night.  The problem with that is that no electricity being generated by the wind generator.  I watched the battery voltage slowly drop down below the the 50% level.  Running the main engine with only the load of the alternator is bad for the already hurting engine and a poor use of fuel, so I kept everything but the fridge turned off for a couple of days.  When the part came on time I was so pleased and immediately set out to install the new injector.  With fingers crossed I fired the engine up and IT WORKED! No more hideous knocking.  I went over to Henry's boat with the good news and thanked him for his expertise.  I was now ready for sailing to the Spanish Virgin Islands.

The Mona Passage and Puerto Rico

Corey and I decided to leave Luperon at 9pm.  This strategy would give us the calm conditions near Hispaniola at night through to the next morning.  Leaving at night was very hair raising.  While staring at the chart plotter screen in the cockpit and Corey on the bow with a flash light we inched towards the exit following our buddies on Zero to Cruising.  As we approached a critical turn in the channed Mike calls me on the radio, having difficulties, and asked me to take the lead.  I could not see a thing so with ultimate faith in the machine that I burned a hole through with my eyes we threaded out way out into the ocean.  Once there, wind in face, and waves, of course.
     The trip across the top of Hispaniola to the Mona passage was largely uneventful.  Corey and I took turns resting and the wind did lessen in the early morning.  We got a favorable wind at some point, enough to motor with a sail to help a little.  The lights from Puerto Plata outlined the mountains that we slowly passed at 4 knots.  As the sun rose we were rounding the NE corner of the island and that gave us a better wind angle, enough to shut the engine down and sail SE along the coast towards the dreaded Mona Passage.
     Many guide books and other sailors make a big deal about the Mona passage, a 30 mile wide gap between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico in which the wind and current from the Caribbean gets funneled.  I was not taking the warnings lightly but I like the way the boat sails in 20 kts of wind and medium waves.  We were making good progress and I realized that we needed to slow down or build in some time so as not to make a night landing in PR.  There is a large area to avoid off the DR coast called Hourglass Shoal which we were heading towards and I figured that the 6 hour tack around the shoal would give us the time we needed.  The wind built through the afternoon giving us conditions that the boat can steer itself in.  By locking the steering wheel (the helm) in a slight turn and sheeting in the sails very tight, the boat steers itself into the wind just right.
    We relaxed and I read some and once an hour or so I checked our progress towards the shoal.  Tacking north in the middle of the Mona Passage to get around the shoal was not something I was looking forward to but I tried to relax.  I checked the chart plotter a couple hours later and got a very odd feeling.  My angels had intervened once again and the wind had shifted.  This caused the self steering boat to turn with the wind and the boat was actually sailing itself around Hourglass Shoal. The line showing our position on the chart plotter was curving perfectly away from the danger, amazing!  That night the wind built to about 20 kts, but we were pointing right at our destination, Boqueron.  I had lost track of Mike and Rebecca during the night as they were motor sailing to a different town than us, since they are Canadians and have a different check in procedure.  During the night we both happened to be checking on one another at the same time using the SSB radio which worked great.  All was well with Zero to Cruising.
     The sun set for the third time since we left Luperon and the wind was blowing but all was still good.  Corey gave me a needed rest about 4 am.  As I came back on watch I psyfered (figured in Jethro Bodine speak) that we would hit Boqueron at about 5am, not good.  I rolled in most of the jib, lowered the mizzen sail, and put a double reef in the main.  We still  were speeding along at 5 kts so I lowered the main and the boat slowed enough for an 8 am landing.
    A great feeling of accoplishment swept over me as the anchor went down.  I poured a stiff drink and went to sleep.  As I awoke about noon Corey informed me that he had purchased a room for the night at a fancy resort ashore.  He needed some solid civilization after the 55 hour passage, so off we went to the beach and the red roof behind the trees.  Once in the room we showered in hot water and flopped on the beds with a tv remote.  It was a odd feeling.  I realized it was the first hot shower I have had since I left Florida.

Getting it on in Luperon

Raw sewage flowing through the dirty filthy unpaved roads, poor people living in decrepit little huts amidst the squalor and garbage, an anchorage so dirty that you have to wash your hands when you touch the dinghy rope,  and MAN OH MAN DO I LOVE THIS PLACE!
As I entered the lake like anchorage surrounded by mangroves I drank in the beautiful tall green hills all around.  You can see why this is a great place to hide from a hurricane.  Hispaniola's 11,000 ft. peak is a tremendous steering force for the prevailing wind and waves coming out of the south and east.
The people are all very nice and the cruising community here is strong.  You make friends fast and easily.  They have some activity most nights like trivia games or jam sessions.  The boaters all look after one another as well.  My good pal Corey Crowley flew in from Florida on my first day here.  He may be able to accompany me for the remainder of the trip to the virgin Islands.
Our daily routine began with a dinghy trip to town and a visit to Captain Steve's family restaurant.  For 100 pesos ($2.85) you got a big plate of eggs, fried plaintains, a big smoked pork chop smothered in onions and garlic with coffee.  They offered free internet, a cold shower, and a small swimming pool, all under a spacious outdoor shaded patio.  Breakfast took a solid 3 hours once all the visiting, emailing, and relaxing was done.  Next stop, the boat for a noon beer and a game of chess or scrabble on Coreys Ipad.  Before you know it it is time to get back in the dinghy for a trip to Blanca Marina, another spacious shady hangout with 22 ounce beers for $2.  The breakfast was so big that we rarely needed any more food for the day.
The only drawback was the inability to swim or fish.  I saw some crazy europeans in the water on the first day and when I saw them in town I mentioned that swimming may not be such a good idea.  I don't think they had seen the stuff flowing out of town yet.
We shared a taxi ride with a very nice couple, Mike and Rebecca on Zero to Cruising, into Santiago, about a 2 hour drive.  I'm glad we had a driver as it is the wild west on the roads people driving in whatever lane that suits them, cars passing trucks that were passing other trucks at the same time.  Motorcycles everywhere going both directions on both sides of the roads.  Santiago has considerable size so Kiko, the driver, took us to an ultra giant and modern supermarket and a huge hardware store.  We stocked up on beer and food and stopped for a snack on the back, a corn and ham pizza and a giant Presidente beer of course.
Our weather window is approaching though so we are ready to leave tonight.  The boat is all fueled and watered and we are stocked up and ready for the 3 day trip to Puerto Rico.  Thank God that I have Corey to help on this difficult leg of the journey.  The north coast of DR has very few places to safely stop and the wind may be against us the whole way.

The Caicos Bank

Crusing the Caicos Bank
With some trepidation I awoke on Sunday morning for my first day alone on the boat.  The days job was to motor the 43 miles across the Caicos Bank, an area of shallow water (10 to 15 ft) which has only one passable course for my 6ft. draft vessel.  The trip was uneventful since I'm getting used to the beauty of the banks.  At around 4:30 i approached Ambergris Cay dodging the Elkhorn Coral heads and anchored right behind a nice patch of coral.  There were no houses on the island but some kind of radar installation or something with a large concrete building and some heavy equipment scattered about.  I was the only boat is sight which was wierd but I focused on my next duty, snorkelling the patch I next to me.  Grouper, Snapper, and lobster dotted the reef but I was just observing as I haven't eaten half of the big dolphin yet despite having it 2 meals a day.
     Weather on the SSB radio suggested another day at this spot so the next day I did a little housekeeping and a few sewing projects.  My goal of getting to the DR is close as I can get the DR fm stations at night.
      The trip to South Caicos, a settlement on the east end of the bank, was only 20 miles so I got the anchor up late morning for the second time alone, getting confident now.  I was able to sail most of way thankfully, the motoring is getting old and depending on the engine is worrisome.  I sailed along the line where the bank met the ocean in about 30 ft of water.  The fishfinder showed so many fish.  It indicated fish all along the bottom continuously for about an hour.  I was starting to relax on this first day of sailing the boat alone.  The wind on the nose at about 15kts and waves about 4ft., very pleasant.  I heard a pop behind me that I thought was a flapping sail and then I caught a white flash in my periferal vision.  When I turned I saw a large area of disturbed water about 100 yds away.  Just then a large Right Whale breached, most of his body clearing the water, and then the pop like a gun going off and a humongous splash.  I started yelling to no one that I saw a whale.  A whole family of them continued for a few minutes.  I grabbed camera ready for the next one but only got the children.  They were copying their parents like good kids.
The little town on South Caicos had very little evidence of the modern world.  The signs were faded paint on wood, the wooden huts with rusting corrogateted roofs house people and businesses and trash everywhere of course.  Everyone says good morning in spanish or french or the king's english.
After a day or so I was ready to move on and so I walked to the government office, a hundred year old wooden house that was freshly painted, the customs people fiddled with their forms and asked for the $15 exit fee of which I only had $3 of.  I asked if there was a bank and they said yes, the bank would be downstairs in the Treasury dept. at 10am and they only come one day.  I sat out front watching people amble in and form a very loose line.  A van and a truck show up and out comes a bright uniformed man with sunglasses and a shotgun, his hand floating just over the trigger.  Behind him a different uniform with a machine gun poised for business as well, then 3 ladies with the money and the computer.  They set up shop in a tiny room in "the treasury" and started helping people through a hole in a window.  It took about 10 minutes per person and I was about halfway in a 50 person line moving so slowly.  At home people would be bitching and moaning about the service, which was my initial reaction, but the people of the TCI are laid back and happy.  The very well dressed people seemed to all know each other and I gleaned that it was payday and these were the town elite, the lucky ones with government jobs, fireman, cops, and assistant librarians.   They spent several hours laughing, back slapping, and teasing each other.  The only gringo in sight,  I really enjoyed it and got to add my two cents into the mix now and then.  When my turn came there were no problems, so I got my money and headed back up the stairs to Customs.  Closed for lunch till 2.  Oh well, another day in paradise.
The next morning I successfully checked out and sailed the boat 20 miles south to big sand Cay to stage for the overnight sail to Hispaniola.  There were 5 other boats also staging for the sail and all hoping for the predicted 10 to 15 kt. NE winds that were predicted.  Everyone weighed anchor about 2 pm and headed out.  The wind was blowing 20 kts from the SE of course, the direction I needed to go.  I set the sails and the autopilot to point into the wind as best as I could and checked the chart.  I was heading for Haiti and there was nothing else to do.  The others decided to motor the 80 miles if neccesary, an option I was not willing to do.  2 hours into the trip though the wind veered a little bit and I was able to turn about 5 degrees, enough to aim for Luperon, DR.  As the sun set on the building seas and 20kt winds I discovered what my boat is really good for, bashing through the sea.  The only problem was that the autopilot does not do well in those conditions so I had to hand steer the whole night.  It wasn't a difficult job as the boat could almost steer itself in these conditions but there was no way I was going to sleep.
As the sun rose my eyes were hit with a large green gorgeous mountain and my nose was hit with the most unusual smell of rich earth.  Pehaps a bit of sewere also, but whatever it was I was so happy to have made it safely.  I followed another boat, "Zero to Cruising" into the anchorage and tied to a mooring.  I wasn't even tired as I was so pumped up with my accomplishment.  I tidied the boat up and the immigration people requested that all the newcomers head in to check into the country.  The only time I have ever seen a third world type of town was when sheril and I took a caribbean cruise 20 some years ago.  There was so much for my gringo eyes to take in and I was very excited for the coming exploration of Luperon and the DR.  Once the check in was complete I got a wave of fatigue so I went back to the boat to rest up.  The angels had once again intervened and my good friend Corey Crowly was coming from Florida later that day to help me get the boat to the Virgin Islands.

The Run Turks and Caicos

Run to the The Turks and Caicos Islands
     We left Long Island for the Open Atlantic with numerous possibilities before us depending on the wind and waves.  We could tack this way and that against a the small swells but the wind was not cooperating, too much or not enough again.  I decided that with our fuel tank full and a 3 day window of lite wind that we may as well  point upwind right at the Turks and Caicos Islands and go for 2 nights straight.  The engine droned on hour after hour without skipping a beat.  Steve took the 9 to 1am shift and I took the 1 to 5 am shift.  I had a good book going so the time moved along faster than I thought it would.  The boat steers itself most of the time so being on watch for me means eating or drinking something once in awhile and reading.  After a page or two, get up, look around for ships, check the gauges and the course on the chart plotter and pick up the book again.  Steve is much better at keeping a constant lookout.  He also is the one to spot interesting stuff.  We were cruising along between Rum Cay and Samana Cay when he shouted to look, a 30 ft. Whale cruised right by the boat.  I never would have seen it.  We identified it as either a small Right Whale or a Pilot Whale.
     I had been trolling two lines during the datime.  On the second day my rod with the solid body swimming lure screamed as line was pealing off.  Behind the boat a larged Mahi Mahi was jumping completely out of the water.  I was so damn excited.  I worked it in the to boat slowly.  Every time he pulled hard or took more line I was laughing my head off it was so much fun.  When I got him along side the boat Steve held the rod for me and I tried to pull him into the boat with a gaff hook.  I stuck him pretty good with the hook and tried to haul himover the lifelines.  He was halfway in when he started a good thrashing about.  His tail or something hit my head knocking one of my sunglass lens out and he went back in the water.  I saw the lens floating away but we still had the fish on the line.  The second try worked better and he flopped about a bit on deck but we had him.  He measured 55 inches, the largest fish I've ever caught.  I carved away at him for about an hour ending up with 2 full gallon ziplocks full of thick steaks.  Steve doesn't care for fish so I'm devouring it all 2 meals a day.  Favorite preparation so far is searing it in the wok with salt pepper, and curry powder, then deglazing the pan with pineapple juice.  Yum, can't wait for dinner.
     We passed close to Mayaguana Cay as the sun set on the second night.  I was exhausted and smelly from the fish battle so I took a saltwater shower on deck and put on my jammies.  The stars came out in force with a late moon rise, a precurser to intense star gazing.  Steve, with star knowledge, pointed out the Souther Cross to me low on the horizon.  I couldn't believe it, there it is!  I immediately selected "Southern Cross" on the stereo and listened to all three versions I had while staring at the sky.  "When you see the Southern Cross for the first time, now you understandwhy you came this way....."  That was really cool!
    We pulled into a small bay near Provo, East Caicos and checked into the country.  It is a good place to rest for a day but not much commercial activity on that side of the island.  We found a modern wine shop with internet and beer for $2.50 which gave me a chance to check in with Sheril on Skype, the best use of the internet in cruising history.
     This anchorage was a bit rolly.  Waves make it  around a point and rock the boats side to side.  Its not good but you can can used to it and sleep if you are tired.  I had a dream that I was at big party and for some reason I could not keep myself on the ground.  I kept flying off the floor for no reason, as the boat rocked me up and down in my sleep.  We must have gotten a nice wave through the anchorage as in my dream I slammed my head into the ceiling and broke the crown moulding of the party hosts.  Everyone is looking at me like I'm being rude and I'm trying to explain that I can't explain it.
     Steve checked in with home on Skype and was told he has a job waiting for him in China.  He immediately booked a flight and we said goodbye the next morning.  Steve was a great crewman, a great helmsman, and always ready for adventure.  I think I am ready to handle the boat alone, with an adjustment of focus and adding a layer of safety.
  

Leaving Georgetown

Georgetown is like a giant RV park for the brave retirees willing to cross the Gulf Stream and pay $50 a case for beer.  Because it is the end of the easy sailing across mostly protected waters it is called chicken harbor.  They had the 32nd annual Cruisers Regatta week which was just wrapping up as we pulled in.  It felt like going to someone elses giant boat party (over 400 boats anchored together.  Everyone seems to best freinds with each other and are yakking on the radio all day, "we had the best time last night, come to our boat for breakfast", "After yoga today lets have a meeting of the art club", "could we ride with you in the water taxi for the dinner dance tonight"?  They have boat races, volleyball, tug of war, dance parties, art shows, AA meetings, beach church, music festivals, poker games, bridge games, yoga, and more. There are many people who never leave.
We had our boat anchored off Volley Ball Beach on Stocking Island in Georgetown, Great Exuma for 10 days.  I wish that I could utter words like that for the rest of my life.  The details of the time were another matter entirely.  On the first or second day there my back spasmed while brushing my teeth.  It never happens when I'm hauling in anchor chain or climbing the mast or cranking in the jib sheet (the rope that tensions the front sail, sailors can't say rope).  Normally I can wait out the pain with advil and stretching but not this time.  I spent most of the time laying around for days on end reading and napping.  Steve had to fend for himself for most things but he was undaunted and managed to get by with poker tournaments at the St. Francis bar, or with his computer at the Chat and Chill, one of the worlds coolest beach bars.  Since the laying around wasn't working I hobbled over the the town clinic.  Not wanting to squander beer money on a doctor visit I examined the dog-eared fee notice on the light green wall next to the 4 kids in school uniforms watching cartoons on the tube in the corner. Bahamian charge for doctor visit: no charge, foreigner charge for doctor visit: $30.  I figured that was only 6 beers so I better do it.  The Bahamian nurse did vitals in another room and then sent me back to the cartoon room.  Then I visited the Bahamian doctor in her office.  I had a whole story ready for my family history and when I started getting the problem and how it is that I got here on a boat, etc.  She had some papers in front of her that she was writing in, presumably my  "chart". I stood there until she motioned me to sit with a hand sweep without looking up.  She asked me about the pain while still writing and I started to go on about it when she asked what I take for pain. I told her Advil.  Still writing she said show me the area of pain and I stood up and turned around.  I didn't see her look up from her desk but my back was to her and she pushed my back once where I indicated.  When I turned around  she handed me a paper and said "here".  I asked, "what do I do now"? She said, " Go back there", to the cartoon room.  In the cartoon room another Bahamian waved for me to follow her to another room, the pharmacy, where she handed me 2 brown envelopes with pills.  The envelopes are the prescriptions and it is stamped "Georgetown Clinic, Keep this prescription safe and bring back on your next visit".  She then sends me back to the cartoon room and they ask me for $47 for everything.  I had forgotten my wallet and I appologized but they said just come back when you can.  Steve caught up to me as I was leaving and loaned me the money so I happily paid.  It worked too and my back was back to normal in 2 days. Thank you Dr. Bahamas and thank you Lord, now lets get the boat moving again!
       We sailed all day on one tack to Long Island 35 miles away.  With the sails sheeted in hard we could just make our heading.  The boat moved along at 6 knots under puffy little blue green clouds.  The area shallow water (10 to 15ft ) we sailed over was horizon to horizon.   I never tire of that gorgeous swimming pool blue green as far as the eye can see and the bottom of the low cotton ball clouds reflect the awesome color.  We sailed along next to a sand bar that was 5 miles long.  There are so many desolate beautiful places here.  So many islands and coral patch reefs and very shallow water. It is like a vast desert covered with 3 ft of water.   My boat can get into about 10% of it with a 6 ft. draft.  It can be dangerous like a desert too.  No calling the towboat or the Coast Guard if you get in trouble. There are few navigaton markers or lights or cops to call if you are in trouble.   I saw an old shipwreck through the binoculars on the long sand bar.  We tucked into a protected harbor at Salt Pond, Long Island where we are waiting for a storm to move through the next two days before continuing.
     Our first day on Long Island we walked the 3 miles to town where everything is closed on Sundays.  I was a bit concerned as I forgot to drink anything before we left and I was thirsty.  We wanted to see the Atlantic on the other side of the island so we asked a cop busy loading a barbeque grill in his cruiser.  I said, "Is there a road that goes to the ocean side of the island"?.  He says, " yes".  I look at Steve, shrug, and ask, "which way"?  He points up and down the only road, which we had been walking on and says, " that way or that way".  He wasn't being unfriendly but Bahamians aren't big on details for some reason.  They also don't go swimming or where shorts.  We found the beautiful beach with boulders and reefs and caves in the rock walls.  Steve took pictures of the scene and I swam in my underwear.  It was a perfect Sunday afternoon and there was only one other couple, some pink skinned tourists.  On the way back I found a couple of coconuts which had some liquid in them.  I was so thirsty I started banging on them like Tom Hanks in "Castaway".  It only made me hot and I wasn't getting enywhere so we started our 1 hour walk back. Just hearing the coconut water sloshing around made me feel a little better.

The Exumas

Rushing through the Exumas
Have you ever taken a car trip through The Blue Ridge Mountains and the Skyline drive?  Or perhaps driven through the beautiful mountains and woods or Colorado or Oregon.  I have done this and what I said to myself when I did this is I wish I could take a day or a week or a year to see that trail or go down that dirt road and see what's around the bend.  My Dad was like this too and perhaps it is just human nature.  Well we did the equivalent of that blasting through the unparralleled Exuma's, down to Georgetown in 3 days.
     We motored out of Nassau while I did my favorite thing, watching the bottom through a glassy sea.  Nassau harbor is full of trash, no surprise, but as soon as you get out of the range of a small outboard boat the trash disappears.  5 hours of motoring and sailing (the wind finally piped in) and we anchored at Allans Cay.  The area is a collection of a dozen small islets inhabited by 100 iguannas.  The cool thing about it is the way the tide flows through the little anchorage.  We anchored the boat in 8 ft of water with two 3 ft sand bars on either side.  The colors and the remoteness of the place is magical.  We took off in the dinghy, explored a beach, and snorkelled on several rich reefs.  I can't get enough of this stuff!  "There's a dark area over there, let's check it out". Over the side with mask, the initial shock of the cool water, you focus your eyes and there lyes an intense little world of coral, plants, and the multitudes of colors in the fish and flora.  You could spend the whole afternoon there but we have about an hour before sunset and cocktail hour.
     The act of having your rum punch in hand as the sun sets and you know your anchor is set solid and the weather is fair conjures up some sort of magic.  In that brief moment you are so happy and proud and thankful for everything that got you there.
     We discovered that the high frequency radio works so we can get the awesome weather synopsis from Chris Parker.  This was a giant relief for me as weather is everything here.  We had a beautiful reach for 50 miles to Staniel Cay.  For fellow James Bond fans they filmed much of the move nearby.  The local bar has photos of Connery as a young man.  He must have fallen in love with the Bahamas then as he lives in Nassau now.
     The next day was very windy (the too much/not enough wind problem). Steve wanted to try to sail so we exited Dothan Cut into Exuma sound.  Waves and the wind were too much for me so we aborted mission and anchored at Black Point, a small friendly town with 2 bars.  While searching out an internet connection we discovered that the whole town was anxious for the arrival of the "mailboat", which brings all the stuff on which everyone depends.  Heading to the bar a group of kids were playing baseball happily in the street.  As we passed one kid says, "let the white people pass".
     The next morning we were up and motoring out of the pass.  It was very calm as I like it but the wind direction was not cooperating so we took a tack away from land for an hour to get a better angle on the wind.  I put out two fishing lines and enjoyed the morning.  I looked back at the lines and yelled to Steve as a large dolphin jumped totally out of the water.  A second later the reel with the silver spoon was bent and taking line.  We had caught a 4 ft dolphin.  I filleted about 5 lbs. of meat from the beauty and pulled the fishing lines back in.  That was exhausting.
     We were closing on our destination at about 2:30 so I studied the chart and something wasn't adding up.  I had been through this area before and it didn't look familiar.  After some checking I discovered that we had sailed to Lee Stocking Island, not Stocking Island, as intended.  A quick syphering (Jethro Bodine) with the GPS machine and we disocvered that we had another 25 miles to go.  We throttled up as the wind had died and we were going through the cut at STOCKING island at sunset.  This is not a small thing as there are reefs and sandbars to dodge.  Thank you technology!  The chartplotter machine showed all the hazards which we dodged with no problems.  The anchor went down in 8 ft on a sand bottom amidst some of the 400 boats in this popular anchorage.  As darkness set in and the sounds of friends laughing and playing music on the other boats, I sipped my drink.  Damn that tasted good.

GOOD BYE NASSAU...FINALLY

Got my new crew member Steve who is the husband of Trish who works for my wife Sheril.  We could not leave right away due to high east winds so we waited.  I could have done a better job of exploring the old pirate city but I am single minded and therefore Steve was forced to help me fix and improve stuff on the boat.  We met some nice folks though.  Dennis is a retired Texas resident who has spent more time exploring the Bahamas than anyone I've known.  He worked for the military on Andros retrieving torpedoes used in target testing at the Autec base.  He spends 10 months of the year on his boat tooling around by himself swimming, fishing, and reading.  He doesn't have a fridge so he catches his fish by line and saves them in a holding tank so they stay fresh.  He does this for lobster too, tickling them out of their holes and saving them in a cage.  He treats his precious carrots by dipping them in bleach and wrapping them in newpaper.
      He got me in the mood for fishing one day so I swam around a bit till I found a Conch.  These mollusks are great to eat and they make excellent fish bait.  I put the little fellow in a bucket till the next morning.  That night I refreshed my memory about how to clean them, cutting the "foot" where it attaches to the shell and cutting his face off.  The next morning I looked in the bucket and his little eyes were poking out and I felt for him so he went back in the harbor.  I feel that I have paid off a small debt for our dog Layla being mauled at home in Florida as Sheril walked her.  Layla is OK as well as the conch but the next Conch will probably be put to good use gathering life sustaining protein.
     You know you are in another country in Nassau.  People are kind but not effusive.  They depend on the sea and weather but they do mind trashing the place.  Sort of like New Orleans in the middle of an aquarium.  Many nights there would be music blasting super loud across the harbor at 2 am.  I can still hear the DJ screaming "Whassssaaaappp".  Another night a ferry was converted to a dance floor cruising up and down the harbor at midnight, 100 people dancing and blasting music on the ferry deck.  Most people travelling on small boats consider 8:30 curisers midnight.  Going to the store, getting on and off the boat a couple times, and dealing with the anchor takes it out of you.  I love being tired though. Hitting the pillow and falling dead asleep means I lived a good day.
     Good bye Nassau.  I won't miss the noise, the trash, the prices, and the poor holding ground.  Thank you very much for a safe harbor, the dinghy dock at the Green Parrot, the chicken wing special at Hammerheads, and the friendly people.

Waiting for Parts in Nassau

Waiting for Repairs
Jack left the boat and a big hole in my reality. He was a great partner and I hope he can return to the boat at some time. With his help we got the boat across the Gulfstream and across the Little Bahama Bank. There are always lots of issues on a boat that was marina bound for 3 years and with his help I feel the boat is now doing what it was designed for. The comradery was superb and I will miss it.
So now I'm waiting for parts for the outboard and transitioning to a solo sailor for now. I wrote down a few things to do, woke up at 7 and got to it. It wasn't much really but on a boat the chores that dirt dwellers take for granted as easy are a different animal altogether. Today was laundry day.
1. Gather dirty clothes (no problem)
2. Deploy dinghy and check out dinghy landing through binoculars at The Green Parrot Bar to see if they are open. (not something you do in Orlando)
3. Load Computer, wallet, phone, clothes, and soap into the luggage carrier. Put it in the pitching dinghy (ferries and cruise ships going to and fro).
4. Row to the bar where there is a nice floating dock. (not sure who paid for it so I thank everyone who looks at me)
5. Walk to bar number 2, Hammerheads (Get Hammered at Hammerheads is the sign),where internet is free. They open at 11 and I purchase a beer (to pay for the internet) $3. Check mail and ask Bob, manager, where  the laundramat is. Bob has all the answers and volunteers to take drive me. Cool dude
6. Buy $8 in tokens, start the wash and visit the sharing library and the marina where the machines are and start a new book. The wash takes forever as the waterflow for regular folks is a fast drip. The wash and a couple of chapters are done so back to Hammerheads to thank Bob again.
7. Bob left so I decide to download Skype (overdue). Order a Kalick as I should pay for the internet right? It works and I can talk to Sheril for 2.3 cents a minute instead of $2/minute. I finish the beer and the bartender, doing her job right, brings another. Oh well, I'm getting alot of benefits here so what the hell.
8. Walk back to dinghy dock. The Green parrot is right on the water and I see my boat is safe and sound. They put the race on one of the televisions and I order a Goombay Smash. (I should acknowledge their charity provision of the dinghy dock right?
9. Finish and pay for drink. Load everything back into the dinghy and row back out to the mother ship. The sun is setting. It took a whole day to do the laundry.

Nassau Run

It is very unfortunate for me that Jack and I now have a schedule to keep.  Jack must be back at work on Monday so we looked at the weather and the flights and decided he needs to be in Nassau on Saturday afternoon for a flight home.  For the average person this is not a problem.  Nassau is 74 miles away.  For a worry cruiser that I am it is not good.  All my major boating mishaps have occurred because of a need to be somewhere at a certain time.  One of the bigger errs was when Sheril and I ended a night sail in the bahamas on our 23 footer with a desperate midnight flashlight navigation job over one of the biggest Staghorn Coral reefs in this hemisphere.  I looked over that reef last night from the Hopetown Lodge with a Goombay Smash in hand and I still can't believe we did it.
Jack and I must have an angel in the rigging.  We motored off the bank in calms and continued motoring on and off offshore till about 3 when the winds kicked in for a perfect 6 knot close reach under a rising moon in 10 knots of wind.  No storms, no collisions with crates, whales, or submarines, no major system failures that I constantly fret over at night. As the sun came up and the nocturnal demons went to their hiding place I was wishing the trip were longer.  Jack and I spelled each other so we slept some but this night sail and the one across the Gulf Stream have given me a foothold of courage to face the many night passages between here and the Virgin Islands.

The Sea of Abaco

February 18 to 22
We left Great Sale Cay first thing in the morning on the 18th.  It was a very calm lake in the Sea of Abaco so we motored the entire day.  As the sun was setting we were making the final approach to Great Guyana Cay which requires a brief journey into the Ocean around Whale Cay.  I was a bit freaked out as sailing at night in the Bahamas is a no no but with the safe passage displayed on the chart plotter I was able to get us to the anchorage in the last of the light.  A celebratory beer and a grilled cheese is about all we could manage.
Marsh Harbour is a place one could get stuck.  There are an abundance of boaters so the bars do well.  The dinghy dock is safe and there are plenty of hardware stores.  The liquor store is blessedly close to the dinghy dock so it was no problem for Jack (my back again) to carry a $50 case of a great beverage called Kalik Gold Extra Strength down to the dinghy.
We sailed the short distance to Hopetown harbour.  One of the most picturesque spots in the Bahamas with colorful little houses overlooking the pink beach and a candy striped lighthouse scanning the night sky.
I have an odd relationship with the wind.  I'm always happy to be out of it which isn't good for a sailor.  It may be hereditary.  My brother inlaw, Kelly, told me of a visit with my Mom and Dad in VA at a time they had a small sailboat.  Kelly and Caroline were anxious to get out on the Chesapeake Bay when they got there.  Dad says "too much wind".  Kelly thought okay its his boat so we'll do something else.  The next time they inquired Dad says, "not enough wind".  Kelly thought, when it is windy you can't sail and when it is not windy you can't sail, so what is the point of having a sailboat?
I'm pulling the same stuff with Jack I think.  If it weren't for the fuel cost I would happpily motor in dead calms from place to place.   Tonight we are sailing to Nassau overnite so we arrive in good light.  We have a fair forcast with what I hope is just the right amount of wind.

feb13 to 18

Caribean Bound
On February 13 I gathered up Jack Genge, fueled up Top O' The World, and headed down the ICW. It was a giant day for me as I have spent 3 years working on the boat and Sheril has spent 3 years spending her hard earned money in loving support.   William, Joyce, and Shane came out to bid farewell and gave us a nice gift of books and colored pencils for Jack to do some drawing in his spare time.   We ended up at the beautiful city marina in Vero Beach.  The next morning we had a few repairs to do but made it out of the Ft. Pierce inlet at sunset in calm weather for an overnight Gulf Stream crossing.  We motored halfway before the wind picked up about 3 am and we could sail in a blazing moonlight.  I tried to sleep from 9 to 12 but don't think I did.  Jack tried a couple of times through the night without much success.  We were blessed with good wind and nothing breaking so it was a great relief for me as so many people warn of crossing the Stream in any north winds.    The sun was coming up as we sailed onto the Little Bahama bank, a vast area of shallow water (9 to 30ft).  As one approaches the bank the Ocean bottom comes up rapidly from 3000ft. to 30 ft like a steep mountain.  This boundary area was like a giant washing machine, with waves coming from every direction.  The tossing about was short lived though as we settled into a nice sail toward Mangrove Key, a small patch of island used as a rest stop for sailors coming to Abaco.  We motored the last 10 miles in a dead calm.  Most sailors eschew this condition but I love it as you can sit on the deck watching the bottom go by in swimming pool clear water while Magellan (the name Jack coined for the autopilot) steers.  I have recurring dreams of this scenario so I never tire of it.  The bank is like a dessert though.  Unlike Florida which is rich with birds, dolphins, and Manatees, the Bahamas has its sea life concentrated in certain areas.  We stared at the bottom and noted anything at all, a plant or a sponge.  As we approched Mangrove Cay we saw a cute little Hammerhead Shark swim by and a turtle.  I noticed us a approaching a large dark spot and as we closed on it we saw it moving.  My heart raced as we could see it was a large fish.  In the swimming pool clear water we stared in disbelief at the largest fattest fish I have ever seen in the wild, an 8 ft. shark!
The next few days we worked on the boat some, and rested.  On Feb 16 we motored upwind 24 miles to Great Sale Cay, another uninhabitted resting spot for east west sailors.  We took the dinghy over to a beautiful beach being guarded by some small sharks.  The peace of thescenario did not go unnoticed by me.   No manmade sounds of any kind. No humans within 20 miles.  Just the sound of the light wind blowing through the Casuarina trees and our feet splashing the water as we walked.  If the outboard hadn't died on the way there it would have been perfect but nothing's perfect.  On the long paddle in the dinghy back to the boat I was stressing about the number of broken things when Jack noticed something under us.  I donned the mask for a look and yelled "there's 100 nice Snappers on a wreck right under us"!  The broken stuff in my thoughts disappeared as Jack came up with the great idea of anchoring the big boat right over the Snapper hole.  We did this and tried every combination of gear and tossing food into our aquarium to no avail.  I donned mask and spear next and defined the saying, shooting fish in a barrel.  The snapper were almost fighting so see who could get close enough.  Maybe they have some game of counting coup on the ugly bald white guy.  They lost one of their 4 lb members which we released into the frying pan for dinner.  Tomorrow we plan a little payback for the snapper by killing 4 Lionfish on the wreck, a foreign species destroying the Bahama's reefs.