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Georgia
On Friday Nov 25, we left Beaufort,
SC and headed for Georgia. We crossed the Savannah River
that marks the Georgia-SC border and anchored in St.
Augustine Creek less than one mile southwest of the river.
This was a fairly narrow creek with a fast current do to a
5+ foot tide. After we were settled, I saw a large ship
headed down the ICW from the river. The area we were in was
all marsh, so you can see far. I was wondering what it
was. I didn’t need to wait long to find out as much to my
surprise the ship turned onto the St. Augustine Creek and
was coming our direction. As it squeaked by us, we found
out it was a casino ship. Must load/unload at a terminal on
the creek. We saw the ship pass us again around 7pm
leaving the creek. It must have returned later that evening
but we did not see it until morning at its terminal.
On Saturday we proceeded down the ICW
and anchored at Wahoo River just off the ICW. This
anchorage actually had trees that provided shelter from the
wind in the direction it was blowing. The ICW in Georgia
consists of river and canals going from ocean inlet to
inlet. The depth varies greatly as the Corp of Engineers
was not funded to dredge the ICW in Georgia. We heard much
chatter on the radio from various boats warning of shoal
areas on this portion of the ICW. Several boats went
aground.
We decided to stop at St. Simon’s
Island next and left on Sunday Nov 27. Again, there were
very shallow areas especially the Muddy River where were saw
depths down as low as 5 feet at low tide. It was a bit
tedious going through this area. Next time we will
probably go out to the ocean (weather permitting) to bypass
this section as there are many inlets back into the ICW to
allow you to find protection. We anchored in the Frederica
River just off the ICW. We took the dinghy to the marina
(Golden Isles) near the anchorage and found out the town was
at least two miles away. Also, the marina charged $5 for
leaving you dinghy there. There were no other places to
bring the dinghy ashore. On Monday, we went to the marina
and took showers ($10). After, we were walking through the
marina and we saw another Island Packet. We walked over to
it and saw it was Melaka II from Tulsa, OK. The original
name of Island Time was Melaka. This boat belonged to the
Bates from whom we purchased Island Time. We asked the
Dockmaster if they were around and since he thought they
went to St Simons, we went back to Island Time. Tuesday’s
forecast was for rain and thunderstorms due to a large cold
front moving through from the Midwest so we decided to stay
put. Wind gusts over 30 knots moved through about 6am for
about one-half hour then subsided. Genie checked the
weather radar which showed another line of storms scheduled
to arrive around noon, so we stayed with our plan to stay
put for the day. Later in the morning, we heard a knock on
the hull and Sam and Carolyn Bates were outside in their
dinghy. The Dockmaster had told them about our visit and
they came to see us. They bought their larger Island Packet
to sail in the pacific, but decided since that would require
them to be away from the states for over a year (away from
family) they would not go there. They have spent the last
few years sailing in the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coast. It
was a nice visit and again proves what a small world it is.
On Wednesday, Nov 30, we left St.
Simons Island headed for Cumberland Island near St. Marys
Georgia. Again, the ICW had many shallow areas along with
confusing markers in the area of St. Marys. There is a
large submarine base in this area. Our chartplotter started
to act strangely in this area with the magnetic heading
deviating significantly from the course over ground (COG).
I first blamed it on the sub base, but after further
investigation I found that our chart plotter was using a
magnetic variation of 15 degrees instead of the 8 degrees
shown on the charts for the area. After correction, the
magnetic heading agreed with the COG.
On Thursday, Dec 1, 2005 we took the
dinghy over to Cumberland Island, which is a US National
Park. It is a barrier island which is not developed like
all the other islands such as Myrtle Beach. There are wild
horses still on the island. The island was sold to the feds
by the islanders, but they still live on the island and are
allowed to drive their own cars as one of conditions of
sale. They are descended from slaves and servants. Thomas
Carnagie, brother and partner of Andrew Carnagie had an
estate on the island. It was a complete community as it was
remote and needed to be self sufficient.
The main house burned down in the
1930’s but the ruins of the estate are still intact. It
must have been opulent based on the fountains and other
garden areas still standing. They had their own ice house.
There were several old cars (model T’s etc) still rusting on
the site.
There are self guiding trails on the
island with placards in front of many of the interesting
flora found on the island. We saw an armadillo just off one
of the trails.
We left Cumberland Island on Friday,
Dec 2, 2006 bound for Florida, specifically Jacksonville
where we made reservations to leave Island Time at
Seafarer’s Marina on the Trout River just north of the St.
Johns River about 9 miles upstream. It took a day to get to
the marina in the cold north wind.
Our schedule was to leave the boat in
Jacksonville from Dec 14 to Jan 11 while we went to Vermont
for the holidays. In reality, were arrived at the marina on
Dec 2 and left on Jan 18. I did manage to get the water
maker we purchased in Annapolis almost installed. Still
need to make the final water and electrical connections.
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Dolphin in Island Times Wake |
Jan. 31, 2006 |
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FLORIDA!
Jacksonville: We left
Cumberland Island on Friday, December 2 and crossed the St.
Mary’s River into Florida. We had a short trip down the ICW
past Fernandia Beach to the St. Johns River. The marina
where we planned to leave the boat over the holidays was
nine miles up the River in Jacksonville. We arrived at
Seafarers Marina about midday. The cruising community is
relatively small. The boat next to us at the marina is
sailed by a couple who we met in Beaufort, SC. They were
also leaving their boat to fly home (Montana) for the
holidays. We worked on boat projects before flying home on
December 14th.
St. Augustine: We left
Jacksonville on January 18 and spent the next three nights
in St. Augustine. We anchored just north of the Bridge of
Lions. However the marble lions had been removed while the
bridge was being renovated because the Florida Department of
Transportation had declared the bridge “structurally
deficient and functionally obsolete”. As in Vermont the
bridge is being saved as it is on National Register of
Historic places. The city is very pretty from the water as
the buildings are outlined in white lights. The city
provides a very nice and friendly marina where we tied our
dinghy and they provided the use of showers all for $ 10 per
day.
The city has a very well
preserved Spanish Fort with the typical star shape. This
fort also had a moat which is still quite evident. In the
downtown area the old Spanish section has had many of its
building reconstructed. There is a stone archway that marks
the entry into the old city. During one period of history,
the Spaniards killed a group of French Huguenots from
Jacksonville that tried to attack the city. The Huguenots
were buried outside the city gate as only Catholics could be
buried inside the gate.
The City’s development
also was impacted by Henry Flagler who owned the railroad in
Florida. He constructed a grand hotel in town in 1887.
There are 79 Tiffany windows in the hotel including large
windows in the dining room. The hotel complex had a large
swimming pool with a retractable roof. The pool has now
been converted to a shopping area with many boutiques. The
water and electrical system was designed by Thomas Edison.
According to local legend, the use of electricity was so new
that the guests were afraid of it so additional staff was
hired to turn on the lights in the quests rooms. Also,
according to the locals only people on the social register
could be quests. The hotel today is now part of Flagler
College.
Islands: We have a book
entitled “Managing the Waterway” that has interesting facts.
Islands covered with hardwood or pinelands in sawgrass are
called hummocks; an island covered in mangrove or pine is a
key; an island with willow or bay is a head; an island of
cypress is a dome; and islands with canals and houses are
developments.
Daytona Beach, Titusville
and Melbourne: We wanted to make some time so we only
anchored at these locations along the way. We covered 141
statue miles with only nine drawbridges in three days.
Fortunately many drawbridges have been replaced by fixed
high rise bridges (65 foot clearance). In Titusville if we
were two days earlier we could have watched a space launch.
Sealife: While transiting
the Indian River we had birds flying off the back of the
boat and then we had dolphins swimming with the boat. The
dolphins must have been with us about 15 minutes.
Vero Beach: The Town of
Vero Beach does not allow anchoring but they have a
municipal marina with moorings for $ 10 per day. Cruisers do
not need to worry about not being able to get a mooring
because the city expects rafting on the moorings with up to
three boats each. We ended up on a mooring with a family
from NC. Also in harbor that night were the previous owners
of our boat (who we had met in St. Simons, GA). The marina
also provides showers and the ever important trash
disposal.
The city provides free bus
service that picks us up right at the marina so shopping was
easy. The bus would also take you to the beach. We were
there on a Wednesday which is the day that the cruisers meet
at a restaurant for a cruisers breakfast. 30-40 cruisers
were at the breakfast. As chance would have it, the couple
sitting across from us at breakfast we had met in the Dismal
Swamp in North Carolina where we had rafted with them at the
North Carolina Welcome Center.
We had only planned two
days in Vero Beach but could have stayed longer; that’s why
some have nicknamed Vero Beach as Velcro Beach. .
Jenson Beach was our next
stop for just an overnight anchorage.
Lake Worth: Our last day
traveling the ICW was only 33 miles but we had 8 drawbridges
with 6 in the last 10 miles. Some of the bridges are on
request, some on hour and half hour and one at 15 and 45
minutes after the hour. We stopped in a marina where our
fiends Steve and Joanne have their boat. We rented a car
and spent two days provisioning the boat many cases of beer
and soda, caned goods and as much meat as our freezer will
hold. We spent one evening with Steve and Joann and their
family. Tuesday (January 31) we left the marina and anchored
near the Lake Worth inlet waiting for a weather window to
cross the Gulf Stream for the Bahamas.
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The Crossing! |
Feb. 18, 2006 |
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We anchored adjacent to the Lake Worth
Inlet in anticipation of leaving on February 2. Many other
boats were anchored who also planned to cross. We arose at 5 am
and planned to up anchor at 5:30 am. Well we were all set:
engine running, anchor light off; turn running lights on; deck
light on (to see the anchor) but wait! There was no light
coming from the forward running lights. Upon investigation not
only was there no light but there was no fixture, there were not
even any dangling wires. So shut everything down and wait until
the marina opened so we could back and fix our forward running
light. All the other boats departed – however the weather
window turned bad and of the seven boats that we know left six
turned around and came back.
Back at the marina we ordered a new light
fixture from Defender who overnighted it to us. John spent the
weekend installing the new light. The trickiest part was
installing new wire from inside the boat up thru the bow pulpit
(several bends and a 90 degree turn) and out the little hole
where the light is mounted. We used dental floss as a chase
string. I fed it into the little hole and John used a vacuum to
suck it through nary a wrong turn with the floss. (I am sure my
dentist had envisioned another use for our floss.) Then we used
the floss to pull a sting and then the wire (greased with
Vaseline). Slick!
We got to visit with Steve and Joanne,
who brought us some Spanish mackerel fillets that Steve and son
Jason caught (boy was that delicious), one more time and then on
Monday, February 6 we went back to the anchorage in preparation
to leave on Tuesday. All the boats that tried to cross last
Thursday were there also. Of course this time we overslept and
did not pull anchor until 5:45 am – but the running lights all
worked! By the time we cleared the inlet the sun was starting
to rise. The wind was behind us at 10-20 knots so we motored
sailed with the jib. The seas were a 3-5 feet in the “the
Stream” initially and diminished to 2-3 feet. The water
temperature increased about 5 degrees once we entered the Gulf
Stream.
We arrived at West End, Grand Bahama
Island about 3 pm where we raised our yellow quarantine flag.
At the Old Bahama Bay Marina we checked into the country. After
filling out many forms and paying our $300 we received our
cruising permit and replaced the yellow flag with the Bahama
courtesy flag. The first time we sailed our boat into another
country.
Xanadu
We met many other cruisers at the marina
half were going north over the banks to the Abacos and the other
half was going south along Grand Bahama Island. We had
originally planned to go north through the Abacos and then down
to the Exumas to Georgetown. But waiting for weather windows
put a little behind schedule. (I know we are retired and
cruising - so no schedules should rule.) So we decided to go
south. We buddied up with two cats; Lioness III an Australian
boat and Pirates Hideout with a home port in New Mexico. We
planned to go to Lucaya but on the way down Mesmariah was in
Xanadu and suggested that we anchor in there.
Xanadu, a hotel and marina, is an older
facility built by Howard Hughes and on grounds of the hotel
there are three “bungalows” where members of the rat pack
stayed. The hotel and marina had extensive hurricane damage.
The anchorage included two canals for private homes a la
Florida. There was not enough space for all four boats to
anchor so we tied up to the marina (basically four poles to tie
onto). We stayed five nights in Xanadu waiting for a cold
front to pass. The front had NW winds up to 25 knots. When we
looked out across the ocean it looked like marching elephants
the sea was so high.
We left Xanadu at 11:00 pm Tuesday night (Feb 14) to cross the
Northwest Passage heading for Great Stirrup Cay in the Berries a
60 mile trip. The crossing was a little more rough than planned
the wind was gusting to over 20 and almost on our nose and the
seas were confused – no swells from any direction just large
waves. We managed to motorsail most of the way and the wind
changed more easterly at the end so we actually sailed the last
10 miles with reefed main and working jib. We finally reached
the anchorage at 10 am – very nice. Finally the aqua water we
been looking for.
Great Stirrup Cay:
We are in a secluded anchorage no houses,
sandy beach, aqua water and only five boats (our four boats plus
a boat from Switzerland). Did I say secluded well need to
clarify that – cruise boats moor on the other side of the island
and a gaggle of jetskis came by but eventually they get back on
the cruise ship and leave.
Can you find Waldo? Actually can you
find Island Time? We send e-mails through our SSB radio with a
Winlink program. To send e-mails we need to enter our lat and
lon. So if anyone wants to track us you can log onto
www.winlink.org and locate us with our ham names. John’s is
KB1KYU and Genie’s is KB1KYV. |
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The Berry Islands, Nassau & Exumas |
Mar. 4, 2006 |
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Thursday,
February 16, 2006
We are at Great Harbor
on Great Stirrup Cay in the Berry Islands in the Bahamas.
That's a mouthful. You can see our current location on a map if
you go to
www.winlink.org
and lookup our location listed under my call sign of kb1kyu
under the locate ship (or something like that) page of the
website. Everything is great. We are traveling with 3 other
boats we met at West End, our first port in the Bahamas. One
boat Mesmariah has been cruising in the Bahamas for several
years and is leading the way. Our anchorage is picture post
card with the island in the background and white sand beach.
Tonight we had a barbecue on the beach with the other boats.
Someone caught barracuda and we grilled that up over a fire. It
was good although Genie was reluctant to try it.
We left at 11:00 pm on Tuesday night from Xanadu and sailed all
night to get here arriving at 10:00 am Wednesday. The ocean was
quite rough making it a bit unpleasant sailing, but Island Time
handled it well.
Little Harbor
– Berry Islands
We stopped at Little
Harbor where the only building on the island is Flo’s
restaurant. We anchored behind Cabbage Cay where you have to
catch the edge of the sand to get good holding (too shallow to
go all the way onto the sand bank). The wind was light so it
was not a problem for the anchor to hold. We had to call ahead
to order our meal at Flo’s. The Entrée choices are fish,
lobster or cracked conch. We had left our buddy boats and had
dinner with crew from two other boats Idunno and Quest III that
were in West End the same time as us. The meal was excellent
served with sides of conch salad, rice and cold slaw.
While in Little Harbor
John discovered that a bolt holding the alternator has sheared.
We checked with the other boats in the area and we managed to
find a new bolt that would work until we got to Nassau. No
matter how many spare parts you have there will also be
something that you don’t have.
Nassau:
The trip to Nassau
across the Northeast Channel was uneventful. Thirty miles with
small seas and no wind. Upon entering Nassau we had to call
Nassau Harbor Control to request permission to enter the
harbor. We stayed at a marina so we could get our shopping done
and laundry etc. There were a number of marine supply stores
where we could get more spare parts including bolts. John did a
permanent repair on the alternator. Of course the cruisers got
together for dinner at an all you can eat ribs place.
The strangest thing
about the stores in the area of the marinas is that you have to
ring a bell and then the door is unlocked to let you in. We did
not go to the tourist areas where this probably is not case.
Heading for Exuma
National Park in Warderick Wells tomorrow. They have moorings
so we are planning to wait out the coming cold front due
Sunday/Monday with 20-30 knot winds there.
Thursday,
February 23, 2006
We finally
made it to the Exumas in the Bahamas. Right now we are anchored
at Norman Cay. Very nice spot right next to the wreck of a DC-3
airplane that crashed in the harbor. It was part of a drug ring
that operated on the island. There are many ruins here left
over from the drug operation.
Saturday,
February 25, 2006
We are at
Exuma Sea Land Park in Warderick Wells, Exuma which is a Bahamas
National Park. We stayed put today as the wind was blowing 25
knots and we didn't feel like going anywhere. We are on mooring
in a well protected harbor still it was rocking and rolling all
day as the area has a large current which opposed the wind. I
goofed off all day, but Genie worked on making side curtains for
the cockpit. We will probably be here until Tuesday as a front
is projected to move through tomorrow.
We will go Staniel Cay then Black Point before going to
Georgetown for the rest of March.
Sunday,
February 26, 2006
We went ashore today
to Pirates Lair where there is a sweet (fresh) water well used
by real pirates. They unrolled there sleeping mats in the
clearing near the well and inadvertently left seeds of
non-indigenous plants which took hold. So there is an area of
hardwood trees among the palms. We are in the south anchorage
not near the park office. It is a 2 mile dinghy ride to the
office and with the winds it would be wet.
Water is warm (77 deg F) but we have not snorkeled yet as I
injured my foot last week while on a walkabout with an Aussie we
met up at Big Stirrup Cay, so I and somewhat limited in
mobility. Saw a barracuda and a shark swimming under the boat.
The water is unbelievably clear. You can easily see down 30
feet.
Ate fresh Mahi Mahi the other night. The boat we were traveling
with "I Dunno" caught a 60 pounder on the way down from Norman
Cay to Warderick Wells and invited us over for a fish fry. It
was delicious.
Norman Cay:
From Nassau we crossed the Great Bahama bank to Norman Cay.
Forty miles of water 20 feet or less. Norman Cay was famous in
the late ‘70’s and early 80’s for cocaine smuggling. All that
is left representing that era are some buildings with bullets
holes and the airplane in the middle of the anchorage. There
are many photos of the plane with only its fuselage above
water. Now the body of the plane has rusted and you can still
see the wings under the water.
Exuma Cays
Land and Sea Park
We motored
(no wind) about 20 miles in Exuma Sound to the Exuma Cays Land
and Sea Park. The park is comprised of 176 protected acres of
cays, reefs and water where no fishing is allowed. The park
headquarters is on Warderick Wells Cay. The park has 22
moorings in the north anchorage near the headquarters and 4
moorings in the south anchorage at the other end of the park.
We obtained a mooring in the south anchorage. Very few boats
left during the time we requested a mooring as a cold front was
approaching so we were fortunate to get a mooring. The cold
front swept through at night of course with winds gusting to 30
mph. Boats called in from the Abacos up north and reported
winds up 50 mph. I am glad we listened to the experienced
cruisers who said go south to the Exumas first and then go back
to the Abacos in April.
Idunno the
boat we were traveling with caught a Mahi Mahi on the trip down
(outside the parks boundaries) so they invited us over for fish
fry that night- excellent!!
The south
anchorage was supposedly a hangout for pirates. A trail inland
to Pirates Lair, an area where the pirates camped on land where
there is fresh water in the crevices of the rock. Non native
vegetation grows here due to the pirates. The woven mats that
the pirates brought ashore to sit on had seeds from the trees in
the southern US.
After the
front passed and the seas quieted we dinghied to main
headquarters about 2 miles to pay and investigate the other end
of the island. The “hills” in the area are actually large sand
dunes that have vegetated. On the top of one hill is Boo BOO
Hill where cruisers have left items with their boat names
inscribed. The items consist of wood with the names carved,
rope nailed on to form the name, the name spelt in nails;
painted shells; painted rocks; painted pie tin; and, most
impressive, a rock with the name chiseled in beautiful script
(very high quality). We were not prepared so we didn’t leave
anything but we will next time. We recognized several of the
boats as we had crossed paths with them some where along the
way.
Staniel Cay:
Sixteen miles south of Warderick Wells we stopped at Staniel
Cay. Our anchorage was west of Big Majors Cay with a beautiful
beach. As one approaches the beach the piggies run out to greet
you into the water in anticipation of being fed! According to
the bartender at the local restaurant there are about 25 pigs on
the island most of which are feral. We only saw four that had
the beach begging to an art. The pigs are very particular; they
would not eat lettuce or tomato but liked the bread and cheese.
Staniel Cay
has a small village with couple of small resorts and three small
stores; the pink store, the blue store and the Isles General
Store. At the pink store we arrived just as the bread came out
the oven – so we hot fresh bread. We tied our dinghy at the
Staniel Cay Yacht Club. The dock is about 10 feet above the
water with ladders to climb up. The height gives us a great
view of the water at the dock where fish where being cleaned
which attracted a large ray (about 5 feet across) and numerous
sharks (also about 5 feet long).
The mail boat
only comes on Fridays so we hustled to get a card in the mail
for our son’s birthday. We mailed it on Thursday, March 2. So
we’ll see when it arrives in Vermont.
Staniel Cay
has a small airstrip where flights can be arranged to Nassau.
Friday night
we went to a bar-b-que at Club Thunderball. More ribs.
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We
are about 25 miles from Georgetown at Cave Cay. This is a
private island with a large resort, so we have not been ashore.
The wind is blowing about 20 knots from the southeast. Since
Georgetown is directly southeast from here, we are not leaving
today. Why you may ask, and the answer is we don't have to.
Tomorrow is going to be less wind and waves, so we will probably
leave tomorrow for Georgetown.
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Island Time is safely at anchor in
Georgetown in the Bahamas. We made our goal for going south
this year so today was very satisfying. It is quite nice here
as we are anchored off Volleyball Beach close to the town. We
went to a free concert given tonight by Eileen Quinn (a Canadian
singer of cruising songs). She is quite entertaining.
Tomorrow we are going into town to provision as supplies are
running low.
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Black Point Great Guana Cay to
GeorgeTown |
Mar. 18, 2006 |
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Black Point
Great Guana Cay, Exuma
Six miles south of
Staniel Cay is Black Point the second largest community in the
Exumas. We anchored in beautiful clear water with star fish
scattered along the bottom. The town has two restaurants with
Lorraine’s being the more widely known. Her fried conch was
excellent, sweet and tender, but she would not share her secret
of how to tenderize the conch.
There is a small
grocery store but it was closed as many of the island residents
were in Nassau for a funeral. The island has a small school for
up to grade 8. For high school the children need to move to
Nassau where they stay with relatives while in school.
Our paths crossed with
Octopus (member of our boat club in Vermont) and we had coffee
with them after our dinner at Lorraine’s. They are headed north
after spending time in Georgetown. Apparently Benoit’s
volleyball team in Georgetown was the champ.
The anchorage in Black
Point has no protection from the west so we headed to Little
Farmers Cay as a cold front was arriving the next day with
strong nw winds predicted.Weather – We get a daily weather
update on our SSB radio. We usually listen to Chris Parker
every morning (except Sunday) at 6:30 to get updated weather.
Little Farmers
Cay, Exuma
Little Farmers Cay has
55 residents most of whom are descended from the original
settler, a freed slave who brought the island from the crown.
The island has its own flag and the inhabitants are very proud
of their island.
We picked up a mooring
between two islands, Little Farmers Cay and Great Guana Cay.
Between the islands we get better protection from the winds but
we are in the channels from the cuts from the Exuma Sound so we
get a lot of current making the anchorage rolly.
The island has a local
restaurant (Ocean Club owned by Terry Bains) serving Bahamian
food. Choices are fish, conch, lobster, chicken, steak and
mutton (in season). (Apparently mutton is in season when Terry
goes to Big Farmers Cay to hunt a goat.) According to Terry a
Vermont ski resort owner has a modest home on the point on the
next island.
We got tired of the
rolly anchorage after a few days and went back to Black Point
where the current is non-existent. We had a great sail with the
wind on the beam.
Cave Island,
Exuma
We left Black Point
again and had another great sail down to Cave Island. Cave
Island is just south of Little Farmers Cay. We anchored in the
lee of the island waiting for a better weather window before
entering Exuma Sound for the last 30 miles to Georgetown. The
anchorage was better protected from the effects of the current
so it was smoother than Little Farmers Cay. Cave Island is
private with security cameras in its harbor. The cut from the
banks to Exuma Sound is wide and deep just south of Cave Island.
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Georgetown, Great Exuma Island |
Apr. 8, 2006 |
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We arrived in Georgetown after a 30 mile
motor sail into the wind with four foot waves that diminished as
the wind diminished. Georgetown has been described to us by
another cruiser as a summer camp for adults. The fun started on
the eve of our arrival. Eileen Quinn gave a free concert on
Volleyball Beach. Eileen is a well know singer among the
cruising crowd. She sings songs about the cruising life usually
with a lot of humor. One song involved docking angst and one
episode of “taking out” the sanitation station during the
docking process. Many of Eileen’s songs are based on true
happenings, and she still vividly remembers the smell. (A note
to our friend Gerald – see a water spigot was not so bad.)
On our trip down we had a little white
smoke coming out the exhaust which John discovered was a worn
sea water impeller (worn to say the least - only portions of two
vanes were left). So our first order of business was to replace
the impeller.
Every morning at 8:10 on VFH 72 the
cruisers net is on. It includes general announcements, question
from cruisers, items needed, taxi share for guests coming and
going, specials from local restaurants, the thought of the day
and the day’s activities. The activities could include daily
volleyball, bridge, pot lucks, yoga, basket weaving classes, and
water color classes. Most of the activities are on Volleyball
beach on Stocking Island across Elizabeth Harbor from
Georgetown. Volleyball beach is also the home for Chat n Chill a
beach bar and restaurant.
Georgetown is a wonderful little town
that reminds me of beach communities in the northeast. The town
surrounds Lake Victoria with the dinghy dock located on the lake
behind the Exuma Market. To get to the lake there is a small
channel that is only large enough to support one way traffic (in
coming dinghies have the right of way). The Exuma Market is a
well stocked grocery and the Top II Bottom has marine supplies.
There are several barbers and we were able to get our hair cut.
Pam and Bruce visited for a week of
leisure. We picked them up at the marina and spent time in town
for shopping for provisions. After provisioning we crossed
Elizabeth Harbor to anchor at Volleyball Beach. Pam & Bruce
settled into the cruising life where very little was done until
after the cruising net in the am and then about noon we decided
on a plan for the day which is still flexible. It took two days
to get to the beach (ocean side) as the first attempt did not
get any further than Chat n Chill, several Kalik’s (local beer)
and several games of Volleyball. The second attempt we made it
the ocean where for a while we were the only people on the
beach. We snorkeled a small reef with some fish. Our sailing
day was a no starter as the wind was forecast at 10 knots. We
had several “sundowner” parties with Bob and Carol from Time
Enough. On Pam and Bruce’s last day we went back to the marina
to “relax” with a dinner on board. As often happens our plans
changed, we were invited to a sundowner party on Rose. Pam and
Bruce left on a 6 am taxi and we went back to the anchorage at
Volleyball Beach.
We spent the following week doing what
cruisers do. Visited town, provisioned the boat, and visited
the beach bar. The last Saturday of our stay a large beach
party with a pirates theme for pirate Bob’s birthday (I am not
sure who Bob is) was held on Hamburger Beach (to the north of
Volleyball Beach on Stocking Island). Everyone came in
costume. There were eye patches galore. It is amazing what
people carry on their boats. There were stuffed parrots, hooks
for the hands and clothing that Errol Flynn could have worn in
his swashbuckling movies. As Pirate Bob was the theme Bob had
to written on the outfit somewhere. We wore our most look alike
pirate clothes; I made eye patches, scarves for the head, and
cardboard knives with foil cover. For sashes we used surveyor’s
ribbon (we were the only boat with surveyors ribbon on board).
For the party everyone brought snacks to share. A lot of good
food. The entertainment included dancing; best costume contest;
visits by the Blues Brothers, the Supremes, Willie Nelson, Sonny
& Cher (karaoke); and a coconut bra contest (women not men).
Sorry, no pictures as we forgot to bring the camera.
During one of our last dinghy rides
across the harbor we had a dolphin swimming next to the dinghy.
Our friends on Lioness III left Sunday on
there way south to Trinidad. It sure was tempting to go with
them. The following Monday, April 3, we left Georgetown to
start our trip north. The day before we left the harbor there
were 195 boats still there (with plenty of room for more). Our
first day we traveled 46 nm North in Exuma Sound back to Black
Point. We had a large group of small dolphins swimming with for
a ways. I counted at least 7 dolphins including a baby in the
group. We saw many flying fish along the way. Its amazing how
far they can fly (glide). |
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Hi All
We sailed today from Rock Sound Harbor on southern Eleuthera to
Royal Island Harbor near Spanish Wells at the north end of
Eleuthera. Winds were 20-25 kts on the beam with gusts to 30
kts in squalls seas running 3-5 ft. Had the best sail of the
trip. With main and jib, we were doing over 7 kts over the
ground consistently with speeds as high as 8 kts in the gusts.
Island Time was maintaining about 10 degrees of heel. Love this
boat.
As we wanted to make Current Cut at slack to minimize the
current which can get over 3 kts, so we had to slow the boat
down as we would have been two hours early for the slack.
Spent the last week in Rock Harbor Sound waiting out the
weather. It was rainy and windy from Sunday through Thursday
with tstorms on Monday/Tuesday. Worst weather of the trip.
Rock Harbor was a nice little town. Clean and neat with lots of
flowers growing the the yards of the homes. Lots of churches as
we have seen throughout the rest of the Bahamas. Especially
noticeable since this is the week before Easter. Went to the
homecoming festival at Rock Sound. Had many booths set up with
great ribs and conch prepared many ways.
Sunday or Monday, its on to the Abacos across the Northeast
Providence channel which is the Atlantic Ocean. Wind should be
10-15 from the SW with 3-5 ft seas. We will be heading north so
it should be a comfortable sail.
Keep you posted on our progress.
John & Genie
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Eleuthera and on to Abacos |
Apr. 18, 2006 |
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We left Warderick Wells (Exuma Park) for
a 30 mile sail to the northeast across Exuma Sound to Rock Sound
Harbor on southern Eleuthera Island. We had a wonderful sail in
15-20 knot wind on a close reach with all three sails up.
Many other boats took advantage of the
weather window. When we arrived in Rock Sound there was only
one boat anchored and within two days there were over 20 boats
here. What happens when more than five boats show up at the
same time? We have a sundowner party on shore where snacks,
sailing stories and boat cards are exchanged. The local store,
Dingle Motors provided the gazebo and the ice.
The area is decidedly different here.
There are more flowers and flowering shrubs. They must get more
rain here. The grocery store is well stocked and they even have
a strip shopping center comprised of 4 or 5 stores with a well
stocked grocery store.
We did get our first rain since we
arrived in the Bahamas last February. The rain was welcome as
it washed three month worth of salt off the boat but the squally
weather was not welcome. A spell of bad weather moved in with
squalls (30 knot wind), thunderstorms followed by three days of
heavy winds. So we sat out in the Harbor waiting for a “weather
window.” Our last night in Rock Sound was their homecoming
festival where we had some wonderful Bahamian food.
We left Rock Sound for Royal Island on
the northern tip of Eleuthera a 60 mile sail. We thought it was
a good weather window but we had squalls and some wind gusts to
30. Fortunately we were on the banks so we only had wind driven
waves to contend with as opposed to open ocean swells plus the
waves. Even so we still had green water over the side of the
boat. We had one cut to go through. These cuts are narrow and
usually bordered by reefs that are sometimes below the surface
of the water. The cuts can be tricky as the tides flow through
these cuts with strong currents. For tide changes all the water
that flows on or off the banks must flow through these cuts. To
get to Royal Island we went through Current Cut where we tried
to time our arrival for slack tide. We arrived early for slack
due to the wind and the speed we were going although we tried to
slow down by reducing sail.
Royal Island is the staging area for
boats waiting to go to the Abacos across the ocean. Spanish
Wells is near Royal Island but we skipped it this year as we
lost time waiting for a weather window in Rock Sound. We did
explore Royal Island where the remains of an old abandoned
estate can be found. We only waited two days for a window to
make the 50 mile ocean crossing to Little Harbor the Abacos.
The sea swells were down to 3’-5’ for the crossing but very
little wind. While waiting in Royal Harbor Benoit on Octopus
(from our boat club in Vermont) arrived so we sundowners on his
boat the night before we left.
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Great Guana Cay, May 2 |
May. 8, 2006 |
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Hi All
We are in the Abacos in the Bahamas specifically anchored off
Great Guana Cay near Marsh Harbor. The weather has been really
windy lately so we have stayed in the Sea of Abaco which is
sheltered from the Atlantic. Seas in the Atlantis were running
16 or more feet. Since we didn't need to be anywhere special,
we decided to stay put. The next move puts us into the Atlantic
through the Whale Cay cut which is experiencing a rage right
now. As we are on the Bahamas banks (shallow water 6-15 ft)
which are open to the Atlantic in several small openings. When
the seas in the Atlantic are running, all this water tries to
get onto the banks causing a rage which means breaking waves at
6-12 ft in height across the inlets. Its nasty to get a small
boat through the opening. In fact in this area, one of the
primary occupations of the residents was salvaging from wrecks
on the reefs outside the passages.
We are leaving the Bahamas around May 15, 2006 (weather
dependent) from Great Sale Cay and will head directly to
Charleston, SC. We had enough of the ICW on the trip down.
This is a trip of about 350 nmiles most of it in the Gulf
Stream, which will give us a 3 knot boost in speed. We
calculate about 60 hours to make it to Charleston. Needless to
say, we are apprehensive (and excited) about our first long
ocean passage. There be no dragons out there (at least we
hope). After visiting my brother in Charleston, we will
probably go to Beaufort, NC in the next jump. Then we will stay
on the ICW to avoid Cape Hatteras and go to Norfolk, VA. We
will probably skip the Chesapeake on the way north and go from
Norfolk to Cape May, NJ in one jump. Then on to Sandy Hook, NJ
and then into the Long Island Sound via Hells Gate. We are
invited to a July 4th celebration at the Bristol, RI Yacht Club.
We will probably pull Island Time in New London, Ct in mid June
to redo the bottom and other maintenance items. Plans are to be
in Maine sometime in July, hopefully the third week so we can
get back to Vermont for the last week of July. This will give
us time to visit with Jack Drake in Southwest Harbor during
early August. Things are getting very busy after a leisurely
winter in the Bahamas.
We are really looking forward to visiting Vermont in the summer
to see our granddaughter and of course all our friends from MBBC.
We will keep you posted on our progress.
John & Genie
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Green Turtle Cay, May 6 |
May. 8, 2006 |
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Hi All
As we are subject to the wims of the weather gods we are leaving
tomorrow from Green Turtle Cay headed for Great Sale Cay to
stage our return to USA. We will leave from Great Sale Cay
early Monday, May 8, 2006 headed for Charleston, SC. If all
goes well, we should be in Charleston on Wednesday, May 10,
evening. We will need a day to clear customs and immigration.
John & Genie
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Great Sale Cay, May 7 |
May. 8, 2006 |
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Its is Sunday evening, May 7, 2006 and we are
staged at Great Sale Cay leaving tomorrow with 4 other boats
headed for Charleston. Based on our best guestimates we should
arrive Charleston late Wednesday or early Thursday. We will be
in cell phone range and will call Beth, Jason, Peter and Donna
and Tom and Betty during Thursday or Thursday evening to let you
know of our safe arrival.
John & Genie
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Monday May 8 at 6:00PM, John and
Genie Have Left the Bahamas |
May. 8, 2006 |
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Its Monday, May 8, 2006 at 6:00 pm and we are
off the Little Bahamas banks headed into the Gulf Stream.
Already picked up 1 knot of speed anticipating 3 knots at the
center. Should make Cape Canaveral area by 3:00 am Tuesday.
Then we decide to go for Charleston or bail out early at St.
Mary's Georgia. Depends on the weather. North winds at 10-15
predicted. We will go west of stream for a while during the
period of north wind and see if they turn south again as
predicted on Tuesday. Keep you posted.
John & Genie
Editor: click on the following link
http://winlink.org/positions/PosReportsDetail.aspx?callsign=KB1KYU
to track John and Genie's positions
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Fernandina Beach Fl |
May. 20, 2006 |
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It is Wednesday, May 10, 2006 and
Island Time and Crew are in Fernandina Beach Fl (St Mary's
Georgia) at the Marina. The weather was not as forecast so
we bailed from the Gulf Stream early to avoid sailing in the
stream against a north wind to Charleston. We did encounter
squalls with thunder and lightening which are not pleasant
in a small boat at sea. Had a great ride in the stream for
a while with southwest winds and waves pushing us at 9.5
knots speed over ground (SOG). The revised forecast for
northerly winds was correct. By the time the wind changed,
we were at the western edge of the stream with the current
at 1.5 kts. This made really steep short period waves and a
rough ride. I am glad we weren't in the middle of the
stream with the 3 kt current as it must have been miserable
there.
We had a great sail last night and early today to get
here. We meet our buddy boats and are going to dinner
tonight to celebrate our successful stream crossing. We
will also plan our trip to Charleston when the weather is
favorable. Looks like this weekend.
John & Genie
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Cumberland Island, Georgia, May
13th |
May. 20, 2006 |
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We are at Cumberland Island, Georgia waiting for a front to
pass before going to Charleston, SC. We did stop at
Fernandina Beach for a few days waiting out another front.
Promise, one of the boats we are travelling with wanted to
stop at Cumberland Island to see the horses.
John & Genie
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Abacos, Recap |
Jul. 1, 2006 |
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We have neglected our blog and
I will try to fill in our exploits since arriving in the Abacos,
the Bahamas. The Sea of Abaco lies between a chain of islands
and the main Abaco Island so it is protected from the Atlantic
swells resulting in a pleasant area to sail. This area is a
major cruisers mecca with its own cruisers net in the morning.
Little Harbor
We arrived in Little Harbor on
Easter Sunday but could not actually enter the harbor itself as
we had to wait for at least half tide as the entrance channel
only has three feet deep. We anchored nearby for the night and
went into the harbor on the next morning’s rising tide.
Little Harbor was the home for
sculptor/artist Randolph Johnson who created many bronze
sculptures. His son Pete sill runs the foundry where bronze
castings are still produced and an art gallery. Of co**** there
is Pete’s Pub, a well known beach bar, which served wonderful
food.
Hopetown
Our next stop was Hopetown
where we picked up a mooring. Hopetown is a beautiful little
town. Island homes in pastels with a profusion of flowers and
flowering shrubs. The streets are concrete about one car width
wide with narrow lanes as cross walkways. There is a lovely
lighthouse that is open to the public. Great pictures from the
top. Captain Jack’s had a trivia contest where we teamed with
crews from three other cruising boats (two of which are Island
Packets). These three boats we cruised with off and on for the
next month. Our trivia team came in second in the contest.
Marsh Harbor
Marsh Harbor is a large harbor
with good shopping and a great restaurant. We reprovisioned the
boat and sat out one cold front.
Great Gauana Cay
This island is best known for
Nippers beach bar. We bided our time here waiting for the Whale
Passage to subside before continuing north. The whale passage
is an area where we need to pass through an area where we need
to jump out into the edge of the Atlantic and then pass back
into the Sea of Abaco. When the Whale is raging large swells
are breaking across the passage making the passage very
treacherous. The condition of the Whale passage as well as all
the other passages is announced on the morning net.
Green Turtle Cay
We easily passed through the
Whale passage and anchored in White Bay in Green Turtle Cay.
Green Turtle has many reefs with great snorkeling. There are 18
sites with mooring buoys where we could tie the dinghy.
Back to the US
We wanted to make the jump
from Great Sale Cay, Bahamas to Charleston, SC. The plan was to
ride the Gulf Stream north and then jump off for Charleston.
The weather window didn’t hold for us (front came through with
northerly winds) so jumped off at Fernandina Beach. We spent
several days at Fernandina; it’s a beautiful little town.
When the weather improved we
did an overnight sail to Charleston and after a brief stay in
Charleston (and a repair of the alternator again) we did another
overnight to Cape Fear River in NC. Going up the Cape Fear
River we developed a rumble in the engine so we hauled the boat
in Hampstead, NC where we found that the engine was out of
alignment. While we had the boat hauled we had the bottom
painted.
We followed the ICW up to
Norfolk with stops at Bellehaven and Coinjock (the home of the
32 oz prime rib). While passing through Norfolk their
Harborfest was underway with a huge boat parade which was going
south and of course we were traveling north so we were
definitely going against the flow. The boat parade had private
pleasure craft, navy and coast guard ships and tall ships
including the Eagle. The fire boats were spraying
their water cannons and it’s very impressive.
We waited three days in
Norfolk for weather window to go all the way to New York (48
hrs). We were two days ahead of Alberto. We timed our arrival
in NYC to be at the battery two hours after low tide (4:40 am)
so we could ride the current through hells gate. We timed it
well so we had an 11 knot ride through the East River to City
Island where we picked up mooring. The mooring belonged to a
very nice couple we had met in the boat yard in Hampstead.
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