Nassau

Some people love it, some hate it and some people put up with it. I am one of the latter, Ann is one of the former. I enjoy myself while there for there is lots to do and see plus access to internet, stores and other entertainment plus sightseeing. After six days this year we have probably seen more of the island than 90 percent of the cruisers.

The island is New Providence. Besides Nassau there are many small towns and areas on the island. Across from Nassau is the Atlantis casino and hotel on Paradise Island. The island has a rich history due to its central location in the Bahamas, deep water port and natural resources. Nassau is the capital of the Bahamas and has the government buildings dating back to the 1800s.

We learned many things about the history of Nassau and New Providence this year. We rented a van with four of our friends. Several times I had to be reminded to drive on the left but for the most part I drove successfully. We saw where the rich live, the slaves had worked, monuments to slavery, old plantations and many small towns. New Providence is so much more than Nassau!

During our stay in Nassau we visited the attraction known as the Queen's Staircase, supposedly originally dug out as an escape tunnel by slaves but rebuilt by descendants of the slaves as a tribute to Queen Victoria who emancipated them. The 66 steps commemorate the number of years she ruled. We also visited the Historical Society museum where we learned about the history of the island.

We left Nassau after six nights in the marina. We prefer not to worry about our boat dragging as many do in the harbour. I helped our friend re-anchor after he became concerned about his location then fouled his engine with the second anchors line. It was quite dramatic with the ending humorous as they re-anchored in the same location.

As usual, we made new friends in Nassau almost all of whom we will see in the Exumas. (Since I am writing this weeks later I know this is true).

So finally on February 1st we headed to Rose Island late in the day with 15k on the nose and 4 foot seas but endurable for the 45 minutes until we turned north towards Rose Island. For the first time in about 10 trips in and out Ed managed to hit rocks by going too close into the island, probably because things looked different from this route and the visibility was bad due to the seas. Other than sounding awful we had no damage except for Ed's pride. We anchored in a patch of sand and were joined by our friends Ken and Belinda off of Duet whom we had not seen since the boat yard in St. Marys. Ken has been our friend for over two years. Belinda is a new friend.

Next installment: Rose Island and our trip down the Northern Exumas.

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Gulf Crossing to Morgans Bluff to Nassau

We left Fort Lauderdale at 3PM, January 22 under mostly sunny skies temperatures in the mid 60s. Most people get fairly uptight about gulf stream crossings but we have been very fortunate. They congregate in places like Marathon and wait for perfect weather windows of three days so they can only travel during daylight hours. We, on the other hand, look for a 32 hour window of decent weather that allows us to get across the stream, across the shallow waters of the Bahama Bank and into a harbor traveling non-stop for 24 or more hours. This year was no exception and we arrived at Morgans Bluff, Andros Island mid-afternoon on the 23rd of January. Our leaving had been planned based on a good forecast; you do not want to cross the gulf stream when the wind opposes the current which flows northerly nor do you want to go against strong easterlies. We had light westerly winds which meant a motor sail but the trip was uneventful until we crossed the banks and the wind picked up for the last 20 miles. It was then a brisk sail and Ed noticed a black plastic cap drop next to the boat from the sky which meant we lost something from the mast. After anchoring we found that the topping lift which holds the boom up when the sail is down had come undone and wrapped itself around the radar. He had to ascent the mast, unwind the line and replace a pin. Due to the 20 knot winds he only went far enough for this task; the mystery of the black plastic cap would be solved later under calmer conditions.

Ed chose Morgans Bluff so that we could more easily sail to Nassau later in the week. We expected more southerly winds so we went as far south as possible rather than going up to the northern Berry Islands where our friends, Ken and Belinda, on Duet were anchored.

We arrived on a Saturday with only one customs official at the airport so we ended up taking a ride with a gentleman who volunteered his services only to find out later that it cost $40 for the 26 mile round trip. Oh well. We checked in and our stay was approved until our expected departure time. Time to hoist the Bahamas flag.

Andros is the largest island of the Bahamas but one of the least visited because the reefs on the east side offer little protection and the west side is mostly mangrove and shallow water. They export fresh water to Nassau via a freighter that comes and goes from Morgans Bluff on the northern end every 26 hours.

Our stay was interesting but cut short. We hitch-hiked to Pineville on Sunday and visited a small motel/convention center/dormitory/bar. The owner showed us a video about the efforts to preserve the west coast from development. We also learned about the agriculture grown on the island which includes pineapples and a variety of other products.

There was one other cruising boat there: Boto (fresh water dolphin) with Ed and Vicky plus two spaniels who we went to the "marina" bar with for dancing, refreshments and pool. In the weeks to come we would see quite often and become good friends. The marina was simply a small lagoon with boats tied up in various ways including a collection of boat bums who leave very infrequently judging by the condition of their boats.

Tuesday morning we learned of a fairly strong norther approaching which would make the harbor very uncomfortable because the protection from the north was non-existent. We decided to cut our visit short and head for Nassau. It was a fairly tight sail with winds around 40 degrees apparent, 5-7 foot seas and 25-35 knot winds. We double reefed the main and had a nice day of sailing arriving about 5PM. We anchored at dusk, fed ourselves and went to bed. The next morning we had dragged anchor past several boats with no damage done. The current races and reverses through the Harbor which is really the channel between two islands soouring the bottom of sand. We relocated to a marina for the rest of our stay so that we would not have to worry.

Next: the week in Nassau

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We Launched!

Prescript: the previous entry should have been for December 2009 not 2010.

Ahh, the moment of truth when the boat goes in the water. The diesel fires up for the first time in six months, we check all thru-hulls for leaking plus water output from the engine and pull away from St. Marys Boat Services and head down to the marina in St. Marys. The boat was "on the hard" on the North River, a tributary of the St. Marys river. All was well and now it was time to finish provisioning and other jobs not done in the yard.

We have been borrowing cars to go to Walmart, Lowes, Total Wine and Liquour, Costco and West Marine. The boat is overly full of provisions but fortunately the upgrade refrigerator and freezer are working well. That is not much of a challenge because it is about 35-65 degrees out. We have found that our boat air conditioning/reverse cycle heating is not working, probably due to a freon problem. That means that when we leave the dock we will not have heat, oh well we will be in Florida soon.

We have Christmas in St. Marys, Ed attends Catholic Mass completing his religious duties for 2009. Sharon and Reggie from Pea Soup, Ken from Duet join us for a salt-crusted prime rib roast with gravy, garlic mashed potatoes and vegatables. Earlier in the day we attend a luncheon on Steel Away, a 70 foot schooner built by the owner.

December 28th we set sail for Florida opting to go on the ocean for several days to Port Canaveral. We arrive without problems at Cape Marina on the 29th. We enjoy nice weather before Ann forgets that she opened a hatch in the floor, steps thru the opening and impales her foot on a wing nut below the floor. I am on the dock cleaning the tray that goes in the hatch when I hear a long stream of cussing. My thoughts are to stay away, if she needs my help she knows my name. Next thing I hear is "Ed, I've hurt myself". I take one look at her foot and call over a doctor (Rhett and wife Melissa Cooper) that we just met who were on their boat next to us. He advises Ann to run water over it for 1/2 hour, not to seal it but to keep it open, change the bandage often and stay out of the salt water. Plus she has some prescription antibiotic to take. I cart her around piggy-back for a day befoe she can walk on her toes.

On the 31st we go inland to Cocoa from Port Canaveral which involves a bridge opening, lock, bridge opening and several miles down the Intercoastal Waterway. The lock takes over an hour so we miss the 3PM bridge opening and have to wait until 6PM which we miss by 1 minute so we have to wait until six-thirty. We finally get thru and to Cocoa, anchor and go into town for New Years Eve. We dance the night away at the Dog and Bone Pub to kids playing their parents rock'n'roll. Yes Ann realized if she hobbled and danced on the ball of her foot she didn't incur pain. New Years day we get a 24" pizza (traveling fuel) at Ryans Pizza, Ed changes a fuel and oil filters while Ann shops and we are ready to travel south.

The weather is now seriously cold, 35 to 45, we have no heat so we are toughing it out. Feels like we are preparing to go skiing as we dress for the day. We keep thinking that it will be warmer further south but the cold front keeps building all the way to Fort Lauderdale. We have a few nice days which I spend at the dentist.

Ed went to the dentist in Oregon complaining of lower and upper jaw pain on the left side but mainly lower. She could not determine what needed to be done and Ed successfully kept the pain at bay with 1-2 ibuprofen per day. Somewhere near Fort Pierce, Ed said ouch and that he needed a dentist right away. We did the dentist-endodontist thing in Fort Pierce and St. Lucie and Ed felt great after the root canal and we started heading south again. About a day later Ed says "I need another root canal, this time on the top" so in Ft. Lauderdale we find a new dentist and endodontist and Ed feels great. Ann visits the chiropractor and emerg. clinic for a sinus infection and a tetanus booster. We learn that antibiotics are free at Publix in FL-our good luck! After the medical visits we drive to Ft. Lauderdale to visit Ann's brother, wife and son who are vacationing in the "warm" 35 deg weather of FLA; it was a nice visit. Fortunately we put the boat in the marina for the day as the currents at Ft. Pierce are very strong and our boat seemed to have moved too close to others are we were preparing to go to our morning appts.; it was a good decision as we didn't arrive back home till 1:00am

We stayed with our friends Frank and Joanne Finney s/v Fantasy Island in Fort Lauderdale (Pompano Beach actually). They were champs for running us around and such. We owe them big time! We attended two SSCA (south seas cruising association) breakfasts with them. We then moved into Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale where we reunited with friends from St. Marys (Tom and Sybil on Gorilla, Christian and Mary on Iwanda) plus Pea Soup.

It starts to warm up but still we get the heating system fixed plus redo our dodger and have several canvas pieces fixed. Also, we go to the Southport Raw bar several times for food and internet. We meet several of Tom Chalkley's old friends, Rusty and Ned. Rusty helps us out several times with rides. We also see more friends from the boat yard, Dave and Britta from Anna Karam.

Time to leave the states finally on January 22. We plan to leave early but do not actually get out until 3:15 PM but we do leave! It takes a lot of time to get ready but fortunately the weather was decently warm after about January 11th. Bahamas here we come!

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Pre-Launch December 2010

We arrived in St. Marys on December 2nd after spending the Thanksgiving holiday with our kids and Ed's mother in Tubac, Arizona. Quite a contrast from the high desert to the low country of SE Georgia just north of Florida. We then began preparing Windswept Dreams for the water, a process Ed believed would take about a week but actually took almost three, partly due to over-optimism but we also needed to do more work.

The fun part of life in the boat yard is meeting other boaters, discussing plans, sharing meals and helping each other with car rides and technical problems. The downside is that boat yards are dirty, not all the people are your friends and that you are not out cruising yet. We met several couples whom we would spend time with on the water as we moved south. We had discussions about who would launch first, Ed thinking that of the four boats with similar time-frames we would be last by several days.

Working and living on a boat simultaneously is challenging especially when one person is attempting to organize and clean while the other needs access to boat spaces, tools are out constantly and some amount of debris is being made. Also, a boat needs a lot of cleaning to remove mildew after a hot-humid Georgia summer. Practically speaking, this means that the cleaning and organizing has to wait.

The most unexpected job this year was replacing the sewage lines for the toilets. Ed started to install a macerator (a macerator grinds and pumps out sewage from a holding tank out at sea) and found that the toilet lines were nearly plugged with calcium build-up. This added about three days of work and resulted in sore shoulders and bruises as Ed worked to remove the old and install the new.

Ann painted the bottom of the boat this year on December 15th and we launched on December 20th. No more night trips down the ladder to the bathroom and back! Of the four boats, Duet, Pea Soup, Wild Iris and us we ended up being the first because they mostly ended up with more unexpected jobs than us. Ed sold 10 feet of unused septic hose ($8 per foot) to Wild Iris because they had a problem. It is great to go in the water and leave the boat yard behind, at least physically.

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