Exploring with Intuition

Welcome to the Adventure

2007-11-03T10:13:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the record of our sailing adventure. We took off from North Carolina in June of 2006 where we explored the East Coast of the US and the Islands of the Bahamas until June of 2007. We're back at work and school now and missing the life of new vistas and new friends.

Since blogs are posted chronologically, you've reached the end of our story. You can work your way through the adventure backwards by scrolling down or start back at the "Beginning of Blog" link to the right.

Enjoy the site!

Mark

Back in Durham

2007-06-17T18:36:00.000-05:00

Intuition Log - 17 June

Thursday morning, 07 June, we were up to meet Pete Waterson at 0730 who stopped by to take our Raymarine autopilot head back for warranty service. It was good of him to stop by on short notice. After spending the day organizing and cleaning the boat and packing the Honda, we drove the 160 miles back to our house in Durham. Didn't recognize the truck at first since Pat Gaglione had cleaned, waxed and detailed it as a surprise welcome home gift -- thanks! Also thanks to Earl Quick who drove the truck to New Bern so it would be there when we docked.

Upon opening the front door and peering into the house, it seemed to have grown over the year away. Getting used to living in tight quarters makes our little 1900 square foot house seem huge. First things first, we unloaded the truck while Noah found his Lego collection. No problem dropping off to sleep, but Beth did wake up in the middle of the night wondering who was driving the boat. She made it to the hall before figuring out where we were. I woke up a couple of times, but fell back asleep as none of the homes in the neighborhood seemed to be dragging their anchors.

After a fast weekend of catching up with neighbors, it was back to work at Qualex on Monday morning after managing to locate both long pants and socks. I'll be working on a project to help determine the most cost efficient source of transactional accounting for our little Kodak subsidiary. Not quite the same as charting a course to new islands, but it comes with a paycheck. In all seriousness, I am very appreciative that the company granted me the opportunity to take a year's leave and pursue our dream. The photo is from Charleston, SC where this plaque was hanging over the gate to a boat tied up at Harborwalk.

The week flew by, catching up with old friends and going through a year's worth of mail. Beth and Noah are off to Michigan so they can visit with family while Noah is on break. I'll be in the office at Qualex.

We did get connected to high speed internet at home via Time Warner cable. After a year of not having TV, we elected to not bother with getting cable TV service. I put some rabbit ears on and we can get PBS and the local affiliates of the major stations. I'm hoping we remember that there are better things to be doing with our time than watching television.

This will be the last mass email of an Intuition Log. As time allows I'll work on a compendium of things that worked along with a list of things that proved more challenging than we expected. Thanks for taking the time to read these logs and special thanks to everyone that took the time to write us notes of encouragement along the way. It is great to hear from friends via email when you are hunkered down in a windy, rainy anchorage.

Wishing you all a chance to live your dreams!

Mark

School's Out

2007-06-13T21:26:00.000-05:00

Intuition Log - 06 June

Noah worked hard Monday and Tuesday to finish his reviews and complete his final tests. Tuesday morning he completed the last exam! He built a fort in the salon out of sheets while we graded his exams. We're happy to report that he did very well on all his tests. The Calvert curriculum was very thorough and he received a complete third grade book education in addition to the unique experiences of exploring by boat. His parents developed a much greater respect for elementary school teachers! On the advice of Mark, a neighbor in the marina, we all stood on deck at 2115 and watched the sky for a fast moving "star." After a few false starts finding airplanes with blinking lights we tracked the space station, clearly visible and brighter than Venus. This was the first time we had spotted the station.

Wednesday we moved Intuition out of her slip and took a trip all the way to the gas dock where we topped off the diesel tanks and pumped out the waste tank. Made it back safely to our slip without even turning on the computer navigation system or the autopilot. In the afternoon we drove the car down to Oriental and met withe the crew of s/v Inceni who had made it there Tuesday afternoon. It was great to visit with Iain, Sue, Hannah and Fraser. They are going to haul the boat at Sailcraft and do some bottom work before heading north. Enjoyed catching up on events since we last saw each other in the Bahamas over a good dinner at M&M's Cafe.

Back at NW Creek

2007-06-04T09:33:00.001-05:00

We awoke at Morehead City Yacht Basin to clearing skies and light winds. This was a contrast to the 30 kts of wind with 46 knot gusts that blew through last night. The only wind damage was to some of the stitching on the Bimini. Since we were out of cereal and we didn't play on moving we made pancakes for breakfast and enjoyed a leisurely start to the day. Noah woke up in a super polite mode and was ready to do his final review day for school.

Morehead City Yacht Basin

Free internet at the marina let us look at weather radar. By the time we were done with pancakes it looked like there was very little rain left in the area. The weather forecast called for south winds today, changing to west tomorrow. West would be on the nose all the way up the Neuse river. As we've learned, cruiser's plans are made in jello, so with light southerly winds we decided to head for New Bern and NW Creek.

Underway at 0950 the sky looked good and we came out of the channel into the ICW just north of the 70 bridge connecting Morehead City and Beaufort. Out in the sound the wind picked up to 15 and pushed us in the right direction at 7 kts. As we approached Adams Creek, the sky had changed to dark grey and we were soon wearing rain gear and watching the radar to find markers. It poured for about 45 minutes, but we didn't mind as we were catching a good tidal flow up Adams creek where our speed over the ground maxed at 8.8 kts.

Passing one of our favorite weekend anchorages at Cedar Creek we saw zero boats on a Sunday in June. I guess other folks pay more attention to the weather forecast than we do. Popping out into the Neuse river we could see Oriental across the way. This was a sure sign we were back in home waters. The Neuse, as always, provided a little surprise for us as the winds picked up to the mid-twenties with gusts to 35. This coupled with off and on rain showers didn't keep Oriental in view for long. We zoomed, well as much as a ten ton fat cruising boat can zoom, down the Neuse and were approaching NW Creek just before 1500.

Approaching New Bern and calling NW Creek on the radio, Bud's familiar voice welcomed us home. With the strong wind we considered anchoring in the creek, but once inside the channel there was enough protection that we took Intuition into the marina. Bud and Jesse helped us find our new slip and had us secured to the dock at 1500.

Back at NW Creek Marina in New Bern, NC

It is hard to believe that the voyage is over. In retrospect, the year flew by. Now it is time to work on the transition back to being "dirt dwellers". Noah won't have much of a problem, he already made a new friend on the dock last night and they were playing magnetics until after cruiser's midnight.

Hampstead to Morehead City, NC

2007-06-04T09:33:00.000-05:00

Harbour Village, here in Hampstead, had very nice facilities and understood that cruiser's want to get up and go. The dockmaster came back last night after hours to let us and another boat pay for the night so we could get going early on Saturday.

Casting off at 0628 we were only a few minutes behind Kattanah, the Hinckley that nervously helped us squeeze beside them into the face dock last night. After computing the time to get to the Surf City Bridge, we pushed the throttle to the max against a knot of unfavorable current and just made the 0700 opening.

The waterway was calm with the exception of ocassional passes by large sportfishing boats that didn't practice common courtesy or look backwards to see what their wakes did to the boats in the waterway and at people's docks. Between boat passes we drained the last 15 gallons from our cruising stash of diesel fuel into the main tank. At 0926 Mile Hammock Bay was off to starboard and we happily bypassed this anchorage where we spent a sleepless night on the way south.

Arriving at the Onslow Beach bridge in time for the 1000 opening we were ahead of Kattanah who was motor sailing as fast as she could to make the opening. The overcast day didn't have many people heading over to the beach, so the bridge tender kindly held the opening until 1009 so Kattanah wouldn't have to wait another twenty minutes.

The next stretch of the waterway passes through Camp Lejune where today, there were no live firing excercises so we were not delayed. I guess they were busy with the aircraft carrier out in Onslow Bay. We could hear them discussing Harrier landings and helicopter tenders on the radio. Noah came up on deck to look for military hardware as we passed through the base. The few tanks and missle launchers we found had been used for target practice.

Clearing out of the firing area at 1045, the next thing along this stretch of the waterway is the big Hatteras yacht manufacturing plant. All closed up on Sunday we passed them at 1100 and were turning the corner at Swansboro by 1132.

Entereing the Cape Fear river we passed a sign of home as one of the NC State Ferries was sporting Duke logos. Shortly thereafter, a sailing ship popped up on AIS. We were surprised to see the size of this British ship when it rounded the corner heading out to sea. Their next destination was Williamsburg, VA.

Still pushing against an unfavorable current we reached the south bridge to Emerald Isle at noon. Motorsailing up the waterway we passed only the second sailboat of the day s/v Wreckless Abandon. By 1400 Spooner's Creek was abeam with two large condo buildings erected that had only been in the foundation stage when we stopped there last fall. We were joined by dolphins for a little bit of the journey. They seem to be interested in looking at Noah and swam close to the boat rolling on their sides looking up at us.

Curious Visitor

Noah Stands Dolphin Watch

By 1429 we passed under the Emerald Isle north bridge and were soon in Morehead City waters. A helicopter carrier was docked at the state pier, so we gave it a wide berth.

Right at 1500 we were tied up on a very nice floating dock at Morehead City Yacht Basin. Fifty six miles in just under nine hours passing two of our southbound anchorages made us feel like we'd made good progress for a day.

We had been pushing because the weather was forecasted to sour overnight at the remnants of tropical storm Barry were moving into our area. We secured the boat and took the liferaft down below as we were done with ocean legs. Beth untied the life raft and started to pass it to me when she quickly pushed it back into position. The inflation line was still tied to the handrail. A few more inches of tugging and we would have had a life raft inflating in the cockpit!

After hot showers in the very nice dockhouse, we asked for a recommendation of a dinner place within walking distance. We donned raincoats and set out for "Floyd's 1921." We arrived just in time to get the last unreserved table. The food was excellent as was the service. Beth had ribs and I enjoyed a spinach salad with feta cheese and mango topped with lightly fried oysters. We'll be coming back there again.

Back at the marina we visited the upstairs boaters lounge. Noah was fascinated by the big brass telescope. Unfortunately the skies were rain filled so there wasn't too much to see. We took advantage of the book exchange and avoided looking at the television. Reboarding the boat we checked the fenders and lines before heading below to finish "Around the World in 80 days" and turning out the lights.

Georgetown to Little River, SC

2007-05-31T14:58:00.000-05:00

Intuition Log - 31 May

Georgetown to Little River, SC

Underway at 0752 and back in the waterway by 0805. We had read in Skipper Bob that leaving Georgetown at high tide allows a favorable current all the way to Myrtle Beach. It seems contradictory, but we started with a 0.7 kt push, so we can't complain.

Beth at the Helm

Shortly after 0800 Beth called Boat/US and let them know we were north of Florida, effectively cutting our insurance rate in half. Our sympathy is extended to responsible boaters in FL and the Bahamas paying exorbitant insurance rates.

Osprey Nest on ICW

North of Georgetown the waterway winds through cypress swamps. Osprey were nesting on channel markers and in dead trees along the route. Took lots of photos in hopes of getting a few good ones. Water hyacinths were floating upstream in the current with us, so Beth netted a couple for our little pond at home.

On the Way to Camden

Kayaks are a common site on the waterway; usually folks out for some quiet and to see the bird life. At 1136 we came upon a kayak that stood out as it had a pontoon for stability. Sure enough, it was the same woman that we had passed two days ago coming north from Charleston. Slowed and chatted for a minute learning that she is kayaking from Miami, Florida to Camden, Maine! And we thought we were cramped for space. She has a web site at Miami2Maine.com that we will check out once we are connected again.

By noon the trees and swamps were behind us. A man made canal was surrounded by the huge homes and golf courses of Myrtle Beach. One golf course spans the waterway and uses cable cars to take golfers across. The Grand Dunes area even had a bridge that matched the architecture of the resort.

Single Family Home on the ICW

Approaching Barefoot Landing we noticed a boat aground with the crew rocking it from side to side. Getting closer it was our friends on Snow Day from Toronto. This crew of two adults, two kids and two full sized dogs on a 27 foot ketch always seem to be in good spirits and were taking this in stride. They were off shortly and docked at Myrtle Beach to get off the boat and see the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

We passed the entrance to Coquina Yacht Harbor where we stopped on our way South at 1500 and decided we could go further. By 1547 we had the anchor down near the Little River inlet, within 400 yards of North Carolina. We covered 55.2 nm in under eight hours. Skipper Bob was right, we carried a fair current the entire distance.

Anchored on the Border

Six boats ended up anchoring here by sunset. The area was active with head boats coming in and out from Calabash and casino boats going out into "international waters" from Myrtle Beach. Just before dark a shrimp boat came in and ran their bow right into the shoreline between two anchored boats. They spent a couple of hours messing with their outriggers, then backed off and headed out the inlet.

Sunset on the ICW

Noah finished his math review problems after much procrastination. When we are still long enough to review the other subjects with him it will be time for the year end tests and school will be over. After dinner he designed a "Monkey Madness" video game on paper with rules, key definitions and three screens. He walked me through level one and then we read more of "Around the World in 80 days."

Mark

Georgetown, SC

2007-05-30T08:51:00.000-05:00

Sunrise on the South Santee River

Spent last night on anchor where the South Santee River crosses the ICW. We were all alone except for the birds, gators and bugs. It was a beautiful, quiet spot where we slept well after the 32 hour voyage from Florida. This morning we arose to the sound of birds. Going out on deck revealed a soft, foggy view of the abandoned rice fields.

We decided to make today a short day and headed to Georgetown, South Carolina, a town we didn't get to explore on the way South. On the waterway by 0735, we consulted Skipper Bob and Claiborne Young for the best place to stay. Called Harborwalk marina on the radio and cell phone, but didn't get an answer. S/V Second Wave heard us on the VHF and called us from the Gulf Stream. They had waited at Green Turtle for a weather window all the way to Beaufort and were having a good ride, enjoying a 3 knot boost from the stream. Noah was finishing math from yesterday's school day as we motored up Winyah Bay. That was the last lesson, so now he just has review and tests.

Intuition at Boat Shed Marina

By 0900 we gave up on Harborwalk and called Boat Shed Marina. They came back right away and had room for us. By 1005 Tom & Jeb had us tied up to a nice floating face dock and we were looking over a welcome packet of maps and menus.

Walking into town we found ourselves on a tree shaded street with homes dating to the 1700's. A couple block walk put us into a nicely preserved downtown. Noah found a bookstore with a good selection of used books upstairs. We added a few more books to get him up the waterway. Found a place for lunch with grilled cheese for Noah and Carolina BBQ for me. Boy that was a good taste of home after almost a year.

Local Temple

After lunch it was time to take in some history so we signed up for a Swamp Fox Tour. Learned about Francis Marion aka the Swamp Fox and his role in the American Revolution along with some other local stories, including a few about ghosts. Several churches and a synagogue were also featured on the tour. Seemed to be quite an ecumenical town.

The Rice Museum

The Rice Museum was next where we learned about the two hundred years of rice farming that made the area prosperous up until the Civil War (or "The War of Northern Aggression," if you are from these parts). It took slave labor to make rice profitable. Conditions must have been horrid with mosquitos and alligators sharing the rice fields with the laborers. The average male plantation slave only lived to be 28 years old. The museum also had the ribs of the earliest example of US boat building on the east coast.

Back at the boat we filled up with diesel and got Intuition ready for another day of voyaging. Back into town we found an interesting yarn shop and we stopped again at the book store and asked for a dinner recommendation. Taking the bookseller's advice we had an excellent dinner at Revolutions, with crab cakes and spinach artichoke pizza at a reasonable price with very friendly service.

Florida to South Carolina

2007-05-29T14:58:00.000-05:00

Intuition Log - 29 May

FL to SC

Memorial Day started with a review of our weather data and confirmation of our plan to sail from Fernandina Beach to Charleston. By 0900 we dropped the mooring pennant and headed for the inlet. We raised the main and deployed the staysail while passing the cannons of the fort guarding this northern approach to Florida. The St Marys current was opposing the wind so our exit to sea was a bit uncomfortable. By 1100 things had settled down and we were sailing through 4 ft seas with a period of 8 seconds
as reported by the sea buoy off Fernandina Beach. We lost side of land at 1232 in a light rain. Gave Noah Benadryl and the iPod with a story on it as a preventative for seasickness, although I expect he is fine as long as he stays away from chocolate or cookies for breakfast.

By 1500 the rain had ceased and we had an apparent wind of 040 making good 6.3 kts over the ground with a little unfavorable current. We noticed small black birds with white markings on their wings skimming the surface of the water in the troughs between waves. Not a species we recognized. At 1611 we passed a big sea turtle swimming along on our same course. A big yellow weather buoy (ODAS) came into view at 1750, so we now know what these valuable sources of information look like at close range.

ODAS

After dinner Noah and I were on watch while Beth went below for a little rest in the lee cloth. The apparent wind angle narrowed a little so we were on the edge of being able to sail at 030, but with the help of the engine we were making 6.8 kts. Just before sunset Noah and I were startled by a big splash right beside the boat. A large dolphin had come alongside leaping completely out of the water and splashing down on his right side within a yard of the boat. He repeated this four times and then
disappeared. We wonder if he was trying to tell us something or was just trying to dislodge some sea louse.

With two adults, we alternate three hour watches overnight. Beth was back up and on watch until 0100 when it was my turn. There were between two and six ships around us most of the night making it easy to stay awake. Between radar, AIS, binoculars and the radio conversations we knew where they were, but it still provided a bit of anxiety. Most were headed for Savannah.

Sunrise at Sea

Sighted land at 0620 and passed a large ship that appeared to be sucking sand from the sea bed with the help of several tug boats that were moving huge hoses. It may have been for beach "re-nourishment."

Off Charleston

At 0820 I called into the Waterway Radio & Cruising Club net to report our position off Charleston on the Ham radio. A few minutes later our VHF radio rang and it was Wayne on Born to Cruise who had heard us check in. He and Jill are in Charleston and welcomed us to South Carolina. We tried to get a slip near them for the night, but with the holiday week there was no room, so we decided to press on north into the ICW.

By 0916 we were approaching the Charleston entrance channel and took the sails down so we could slow down and wait for a big container ship to go in ahead of us.

We'll Let You Go First

0933 had us in between the breakwaters where we pulled Noah away from the Lego catalog that he has been memorizing since Aunt Brenda brought it aboard back at Green Turtle. He stayed out in the cockpit long enough to find Fort Sumpter and Fort Moultrie and check out the cannons.

Passing out of the first swing bridge heading north of Charleston at 1055 we slowed to a stop as I had mistaken a square warning sign for a square green marker and had gone a little to far to the right of the channel. A local fisherman grabbed a line and pulled our bow over so that we were underway again by 1109.

At Least I Wasn't As Far Aground As This Guy!

Since the water was flat we emptied three of our jerry jugs of fuel into the main tank while motoring along a straight stretch of the ICW. Noah stayed in the cockpit to make sure we didn't get off course while Beth and I filled the tank. The remote control for the autopilot allowed us to steer while working on the deck. Using our favorite jiggle tube we didn't spill a drop.

Noah entertained himself most of the afternoon by reducing the population of big green flies that descended upon the boat. We were lucky that they weren't biting us. Maybe it was due to the pile of fly corpses that Noah accumulated in a corner of the cockpit. Both his fly gun and the fly swatter got a real workout.

The Mighty Hunter

We were in the backwaters of South Carolina weaving through the area that was once rice plantations. A couple of big alligators were floating along the side of the ICW just before we anchored at 1715 in the South Santee River.

Gator Country

We were ready for a relaxing night after covering 195 miles in the last 32 hours. Nobody else was around and all we heard were birds and mosquitos outside the screened hatches. It didn't take long for all of us to fall asleep.

Mark

Intuition back in ICW

2007-05-29T11:05:00.000-05:00

The crew of Intuition came into Charleston Harbor around 0930 and is motoring north on the Intracoastal waterway. About 24 hours from Fernandina Beach FL to Charleston. Cut out the winding ways of Georgia. A little tired, but all is well.

New Smyrna Beach to Fernandina Beach

2007-05-26T14:58:00.001-05:00

Intuition Log - 26 May

New Smyrna Beach to Fernandina Beach

Saturday morning we met the folks on the boat next to us. They had turned their boat in the slip overnight so that the bow would be into the current and we were sleeping so soundly we never heard it. Turns out that Jim is the plant manager for the big Sea Ray plant that was next to Harbortown Marina. He was, of course, piloting a Sea Ray.

Underway at 0735 we passed the Ponce De Leon inlet at 0825 motorsailing up the waterway with the jib out. Winds were calmer than yesterday with 10-15 kts being just enough to keep the sails full and the sailors cool.

Noah finished "Smiling Hill Farm" his last assigned reading for school. He had a hard time limiting himself to just the assigned chapters over the last few weeks and says it is one of his all-time favorite books.

If you've been following our blog you may recall that we spent a little time aground on our last visit to St Augustine. This time we decided to anchor 4 miles south of town where there wouldn't be as many witnesses if we "became a cottage" again. We found three boats on moorings in the anchorage and proceeded to anchor with no problems.

Quiet Anchorage South of St Augustine

Poofing sounds woke us on Sunday morning as dolphins were feeding nearby and sending jets of water into the air as they exhaled. Shot a little video, so hope to have that as a reminder.

Back underway at 0720 we cleared the Bridge of Lions at their 0800 opening. Just after the bridge is an old Spanish fort where we noticed Stella Maris anchored. Tried to raise them on the radio but they didn't respond.

Spanish Fort in St Augustine

Tembo, from Vancouver, BC whom we had last seen at Green Turtle Cay did respond from a boat yard in St Augustine. They had, unfortunately, hit a marker coming in at Ft Pierce and were undergoing cosmetic repairs to fiberglass and teak before delivering the boat to the new owners in Charleston.

We were not alone on the waterway in the middle of Memorial Day weekend. Noah counted 18 jet skis passing us in under five minutes. Hundreds of powerboats of all sizes passed us up until about 1500 when the rain clouds caught up with us. Passing a boat ramp we felt sorry for the folks that only get a few days a year to be out on the water with their families. At least 30 boats were milling around in the rain waiting to get access to the two ramps.

Bridge of Lions

At 1743 we wound our way into Fernandina Beach and picked up a mooring ball. It was a good run making the 57.5 nm in just over ten hours despite all the boat traffic. We decided to just stay put for the night and didn't even lower the dinghy even though Fernandina is an interesting little town. We did enjoy watching a big freighter dock with the help of a tugboat and a train shuttle cars to and from the local paper mill.

Old Meets New in Fernandina Beach

Took take time to change the oil and filters for the 450 hour maintenance. Then we all treated ourselves to hot showers.

Fernandina Beach Waterfront

Merritt Island to New Smyrna Beach, FL

2007-05-26T14:58:00.000-05:00

Haulover Canal Bridge

Intuition Log - 26 May 2007

Merritt Island, FL to New Smyrna Beach, FL

Leaving Harbortown at 0904 despite the objections of Noah (there were lots of kids in the marina) we were out the barge canal and back in the ICW by 0946. Heard "Stella Maris" calling a bridge and found out they were only three miles ahead of us. They left Green Turtle with us and continued on to the US without stopping at Great Sale.

Throughout this stretch of the ICW the dominant sight is the massive vehicle assembly building at Cape Canaveral. We had it in sight for over four hours of the trip. At 1310 we slipped through the Haulover Canal Bridge sighting a couple of manatees grazing near the boat launch.

Coming into the more open stretch of the river we were able to get a boost from the sails as the wind picked up to 21 kts. A boat tried tacking up the waterway and ended up running aground under full sail. Winds moderated to the low teens as the afternoon went on and we were safely docked at New Smyrna Beach at 1430 covering 44.9 nm.

Pelicans at New Smyrna Beach

New Smyrna has a very nice city marina with floating docks and John, the dockmaster, made us feel right at home. A fishing derby and boat show were going on at the park next door so we went off to explore that. John recommended Jason's Deli on Canal Street for dinner. Canal street looks like a nineteen fifties downtown street with lots of little shops and restaurants. This was only the second night that Jason's was serving dinner and we were the only customers when we walked in. Beth ordered steak for the first time in six months and it was excellent. The crab cakes on my plate were some of the best I'd ever tasted. This place is worth a stop!

After dinner we went to the very nice waterfront playground where Noah hit it off with some kids and they played spies. We checked out the boat show on the way back to the marina and met a couple with two adopted dogs that tried to talk us into visiting the local humane society. We stayed just a little too long as the sky opened up and Noah and I were soaked. Beth was smart enough to return to the boat earlier with the leftovers from dinner so she was enjoying a hot shower while ours was a little bit cooler.

Cape Canaveral

2007-05-24T16:55:00.000-05:00

Port Canaveral was an easy place to check-in with customs and immigration, but Port Cove marina was a little on the expensive side at $80 per night. We were on a floating dock that was exposed to the waves coming through the inlet driven by 25 knot winds. Spray was coming over the bow of the boat from breaking waves. It made for a bouncy night at the dock, but we were so tired it didn't matter.

We spent the morning visiting with Brenda as she was heading back to NY. She was good crew and will be missed on the rest of the voyage. She gave us presents before leaving. That isn't the way crew are supposed to behave!

Brenda caught a shuttle to the Airport at 1100 and we looked for another place to spend the night. Called Harbortown marina on the VHF and they had room for us. Although it was only 2.6 miles away, we had to wait for a three span lift bridge to open and then get lowered a foot using the Canaveral Lock. Both the bridge and lock operators were very accommodating and we made it through without any delays. Outside the lock we were greeted by dolphins and pelicans as the barge canal crossed the Banana River.

An hour after leaving Port Cove we were safely tied up at Harbortown and Noah was headed for the pool. The price was less than half that of Port Marine and the harbor is completely protected. The only real dangers here are the alligators sunning themselves on the shore line.

We enjoyed dinner at the marina restaurant Wednesday night, chowing down on salads. Fresh vegetables were few and far between in the Bahamas.

m/v Hattitudes

Noah found kids to play with, Shamus and Ocean, on a boat called Hattitudes. They invited him over to watch Star Wars on their big sport fishing boat, so he was a happy camper.

We considered leaving today, but the winds were blowing 25 in this, very protected, marina. With forecasts of 20-25 gusting to 30 we elected to stay another day and do a few boat projects. Noah completed yesterday and today's lessons and then headed for the pool. Beth and I planned our Intracoastal Waterway route north to insure we could get home in time for me to go back to work. Beth borrowed a bicycle from the marina and went off to supplement our cereal supply. The Hattitudes kids had to go back to Orlando this afternoon and Noah went off to play basketball with David from Emerald Sea, a boat with a hailing port of New Bern, NC that has a new local owner. Checking on the boys, they had found two others boys and opened a "store" with a birds nest, palm fronds and a live lizard in a pepsi bottle. They were thrilled when someone bought the lizard for 4 cents. Had to haul them both back to the boat to treat all the mosquito bites with ammonia.

Marina Resident

The winds are supposed to lay down to 20 tomorrow, so we plan to head north to New Smyrna beach. We did hear from "Our Turn" and they made it to St Simons, Georgia motorsailing all the way. They reported that Grateful Attitudes reached Fernandina Beach, FL. Sister Brenda safely landed in Albany, NY proving the proverb: "Nothing goes to windward like a 747!"

Crossing to Florida

2007-05-22T22:40:00.000-05:00

Intuition Log - 21 May
Great Sale, Bahamas to Cape Canaveral, Florida

The morning weather forecast called for unsettled weather for the next 1-3 weeks. After carefully considering the weather options, we decided that it was time to give up on a window for getting all the way to North Carolina in one hop. That left plan B, which meant crossing to Florida and then moving up the coast along the ICW with some jumps outside when the weather permitted. A weather window was open for a day or two to get over to Florida, so we secured things aboard and raised the anchor at 0906.

Intuition Sailing Over the Bahama Banks - from s/v Our Turn

Prior to that we had conferred with Grateful Attitudes (a Lagoon 44 Catamaran) and Our Turn (an Island Packet 440) and they also decided to head for Florida leaving a little behind us. We were worried about Paul on Our Turn as he had been sick in the anchorage with flu like symptoms, but he felt good enough to give it a go.

By 0935 we were in the groove, motorsailing past the Great Sale South waypoint doing 7 kts heading across the banks for Matanilla Shoal. By 1145 Grateful Attitudes caught and passed us motorsailing. Our speed over the ground was 6.7 kts with the second reef in the main and our jib out.

s/v Grateful Attitudes

Beth pulled the last four unread books out of our stash for Noah and, by 1322 he was on book three. He enjoyed that so much he re-read some of it aloud to Beth and Brenda in the cockpit on their first watch. After getting Chris Parker's daily weather email we made the decision to head from Matanilla Shoal to Cape Canaveral. That would get us to a place where we could check in easily and Brenda could get a shuttle to the Orlando airport. It would also allow us to be out of the gulf stream in plenty of time to avoid the predicted 25 kt NE winds. Grateful Attitudes and Our Turn decided to press further North and head for Fernandina Beach as they are both larger and faster vessels.

s/v Our Turn

At 1428 we were accompanied by dolphins for a while. These banks are their spring breeding grounds and we hoped to see some along the way. Also passed a large anchored research type vessel that didnÕt show up on AIS so we donÕt know what they really were. After sailing 52 miles across the banks, we slipped off by Matanilla Shoal at 1740 and watched the depths go from 35 ft to 200 ft and then too deep for our sounder to report. Waves picked up to 5-6 feet, but we were making excellent progress at 7.3 kts through the water and 7.8 over the ground with a favorable current.

Brenda, Beth & Noah on the lookout for dolphins

By 1900 our course diverged with that of Grateful Attitudes and Our Turn. We did agree to talk on the VHF every hour through the night to make sure we were all awake. At 1924 the wind was 17 kts so we turned off the engine and enjoyed the sounds of waves and water. It wasn't necessary to motor through the night as we would end up getting into Cape Canaveral before dawn.

Sunset at Sea

Brenda and Beth took the first watch after dark. With an apparent wind angle of 150 we had the northeast wind and waves on the stern quarter pushing us right along. Our 17 year old baggy main was reefed to the second reef point while our new 130 jib was reefed down to about 100% as we always like to be a little under canvassed in the dark. By 2200 our speed through the water (S) was 5.7 kts, but we were feeling the effects of the gulf stream as our speed over the ground (SOG) was 7.5 kts.

We lost direct contact with Grateful Attitudes as they were pulling out of range, but Our Turn relayed position information between the three boats. Electrical gremlins were out that night. Grateful Attitudes lost their autopilot and ended up hand steering to Fernandina Beach. Our Turn's radar was being fluky, so we were radioing them with ship positions from our AIS. We were lucky and our systems stayed working through the crossing.

As midnight approached Our Turn relayed a message from another yacht passing in the night. It was Blaine Parks making a delivery from Charleston to the Abacos. Blaine is another IP owner. He, Janet and their two golden retrievers have had lots of adventures. WeÕre sorry we were only passing in the night, but it was good to hear from him.

My watch was on at midnight and we were close to the center of the gulf stream. Still moving through the water at 5.5 kts, but our SOG was up to 8.2 kts. Brenda stayed in the cockpit to keep me company and we watched the phosphorescence in the water. If you havenÕt ever seen it, it looks like hundreds of underwater fireflies radiating out from the hull where the boat makes a wake.

The bottom came into "view" on the depth sounder about ten minutes before 0100 as it registered 300 feet. By 0200 ours SOG was down to 6.8 as we had our last contact with Our Turn. At 0300 there was just static on the radio and our SOG was down to 5.7 with the winds moderating to 15-17 kts. By 0500 we were definitely out of the stream as our S and SOG were both at 5.3 kts and the depth was now registering 100 feet.

Noah was the only one that got any real sleep overnight, but the rest of us did take turns closing our eyes down below. Beth had rigged the lee cloths on the salon setees so we could sleep without worrying about falling out of bed.

The Cabin Rigged with Lee Cloths

We started the engine at 0612 as we needed to crawl a little further north than our sailing course had allowed to get into Port Canaveral. The engine starting woke Noah. He climbed up into the cockpit at 0700 so he could launch his message in a bottle that he prepared before leaving the Bahamas. The original plan was to launch it in the Gulf Stream, but we werenÕt going to wake him up to do that. The bottle was from the wine Wayne and Janet Estabrooks gave us as a departing gift on our cruise. Noah wrote a note with our email address and sealed it with some candle wax. I hope someone finds it and writes to him.

Noah's Message in a Bottle

The seas were lumpy as the bottom shoaled on our approach to Port Canaveral. As the launch platforms and vehicle assembly building came into view Noah had a ginger nut cookie as his first food of the day. A minute or two later he was feeding it back to the fishes. Not a good way to have breakfast, but within ten minutes he was fine, telling jokes and ready to have a real breakfast.

0900 found us inside the breakwaters used by the Disney Cruise lines, getting our lines ready for docking. Beth found a flying fish next to one of the cleats confirming what she thought were the sounds of something live on deck overnight.

Cape Marina was recommended in the cruising guide as a good spot to check-in to the USA, so we pulled up to their floating t-dock. Our first assigned dock space was already occupied with a powerboat, so we made a second pass, then tied up on another dock in front of a 1970 Chris Craft power boat bound for Washington, NC. We covered 150 nm in just over a day at 24 hrs and 2 minutes about half of it under sail power alone.

Intuition Docked at Cape Marina

Checking in with customs was a bit confusing as we called the toll-free number and were informed that Cape Canaveral wasn't a place you could check-in. The marina had provided us with directions to customs and immigration, so I read the officer the address and telephone number. He put me on hold and then came back and said we could check in at the address I'd given him and we should call, hold on a minute, and then he came back with the phone number I'd given him. Once we called the local office, things went smoothly. We all walked the 1.2 miles down to the office, showed our passports, the officer spent some time with his computer, and we were legally back in the USA.

NASA Ship at Port Canaveral

Walking back towards the marina we stopped at "Fish Lips" where the folks on the Chris Craft recommended going to eat. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs as we had salads and meat that hadn't been readily available in the Bahamas. It was relaxing to sit on their deck and watch the waterfront without having the table lurch to starboard every eight seconds. Back at the boat we let Noah, the only well rested one of us, watch DVDs while the adults all took naps.

It was a successful crossing as nothing broke and we all made it back safely. We are very grateful to Brenda for taking the time off to come help. She was a great sport and excellent crew. It made the trip more fun and it was fun to see some of it through her eyes.

Intuition back in the USA

2007-05-22T10:10:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Cape Canaveral, Florida at 0936. Covered 150 nm from Great Sale Cay, Bahamas in almost exactly 24 hours. We're all well and tired. Need to clean the flying fish off the deck and go check in with customs and immigration.

Mark

Intuition at Sea

2007-05-21T18:53:00.000-05:00

Left Great Sale at 0926 this morning headed home to the USA.

We've had a good run so far. We passed Matanilla Shoal at 1740 and watched the water depth drop from 30 feet off our scale as we left the Little Bahama Banks. We were in the company of Grateful Attitudes and Our Turn (IP440) until that point. They are headed for Fernandina Beach as they can go 2 knots faster than us. We wouldn't get there before dark on Wednesday night so are heading for Cape Canaveral.

Our current location is 27*30'N 079*23'W and we continue to put our position reports on the web site. Waves are around 4' with winds 17-20 kts. We have a double reef in the main and a partially furled jib for the night. We're making 6.9 kts over the ground! Noah is reading a story to the Beth & Brenda in the cockpit and we've had sandwiches and tuna spaghetti for dinner. Ginger Nuts for dessert to keep our stomachs settled.

We'll be checking in with the other boats every hour to exchange position and weather info.

Double Breasted Cay

2007-05-19T20:48:00.001-05:00

After lots of rain on Wednesday, Thursday dawned without a ripple on White Sound. We've been getting anxious to start moving, so took the opportunity to head North to stage for jumping back to the United States. It was a hard choice because we would have liked to explore the cruiser friendly, Manjack Cay, but we're starting to feel the deadlines looming to get home. We've been told that the residents of the island put up a "Yes Trespassing" sign.

Light winds meant motor sailing out into the Sea of Abaco. Leaving at 0919 we were approaching Angelfish Point by lunch time and bidding farewell to the Abacos. Quite a fleet was headed north with many conversations on the VHF about potential destinations. We decided to head for Great Sale Cay where we could stop and evaluate our options. At 1645 Brenda was treated to her first dolphin sighting as a pod surrounded Intuition and played with our bow wave.

It was 1844 when we anchored at Great Sale in the company of 14 other boats. We found two other Island Packets (Jule and Our Turn) along with friends from our home marina on Grateful Attitudes. A boat named Firelight, that we had met the day before, came sailing into the anchorage with a transmission that only worked in reverse gear. They attempted, unsuccessfully, to get TowBoat/US to meet them at Memory Rock and ended up going back to Green Turtle to have their transmission replaced.

Friday started with Dave on Grateful Attitudes announcing the "Great Sale Cruiser's Net." He then proceeded to entertain us all with a parody of the Marsh Harbour and Georgetown morning nets. "Doubtful Dave" shared valuable weather information in a light hearted manner with the six boats on anchor.

We don't carry enough fuel to motor all the way to North Carolina. After motoring 63 miles in ten hours yesterday we decided to look for more fuel, just to expand our options. Found that "Rosie's Place" has fuel in the settlement at Grand Cay. We weren't able to raise Rosie either by calling for Rosie's Place or using her published handle of "Love Train" on the VHF. Dave graciously called on his satellite phone and confirmed that they were open and had diesel on hand. Chris & Cathy from Jule, an IP 38, decided we had a good idea and brought over 3 jerry jugs for us to take with us. Getting ready to pull the anchor we were surprised to see a barracuda at least as long as Noah is tall drifting just off the side of the boat.

A 15 mile run north brought us just off Grand Cay where we anchored and filled the dinghy with seven empty jerry cans. Brenda and I zoomed into town and found Rosie's place. It wasn't a place we would want to spend much time as it looks like hurricanes have taken their toll and rebuilding will take a few more years. We were surprised to see that a sandy cay across from town had been turned into a dump with stacks of garbage and piles of used tires. Several boats floated on moorings, some with shredded sails flapping in the breeze and others with broken ports and bruised hulls. Prices for a gallon of fuel were less than in Green Turtle at "only" $4.25 for diesel and $5.00 for gas. Glad we didn't bring the big boat in as there wasn't much water beside the fuel dock at low tide.

It was 1518 by the time we loaded all the jugs onto Intuition. We had originally planned to go back to Great Sale to enjoy a pot luck on Grateful Attitudes, but decided to forgo that and spend the night at Double Breasted Cay. We were anchored there by 1614 and had time to go out exploring in the dinghy. Double Breasted is billed in the cruising guide as a place to get away from the crowds. We explored in the dinghy and went snorkeling close to the boat around some shallow heads with juvenile angelfish and squirrel fish. It is two miles out to the barrier reef, so we didn't go out there this late in the day. At least Brenda was able to get into the water and see some marine life. As the sunset we took turns blowing the conch horn and were the only boat in sight.

At 1230 we were awakened by flashes of lightening and waves lapping against the stern. The current had overcome the wind and had us turned around, but we were still in a good position. We added a couple more sail ties to the main and dropped a zinc over the side just in case the storm came our way. It wasn't until 0330 that rain woke us up to close all the hatches and ports. Thunder and lightening were nearby, but never went directly over us.

Waking up in time for the 0630 weather forecast was a little difficult after the restless night, but we listened in anticipation of improving conditions. The prediction is still for increasing winds and no good window to go north until after next Wednesday, so we decided to head back down to Great Sale Cay. While readying the boat to leave we watched a colony of terns swoop around us in pairs as they left to go fishing from their evening roost on the limestone rocks of the nearby cay.

Underway at 0849 we only ran the engine for ten minutes to pull the anchor and raise the sails. With winds out of the NE we were carried along at 7 kts in a very light chop over the banks. We returned to Great Sale with full fuel tanks and smiles on our faces. Spent the afternoon looking at weather, replacing the spare halyard and doing a little school.

Beth made brownies and we sang some silly songs to round out the evening. At story time we just passed through India in Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days." We were glad to be anchored here as the winds picked up to 25 kts and there are squalls around this afternoon. Fourteen other boats are here with us in the anchorage.

After looking closely at the weather we decided not to leave tomorrow on a straight path to Beaufort. The conditions are marginal and the weather gurus are saying they are only confident of the next 48 hours while we need at three to four days to make our passage. We're thinking about a crossing to Ft Pierce or Cape Canaveral in Florida, leaving on Sunday or Monday if there doesn't appear to be a better window opening up before Memorial Day weekend for an offshore trip to North Carolina. As I type this it is raining and winds are blowing 15-20, but we are cozy, well fed and comfortable.

Waiting at Green Turtle

2007-05-16T07:40:00.001-05:00

Friday NOAA issued its last statement on Andrea, one of the earliest named storms ever. Let's hope this early start doesn't signify an overly active hurricane season. Our Noah waved goodbye to the kids from Iceni as they headed out towards the Northern Abacos to explore some of the more remote cays and stage for their crossing to the United States. We visited with four other Island Packets that made their way into White Sound; Galatea, Our Turn, Three Bells and Wind Dancer.

On the morning of 10 May we took a slip at Bluff House Marina to make it easier to pick-up Brenda and have power to install the parts she was bringing. We spent much of the day cleaning and organizing to make room for another crew member. We're all excited to have her here AND to have an extra adult aboard for the passage back to the USA.

Brenda arrived on the 1600 ferry from Treasure Cay. Noah was very excited to see her and ran down the dock to greet the ferry. After being initially impressed at how lightly she packed, we realized that her luggage hadn't made the trip with her!

Sunday started out hazy as the smoke from the fires on Great Abaco was blowing over this way. Higher in the atmosphere we were seeing the smoke from the Florida and Georgia wildfires. Noah presented Beth with a nice hand made card and we all celebrated Mother's Day by going up to the Bluff House for lunch.

We had planned to attend a beach potluck for dinner, but mother nature had other plans. A squall came through and gave us 30 kt winds and the opportunity to top off our water tanks. Noah was just as happy to stay aboard the boat as he has been glued to the Lego catalog Aunt Brenda brought in the "important" mail folder.

Brenda spent most of her first day here on the computer using Skype to try and track down her bag. By evening she had learned that it had actually arrived in the Bahamas.

The Durham Burgee hangs over the Marina Office here at Bluff House in Green Turtle Cay

Monday we woke Brenda up at 0630 so she could get into our boat routine of listening to the weather on the SSB radio. Unfortunately the news was not good for crossing. Chris Parker, our weather guru, said that he didn't recommend leaving anytime this week. Locally, the wind shifted from southwest to east, so the skies cleared and conditions were calm on our side of the Sea of Abaco. After a frustrating morning of talking to ferry boat captains and airport baggage handlers, Brenda and I took the dinghy over to New Plymouth as a diversion. Had a fun walk around the town and meet several other cruising families in the Hardware store. Explored Black Sound by boat and passed a local work boat with the creative name of Tugnacious. All the ferry captains knew that Brenda was looking for her "big red bag" and would slow down as they passed us to say that hadn't seen it yet. On the way back to White Sound we heard squawking in a tree along the shore. Four large parrots took to the air, the first we've
seen in the Bahamas. This area is supposed to be the home to rare Abaco Parrots.

The long anticipated event occurred at 1600, with Brenda's bag arriving at the dock, 48 hours after her landing. We celebrated by heading to the pool to cool off and have hot conch fritters and cold drinks. The kids from Stella Marris, Stardust, Firelight and Second Wave all gravitated to the pool while the adults pondered the weather forecasts. We were back at the boat by sunset so Noah could show Brenda the tradition of sounding the conch. She caught on right away and received some applause from surrounding boats.

Tuesday morning we gathered around the radio hoping that the forecast might change. It did, but for the worse. Chris is now saying not to plan on going anywhere for the next ten days -- arghh!

Noah put down his Lego catalog after breakfast and dug into his schoolwork. He and Brenda wrote and put on a puppet show for his creative writing project. After that he worked on his other subjects on his own while the three adults started on the installation of the replacement parts Brenda brought. We had the knotlog/temperature sensor installed by lunch and the new LED stern light installed by dinner.

Winds were in the twenty to twenty-five knot range all day long, with only a trace of rain. The boat systems are ready to go, we are provisioned and have a great crew. Now we just need a good weather window.

Linda on Second Wave shared a good definition of cruising. "Cruising is waking up in the morning with nothing to do and not being able to get it all done by bedtime."

Mark

More at Green Turtle Cay

2007-05-11T06:50:00.001-05:00

We're still at Green Turtle Cay, preparing the boat for crossing back to the United States. Tuesday we washed the boat and changed the fuel filter and cleaned the raw water filter.

Tuesday the waves were still rolling in from the Atlantic and we walked over to the beach again to observe. The crews of Tembo (Vancouver Island, Canada) and Stella Maris (Oriental, NC) joined us. The five kids played well together on the beach. After the outing we all took dinghies over to the Bluff House to use the pool, since the Green Turtle Club pool was closed for repairs. Although the pool is saltwater, there are bathrooms with showers so it was easy to get rinsed off. Ended up staying for dinner and celebrating the pending sale of Tembo as they bring their cruise to a close.

There is a low out north of us swirling around as a semi-tropical depression. It is a little early for hurricane season, but anything can happen. We will hang out here until Tropical Storm Andrea dissipates.

Wednesday the crew from Iceni came in and we all went over the hill again to watch the surf. Hannah and Fraser spent the night on Intuition, with popcorn and a movie while we were connected to shore power. We filled up the fuel tank and the 30 gallons of jerry jugs on deck so we should have enough to motor back to the states in case the wind doesn't cooperate. Beth has been whipping the ends of the lines for each of the jerry jugs. She cut the continuous line that went through all the jugs on one side of the boat into individual lines for each jug. This will make it safer to remove one jug at a time, but has made for lots of loose ends to whip.

As the sun dropped below the hills on Green Turtle, we brought out the conch horns. The three of us gave it a go and all four people on Jule next door took turns with their conch. Learned that Jule used to be Gypsy Common, an Island Packet 38 we met last year in Lake Worth. We were all put to shame by a long winded blow from Steven on Balou that broke into a melody. He had brought out a trumpet and he knew how to use it!

Today we made pancakes for breakfast with the kids. After cleaning up we moved all of 0.2 miles to anchor in White Sound within sight of the marina docks. The wind is out of the South so there aren't many good anchorages in the area, but this is well protected. This also put us directly downwind of the Bluff House Marina, which had the Gully Roosters Band playing until midnight last night. The night before they were at the same marina we were staying in, but hooked up to shore power, we had the air conditioning on and the windows closed, so we hardly heard them. Not the case last night!

Here's a photo of the "other" Intuition and a boat we met from Wrightsville Beach, NC at the Bluff House Yacht Club in Green Turtle Cay.

Green Turtle Club

2007-05-08T09:07:00.001-05:00

Sunset Over New Plymouth

After enjoying the festival here at Green Turtle we switched our attention to the weather. Predictions for strong winds led us to call for a slip at the Green Turtle Club in protected White Sound. The marina filled up shortly after we arrived, but we have great neighbors in Jule an Island Packet 38 from Denver and Balou a Nordic Tug 42 from Punta Gorda, FL.

Jule & Intuition

Exploring the area by dinghy we noticed a Nonsuch docked at the other marina in White Sound. Getting closer we read the name... Intuition! Stopping to visit we learned that their dinghy was named "Hindsight". We are now Intuition Cutter and they are Intuition Catboat in the local area.

Sunday night's winds never reached above 30 kts while we were awake and we didn't get the thunderstorms that reached further south. This is an excellent spot to ride out a front with all around protection. Forty-two boats are anchored or moored here in White Sound and both marinas are full.

Sunset From the Green Turtle Club

Lots of fish live under and around the docks. The neighbors were feeding leftover pancakes to the parrot fish and snappers off the back of their boat. We may have to drop a line over and have snapper for dinner this week. Noah made friends with the couple on Balou, mostly because they have a dog. Dixie is an Romogna (Italian) Water Dog. Very interesting dog looking like a small standard poodle with stocky legs and webbed feet. It is the only breed that is used for finding Truffles. Great boat dog as it can swim very well and doesn't shed.

Noah and Dixie went swimming together on Monday morning. He and Dixie raced to get sticks in the water and Dixie invariably got there first, but they were both having fun.

Noah and Dixie

After lunch we walked over to the Atlantic side of the Island to watch the ocean swell break on the beach. The barrier reef broke most of the wave energy, but there were still six to eight foot waves hitting the sandy shore. The sea buoy north of here recorded 26 foot waves overnight.

Waves on the Atlantic Beach

Looking west towards Great Abaco we could see PyroCumulus clouds formed by the wild fires burning on the island. We hope there is enough rain out of this strom to put out the fires. We have seen them burning since arriving in the Abacos.

Pyrocumulus Clouds over Great Abaco

Back at the boat we filled the water tanks and used fresh water to wash all the salt and sand off the exterior of the boat. Beth and Noah vacuumed the interior and washed the sheets, so Intuition is getting more presentable for Brenda when she arrives on Saturday.

After dinner we went up to the bar in the Green Turtle Club to meet the crew of Stella Maris from Oriental. Good conch fritters and cheese to munch on while the kids played hide and seek tag outside on the deck. There was a fancy dinner and wine tasting in the main dining room for $60 a plate, but they were nice enough to let us try some of their appetizers. The walls of the bar are completely covered in $1 bills signed by famous and not so famous visitors.

Green Turtle Festival

2007-05-08T06:18:00.001-05:00

We came to Green Turtle Cay for the Island Roots Heritage Festival, a celebration of family roots. It is celebrated here in New Plymouth with their sister city of Key West, FL. The theme this year was pirates and they were everywhere. We went into town shortly after arriving on Friday where we got the lay of the land. Had dinner at the festival with other kid boats, Stella Maris, Second Wave and Tembo. Enjoyed cracked lobster, which was a whole lobster, split and fried. Can't be good for me, but it was delicious. Strolled around New Plymouth. Seemed like a New England village with lots of salt box style wooden homes.

Church in New Plymouth

The Old Jail in New Plymouth

The area was founded by loyalists that left the US during the revolutionary war. After dinner I started to photograph young ladies dancing around the maypole when I was dragged in to participate.

Pirates and Ladies Around the Maypole

The funny thing (other than my dancing ability) was that Susan Goldsworthy from Durham was also "volunteered" and was right in front of me as we tried to keep up with our partners around the maypole. Another case of small world syndrome.

Saturday we had the schedule and knew what to expect. Noah made a sword out of cardstock and aluminum foil, found an eye patch and even drew a scar on some scotch tape to make himself look piratical.

Noah was the one to Crack the Pinata

We enjoyed the festivities and Noah enjoyed being with other kids, especially Nick from Second Wave whom he hadn't seen since Georgetown. We toured the Pirate Ship "Wolf", a topsail schooner visiting from Key West,

The Wolf

Pirate tour guide on the Wolf

Noah and Nick tried the three-legged race,

Nick & Noah in the 3 legged race

and I was relieved to see that the pirates were conscripted as volunteers for the maypole dance and we went back to the boat for dinner fairly exhausted and sunbaked. After a little sustenance we headed back to the festival to catch the Junkanoo Parade, followed by a very funny local comedienne.

Junkanoo Float

The finale was the appearance of the Royal Bahamian Police Band dressed in their leopard skin uniforms. We were close to the front and thoroughly enjoyed the concert and marching formations. They did some very fancy drum routines where the drummers
traded sticks and drums throughout a number. I can't imagine playing in full uniform, plus a leopard skin in the 87 degree heat with 97% humidity. These officers were dedicated musicians! If you ever get the opportunity to see this band, don't miss it.

Diving at Fowl Cay

2007-05-05T08:34:00.000-05:00

Beth gives the "OK" sign underwater

With light winds and settled weather we decided to move the 4.6 miles to Fowl Cay and anchor just inside the reef. We passed along the shores of Great Guana and Scotland Cays where the vacation homes are very impressive.

Iain on Iceni volunteered to help Beth and I go out Scuba diving. He and Sue are both very experienced PADI instructors. They loaned us equipment and shared expertise. Iain was very patient with both of us as we hadn't been diving in open water since being certified back in the 1970's. We had both taken a refresher course before leaving Durham last spring in hopes of getting under the water during the trip. Our first stop we went down and were met by a couple of large, friendly and curious Groupers.

Nassau Grouper

After photographing the grouper we noticed a Reef Shark coming to visit. We surfaced and decided to go back down since he was keeping his distance. After a few minutes more down around thirty feet, we noticed he now had a larger friend so, this being our first dive in a long, long time, we decided to move to another spot.

Caribbean Reef Shark

The second dive was more relaxing and we wound through coral canyons looking at fish that weren't higher than us on the food chain.

Back at the boat we looked after Fraser so that Iain, Sue and Hannah could take an afternoon dive.

Sunrise over Fowl Cay

Friday we took our hookah equipment out to the reef to give that a try. Hookah is an electric surface supplied air system with a pair of 30 foot hoses. I've used it to clean the bottom of the boat, but we hadn't tried it for fun. Tying the dinghy to a mooring buoy we assembled the system and got into the water. We could just get to the reef on the surface, but not close enough when going under water. Ideally, we would have let the dinghy drift and pulled it along as we swam, but the dinghy would have drifted onto the shallow parts of the reef here. The other challenge was that, without tanks, we didn't have enough weight in our belts to get neutrally buoyant. We did about 30 minutes of diving and then coiled up the hoses and reverted to snorkels. It seems like it might work better with one person at a time with the two hoses connected to make them longer and the other person staying on the surface with a snorkel. We'll try that another time.

Iain and Hannah went for a dive while we joined Sue and Fraser and Noah who were snorkeling around the reef waiting for them to return. Cleaned the bottom of the dinghy and enjoyed the schools of fish around the reef.

After lunch we left the crew of Iceni as they wanted to do more diving and we wanted to move North to Green Turtle Cay.

The Iceni Crew heads to Fowl Cay Reef

We pulled the hook at 1313 on Friday afternoon and headed Northeast towards "The Whale." This is a passage where boats have to go out into the Atlantic around Whale Cay since the Sea of Abaco gets shallow. We were fortunate that the seas were calm and we had no trouble traversing this spot, known for having "rages" when seas or wind oppose current and build into nasty standing waves. Took some nice photos of a couple of sailboats as we motored sailed with just the Jib out over smooth seas to join 42 other boats anchored off Green Turtle Cay at 1635 for the Island Roots Heritage Festival. More on that in the next log.

Mermaid Reef & Great Guana Cay

2007-05-03T08:33:00.000-05:00

Tuesday we stayed on anchor in Marsh Harbour to stock up on goods from the Grocery and Soft Drink stores. After lunch we met crews from five other boats to walk over the hill and go snorkeling at Mermaid Reef. Turns out that Mark Hill on an Island Packet 40 named Down Island wrote a book we have aboard by the same name. We interrupted his shower later to get our copy autographed. A few drips on the page made it more authentic!. Check out "Down Island" by Mark R. Hill on Amazon for a fast paced adult
sailing adventure novel set in the modern-day British Virgin Islands.

Meanwhile, back at the reef there were lots of parrot fish, tangs and snappers all of which were friendly. This is where we shot our first underwater fish photos back in 2002. The kids all swam out from shore and enjoyed being close to the fish. The coral had deteriorated from our last visit, probably due to careless snorkelers.

Fishers Bay, Great Guana Cay

Wednesday was election day and we wanted to be away from the "big" city so we wouldn't hear the celebrations. Pulled anchor at 0915 and motorsailed across the Sea of Abaco to Fishers Bay on Great Guana Cay where we were tied to a mooring ball by 1043. It was good to be back in clear waters.

Visiting Dive Guana we asked about the proprietors of the Guana Seaside Resort. We understand that they sold their little inn, but still live on the island. Didn't catch up with them, but did learn about the major changes on this beautiful island. A huge resort is being built with a 240 slip marina and a golf course. Signs on the island say "Golf Courses need fertilizers, Fertilizers kill Reefs, any questions?" The third longest barrier reef in the world is so close to shore here that development is sure to have an impact on the reef. See www.SaveGuanaCayReef.com for more info. Also learned that the ship we saw on the reef by Man-O-War was a Canadian drilling vessel that went aground two years ago and hasn't been removed. I'm not sure what is worse, the fact that it destroyed a big section of reef and is still there or that it was doing exploratory drilling for natural gas in the area.

We walked into the settlement and over the hill to Nippers pool and bar. It was probably one of the quietest days ever at Nippers as they couldn't serve alcohol on Election Day. We walked down to the beach where the kids from Iceni along with Noah built a bear trap. They lured Beth into it before we left and were quite pleased when she fell in! Had hoped to go to the Wednesday pot luck at Grabbers, but that was canceled for election day.

The full moon rose and the elections passed quietly on Great Guana. We slept through whatever celebrations occurred. There will be a change of government here as the FMN beat the PLP.

Orchid Bay Marina and the Settlement at Great Guana Cay

Vacation Homes on Great Guana Cay

Man-O-War Cay & Marsh Harbour

2007-05-01T06:13:00.000-05:00

Sunset from Man-O-War Cay

After school on Saturday we moved the 5.5 nm from Hope Town to Man-O-War Cay, anchoring northwest of town. With an air temperature of 87 and calm seas we headed out in the dinghy to snorkel on the reefs outside of Fowl Cay along with the crew from Iceni. The water was a perfect blue and we could see the bottom in 40 feet of water. Dinghy mooring balls made it easy to tie off and get into the water. The corals were not very healthy, with big chunks of elkhorn broken off and bleached white. Fortunately
there were soft corals and lots of fish living in all the nooks and crannies of the reef. We were the only boats out there enjoying the beautiful spot in perfect weather conditions. There were at least eight mooring balls spread over a quarter of a mile of reef, making this the best snorkeling we've found so far in the Abacos.

The only trouble with anchoring here is the power boats. They don't slow down at all, even though there are ten boats anchored just off the harbour entrance in an area marked as an anchorage on the charts. One wake got us just after launching the dinghy. The dink surged up and tore a teak tread off the stern ladder on the big boat that had been held on with three screws.

Man-O-War Harbour Entrance

Sunday we went in and explored Man-O-War cay on foot. Nothing was open, but the marina, so we walked over to the Atlantic side and looked for sea beans on the beach. There was a large ship on, or very near, the reef that looks like it might be a drilling vessel. The homes and streets were nicely kept. The community is known for boat building and we saw a few of the Albury Skiffs around the harbor. The two protected harbors were filled with moorings and boats. There would not be room to anchor. We
brought jerry jugs with us and purchased 25 gallons of water at the marina.

Home on Man-O-War

On the way back to Intuition we were hailed by a power boat who came alongside and asked "which way is it to Nippers?" Now Nippers is a famous, at least in this area, bar on Great Guana Cay that has a wild boar roast on Sundays. At 1130 in the morning these people were already three sheets to the wind and weren't even approaching the right island. We pointed Northwest and they zoomed off.

Back on the boat, Noah made lunch while Beth and I emptied all the water jugs into the main tank. From Man-O-War we sailed to Marsh Harbour, drifting the 6.3 miles across the Sea of Abaco with just the Jib out. Noah went on Iceni, so Beth and I just relaxed and enjoyed the quiet passage. After being pleasantly surprised by the amount of room in the harbor and finding a good spot near the Jib Room to anchor we picked up Noah, Hannah and Fraser for a Pizza Dinner and movie on our boat so Iain and Sue
could have a few hours of peace and quiet.

The water in Marsh Harbour is dirtier than we remember. We can't see more than half-way down our rudder. Turtles don't seem to mind as we have seen several large ones swimming around the boat. Frigate Birds are also making an appearance for the first time on our journey.

Monday morning the shops were open and the ladies went into town to do laundry and check out the grocery shop. They used the town laundry rather than one at a marina and did wash for $2 per load. Noah did his test lesson number 140 which means only 20 more days of school! Excellent scores in all his subjects with 100% in everything but spelling. After lunch, Iain and I went looking for some parts at the hardware and Yamaha stores without any luck.

Island Packets in Marsh Harbour

On the morning VHF radio net "Nice 'N Easy" announced an impromptu Island Packet rendezvous in the Jib Room at 1700. Someone else came on and commented that it would be a meeting of the Island Pachyderms, a new (to us)term that seems to fit the boats well. A good percentage of the boats here are IP beige and the crews from at least 8 boats showed up at the appointed hour. Three Bells, Grainne, Jule, Nice N' Easy, Our Turn, and Jupiter Smile are the names I can remember. Look for a photo and brief
article in an upcoming IP newsletter.

Packeteers Gather at the Jib Room

Anchoring, Anchoring, and Anchoring some more

2007-04-28T08:54:00.000-05:00

Thursday started out, as usual, with school. Noah was less than excited about doing his schoolwork so his parents were getting testy. He had complained on Wednesday that the inside of the dinghy was dirty so, after school, he was assigned to clean it. Checking on him after about twenty minutes found him sitting in the flooded dinghy asking for more soap. He had pulled the drain plug! After a heated discussion, he spent the next forty minutes bailing out the boat.

Looking at the guide books we decided to head north to Pelican Cays Land & Sea Park to do some snorkling. It was only a forty minute trip before we anchored behind Sandy Cay. Unfortunately, there was too much surge from the North Bar Channel to make the anchorage comfortable and ocean waves were breaking near where we hoped to snorkel. Going further north we spotted Iceni anchored of Tiloo Cay, but no one was home and the seas were still rolling up from the channel. We decided to go around Tavern
Cay where there would be protection from the south.

Passing a stone tower that looked as if it belonged on a castle, the surge subsided and we were ready to drop the hook at 1709. (Warning - boring anchoring description ahead - skip to next paragraph). We backed down and all seemed well until we went and checked the anchor in the dinghy. It was laying on the bottom with barely a fluke catching on the bottom. Back to the boat to reanchor. This time it didn't catch at all, so we moved a little bit south and tried again. Backing down again at 1740 the
boat seemed well set. Putting out to check with the dinghy showed that we were firmly hooked -- on a *!*#*! cable. By 1825 we had extricated ourselves from the cable and were re-anchoring, but the CQR wasn't holding. Pulled it back in and set the Bruce anchor as the sun set behind Tiloo Cay. Checking it with the dinghy yielded some concern as it only had one fluke in. We were tired and grumpy, so decided to eat dinner and watch the anchor. I watched the boat position on the computer and set the
anchor drag alarm on the GPS so it would beep if the boat moved more than 0.01 nautical miles. The wind picked up to 17 knots just after 2200 and the alarm sounded as we started slowly dragging back into the channel. Beth and I went out and dropped the CQR with lots of chain behind the Bruce. This stopped our movement and we actually managed some sleep after that. If we do this again, we'll look for an anchor that sets well in grass and hard packed sand as that is where neither the Bruce nor CQR
does well. I guess we have been spoiled by the nice sand anchorages in the Central Bahamas.

Waking up early Friday morning we were, thankfully, in the same spot. We all vowed to make this a better day. School went quickly and then we took the dinghy out in quest of a spot to snorkel. The guide book recommended Tiloo Cut so we surveyed it through the window in the Caribe. We were disappointed in the mostly lifeless structure. There was some soft coral and a few fish, but the hard coral was white or covered with green algae. Earl, had recommended visiting Tahiti Beach, so we returned from
the cut and headed towards the end of Elbow Cay. Tahiti Beach is a beach that turns into a sandbar at the south point of Elbow Cay. Lots of shallow water and beautiful sand made it a great spot for building sand castles and looking for shells.

Back on the boat for lunch, we decided to head up towards Marsh Harbour to refill our water tanks and then move on to Hopetown to see friends on Iceni. The two anchors came up more easily than expected (the windlass doesn't help with the last thirty feet of chain on the Bruce) and we were underway by 1350. As we approached Marsh Harbour, we called Boat Harbour Marina to see about stopping to purchase water. There is a fishing tournament on, so they weren't excited about a sailboat tying up their
fuel dock when the sport fishers came in to fill up their fuel hungry engines. We still have a full tank of diesel, so wouldn't be spending much money. The wind was picking up as well and we decided to bypass Boat Harbour and get water on a day with less activity. By 1608 we were anchored by Iceni near the red and white stripped lighthouse just outside of Hopetown harbour. After examining our position on the chart we decided we were too close to the channel and pulled up the anchor. Hoping that this
wouldn't be a repeat of yesterday, we avoided several spots marked as cable crossings and ended up anchoring a little further south, just off the beach in front of a resort that is no longer open. A brief rain shower cleared the salt off the dodger windows and ushered in a beautiful sunset. Noah and I signalled the event with blasts on the conch horn. The signal was answered by some territorial roosters and a couple of geese from a nearby waterfront home. After sunset we could see the beam from
the kerosene lamp on the lighthouse sweeping the sky. The light still uses a manually wound system and we want to come back in a few days and visit the inner harbor and see the lighthouse up close.

We finished reading about Bilbo's adventures in "The Hobbit" and were all asleep by 2100. It was a restful night until we woke up with the roosters at 0530. They don't seem to be on the same schedule as the sun. Talking with Iceni this morning they mentioned that they had to shut their hatches to cut
down the noise and music from Hopetown. I'm glad we anchored a little further down the shore.

Today we will move on to Man-O-War Cay, in search of water. We haven't purchased any since Compass Cay in the Exumas.

Little Harbour

2007-04-28T07:20:00.000-05:00

Little Harbour was a good place to get rested after the crossing from Spanish Wells. The mooring float made from an old tire was an indication of the unique character of the area. We had read "Artist on His Island" by Randolph Johnston who left Massachusetts with his family in the 1950's and sailed to the Bahamas settling in Little Harbour. He was a sculptor and the area is now a community of artists who do castings of bronze. His son Pete runs the foundry today, as well as Pete's Pub, an open air
restaurant.

After a bit of school work we went ashore and walked over to the ocean side to look for sea beans. Beth found one and Noah made sticks into swords. On the walk over the hill there were life sized sculptures of turtles, dolphins, sharks and rays on either side of the path. We visited the foundry and watched a turtle being cast into a mold to make a lamp. From there we visited the gallery where a similar lamp was on display. When watching it made, I thought it might make a unique addition to our living
room at home, but decided against it when seeing the $4,750 price tag on the one in the gallery! There were some beautiful pieces depicting sea creatures actively engaged in the food chain as well as a couple depicting the life of man.

We met Bob, C6ALD, a ham radio operator who lives on the island, for lunch at Pete's pub. He is part of the weather net we participate in. It was fun to put a face to the voice. Noah met a boy from Pennsylvania at the pub and they played the ring toss game until we were finished visiting.

Noah's new friend came back to the boat with us and they played on the computer. Beth and I took turns playing on a Hobie "Island" trimaran kayak that the folks on s/v Movin On let us try. It was a real hoot zipping around the anchorage with only 6 kts of wind. Calypso was in the harbor as well and Phil gave us each a Calypso very nice little led flashlight. We'd given them some photos of Calypso as they were leaving Spanish Wells and as they were arriving in Little Harbour.

Because we needed high tide to leave the harbor, we dropped the mooring at 1556 and it was picked up by s/v Freedom, another Island Packet. By 1650 we were anchored of Lynyard Cay, had the dinghy in the water and were off looking for other kid boats. The first boat we stopped at was from France and had just arrived from Spanish Wells. They were in the moorings there with us and waited another day before crossing. He was working hard to clean a 54" wahoo they had caught on the way over. The next boat
was s/v Our Turn, a lovely Island Packet 445, owned by Claire & Paul Smith from Farmington Hills, Michigan where Beth and I owned our first home together. They didn't have kids aboard, but pointed us to s/v Stardust where we met Jim, Kathy and Rachel along with Whitefoot their big black labrador. The kids played while we visited for a bit before heading home to get dinner ready.

Spanish Wells to Little Harbour, Abacos

2007-04-25T08:48:00.000-05:00

Sunday, 22 April, was a relaxing day on the mooring. The town is pretty much closed down, so we did boat chores and put another coat of cetol on the teak. Noah had a great time at the sleepover on Iceni and didn't get back aboard Intuition until almost 10 am. The kids were up several times in the night due to rain, mosquitos and general chattering.

Karen, on Tiki, came over and asked if the "Kumihimo lady" was aboard. She and Beth met in Georgetown where Beth introduced her to this Japanese braiding technique and Karen was ready to learn some new patterns. Tiki was only a few moorings away.

Monday morning we listened to the weather and it sounded like Tuesday would be the day to go. Winds and seas were too high on Monday, should moderate on Tuesday and might moderate so much on Wednesday that we would have to motor. We this in mind, Iain and I drove our dinghy out to Ridley Head, following our planned course in a handheld GPS. We had good light and low water, so we could see the coral heads clearly, even in nine foot swells. After scouting the area, we went back to the boat and downloaded
the track from the GPS into the computer and compared it to the charted course using Coastal Explorer. After a few tweaks, we were both confident that we could follow the track out, even with less than ideal light on Tuesday morning.

Both families went to town and did one last shopping trip at the Food Fair. We bought the essentials; chocolate and pizza. Both were good bargains and would make for a special meal before the big crossing. The kids all wanted to buy M&M's. After figuring out that a big bag would get them more for their money than three small bags, they split the price of a 1.5 pounder. Back on Intuition they split the booty into ziplocks and then turned Noah's cabin into some kind of a space cruiser from Star Wars.

Karen stopped by again and gave Beth a straw basket she had made from local palm fronds. It is very special with handles made out of shells.

Tuesday dawned grey with rain off to the southeast for our "big" atlantic crossing from Eleuthera to the Abacos. Checking with Chris Parker for the weather yielded a "go" forecast of East winds at 18 kts moderating to 16 later in the day in a 5 foot swell with a 4-5 ft wind chop. Dropped the mooring line at 0724 and headed out with Iceni following since we had the electronic charting capability. The routing worked well and we were safely outside the reefs by 0749 motorsailing at 7.2 kts to charge
up the batteries.

We had been so preoccupied with safely clearing the reefs that we had neglected to force Noah into the cockpit. We were headed north and the wind and seas were on the beam making for a very rolly ride. He joined us at 0815 to deposit the contents of his tummy onto the cockpit floor. Turns out he had forsaken breakfast and broken into the chocolate in the refrigerator. The evidence lay before us for all to see. A bucket of seawater quickly cleared it away.

We spotted a freighter called the "Imperial Fortune" coming in from the East and slowed down to let it pass in front of us by turning off the engine. It was interesting that this large ship did not appear on AIS. We did track him on radar and he passed 1.5 miles ahead of us moving off towards Nassau. Our speed dropped to 5 kts and Iceni broke out their spinnaker to make use of the lighter 10-12 kt breeze. This made for some nice photo ops as they caught up with and passed us. Iceni is a 40' Warrior
and we expect them to be faster under sail than us with their additional five foot length.

Over the next three hours, the wind picked up and by lunch time we were doing 7.3 kts after putting a reef in the main. We counted nine sailboats headed on a similar course as we zipped along rolling up and down the nine foot waves. Noah was still not feeling very well, but didn't want to follow our advice to sit up and look at the horizon. He was laying face down in the cockpit when a wave rolled us enough that he slid off the seat onto the floor. Only a couple of scuffs, but he decided to sit up
after that.

At 1338 Beth sighted land and we reefed the Jib to lessen our heel as the wind was up in the low twenties. At some point, Iceni had doused their spinnaker due to the stronger winds and we, in our fat little Island Packet, snuck by and lead them to the Little Harbor cut. With the stronger than expected winds we arrived sooner than expected and started the engine up to go through the cut. With an East wind and a rising tide the entry was relatively smooth and we were inside the cut by 1500.

Because we arrived at almost high tide, we decided to go into Little Harbor proper and take a mooring ball. The entrance is only one meter at low water and we need about 1.5 meters to remain floating so we took the opportunity to go in. The Iceni crew wasn't interested in visiting this artist community so they went on to anchor a little further North. We hope to catch up with them in a couple of days. We covered 51.7 nautical miles from Eleuthera to the Abacos in just under eight hours. Not a bad
day!

After showers and western egg sandwiches for dinner we all felt much better. Noah also had crackers and a bowl of cereal to help fill the void in his tummy. Turns out that several of the catamarans we'd met in Cambridge Cay and Spanish Wells were here for a "Manta (the brand of cat) Migration" rendezvous. Noah and I went for a dinghy ride to survey the area and found a mangrove creek and a cave he wants to explore tomorrow. There was a green sea turtle that swam along in front of us for a few minutes
until he thought we were too close and disappeared under the water. Back at the boat we are hearing snapping shrimp under the hull for the first time in a long while. There could probably be a band playing under there tonight and it wouldn't keep us awake. Time to shut the computer down and get some shut-eye.

Harbour Island

2007-04-21T10:42:00.001-05:00

Tuesday was birthday day. It was Steve's birthday on Sophia and, the main reason for staying here, it was Fraser's 7th birthday on Icene. Noah made a card and the crew of Calypso gave us a ride over to Icene, who was at the other end of town in the mooring field. The kids had a good time and the adults caught up on what had happened since our paths diverted in the Exumas. Another couple, Babette and Tom on Escape came over and we learned they were from Rutland, Vermont and used to keep their boat
in Willsboro, NY on Lake Champlain. They set off for a six month cruise of the Bahamas and have been here for two years in their Hunter 27.

Wednesday we decided to visit Harbour Island via the fast ferry mv Bo Hengy. Bo Hengy is a catamaran passenger ferry running from Nassau to Harbour Island and back with a stop in Spanish Wells. We've read lots of warnings about this route, called the "Devils Backbone," because it has so many reefs. Brought our GPS along to record the route for future reference. It was an interesting trip as we headed north out of Spanish Wells and the ferry revved up to 37 knots into the waves breaking on the reefs
after crossing the Atlantic. We enjoyed a great view from the top deck as the captain maintained a fine line between the reefs and the beach. At times we were less than a boat length off the beach, just outside the breaking waves.

Arriving in Harbour Island brought us to a bustling resort community where golf carts are the primary form of transportation. We rented an "off road" cart and set off to explore. First stop was the beach on the Atlantic side where we met five ponies walking on the famous pink (from conch shells) sand beach. From there we headed to the other side of the Island to eat good crached conch and grouper at a "take out" restaurant overlooking the bay. Take-outs are where the locals eat and are considerably
less expensive than the fancy resort restaurants. Noah observed a flock of sandpipers with his binoculars while we waited for our food to be cooked.

The resorts here are very nice and we visited most of them. Both marinas are nice, but offer no protection when winds blow from out of the west. Met the crew of Lelsie Ann III, an beautiful Island Packet 485. We helped them cast off their lines and they reported being unable to get off the boat for over 24 hours during the front that we weathered comfortably in Spanish Wells. A dive center, elegant restaurant, and nice cottages all surrounded by flowering shrubs would make this an appealing place
for a vacation. Heading down to the "narrows" at the other west end of the island we took some photos of Leslie Ann III in the distance heading towards the Devil's Backbone towing a pilot boat. We looked for sea beans, but didn't have any luck. Back in town we tried to spend money at a batique fabric store and a shell shop, but neither was open. Spent our last hour back on the beach where Noah met a family from Massachusetts with two girls and helped them build a sand castle. They were there to celebrate
a wedding where eighty guests had accepted the invitation after investigating the location.

Back on the ferry for our 1600 departure we met a couple on their honeymoon that were both from North Carolina. Also a nice couple from Sweden that knew of the Swedish solar/electric boat we'd met in the Abacos. We would definitely recommend this side trip on the fast ferry. Much less stressful than doing it in your own boat, though not much less expensive than hiring a pilot. The ferry is $25/person round trip and pilots charge $60 each way.

Back at Spanish Wells Yacht Haven (where it is $1/ft and $5 for electric) we were greeted by the crew of Iceni who stayed for an elegant dinner of hot dogs and beans. Noah had a great day, getting to go to have an island adventure, drive a golf cart, play on the beach and see his friends.

More Spanish Wells

2007-04-21T10:42:00.000-05:00

We obviously like Spanish Wells, because we are still here. During school on Thursday I sanded and prepped the teak on the stern rail for refinishing. It had been scrapped earlier and is in need of protection, being the only part of the boat that didn't get refinished prior to leaving NC.

After school Noah and I went with the Iceni crew to explore the western end of Spanish Wells. After walking past beautifully maintained fishing boats and neatly kept homes we came to a new bridge connecting Spanish Wells to Russell Island, the only two places one can drive to without putting your car on the "ss Freedom Defender" car barge.

The old bridge was still in the channel, deposited there by a hurricane. Just past the bridge was a delightful park with restrooms, an outdoor shower, playground
equipment, shaded picnic tables and some resident ducks. The view wasn't too shabby either as we looked out past the beach sand flats to some rectangular shaped rock islands and big swells breaking on the reefs. There were four kids playing in the park and a couple adults reading in the shade. This is a real jewel of a place! While we were exploring the beach, Beth went grocery shopping and restocked our cereal supply at the big Food Fair store. We learned that it is community owned and offers a
15% discount for reprovisioning if you talk to the store manager before shopping. Do be aware that they only accept cash.

Various crews in the marina had been working to make conch horns during the day and sunset brought eight horn blowers to the end of the dock. We all had great fun blowing the sun down into the ocean and getting the roosters and dogs of Spanish Wells riled up.

After Thursday's evening serenade, we decided it might be wise to change locations on Friday morning. We took one more hot shower and cast off our lines to motor 0.6 nm where we picked up a mooring at the east end of the harbor. There are nine moorings here that can be rented for $10/day by calling "Cinnobar" on the VHF radio. After settling in Noah did school and I put a coat of Cetol Light on the teak. After lunch Noah and Beth went to the bank coming back with some cash and a quart of ice cream.
Iceni did their reprovisioning in the afternoon and the kids came over here to play while Ian and Sue organized the groceries.

We visited with the crew of sv Sunset on the mooring behind us, whom we had last seen in Rock Sound. They stowed their two part dinghy on deck and got underway towards the Abacos about an hour before sunset. They sail slowly and planned for a mid-morning arrival near Little Harbor. This after spending the day riding bikes around Harbour Island. They are considerably more energetic and a bit younger than Beth and I!

During dinner we heard the sounds of a big diesel and popped up into the cockpit to see a big coastal freighter less than a boat length away. They had a lookout perched on the bow as they turned the ship around in the channel so they could get the opening bow facing the dock. There is considerably more activity at this end of the harbor as we are opposite the government dock and just off the channel that leads to the ocean. After Noah and I took turns helping the sun go down with our conch horn
we read a couple chapters in "The Hobbit" which Iceni loaned us and we started reading last night.

The sky is cloudy this morning and we are hoping for a little bit of rain to help fill the tanks. The well water here (what else would you expect in Spanish Wells?) tastes a little bit salty so we didn't fill up with water. Noah got up and sat on deck for a while drawing a very nice pencil picture of a house across the channel he named the "Pink Dolphin House." Now it is back to school and time to fire up the radio to email the blogs.

Intuition Log - 16 April

2007-04-16T19:04:00.000-05:00

After a calm night on anchor at Meeks Patch we did a little school and then pulled up the hook to head over to Spanish Wells. Calling the fuel dock we were told that another boat was there so we decided to wait outside the harbor entrance where there would be more room. With 18 kts of wind almost on the nose we held a stationary position with just a little engine power for 35 minutes until the dock was clear. This gave us time to observe other boats going in and out of the narrow and busy channel.

We've only used 24 gallons of diesel since our last fill on 24 March at Staniel Cay. Prices here are reported to be the lowest in the Bahamas and we concur at $2.38 a gallon. The dock help could be better, as they released the boat prior to me boarding! The current almost took Intuition into the boat behind us before I had a chance to jump aboard and reach the throttle. It was noon, so it must have been time to go to lunch.

Shortly after that we were tied off at Spanish Wells Yacht Haven. Here the dock hand helped three boats dock in rapid succession with three knots of current and no major problems. The marina is only $1/foot and is centrally located. It hasn't quite recovered from Hurricane Floyd, but they have ambitious plans for the future, which will then make it more than $1/foot!

Spanish Wells is an interesting town on Charles and Russell Islands just off the Northwest coast of Eleuthera. The inhabitants are descended from English Puritans who arrived in 1648. It is the only Methodist Island in the Bahamas and the residents are almost entirely white, quite the opposite of most of the country. Unlike the towns on Eleuthera, this is not primarily a tourist destination. The economy here is driven by lobster fishing. The season is closed now so all the boats are in port while
the fisherman paint and prepare them for the next season.

We walked most of the island on Saturday. There is a HUGE (by Bahamian standards) Food Fair grocery store, nice beaches and lots of small, pastel painted homes. Residents have flowering shrubs and lots of unique lawn ornaments made from flotsam and jetsam making it fun to look at each yard. Noticed that all the buildings have white painted roofs, no matter what material they are made from. It must help reflect some of the heat. Temps were in the mid-eighties so we stopped for a treat and had milk
shakes at a real soda fountain.

Met several other cruisers here in the marina. Was able to pass on the "secret" method of programming frequencies into an Icom Single Side Band radio with Calypso, the boat next door. Turned out they are from Portland Maine and he taught photography at Stanford before going off and developing computer programs for marketing companies, so we had quite a bit in common. An interesting boat in the marina is CuRosa from Helsinki, Finland. Two young couples are aboard and the unique boat has lots of hand
made metal work, with a seahorse for their figurehead. They are headed for Bermuda and then back to Finland.

Sunday morning I walked up to the Methodist Church. It is a modern hexagonal building and the first Methodist church I've ever seen that has its own beach! The people were welcoming and polite, but it was disappointingly much like a service at home. Not the energy and enthusiasm shown in some of the other churches in the Bahamas.

The town does close up pretty tight on Sunday, but we did find one restaurant open for dinner. We were the only patrons until a woman showed up for take-out. Turns out she is from Washington, NC and works in New Bern. A few minutes later Phil and Maryanne showed up from Calypso. The locals were probably in evening church services.

Other than wanting to see the community, we came here to seek protection from the cold front that came down from the US East coast over the last few days. It arrived here last night bringing West winds in the mid-30's and dropping the temperatures down to 73. Sounds like this was a good choice as eight boats stayed at Royal Island, three dragged, one went aground and taking on water.

News from Michigan is that Beth's dad came through carotid stent surgery on Wednesday. It went well and he is recovering in the hospital. He hopes to go home tomorrow, but hasn't received permission from the doctors yet.

Beth has done laundry and updated our .mac email at Teen Planet today. Haven't found free wi-fi here and paid the most to date for access at $10 for an hour. It did allow her to Skype and talk with her dad and sisters.

Noah and I walked the town in search of a stern light this afternoon. The marine stores are good here, but the parts are stocked for commercial fishing boats, not pleasure sailboats. We didn't find anything suitable. We did stumble upon a shop in the garage of a home that sold very nice shells. Found a reasonably priced conch horn, so now I have no excuse for not greeting the sunset properly. Just have to learn to put my lips together and blow! The elderly lady that owns the shop demonstrated for
Noah and I. She also had interesting starfish and different lobster shells that fisherman bring her to preserve.

The next weather window to cross to the Abacos may be Thursday or possibly not until early next week. In either event we hope to take the Fast Ferry over to Harbour Island to see that resort area before we go.

We just ended the day by taking turns blowing our new conch horn. Noah almost has it working, Beth needs more practice and I got a note to sound. Gordon on Current Jumper put us all to shame by playing a long, loud tone and then jumping up an octave. Turns out he is a trombone player. That is much better prior experience than my ancient history of sax honking.

Current Cut

2007-04-13T14:28:00.000-05:00

Yesterday at 0826 we headed out between the cliffs that guard the entrance to Hatchet Bay. The wind was on the nose, but under 10 knots so no sailing, but it wasn't uncomfortable. After talking to other cruisers we decided to bypass "The Glass Window" and head over to Royal Island. The Glass Window is an area that used to be a natural stone bridge through which you can see the Atlantic. The natural bridge collapsed in a hurricane and there is now a man made span bridging the gap. We were able to
view it through the binoculars as we passed on the Sound side.

We rerigged the handline with a lure on a wire leader so it might hold up better to the fish we're finding with sharp teeth. Dropped it in the water at 0920 and fifteen minutes later we had a nice spanish mackerel on the line. This time we netted him and dropped him in a 5 gallon plastic bucket so he couldn't get away. Gave him a drink of rum to quiet him down and turned him into ten mackerel steaks. Pulled the handline back in as we approached Current Cut and -- argh -- the lure was gone. It broke
off just behind the planer.

The timing of our passage through Current Cut was just prior to low tide so that the current would be slowly ebbing through the cut. The challenge here is that tides are between 1 and 2.5 hours later than Nassau according to the different guide books. There aren't local tide stations, so you have to watch the water and get a feel for the local tide conditions. The reason for the concern here is that the tide can flow through Current Cut at upwards of 7 kts, about the top speed of Intuition. Our
passage was only mired by a bump on the bottom as I cut the turn a little to close. We had about 1.5 kts of outgoing current an hour and ten minutes after low tide in Nassau which made for an easy pass through the narrow opening.

We called "Cinnobar" to see if there were any moorings available in Spanish Wells, but there were none. Our fall back plan was to anchor at Royal Island and we had the hook down there by 1300. It is a nicely protected anchorage with mostly grass on the bottom. Beth scouted out a sandy patch and we buried the CQR nicely. Only "Sea Bear," a large motor yacht was there when we arrived. Chris Parker mentioned that there would be a line of intense squalls and thunderstorms coming through overnight. This
brought seven other boats to the anchorage before sunset.

With clouds on the horizon we decided to eat early. Grilled the mackerel steaks and they were delicious. Even Noah liked them! Glad we ate early because by 1800 it looked like night and the skies opened up. We were lucky that winds only gusted to 30 kts and most of the lightning stayed North of us. Within an hour the rain stopped, the wind was down to 5 kts, and there was a beautiful rainbow over the anchorage. During that hour, the winds and our boat did a complete 360 degree circle.

Royal Island is now private and is being developed. There was considerable activity with a dump truck, a bulldozer and power boats zooming in and out of the anchorage delivering people and landscape plants. "Danger" and "Private" signs discourage people from going ashore. There are ruins of a former private mansion that look like they would be fun to explore. We will probably return here to stage for our crossing to the Abacos sometime next week.

This morning the water was perfectly still and we were sitting beside our anchor. Days like this always amaze me as it seems like we are floating in air over an aquarium. We did school and explored the anchorage by dinghy. Were surprised to hear the US Coast Guard on channel 16 out of Miami 160 miles away. Also hearing Boat/US every once in a while. The radio traffic here is annoying. Between the taxis and the pilot boats there are lots of people yelling on the air. Counted nine times in a three
minute period that one resort called for a taxi. Most of the radio traffic seems to be coming from Harbour Island.

Called again for a mooring in Spanish Wells, but none are available. Another cold front is forecasted for Sunday into Monday so we decided to anchor out tonight and then go into a marina in Spanish Wells on Saturday. Since we aren't able to go ashore on Royal Island we decided to go over to Meeks Patch and anchor. We covered the 4 miles in under an hour and had the anchor down in time for lunch. There is only one other boat here, the storm clouds have cleared, Noah had done his schoolwork and it
is 83 degrees. Guess it is time to close down the computer and go swimming!

Hatchet Bay Pond, Eleuthera

2007-04-11T16:48:00.001-05:00

We're still holed up on a mooring in Hatchet Bay Pond, Eleuthera. Now that I've finally learned to spell Eleuthera, I need to use it more!

Yesterday after school and lunch we ventured into town to see what was here. The guide book paints a dismal picture of Alice Town. We've always been able to find something interesting in any community and this was no exception. The government dock has new piers where it is easy to tie up the dinghy. They even supply mooring balls so you can tie off the stern so the boat doesn't bump against the dock. With only one other cruising boat in the harbor there was no problem finding a spot to tie off.

I was thinking about waiting for lunch at the Harborview Restaurant. Good thing we ate sandwiches aboard because the restaurant is no longer open. The town that borders the pond is Alice Town. Walking up the hill we found a government building and lots of homes under repair. A bar and "take away" restaurant looks like it might be open for dinner. It was humid and in the upper-80's. Cresting the hill we could see the blue and green waters of Exuma Sound. Stopped for water at a nice little park with a couple of picnic tables under palm frond shelters. The beach was in contrast to a sad looking bar and a considerable amount of liter from a party the night before. It looks like the community has seen better days and hasn't yet recovered from the last hurricane. The local school looked well kept and was named P.A. Gibson School. We thought that was coincidental since Noah's principal back in Durham is Mr. Gibson.

Beth and Noah elected to go back to Intuition while I walked West. They met a local kid at the dock and gave him a ride around the harbor in the dinghy. We had said hello to him a couple of times in town as he rode his bike around. School is out for Easter vacation so there are lots of kids wandering about.

The main rode took me past the Lutrapur R/O water plant which appears to be the only employer around. After seeing that the water source is Hatchet Bay, I'm not sure I want to purchase any! A liquor store, grocery and beauty supply share a strip mall and the grocery wasn't open. Walking further I ran into some kids who wanted their picture taken. They were excited to see it on the camera screen. Further along was a poor residential area where the kids disappeared into a big Banyan tree that they
use as a clubhouse and playground. Waling back I found more children and one about Noah's age asked me for two dollars. A few minutes later a kid no older than four came up and said "dollar, dollar". I didn't give the kids money, but wished I had some books or pencils or something they might have used. It was the first time I'd been asked for anything by people in the Bahamas. Usually it is "Good Afternoon" or "How are you today?"

Exploring on the way back I found the dirt road that went down to the abandoned marina. A couple of burned out boats, the shell of a concrete building and the rusted rails of a marine railway are all that remain. This area has tremendous potential as a safe harbor with nice ocean beaches within walking distance. I'm afraid it will be a very long time before that potential is realized.

The reason we are here is to hide out from a predicted cold front. We went to bed expecting the winds to pick up after midnight. There was lightning in the distance as we turned in at 2100 and it had rained enough that the decks were clean, so I opened the deck fitting for fresh water and put out the rolled up cloth that acts as a little dam to divert water into the tanks.

Waking up to listen to the weather at 0630 we were thrilled to have completely full water tanks. We were less thrilled to have a completely full dinghy. Water was over the bow compartment so we emptied everything out of there. In doing so, the radio slipped out of the dinghy bag and headed for the bottom in twenty feet of jelly fish filled green water. Since it isn't that waterproof we left it as an offering to the jellies in Hatchet Bay. I don't know how much rain we had, but it must have been more
than six inches. The wind hit a little later than predicted and for a relatively short period of time with a few gusts in the low 30's. It should all be south of us by tomorrow morning.

Noah surprised us after school today by saying he would like to go to Maine on the boat next summer. "Six months on the boat would be better than a year. I liked most of the places on the way up." This is the first time he has expressed any interest in continuing cruising.

Governor's Harbour

2007-04-11T16:48:00.000-05:00

Sunday dawned with calm winds and we pulled the anchor at 0830 leaving 23 boats behind in the harbor. By 0857 we rounded Sound Point and dodged occasional coral heads for the next hour. At 1055 we had a fish on the handline and slowed to make it easier to bring in. Guess that was a mistake because we retrieved the line with no fish and no lure. Noah finished "The True Story of Okee the Otter" underway and now wants a pet otter. Judging by how hard he laughed while reading it, we can recommend the book to any nine year old.

By 1237 we were anchored in 15 feet of water just off the beach in Governor's Harbour. After eating lunch we dropped the dinghy and checked the anchor. It was firmly attached -- to a pipe of some sort. We scouted the pipe and it went all the way to the beach and farther out in the bay than we wanted to follow it. With Mark on Intuition(in case we were able to free the anchor and Intuition started dragging), and Beth and Noah in the dinghy, Beth tossed the dinghy anchor out to hold the dinghy over the anchor so we could see to try using the boat hook fully extended to catch the forward crossbar on the anchor. We were able to anchor the dinghy right over the anchor, by catching the same pipe as the main anchor. The boat hook was a few feet too short to reach the anchor, so Noah suggested we put the outboard tiller extension on it to make it reach. Well, it did reach, but with Noah looking thru the window and telling Beth right, left, forward or back, it was no wonder that that too caught on the pipe and when Beth pulled, the tiller extension came up, but the boat hook slowly filled with water and ended up on the bottom, with the hook under the pipe! At least all three things were all clustered together! Time to go back to Intuition and change crew out. Noah stayed aboard Intuition, and Mark was with Beth in the dinghy. Beth was the diver this time and was able to get the boat hook on her second try. The dinghy anchor came up next, and she then tried to take the free end of the dinghy rode down thru the anchor cross bar and use that to pull up on, but she didn't explain her plan clearly to Mark, who was pulling tight on the line, instead of giving it slack to go down and up. Beth called it quits and we then tried a different plan. We freed the anchor by motoring past it and slowly reeling it in with the windlass. Guess we should have tried that first!

Reanchored, but weren't able to get the CQR to set. The chartbook warned about poor holding and we decided to take their word and head a little further out. We rounded Levi Island and were greeted by a pod of five dolphins. Taking that as a good omen, we set the hook on the first try just off Toms Rocks. A couple of fly fisherman on the beach and a kayak sliding by made for a very peaceful anchorage as we were the only boat.

This morning we took the dinghy over to Governor's Harbor and tied up at the dock by the government clinic. We can recommend this method of visiting!

We were there before anything opened, so walked over the hill to the Atlantic side. Not knowing where we were going, we stumbled onto the grounds of the old Club Med. It may be redeveloped as French Leave Resort, but will require lots of investment. The beach is beautiful with pinkish sand due to the abundance of conches in the composition of the sand.
Beth saved a small jar to bring home. Met a local travel agent and his son on the beach who had spent some time in Durham. The boys built a sand castle while we talked about the islands and home. Walking back over to town we found that the grocery store was open, but that was about it because Easter Monday is a holiday.

The seawall provided more entertainment than any store could. Thousands of minnows were visible in the clear, shallow water. They were being pursued by all manner of needlefish, jacks, barracuda and even a small Nassau Grouper.

Crossing the causeway to Cupid's Cay we found an old church and the town library, both of which were good picture subjects. The library was closed, but a vacationing German family was on the porch using the free wi-fi. This gave Noah another chance to play with kids for a few minutes.

Heading back to the dock we walked up the hill to visit the Duck Inn. Guidebooks mentioned an orchid garden and they were quite right. After being alerted by his three legged dog, the proprietor was happy to have us visit and invited us to wander the grounds. There were hundreds of orchids in hanging baskets, a cat sunning itself on a deck and great views of the harbor.

We were back at Intuition for lunch and had the anchor up by 1230. Although we could easily have spent another day around picturesque Governor's Harbour, the weather forecast is for another cold front to come through on Tuesday night and there isn't all around protection there. Six knots of wind out of 130 let us motorsail with the Jib up the coast. Although there is no charted coral, we found at least six lines of crab pots. These were the first we've seen in the Bahamas and were reminded of sailing
in the Chesapeake. We deployed the hand line with a new Clark Spoon and had a hit within five minutes. Unfortunately the fish took our new lure without even showing himself.

Hatchet Bay Pond is the harbor we chose for protection. Approaching the charted waypoint, rock cliffs jutting out into the the Sound didn't look very hospitable. Noah was assigned the lookout job and found the 90 foot break in the cliff without any problem. We issued a securitay on the radio before passing through and encountered no other traffic. Once inside we picked up a free government mooring and relaxed. Only 15 nm from last night's anchorage, it is nice to know that a safe haven exists on
the western side of Eleuthera.

Beth took the dinghy and visited with folks from Virginia Beach on a big Ketch named Marnie. She got the run down on the area and was assured that the moorings are safe. While we were relaxing before dinner, a Bahamas Ferry came in through the cut and headed over to the government dock. They barely fit through the opening. The did NOT announce their arrival on the VHF, or even show up on AIS. Made it seem worthwhile to make the call before traversing the cut.

We expect to be here until the weather blows through, probably sometime Wednesday or Thursday. The harbor looks like it has seen better days and still shows hurricane damage with a few boats washed up on the shore. The marina and marine railway no longer exist. Maybe we will explore Alice Town after school tomorrow.

More Rock Sound

2007-04-07T09:20:00.000-05:00

We were nestled in close to the western shore of Rock Sound, all set for the cold front yesterday and were pleasantly surprised when it didn't pack much of a punch. We didn't see more than 20 kts of wind and that was for only a few minutes in squalls. Even though the front didn't generate much wind, it did move the needle on our water tank as we received about 0.75 inches of rain. 22 boats were here for the front and it wasn't crowded at all.

It was a school and clean-up the boat morning. We relaxed, read and played games in the afternoon. Noah finished the Hardy Boys book we bought in town yesterday and worked more on his wooden boat model. The tugboat "Toad" is just about ready to launch. Did go over to give a photo of their boat to South Paws in a break between the raindrops. They had found a message in a bottle on the beach at Rose's and opened it. The bottle had been dropped into the Atlantic off New York City in April of 2003. We wonder how many times the ocean currents have pushed it to Europe and back.

The two photos above are from in town where we stopped and looked in some local gift shops. The pink building is the local accounting office.

Also had fun listening to the Cruise Ships on the Atlantic Side of the island converse. After hearing them on the radio we turned on the computer and watched the AIS images from three of them slip up the coast on their way back to Fort Lauderdale.

Today the winds filled in from the NE which is, of course, the direction we want to go. With that in mind we decided to stay for another day. George on Trumpeter recommended a deli that cooks jerk chicken and ribs every Saturday. They own an inland farm on the island and cook up fresh meat. Both were hot, spicy and tasty and we have enough for a couple more meals. The Bahamians never skimp on servings. Walked down to the festival park, but nothing was happening yet. Things seem to get going after dark here. Noah did find a dollar a penny and a semi-broken little pendant that plays Christmas tunes when pressed. Real treasures for a nine year old!

Once again, the dinghy dock was a problem. Another boater was at the dock when we went back and said our dinghy had washed up on the beach but someone had brought it back. The bowline we had tied was still intact, so we think someone slipped it off the piling to get their dink and let ours go by mistake. At least they retrieved our dinghy. The dinghy ride back was a little wet as we had to cover the 1.75 miles across the harbor into 15 kts of wind.

Stopped on the way back and introduced ourselves to the crew of the boat anchored behind us. Turns out they are from Denver and are on a six month cruise with a similar plan to ours, possibly leaving the boat in North Carolina. They work as support staff for the US research base in the Antarctic for regular jobs. A little change of pace for them! They had caught a Mahi Mahi on the way in yesterday and shared a steak with us. We'll save it for our holiday dinner tomorrow, possibly in Governor's Harbor.

We bailed 8 gallons of fresh water out of the dinghy this morning before taking off. Beth used it to wash clothes this afternoon, so we have a clean boat, a full pantry and clean clothes.

Received good news while checking email this afternoon. Bud & Dawn have a slip at NW Creek for us in New Bern. We will be able to keep the boat in the same spot where Beth's sister Judy just purchased a house.

We wish everyone a peaceful Easter and Passover holiday.

Rock Sound

2007-04-06T08:50:00.000-05:00

Our first full day in Eleuthera we explored Rock Sound. Landing at the dinghy dock by Dingle Motors, we introduced ourselves to Chris Dingle who briefed us on the area. He's a friendly chap that runs a hardware/convenience store/gas station and takes delivery of DHL packages for cruisers. The town is famous for a Blue Hole, so we walked to Blue Hole park where we viewed the large hole of unknown depth. There were lots of fish and the hole is tidal, so it must be connected to the ocean somewhere.

From there we found the local bakery and stocked up on wheat bread. Back at Dingle Motors we called Rose at the Nort' Side Resort for a visit to the Atlantic side of the Island. Rose, the owner, came and picked us up, saving us the 4 mile walk, up hill.

Noah managed to find some kids to play with and we had a nice meal with 9 other cruisers. The beach was beautiful, but we were not the first set of footprints and someone beat Beth to the sea beans. Rose gave us a ride back to town and asked if we wanted to see Tarpum Bay since she had to go there to pick up fish. She gave us the tour and the run down on the local area while stopping at little shops to buy onions, cheese and cabbage. She knew which shops had the best prices so we picked up some supplies as well.

The dock at Tarpum Bay was full of activity, but the big groupers being cleaned were all spoken for. Rose said that a grouper usually goes for about $95. We learned that Parliament was dissolved yesterday. That means elections will be held within 30 days and we can expect lots of speeches.

Getting back to the dinghy dock we found the dink standing up with the motor skeg and bow the only things in the water. We'll remember that Dingle's Dock is for high tide only. Found rocks in the dinghy and after talking with other cruiser's found that local kids toss them from the dock into dinghies. We won't be leaving our dink unattended for long here.

There is a homecoming festival here for Easter weekend and it began Wednesday night. We were anchored just off the park where the festival is being held. Music started at sunset and went on until midnight. The bass notes were vibrating the boat!

Thursday was a serious provisioning day. Learned that a better dinghy dock is a little further north at a (currently closed) restaurant marked by an obvious tiki hut bar. It is close to "The Marketplace," a modern and very well stocked grocery- they even had Hebrew National Kosher Salami- we can't find that in most groceries in the states, unless there is a large Jewish population in the area! Took the cart, two boat bags, two back packs and the insulated bag. Returned with them all full. We then
moved across the harbor for west wind protection for tomorrow's expected front AND to have a quieter night. We will then have to decide if we want to stay for Monday's front, or move to Hatchet Bay for that one. We can see the bottom in 7 ft of water, but that is about the limit of visibility. Checked on the anchor and it is buried so deep that we can only see chain.

Did haircuts on the swim ladder in calm conditions so not much hair made it back into the cockpit. It had been too long since we'd cut Noah's hair and he was having trouble keeping his mask sealed because of his long bangs. We managed to get all the provisions stowed in time for dinner. Enjoyed a pretty sunset and watched some locals fishing with a net. What appeared to be a young boy, jumped in the water to set the net into a big circle. Once the circle closed the older men pulled the net in and
extracted what might have been mullet.

It is Friday morning and the wind is just starting to pick-up and we're getting a light rain with overcast skies. The anchorage went from 6 boats yesterday morning to 19 this morning with at least two more boats on the way in. We're one of the smallest boats here and have anchored in the northwest corner of the bay.

We hope everyone has a good Passover and Easter Weekend.

Crossing the Sound

2007-04-04T08:31:00.000-05:00

Cambridge Cay was a wonderful place to spend time. Now that we have been there, we would go back for a frontal passage instead of going between Little Major and Big Major. There is less current and mooring balls along with good holding if the balls are all taken.

We didn't need protection from a front while on this visit. The winds calmed to less than 20 kts and the Island protected us from the East wind. Judy at Exuma Park told us about the "Sea Aquarium" so we set out on Monday to find it and a sunken airplane. Two dinghy mooring floats and a park sign made it easy to find the spot. Slipping over the side we were surrounded by Sargent Majors looking for a handout. There were hundreds of fish - easily the most variety we've seen on the trip. We spent over
an hour in the water taking lots of photos and adding new species to our checklist.

Noah made friends with a family visiting their parents on s/v Movin' On. He and the kids visited in the dinghies after snorkeling. Noah towed the youngest around in a clear bottomed kayak, so got his swimming practice in. We found the sunken plane on the way back to the mooring field, but didn't dive on it. It was upside down and didn't have many fish around it. Not as interesting as the plane at Norman's Cay.

Back at Cambridge we took hot solar showers then Beth made Bar Cheese to take to a pot luck. Mailbox Cay was the spot where we all gathered. Really just a sandbar with a park sign and a mailbox where you can leave your mooring fee. Eight boat crews participated and the kids had a great time running around the Cay. They can't get into too much trouble on a sandbar!

We talked with John and Jan on Stella Maris by VHF and decided to cross Exuma Sound together in the morning unless the weather forecast changed dramatically. We were torn between staying longer at this beautiful spot or being able to sail across the sound. The winds are predicted to go light and variable soon, so if we wait then we'd be motoring across.

This morning dawned grey with winds in the mid-teens. Couldn't hear Chris Parker on the SSB until 0650 (he starts at 0630 as does our "official" cruising day) because the propagation has been poor until after sunrise. Anyway, we talked with him directly and he called for 110 at 15 kts with 3 ft seas, so we finished preparations and dropped the mooring pennant at 0825.

Bell Cut was fine passing through at 0840 about an hour before high tide. Rain started shortly after the water became deep enough that our depth sounder couldn't see the bottom any longer. We put up all three sails and ran the engine to help punch through the five foot seas. By 0953 the wind had picked up enough to turn off the motor and enjoy one of the best sails of the year while waving goodbye to the beautiful Exumas. Stella Maris left from ten miles further north and wasn't able to sail due
to the wind angle.

The rain stopped and the winds picked up by 1100 so we put the first reef in the main. At 1220 we were heeled at 50 degrees so rolled the 130 Jib back to 100% making the ride more comfortable and increasing our speed from 7.0 to 7.6 kts. Noah sighted land about ten miles out from Powell Point. The closer to Eluethera the more settled the seas became and at 1316 we recorded 8.6 kts for a couple of seconds on the face of a wave.

By the time we reached Point Powell, seven other boats were heading in the same direction. Timed it perfectly (unplanned) so that we arrived at the same time as Stella Maris. It was a little disconcerting that the water depth sounder went from infinity right to 18 feet. Other boats reported the same phenomenon, so there must be a fairly sharp wall as the sound meets the island. We doused sail and turned to motor towards Rock Sound in line with the other boats. Only had to alter course two times from
the course line in the Explorer chart book to avoid small coral heads.

Approaching Rock Sound, the first thing that stood out was motion on the shore. There are roads on this island with trucks and school busses. It has been a while since we've seen anything larger than a golf cart. At 1610 we dropped the hook in seven feet of water just off the church in Rock Sound, Eluethera after traveling 46.9 nm through water over 3000 feet deep.

The Stella Maris crew went ashore to explore while we elected to clean up and eat dinner aboard. They are on a schedule and will probably leave in the morning. We plan to explore Rock Sound and do some serious grocery shopping. Don't know how long we'll stay until we find out more about the area.

Compass to Cambridge Cay

2007-04-02T08:13:00.000-05:00

Greetings from Cambridge Cay, Exumas

Yesterday we arose to wave good bye to friends on Mustang Sally. It was interesting to watch the large yacht maneuver out of the small basin. They did so in a very professional manner staying as far as possible from other boats while managing to turn 180 degrees.

We shared weather information with new friends on m/v Exodus while watching another big yacht come into the slip next to them. After topping up our water tanks, it was our turn to leave. Rather than backing out of our slip we turned the boat around with lines and headed out past the big yachts in a direction where we have good control. No bow thrusters on our little sailboat!

Motoring out past Mustang Sally (now anchored) we waved as Richard & his family boarded a seaplane to fly home. Winding our way through the shallow sand banks we managed to stay off the bottom on the way out. Our first destination of the day was Bell Island where we rendezvoused with Stella Maris, a Whitby 42 out of Oriental, NC. We'd heard them on the radio and planned to meet up where they were anchored. Although we've boated in the same area of NC for years, the families had never met. They have
two kids, so Noah was very happy to meet them. Unfortunately, Robbie had a bad ear ache, so they headed down to Staniel to visit the clinic. John and I sounded the narrow passage off Bell Island at low tide and found 7 feet of water. Stella Maris may catch up with us again in a few days as they are planning to go in the same direction on a similar time table as Intuition.

We pulled up the hook at 1618 and wound our way past the tip of Bell Island into relatively deep water. (Earl - we kept a plot of this little pass for your future use!) On a rising tide we went almost all the way out the cut before rounding the corner into Cambridge Cay where we picked up a park mooring ball at 1705. We had traveled 12 miles to get only 2.9 miles from Compass Cay as the crow flies. We were greeted on the radio by Adagio who promised to come over in the morning to give us the highlights
of this, the southernmost anchorage in Exuma Land and Sea Park. After grilling hamburgers we found that our one tomato was sprouting on the inside. We cut it up and threw the chunks overboard where what looked like small 12-18" yellow fin tuna attacked them with gusto.
Winds are subsiding and have been under twenty most of today. We are in the company of six other boats here at Cambridge Cay.

Compass Cay

2007-04-01T05:29:00.000-05:00

After enjoying our time at Exuma Land & Sea Park we headed out on Thursday to get fresh water and find some new scenery. Only 13.8 nm south lay the small marina at Compass Cay on a beautiful private island. Several folks had recommended it, so that became our destination. They have good wi-fi here, so today's log has lots of photos.

Upon arriving, Noah met two families visiting from Chicago and struck up an immediate friendship. While Beth headed to the laundry room, we headed to the beach with three other kids.

Even on the East side of the island, the reefs kept the waves from the sound from pounding the beach.

Tucker Rolle, the proprieter here, feeds the local nurse sharks and they hang around the piers. Since they are well fed (we hope), it is a good opportunity to get up close to these amazing creatures.

Noah was hesitant at first (smart kid!) but did come into the water and came to enjoy being able to see the sharks up close. He even let go of dad and swam on his own for about 15 minutes. There are also huge remoras, jacks, a Nassau Grouper and lots of bone fish that came through looking for a free meal.

On Friday a boat docked next to us with a family from Sweden who had a nine year old boy aboard. John and Noah hit it off immediately and we took them on a walk to find the "Bat" cave. We had interesting views of the cliffs and sound, but never did find the infamous cave.

Went swimming under the boat later to make sure the prop and rudder were okay since we bumped a sand bank coming in here. Actually saw more fish under the boat than anywhere else on the trip. There are coral heads under the dock and no fishing is allowed in the marina. This and the fact that most guests feed the fish let the marine life really thrive.

Noah and John met up with yet another nine year old, Richard on Mustang Sally. Turns out Richard had four siblings and it turned into a kids day with r/c boats, swimming to a tiny island and playing with water toys. It helped that Richard is on a big yacht with a crew that was enthusiatstically spraying the kids with water hoses. Noah was invited for dinner and played in the hot tub and watched a movie, coming home way after cruiser's midnight.

Since Noah was having such a good time, we decided to extend our stay through Saturday night. The kids played hard all afternoon. Beth and I were able to go off and explore Rachel's "Bubble Bath" a rock formation at the north end of the island. Here the waves break over rocks on the sound side sending foam and bubbles into a shallow rock pool making a natural bubble bath.

Can't say enough about what a beautiful island this is and how much fun Noah has had with his new friends. He didn't get home until after 1000 last night and it wouldn't surprise me if he tries to stow away on Mustang Sally today. They are leaving to go home to Denver and we are going to explore the southern end of Exuma Park.

You can see more of the island at www.compasscay.com

Land & Sea Park

2007-03-27T18:23:00.000-05:00

The wind continues to blow around 25 knots and we continue to stay on "our" mooring at Exuma Land & Sea Park.

We were going a little stir crazy on Sunday, so went snorkeling around Emerald Rock. Only had a few waves surprise me by flooding the snorkel. Got a couple of good pictures of Nassau Groupers living without fear in the park. Beth elected to stay in the dinghy and watch through the floor. She ended up getting wetter and colder than I did because of the splash from the wind and waves.

Did end up taking the crew of Sun21 to shore today. They are a very interesting trio of guys working to spread the message of solar energy. The boat has two electric motors either of which would easily fit into our engine compartment. They fired them up so we could hear them and they were virtually silent. Just need to find room for the 1.5 tons of batteries and lots more solar panels. They are documenting the voyage and shared some of the photos and video. It was fun to chat with another Mac computer
user using Final Cut Pro and iPhoto. His narration reminds me of old Jacques Cousteau films. They also have a musical bent and carry violins aboard. I can picture these three Swiss gentlemen sitting on the deck on a calm day in the mid-atlantic sipping wine and playing a violin trio.

While I was visiting with the crew of Sun21, Beth and Noah had visitors as well. Intuition was surrounded by small minnows which brought lots of larger fish in a feeding frenzy. Fish were bumping up against the side of the boat while Beth went for the video camera. This is the most fish we've seen in any spot. Seems like the protection of the park is doing some good.

Monday we decided it was time to give a little back to the park, so we signed up as volunteers. Andrew assigned us to update the park map by walking the trails and recording the time between landmarks. That and pick-up trash on our way back. We left park HQ at 0930 and walked along the eastern side of Warderick Wells Island. Now the wind was blowing 25 kts and the waves from Exuma Sound were pounding up against the cliffs creating lots of spray. This made for a wild, wet and windy walk. Noah counted 13 lizards of three varieties as we walked along. The views were awesome and we were the only people along the trail on the way south. Beth spotted some White Tailed Tropic Birds while taking a detour, but they were gone by the time Noah and I caught up.

Trails are marked by small piles of rocks called cairns, so they blend in with the natural limestone of the area. Noah was good at picking out the next cairn and showing us the way. We ran across one beautiful spot where a natural rock bridge had surf surging underneath and breaking over the top. Of course we didn't bring the camera as we had expected to be sanding a boat or mending mooring lines. After timing the trails on the way down, we broke out the big leaf bag and started picking up plastic washed up on the beaches between the cliffs. I never thought plastic could be so heavy! It was 1430 by the time we returned to park HQ. The trash bag was left about half a mile back near a beach where we could retrieve it by dinghy.

The ride back to the boat was into the wind and all three of us were drenched. After showering off with fresh water Beth made bread and Molasses Gingersnap Cookies to warm us up -- yum. Met a couple from Albany, NY moored on a boat behind us and gave them photos of their boat with a rainbow in the background. It is an old Chris Craft 37 in beautiful condition. It was news to me that Chris Craft had ever made sailboats.

None of us had any trouble getting to sleep. Noah didn't even complain when we said it was time for lights out at 2100.

Today we were up at 0630 to catch Chris Parker's weather forecast and it sounds like Thursday might be a possibility for crossing to Eluthera with winds down to 17 kts and the seas settling down to under 8 feet. Will listen again in the morning and see if we want to move to a marina and get water and do laundry in preparation for moving on.

After breakfast we headed back to HQ to continue where we left off yesterday. We were a little better prepared today and brought the handheld GPS and the little camera. Walked five trails on the lee side of the island and had a much more relaxing day. Noah found more lizards, a couple of hermit crabs and a brown snake. He enjoyed visiting the "Pirates Lair" where pirate ships once waited to ambush sailors. I did one trail alone and surprised a pair of Hutia (rodents similar in size to muskrats) that promptly scurried into a hole in the limestone. By 1500 we reported back to Andrew with the new trail times. After two visits to the park, we have now walked all eighteen trails and even timed a trail that wasn't on the map.

Relaxing in the cockpit before dinner we noticed a trio of small sails coming toward us. Kayaks materialized with small lanteen sails pushing them up in the lee of the island. We'd heard that there were some kayakers traveling from Georgetown up through the Exumas chain. Made us feel like weather wimps as these tiny craft glided past and disappeared to our North.

Solar Powered Sun21

2007-03-25T09:14:00.000-05:00

The wind is still blowing in the mid-twenties out of the NE so we remain at a mooring in Warderick Wells. If we hadn't been "stuck" here, we might not have met the interesting crew of Sun 21. From Basel, Switzerland this boat has crossed the Atlantic using nothing but solar power and electric engines. They pulled up to the mooring next to us and we offered them a ride ashore. Dr. Vosseler showed Noah and I around the 21 ft catamaran topped by a flat roof covered with solar panels. They have a website at www.transatlantic21.ch if you want more information about their adventure.

The ranger came out with a bigger boat to ferry the crew ashore, so they didn't need our help after all. We met them again at park HQ where they took some photos of Noah feeding the Bananaquits. Noah picked a couple of DVD's from the park office and enjoyed "Undercover Kitty" and "National Treasure" while we had plenty of electricity from the wind generator. I guess we let Noah watch too much TV yesterday because he is having a hard time concentrating on school this morning. Forty-two lessons remain
in the Calvert Curriculum.

There was a potluck and bonfire on the beach at the North mooring field at 1730. We made curry and raisen baked beans to share. We elected not to attend at the last minute since the wind was over 25 and we didn't want to get soaked going the 0.8 miles in the dinghy.

After a squall at sunrise today, there was a beautiful rainbow. Noah has been reading weather books for the last few days and went out to check if he could see a secondary rainbow above the first. No double rainbow, but the boat behind us from Albany, NY will have a nice photo of their vessel framed in a rainbow.

Word on the radio nets is that White Tailed Tropic Birds are returning to the Exumas with one of the first sightings yesterday in the Brigantine Cays. We'll keep a lookout for them as there is a nesting area here on Warderick Wells.

Windy Warderick Wells

2007-03-24T09:23:00.000-05:00

The wind continues to blow at 20+ knots out of the E/NE so we haven't made the crossing to Eleuthera. We did get enough rain to add a day to our fresh water supply. The forecast is for winds to continue through at least Wednesday, so we're not sure when we will cross Exuma Sound.

Visited with the crew of Tembo on a Beneteau 44 center cockpit from Ontario. It is the same model boat that we chartered in the BVI's with Jim & Barb Thompson, but it much better condition. They are finishing a three year cruise and have the boat up for sale. Turns out that they traveled with Sea Loon (friends from Oriental, NC) for a couple of month's in the Carribbean. For those of you that know the Looneys, they are headed for Texas where they are buying a house.

We've explored almost all of the trails on Warderick Wells this week. There are great views of the waves crashing over the rocks from the Exuma Sound side. Curly Tailed Lizards and Bananaquits are the kid's favorite fauna.

The crew of Iceni came over Thursday evening for dessert and a game of Quiddler. They relayed a story about a boat heading for Georgetown. A couple on the beach was talking about following another sailboat because they were not familiar with the route. They mentioned that the boat must have known what they were doing because they did that zig-zag thing. The sailboat doing the following didn't have it sails up! Iceni is headed to Nassau and we hope to meet up with them again in the Abacos.

Yesterday was test day for Noah at lesson 120 of 160. He did great on science, writing and reading, but is reviewing math, history, and spelling today. After school we went over to the North mooring field to do a drift snorkel at slack tide, but were a little late so the current had picked up. Stayed in the dinghy and watched through the window instead of getting in the water. By the way, the water is noticeably cooler now than it was in January. We also floated over mooring number 9 where a fishing
boat burned and sank several years ago. Noah spotted a grouper and a nurse shark living under the lip of the hull. The fire is said to have started while the owners were having dinner on another boat. A generator was left running that caused the fire.

Since the wind isn't letting up in the near future, we may head South for a change of scenery. Would like to get into Cambridge Cay where there should be good snorkeling. If it is too rough to make it through that entrance we may go to Compass Cay. Either one of those spots will give us a better angle to sail to Eleuthera.

Noah's Birthday Aboard

2007-03-22T08:55:00.000-05:00

Noah started his ninth year with a variety pack of cereals and a mug of hot chocolate on Tuesday. He and Beth worked on party favors while I zoomed up to the park office in the dinghy to find out if there were other kid boats in the area. Was able to round up four other kids in addition to Hannah and Frazier from Iceni, so we had a boatload for the celebration. Lots of wind with off and on rain showers made for an indoor party. They played pin the tail on the donkey with a magnetic dart on Noah's hand drawn donkey. After cake, they all watched a movie as the wind generator was able to provide plenty of power. Noah said that was one of the best birthday parties ever.

In the evening, a large trimaran started drifting off their mooring over towards the coral heads around Emerald Rock. They called for help and the Park Ranger zoomed out and took them in tow. It turns out that the owners were ashore and guests on the boat had adjusted the mooring line without tying it off properly. The mooring line slipped off the boat and it drifted out towards the banks. No damage to the boat or the coral, so a happy ending to the story.

Forgot to mention one fun experience a couple of days ago. Changed the prop shaft zinc back in between the Majors. Although the bottom appeared to be a barren sand flat, an Atlantic Stingray swam over and was eating something on the bottom beside the boat as I worked. After finishing up the job I snorkeled out to check the anchor and noticed a couple of small blue crabs and a flounder making themselves at home on the chain. Noah, who had been visiting the kids from Iceni, came back and jumped in the water to retrieve several sand dollars. Guess there is plenty of life on the sand flat after all.

Yesterday morning we investigated the intermittent behavior of the Nexus instruments. Performing the recommended voltage tests, it seems the combination knotlog and temperature sensor died. The good news is we hooked up the GPS to the Nexus server again and now have Speed Over Ground(we think, as we can't tell until we get moving again!).

After school and lunch we went to shore at the park headquarters and meet the Iceni crew. The kids fed the Bananaquits and checked out the whale skeleton, although they really enjoyed the yellow water tricycle. We all hiked up to Boo Boo Hill to watch the waves beating against the Eastern side of the island. Even though it was low tide, the waves were creating lots of spray as we walked along the cliffs. Beautiful views of both the sound and banks from here. We could see the Grande Mariner, a 200 foot cruise ship anchoring behind us over by Emerald Rock. I'm glad we explored ashore today, since tomorrow may have a few more visitors. The kids played together back on the sheltered "Powerful" Beach until we decided they had enough sun for the day.

We picked up the kids directly out of the water in the dinghies in order to minimize the sand brought home from the beach. Iceni traded their kids for our Hookah so they could clean the bottom of their boat. The kids made a cafe in the cabin, while Beth gave me a
haircut as I hung on the stern ladder to keep the cockpit from getting furry.

It was a beautiful sunset among building clouds last night. As Venus and the Moon appeared, I opened up the water tank fill as it looked like we might get some rain. At 0100 Beth and I woke up as the wind was howling and the rain started filling our tanks. Squalls for the next hour or so brought gusts to 38 knots. It was nice to be in a mooring field as there were no panicked calls of anchor dragging on the VHF. Guess we had it mild as Lee on Windstar IV reported gusts of 60 in Georgetown overnight on the morning BASRA weather net.

Beth finished her Kumihimo project. She wove a fairly complex retaining strap for her sunglasses, putting the final touches on the seizing this morning.
We are not getting email on a timely basis. Seems to be a delay in the Winlink system. The 0800 weather email from yesterday came in shortly after midnight today. Received a notice from the developers saying that the 3rd party spam filter kicked almost all internet email for the last few days, so they have dropped the service. If you sent us any emails recently, please send them again.

We've Had Better Days

2007-03-20T08:17:00.000-05:00

The island of Big Majors Spot proved to be a good windbreak. We rode out the gusty west winds from the cold front without any problem. Lightning lit up the sky at 0230 and voices on the radio were a little excited when a large powerboat named "Pirate" dragged anchor a few boat lengths to our north. They fired up their engines and reanchored without incident. Winds gusted to 30 kts and a couple of boats grounded in the sand, but no one suffered any damage and the boats floated off during the next
high tide.

Noah decided that he would like to celebrate his birthday with the kids from Iceni, so we headed north on Sunday so they could make progress towards their visa appointment in Nassau. The winds are predicted to be NE 20-25 through the end of the week and we plan to go to Warderick Wells where we will be able to go ashore and explore the Island instead of being boat bound. Too many of the islands between here and there are private and don't let people come ashore.

Pulling anchor we headed to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club to top off our fuel and fill the water tanks. There is a rock named the "Crown of Thorns" between the cut and banks here that is barely visible at high water. A sailboat spent most of yesterday freeing themselves from the rock, so check your charts and look for the stake marking the rock when transiting this area. The current was running three knots near high water when we passed the "Crown" and headed for the SCYC fuel dock. It is easy to see
how boats could be driven off course through there.

Approaching the SCYC fuel dock, the wind and waves were blowing towards the dock, making us a bit nervous. The current that slowed us down coming through the cut, helped us here by offsetting the wind and letting us sit just off the dock as if we knew what we were doing. While Noah helped with fueling and taking on water, Beth turned on the wi-fi and updated our .mac email. I looked for the Neuse Sailing Association burgee that we had seen in the restaurant to take a photo for the NSA newsletter,
but it was no longer there. Guess we need another member to sail down and replace it.

At 1030 we headed out onto the banks flying the jib and running the motor enough to give us a little boost and charge the batteries. Running west of the plotted line allowed us to sail at 6.6 kts watching for starfish through the clear, shallow waters.

My problems with gravity continue. It appears that I've lost a little too much weight as my wedding ring slipped off my skinny finger while pinning Noah's wet shorts to the life line. After bouncing once on the deck it became part of the treasure of the Bahamas. Although the water was clear, we were moving a little too fast to make stopping for a search worthwhile.

By 1335 we gave up on sailing and motored into the wind towards the Malabar Cays. After catching up with Iceni we picked up a mooring ball at Emerald Rock in the Exuma Land and Sea Park. Looking forward to a calm and relaxing night we encountered a problem no boater wants to find. The head was clogged. We pumped and prodded and decided to let things soak overnight.

Monday morning brought no improvement in the head situation, so another project was undertaken. We'll spare you the details, but we worked from 0900 to 1836. The bolts holding the unit to the boat were rusted and we ended up fabricating a new base for the "throne" out of starboard. Even though the water was cold, Beth and I truly enjoyed showers last night.

After Noah finished school, he went off exploring Warderick Wells with the crew from Iceni. This saved him from having to wear a clothespin on his nose. Tomorrow brings the big Ninth birthday party. With the head working we can host a party!

Between the Majors- Again

2007-03-16T16:41:00.001-05:00

Greetings from Between the Majors,

With the winds, we decided to stay at Lee Stocking through Wednesday night. After calling the Caribbean Marine Research Center on the radio without a response, we took the dinghy over to their dock to see about a tour. Unfortunately we learned that the center didn't get funded (they were part of NOAA) in 2006, so only have a couple of staff their trying to keep the facility repaired in case they can find a new source of funding or congress allocates funds in 2007. More info can be found at www.PerryInstitute.org.
Although boaters are still welcome to use the free moorings, the owners of the island are not allowing visitors now that the center isn't functioning.

Of the five cruising boats at Lee Stocking, three had kids. Although it was too rough to do much exploring in the dinghy, the kids took turns going from boat to boat and had a good time. The crew of Iceni hails from Great Britain and has been across the Atlantic in their 40 foot Warrior. They are headed to the US next and have to go to Nassau to be interviewed for Visas. I took & printed "head" shots of them all so they wouldn't have to find a place to have passport style photos made. The US govt
specifies a white background, so we utilized the head on Iceni as the walls had the appropriate coloring.

By Thursday morning, the winds were down to 18 kts so the crews of Intuition, Iceni, and Emotional Rescue (a Westsail 32) all decided to make a go of Exuma Sound. In order to go north we needed to go out into the sound since the inside route is a little too shallow.
We led the way as we had been through this cut before. Going out Adderly Cut into eight foot waves was bouncy, but not as bad as coming out of Emerald Bay earlier in the week. Once the depths dropped off over two hundred feet, the waves were much further apart, and with a wind from the stern quarter, we were sailing at about six knots.

After 12 miles in Exuma Sound, we entered Galliot Cut at slack water and slid into the lee of the islands. Letting out the 130 Jib, we were running close to 7 kts on smooth seas in 18 kts of wind. The clear water was only 8-12 feet deep, so we could see the bottom streaking by during one of our best sails ever. All good things must end, so we set out to roll up the Jib as we approached Black Point. Arghhh - a riding turn on the furling drum. This meant that we couldn't roll up the sail. We continued
on using the autopilot remote to steer as Beth and I took the sail down onto the foredeck.

We headed in to Black Point and dropped the hook in a great spot. Checking with Iceni and Emotional Rescue, we found they hadn't escaped problems either. Iceni ripped their mainsail coming out the cut. This explains why we were able to sail faster than a larger boat. Emotional Rescue's staysail boom cracked as it swung and hit their anchor in one of the bigger waves on the sound. Nobody was hurt and repairs are underway.

We needed to get rid of garbage, so I volunteered to go into town with Noah and take care of it. We picked up eleven year old Elias from Emotional Rescue, along with their trash and headed in. Boneheaded me had my wallet in my shorts pocket and I felt it slip out overboard. I'd brought it to give the boys a treat at Lorraine's Cafe, but failed to secure it in the dinghy locker. Quickly turning the dinghy around, I grabbed the still floating wallet and breathed a sigh of relief until we noticed plastic
cards reflecting the setting sun as they settled down towards the bottom. We criss-crossed the area all looking down through the window in the bottom of the dink, but didn't see the credit cards. Noah had the good idea to drop a buoy on the spot attached to the dinghy anchor.

I called Beth on the radio and she got the mask and fins ready. I picked her up and dropped the boys at Emotional Rescue. Running as close to the same course as we could remember, we actually saw credit cards through the look down window. I jumped in and recovered my drivers license and a couple of other cards. By this time the sun had just disappeared beyond the horizon. Now I was just looking for an American Express card. Found an old metal plate, a frying pan and, believe it or not, the AMEX Green
credit card. With much relief, we motored over to the town dock and disposed of our trash, completing the original mission. Changed into warm, dry clothes and enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate back on the boat.

Another cold front is predicted to pass through on Saturday with winds clocking around through the west. As much as we wanted to stay in Black Point, there is no protection from west winds in that harbor. Today we raised the anchor and motored up past Staniel Cay to anchor in between Big and Little Majors Spot islands. Iceni joined us while Emotional Rescue elected to ride out the front in Black Point.

After an uneventful trip up, we anchored near a Nonsuch 36 who turned out to be owned by Jeff and Nancy Letts out of Punta Gorda, FL whom we had corresponded with back in the nineties when we were enjoying our Nonsuch 26.

After lunch the crew from Iceni joined us for a dinghy ride over to Thunderball Cave. It was their first visit, so it was fun to show them the area. Noah and Hannah were exploring all the nooks and crannies, finding a grotto where three big (15-24") puffer fish and a Nassau Grouper lived. We were there a bit after low tide, so the current was running stronger than on our first visit. The kids did a real good job keeping up with it. That should have burned off a little energy.

We should be here until Sunday morning and will then decide where to go for Noah's birthday on Tuesday. Winds are predicted to be 25-30 out of the NE for most of next week, so we will probably go back to Black Point where there are things to do ashore.

My right shoulder has been aching since Palm Beach. The shoulder gets better and then I pull a little too hard on something and it gets bad again. Beth has been taking on more and more of the heavy lifting. Wanted to acknowledge what a great job she has been doing.

Leaving Emerald Bay- Really

2007-03-11T15:15:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning was the first weather window this week, so all the captains were up early discussing the situation. Gathering at the front of the marina where we had a good view of the waves, we all tried to talk each other into being the first out so we could watch the motion. Grace took the initiative and headed out into 8 foot breakers and turned south to Georgetown. We will miss this crew from Portland, ME and wish them well.

We buttoned up the boat and were just about set to go. Noah slept for 11 hours Friday night, so something was amiss. He complained of a sore throat and his temperature was 100. A good day to stay in port. Noah rested while Beth & I took turns charging the computers and getting our internet fix. The old web site finally did a complete update and is running again, though we will use the newer

http://svIntuition.blogspot.com/
site for current and future posts as that works with our ham radio connection.

Wayne & Jill on Born to Cruise came back to Emerald Bay to drop off their kids at the airport. Jill gave Beth a sample of Yogurt and the recipe, so we might have fresh yogurt growing soon. They also loaned Noah "The Sound of Music" which he watched for the first time and enjoyed so much that he asked if we could buy it. It really is a great movie.

Delivering the movie back to BTC, I ran into Bruce from Jet Stream who was trying to get the marina staff to notice a fire that had started under the main deck. They did finally get a fire extinguisher and put it out, but it was frightening how close it came to being a full blaze. Another forty feet and it would have been under the restaurant kitchen where there are propane lines.

This morning we woke up later than usual due to the early spring time change. Noah's temperature was back to normal and he felt fine. After a couple of cups of coffee and hot showers we decided to cast off the dock lines. We really enjoyed our "vacation from cruising" at Emerald Bay and highly recommend the marina, especially while the price is at 75 cents/foot.

At 1000 we were motoring out the channel into 8 foot breaking seas. We thought to put up the main and staysail in the marina to add some stability, but there were 2 boats that had just come in and were in the way, so we went without them up. We were tossed around considerably. As soon as we got out a bit, we raised the main, which flogged as we were dead into the wind and we lost a batten overboard in conditions that were NOT conducive to recovery. Getting out into water over 200 feet, the seas settled
down to six feet, but were confused as the wind was from the NE and the swell was from due E with a little remaining from yesterday's North wind added in. We averaged 7 kts and made it to Rat Cay cut in less than two hours. Passed Jules (IP40) and Grateful Attitudes (Catamaran from NW Creek) as they were both headed south. Interesting to watch the boat cabins disappear as they sank into the troughs.

We timed the cut to just before high tide, so the current and wind were working together to take us smoothly through. It was our first time through this cut which proved to be narrow, but deep with good visibility. Once inside behind Rat Cay, the seas smoothed out and it became very pleasant. We wound our way between Rat and Pigeon Cays to find the pretty island of Children's Bay Cay, once owned by Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn.

Shortly after noon, Noah made us sandwiches so Beth and I could pay attention to the water depths. We followed the shoreline of Williams Cay and thought about anchoring with two other boats in Williams Bay. From there, Beth could see the moorings at Lee Stocking were all empty, so we elected to continue on and use the CMRC moorings again.

Winds are projected to pick up this afternoon and blow 20-25 through Thursday so we may be here for a few days. There is a shallow water route on the inside from here, but we probably won't fit through except at high tide. Born to Cruise is going through this afternoon with their four foot draft, so we await their report. If we can't get through, we will explore this area by dinghy until the wind and waves lie down a little in Exuma Sound.

Mark

Bahamian Bluegrass

2007-03-09T10:49:00.000-05:00

Hi again from Emerald Bay. The wind has continued to blow and the seas have been lumpy most of the week. We've been catching up on boat projects and restocking the pantry.

We treated ourselves to lunch at the Four Seasons. Calamari Steak was something I hadn't tried before and it was delicious. Dessert was a work of art. Billed as a brownie, the plate arrived with a spiral chocolate pipe bridging a mound or banana rum ice cream atop a raft of dark chocolate to a tepee formed of thin white chocolate. The warm brownie was hidden inside the white chocolate. Not the kind of desserts we've been making aboard Intuition!

Found the part for the head and, after another breakdown and rebuild, that is now working without leaks. Wayne & Jill on Born to Cruise rented a car and stopped at a shop where they found, of all things, a 6mm bolt. With this elusive bolt in hand, we know have zinc protecting the outboard!

We were able to help out the folks on Passport work on their zinc and autoprop. He was trying to change both with a snorkel. Offered the use of our hookah and he was able to stay under long enough to get the job done. It took close to 2 hours, so that would have been a long time to hold your breath.

With lots of help from Brenda, we are finishing up our taxes. The internet is back up and running here, so we were able to get scanned copies of the documents needed via email.

After dinner last night there was a special treat. The crew of Four Aces, Jet Stream and a couple of other boats were playing Blues and Bluegrass in the crew lounge. Two guitars and a mandolin made for a fun evening. Although they had only played together once before, they sounded professional and did a great job taking turns with the lead. The cruising community needs more live music.

We were going to leave this morning, but the predicted low formed further south than expected and the winds & waves are up again. Will stay here one more day. Confirmed that decision a few minutes ago when a Valiant across the finger pier from us attempted to leave and was blown into the bow pulpit of a power boat where the anchor caught his life lines. No real damage as a three of us managed to untangle them, but we don't need any more excitement like that. One of the marina crew leapt aboard to
help and was dropped off at the fuel dock on the way out.

Still Relaxing at Emerald Bay

2007-03-06T15:41:00.000-05:00

The wind is blowing 20-25, the skies are overcast and the temp is 79 here at Emerald Bay. It is a great place to relax while the waves pound the breakwater. We watched a 100+ foot megayacht go out yesterday and the waves were breaking up over their bow. We are still enjoying the facilities here and catching up on boat projects.

Took the head pump apart yesterday only to find that the gasket we needed wasn't in the rebuild kit, so just cleaned, lubricated, and reassembled the pump. At least the leak is on the fresh water side!

The water in the marina here is perfectly clear, so we can check out the underside of boats. Looks like the bolts I replaced on the weed shoe between the rudder and keel are all still there. This used to be a salt pond that was dredged and stabilized with concrete walls before adding a channel to Exuma Sound. There isn't much life on the bottom, but a Spotted Eagle Ray has come under the boat a couple of times.

The couple on the boat next to us came in on Friday and passed a Sperm Whale in sixty feet of water just outside the entrance channel.

Received a prompt reply to my plea for advice to the autopilot dealer back in NC. He suggested isolating the problem to the remote head by disconnecting it and using the wireless remote instead. If the problem goes away we know where it lies.

We enjoyed watching "The Davinci Code" last night. Emerald Bay has a free DVD lending library which is very nice on rainy days.

Beth's still got a little touch of cold and sore throat.

Emerald Bay

2007-03-04T21:49:00.000-05:00

We feel like we're on vacation here at Emerald Bay. The marina isn't quite finished, but it is a beautiful resort. We've had l-o-n-g hot showers for the first time in two months, enjoyed the freshwater pool and have clean laundry. Life is good!

Yesterday we motored up the 12 miles from Georgetown under nice conditions. The only trouble underway was the autopilot stopped working. Another item added to the list to troubleshoot. Disappointing after only nine months. It is an intermittent problem, probably a poor connection somewhere. We were greeted at the marina by a dockhand that took care of all our lines, even coiling them on the floating dock. We are one of the little boats here. Kahaki Blue is the biggest yacht here, rumored to be owned
by Tommy Hilfiger.

Four other boats with kids are here, so the pool was full of frolicking youngsters yesterday. There is a beautiful view of the beach and bay from the pool. Floating in cool fresh water watching the boats sail by in the sound is not a bad way to relax. We were really looking forward to a wi-fi connection here, but the entire island was without internet as something happened to a Batelco tower.

Although the laundry is free, there are only three washers. Beth really wanted to get the laundry done, so waited in line and stayed up until 1:30 getting it all clean. At least the wi-fi came back up so she caught up on email.

Today the kids came over in the morning and played on Intuition. Noah went off shopping with the crew from Snow Day and had lunch on their boat. It really is nice having other kid boats around.

In the afternoon I was getting ready to rebuild the pump on the head, but the shore side facilities went out here and we didn't want to do it without a back-up. Brett on Grace invited me to go snorkling and it didn't take but a second to abandon the head project.
We found some interesting spots with lots of Elkhorn coral. I finally speared my first fish after Brett showed me the technique. You have to really stretch the band on the pole spear to get enough velocity underwater. I wasn't using enough tension in my earlier attempts. We had fresh fish for dinner!

The wind is supposed to pick-up starting tonight. We are planning to stay here for another three or four days to catch up on some boat projects and wait for calmer conditions.

Children's Day

2007-03-02T19:13:00.000-05:00

March started with a long day of school in 15-20 kts at anchor in Elizabeth Harbor. By 1500 school was completed and it was time to go back to work on Noah's boat for the competition on Friday. He decided to go for most environmental boat so used items collected from Sand Dollar beach to build a catamaran. Bamboo for the hulls, sticks for the cross beams and palm fronds and mesh(there is a fine mesh material underneath the palm leaves where the stems are attached to the palm tree) for the sails made
up the material list. Beth was very patient and helped him learn how to secure all the parts together with cotton thread. Working until he ran out of light, the boat only needed a few sheets to hold the bottom of the sail.

Today was children's day at the cruising regatta, the main reason for being here. After a lumpy night at anchor, Noah was up shortly after dawn and immediately went out to the cockpit to finish the "Binocular." At least 150 kids converged on Volleyball Beach where they were grouped into teams after swearing a "blood" oath on a pirate's sword. The sword had been cleverly coated with red magic marker, leaving a mark on each child. Games included a scavenger hunt, bean bag toss, and an obstacle course.
After a craft project, it was time for the big event -- the model boat race.

Boats were divided into divisions based on age. There were some very interesting entries in all the categories; downwind, cross wind, environmental, and creative. Noah's boat floated okay in the downwind category but didn't move very fast, or far for that matter. He wasn't disappointed as he said all along he was going to be the best environmental boat. We tried to prepare him for being a good loser, but his name was called for first prize!

Afternoon brought boatloads of local bahamian kids for an environmental talk and to join in with the teams for afternoon activities. Everyone went home with a prize of some sort and it looked like all the kids had a great time. Plenty of water and snacks were provided to keep the kids hydrated and energized. We thought Noah had scrapped his face on something, but it was only the remnants of the pudding eating contest. The organizers and volunteers deserve special awards as they really did a fantastic
job.

As long as the wind moderates in the morning, we plan to head up to Emerald Bay to do laundry, fill up the tanks, and take a little break from anchoring.

Sail Pass

2007-02-27T07:43:00.000-05:00

Sunday brought a new opening event for Regatta Week - the Sail Pass. All the boats in the harbor, well over 300 at this point, were asked to "dress ship" with all the flags available. The anchorages brightened considerably as thousands of flags were unfurled in the 15 kt breeze. Boats were invited to submit a short script about their boat and crew and then pass the committee boat in front of Volleyball Beach. We watched for several hours as boats paraded past while "Union Jack" provided commentary
on the VHF radio. Quite a colorful way to start the week.

A radio announcement for an impromptu Island Packet owner's gathering on Sand Dollar beach led to meeting crews from seven other IP's anchored here. Sea Otter, Island Star, Intuition, Seldom Seen, and Its About Time were the names I can remember. We did get a group picture on the beach.

Speaking of boats, there are five boats anchored here in a row from NW Creek in New Bern. What are the chances of that? Jocks Lodge is followed by Scandia, Born to Cruise, Intuition and Miah. Running across the harbor we found Round About, also from NW Creek, making six boats.

Chris Parker, our sailing weather Guru, flew down from Florida to give a seminar on Monday and I, along with 250 of my closest friends, attended at the community center in Georgetown. Quite a turnout! Some good info on basic marine weather and a little bit of insight into GRIB files and how to use them.

While I was being educated, Beth and Noah finished school and then attended a model boat building seminar to prepare for the kids day boat sailing contest. We met up again on Intuition and then headed for the Atlantic side beach where twenty or so kids were playing in the surf. The waves were perfect for trying to body surf and everyone ended up covered with sand.

Home for dinner before sunset and then an evening of playing Quiddler with Jill & Wayne from Born to Cruise rounded out a very nice day. Noah watched the last of the "Back to the Future" movies and continues to draw time machines.

Beth is still trying to kick a little winter cold, but it isn't slowing her down too much. We are trying to figure out"when" and "where to" from here. We do plan to try the new Marina at Emerald Bay on our way out, as it is time to do laundry and fill up our tanks. Friends from Milano Myst described it as a "vacation from your cruise" as it is part of the Four Seasons Resort, but a true bargain at 75 cents a foot.

Back in Georgetown

2007-02-25T09:34:00.000-05:00

The anchor was up by 0730 and we were motoring, with some regret, toward Indian Head, leaving Thompson Bay behind. We really enjoyed Long Island and would like to go back some day. Rounding the point we raised the main and jib and brought out the camera. Three other boats were also leaving under sail, so we captured some good shots to share.

Northeast wind filled the sails nicely for our Westward trip. For the first time we were going with the trade winds. At 1026 we slowed to reel in a maceral on the hand line. He was a good size for eating, but we lost him overboard when transferring him into a pot that was too small. Unfortunately, this was after we had fed him some rum to knock him out. Some shark will be enjoying him for dinner rather than us. Although we put the hand line back in the water, we didn't get any other bites before
reeling it back in at Pigeon Cay where the protected - no fishing zone starts around Georgetown.

Beth made sandwiches for lunch. Shortly thereafter we furled the genoa and headed in through Hog Cay cut at slack tide with a following sea. Much more comfortable than when we left through this same cut a week ago. We reported the good news about conditions to the crew of Born to Cruise who was following about 45 minutes behind us. They had picked up a Canadian Couple that needed a ride to Georgetown to see mutual friends on Jocks Lodge, another boat from NW Creek in New Bern.

As we passed between the reefs into Elizabeth Harbour, the view was a forest of masts. I don't know how many boats have arrived in the last week, but it took us quite a while to find a spot to anchor. Thinking we had plenty of clearance, we checked with the boats around us to see what kind of scope they had out (that is the length of chain deployed compared to the water depth) and to ask them if they were comfortable with the spacing as a courtesy. The neighbors thought it was fine. It must have
been, because four more boats anchored around us before sunset.

The radio waves were alive again as the constant chatter between boats in all the anchorages reminded us where we were. Three boaters reported that their inflatable dinghies had been vandalized while at Volleyball Beach late this afternoon. All had been punctured; one had ten holes puncturing the tubes around the seams. This is the first case of vandalisim we've heard of in the Exumas. With the 15-20 kt winds and lots of chop in the harbor we had decided not to go to the beach this afternoon and
are now glad of that decision. Everyone is now tuned into the problem and we hope for no repeats.

Lots of fun events coming up this week with the start of the Georgetown Cruiser's Regatta. We plan to stay through Friday for Children's Day and then see what the weather is like for passages north.

Exploring Long Island

2007-02-24T08:34:00.000-05:00

Stanley was waiting, as promised, with the rental car as we emerged from the cruiser's trail at high noon. The Honda Civic had a broken trunk latch, courtesy of the last renters, but was otherwise in reasonable condition. Knowing it would take a couple of weeks to get a new latch, the lid now has a piece of heavy wire with which to secure it. After dropping Stan off at his house, we headed south on the Queens Highway for our first day of land touring.

The island lives up to its name being 76 miles long. Our first stop was at the oldest Anglican church on LI. It no longer had a roof, but the beams were there creating interesting shadows on the floors and walls.

Next we were off on a quest to find beaches with Sea Beans. These are seeds that have floated over from Africa or Spain. Hamburger and Heart beans are the most prized. The roads off the Queens Highway are unpaved and proved to be challenging in our slightly aged Civic. We now know why it needs new shocks.
Cresting a hill, a beautiful bay protected by reefs came into view with an intriguing Island. The island appeared to have an abandoned stone house and a large pyramid shaped stone structure. If it had been slack tide we might have been able to swim out to the island, but since it wasn't and the reefs prevented much from washing up on the beach, we moved on. The second beach we found was called Turtle Cove. Here we found all kinds of trash that had washed up from the Atlantic along with lots of Sea
Beans. Noah turned out to be a good collector after a little help from Wayne & Jill who planted a couple of beans to get him started. There was beach almost as far as we could see, and there was no one else there.

After pulling ourselves away from Turtle Cove we drove all the way to the end of Queens Highway to Gordons, at the south end of the island. Driving across a small causeway between two salt ponds we noticed a sailboat up on the beach in the distance. Walking towards the southern tip of the island we met some interesting creatures, one a long armed sea star and another the first big land crab we've seen. Found several sea biscuits and starfish in the shallow waters. Lots of clothing was washed up along
the shoreline. Coming to the last bay there was a beat up looking boat that had washed ashore with more clothing aboard. Probably refugees from Haiti that washed ashore here. These folks are determined and brave when they set out in these small boats filled with people and their few possessions.

As dusk approached we were in Clarence Town where we stopped to see the Flying Fish marina. Good views of the Atlantic and some off lying Cays. While checking out the menu at the open air restaurant we were accosted by mosquitos, the first that had found us since getting to the Bahamas. We went back into town and found the Harbour View Restaurant where they had screens on the windows and good food at reasonable prices. Fish, conch, and mutton were all good. Had Guava Duff for dessert, a local favorite
that is bread with a warm guava sauce.

On the way back north we sighted something that looked out of place in the road ahead. Slowing down, we passed an elderly man on Donkey. The island has many churches, especially in relationship to the population. Mostly Anglican, with a few Catholic and Baptist churches as well. The homes are nicer than those on other islands we've visited and the people are all very welcoming.

Back at Thompson's Bay we opened the old gate and drove the car down to our "private" dinghy marina for the night.

Meeting again at 0730 we headed North to Cape Santa Maria. At the end of the Highway we headed out on to a dirt road. It was a challenge for the Honda to make it up the hills where the road had washed down leaving lots of rocks. It took us about twenty minutes to make the three miles to the cape. Wayne did a great job keeping us from getting stuck along the way. The view made it well worth the bouncy road. We climbed up the hill to the edge of white cliffs overlooking the reefs where Christopher
Colombus ran the Santa Maria aground, his third stop in the new world. A monument was dedicated to the Lucayans that lived here before Colombus and to the voyager.

Heading back to return the car by noon we stopped in Stella Maris where there are beautiful vacation homes perched on cliffs with great views of the Atlantic. Not many beaches, but wonderful vistas. Also found the Coral Gardens which are reefs just off the shore. One has to get into the water from the coral rock ledges so I would want a calmer day to venture in.

Returning the car to Stanley's house, Stanley gave us a stalk of bananas from his orchard. He's 72 and still working hard. Dropped us back at the Cruiser's Path and we spent most of the afternoon getting the boat ready to head back to Georgetown on Saturday. We enjoyed our visit to Long Island and only touched the surface of the things to do here.

Cold Front

2007-02-20T07:52:00.000-05:00

Greetings from Long Island.

We are still in Thompson's Bay near Salt Pond. Sunday we didn't leave the boat as we clocked winds at 38 kts making the bay a little too bouncy to be out in the dinghy. We all curled up with good books. Noah finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The cold front brought the temperature down to 64 overnight, the coldest we've seen since arriving in the Bahamas.

By yesterday morning, the wind had calmed to below 20. Checked in on the Cruiseheimers radio net this morning and heard, "Side by Side," another boat checking in from here say they had a ten year old celebrating a birthday today. I mentioned we had an 8 year old aboard and they called us on the VHF after the net and invited Noah to the birthday party. They were worried that there wouldn't be many kids to help celebrate, but there turned out to be eleven kids at the party out of the 24 cruising boats
anchored here.

Turns out that the crew of Side by Side is from Saratoga Springs, NY. Marc and Angie Johnson with their kids Sabrina and Parker are out cruising on their Manta 42 catamaran. Noah was impressed that Marc was the dentist in a music video by one of his favorite groups, The Zucchinni Brothers. The party was very nice with cake and even ice cream. The kids all went ashore in the afternoon to work on a fort and tree house at the beach.

After dinner, Jill & Wayne came over to Intuition to play Sequence. Noah was invited to movie night on Side by Side. No one had any trouble falling asleep.

Every morning at 0700, the Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association (BASRA) has a radio net where they gather weather reports from boats scattered throughout the islands. Yesterday's report from here was from a boat that was on their way out, so I contacted the coordinator via email and received the instructions for reporting. This morning I reported the weather from here.

We hope to explore beyond the beach here today. There are no cold fronts in the forecast, so we shouldn't get chased out by the weather right away.

TOC Xing

2007-02-18T09:26:00.000-05:00

Good Morning from Thompson Bay Long Island

We played around with web sites on Friday experimenting with what might work better with slow connections. Both Sailblogs.com and Blogger.com work allow posting via email. Sailblogs is geared more towards boating logs and has a very clean interface. The only drawback is a $50 annual fee to allow email posting. The basic package is free.

Blogger appears to be owned by Google and also allows posting by email. It is free, but doesn't seem to support posting images via email. We only touched the surface of the program. bit were able to post a blog entry using the ham radio. The site is at: http://svIntuition.blogspot.com

Although it wasn't calm enough to go swimming in the afternoon, we did let the wind blow the dinghy to shore to go for a hike across Stocking Island. Wayne & Jill joined us from Born to Cruise. A well cleared trail led through palmettos over the ridge to the sound side. Noah played in the surf and we found some small, but nice shells. Jill told us about searching for sea beans. These are plant seeds that have floated across the Atlantic from Africa. When polished, they make attractive jewelry.

Saturday morning dawned with a forecast for lessening winds and a small window opened for exploring further. Born to Cruise suggested Thompson Bay on Long Island as a good shelter for the predicted 25-30 kt winds coming on Monday. With 329 boats reported in the morning's Georgetown boat count, we were ready to head for less crowded anchorages. We prepped the boat and commenced pulling the anchor. Apparently we had been in our spot too long since it took us twenty minutes to break the anchor out of
the bottom.

Underway by 1000 we headed down the harbor skirting the reefs marked with floating pvc pipes topped with traffic cones. The boat moved nicely through the water hitting over seven and a half knots. Glad we cleaned the bottom last week. Motoring with the staysail out Fowl Cay cut, the seas were 4-5 feet and fairly closely spaced bouncing us around a bit. The wind cooperated and we deployed the Genoa and headed southeast. Noah got in some good feet dunkin' on the leeward rail.

At 1239 we crossed the magical line depicting the Tropic of Cancer -- we are in the Tropics! The water shallowed to 15 feet, the winds calmed and the seas subsided to only about one foot. We could see big red starfish on the bottom through the crystal clear water. Had a good photo session underway with both crews taking pictures of each other taking pictures. At 1515 "The Pink House" on shore called the approaching boats on the VHF and welcomed us to Long Island offering assurance that there was
plenty of room left to anchor in Thompson's Bay.

Rounding Indian Head, we entered Thompson's Bay. The rocks around the head look like they may contain some interesting caves. Surprisingly, the water became cloudy and even in seven feet of water we lost sight of the bottom. At 1608 we had 90 feet of chain in the water and were swinging in the calm waters just off Salt Pond, Long Island. We dropped the dinghy and went over to check the anchor through the viewing window with no luck. We couldn't even see Born to Cruise's anchor and they were in only
five feet. The charts report clay on the bottom, so that may be a contributor to the poor water clarity. It felt good to be in a big harbor with only 24 other boats.

After dinner we motored over to Born to Cruise and enjoyed the spaciousness of their 40' catamaran salon to play a couple rounds of Quiddler. Noah teamed up with me for the first round and came up with some good words. For the second round Noah went off to read Harry Potter and I didn't do as well. Beth was the winner of both rounds. The bay was calm as we motored back to Intuition at 9:20 pm, well after "Cruiser's Midnight".

The winds picked up as predicted after the real midnight and are blowing about twenty this morning. The bay offers good protection from these NW winds. They are supposed to pick up to 25-30 and shift closer to North this afternoon. The bay should offer even better protection from that direction, so we should be fine. We're looking forward to exploring the Island over the next few days. The Atlantic side beaches are supposed to be uncrowded with good spots for snorkeling and shelling.

First Post on Blogger

2007-02-16T13:33:00.000-05:00

Greetings from Sand Dollar Beach.
We're still here in Elizabeth Harbor enjoying all the activities
Georgetown has to offer. The boat count is up to 247. Since we're
here for a while, we've pulled out the inflatable kayak and have
started using that to explore shallow areas and get a little
exercise. Noah enjoys this, especially because other "kid boats" have
them and the boys can race. They have also dug a little "kayak
lagoon" around the edge of a sand spit where they can just get the
kayaks pulled in. Of course they have to do this over and over since
the tide, which is about three feet here, erases there work twice a day.
This weeks Ham Radio Lunch was interesting as they talked about the
various uses for airmail (the radio email program we use) beyond just
email. There are ways to get weather information, find the positions
of other ham radio operators, create virtual buoy weather stations
and even update web logs. The last was of special interest since
we've had difficulty keeping our site updated. It works with
SailBlogs.com and we will be testing it to see if it is a viable
option. There were about fifty people at the lunch, which moved
inside the Peace and Plenty Beach Club due to a sudden squall. It was
more exciting than we would have liked as two crews were called away
because they were dragging, but no damage was done.
We've made the complete circle around Lake Victoria and now seen all
the shops. There is a second grocery store, called the Shop Rite, on
the opposite side of the lake from Exuma Markets. Similar in size and
the prices seem to be a bit lower.
Valentine's day was low key on our boat. Noah and I made some cards
for Beth and we had a relaxing time playing games. There was a
cruiser's dance at the Chat 'N Chill with "Rockin' Ron" as DJ from
one of the visiting boats, but we elected to relax instead.
The only boat project we've accomplished in the last few days was to
shorten the tiller extension on the outboard. An extension allows you
to get the crew's weight forward and makes it easier to get the
dinghy up on plane. The extension West Marine sells is too long for
most dinghies so needs to be cut down.
Noah finished his testing after week 100 of school and we celebrated
with an ice cream cone in town. We needed gasoline as the dinghy and
generator have been used more thean the diesel engine. Gas is $4.29
per gallon at the local filling station. On the way home Wayne & Jill
from Born to Cruise (BTC) flagged us down and asked where we were
anchored. Beth & Noah jumped ship and rode across the harbor on BTC.
They are from Raleigh and were our marina neighbors at NW Creek.
They showed us a new card game and loaned Noah a copy of a Harry
Potter movie. He has been devouring the stories and is now reading
the fourth book since we found it at the library.
Beth made Brownies yesterday afternoon to take to "Death by
Chocolate" on the beach. I guess it was a way to share valentine's
goodies. There were way too many yummy treats so we had to leave
before sunset to keep from eating them all. Made scrambled eggs for
dinner for a change of pace, then stayed up and watched the Harry
Potter movie since we were all wide awake!
There will be a couple of cold fronts coming through over the next
few days, so we will probably stay here through at least Monday. We
would like to get out and go over to Long Island or Conception Island
for a couple of days and then come back for Regatta.

Switch sites to view earlier chapters of our adventure

2007-02-16T13:07:00.000-05:00

We started the adventure using the Apple iweb software to create the blog. If you are interested in the first half of our adventure, please follow the link to the 140 posts on our original web site:

http://web.mac.com/bethandmark/iWeb/svIntuition/Blog/Blog.html

Best regards,
Mark