Buds @ Sea

George Town, Exumas to Little Harbour, Abacos

2008-05-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone:

Apologies to all from Brian, who has fallen way behind on our postings, but it seems there’s not enough time to keep moving, enjoy our stops, and create a posting for the blog. Brian swears he will get caught up, but he’s definitely running out of time based on a planned arrival in Marblehead in mid to late May. His finger is completely healed so he can’t use that as an excuse anymore!

Our last posting was early March (yikes!) and we were still in George Town, hanging out with hundreds of other cruisers. After 5 months of heading generally south, it was time to start thinking about leaving the Exumas and to begin the trek north to the States! In this chapter, we will tell you about our departure from the Exumas, our adventures in Eleuthra , and our arrival in the Abacos Islands.

Farmers Cay and Lamothe the Parrot (Wed, March 5)

The George Town Cruiser’s Regatta was coming up at the end of the week, but we decided that given the weather, it would be best for us to start heading north. (Also, the Admiral was getting antsy – 10 days in one spot was enough.) Originally we had considered going to Cat Island, but again given the exposed anchorages there and in south Eleuthra, we decided to head up the Exumas to Farmers Cay.

When we arrived at Farmers Cay, we passed up the two remaining moorings (not very secure looking) and elected to anchor over in a cove off Little Farmer’s Cay, just south of the cut into Farmers. There were 3 other boats anchored there, but the skipper of Cerridwen encouraged us to approach closer to his boat to be sure we were anchored out of the current. It turned out to be a very secure and peaceful anchorage

We headed ashore, and made our way to Ocean Cabin restaurant. We were greeted by two cruisers (Nancy and Andy of “Solitaire”). Over a beer, they sang the praises of the Spiney lobster tail. We made a reservation, and told that our dinner would be ready at 6:30. We met the restaurant owner Terry Bain, and ended up buying two T-shirts. We then went off in search of “J.R.”, a local wood carver up the hill. His wood shop was in the back of his house, and he showed us around. We ended up buying a wooden Bahamian Parrot which he carved his initials in. We then walked around the island, exploring a few beaches and ended up at the local Little Harbor bar, owned by “Ali.” Ali welcomed us with some free jug wine, and told us about his various wives and children and his knack for fathering twins. We barely escaped in time for our lobster dinners, which lived up to their advance billing, accented with an excellent Bahamian sauce. The inexpensive red wine we had with our dinner (a chilled Lamothe Parrot) inspired us to name our new wooden parrot “Lamothe”. We dinghied back to our anchorage in a clear starlit night.

Farmers – Return to Warderick Wells (Thur, Mar 6)

We left Farmers around 9:00 am. With an ebbing tide, the cut entrance was quite choppy and experienced some “washing machine” wave action as we motored through. By 9:30 we were sailing in an excellent 15 knot breeze off our starboard quarter. We arrived at the Exuma Land and Sea Park (South Anchorage) in Waderick Wells around 3:00 pm and moored between two large catamarans in a strong current. Sue did an excellent job in snagging the mooring pennant in close quarters. We decided to stay aboard and rest up for the next days sail over to Eleuthra Island. Sue prepared a great pork chop dinner, and it was an early lights out.

Farewell Exumas – Hello Eleuthera (Fri, Mar 7)

The South anchorage was a bit less restful than our first time there, with lots of noise from the mooring ball hitting Sogno’s bow as the current and wind squabbled all night over which way Sogno was going to point. The racket was bad enough to drive Sue out of the rack at 5:00 am - a very unusual event! The weather reports were still good, so we began our 40 mile run over to Eleuthra Island at 8:00 am. The winds were brisk at 20 knots, so we started out with a single reef in the main and the smaller staysail. By 9:30 we had put a second reef in the main, and we were still making 6.5 to 7 knots. It was one of the best sails of the trip, with the wind off our beam and waves that were around 4 to 6 feet. Every so often a bigger wave would heel us over a bit more, but no damage other than a few books falling off their shelves, and some small spray into the cockpit.

We passed Cape Eleuthra and worked our way around Powell Point at 12:30. Then we sailed and motor sailed our way into the protection of Rock Sound. The large entrance was quite dramatic with a pretty white Anglican Church marking the settlement. We anchored north of the settlement, and dinghied over to a small dock, meeting 3 cruisers who reported on the difficulty of finding “a beer and sandwich”. Not easily deterred, we trooped into town. We came across preparations for a fundraiser for the Rock Sound Annual Homecoming celebration to be held that night at a seaside town pavillion. According to Patrick, the committee chair, every year all those who have moved from Rock Sound (mostly to Nassau) are invited back to their “family island” for a “Back to the Rock” reunion. We were informed that the beer would be cold in half an hour, so we marched inland to see Ocean Hole Park, where there was a large, deep “lake” that was actually connected to the ocean via underground passages. By the time we got back to the pavillion, we had a front row seat to watch the sun set over Exuma Sound with a couple of cold ones.

We then hiked over to Sammy’s Place restaurant for appetizers, cracked conch and fried chicken, with three “sides.” It was pretty quiet there, but things were hopping back at the pavilion and we managed to have fun dancing and letting some of the smaller kids there take pictures of everyone with our digital camera. We had a great time, but as we talked with the kids it was obvious that as cruisers, we were viewed as wealthy visitors from a different world they only saw through TV. When we were asked by one girl if we could buy her a computer, it took us aback, and reminded us that no matter how much we shared in common, the Bahamas out islands was an area where making a living was no easy task.

We walked back in the dark, but fortunately the dock was well lit, and we made it back to Sogno without any problems.

Waiting out the Cold Front Sat – Sun, Mar 8-9)

Saturday and Sunday were a mixed bag of strong winds and then periods of calm. We scrubbed our plans of going ashore both days. Listening to the weather on VHF radio, we heard that we would be switching to Daylight Savings time on Sunday. Neither of had given this a thought since last October. There were no constant reminders on TV to “spring forward” in Eleuthera. (Actually, we rarely received a signal on our little 13 inch TV.)

The spot we had anchored in turned out shallower than expected and at low tide, there was only about 1 foot of water under our keel. Luckily the coming wind shift would swing us into deeper water, but Brian tracked the changing depths to be sure the tide wouldn’t be extra low that night. The cold front eventually arrived while eating dinner on Saturday, including some brief rain, Later that night, winds howled at 20 knots. This helped wash some of the accumulated salt off Sogno. We were also overdue for showers, and cleaned up our own acts as well with some of our expensive Exuma water.

Sunday was spent relaxing and planning for our next stops along the Eleuthera coast. Brian noted that the main battery banks were not charging as well as they should. We would need to plug in at the next marina we stayed at and do an extra long “equalizer” charge to shake the battery chemistry up a bit.

We meet Sara and Monty Lewis (Mon, Mar 10)

We had an easy sail over to Governor’s Harbour. The cruising guides were pretty negative on the harbor’s holding, and it took us 3 tries before we could get the anchor set properly. We dinghied over to say hi to a nearby French sail boat, but the language barrier limited the conversation to “hello” and “bon jour.” We then stopped to say high to “Saranade” and after we found out they knew some mutual cruising friends in Marblehead, we were surprised to find out that this couple was Sara and Monty Lewis.

Sara and Monty, a “retired” couple from Maryland, are the publishers of THE paper chart and guide books that EVERYONE uses in the Bahamas (Explorer Charts). They were out gathering more data for the next update on Eleuthera and we were sort of embarrassed that we had not recognized their names immediately. After walking about the town (meeting the owner of the local Quality Inn and stopping to re-provision the Sogno liquor locker), we were invited over to Saranade for cocktails. Brian was thrilled to talk to them about paper and electronic charts and find out more about what it’s like to produce charts for cruisers that are more accurate than the official Bahamian government charts. We also picked up some new cruising information, and told them about our recent experiences in the Exumas.

Experiencing “Bakery Time” in Eleuthera (Tues, Mar 11)

Tuesday was laundry day for Sogno, and Sue settled down in a small Laundromat, sharing it with the owner who was doing drop off loads. Brian went in search of the bakery Monty Lewis spoke highly of, but was told to “come back at 1:30” for the next batch of fresh bread.

After a trip back to the boat, Brian ran into Event Horizon II (Peter and Cheryl) on the return trip to shore. It was laundry day for them as well, so Brian was able to act as “guide” for Cheryl. After we had lunch at the Buccaneer Restaurant, the bakery bread still wasn’t ready at 2:30 (“come back in an hour”) so we spent the time walking about the oldest part of town (Cupid Cay) and visited the library (oldest building). Finally the bread was ready and together with our bundles of laundry, we returned to Sogno for happy hour and a shrimp dinner. Lights out with clean sheets!

PAN, PAN! An Exciting Visit to Hatchet Bay (Wed, Mar 12)

Our next day’s destination was Spanish Wells, a fishing community off the north coast of Eleuthera. We were motor sailing into the wind until around 12:15 when suddenly there was a screeching noise from the engine, and the smell of burning rubber. We stopped the engine and began sailing to investigate.

We discovered that one of the two belts that drive both the alternator and the engine cooling water pump was badly damaged, but what was more important, the alternator was no longer turning, due to a failed bearing. While we didn’t need the alternator’s electrical output to run the diesel, we did need the fresh water pump, and that wouldn’t work without the alternator pulley turning.

It was obvious we couldn’t continue north through a tricky piece of water called Current Cut, so we needed to pick a “Plan B” destination. All of the nearby harbors, including Governor Harbour, were all the anchorages were described as “poor holding” AND they would be exposed to the increasing north west winds expected that night as a cold front passed by.

We decided to broadcast a “PAN, PAN” distress signal on the VHF radio, which is an “urgent” request for help, but is not as serious as the more widely known “MAYDAY” signal which indicates an “immediate” threat to life or the vessel. The weather was fine, Sogno was sailing fine, but we just needed some feedback on what harbors might be the best to head for.

We quickly got some input from other boats, and while some harbors were closer, it appeared that Hatchet Bay Pond was the best bet. It had some empty government moorings and it was well protected by a natural set of cliffs. A real bonus - some cruisers were standing by to help us tie up, once we gained entrance. We also heard from “Bonnie Lass” who we hadn’t heard or seen since we had helped them out with our dinghy back in Vero Beach. They were coming from the north and promised to standby on the outside as we entered the bay.
Did we mention the entrance to Hatchet Bay?? This was the other exciting part of this harbor. The entrance was very narrow (30 – 40 yards) and included rocks and cliffs on both sides. This had to be negotiated to get inside to the actual “pond”. Exciting enough to motor through in calm weather, we were going to go through, in a building northerly swell, under sail alone! (The Admiral was a little skeptical to say the least.)

As we prepared to go into the entrance, we did all we could to be sure we could use the engine for a few minutes before it overheated. First we made some temporary belts out of bungee cords, which we hoped would let the engine crank shaft pulley drive the water pump for a while. Then we planned our approach so that we wouldn’t turn the engine on until we were within a few hundred yards of the entrance. Finally we talked with the cruisers waiting for us inside the cut, so everyone would understand the plan.

Finally, we sailed past the entrance. It WAS narrow, but we could also see a small flotilla of dinghies (inside the pond) waiting to help us. That lifted our spirits as we gybed back to the north west to set up for “final approach,” with Bonnie Lass in position to help if something went wrong. We began our beam reach (this gave us maximum speed and control) and started the engine. When we were 75 yards or so from the entrance, we engaged the transmission, -- and in what is now only a blur -- , we kept ourselves lined up with the cut and swept in between the rocks with our main sail and topsail doing the work. Completely focused, Brian “drove” us through the entrance. Once again, the sight of 3 (or 4?) dinghies waiting for us is a wonderful memory . In a few minutes, we were in to a beautiful come anchorage! (Hindsight, it would have been “way cool” to take a few pics but we never thought of that.)

We then sailed toward our mooring ball, while Island Dreamin’ (Gary) in his dinghy took a line from us and raced forward to attach it to the mooring ball. The final approach (shooting into the wind) was just about perfect (beginner’s luck) and soon all was secure! What a feeling of relief.

We invited all of our rescuers -- new friends -- over for happy hour. After a quick clean up, Brian pulled out our spare alternator, and did battery charging using our portable Honda generator. By the time most of our rescue group had arrived, we were ready to celebrate. Island Dreamin’ (Gary), Bonnie Lass (Valerie and Graham) and Salty Paws (Jim and Bentley) came aboard. We had a great time re-living the “rescue” and sharing other “sea stories”. It was a “cruising community” moment, and we were most appreciative of everyone’s concern and willingness to help out.

After everyone had left, we broke out the last steak and had a “thanksgiving” dinner. We were exhausted after our “emergency” but equally thrilled to have worked as a team to get ourselves through it with the help of many others. In the Bahamas, there is only a volunteer coast guard (BASRA) and a few locations where there is a TowBoat/US service. We had always knew that if we had a problem, we would have to solve it ourselves or seek the help of other cruisers. It had all worked and we were very thankful to have one more sea story to tell with a happy ending!

Happy Birthday in Hatchet Bay (Thur, Mar 13)

After yesterday’s excitement, it was great to be spend Sue’s birthday safely moored in Hatchet Bay Pond.

However, today’s first priority was to install the spare alternator. We talked with Mike Gozzard (head of operations at Gozzard Yachts) to get some advice on the electrical connections, and then dinghied ashore in search of a “spacer” we needed to mechanically mount the replacement. After stopping at the general store and the gas station we finally found our answer at “Uncle B’s”. “Island Dreamin’” had told us to look for the house with all the hubcaps in the yard. Mr. Barrow’s yard had lots of good stuff, which he rooted around in to find a pipe to make us a spacer. He insisted that Brian mark the pipe, before he cut it, to be sure we got just the length we wanted. He also found a few washers for us, as well if needed. Total price? Five dollars!

Next priority: a birthday luncheon at the Water’s Edge restaurant. We chatted for a bit with Gary and his wife DeLynn of Island Dreamin’ who were just finishing their meal and then had the best burgers we’d had since Norman’s Cay – and the price was only $4.95. Combined with some fries, a few Kahliks, and a great view of Hatchet Bay and Exuma Sound, we were feeling a lot more confident about getting back to sea.

We then walked back, via the beach, to the center of Alice Town. The grade school was very impressive, with all the students in uniforms, and lots of posters urging everyone to do their best. When we got back to our dinghy we found some more washers placed in it. We learned later that Uncle B had given Gary some more washers to give us when they were passing his shop on the way back to Island Dreamin’.

With a little adjustment with a file, our spacer fit perfectly and we were able to quickly get the spare alternator installed. The diesel engine was now “good to go” for the time being. However, from an electrical perspective, the spare alternator was a low output model (50 amps), compared with the failed Powerline unit (120 amps). To be able to really keep up with our normal battery usage (mostly refrigeration), we would need a high output alternator replacement. Brian began talking with Powerline to arrange getting a replacement, but our Bahamian cell phone ran out of “minutes.” We would have to wait until we arrived in Spanish Wells.

We had a quiet birthday evening including a happy hour (complete with chicken wing appetizers from Water’s Edge), a spaghetti dinner, and a birthday card purchased back in George Town!

Spanish Wells – No Problem Mon! (Fri, Mar 14)

We woke to an absolute dead calm, the water so mirror-flat you could easily see the mooring block on the bottom. We motored out the harbor cut. Somehow it didn’t seem quite as narrow as the last time, but still tight enough to be very careful to stay centered as we bid farewell to our “harbor of refuge”.

The wind never quite picked up enough to sail, so we motored on through Current Cut at the end of Eleuthera (2.5 knots against us for 20 minutes) and then on to Spanish Wells, where we re-fueled and tied up at Spanish Wells Yacht Haven. Event Horizon 2 (Peter and Cheryl) were there with their “buddy boat” Cygnus (Fred and spouse) and filled us in on the local attractions.

Sue went out to buy some more minutes for the cell phone and then started some laundry. Brian made sure the battery would get a good charging and then contacted Powerline about a new alternator, emailing some pictures of it, to be sure they knew what model needed replacing. “At the end of the day”, they were still not sure, so we would have to wait until Monday to call again.

We decided to hold off on seeing the town and stayed aboard for dinner. Sue came through with some “creative cuisine” built around canned oriental vegetables and rice.

A Hot Time in Spanish Wells (Sat, Mar 15)

We spent the morning giving our battery bank a 5 hour equalizer charge, to thoroughly stir up the batteries chemistry. By that time it was very hot (in the high 80s) and not many people were about as we walked down to the main part of town.

Spanish Wells is a very prosperous fishing port and all the houses are neatly kept. The residents are all descended from original white colonists or Loyalists who fled from the US following the Revolution. Spanish Wells is a separate district in the Bahamas (e.g., similar to a province or state) and there is a strong religious culture (Methodism) that stretches back to the original settlers. Consequently there is absolutely no sale of alcohol on the island. However, there is a thriving business exists where you can pay someone to take the short ferry ride to Eleuthera and buy it for you. There used to be a restaurant/bar at the marina, but it was destroyed in one of the recent hurricanes. After this act of God, the residents did not encourage a new restaurant and bar.

We found the “suburban” neighborhoods quite well kept, and the roads were all in good order. Most everyone moved about in golf carts. Apparently the sun had affected our judgment, or we would have certainly rented one.

We checked out some shops, bought some groceries, and walked the waterfront. The highlight for us was the ice cream shop, where we had a very generous portion for only $1.50 each.

Tomorrow would be Sunday, when things got even quieter, so we decided to take advantage of a good weather window and cross over to the Abacos islands.

Why It was Hard to Leave Spanish Wells (Sun, Mar 16)

We got off to a good start, easily backing out of our dock slip at 7:30 am in very light air. As we motored out the main channel along the Spanish Wells waterfront, we rounded a bend to discover TWO large ships blocking our exit. The smaller ship was tied up alongside the wharf, and the larger ship was partly moored behind it with its stern almost extending out the opposite shore. As we approached, we were warned not to try to go around. When we asked when they would be moving out of the way, all the crewmen sort of shrugged their shoulders. We knew that most things in Spanish Wells were shut down on Sunday, but hadn’t expected that shipping traffic would also shutdown the main channel!

Not to worry – there is indeed an alternate channel around the south coast of the island. However, as we left the harbor, and turned east, we found it confusing to sort out the various unmarked pilings that were supposed to be channel marks. One local boat came over and warned us that we should go back and use the main channel. After we explained the situation, we did get some sketchy directions on which pilings to honor. (The Spanish Wells accent – part British, part Bahamian – didn’t help things.) We cautiously moved along what we hoped was the channel until the depths began to rapidly shrink. Brian was at the helm when we ran aground. After deciding that we were too far to the right of the channel, we started stirring up some sand with attempts to back down or power ahead. Finally, we managed to “twist” ourselves off going ahead with full left rudder, and get back into the channel.

The rest of the South Channel was easier and we rejoined the main channel and headed out to Hadley Head. Here we had to be extra careful, since the Hadley Head Channel passed close to coral heads, which were must less forgiving than sand bars. In fact, the chart guides recommend you consider hiring a local pilot to guide you out. After double checking our electronic positions, we then headed out with Brian at the bow watching for any shallow areas, and Sue at the help keeping close to the course line on our chart plotter. After a few tense moments we were out into deep water and we could relax. We were on our way to the Abacos Island group.

Our destination was actually Little Harbour on Great Abaco Island. This 47 mile leg, is really like a small “passage” since you are crossing the intersection of the Atlantic Ocean with the Northeast Providence Channel. You have to watch out for large ship traffic, but it’s even more important to know that the weather in the Abacos Islands is settled. The good news about the Abacos, is that all the popular harbors are well sheltered. The bad news is that to get to them from outside the chain, you have to pass through some tricky cuts between the reefs and islands. If there are some strong winds or swell coming in from the Atlantic, “rage” conditions can occur in these passes, and even large vessels can’t enter.

The weather conditions on Sunday looked near perfect but the nearest anchorage, Little Harbour had a very shallow entrance, and we wanted to get there for high tide around 4 pm. Our only choice, despite the favorable winds on our port beam, was to motor sail to be sure we could keep up a 6 knot average speed. This turned out to not be a problem and by 3:30 we were following 3 catamarans into the harbor.

Little Harbour is a pretty crowded affair, but there are lots of moorings that you can rent. Unfortunately those catamarans had taken the last ones, so we were forced to find a spot to anchor on the western shore. This would work fine until midnight. Then the west wind was expected to shift around to the northeast, swinging Sogno too close to the shore. The only alternative was to put out a second anchor to the northeast which we did using our dinghy. This was our first double anchor since the trip began!

As long as the dinghy was out, we headed ashore to Pete’s Pub to catch up with some old friends whose boats we had spotted already in the harbor. San-I-Tee (Andy and Chris) and Soucia (Scott and Linda) were ashore at the beach front pub with their families and we quickly updated each other on our adventures. They of course wanted to see Brian’s finger and hear “most” of the details, since the rumor mill had exaggerated exactly what had happened.

We stayed on past sunset for some conch bits and fish dip appetizers and returned to Sogno well fed and at the start of another chapter in our voyage.

Going forward

Our next installments will bring report on our time in the Abacos, our passage to Florida, the return trip up the ICW and our brief stay in the Chesapeake. We’re currently in Baltimore waiting for a storm to clear out. We hope to return home within the next two weeks.

Don’t forget to send us your comments. We enjoy all your messages and look forward to hearing from you. Click on Comments below!

Brian and Sue
Buds at Sea

Compass Cay to George Town, Great Exuma

2008-03-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone:

In our last posting, we covered Brian’s finger injury at Compass Cay and our stay in Compass Cay Marina while the “finger” recovered. We’re happy to report that the finger is healing well and we’re on the move again. This “chapter” covers our travels down the Exuma Cays to George Town and our stay in this huge cruiser’s hangout.

So … what was it like to return to the cruising life after nearly a month tied up in a marina? And what is George Town really like – Cruising nirvana or “daycare for adults”!

Brian and Sue Adapt to Marina Life (Tues – Tues, Feb 12-19)

Our R&R stay at Compass Cay continued to be a much superior alternative to winter in New England. Brian became more adept at doing things with his left hand and was now using his right hand for tasks that only required 4 fingers. Long delayed “projects” around the boat finally got some attention (e.g., whipping the ends of various docking and rigging lines to keep them from unraveling). Arranging a replacement for our failed handheld depth finder -- used in the dinghy -- was also easy, but shipping it from Orlando, FL to the Exumas was not easy. We also enjoyed touring neighboring islands in our inflatable dinghy and getting to know our marina neighbors better.

We celebrated Valentine’s Day by dinghying over for lunch at nearby Sampson Cay Club with Gadabaut (Gail and Dennis) and Karin (marina office). Dennis arranged a post luncheon beach party at a tiny “Tiki Bar” on the beach at Thomas Cay, complete with Dark and Stormy’s.

Of course we continued to make new friends as boaters came through the marina: Wanderlust (Bill and Judy) and Smidge (Bonnie and Maury). We also saw the crew from Sunshine Baby, who we had met at Jekyll Island in Georgia, way back in November.

Escape from Compass Cay (Wed, Feb 20)

We got a warm send off from our Compass Cay hosts (owner Tucker Rolle, and Karin) and a huge lobster tail (frozen) from Gadabaut’s (Dennis, Gail) bottomless food locker. We delayed a bit to let a nearby squall pass by, but by 10:00 we were leaving the dock. Dennis used his dinghy to help pull us out between a 70 ft trawler behind us, and the large sport fisherman on the next dock. As we motored out (with Brian using his new 9-finger grip on the wheel), we felt like we were finally cruising again. We enjoyed Compass Cay and recommend it highly for a great place to decompress. However, the grass growing just below Sogno’s waterline reminded us that we really had to get going again. Thank you Tucker, Karin, Dennis, Gail, Dennis, Marino, Mum, and Manos for a great stay!!

Of course as we carefully worked our way out to deeper water, we were hit by a brief squall within 10 minutes. The Buds were “at sea” again!

Our first voyage, was only 11 miles to Staniel Cay. We anchored without incident off Big Majors Spot and dinghied into the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. We were there to buy gasoline for the dinghy and Honda generator, pickup a handheld depth finder replacement (which had been flown in from Ft. Lauderdale), and check out the bar. Smidge (Bonnie and Maury) were already working the Wi-Fi internet connection so we had a good chat with cruisers Chris and Anita and ran into Flutterbye (Stephen and Genvieve) whom we had rafted with in Vero Beach, way back in December.

Sue found a working telephone and called her Dad. We took some time to walk about and do some small provisioning in the “Blue Store.” (The other stores are Pink and Yellow). By the time we returned to the SCYC, Bonnie and Maury were finished with the internet and invited us over for cocktails aboard Smidge. We had a fun time hearing about their small boat racing days and learned they had been to Marblehead for a national championship series. Lots of talk about cruising and books we have been reading and other things retired folks do!

Oreos, Pigs and Free Water (Thur, Feb 21)

Since our next stop was only a few miles down the island chain, we took time to visit Pig Beach and meet the residents. Knowing they were always hungry, we came with a handful of stale Oreos, and as expected a large male, and smaller sow came out to see what we had. These weren’t wild pigs just “- free range” domestic pigs. Sue had the Oreos, so she got closest to the action, and had to sometimes direct the apparently near-sighted pigs to their cookie treats. (You had to be there!)

We had a nice motor down to Black Point on Great Guana Island – a real Bahamian settlement. We came in to a relatively crowded anchorage at the same time as Onward (a single hander) was arriving under sail. We followed Joe in awe as he sailed among the anchored boats, until he dropped the hook in the middle of the fleet. Quite a performance! We took the more conservative path and quietly motored to the back of the crowd, dropped anchor, and headed for the town dock. We checked out the local businesses, including the Scorpion Inn (actually a bar), Talking with bartender Zhivago, we learned that grade school students had to go to Nassau (usually living with relatives) to go to high school). Our errands including filling two 6.5 gallon Jerry Jugs with free town water to put in our water tanks. (Sue could only carry a jug – weighing 45 pounds – a few feet – looks like we need smaller jugs!)

Calling all Cruisers on Channel 16 (Fri, Feb 22)

We began the day in elegant style with Sue preparing a great omelet breakfast. (Some things never change.) We then headed in to the settlement and by 11:00, we were at the laundromat. At $3.50 per washer or dryer this was a “bargain”. The woman who ran the place also did haircuts so this was an opportunity not to be missed. Brian hadn’t had a haircut since Charleston in mid-November! The price was right ($10), the facilities were simple (a chair set outside the back door), and the view was priceless (the blue green waters of the anchorage). Brian continued with his busy schedule by going next door to Lorraine’s Café for some free Internet. After Sue finished laundry, she joined Brian for a late lunch at Lorraine’s (red snapper, cheeseburger).

Black Point is larger than most previous stops so we had more fun checking out the town. To keep our telephone communication option available – mostly emergencies -- we purchased a Phone card and also, minutes for our Bahamian cell phone. All our errands were accomplished in time for the 3 to 5 Happy Hour at the Scorpion Bar – Inn, This being the Bahamas, the announcement of the Rum Punch special and finger food had been made earlier on VHF channel 16 (which is normally reserved for distress calls and calling other boaters). I guess it all depends on what your definition of “distress”.

Happy Hour started slowly (all the boaters were busy using their computers via the free Wi-Fi connection), but soon the rum punch, pop corn, chips/salsa and Kahlik beers began to do their work. PCs were put away and the place was really buzzing by 5:00. It was time to socialize. We got a table with Smidge (Maury and Bonnie) and later, were joined by Pendragon (hadn’t seen Carolyn and Andrew since Vero Beach in December), and Onward (Joe). Everyone’s distress had been clearly relieved by the time we all headed back to our boats at sunset.

Emerald Bay Marina (Sat, Feb 23)

The weather looked better than we felt the next morning, but we managed to get underway and exit through Dotham Cut to Exuma Sound at around 8:20. We were heading for Emerald Bay Marina, which was just north of George Town. The winds were against us, so we had to motor the entire way into 4 foot seas. The motor seemed to be making some strange sounds, so we stopped the engine briefly to investigate it, adjusted the alternator belt tension, and it seemed to get better when we resumed motoring. Brian said we should have some one listen and/or look at it, but we never quite got around it. (Stay tuned until March 12 “for the rest of the story”!)

Emerald Bay is a brand new development, complete with a nearby Four Seasons Resort, condos, a first class marina, and a problem with their business plan. The marina is in receivership, the restaurant is closed and a lot of condos half built. However, it is a good deal for cruisers now, and you can stay for as low as $1.25 per foot. We sorted through three different charts (2 electronic and 1 paper) before deciding to rely on the paper Explorer Charts to make our approach to the marina entrance without incident.

We had a very easy tie up on the outside face of a long dock (we like simple docking) and were enthusiastically welcomed at the dock, complete with a very large welcome mat – 4 by 6 feet! – laid in front of Sogno. After getting settled in, we jumped aboard the shuttle van for a provisioning stop, and then a short walk to the Four Seasons Resort for cocktails at the Tiki Bar overlooking Crescent Beach. The resort was definitely not in receivership! We had a wonderful (expensive but worth every penny) meal at the Twenty-three Degrees restaurant, before shuttling back to the marina

George Town: We Get Cozy with 300 other Cruising Boats (Sun, Feb 24)

This morning we decided to clean up our act, prior to departing for George Town. First we wash down -- both Sogno and ourselves. Of course Sogno got the royal treatment, being hosed down with $0.15 per gallon water (actually a bargain compared to $0.50 at Compass Cay). Our own showers were “free” with the dockage, so we certainly didn’t skimp on the water. We continued the extravagance by filling our water tanks and main fuel tank, and a dockside waste pumpout. Without going into the unpleasant details, let’s just say the pumpout shook things up sufficiently so that going forward we could resume handling this chore with the onboard macerator pump.

By noon we were on our way, motoring in light winds to George Town. As we approached Conch Cut to enter Elizabeth Harbor, it was obvious that this was a BIG anchorage, with a forest of masts. As we worked our way down the channel, past the various coves along Stocking Island, we saw many familiar boats in the anchorages. We decided to go all the way to Sand Dollar Beach. We finished anchoring around 3:00. It was not too far a across to George Town (1.5 miles) and there was plenty of room to anchor among perhaps 30 boats. We anchored on the first try (always a good sign) and decided to stay aboard our first night.

We had traveled over 1500 miles in the 5 months since we had left Marblehead to get here. There were over 300 boats of all shapes and sizes here, and we had made it, despite our unexpected delay in Compass Cay. Was it all worth it? We had heard all kinds of stories from “George Town is daycare for adults”, “it’s too organized”, or “you’ll love it – there so much to do and see.” I guess for now we were just happy to have enjoyed the adventure of getting here. “It’s not the destination, but the journey” seemed to sum it up pretty neatly for us that evening before we settled down for the night.

Getting to Know George Town (Mon – Tues, Feb 25 – Mar 4)

George Town is something to be experienced. A relatively small town is invaded by nearly a 1000 cruisers, some of whom are content to stay most of the winter, while others are checking in for a week or two, prior to heading out for the “out islands” (those with little or no facilities) and beyond to the Caribbean. There’s a daily cruiser’s net on VHF channel 72 where you can learn about various activities, ask advice, and look for spare parts and or get rid of unused equipment.

Some highlights of what you really do most of the time:

Socializing with Other Cruisers -- Smidge, Gorma, Gypsy Soul, Cassiopeia, Pendragon, Keltic Kat (thank you Pat and Tutti for dinner at St. Francis!)

Checking Out Local Restaurants and Bars -- Eddie’s Edgewater, Peace and Plenty, Chat ‘n Chill, St. Francis Resort.

Weather Seminar – We couldn’t pass up Chris Parker’s weather seminar (240 attendees). Chris broadcasts weather forecasts from Florida on short wave Monday to Saturday mornings which are quite good in covering specific Bahamas regions as well as Florida and Gulf Stream and other areas in Eastern Caribbean. VHF radio weather broadcasts are few and far between (and only voluntarily done by various organizations), so a good shortwave radio receiver is mandatory to keep up with the weather unless you have regular/dependable access to the internet. A Single Side Band receiver/transmitter (which we don’t have) is even better, so you can talk to weather forecasters like Chris, if you are a paid subscriber.

Provisioning – Exuma Market is the most popular and you’re bound to spot someone you know there. The market serves the cruisers in many ways: providing the dinghy dock and a free water faucet, bulletin board, receiving and holding mail and packages, and sponsoring various activities. Shop Rite grocery also has a good selection.

Getting Wet in the Dinghy – George Town is over a mile from most anchorages, and depending on wind and chop you can get pretty wet. Some cruisers motor standing up, some scrunch down, and others wear foul weather gear. All eventually end up with lots of salt water (and sand) on them, their dinghy and in their boat!

Charging the Boat’s Battery – Almost everyone is anchored (FREE), and there are only a few marina slips. Bigger boats have onboard generator sets and others recharge their batteries with a combination of solar, wind, and running their engine. This is usually a daily chore. We elected to bring a portable Honda generator which we successfully used. You of course have to run it on deck and be careful about handling gasoline and proper ventilation of the exhaust. We installed a Carbon Monoxide detector in the cabin to be extra safe and it HAS worked out very well.

Internet Access – Getting connected can be via WiFi on the boat (service is spotty) or in town (J&K Computers provided good service from a very simple wooden shack.). Internet access was important to us every few weeks, so we could pay some bills and stay in touch via email.

Waiting Out Cold Fronts - When the cold fronts come by about every 4 days, the winds pick up and you can choose to stay aboard (and stay dry) or go ashore for the various activities the cruisers are always organizing (and get wet – see above). This is when we would catch up on maintenance, reading or our blog.

Eating – Sue is the master of keeping our menus varied and interesting. One highlight was eating the lobster we received as a going away present from Gadabaut at Compass Cay. It was fabulous. Thanks Dennis and Gail and thank you Sue!

Going forward

In our next chapter, we will report on our adventures as we start heading north for the return to the States. It’s been over 6 months since we left Marblehead, and we are currently in the Abacos area. We will let you know how we got there, and how we are becoming expert at ordering spare parts from the US.

Don’t forget to send us your comments. When we get a chance to see them, they really make our day. Click on Comments below!

Brian and Sue
Buds at Sea

Warderick Wells to Compass Cay

2008-02-11T15:44:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone:

The last installment covered most of our stay in Warderick Wells Cay and the Exuma Land and Sea Park. As you will soon learn, we left the Park on January 23 and things took an unexpected turn. Since then we have only advanced about 10 miles further and have been relaxing at Compass Cay Marina since then.

What happened to slow our relentless voyage south along the Exumas to the fabled George Town on Great Exuma Island? Find our the “gory” details below!

Things Get Hairy (Sat-Mon, Jan 19-21)

Saturday - The first chore, was Brian’s beard trim in the cockpit. Sue did an excellent job, but now Sogno had a “hairy” coat on the transom to go with the salt and sand that could be found everywhere. Even the dinghy did not escape the downwind hair “spray.” The rest of the day was spent reading, relaxing, and prepping Sogno and our mooring lines for the strong cold front expected on Sunday. The highlight of the day was the “Saturday Happy Hour” on the Beach. Cruisers supplied the snacks and drinks, the Park supplied the ice and bonfire. Over 20 boats arrived and we had a great time making new friends on the beach and learning more about all the great places to go in the Exumas.

Sunday - Today we went ashore to get maximum Wifi strength in order to make some phone calls over the internet (Skype service is what we use.) Things worked ok, but the reliability is still somewhat suspect – at least on our old laptop. We returned to Sogno to wait for the first sign of the cold front, and it obliged promptly at 4:11 pm when all the gray clouds finally delivered a blast of wind from the North, which quickly built to 25 knots, with some occasional rain squalls. From then- turn on we turn on relaxing music, do some reading, and generally get used to the sound of the wind in the rigging. After dinner, for “fun”, we decided to watch our “Perfect Storm” DVD, which did indeed mask the sound of the outside wind, and did remind us that our weather was far from anything serious -- so far!

Monday - We had a reasonably restful night with no excitement in the anchorage. All the boats were tied to moorings but wind, current, and/or rain can still “kick” things up a bit. On the positive side, the rain washed away most of the salt and hair, and some of the sand! The wind was more in the 15-20 knot range for most of the morning. This gave Sue a chance to inventory the ship’s stores and for me catch up on “Buds at Sea”. Hopefully this installment will get posted today or tomorrow.

We Avoid the Rush South (Tues, Jan 22)

We woke to find the winds less than 15 knots. At the morning roll call, it seemed that 90% of the boats were departing to continue south, now that the post-frontal winds were dying. We were also planning to go until Brian declared the batteries weak and in need of a long “equalizer” charge to restore them to full capacity. We spent most of the morning using the engine to charge the battery, but it was apparent that we really needed some shore power to get the job really done in a reasonable time.

In the afternoon Brian went ashore to get a good Wifi signal – updating the blog and adding more pictures. Normally the Park Headquarters is a very busy spot, but today it was eerily quiet. Tomorrow we head for Compass Cay.

Too Many Navigation Aids? (Wed, Jan 23)

We were underway by 0900 with light winds from the SE, and motored the 15 miles to Compass Cay. We were looking forward to staying at the marina where we could get some badly needed water (at $0.50 per gallon) and shore power for the battery charge. This island was full of hiking trails, beaches, snorkeling sites, and had been highly recommended by Lucky Girl (John and Maryann) during our last stay in Nassau.

The approach to Compass Cay Marina was unusual, in that there were many charted private navigation marks that identified the channel. Brian was so anxious to do some eyeball navigation, that he managed to confuse two of them, and we soon were soon heading into clearly shoal waters. At that point it became clear we were cutting across a sand bar, and we quickly turned around and got back in the channel. The rest of the marks were easy to spot and we only had to sort out where the deep water was at the entrance to the marina before we tied up around noon.

We were greeted by the marina office person Karin and marina owner Tucker Rolle. They soon set us up with shore power and a map of the island trails.

The real surprise was that Gypsy Soul (Tom and Susan), a Gozzard we had seen in Vero Beach, was tied up across from us. We learned from Susan that she had been there for about a week and a half, while Tom was back in NC, earning some money for the cruising kitty. He would be flying back on Friday.

Sue headed for the laundry to do some sheets ($16 for wash and dry – yikes!!) while Brian hovered over the batteries during the successful equalizer charge for the better part of the afternoon. After that, we escaped the evening “no-see-ums” over at Gypsy Soul for “potluck” wine and appetizers. Susan volunteered to take us to some nearby snorkeling spots the next day. Life was good!

Getting Our Bearings in Compass Cay (Thurs-Fri, Jan 24-25)

Thursday - This morning we walked around the south end of the island to the large Crescent Beach on the Exuma Sound side. We explored the ruins of “Hesta’s House” perched high on a point at the end of the beach. We also saw 3 rental cottages in various stages of construction plus the “Low Tide Airport”, a tidal flat that could accommodate small aircraft at one time. By the time we returned to the marina, we joined some other boaters for a well deserved lunchtime Kahlik (the Bahamian local beer). We shortly later spied the crew of Solange IV approaching the dock in their dinghy. They had come to “swim with the sharks.” The marina is known for the tame nurse sharks who hang around with many other fish to feast around the fish cleaning station. Although it’s not recommended to feed the sharks with swimmers in the water, the sharks will come around to see what’s up, and you can pet them, and swim with them with complete safety (so far!). Kevin, James, and Caleb seemed to really like it, and there was some nearby coral heads to also check out as well (We have decided to watch only.)

The afternoon was dedicated to snorkeling, taking two dinghies. Susan (Gypsy Soul) led us north, across to Rocky Dundas, a rocky island just inside the southern end of the Exuma Park. We tied our dinghies to some park mooring balls, and plunged in toward a small cave to see the coral and fish. The cave was open to the sky so there was plenty of light to see and there was even some ledge to stand on. Although it was very calm, we did notice the surge was pretty strong as you got to the shallow end of the cave.

Our next stop was Fowl Cay (aka Chicken Cay) which was a bit south. Since it was outside the Park, after we anchored our dinghys, Susan got out her spear to see what she could catch. Sue and I were happy to just take in the colorful fish snorkeling on the surface. Brian finally got up the courage to take some pictures using the new underwater camera case. No leaks!! Next time he promises to get the camera settings right so all the pictures won’t be so blue. Sue promises to use her fins next time, which should make it much easier for her to climb back into the inflatable.

Susan didn’t spear us dinner, but we still want to thank her profusely for guiding a couple of snorkel novices.

After we got back, we “bought” our first metered water by the gallon. The water pressure was very low, so it took two hours and for Brian to slowly top off our two tanks and two gerry jugs on deck with 86 gallons. The worst part was he missed the better part of the daily dockside happy hour.

Friday - We slept great on fresh sheets – no salt, sand, or damp air! (Small pleasures are not to be taken for granted in the Bahamas.) After breakfast, we toured more of the Cay, zchecking the mangrove creek and beach. We later greeted Tom (Gypsy Soul) who had returned from his “work break” back in the US. After lunch, we walked across the tidal flats to the south (formerly a “lowtide airport”), decided NOT to do the south cliff walk and elected instead to get to the south end beaches via the low tide flats.” We were fascinated by all the snails and their tracks in the sand as they moved between tides to new rocks to “anchor” to. We got back for happy hour and had a nice talk with Keltic Kat (Pat and Tootie) about our Nova Scotia trip in 2005. They were from Halifax and we found out that our cruises up to Cape Breton had much in common.

Dock Lines, Pilings and Fingers: Not a Pretty Picture (Sat, Jan 26)

Today was NOT a good day. We were planning to leave around 10:00 for Staniel Cay where we could get a mooring or anchor out, in preparation for the cold front due to arrive on Sunday. After checking out at the office, Brian volunteered to help handle the lines for Keltic Kat who was also leaving.

While walking the boat to the end of the dock, he accidentally got his right middle finger between the cleated dockline and a dock piling while Keltic Kat was still moving. It could have been much worse, but a good piece of skin on the end of the finger was removed under the dock line pressure. Sue helped clean and dress the wound, and simple compression stopped the bleeding. Gypsy Soul contributed some pain meds, and Karin of the marina tried to locate some medical help on the cell phone, VHF, and failing that, to arrange a flight to Nassau, where the nearest hospital was located.

Luck was with us, as a local airplane pilot heard about the incident, was already planning to fly to Ft. Lauderdale and agreed to fly us from nearby Sampson Cay and drop us off in Nassau. Tucker, owner of the marina, took us in his boat to the airstrip and by 2:00 we were in the air, 2:45 we were in a taxi at the Nassau airport, and by around 3:00 we were checking in to the Doctors Hospital ER (VISA card accepted, thank you). After that it was mostly waiting: first the nurse (tetanus shot), then the ER doc (order x-rays), and finally the hand/plastic surgeon who arrived at 6pm (ironically he had been working on his boat’s electrical system all day!). Dr. Neil was pretty cool, having seen many boat “crush” injuries and he quickly presented the options, numbed the hand, cleaned up the area and did a few sutures. By 8:00 we were out of the ER, with plenty of meds, dressing supplies and lots of instructions on how to care for the finger for the next SIX weeks!! But the best part was that the prognosis was good for getting a healed finger with nerve growth and sensitivity to return over the coming months. As they say in the VISA ads: “priceless!”

Nassau: third time the charm? (Sun-Mon, Jan 27-28)

We stayed in the downtown Nassau Quality Inn (recommended by the taxi driver as good budget choice) Saturday and Sunday nights, mostly taking it easy and getting used to the idea that Brian was going to be pretty limited with his middle finger bound up in gauze and taped to a splint. Sue also got some well deserved rest from galley duties as we sampled some nearby restaurants and had some inexpensive breakfasts at the hotel.

On Monday morning, we loaded up on some more supplies at the local pharmacy, went to the mall, and bought a cheap GSM cell phone for the Bahamas. That afternoon we caught a Flamingo Airlines “5 seater” back to Staniel Cay, with stops at Farmers Cay and Grand Guana Cay (Black Point settlement). Luck was again with us. Sitting next to Brian was Dennis. He was also going to Compass Cay, and was getting picked up at Staniel. We ended up joining him with a free ride on Li’l Da Cheze back to the marina, from Lee, the owner of a sports fisherman boat (Da Cheze) at the marina and Glenn, his captain. Everyone was back in time for happy hour!

Hanging Out in Compass Cay (Tues-Mon, Jan 29-Feb 11)

As we got used to the idea that “Captain Brian” was on the “sick list”, it occurred to us that Compass Cay was a pretty good spot. First of all it was well sheltered, it had a friendly staff, a continuous stream of visiting boats, and dinghys arriving every day to tie up or “swim with the sharks.”

Here’s a sampling of how we’ve spent our time for the past two weeks :

Green Flash Happy Hours - The main occupation is to get ready to see the “green flash” at sunset. So far we’ve had a few flashes, but we’re told they could be much greener, so we keep looking.

Beachcombing - Sue had collected a number of shells and made a sand dollar pendant for herself. We’re still looking for one of the elusive “hamburger beans” that wash up on the beach occasionally. There are other “sea beans” that drift over from Africa, the most common of which is the coconut.

Fishing - No fishing in the marina -- the fish and sharks that hang around the dock looking for scraps from the fish cleaning station, are really pets. The friendly nurse sharks actually nestle together ON the fish cleaning dock when the high tide comes over the dock planking. However –-- though we haven’t gotten our fishing act together yet, the Compass Cay staff and regulars on the island really know their stuff. Even nicer is that every so often we get an extra fish and Sue cooks up a great meal. We’ve had triggerfish and strawberry grouper so far (Thanks Dennis and Marino) and when the fish is only a few hours out of the water, it’s amazing how tasty it is!

Dinghy Exploration - We’ve gone up Bone Creek, until the mangrove swamps closed in on us and it got too shallow. We had a bit of a struggle to get turned around and out! We’ve also gone outside to the north end of the island and walked up a creek to “Rachel’s Bubble Bath.” It’s a pool that gets filled with waves breaking over a rocky wall that separates it from Exuma Sound. At high tide it can get very “frothy” from the waves. We joined a group that went up there at mid-tide and enjoyed the setting and the pool.

Hermit Crabs - Compass Cay used to have hermit crab races, with the shells painted up as NASCAR racers. Now they have a hermit crab shell “exchange station” where cruisers leave painted shell that hermit crabs can move into. When we were out hiking we ran across “RON”, a hermit crab with a brightly painted blue shell, way over on the Crescent Beach side. Since we’ve been here, Gadabaut (Dennis, Gail, and dog Decker) left white shells with their names on them, and so far only Decker’s shell has been exchanged.

Other Boaters - Gypsy Soul and Keltic Kat were very anxious to find out how Brian's finger was doing. Keltic Kat came back via dinghy for a visit, and we assured Pat and Tootie that they were not at fault at all, and Brian just lost track of where his fingers were during the undocking maneuver. Rumors managed to get to Solange, who thought Brian had lost his finger, but we were able to assure them that it wasn’t that serious. Of course everyone had a story to tell about an old finger injury while boating, fishing, working, etc. Almost all were upbeat, with a happy ending! I think cruisers all know that there is always the risk of an injury, no matter how cautious you think you are, and can really relate to a cruise interrupted by even a relatively mild injury.

Provisioning – When we returned from Nassau, Gail (from trawler Gadabaut) volunteered to do some grocery shopping at Staniel Cay. Sue was able to return the favor, when she got a ride to Staniel and Sampson Cays to get groceries and some gasoline a week later. The prices are high, the selection is limited, but it is amazing the things you take for granted and quickly miss when you run out.

Laundry - If you think water is expensive, the local laundry facilities here are on another level ($8 for a wash load, $8 for a dryer load). Needless to say there’s not much of a wait, since most boaters wait until Black Point settlement. Sue was finally forced to break down and deal with both dirty clothes, and the sheets which always seem to very quickly become damp and uncomfortable.

DVDs – By now you’ve figured out we are big X-Files fans, and we have been making steady progress, and are now in the middle of Season 5, with 4 seasons more to go. We also saw the last of the 4 DVDs we bought in Charleston. “King of Scotland” was a bit heavy; given it was a dramatic glimpse at the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, but it gives one pause about how dictators are tolerated so easily in the world, as long as they don’t impact your world.

Super Bowl – No one with satellite TV was around, so there was no Compass Cay Superbowl Party. We managed to pick up some audio from the BBC, but were only able to find out the Pat’s fate, via the internet that night.

Sogno Projects - Given all the time available, we’ve been able to catch up on some marlinspike projects (whipping the frayed ends of many lines), improving the seal on our refrigerator/freezer door, some canvas work, and polishing the chrome and stainless on deck.

Reading - Besides the usual boating books, cruising guides, and equipment manuals, we’ve actually been reading real books! I particularly liked a novel “Saturday” (thanks Bob for lending it to me over a year ago!) and “Team of Rivals”, an examination of Lincoln’s political skills in becoming president and building a strong cabinet despite many personality clashes. Sue has been reading a biography of the famed landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmstead.

Going forward

“The finger” continues to heal rapidly, but after two weeks, it looks like another week before we can get going. From here we will go 2 or 3 more stops until we go outside to Exuma Sound and begin the final legs to George Town, Great Exuma Island. We’re interested to see this cruising mecca where up to 400 boats gather at the peak of the season. Happy Valentines Day to all!

Don’t forget to send us your comments. When we get a chance to see them, they really make our day. Click on Comments below!

Brian and Sue
Buds at Sea

Nassau to Warderick Wells, Exumas

2008-01-22T12:03:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone:

All down the ICW, one of the first question you heard was “Where are you going?” Once you said “Bahamas” the next question was “Where in the Bahamas?” We dutifully replied we were going to Exumas and George Town. In truth, we knew only vaguely what that meant, except that all our friends and advisers were clear, that this was THE way to go. In this “chapter” we arrive in the Exumas, and begin our adventures in the northern part of this beautiful island chain.

We reach the Exumas (Wed, Jan 9)

All the weather gurus seemed to say this was a good day to leave Nassau and head SE to the Exumas, so we checked out of the marina and asked for some one to help us with the docklines. It seemed easy enough as we backed out, but let’s just say everything went well until our line handlers refused to cast off the last line. Wind and current did the rest and soon we were bouncing off two neighboring sailboats and threatening a third. When the dust settled, we were back in our slip, bow out ready to start again. This we did with much more precision, and soon we were motoring out the eastern harbor entrance.

We raised sail and were soon going 5.0 knots toward Allen’s Cay in the Northern Exuma Cays. We had to cross the Yellow Banks, which was a concentration of coral heads, “most” of which were deeper than our keel, and all of which were easy to see (IF the sun was high enough and behind you) and maneuver around (IF you kept a sharp look out). As we approached this area, the wind began to die down and the wind chop began to increase, so we started the motor to give us the maneuverability we needed. For the next 50 minutes (4.5 miles) Brian acted as lookout and Sue manned the helm, as we “read the waters” and dodged around maybe 10 dark spots that identified the coral heads that were in our path. We never really saw anything “yellow”, so I guess it’s something you only see if the weather/sun conditions are right.

Once we passed the last coral head on the bank, it was a straight forward motor sail over to Allen’s Cay, and to a relatively crowded anchorage. Due to the depth, we couldn’t go too far into the harbor, and had to settle for a marginal spot at the southern end, exposed to strong currents and the easterly wind. We backed down hard on the anchor and then Brian used the dinghy and our trusty clear bottom “viewing” bucket to be sure our anchor was well buried in the white sand bottom. Everything checked out, so we finally were able to enjoy the sunset on another leg of our voyage. We were planning to make the Exumas our home for the next 3 months!

The tidal current was pretty strong at times, but all the boats managed to swing in unison at our anchors. We kept our GPS and navigation software on all night to be sure we were not getting too close to a large rock about 100 feet to our west. Every so often we tended to swing that way, motivating Brian to awaken at each tide change to check we were still swinging clear at each turn of the current. Some anchorages are more relaxing than others! (Sue seems to have problem sleeping during these events.)

Iguana Days (Thurs, Jan 10)

Like most cruisers, our first priority the next morning was to go to SW Allen’s Cay, and see the iguanas. These little guys (some got about two feet long) look like they could have been cast in some 1950’s dinosaur movies, have the run of the place and are protected by law. You’re not supposed to feed them, but they’ve obviously been very skillful in getting handouts anyway. The minute your dinghy approaches the beach, they come half-way down the sand to greet you – with the biggest ones making sure they get first shot at any handouts.

We took plenty of pictures, and walked across the island to the southern side to see the lone palm tree that stands conspicuously on the island. An occasional rustle in the brush, let us know that the iguanas were still looking for some food. We had brought some cheese and crackers for a picnic snack, but we decided to go over to the beach at Leaf Cay.

It turned out that Leaf Cay had an even bigger iguana settlement, but we decided to go ahead with our picnic, despite all the beady eyes watching us. Fortunately for them, another dinghy arrived, bearing some French Canadians who enthusiastically fed them some chips and candy snacks. With that diversion going on, Sue was free to get out the needle and thread and do some repairs to a zipper and bow cover on our inflatable dinghy.

Hook, Line, and Calamari (Fri, Jan 11) Allen’s to Highborne Cay

Highborne Cay, our next stop, was only five or so miles south, so we got off to a leisurely start at around 10. The winds were from the SE, so we could enjoy a one-hour sail south, before tacking east to our anchorage off the Highborne’s western shore. There were 3 other sailboats there when we arrived, but by sunset we were surrounded by six more cruisers, and three 65-foot plus motor yachts.

Highborne Cay has a nice marina, so we dinghied around the southern tip to check it out and see if we could find some bait to go fishing. The marina was populated with many power boats, including a good size mega-yacht and its assortment of nautical toys (center console fishing boat, two jet skis, etc.)

The store was surprisingly well stocked with staples and some fresh vegetables and meat. As you might guess, the prices were pretty amazing for some common items, like paper towels ($5.10 for one roll), corn flakes ($5.85), large can of corn ($1.85), etc.
Fortunately, our “ships store” is – and remains – in good shape. The supply of “Highborne Cay” Tee shirts was pretty much exhausted, so we settled for some tropical color napkins as a souvenir, and a box of frozen squid for our bait. We then took some time to relax at the marina’s beach with some beverages we had brought along.

We knew next to nothing about fishing, but we happily drifted among the rocks with our handline setup, managing to “catch” the bottom only once, and thankfully not hooking our inflatable at all. The fish were not biting off Oyster Cay or in our anchorage when we returned to Sogno. On the plus side, we now had some “calamari” in the fridge for future fishing trips. Instead of a fish dinner, it was linguini with white clam sauce. Cruisers and fisherman always have a “plan B”.

Running A Tab in Norman’s Cay (Sat, Jan 12)

The winds were very light, when we motored out in the morning for Norman’s Cay, a trip of only 10 miles or so. This was a chance to try out our fishing pole and one of the lures – the pink one. We knew the best fishing was out in the deeper Exuma Sound, but we wanted to figure out how to rig the pole for trolling off our stern. With an assortment of bungee cords, we managed to rig something relatively secure, but the reel didn’t click even once to indicate anyone was go for our sexy pink lure.

We secured our fishing operations as we turned in toward Norman’s and were anchored among 3 sailboats (2 Dutch, 1 Canadian) in short order. There appeared to be very good holding in sand, but a little shallower than expected.

Norman’s Cay had a wild history from 1979 to 1988, when it was the center of a major cocaine smuggling operation. The airstrip is still in operation, but things have become much quieter. The old Norman’s Cay Club that served as the smuggling headquarters is now in ruins.

We dinghied ashore after a light lunch to find the Norman’s Cay Beach Club and see about dinner at the island’s only restaurant. Near the decaying dock ashore, we found a paved road that led us on a 15 minute walk across the island to the airstrip and the Beach Club. When we walked in to “McDuff’s Bar and Grill”, the NFL playoff game was in full progress, the customers were having a good time, and we were greeted by Beth, one very friendly bartender. Soon we had the dinner menu to peruse and a couple of beers (not necessarily in that order). We mentioned we were planning to coming back later for dinner – no problem. Beth: “We’ll just open a tab for you and when you come back we’ll settle up after dinner.” We could just leave it open and resume when we came back for dinner. How’s that for customer convenience – and trust!

We tried to find a short cut back to the dinghy, but only managed to get Sue’s knee scraped when trekking (and therefore, falling) through some underbrush. It was low tide by the time we were back aboard. The tide was just beginning to come in, and as Sogno swung around to point into the current, we quickly noted that we were bumping ever so gently on the sand bottom! Shortening our anchor rode stopped that, but this would definitely not be a good spot to be when the cold front forecast for Monday arrived.

Our dinner that night at the Beach Club was fantastic: grilled mahi-mahi, salad, and some delicious warm bread. We dined out on the deck to enjoy the light SE breeze, and then adjourned to the bar to watch the end of the Green Bay – Seattle game. (It wasn’t lost on us that the game was being played in the snow.) Needless to say, it is a wondrous age we live in that allows high definition snow flakes to be broadcast to a small bar and grill in the Northern Exumas!

We had to take a pass on the Pats game, closed out our tab, and headed back to the beach, flashlight lanterns in hand, for the dinghy ride back to Sogno and our next X-Files episode. A little civilization and a chance to talk with new friends, does indeed uplift the spirits.

The Mighty McDuff Burger (Sun, Jan 13)

Brian was up to check our depth at low tide (4:40 am), and it turned out to be around 1 foot under the keel. We didn’t bump the bottom this time, but first thing we did was to re anchor a little bit to the north and east, where the water was deeper, and we would be in good shape when the wind shifted to the NW on Monday with the arrival of the expected cold front.

Today we decided to do begin with some dinghy exploring. Our first stop was a very small island (50 yards long) with a single palm tree, located near the mouth of Norman’s Cay harbor. It was your classic “deserted island” and it looked approachable only around high tide. We had fun looking for conch shells, and taking pictures of ourselves with the palm tree (See how easy it is for us to keep ourselves occupied when we’re off the boat.)

Our next adventure was to go around the shores of what is a large (but very shallow) harbor that extends 3 miles north of where we were anchored. With the outgoing tide starting to carry us north, we only managed to get half way before the water was too thin even for our outboard. We retreated to Sogno and decided now was as good as any to try one of the famous Beach Club (McDuff’s) hamburgers.

The McDuff burger (with cheese) lived up to its reputation, and then some! It was at least 8 oz., and managed to occupy us for at least 20 minutes. French fries were also very tasty. I don’t know if it had much HDL, but this was definitely “good” cholesterol. Our digestive systems were working in overdrive, as we talked with the Beach Club manager, and watched new arrivals land at the nearby airstrip. A walk back didn’t energize us very much either, so it was back to Sogno for a siesta (Sue) and blogging (Brian). No need for any dinner tonight.

The anchorage, however, was getting a bit tight (13 boats), so after talking with our neighbor Solange IV (Kevin) we let out another 20 feet of rode, so we would both have nearly the same scope.

Sogno Dances ‘Til Dawn (Mon, Jan 14)

Tonight was not a quiet one on the anchor. There was a SE wind that made the boats dance about as the current changed from a NE flood to a SW ebb. To the south of us, we could see lots of searchlights coming on as some boats moved to re-anchor, and as a large “mail boat” maneuvered to tie up in the dark at the dock.

Brian got up to check our position around 3am. (Sue sleeps, of course, through most of this.) Looking about, we appeared to be staying the same distance from our 2 closest neighbors, but checking the chartplotter made it look a lot scarier. Sogno was swinging in circles over the bottom, and the circles were moving to the SW. We didn’t seem to be dragging, but the anchor rode was making noises as it rubbed against the hull. Brian stayed up for the rest of the night with a novel, monitoring Sogno’s travels on the chartplotter screen and popping up every 30 minutes to see if everyone else was staying in step. Everything seemed a lot more normal once the sun was up, but it was a reminder that strong wind and current, can make for a not so peaceful anchorage.

Based on the weather forecast, we decided to dinghy over to nearby Shroud Cay (about 3 miles) and check out the mangrove swamp and creeks. We used our handheld GPS to help us avoid some rocky and shallow areas, and arrived at the NW end of the island around 11:30. We wound our way through the shallow mangrove areas and arrived at a beautiful beach on the other side of the island. We strolled about, talked to Seas The Day (Terry and Nancy) about “must see”, and had our picnic lunch. We then hiked up the 65 foot hill to “Driftwood Camp.” The view from the summit revealed an island whose center was mostly under water (the swamps) and was ringed by hills and beaches. The swamp is a “marine nursery” protecting the baby marine life, until it can later fend for itself in the open water. Shroud Cay is a protected area and is part of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park.

After lunch, we headed back to the west side of the island by another creek. The tide was falling by now, and for a second it seemed as we might have to get out and walk, but eventually we found our way back to open water. After fiddling with the GPS a bit, we set up a return route and made it back to Sogno without incident.

South Anchorage – Less is More (Tues, Jan 15)

With the weather looking favorable, we arranged for an Exuma Park mooring at Warderick Wells Cay and began the short 12 mile trip at around 10:45. We had another great sail, reaching down Exuma Sound at around 6-7 knots. Solange IV was also assigned to the same South Anchorage as we were, and as we made our final approach, radioed us that there was “plenty of deep water in the middle”, and “to get our camera’s rolling” because it was an absolutely beautiful anchorage! With breakers crashing against the shore, we slipped around Hog Cay, and beheld the beautiful (and flat calm) blue green waters and white beaches of the South Anchorage. It was an image right out of a Bahamas travel poster, and we were grinning from ear to ear as we eased past Solange IV to tie up to our mooring ball.

We eventually came off our high enough to dinghy a mile to the North Anchorage and register with the Park. We joined the “Support Fleet” which gives you a break on the mooring fees, and of course met up with many of the boats we had seen along the way (Werplayin, San-I-Tee, Sucia, and Highlander). We returned in time to have cocktails aboard Solange IV (Kevin, Melissa, and young sons James and Caleb). We all agreed that this was a very special spot and that it was like having our “own island.” The North and Emerald Rock anchorages were more popular (near to HQ, more moorings, Wi-Fi, more trails nearby, etc.) but our snug little harbor finally offered a chance to get off the “beaten path” and relax at our own pace.

We “Hit” the Trails (Wed-Thur, Jan 16-17)

The next two days we took time to explore more of Warderick Wells:

Wednesday - A big breakfast (eggs, hash and blueberry muffins) got us off to a good start and we dinghied north to join a Nature Walk, conducted by Bill (Highlander) who has been volunteering at the park for many years. We learned about whales, humming birds, mangroves and the impact of man and storms on the island. We climbed up the limestone path to Boo Boo Hill (where cruisers leave carved signs and to see the blow holes), had our lunch snack at Boo Boo beach, and then ventured out on our own to a few more trails. We then visited with “Werplayin” (Deb, Paul) on their mooring, to find out more of their adventures since we first met them in Staten Island, NY. We were also joined by Solange IV. (Both couples were from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, but hadn’t met until along this trip.) Deb and Paul’s hospitality was impressive with homemade minestrone and cookies topping the menu! We hated to leave and paid for it, with a stiff SW breeze making the return trip a real soaker.

Thursday – We started our exploration of the South Anchorage with a trip over to Escape Beach and a climb to the top of a hill to get a panoramic view. Brian then scrambled over a look at a blow hole above a “tunnel” that leads to the Exuma side. Sue could finally relax when he made it back without falling! Lunch at Capture Beach was followed by a visit to the mysterious “Pirates Lair” in a palm tree grove, where pirates supposedly met to relax. Then we hiked the Wild Dilly trail to Bush Basher Beach. Sue fell on this very rocky trail, and managed to “bash” a finger and her tailbone in the fall. We carefully retraced our steps more carefully and made it back with out further incident. We invited Solange IV over for drinks and learned more about each other’s boating plans. They were cruising south 6 months at a time and then working 6 months back in Edmonton to refill the “cruising kitty.” They were planning to store Solange in Charleston, SC this Spring, so they could be back home by May. Thursday ended under a moon so bright, we could see our dinghy’s shadow on the sandy bottom, along with a sting ray (and pilot fish companion) slowly moving about. A grilled steak dinner brought the day to a successful close.

How Green is My Water (Fri, Jan 18)

We started Friday by taking care of the basics. In this case it was our dwindling supply of fresh water. Brian tested one of the two 6.5 gallon water jerry cans we keep on deck, in addition to our normal 110 gallons. The water was distinctly “tinged” green, but given that we were down to our last 40 gallons of fresh water, we decided to chance it and put it in our empty bow tank to use for showers. By the way, the Exuma Park doesn’t have any water, food, fuel, or garbage facilities available, which turns out to be a very effective way of making sure the cruisers don’t overstay their welcome.

After this little chore, Sogno did some bartering with Solange (we traded a box of Triscuits for two cans of cream of mushroom soup) and tool lending (we loaned a battery hydrometer and borrowed a dental pick for a definitely non-dental project). For recreation, we went to Tiny Beach (yes every patch of sand in the park has a name) and did some snorkeling around a beginner’s coral reef site. We didn’t see any sign of the barracuda that Kevin had spied the day before, but we removed our rings so we wouldn’t any attract the interest of any hungry fish. We did see some colorful fish and coral, but when Brian’s big moment came to use the digital camera carefully sealed in its new underwater case, the camera merely said “change to new battery.” No pictures this time! If you haven’t figured it out yet, we are definitely new to all this snorkeling stuff, so we learn something new every time we don our gear. We also learned how fast you can get sunburned on your back if you don’t keep covered up.

After lunch, we left our special anchorage to motor a few miles to the North Anchorage. We ended up on a mooring only one boat from “Werplayin” and a short 5 minutes to the Park HQ. Even more important, we were within range of the Wi-Fi antenna! After a brief initial success, software problems with the Wi-Fi access site shut us down for the time being.

By the end of the day, our “green water” shower experiment seemed successful. At least we certainly felt much better. It was a relatively early dinner (Chicken Creole), early X-file episode (Brian fell asleep) and an early lights out!

Things Get Hairy (Sat-Mon, Jan 19-21)

Saturday - The first chore, was Brian’s beard trim in the cockpit. Sue did an excellent job, but now Sogno had a “hairy” coat on the transom to go with the salt and sand that could be found everywhere. Even the dinghy did not escape the downwind hair “spray.” The rest of the day was spent reading, relaxing, and prepping Sogno and our mooring lines for the strong cold front expected on Sunday. The highlight of the day, was the “Saturday Happy Hour” on the Beach. Cruisers supplied the snacks and drinks, the Park supplied the ice and bonfire. Over 20 boats arrived and we had a great time making new friends on the beach and learning more about all the great places to go in the Exumas.

Sunday - Today we went into get maximum Wi-Fi strength, so we could make some phone calls over the internet (Skype service is what we use.) Things worked ok, but the reliability is still somewhat suspect – at least on our old laptop. We returned to Sogno to wait for the first sign of the cold front, and it obliged promptly at 4:11 pm when all the gray clouds finally delivered a blast of wind from the North, which quickly built to 25 knots, with some occasional rain squalls. From then on it was turn on some relaxing music, do some reading, and generally get used to the sound of the wind in the rigging. After dinner, for “fun”, we decided to watch our “Perfect Storm” DVD, which did indeed mask the sound of the outside wind, and did remind us that our weather was far from anything serious -- so far!

Monday - We had a reasonably restful night with no excitement in the anchorage. On the positive side, the rain washed away most of the salt and hair, and some of the sand! The wind was more in the 15-20 knot range for most of the morning. This gave Sue a chance to inventory the ship’s stores and for me catch up on “Buds at Sea”. Hopefully this installment will get posted today or tomorrow.

Going forward

We’re planning to depart shortly for Cambridge Cay, which is at the southern end of the Exuma Park. From there we need to stop for some water, laundry, fuel, etc. The logistical challenges are becoming more apparent as we head down the islands toward George Town. Sue is creating a spread sheet as I write this, and soon we’ll know how many days before we run out of something we can’t live without! Fresh water (at $0.50 per gal.) is one thing I know we need to live. Running out of tonic water is another. We’ll let you know how we’re doing in our next installment

Don’t forget to send us your comments. When we get a chance to see them, they really make our day. Click on Comments below!

Brian and Sue
Buds at Sea

No Name Harbor, FL to Nassau & NW Bahamas

2008-01-08T19:32:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone:

For months, we studied everything we could about crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas, and it was always a topic of discussion with other cruisers. Where are you jumping off, where are you heading, and what does the weather window look like? The questions were always the same, but the answers evolved as we grew closer to the jumping off harbors.

This “chapter” covers “THE CROSSING” and our initial cruising in the Northwest Bahamas.

The Crossing (Tue-Wed, Christmas Day to Dec 26)

It was rise and shine at 5 am and anchor up at 6. Sue and I were on our way. Despite a full moon, it was cloudy and darker than expected, but we sorted out the Florida Channel buoys and marks and by 0640 were rounding Cape Florida. We set our initial heading to 104 degrees by compass.

This was 19 degrees to the right of the direct course line to Bimini and North Rock. The adjustment was needed to counteract the effect of the 2.5 knot Gulf Stream which would set us to the North as we crossed it at a boat speed of around 6.5 knots. This was our heading for the next 48 miles. As we motor sailed, we tracked our position on the paper chart. We initially stayed south of our course line. Halfway across the stream, we were back on the course line; then north; and then near the end we came back very close to our intended way point of North Rock. It worked just like the theory said it would!

Sue was first to spot South Bimini Island, and by 2:30 pm, we were passing North Rock and our depth sounder clearly announced we were “on the Bank.” Depths were now around 20 feet even though it looked like we were in a calm area of the open ocean. If the lack of ocean swells couldn’t convince you, then you just had to look over the side and clearly see the bottom. Kind of scary, but the clear blue green water was already working its magic. We set the sails and turned off the motor. We had made it to the Bahamas!

Plan A was to continue crossing the bank slowly through the night so that we would close in on the Northwest Channel light at dawn. The slowly dying wind made it easy to move slowly, but once it got dark, and the current began to affect us, it was a lot easier to just slowly motor.

Sue prepared a great hot dish of chicken and rice which we ate in the cockpit – in the dark. It was a perfect preparation for the first watch by Brian from 5 to 9. Sue napped and then took the 9 to 12:30 watch, and made the course adjustment at Mackie Shoal. Brian then took the next watch, switched from sail to motor and kept a lookout for some overtaking motoring sailboats, plus an occasional commercial vessel traveling toward Bimini. We eventually overtook some of the other boats which slowed down before dawn, as well as a couple of boats who just dropped the hook just short of the Northwest Channel.

Not all the lights and buoys were as charted, but Brian eventually got it sorted out. We passed Northwest Channel light at around at 0610. Sue took it from there and Brian crashed for a few hours, before getting up to let Sue sleep a few more hours until noon.

Nassau slowly came into view and by 1:00 we received permission for Nassau Harbor Control to enter the harbor. We contacted Nassau Yacht Haven, and were happy when they said they had some room for us. We tied up at 2:30 in a mild breeze with some excellent dock line help from John. We now had to wait for Immigration and Customs to clear us in.

We cleaned up Sogno (lots of salt spray) and Immigration arrived within half an hour and we were done in less than 10 minutes. Customs was another matter, but after verifying that there was a Customs officer working her way through other boats in the marina, we just had to wait until around 5:00 or so to answer a few questions and pay our $300 cruising permit fee. Yes – we had arrived! Down went our yellow quarantine flag, and up went our Bahamas courtesy flag. We were free to move about the country!

December 26, is a big holiday in the Bahamas, so almost everything was closed. After taking showers, we ran into George and Lynn (Sunspot Baby) who told us about the weekly cruisers lunch on Thursday (tomorrow). We also got a rundown on what bars and restaurants were open in the area from the friendly security guard. Crazy Johnnies Rock and Roll Bar was our first stop, and we sampled our first Bahamian beer – Kalik. From there we went to a nearby Outback steakhouse, where we got an ok meal, with very indifferent service. We reckoned our waitress was not very happy about working on Boxing Day, and let it go at that. It was time to get some sleep.

Nassau is fun, but Cruising is Better (Thur-Sat, Dec 27-29)

Nassau is on New Providence Island -- the capital of the Bahamas. Nearly 80% of the country lives in and about Nassau. It’s a good sized city, that depends heavily on the tourist industry. We stayed in Nassau for 4 days, and had a chance to organize Sogno, provision, do laundry, meet other cruisers, fix a few items and see some of the sights. At the Cruisers Lunch (Green Parrot) we had a chance to meet local legends Nick and Carolyn Wardle . They helped organize the Bahamian Air Sea Rescue Association (BASRA) and are always helping out arriving cruisers with weather reports and other useful information.

We finally got a handle on the local bus system, and managed to make it out to the Ardastra Gardens to see the flowers, wildlife and flamingo show. The local marina restaurant (The Poop Deck) was a good place to hang out, sample some conch fritters and talk to other cruisers. Watching other cruisers arrive is always fun especially when you have seen them during a cruise such as Event Horizon II (Peter and Cheryl). They shared an anchorage while riding out Noel off the Alligator River. Our self-conducted tour of Nassau included downtown, the Library (originally an old jail), Fort Fincastle, the Water Tower and the Queen’s Steps, plus shops in the area around the cruise ship docks.

By day four, we were getting a bit depressed, since the weather and wind were still not favorable for continuing south --- to the Exumas. We finally decided to head northwest to the Berry Islands, and check out Little Harbour and Cabbage Cays. It was time for us to go cruising and that meant going wherever the wind was bound for!

Reading the Waters in Little Harbour Cay (Sun, Dec 30)

After a stop at the fuel dock, we were underway at around 10am for our 38 mile sail to the Berry Islands and Little Harbour Cay. The skies were clear and we got an hour of sailing in, but the winds were weakening, and from dead astern. We finally had to motor the rest of the way, to be sure we got in with some adequate light.

We arrived at the Little Harbour Cay entrance at 3:45. The sun was just high enough for us to still “read the water colors” and work our way around the brown and dark spots (shallow) and stay in the blue and blue green areas (deep) as we headed for the anchorage. Brian was at the bow busily waving his arms to indicate where Sue should steer - - left, right, more right, left, etc. As we approached the charted anchorage, the depth kept decreasing, and soon all we saw around us were dark spots and depths of 6 or 7 feet. We were close to where a bunch of other boats were anchored, but we couldn’t get any further “local knowledge” so we turned around and headed for High Cay (aka Frozen Cay) which would also give us some shelter from the SE winds.

Our first anchoring attempt (35 # CQR) wouldn’t set, so we changed locations and ended up anchoring near a bunch of other boats who seemed to be riding nicely. Given all the room, we probably were a little closer that we should have been, but we still had adequate swing room, and we didn’t have much time left before the sun set. We declared ourselves anchored and set about preparing to properly watch the sun set.

There was a little bit of roll, but as anchorages go this was a keeper and we slept well after Sue put together a great shrimp and broccoli pasta dish followed by a “Beautiful Mind” DVD.

Ringing in the New Year at High Cay (Mon, Dec 31)

New Year’s Eve day, we dropped our dinghy and did some exploring. Flo’s Conch bar was closed, so we continued motoring about Little Harbour Cay, Comfort Cay and Lizard Cay. The water was shallow enough (less than 2 feet) that we had to row for a while. After getting back in good water, we headed for the local beach and all the cruisers enjoying the water. There were 3 sailboats and a trawler present, and we found out the local scoop on Flo’s (conch, fish, lobster, French fries, and rum punch), how to get a conch out of his shell, where the good snorkeling was, and how to burn your garbage on the beach. We clearly had a lot more to learn.

We headed back to Sogno, and took some time to look at how our anchor was set, using a clear bottom viewing bucket. It was kind of scary to see that the anchor was only 50% buried in the sand, even though it was holding fine. In any event we spent the afternoon recharging the battery, while two of the boats moved over to the Cabbage Cay – Little Harbour Cay anchorage. A grilled steak dinner, some local fireworks and a bonfire we could see on the beach finally put us in a New Year’s Eve mood. We toasted the New Year in a bit early (thanks Dan and Elaine for the champagne) and turned out the lights on what had been a very special year. What would 2008 bring?

Riding Our First Norther (Tues – Sat, New Years Day - Jan 5)

We began the New Year, with a mimosa brunch, followed by a change of anchorage on a rising tide. Going over to join the other boats near Cabbage Cay was not a problem if you came in from the south. What WAS a problem was anchoring. After 3 attempts near where the charted anchorage was, we finally moved out to deeper water and managed to set the anchor with 90 feet of chain and 40 feet of nylon rode. Hooray! We then took another giant step toward Bahamas cruising, by breaking out the snorkel gear and taking our first tentative exploration of the local sea bed off the beach. Needless to say, Sue and I were just thrilled with what was probably pretty tame stuff, but we liked what we saw, and decided that beach people might have something going after all.

We were glad we got this beach time in, because by midnight, the wind began to howl and our first cold front with accompanying “norther” had arrived. For the next 4 days, there was not much to do unless you wanted to go around and get wet (plus salt) in your dinghy in the 20-25 knot winds. We elected to focus on various improvement and repair projects, this blog and just catching up on our reading. Sue kept up morale with food (quesadillas, pasta, brownies, etc.)

One “funny” incident occurred when one night Brian went to bed at around 8:30. We didn’t know it, but around 9 pm one of the boats close to the shore (San-I-Tee) had started bouncing on the bottom and had been forced to re-anchor near us. When Brian woke up at 12:30 and checked the anchorage he saw San-I-Tee and thought she was dragging anchor. On went the search light and he sounded the alarm on our air horn. Once we all got on the radio, we found out what had happened and could all go back to sleep. Brian was “complimented” on watching out for others, but it was clear the wind was wearing on peoples nerves.

By Saturday, the wind was beginning to lessen, and two of the larger sailboats elected to leave for Nassau. The rest of us elected to wait for Sunday, which the weather gurus said was a better day.

Our Best Sail So Far (Sun, Jan 6)

We all got going at around 6:45 am and made it out the entrance at high water with no problems. The wind was a steady 15 knots or so out of the ENE so we had a great sail all the way to Nassau, averaging 6.5 knots, with Sogno leading the way. There was a brief squall to greet us as we approached the harbor entrance, but all went well and we were back in Nassau Yacht Haven by 1:00.

After getting cleaned up a bit, we did some provisioning and stopped by the Poop Deck. We of course talked with more cruisers, including John and Maryann (Lucky Girl) who were docked near us and invited us to stop by in the morning to go over the Exuma charts with them.

Back on Sogno it was a grilled steak, brownies and an X-file episode on DVD. It had been a very good sailing day!

Enjoying Nassau and Getting Ready for the Exumas (Mon-Tue, Jan 7-8)

The weather reports Monday morning were looking good for a Wednesday departure for Allan’s Cay in the Exumas. We did spend some time over at Lucky Girl, learning about good anchorages, snorkel areas, marinas, and hiking areas down the Exumas chain. John and Maryann had spent a number of years in the Bahamas and we thank them for taking time to help out some first timers.

After that we jumped on a bus into town and explored the local Straw Market. We found it more like a tourist flea market, and kind of limited in the local crafts available. We then went out to Arawak Cay (aka “the Fish-fry”) to get some local seafood. Mondays are a slow day there, but we did get some advice from one restaurant owner (“Full Belly”) and had some excellent grilled conch and grouper at “Seafood Haven.” We were so full, we only took the bus back to town, and then walked the rest of the way to the marina to get some exercise.

On Tuesday, we topped off our fuel tanks and jugs and then went off to Paradise Island. It turned out to be an easy walk over the bridge, and we immediately checked out the Atlantis resort. It has a fabulous little aquarium that can be seen for free in the grand hotel lobby. The scale of the whole things is tremendous, and we only saw the casino, marina, and other public areas. The whole resort represented an investment over $1.9B.

After we got back to the marina, we decided to finally buy some fishing gear, and got considerable help from a nearby marine store. After an hour we emerged with rod, reel, hand lines, gaff, lures, and assorted other “accessories”. With a little luck, we should be able to eventually catch something. We’ll keep you informed on how we do.

We’re planning to depart for the “Far Bahamas” tomorrow, crossing the Yellow Bank. Sounds exotic, but we’re assured that it’s a pretty easy run of 35 miles or so, if the east wind stays tame. Stay tuned …

Don’t forget to send us your comments. Click on Comments below!

Brian and Sue
Buds at Sea

Vero Beach, FL to No Name Harbor, FL

2008-01-08T07:37:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone:

This “chapter” covers our adventures from Vero Beach, FL to our Bahamas crossing departure point, No Name Harbor, Key Biscayne, FL.

Hello and Goodbye to the Ditch (Wed, Dec 19)

We got an early 7am start, and were soon on our way to Ft. Pierce. We had decided that we would try our best to avoid the dozens of restricted draw bridges that lay ahead, and go outside (to the ocean) at the Ft. Pierce inlet. By the time we turned at Ft. Pierce to go out the inlet we were making great time, with a favorable current. That ebb tide soon became our nemesis, as a strong east wind began piling up steep 8 foot waves at the entrance. Sogno, and her 63 hp diesel were up to the task, but we still managed to “drive through” (smash) through a number of waves and send the salt spray flying into our cockpit and on us. Soon the mainsail was up, and we were motor sailing down the coast toward our next stop, West Palm Beach. It was fun not to have to glance at the depth finder all the time, and worry about whether we’d be too late for the next bridge opening.

We crossed an ICW milestone of sorts even though we were off shore, by passing south of the ICW 1000 mile mark. It seemed much more than 51 days since we were rushing by mile 0 in Norfolk, VA to make it to the Dismal Swamp locks.

We arrived at West Palm Beach around 4:30 and anchored in Lake Worth. There were plenty of other boats, but there was still a lot of room for more. Lake Worth is a popular jumping off spot for cruisers going to Grand Bahama Island and the Abacos. Our plan though was to go further south to Miami, with a stop at Ft. Lauderdale.

A Bridge Too Far (Thur, Dec 20)

We were underway and heading out the inlet by around 7:30. The waves at the inlet were again steep, but not as high as at Ft. Pierce. The wind was just off our bow, so it was going to be another day of motor sailing, with some occasional squalls to go through before we entered the Ft. Lauderdale inlet.

We had arranged to stay in the Downtown City Docks Marina run by the city. At the end of the inlet, we turned north on the ICW, leaving the big cruise ships in Port Everglades behind us. We waited for the 57 foot draw bridge to open, although we should have been able to clear it by 3 or 4 feet (we were clearly getting nervous about shallow water and low bridges) and then turned off on the New River.

At first it was just a narrow river, well marked that wound past some very nice houses. Then it began to get more urban, and soon it was like a Venetian canal, passing by large yachts “parked” near hotels, with cars driving past us besides the nearby canal walls. It was really wild, especially when we came up to a series of small draw bridges that seemed to open and close within 2 or 3 minutes (like very long traffic lights.)

We actually went one bridge to far, and had to back track (turn around) through the Andrews Ave. bridge before we found our assigned spot along the canal wall. (We actually were assigned a spot way too close to the Third Ave. bridge but were able to tie up at another spot so we would have some maneuvering room when it came time to leave. We were impressed with the constant flow of mega yachts up and down the river, many of them being towed to and from the large yards that were located further up the river.

After getting ourselves settled, and out of our damp foul weather gear, we discovered that our fresh water system was not working. The pump appeared dead. Luckily one of the “must do’s” in Vero Beach was fixing our manual galley sink pump, so we could still easily get water for most uses. But we didn’t have water for showers or the sink in the head and – you guessed it – this marina didn’t have showers! Tomorrow would be a busy day.

We decided to deal with this plumbing crisis in an adult fashion, and headed to the Downtowner Saloon (located a few yards from the marina office) for some quesadilla appetizers with a followup session of fish and chips at the Briny Pub Riverside across the river. We also had a chance to chat with a member of the catamaran Long Reach directly across from us. She and her husband, plus one other crewman were crossing over to West End, Grand Bahamas the following morning and would be underway well before the bridges were closed down for the morning rush.

It’s a Very West Marine Christmas for Buds at Sea (Fri, Dec 21)

The next day we headed off to the bus terminal, and boarded the bus that would take us to the nearest West Marine. We were so busy referring to our city maps,that one of the passengers (in broken English) took pity on us and pointed out where we were every few minutes. He even reminded the bus driver where we needed to get off, so that when we arrived, he made a loud announcement that we were at our stop. We have always found that fumbling with maps will always attract some help from nice people – at least during the day.

The Ft. Lauderdale store, is the largest West Marine we’ve ever seen, with one huge retail area, and a separate building catering just to inflatables. It was suddenly Christmas shopping time for us and Sogno. Besides the exact water pump replacement we needed, we found a lot more things to buy (e.g., some water filters to use when filling our tanks from shore water). Needless to say we had quite a lot of stuff to tote back on the bus.

The water pump was successfully replaced, we took our showers, and we even found some free Wi-Fi to do some email. Things were definitely going well, so we headed to the Downtowner’s happy hour for some spinach and artichoke dip and other special price items! The bartender even remembered our name! We then headed for the shopping and restaurant area on Las Olas Blvd and decided to have some great pizza at the Café Europa. We slept well that night.

Circles in the New River (Sat, Dec 22)

Our getaway the next morning was not pretty. The run to Miami was a little more than 20 miles down the coast, so we didn’t get going as early as usual. Secondly, we had some hiccups to deal with in our navigational PC and electronics, which involved some software re-installs. By that time, there was a good ebb current flowing toward the bridge, and we took nearly 30 minutes walking Sogno back along the wall to give ourselves more maneuvering room.

When we were all set, and there was no other traffic nearby, we cast off our lines, and put it into reverse, neatly backing away and swinging around in the current which was taking us toward the Third Ave. Bridge. From there we simply shifted into forward to pull away from the Bridge and request an opening. Easy to describe, but certainly a thrilling way see that your engine and transmission is in tip-top shape. I’m sure the bridge keeper had watched our struggles and was happy to get us on our way.

The rest of the trip out of the city, was in bright sunshine and very pleasant. We had to wait for a mechanical delay of the big drawbridge near the inlet – it would not open -- , but by 12:30 we were on our way out the inlet. Wind was light, so it was another motoring day, and we arrived at the entrance to Miami around 3:45. We called TowBoat/US to confirm that Government Cut (where the Port of Miami passenger ship terminals are) was closed to pleasure craft for security reasons. This meant we had to detour down Fisherman’s Channel, go north on a section of the ICW, before we could turn east to our planned anchorage along the Venetian Causeway. f

Venetian Causeway is a series of bridges and islands that crosses from Miami on the mainland to Miami Beach. For Sogno, the initial channel is pretty shallow and narrow, but it opens up to a broad bay with good water with many potential anchorage spots. The first ones we looked at seemed to either have some significant current or were in cable areas, where you shouldn’t anchor. We finally settled on spot behind a small un-named island, just north of Hibiscus Island.

After dinner, we were pleasantly surprised to see a parade of lighted boats coming out our way, with Salsa music blaring. We had finally lucked out and been able to see one of these Christmas parades. The weather was perfect and the parade went on for at least 40 minutes, so we had a chance to see quite a variety from big yachts to small runabouts. No sailboats were in the parade, apparently since the parade route included passing under a 35 foot fixed bridge. It was nice end to a day that had begun somewhat badly.

Grocery Shopping by Dinghy (Sun, Dec 23)

After breakfast, we launched our dinghy so we could go for one more provision trip. On the way we stopped to chat with Shamrock, our neighbor in the anchorage. John and Jennifer were from New Jersey and were slowly working their way down toward the Keys. They filled us in on the Collins Canal that would lead us to Publix where we could do our grocery shopping.

With some further directions on the Miami Beach side, we motored for 15 minutes up the very small canal (you ducked as you went under the small bridges) which ran alongside a city street. We locked our dinghy to a cable someone had securely installed along the bank, and just had to cross the street to be in the Publix parking lot. This was very cool – and convenient.

We were back aboard Sogno, re-stowed and under way by 2pm. We followed the ICW south to Biscayne Bay, took a trickier than expected short cut over to Crandon Marina on Key Biscayne and topped off our fuel tanks. We then headed down to No Name Harbor near the southern end of the island.

No Name Harbor is a popular jumping off spot for cruisers going to Bimini in the Bahamas and was pretty full when we arrived around 4:30. We finally positioned ourselves comfortably apart from other nearby boats on our second anchoring try. The harbor is very snug and protected, and located in a Florida State Park. The weather forecast for the following day was a hot topic of discussion among the fleet, but we decided that it would be safer (and more comfortable) to wait an additional day.

Christmas Eve in No Name Harbor (Mon, Dec 24)

After a hearty pancake breakfast, Brian spent the morning preparing our navigational plan (and alternates) for going to Bimini and then on to Nassau. If the crossing was good, Plan A would take us north of Bimini by late afternoon, crossing the Great Bahama Bank by dawn, and then down the Northwest Channel to Nassau by mid afternoon. Sue focused on creating a weather cloth to protect the cockpit from the annoying engine exhaust spray that occurred when the wind was blowing over port side.

That afternoon, we had a pot luck dinner organized by some of the cruisers planning to depart the next day. It was a very different kind of Christmas Eve party, with most of the talk about when people were leaving (anywhere from 4am to 8am), where they were going to clear customs (Bimini, Gun Cay, Nassau) and where they were going after that (Exumas). We also wondered how the boats that had left that morning had fared, but no one had gotten any emails or calls. We broke up just after sunset (we saw the green flash!), and made our way back to Sogno for a very early lights out.

Don’t forget to send us your comments. Click on Comments below!

Brian and Sue
Buds at Sea

Cumberland I, GA to Vero Beach, FL

2008-01-08T07:33:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone:

Well it’s been a long time since we updated you on our progress. This “chapter” covers our adventures from Cumberland Island, GA to Vero Beach, FL. (November 27 to December 18.)

We Reach the Sunshine State (Tues, Nov 27)

Sue got us off to a good start with a great breakfast (scrambled eggs with zucchini, onion, and tomato, and toasted bagel). The weather was overcast and threatening, so we decided to skip going ashore on Cumberland Island. Just as we were about to weigh anchor, two fisherman in a small boat came over to tell us that the owner of a nearby house had seen that we were from Massachusetts and wanted us to know we were welcome to tie up to his dock (he too was from Massachusetts). We still kept to our departure plan, but I must admit I wondered what adventures we missed by not going ashore.

The rest of the trip was uneventful (no nuclear submarines were in transit), and we even took time out crossing Cumberland Sound to try and align our autopilot compass with our regular magnetic compass. The electronic compass was off by 41 degrees. We had learned to “live with it” since the Chesapeake, but it had proved particularly annoying when using the radar in the St. Andrews sound fog. The procedure involved turning lazy circles in the water, but still no luck. We even called Raymarine tech but they couldn’t suggest anything but a new course computer (ouch!).

We crossed into Florida (hooray!), passed by the Amelia Island pulp mills (the odor was noticeable but not obnoxious), and picked up a mooring at the Fernandina Beach Marina just before noon. Some warm showers did their usual wonders, and soon we were off to explore the town. There were lots of shops to check out, plus O’Kane’s Irish Pub (lunch), a local Florida winery store (fruit wine tasting – Key Lime wine anyone?), and our last stop – the historic Palace Saloon (the oldest operating saloon in Florida). There we ran into the crew of Cassiopeia (Wayne and Isabelle) with whom we had shared a Thanksgiving anchorage in Kilkenny Creek, GA.

After all this “shopping”, it was back to Sogno for Chicken Piccata and an episode of “House.”

Dinky Do Goes Bump in the Night (Wed, Nov 28)

We had a noisy night on the mooring, with the mooring pennant eye slapping against the hull during another wind opposed to current situation. We awoke to find a small commercial fishing boat tied to the corner of “Dinky Do,” a small cabin cruiser at the next mooring over. Apparently the fishing boat broke away from its mooring and ended up lying against Dinky Do. Thank you to the owner who managed to secure it to his stern cleat, keeping it from marauding further through the mooring field (in particular Sogno!) By 7:30 am the fisherman came with Tow/Boat US to retrieve his errant vessel.

The rest of the morning we motored down the ICW (one draw bridge), and stoped at Palm Cove Marina, Jacksonville Beach by 1:00pm. We spent the afternoon on various projects (e.g., rearranging storage to accommodate the extra provisions we would need for the Bahamas). We then explored the local area, which was too far from the beach, and mostly shopping centers. We picked up some Chinese takeout and made it back to Sogno.

St. Augustine Lights Up the Holidays (Thur, Nov 29)

After some early showers, we made a graceful exit from our slip (no wind) and passed through the B.B. McCormick draw bridge (very friendly keeper). During the approach to St. Augustine, there was a bit of confusion between the inlet buoys and the ICW marks, but we sorted that out and tied up in the Municipal Marina at 2pm. The nearby Bridge of Lions draw was being completely repaired, and next to it was a temporary lift bridge that would be torn down at the end of the construction. Our slip was within 50 yards of some construction barges and tug boats, but we slid in nicely to our assigned slip.

St. Augustine is a popular stopping spot, and we ran into Werplayin (Deb and Paul) who we hadn’t seen since Annapolis. We stocked up on some more oil filters and the latest edition of Skipper Bob’s “Bahamas Bound” guide at the marina store, and then began wandering the downtown area, which was all decorated and lit up for Christmas. The plaza in front of the Lightner Museum was really spectacular. (We hope to visit the Museum someday.)

We of course couldn’t help but run into more boaters, when we paused for refreshments. Adam (a live aboard) was busy investing all his spare cash into rice, beans, and canned goods for a future trip. Gregg and Coreen, from Winnepeg, Canada (Gormet) were also heading for the Bahamas. We finished up at O.C. Whites for a nice dinner.

Planning and Flexibility are the Secret (Fri, Nov 30)

We wanted to stay another day in St. Augustine (Plan A), but the marina was expecting a large group of 45 boats that day, so we had to leave. After a thrilling exit (backing against the current toward the previously mentioned barged), we tried to find a suitable anchorage on both sides of the lift bridge (Plan B). No luck. So after calling a few other marinas we decided to press on down the ICW. Butler Beach basin (Plan C), despite an excellent Skipper Bob rating, was shallow with a lot of current, and Brian managed to touch bottom for a while. The cement plant canal (Plan D) didn’t seem all that inviting, so we finally settled on Palm Coast Marina (Plan E).

We didn’t do too badly during the landing, but it took as 40 minutes to sort out all 6 docklines we used to secure us in the slip. After a light lunch, we finally got the right guy at Raymarine on the phone, and within 5 minutes our autopilot compass alignment problem was solved. (If we had bothered to look in Sogno’s log book entry of 17 August 2005, we could have “refreshed our recollection” weeks earlier and saved ourselves a lot of grief.)

Thanks to the marina Wi-Fi, we got some quality time on the Internet, as well as some reading up on the Bahamas. Sue put together a “comfort food” menu for dinner (aka tuna helper) and on that note, we wrapped up another “flexible” day on the ICW.

Seven Seas Marina (Sat-Mon, Dec 1-3)

Our next destination was Daytona Beach, but after a few attempts at anchoring (too shallow, or not enough room), we decided to try out the Seven Seas Marina at nearby Port Orange. At $0.80 a foot dockage, it was too good to pass up, and it turned out to be a great choice. There was a very narrow channel into the marina, but we were met by at least 4 persons who helped secure us to the side of the fuel pier in short order. The showers/restrooms were “basic” but the friendly owners and Pat’s Riverfront Café on the premises made it a special stop for us.

The first night we managed the usual dining out, with appetizers at DJ’s Deck and dinner at another place under the nearby bridge. After you ordered/paid for your meal, you could sit anywhere, and they still managed to find you. We took home half of our mahi-mahi and tuna dinners for a future meal. For good measure we ordered a Key Lime cannoli to go with the “Master and Commander” DVD that night on Sogno.

Pat’s Riverfront was a great old fashioned breakfast and lunch place: good food, service and prices. We managed to hit breakfast there 3 times in a row and really loved the omelets, pancakes, bacon and hash browns.

We also decided that this do-it-yourself yard was the place for us to have Sogno hauled. We knew our zincs needed changing and we wanted to see what the bottom was like. (Sacrificial zinc fittings are attached to the propeller shaft and hull and are designed to corrode instead of other metal parts below the water line – ours are usually used up in the course of a normal 6 month season back home). They hauled Sogno at the end of the day (Sunday) and left her hanging in the travel lift slings. We managed to change the zincs, clean up the propeller and knot meter paddle wheel, and wipe off only a light coating of slime on the hull. The bottom paint was definitely working well and still looked in decent shape for the rest of the trip. We must have certainly been a sight – water and blue slime all over us. All of our clothing went into the marina washer while we took showers. The Captain suggested dinner out so we went out for pizza and then spent the night rocking gently onboard Sogno – hanging in the sling. It was weird. The next morning they dropped us back in the water. The entire operation cost us under $100 and they didn’t charge us for any dockage that night!

Monday was spent as follows: going to Radio Shack for a new power cord for our backup computer hard drive and a head set for internet telephoning (Skype); washing down Sogno’s deck and cockpit; walking along Daytona Beach (cars have a 10 mph speed limit); provisioning; getting some quarters for the hungry laundry machines; and testing Skype on the internet. (See how we keep busy between meals!)

On the Hook in Titusville (Tues, Dec 4)

After one last breakfast at Pat’s, we were helped out of our dock and got back on the ICW. This stretch, had a number of shallow spots and we managed to dodge most of them except near “R2” mark near Ponce de Leone Inlet. We hit a shoal at around 5knots and Sue was sent tumbling on to the edge of the cockpit seat. Nothing serious other than the standard boat bruise, but it could have been worse. We managed to back off and proceed (more cautiously) through some more shallow sections, passing “Jubilee” (family of 5) which we hadn’t seen since Deltaville, VA.

We were now in manatee country, and there were many speed controlled areas. (Manatees are gentle marine mammals that feed on grass, and can be easily run over by power boats.) We think we saw our first one in Haulover Canal, but in general we didn’t see very manatees at all.

We finally got back in the anchoring game, and dropped the hook off Titusville in the Indian River. We managed to have a civilized cocktail hour, watch the news, grill a steak and watch TV (House, Boston Legal) with key lime cheese for dessert. Now that was a great anchorage!

Happy Hour Grazing in Melbourne (Wed, Dec 5)

Many boaters were opting to stay around Titusville for the shuttle launch scheduled the next day, but we decided to press on for Melbourne. (The launch was ultimately delayed a few days and then scrubbed.) We arrived at the Melbourne Harbor marina, fueled up, and then docked with our usual display of dock line tossing and piling lassoes to hold us in place. By now we were noticing that sailboats are given very easy docks to tie up if at all possible!

Brian’s cousin Joann, who lives in Melbourne, was still not answering our voice messages, so we set off to see how competitive the Melbourne Happy Hour scene was. First stop: Meg’s Restaurant and Irish Bar where we met John, a NJ snowbird and retired Wall St. guy, who kept telling us what a great thing we were doing. The Caribbean Jerk Chicken Wings we were eating were also a great thing. Next Stop: Main St. Bar where we met Frank (with broken foot) a former sail boat and trawler owner. He was a nice guy, but in a run of bad luck. Besides the foot, he was a real estate agent and the local real estate market was also broke. He filled us in on all the waterfront development disasters, which explained why all the high rises we had been seeing along the ICW lately seemed very dark. Last stop: Ichabod’s back at the marina where we had a most excellent Chicken Quesadilla.

We Arrive in “Velcro Beach” (Thur, Dec 6)

Our next stop was Vero Beach, widely referred to as “Velcro Beach.” The City Marina was so cruiser friendly, that once you got there, you found yourself stuck there for many more days than you had planned. When we arrived at 2:30 we were assigned to a mooring, but told to prepare our boat to raft with up to two other boats. This was a unique arrangement, but a great way to get a lot of boats into a well protected anchorage as well as an easy way to meet more cruisers. The daily mooring rental ($11) was also another incentive to stay. By coincidence, we were moored right in front of the Vero Beach Power Squadron club house.

During registration, we met Stan, an experienced ICW/Bahamas cruiser from Salem. He stood out from the crowd when I saw his Jubilee YC (Beverly, MA) tee-shirt. Stan and Judy (Rhumb Runner) were a great source of information, local transport, and just fun folks to have over for a sundowner.

Later, we walked over to the Riverside Café, which was quarter mile from where we were moored, and discovered this became a very popular place from 4 to 7 each day, when half price beers kicked in!

Stuck in Vero -- and Loving It (Fri, Dec 7- Tues, Dec 18)

We were going to stay 4 or 5 days, but ….

Why do cruisers get “stuck” in Vero? It has a free shuttle bus system to get you around town (donations welcome). All the usual chains are there (Home Depot, Lowes, Wal Mart, Target), along with super markets, banks, post office, library and of course the mandatory West Marine store (very small which saved lots of $$). A nearby beach, parks, restaurants are added bonuses, but the thing that really makes Vero special is the close community of transient cruisers and snowbirds wintering over. They help you in so many ways to get your bearings and help you with your ICW, Bahamas, and Florida Keys questions. There’s even a local “alumni society” of boaters who have come down to Vero to live permanently. They’re called CLODS (Cruisers Living On Dirt) and they organize a Wednesday cruiser’s breakfast, and other social events. One night the marina was treated to Christmas carolers who came by one evening in lit up kayaks to get us all in the spirit of the season. In short, Vero Beach and its marina is just the perfect place to catch your breath, send and receive your mail (Sue did the Christmas cards), focus on the next part of your trip or simply enjoy each other’s company.

Within two days of arriving, we rafted up with Flutter Bye (Steven, Genvieve) and Delphinus (Fred, Diane). Steven and Genvieve were from Montreal, and although language was sometimes a problem, we were able to help Genvieve out when Steven was called back to snowy Montreal for one week of work. Fred and Diane (veteran Bahamas cruisers) in turn helped us out in provisioning and what were the best weather sources for the Bahamas that we could tune into on our single side band (short wave) receiver. They also brought us a bag of fresh oranges and grapefruit –thanks Fred and Diane.

Vero also turns out to be a place to see old “friends” we had met along the ICW (Jubilee, San-I-Tee, Cassiopeia, Werplayin) plus many new friends who helped us with ideas and encouragement:
Tom and Susan (Gypsy Soul - which is a Gozzard 36)
Andrew and Carolyn (Pendragon, previously home ported in Boston)
Neal and Stephanie (Rhapsody, home ported in Portsmouth, NH)
Ernie and Carolyn (Hispaniola, also from Portsmouth)

A few days after we arrived, we finally connected with Brian’s cousin Joann and her husband Jack. We had a great dinner at a restaurant right on the beach (thanks Joann and Jack!) plus a chance to catch up on family news.

In the repair/improvement department, after thinking it over all the way down the ICW, I finally decided to buy a 44 lb. Claw anchor to backup our other two anchors. We also improved our Wi-Fi reception when we finally got the antenna/receiver we ordered back in North Carolina. (Thanks Dan for sending it, and thanks Sebastian for recommending it). I re-spliced our nylon anchor rode to the 90 feet of chain on our main anchor and made up two eye splices for our 150 towing line so it could be used as a backup anchor rode if necessary. We also got some spare propane fume detectors, when one of the two on board began to act up with false alarms.

At last the moment had come, when we finally had to admit that all the “must do” items were done and we really had packed our boat with enough food and drink. It was to time to go.

Don’t forget to send us your comments. Click on Comments below!

Brian and Sue
Buds at Sea

Minim Creek, SC to Cumberland I., GA

2007-12-08T07:36:00.000-08:00

December 8, 2007

Hi Everyone:

It’s really fun when we hear from you. The responses and comments really brighten our day when we get a chance to go online. So thanks to all who have taken the time to share their thoughts with us and for the rest of you -- please go to the end of this posting and click on the word Comments and let us know what you think.

My apologies to all who have been wondering what happened to “the Buds at Sea” for the past few weeks. Somehow, other priorities are always popping up, but I will redouble my efforts, and try to keep up every day so I can get back to a weekly publishing schedule. I’m hoping some Wifi technology will make it easier to post updates as we go along.

We’re currently in Vero Beach. We arrived two days ago, and as advertised, it’s a great spot for cruisers to provision and get organized for further cruising. We’ll probably stay another 3 days at least.

So how did we do in the Carolinas and Georgia? This posting picks up in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Minim Creek under the Stars (Sun, Nov 11)

Sunshine Daydream (Tracy and Vytas) got off to an early start at 7 and told us their goal was Minim Creek. We left about 15 minutes later. This was a pretty easy day with only one drawbridge and we passed mile 400 on the ICW as we cruised down the sparsely settled Waccamaw River. It was a bit blustery as we passed by Georgetown, with the wind on our nose as we went down Winyah Bay, but soon we were back in a narrow ICW cut and anchored in the marshes surrounding Minim Creek by 3:30.

There was one other boat, but no Sunshine Daydream. We figured they had pressed on further to be closer to Charleston, where they planned to stay a week with family. We enjoyed an exceptional sunset followed by Sue’s pasta with clam sauce. It was a very calm night, and the stars and Milky Way were in full splendor. After a brief reflection on how lucky we were to be here, we reverted back to our usual vices and watched a couple more X-File episodes on the DVD!

Warming up for Charleston (Mon, Nov 12)

We were up and off the hook by 8:30. We were passed by the motor cruiser “Roving Seas” and had a short chat on VHF about Marblehead and Niantic, CT where they were from. All was pretty routine, until around 1:00, when I managed to run aground briefly. This time it was following the Skipper Bob ICW Guide to take day mark G “89” wide. I guess my “wide” was a little wider than Skipper Bob had in mind.

We arrived in Dewees Creek (northwest branch) around 2:10, completely surrounded by marshes, and it was warm – at last! We had cocktails as the sun set and then had a steak dinner (Brian finally got to fire up the BBQ) with sweet potatoes, zucchini and salad. We followed up with TWO X-file episodes. Living was easy!

Charleston Casts Its Charm (Tues, Nov 13)

We were off to a good start, and our luck continued when the only swing bridge we had to go through was opened perfectly by the bridge operator, so that we never even had to slow down. (It’s the simple pleasures that count on the ICW!)

At 10:30 we broke out of the “ditch” into Charleston Harbor and had some time for some sightseeing from the water (Fort Sumter, Fort Johnson, and the city itself). We even stopped the motor and actually sailed for an hour. What a concept! A sail boat using its sails on the way south! Charleston from the water was very impressive -- a nineteenth century city with a skyline dominated by church steeples and bell towers. Because of all the churches, Charleston is known locally as the “Holy City.” Let’s just say, I never heard that part about Charleston when I was in the Navy.

We tied up on the Ashley River side of town at the Charleston City Marina on the outside of the “Mega dock.” It gets its name from its size (over 1000 feet long) and the size of the yachts tied up to it. There were a number 200 foot plus mega-yachts tied there while we were there, plus two schooners and an occasional coastal passenger ship.

After we showered and had lunch, we grabbed our maps, jumped on a marina courtesy van, and soon found ourselves on East Bay Street at the city market. We proceeded get our bearings and walk through the large historic district to White Point Gardens and the Battery overlooking the harbor. You could tell immediately, that historic preservation (architecturally and otherwise) was a core Charleston value.

While looking for a restaurant that evening, we were “hailed” by four diners at the Crab Shack who highly recommended the various Low Country Boil dishes on the menu. (steamed shrimp, oysters, scallops, corn, and potatoes) They figured out from our hats that we were on Sogno. Turns out they were from “Roving Seas” (Niantic, CT), who had chatted with us the previous day. To top it off, the boat’s owners lived just a few houses down from the only couple we knew in Niantic. (Vicki, I’ll let you lead the chorus in “It’s a Small World.”).

Charleston Beats the Advanced Billing (Wed-Fri, Nov 14-16)

We won’t bore you with the details, but the bottom line is clear -- you have to visit Charleston for a few days. It’s filled with friendly people, good food and drink, interesting history, and architectural details that keep drawing you down side streets and peeking into walled off gardens.

Recommendations: Go to the visitor center, see the Welcome Video and get your DASH shuttle pass. See the Calhoun House (fabulous collection of art, furniture and Tiffany chandeliers). Take a walking or carriage ride tour. Grocery shop at Harris Teeters. Stay at the City Marina – top notch facilities, excellent courtesy van service, and friendly staff. Don’t miss the excellent breakfast at the “Variety Store and Restaurant” near the marina. Watering holes/food: Crab Shack, Tom Condon’s Pub, Moe’s, Noisy Oyster, Mad Grill. 82 Queen Street for a special dinner in the courtyard or one of the many dining rooms.

Amidst all that, we managed to do some minor engine maintenance (change oil, zinc, clean sea strainers) and general clean up to get Sogno – and us (laundry) -- ready for South Carolina and Georgia Low Country to come.

We also met Rick and Cindy (Dragonfly), who had left Marblehead ahead of us. They are friends of our house sitters (Jon and Shawna) and we had been both on the lookout for each other. They were anchored in the Ashley, near the marina, and they spotted Sogno on a dinghy run ashore. They left their boat card in the cockpit, and we were able to get together for 40 minutes or so aboard Sogno one evening. Coincidently, we learned that the person they have watching their house was one of our former next door neighbors.

We pass the 500 Mile Mark (Sat, Nov 17)

Despite the moderate current on our stern, we managed to back off the mega-dock neatly (i.e., didn’t hit the boat ahead of us) and resume our voyage south. Despite the sub-40 degree temps at dawn, it managed to get up to the 60s by the afternoon. We were now deep into the Low Country and passed mile 500 on the ICW. We had many dolphin sightings, and captured one pair we could practically touch, on 30 seconds of video. We hope to get that posted, once we figure out how to edit it a bit. (I thought of you Vicki, when we had the camera rolling.)

We anchored in a bend of the South Edisto River (just off the ICW), and celebrated 500 miles on the ICW with grilled lamb steaks, salad, potato and an appropriate beverage, followed by a DVD movie: “Flags of Our Fathers.” We want to now see the second movie that presents Iwo Jima from a Japanese soldier perspective.

Beaufort, SC: Can you say BWEW-fert? (Sun, Nov 18)

We passed through the Beaufort draw bridge and were tied up at the Downtown Marina by 1:00 (an easy approach to a floating dock against the current). Wifi came up with out a hitch, but we took off to see the Bay Street shopping area, a beautiful walk along the river and anchorage.

When we got back to the marina, we spotted Journey (Bill and Marlene) of Elizabeth City “wine and cheese” fame. We agreed to meet after dinner to watch the Patriots game. We risked our ear drums and had dinner at Kathleen’s, which had a blues band playing on the riverside deck. The Journey crew was still waiting for their meal at game time, so we took a rain check and headed back to Sogno to retire with our usual DVD episode.

Up Bull Creek (Mon, Nov 19)

This morning, to get a decent Wifi signal from the marina, Brian set up shop with his laptop, on a park bench. Not surprisingly, the first priority was to order a “super” Wifi antenna that promised a range of “up to 1 mile.” (We would settle for 300 yards!) In the email department, the Marblehead tax collector was there to ask for the boat excise tax. (Thanks Jon for sending a copy of the bill to us.)

We got underway backing out against a small flood current, and bidding farewell to Journey for now. That day we motored pass the Marine Basic Training base at Parris Island (very large) and eventually anchored in the middle of the marshes around 3:00. We were literally “up Bull Creek” (mile 565.5!) Some of us planned, some of us dreamed (aka naptime), but morale was high after a broiled chicken dinner. A calm anchorage and full tummy is something always to be appreciated!

We “bump” into Georgia (Tue, Nov 20)

We got off to a good start, and made it pass all the “Caution” areas in our Skipper Bob guide, UNTIL we entered Field’s Cut very near low tide. This is literally the last leg of the ICW in South Carolina, since it breaks out into the busy Savannah River, which marks the boundary with Georgia.

We started out on the left side of the channel after we saw “Eau Sauvage” (a sailboat from Montreal) run aground on the right side. Soon we saw them zigging one way and the other. As we followed behind, we saw why. It was like slaloming around shoals that came out from each bank to grab you. Finally, our Canadian “guide” ran aground only 200 short yards from the river. They backed off the mud and graciously suggested we give it a try! We tried left; we tried middle. NO GO. We just about gave up, and then we tried the same starboard path as our new friends, but this time turned toward the middle of the channel short of where they had bottomed out. The depth stayed good, and we were back in the center of the channel, we head straight for the river. We made it – and what’s more there were no big ships in the river bearing down on us! Eau Sauvage followed our lead, and a few hours later we both ended up at the same marina in the aptly named town of Isle of Hope, GA.

After we got tied up, we went over to meet the Eau Sauvage crew. They were so grateful for our help, that we got a bottle of genuine Canadian maple syrup as a present. Merci beaucoup!

After signing in, we got the necessary info to take a one hour bus ride into to Savannah for $1 each. This was our second visit, but this time we got to see what the suburbs were like. We arrived downtown around 5:00, just in time to do a Happy Hour survey. We settled on the Blue Moon Brewery on Bay Street, followed by dinner at the Old Tavern on River Street. It had been a long day indeed by 7:40 pm, so we elected to take a 20 minute taxi ride back to Isle of Hope and call it a day.

An Early Thanksgiving Feast (Wed, Nov 21)

Sogno’s crew was back for more the next morning, starting this time on a more cultural note at the “Ships of the Sea” museum (highly recommended). Lots of local nautical exhibits on commercial shipping and the Civil War, plus unexpected exhibits on the Titanic and the building in which the museum was located.

Culture always sharpens our appetites, so we jumped on the free city shuttle, and with the aid of a very jovial bus driver who told us to “trust me”, we were dropped off within a few yards of “Mrs. Wilkes Place.” It was around noon, and there were already 20 people in line for her famous “family style” Southern cooking. We jumped in line and within 20 minutes we were seated at a big table with 9 other folks, facing a huge selection of vegetables (corn, potatoes, a variety of beans, peas squash, turnips, collard greens, cabbage) and entrees (meat loaf, stew, barbeque pork, and fried chicken), biscuits, and iced tea. Everything began circulating clockwise, and continued until we couldn’t eat anymore, or were just embarrassed we were the only ones still eating. Most everyone still had room for the banana pudding. By the time we got up from the table, I realized I didn’t even know what the price was. It turned out to be a non-issue -- $15 each!!

Other attractions: Railroad Roundhouse museum, Savannah museum (lots about WWI and WWII also).

We wrapped it up with some more “grazing” along River St. and managed to have the same taxi driver we had the previous night to take us back to the marina.

Much to be Thankful For (Thur, Nov 22)

We got an early start (for us) at 8:30 on Thanksgiving morning, but our string of graceful exits ended we tried to leave the dock and avoid a large catamaran was pointing bow-to-bow with us on the dock. We nicked Sogno’s bow a bit, in trying to go forward and clear the cat. We got some more help from the catamaran couple, and with the use of a spring line and some initial forward power to kick Sogno’s stern out. We were very “thankful” to eventually back out without any more scratches or embarrassment.

We were also very thankful to get through two more “caution areas” in the Georgia ICW appropriately named “Hells Gate” and “Florida Passage” without seeing less than 2 feet under our keel. By the time we anchored in Kilkenny Creek, around 12:30 the tide was down, the wind was up, and we were happy to kick back and enjoy the marsh scenery with two other sailboats and a trawler.

Sue put together a delicious pasta dinner combining Lemon Pepper linguine (a gourmet shop purchase in Beaufort, SC) with Trader Joe’s piccatta sauce (thanks Vicki for the Trader Joe tip). Despite the “one-bar” cell phone service, Brian even managed to complete a call to his sister Norene in Denver, with only 3 or 4 drops.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family. While this was a different kind of Thanksgiving for us, it still reminded us of how very fortunate we are. We owe much to so many for helping us on this adventure and plus a special debt to those who protect our freedoms at home and overseas.

When winds oppose the tide … (Fri, Nov 23)

As we motored out of the creek, a woman on one of the sailboats (Cassiopeia) popped out of the cabin to ask it we were really planning to go into St. Catherine’s Sound. It turns out they had tried on Thanksgiving, but had to come back to the anchorage because it was so rough. I explained that we were, but weather seemed to not be an issue today.

Along the way we had some momentary glitches in our battery charging system, and managed to pass one navigation aid on the wrong side, without incident. We also made it past still another caution area (Creighton Narrows) and anchored in the Duplin River, about 600 yards short of a 35 ft power line (Sogno’s metal mast is 53’ high). Given that this is a north-south river, and the evening wind was forecast from the North or North East, this wasn’t an ideal anchorage, but it seemed to be the best in the area, with some wind protection.

Despite a steak dinner, a clear sky with a full moon, and a pretty setting, this was the worst anchorage of the trip. Around 1:00 am the waves slapping against the hull signaled this would not be a quiet night.. With the wind blowing 20 knots from the north, and the strong tidal current flowing north, it started getting choppy. Sogno couldn’t decide whether to point into the wind or into the current so she did a little of both. The net result was a very rolly-poly night, with lots of noises of chain rubbing against the hull and the rigging that supports the bowsprit (aka bobstay). This was not your restful safe harbor!

We Land in the Golden Isles (Sat, Nov 24)

After a fitful night on the hook, within an hour of dawn, the full moon set and it was indeed darkest before the dawn. When the sun finally rose, the spring tide had risen at least a foot more than the previous day, covering much of the marshes and making the river look wider than it really was. The sign warning about the power lines, was half-submerged.

Despite the 20 knot wind gusts, we had an easy time leaving the anchorage, and once we were heading south again, the wind was not as much an issue. Maybe some time, we’ll come back in calm conditions, and give the Duplin a chance to live up to some of the glowing cruising guide descriptions.

We passed through still more of the “caution areas” (Little Mud River, Altamaha Sound, and Buttermilk Sound) where dredging was badly needed, but with the above average tide, we had no problems. A few of the day marks were hard to spot since the tops were only 3 feet above the water!

We arrived at Golden Isles Marina (across from St. Simon’s Island) and Sue made a perfect landing on the face dock, in a very strong current. Melissa, the dockmaster, was extremely efficient in arranging fuel, pumpout and a courtesy car for us, while Sue put their laundry to good use. Within 3 hours we were off on a quick drive around St. Simon’s Island enjoying a peek at its old lighthouse and the well planned community. We provisioned at a Harris Teeter supermarket, and returned to the Marina for showers and an excellent dinner at the Coastal Kitchen marina restaurant. Whew! We had done more in 6 hours at this marina than we can normally get done in a day at most places.

Biking on Jekyll Island (Sun, Nov 25)

Today’s run was less than 10 miles. Our destination was Jekyll Island, sight of the historic “Millionaire’s Club”, where all the prominent names of the late 1800’s built their cottages, moored their yachts and gathered for formal dinners at the “club house.” The state of Georgia now owns the entire island and the club house is now a classic hotel.

After making it through another caution area in Jekyll Creek (easy when you do it at high tide), we were greeted by the friendly staff of Jekyll Harbor Marina. They (plus a crowd of 6 onlookers) were there to help us with our lines as Sue made an excellent approach into the current. After a quick lunch, we were off to explore the island on the free marina bicycles.

They say you never forget how to ride a bike, but we both needed time to get use to these single speed bikes, with old fashioned pedal brakes. For Sue the problem wasn’t stopping, it was getting the bike to lean to the same side as her extended foot when she came to a stop. After 7 or 8 “mini-crashes”, it was time for some serious practice. After that, biking (and stopping) started to be much more enjoyable. Fortunately, the bikes had seen their days so a few more scratches probably didn’t make any difference.

We toured the southern part of the Island (beaches and picnic areas) and stopped with some other bikers to enjoy a beer at Blackbeard’s Restaurant. Back in the historic district, we poked around the shops and then headed for the “Rah Bar” along Jekyll Creek. The steamed shrimp was so good we managed to go through two pounds!

Our next stop was a walk through the impressive club house, and a peek at the grand dining room. We also discovered a snug little pub off the basement, where our bartender Ali (who lives on her boat at the marina) brought us up to speed on future development plans for the island. Nothing drastic, but after 50 years of very little change, it looked like change was coming to many of the old motels and restaurants outside the historic district.

We raced back to check in our bikes by 6pm, and a quick bite at the marina restaurant. We had biked about 10 miles, but I suspect the calories expended did not cover the food and drink we had consumed along the way. We’ll try harder the next time.

Fog and Shrimp (Mon, Nov 26)

We woke to fog, which was even thicker by 8:00. It eventually lifted and by 10:00, we were on our way to Cumberland Island. One more “caution area” was ahead – St. Andrews Sound, which can get nasty if the wind is up. There was very little wind, but was nasty this time was a big fog bank that sat right at the mouth of the sound where we would make our turn back to enter the Cumberland River.

We had our radar going, but due to some problems with the electronic compass, the display was some times confusing. We passed two sailboats (one with radar) who had turned back. We kept going, and made the turn without incident (i.e., didn’t hit the buoy or run aground). We sounded fog signals, and communicated with an overtaking power catamaran via VHF before we finally came out of the fog in less than 30 minutes after we entered. The other two sailboats also emerged 10 minutes later. We were back in the Georgia sun!

The rest of the trip was uneventful, although there were the usual thin water “tensions” to deal with on occasion. We also passed the huge Navy submarine base at Kings Bay, but didn’t see any missile subs underway. By 3:00 we turned into the Cumberland Island anchorage, which already had around 10 boats. The catamaran at the head of the anchorage was moving to a new location, and the skipper invited us to take his place.

By the time the hook was set, it was a bit too late to go ashore and explore the island. We settled for cocktails and steamed shrimp in the cockpit, followed by more Georgia shrimp over lemon pepper linguine for dinner. Remember: when cruising always have a plan B!

Coming attractions: More Golden Isles, the warm weather returns when we arrive in Florida, pass the 900 mile mark on the ICW, and settle down for a spell in “Velcro Beach.”

Don’t forget to send us your comments. Click on Comments below!

Brian and Sue
Buds at Sea

Oriental, NC to Barefoot Landing, SC

2007-11-26T05:51:00.000-08:00

November 22, 2007

Hi Everyone:

It’s really fun when we hear from you. The responses and comments really brighten our day when we get a chance to go online. So thanks to all who have taken the time to share their thoughts with us and for the rest of you -- please go to the end of this posting and click on the word Comments and let us know what you think.

It’s Thanksgiving Day, and Sue and I surely have much to be thankful for this year. We apologize for not keeping our blog up to date, but as you will read, we have been quite busy enjoying our journey through the Carolinas.

We are currently anchored in the Georgia “low country”, in Killkenny Creek. The day started out rather gray, and we had to rush to keep up with the tides, but right now the sun is out, the skies are blue and we are looking out on miles of golden marsh grass with the temps in the low 70s. We’re nearing Florida, but are focused right now on how to get through the few “thin spots” on the ICW at mid-tide and at the same time enjoy visiting St. Simons, Jekyll, and Cumberland Islands. Life is good!

So how did we do in the Carolinas? This posting picks up at Oriental, NC.

If it’s BOH-fert, we must be in North Carolina! (Mon, Nov 5)

Just as we were weighing anchor from Oriental, a “small” 200-ft. cruise ship arrived, to swallow up our place in the anchorage. It must have shaken up the boat anchored behind us, when he saw the new guy on the block dominating the anchorage.

This was the first day when dolphin sightings began to happen frequently as we skirted areas that opened directly on to Pamlico Sound and neared the direct opening to the ocean at Morehead and Beaufort, NC. We arrived at the Beaufort City Docks at around 1:30 pm, and didn’t even scratch the huge yacht next to us during the landing. We stayed on our best behavior trying to pronounce Beaufort just right (BOH-fert). We had been warned by dozens of boaters we shouldn’t confuse it with Beaufort (BYEW-fert), which was in South Carolina.

After lunch we took a stroll in the nearby shopping and residential area, got our email at the local library, and generally enjoyed the sights of Beaufort. Of course we couldn’t pass up some crab dip and “buffalo shrimp” appetizers at Clawsons.

More importantly, we also managed to get some valuable “tid bits” on the Georgia portion of the ICW. We were seated next to a friendly “delivery captain” who gave us some thumb rules for predicting currents knowing the tides, and frankly advised us to go outside and avoid the shallow and twisting ICW in Georgia. (Delivery captains are hired by owners to move their boat from one location to another at quickly as possible.) While his cautions about Georgia gave us pause, we are still determined to “stay the course”. Based on the advice of our ICW cruising friends back home (thanks, Dave and Cal, Peter and Vicki) plus many other first timers we have met along the way, we think the Georgia section has lots to offer us.

Catching up with the To Do List (Tues, Nov 6)

Today was a chance to get caught up on the logistical details. Sue got the marina courtesy car (a ’93 woody station wagon) to do some provisioning at Piggly Wiggly and Food Lion, while I fueled Sogno at our slip. This was the first marina I had been at, where they could bring a fuel nozzle to your slip, rather than taking your boat to the fuel dock – a great idea. I also did some engine maintenance, while Sue did the laundry --- in a real laundromat only 2 blocks from the marina. (Most marinas only have 1 – maybe 2 washers which means it can take forever.) The afternoon was devoted to composing our next blog posting, and then we went out for appetizers (“Dock House”) and dinner at the “Net House.” Lots of friendly locals, but we didn’t see any other cruisers. We retreated to Sogno, fired up the heater to take off the 45 degree chill before lights out. A productive but also relaxing day!

Good Food Trumps Misbehaving Technology (Wed, Nov 7)

Speaking as an engineer, today did not start well. I’ll skip the gory details, but the net result was I had to swap out one laptop for another, when we had problems with our Raymarine navigation software. In addition, the onboard heater was acting up in the morning; the temperature was 39 degree temperatures. The net result was a late start, but the good news was that we had most of our area of the slips to ourselves so we could make a very graceful departure with the aid of the dockmaster.

Once we passed the Beaufort-Morehead entrance, the 20-25 knot winds and chop calmed considerably and we had an uneventful trip to Swansboro, where we anchored for the night. “At the end of the day” I’m happy to report that crew morale was fully restored thanks to: (1) grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch, (2) restoring our heater to service via a cell phone call to customer support, and (3) Sue’s fresh shrimp and pasta stir-fry for dinner.

Bridgekeepers Rule! (Thurs, Nov 8)

We left Swansboro at around 8am (not quite as chilly as Beaufort) and managed to “touch bottom” briefly as we went around a well advertised shallow spot. (Note: There IS a difference between your boat touching bottom, hitting bottom, and having to call Sea Tow to pull your boat off the bottom. To date, we have not had to call Sea Tow – keep your fingers crossed for us.) Despite all the VHF radio chatter and our cruising guide advice, we (and others behind us) managed not to pass too close to Green Buoy “61A”. Even the tug captain who was advising other boaters over the VHF, managed to have his barge ground briefly as well.

After that adventure, we very happy to discover that there were no live gun fire exercises going on at the Camp Lejeune. The ICW passes through 6 miles of the Marine Base and there’s a big sign with lights warning you that if they are flashing, live fire is in progress. I’m told they back that up with the appropriate armed vessels to discourage any ICW John Waynes from trying to join in the fun by water.

This stretch of the ICW was our first test on how to pass through 4 successive draw bridges over the next 54 miles, some of whom only open on the hour, and some who open on the hour and half hour. We thought we had a reasonable plan, but we (and everyone else) learned at bridge no 2 (opening at 1:00) that bridge no. 3 was also down for maintenance from 1:00 to 4:00. All we could do (both sailboats and power boats) was to move along slowly. Our friendly tug and barge kept us a nice distance for those 3 hours. Brian was so bored by the whole thing that he got careless even and ran aground briefly. (One needs to watch the depth finder constantly in the ICW.). Finally we all went through bridge no. 3 at 4:15 dashing for bridge no. 4. Luckily our commercial tug captain got the bridge to open 15 minutes early and we were all through by 5:00.

Now a parade of 8 boats left the ICW in one group and all headed for the Wrightsville Beach anchorage. It was quite a sight to see us all racing for spots to drop the hook, as darkness descended (sunset was at 5:15). After a few false starts, we finally found the perfect “parking spot”. In this case perfect was defined as: 1. not near any local fisherman’s gill nets, 2. not too near any other boats, and 3. would actually let the anchor grab the bottom.

A post-sundown “sundowner” plus some pork chops and veggies for dinner made things right again. It had been a long and “interesting” day on the ICW.

New Friends from Chicago and Rhode Island (Fri, Nov 9)

We were off and running at 8am but most of our previous day’s ICW companions were already on the road already. Today promised to be a great day – no draw bridges!

We got to see some big ships and a large Army ammunition station as we passed down the Cape Fear River. We arrived at the St. James Marina, which is part of a condominium and golf resort near Southport, NC. We fueled up, pumped out, washed Sogno down and then hit the showers. After posting some more pictures for “Bud-at-Sea”, it was definitely time to socialize.

We set up camp near the marina store, with some wine and cheese, and pretty soon two other ICW couples joined us. Tracy and Vytas (boat name Sunshine Daydream) had sailed from Chicago via the Great Lakes, Erie Canal and Hudson. They were also heading for the Bahamas. Frank and Terry (boat name Frankly Terryfic) had begun their trawler voyage from Point Judith, RI. It was their very first boat, and they were aiming for the Florida Keys. We all had a great time exchanging stories. Tracy and Vytas had been in the previous day’s “bridge tournament”. At 9 pm, we called it a night after some coffee on “Frankly Terryfic”.

Going Barefoot after the Rock Pile (Sat, Nov 10)

Despite the “late night” festivities, we managed to get underway at 8, without incident. By noon, we were passing through the Sunset Beach pontoon bridge. This clever design from the past, had the central bridge span and the keepers house on what looked like a barge, and a series of cables was used to pull it out of the way when an opening was requested. Not very fast, but at least a change from the lift, draw and swing bridges we had seen thus far. Within a few miles we were in South Carolina and encountered a conventional, and very slow to open, draw bridge followed by a construction barge that had to be maneuvered out of the way by two tugs, before we could pass. (We had read that the bridges were slow and bridge operators we often slow to respond in SC. However, the operators were always very friendly.)

Our next hurdle was the “rock pile”, a notorious four mile stretch that had been dug through an unusually rocky area. For anyone who has cruised in New England, you really had to look hard to see the rocks, and the narrow channel itself was quite rock free. The real danger was meeting a large barge, and being squeezed out of the channel. We managed however to pass through untouched and then through a much better run draw bridge.

We then tied up at Barefoot Resort and Yacht Club. It sounds fancy, but the condominium and marina complex lost all its electrical power just as we arrived. (They still managed to collect our dockage fee.) Unfazed, we got into our shore clothes and walked over a bridge to the other side of the ICW to check out the Barefoot Landing factory outlet and entertainment complex. Everything from a House of Blues, country music theatre, dozens of shops, and a complete assortment of restaurants. We were actually in the Myrtle Beach area, and all of this was aimed at filling in the spare time of those not engaged in golf. We of course had appetizers in 3 restaurants, and ran into Tracy and Vytas at the last one. They were still on track to stop in Charleston, and we agreed to stay in touch and try and share an anchorage the following day.

Coming attractions: We enjoy our extended shore leave – 4 days -- in Charleston, bump our way through the SC-GA border, visit Savannah, and check out the “Golden Isles.”

Don’t forget to send us your comments. Click on Comments below!

Brian and Sue
Buds at Sea

Great Dismal Swamp to Oriental, NC

2007-11-06T15:10:00.000-08:00

November 6, 2007

Hi Everyone:

It’s really fun when we hear from you, so please go to the end of this posting and click on the word Comments and let us know your reactions!

We are currently tied up at Beaufort, NC, which is located near a large inlet south of Point Lookout. Beaufort and nearby Morehead City are jumping off point for those who want to go outside and head south offshore after avoiding Cape Hatteras. We continue to look forward to experiencing more of the ICW and expect to get back in the southward ICW migration tomorrow, weather permitting.

When last we wrote, we were anchored in Turners Cut, just south of the Great Dismal Swamp. “Mr. Beke” (our faithful Westerbeke diesel) was ready to get us moving again.

Taking Time to Make Friends (Wed, Oct 31)

Our destination was nearby Elizabeth City (15 miles), so after yesterday’s excitement, we felt free to “sleep in” and get off to a later start than usual. The anchor came up easily (despite fears we had snagged it on a log or something) and we entered the much wider (and deeper) Pasquotank River. We radioed SeaTow and the Coast Guard in Elizabeth City to let them know that all was under control and also, to thank them for their help. As the last of the boats to go through the Dismal Swamp route, we now had a unique opportunity to have this small part of the ICW, during “high season”, all to ourselves.

Within a few hours, we passed through the Elizabeth City drawbridge and into the main harbor. As we circled around to see where we could tie up, we spotted two of our Dismal Swamp companions: the lead catamaran Spirit, and Born Free II, the Canadian sailboat who was just behind us in the canal. We decided to tie up at the city bulkhead, behind Born Free, and lucked out when Sebastian and “M-C” (Marie-Claude) emerged to wave us in and handle our lines. Admiral Sue at the helm made a masterful docking approach, and a marina bystander later came up to complement her. Skipper Brian, on the other hand, messed up his bow line toss, and was relegated to rookie status.

We managed to accomplish a few errands during the day (getting Sue’s glasses fixed, some minor engine tuning, a provisioning stop and some Internet time), but were looking forward to the Elizabeth City “wine and cheese” reception for newly arrived boaters. This is part of a bigger tradition of welcoming boaters with free dockage, information, and other goodies. It turned out that the person who had started all this, had died just a week earlier and things were a bit disorganized. Sue took things into her own hands, and we went about trying to invite any boaters we could find, to a “potluck” gathering. The net result was a 2 couple wine and appetizer gathering, in which we met Bill and Marlene of “Journey” and found out that they were from Charlestown, MA – and on their way to the Bahamas for the first time as well. As you can guess, we had much in common to talk about (boating and otherwise), so we reconvened the session at a nearby restaurant, and had a wonderful evening.

Stumps to Starboard, Stakes to Port – Noel is coming (Thur-Fri, Nov 1-2)

We had a restful night, and woke to a dead calm, with forecasts of north east winds to 25 knots by the evening. Tropical Storm/Hurricane Noel was expected to pass 400 miles off Cape Hatteras. The Elizabeth City docks are exposed to the east, so we decided to find a more sheltered location, and press on to the Alligator River were there seemed to be 3 or 4 very good anchorages to seek shelter in. Sebastian and M-C were there to help us get off, but they and Marlene and Bill elected to ride things out at the docks.

We had virtually no wind, so this leg down the Pasquotank River and across Albemarle Sound was routine. The Albemarle is known for becoming very choppy when there is any strong wind, so “routine” was OK with us, knowing that things would be very different in 24 hours. We passed through the Alligator River swing bridge, which is part of a nearly 2.7 mile span. Brian had decided to seek shelter off the river, south of Catfish Point (mile 95 on the ICW) in a body of water known as “The Straights.” The navigation was a bit tricky, but doable with GPS and electronic chartplotter – at the helm and well as below. Only two cruising guides covered it. One advised to “follow the deep water along the port side ignoring stakes, bushes and shoals on starboard” and the other said your “track will take you between two sets of stumps and stakes, to starboard and port respectively.” Not sure if we could distinguish between a broken stake and a stump, we placed our trust in NOAA’s electronic charts and plunged ahead. Sue was at the helm and chart plotter, and Brian was standing by with a backup list of each leg’s course written down. It was a little nerve wracking going across the relatively shallow bar (2.3 feet under the keel), but we made it through unscathed, and anchored in around 14 feet of water south of a small point!

We went about collapsing our canvas dodger and bimini, and securing our sail covers and roller furling gear to be sure we were ready for the forecasted 40 knot gusts. Toward the end of the day, a second boat joined us (Canadian) and we both enjoyed a magnificent sunset, in absolutely calm conditions. A grilled steak dinner, 90 feet of anchor chain and we were ready! (Unfortunately, the weather never calmed enough for either of us to dinghy over to the other and say hello.)

By 12:30 am, the wind began to pick up to 15 knots or so, and we decided to supplement the chain with another 30 feet of nylon anchor line. Everything was doing fine, but we have to confess, that when it is blowing on anchor, every new sound wakes you up, because you’re constantly wondering if the anchor may have begun to more, or something has come loose, or maybe something is wearing through. None of this normally ever happens, but in the dark your mind comes up with plenty of things to worry about.

By the morning, the winds were more about 20 knots, with gust to 25, so we added some chafing protection to the nylon line where it passes over the bowsprit roller. We wanted to be sure the line would never fray from all action of the line on the roller as Sogno yawed about in the wind.

We also noticed that our Canadian neighbor was swinging on his anchor with a large stake/piling now clearly visible out of the water, just 5 or so yards behind his stern. The wind had obviously lowered the water level, and revealed this new hazard, which precluded him from letting out any more anchor rode if he needed it to prevent the anchor from dragging. Indeed, both of us had both passed very close to that spot and hadn’t realized a large piling was just below the surface!

The rest of the day was just spent doing odd jobs. We listened on the VHF radio to some of the folks struggling to find space in marinas, or dealing with the closure of the Alligator River swing bridge, due to high winds. Brian worked on the journal and blog. We read. We listened to music. Sue cooked. We ate. We ran the engine to charge the batteries. We played music and watched TV and we always listened to the wind which continued to blow around 15 knots with gusts to 20. By bed time, the guests were frequently interrupted with strangely quiet periods. We took that to be a good sign. By the middle of the night, you couldn’t hear the wind. We both slept MUCH better.

Belhaven and a Glimpse Back (Sat, Nov 3)

We awoke to gray skies, but a considerably reduced wind, with occasional 20 knot gusts. Looks like we’re free to move about the ICW! Our Canadian neighbors weighed anchor around 8:30 am (the stump at their stern is less of a threat, after the wind shifted more to the north). We followed suite an hour later, and were soon motor sailing with our head sail partially unfurled. We called up to arrange a slip in Belhaven, and were warned to be very alert in the upcoming Alligator River – Pungo River Canal. Some boats have run into stumps and damaged their props or worse.

Frankly, the canal is interesting for the first few miles, but after a while it IS hard to stay alert. The cut is long and straight. Other than hawks, there was not much other wild life. When the skies became blue, we quickly shed our light foul weather gear, fleece wear, etc. Such is a warm fall day in coastal North Carolina.

Arriving at the Pungo River, we headed for Belhaven and the River Forest Marina and tiee up in our slip at a little before 5:00. It was a good landing, made even better by the dockmaster Brice.

Brian remembers this marina and the associated River Forest Inn from the 70’s, when he helped a friend of a friend bring his boat up the ICW to Solomons, MD. The memory of going into the “fancy” Inn for a meal after a long day on the water has stuck all these years. The marina, to tell the truth, is now a bit “worn”, but it does remind you how things were backing when most boaters were used to roughing it a bit more than now. Two shower-restrooms are all there is, but it’s a chance to talk to other cruisers while we wait. We are not convinced that so many boomers are retiring, that there are more cruisers than ever heading south. It’s a good theory, but I’m not yet ready to plead guilty for messing everything up.

It’s Saturday evening, and we’ve had our first showers since Monday! We can now sail to windward of anyone, and not be embarrassed. We had a good meal, but the highlight is the original part of the Inn - full of antiques, memorabilia and furnishings from 75 years of operation. We sat and talked for a few minutes in some wing back chairs, and imagined a slower and gentler time, when Wi-Fi was not the hottest amenity at the Inn.

We Fall Back and Go Oriental (Sun, Nov 4)

Today we fall back, and it is nice to see the sunrise at around 6, rather than 7. Sue, however, doesn’t buy it and covered her head until 7:00 am. We used the Wi-Fi inside the Inn so we can publish the blog, check email, and pay some credit card bills. Our concerned hosts at the Inn kept reminding us that there is a free continental breakfast going on, but other than coffee we stay focused on our mission.

By 9:15 we are underway and the sun is very far advanced. We motored down the Pungo River again to cross the Pamlico River. From there. We took another cut to get to the Neuse River and Oriental, NC. We passed by one of our Forest River neighbors (a Dutch boat named Atlantis) and when we see them raise their sails and sneak off the ICW to some quiet anchorage, I think they may be more wise than most of us, fixated on heading South.

We reached Oriental at about 3:30, and after two attempts we finally find the right spot south of the nearby bridge. After a quick drop of the dinghy, we went ashore and tied up to a very nice, but very empty town dinghy dock. After checking out a very well stocked marine equipment and gift store, we settled down with the boating crowd at the Oriental Marina Restaurant and Tiki Bar. Turns out that the state legislature has declared Oriental to be the “Sailing Capital of North Carolina” and judging by all the sailboats we saw in the Neuse River the politicians probably got it right.

We hit it off with another couple, Len and Susan who live in Beaufort, NC. They urged us to spend a few days there. It was late and Sue did not object to “dinner out” so we went to the M&M Café, having a wonderful dinner. The shock of that 5:15 sunset was much easier to take with some new friends and a great meal.

Coming attractions: We finally return to the coast, and spend some quality time in Beaufort.

Don’t forget to send us your comments. Click on Comments below!

Brian and Sue Schanning
Buds at Sea

Deltaville, VA to the Great Dismal Swamp, NC

2007-11-04T05:03:00.000-08:00

November 2, 2007

Hi Everyone:

We are really are thrilled when we hear from you, so please go to the end of this posting and click on the word Comments and let us know your reactions!

We are currently anchored in a small body of water called “The Straights” on the western shore of the Alligator River (mile mark 95 on the ICW), in North Carolina.

Yes, we are actually on the Intracoastal Waterway! We are waiting out the passage of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Noel, which is about 475 miles off Cape Hatteras. Seems like a safe distance, but we have been seeing winds around 25-30 knots since around midnight, and it may not drop down late Saturday (Nov 3).

So, friends, looks like I have a golden opportunity to get you caught up on our adventures since we were anchored in Jackson Creek (Deltaville, VA).

Peaceful Put In Creek (Tues, Oct 23)

We awoke around 6 am in Jackson Creek to the noise of watermen departing to check on their crab pots. We were underway by 8:40 am, motor sailing south toward Mobjack Bay. We spied some strange craft in the distance, which turned out to be some sort of Navy hovercraft exercising. When ever they made a turn, they seemed to disappear into a cloud of mist and spray. They looked to be very maneuverable.

Winds picked up so we could sail up the Mobjack on a welcome reach for about an hour before heading up the East River and our anchorage at Put In Creek, which we shared with one other boat. Some miscellaneous maintenance, a few pork chops on the bbq fresh veggies from Onancock and some quiet talk in the cockpit made for a very relaxing stay.

Sarah’s Creek Hospitality (Wed, Oct 24)

Our next stop was the York River, the last major river on the Western Shore. We were heading for Sarah’s Creek. We sharpened or electronic charting skills, by entering the York via the “Swash Channel”, a narrow and shallow zigzag path through some shoals, which saves about 3 miles. Sue coolly handled the helm, as Brian bounced about from the nav station to the helm delivering navigational advice that in the end was hardly needed, if you just followed the chart plotter on the helm.

We tied up a little past noon, at Sawgrass Point. Paul and Barbara, relatively new Gozzard owners, were there to give us some last minute advice on navigating the creek, plus help us with the dock lines. Like all owners of similar boats, we like to see how others have improved them, so we spent a few hours visiting each others boats. Paul and Barbara were very gracious hosts, providing us not only free dockage, but lunch, local transportation, and a fabulous steak dinner at their place, a short walk from the dock. Weather-wise things were beginning to deteriorate, with some very heavy rain showers beginning in the afternoon and running into the night. Sogno badly needed a fresh water wash and Virginia certainly needed the rain, but it was still somewhat of a come down, after having had such a great run of weather since we left Marblehead.

We finished the evening by watching the Red Sox take a 2-0 lead in the World Series.

Oysters, Friends, and Family (Thurs-Sun, Oct 25-28)

We woke to a very soggy Sarah’s Creek. The forecast was for further deterioration, so we left early after stopping at York River Yacht Haven to top off our diesel tanks. A very friendly “boat sitter” came out of her client’s large yacht to help us with the dock lines. It was a totally self service pump, so we were soon on our way again in a light drizzle. As we turned the channel toward the York River, we were surprised to see fog all across the river. On came the running lights and the radar, and we were soon sorting out the moving barges from those anchored. Visibility improved as we headed out, but the waves were building as we rounded the Goodwin Island shoals to make our way to the Seaford Yacht Club in Back Creek, VA.

There are literally dozens of Back Creeks in the Chesapeake, but this one was home to our dear friends, Mark and Nancy, who we have kept in touch with through 30 years via Annapolis Boat Shows! They had arranged dockage at the Seaford Yacht Club, and we were to be their guests at the annual Oyster Roast on Saturday.

We arrived without incident, with Mark there to greet us in a light drizzle. After we did some chores and investigated a leak near the mast, we were off to M&N’s for dinner. Other Boat Show friends Jack and Gena were there as well.

The next few days were spent running around to deal with a variety of provisioning, financial, and other errands. Seaford was also our “drop” for some canvas repair supplies, and some new batteries for the laptops. (Thanks Dan and Elaine!). The evenings were definitely social, connecting with other Boat Show “regulars” Mary and Toby, Carl and Debbie and Herb and Barb. Our new Gozzard friends, Paul and Barbara joined in on Friday, rafting up to Sogno for the weekend.

The social highlight of the stay, however, was the Oyster Roast. SYC has been doing this for years and has it down to a science. We are not real oyster fans, but I have discovered that roasted oysters have certain appeal. Two pits are dug, with roaring wood fires heating up metal plates on which oysters are placed, covered with wet burlap bags. The whole thing is pretty primitive, with the roasted oysters delivered to the stand up table with a shovel! Even then, the oysters don’t just give up, you’ve still got to dig in to the critter with an oyster knife and pry the shells apart. (Gloves were provided.) To a novice like me it’s all great fun , as long as you are careful with the knife. Boiled shrimp, raw oysters, pulled pork, wine and beer complete the recipe for what is a sellout event each year. A few of us sat around the oyster fire until midnight – talking about boats and boating.

Our last day on Sunday was (thankfully) a bit slower paced, but just as fun. Sue’s two nieces, Joanna and Louisa and friends Amy and Matt came over for a visit to see Sogno. Except for Matt, they are students at Christopher Newport University, in nearby Newport News. We had planned to go out for a sail, but the wind was acting up so they had to settle for a tour, an explanation of our planned trip and an attempt at understanding what college was like these days.

We finished up at Mark and Nancy’s for another great dinner and watching the Sox hold on to sweep the Series. Mark and Nancy – you are the best!

Draw Bridges Rule the ICW (Mon, Oct 29)

If we stayed any longer in Seaford, we’d have to join the SYC. This was the day to get back in the hunt for the ICW. We showered up, pumped out the holding tank, topped off the water and said farewell to Mark and Jake who were down to help us off, and give us the latest status on the ICW.

We mostly motored, but did get some downwind sailing in as we headed for Hampton Roads, the entrance to Norfolk and “the Ditch”. The ICW begins at Norfolk (mile 0) and continues on for over a 1000 miles to Miami and beyond. At the beginning, there are two alternate routes to get to the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. Route 1 (the Virginia Cut) is deeper and less restricted and is the favorite of most boaters. Route 2 (the Great Dismal Swamp Canal route) is slower, a bit shallow in spots, and is favored mostly by slow moving sailboats, like us, who don’t like to be bounced around by the wakes of overtaking power boats).

We were going for the Dismal Swamp route, but the only problem was that Tuesday (Oct 30) was the last day the canal (and locks) would open this year, due to a shortage of water in the lake that feeds the two locks. On Tuesday, you had to be ready to enter the Deep Creek Lock at 9 am and leave the canal via the South Mills lock by 3 pm. Without going into more details, we had to hustle into Norfolk, get through two draw bridges that normally don’t open for recreational boats until after 5:30 pm and find a place to “park” before the sun set at 6:10 pm.

We had an impressive cruise down the Elizabeth River, past the Atlantic Fleet, various commercial and military shipyards, and the fleet of cruisers anchored at Mile 0, waiting to set out the following day on the Virginia Cut. We lucked out on the first bridge (a tug and barge were let through so we could go through early). The second bridge opened for us at 5:30 and we were able to anchor by ourselves in the snug little Deep Creek basis 8 minutes fore sunset! It was a long day, but one worth celebrating with one of Sue’s special pasta dinners.

Dismal Swamp, Duckweed, and Diesels (Tues, Oct 30)

We woke to dense ground fog (or sea smoke rising from the water), which lets you see everything above 20 feet. We exited the basin at around 8 am and immediately had to let a motoring sail boat slide ahead of us. We were happy to do so, since we could follow. It was strange motoring along where you could see the buildings and trees, but couldn’t see the banks, the docks or the low lying marshy areas. By the time we got to the lock there were 4 other boats ahead of us waiting for the lock to open around 9:00. When the moment arrived out came one northbound sailboat (where was he going?) and in we filed together with one late arrival and a VA park ranger boat.

The lockmaster was a very cool guy. He effortlessly helped out all the boaters with tying up to the lock and then got them relaxed. We were at the back of the pack, and only a few feet from where the lock door closes. The lockmaster, just told me to not look or else I would really get scared! Then the water was let into the lock, and we were raised about 8 feet in what seemed about 10 minutes. We then moved out of the lock, waited again for the lockmaster to drive to the next draw bridge and open it, and finally we were in the Canal.

At the head of our parade was a large but slow catamaran, 2 smaller catamarans, 3 sailboats from the lock, and 2 sailboats who had spent the night in the canal near the Deep Creek lock. Some wanted to go faster, but no one wanted to go too far from the center of what was a channel that was only around 8 feet or so. When the lead catamaran Spirit agreed to move over to let a catamaran go by, she immediately went aground, and our caravan halted again. When Spirit got going again, the urge to pass anyone had completely vanished.

Since we were the last group going south (and we never saw anyone in the canal going north, thankfully), one of the boats contacted the South Mill lock to ask if he would open early. He was ok with the idea, but there was a TV crew coming to take pictures of the last lock openin! It eventually turned out ok, and we did get through the lock a half hour early, while they were taking our pictures.

Everyone blasted out of the lock into the much deeper Turner Cut, but we noticed that the engine cooling water coming out of our exhaust was much less then usual. The engine temperature was also rising. We pulled into an abandoned “side canal” and ran aground. That was as good as anchoring, and gave Brian a chance to clear the water intake which was plugged with duck weed that was picked up in the canal and lock. Things were better for a while but a few miles later we had to stop and anchor. After a lot of trouble shooting, letting the Coast Guard know we could use some mechanical help, and some encouragement over the phone from SeaTow, we finally removed another plug in the intake valve (pine needles!) and got everything back in order. We spent the night in Turner Cut (about 100 feet wide) in almost a total calm. It was actually a unique and special place to take some time out from the ICW race south.

Coming attractions: We make new friends in Elizabeth City. Stumps to starboard and stakes to port, we hole up in “The Straits” off the Alligator River. Noel heads North and we head south to Belhaven.

Don’t forget to send us your comments. Click on Comments below!

Brian and Sue Schanning
Buds at Sea

Crisfield, MD to Deltaville, VA

2007-10-28T15:12:00.000-07:00

October 27, 2007

Hi Everyone:

We are really are thrilled when we hear from you, so please go to the end of this posting and click on the word Comments and let us know your reactions!

We are currently tied up at the Seaford Yacht Club, on the Back Creek in Seaford, VA, close to the Yorktown, site of the decisive battle of the American Revolution. Nancy and Mark, our boat show friends for 30 years and SYC members, have invited us to stay for a few days. We are looking forward to tonight’s big SYC Oyster Roast, despite the first real rainy weather we have experienced during the trip.

But when we last left you, we had just arrived in Crisfield, MD after bumping our way out of Smith Island’s eastern channel. Here’s the rest of the story.

Golf Carts, High Rises and Change (Thurs, Oct 18)

We went into the marina office to register, and ran into Jenny and Leon, cruisers we had last seen in Solomons. They encouraged us to call again to see if the Tangier Island cruise was on for that day. It WAS -- and leaving in 20 minutes! We dashed back to Sogno, grabbed a few things and made the sailing with 4 minutes to spare.

Tangier Island, VA is south of Smith Island, and is similarly isolated from the rest of the mainland. It does have a larger population, a single schoolhouse, and seems to be more prosperous. Sue and I had last been there on July 4, 1976 (the Bicentennial) and were anxious to see what “changes” had occurred. When we landed, we were first off the boat and first to line up at the Waterfront Sandwich Shop. Brian stuck to a crabcake sandwich, but Sue “thought outside the box” and went for fried shrimp. Fortified, we toured the island, hiking down the narrow roads in a light drizzle in our bright yellow panchos. Electric golf carts were the main mode of transportation, with a few scooters, motor cycles, and all terrain vehicles thrown in. All the houses had concrete blocks at the road’s edge to restrain any thoughts of driving along the shoulder. We were there to see school let out. Most students walked, or had bikes, but there were a few moms in golf carts there to pick up the kids.

We went over to the small marina we had stayed at long ago and met the owner. When we explained we had been here over 30 years ago, all he would say is: “Well, I guess you don’t come here very often – and shame on you!”

The skies opened up just before we made it back to the boat, but by the time we returned to Crisfield the sun was out. At the marina we ran into Randy and Morris and had a chance to walk about town. (We had not seen them since the episode going down the East River.) Maryland’s “Seafood Capital of the World” was a town in transition, and the changes since 2002 were pretty striking. Most of the seafood buildings along the waterfront were gone, three condo high rise buildings were taking their place, and many store fronts were empty. We stopped for some crab dip. Some friendly locals, upbeat news about the Sox, and soon our spirits were back on track.

Romancing the Oyster (Fri, Oct 19)

We spent the morning doing some shopping before the day’s main event: The Second Annual Watermen’s Festival. There was a great old-fashioned hardware store, where we found out more about the Festival’s Oyster Shucking contest, and met Sam who was touted as the sure winner. Sam was very modest, but you could tell this was serious business. By the time the festival began at 12:30, it seemed like most of the town was there.

The first order of business was eating. At $35 per head for all the beer, wine, steamed crabs, oysters, shrimp, clam strips, fish, and chicken you could eat, it was quite a bargain. We joined other sailboat cruisers: Jenny and Leon, plus a new Canadian couple, Blair and Mary who it turned out were on the boat anchored near us during our 3-day stay in Lees Creek (St. Michael’s). Lots of tips and ideas swapped about cruising and heading south. Leon and Jenny were soon taking their catamaran Andiamo to her home port on the Rappahanock and then driving home to Reno, Nevada. Blair and Mary were heading down the ICW in their sloop Strathspey, so we fully expect to see them again along the way.

After the food, there was much music, dancing, a Native American dance performance, and finally the Oyster Shucking contest. Fastest time to shuck (open, prepare, and place on a silver platter) 24 raw oysters was the basic rule, with a complicated time penalty system if you made mistakes with the oyster (e.g., knicking the oyster with your knife). We were of course were rooting for Sam and he shucked true to form, finishing with a corrected time of 1:52 which beat the closest competitor by over a minute. “Miss Crustacean”, a local high school senior, presented the winner with a $400 prize plus $100 more when Sam’s winning oyster knife was auctioned off. Sam, it turned out was also off to another competition the next day, to qualify for the “nationals”. Seems that oyster shucking is a very competitive field of endeavor!

We had the group over to Sogno to continue the talk, and after everyone left around sunset, we finished a great day with one of Sue’s special pasta dishes, and some DVD viewing. The wind was a bit blustery that evening, so we had to do some dock line adjustments to be sure we stayed off the pilings.

Publish or Perish (Sat, Oct 20)

After 2 enjoyable days at the marina, we decide to take advantage of the “third day free” offer and stick around some more to publish the weekly blog posting and do some laundry. After some intense deadline pressure, Brian finally finished another installment (chapter 5). We then hiked out to the library (the marina only has dial-up) and post the text and pictures with 15 minutes to spare. With a beautiful day, we meandered back, stopping at Dollar General Store (Sue can never pass a dollar store), a Mexican restaurant (Brian can never say no to nachos and a $2.75 draft Dos Eques) and a seafood restaurant (we satisfy our crustacean fix, with some Maryland crab soup). Back on Sogno, broiled chicken breasts and some more X-Files episodes on DVD end another lazy day on the Eastern Shore.

The House of Deals (Sun, Oct 21)

Sunday, we topped off our water tanks and expertly left the slip (there was no wind, and we didn’t want to disgrace ourselves in front of the 4 power boats that were all leaving the marina with us at about the same time.) The wind finally picked up just as we neared Onancock Creek, so we were able to have some fun for about an hour before we had to drop our sails and motor in. It took two shots to anchor, but we were soon settled in the town harbor. Andiamo (Jenny and Leon) were anchored nearby and came over to chat. That’s when we found out more about their “incident” on Friday evening. They had dragged about 200 yards across the Somers Cove harbor (Crisfield) and not noticed anything awry until they actually “bumped” into a docked boat. Kind of scary. They spend the rest of the night on a dock, but then dusted themselves off and went back out on the anchor Saturday night.

They then gave us a great tour of Onancock, VA, a town that looked like it was still back in the 1950’s. Most everything was closed, but we did get to peruse another old hardware store, named “The House of Deals.” Lets just say that it contained a selection of both new and not so new inventory, complete with a husband and wife who ran the place and were both engaged in shelling fresh butter beans (baby lima beans to city folk like us). Excellent tomatoes, native potatoes, clams, scallops, etc. were available along with the latest weather analysis and the local news. It was really a fun stop. After that, we went back to the local pub near the town wharf which was open (a surprise) and promoting happy hour prices for both beverages and wings. We got to know more about Jenny and Leon, who live near Reno, alternately cruise the East Coast or the Pacific Northwest, with boats in both locations. A couple who really has their sailing priorities in order!

We continued our conversations aboard Andiamo, and finally dinghied back in to Sogno around 8, under a nearly full moon and totally calm and glassy anchorage. After making a round of family phone calls, we learned that Auntie Sue had another nephew (technically a grandnephew) – Noah Thacker, born Friday with mother Molly doing fine. With a fine nautical name like Noah, we were happy to hear that his launching had been a complete success.

The Big Blow that wasn’t (Mon, Oct 22)

We woke to a very calm and misty morning, complete with ground fog and a heavy due. We motored out and picked up a nice breeze that was blowing almost in the right direction, and we got across the Bay to the Western Shore by around 1pm. From there we had to motor sail occasionally to get south of the Rappahanock to reach our destination Deltaville. We were overtaking one of the sailboats we had seen ahead of us, and soon discovered that she was being towed off a shoal by TowBoat US. The shoal was clearly on the chart, but since our track was only 200 yards south of theirs, we certainly didn’t feel particularly superior about our navigational skills.

Our first attempt at anchoring in the north branch of Jackson Creek, was a partial success. The anchor held well, but we were too close to another boat who declared they had 86 feet of chain out and were expecting a “big blow!” We decided this particular Canadian vessel wasn’t inviting us to raft up with them, so we picked up our hook and proceeded to a less crowded area (south branch) and successfully anchored (on the second try) a hundred yards or so off the public pier. Jackson Creek was another area where Canadian boats were almost in the majority.

Brian got his chance to grill a steak, and by 9pm it was “lights out” in a totally calm anchorage with hardly a breeze in sight, let alone a “blow.”

Coming attractions: Our virtually rain free weather streak comes to end with a vengeance and we learn how the locals roast oysters and claim to make clam chowder.

Don’t forget to send us your comments. Click on Comments below!

Cooler weather has arrived (60s), we’re only a day or so from the ICW. Time to get serious about the ICW and all those bridge opening schedules!

Brian and Sue Schanning
Buds at Sea

Dividing Creek, MD to Crisfield, MD

2007-10-20T13:08:00.000-07:00

October 20, 2007

Hi Everyone:

We are really are thrilled when we hear from you, so please go to the end of this posting and click on the word Comments and let us know your reactions!

We have been in Crisfield, MD, for the past two days, and are planning to stay for a third day. This is the heart of Maryland’s Eastern Shore “Crab Country.” We also couldn’t pass Somers Cove Marina’s off-season rate of $1 per foot per day, which is very inexpensive by Northeast standards. In addition after two days, the third day is free!

We’ve had a chance to catch up on a few “projects”, get to know some fellow cruisers, and immerse ourselves in the seafood culture. But I’m skipping ahead …

St. Michaels: No Crab Left Behind (Wed, Oct 10)

With the passing of the cold front, we woke in Dividing Creek to a much cooler (and less humid) day. Our next leg would be relatively short, so we skipped the usual cereal and Sue prepared a great zucchini scrambled egg breakfast. On our way out the Wye River, we spyed John and Cindy on their Gozzard 37, headed our way. We shouted our thanks for the Dividing Creek recommendation and promised to see them in the Spring.

There wasn’t much wind, but we raised the sails, just to dump some of the water that gets trapped in them after a rain storm. We then headed toward St. Michaels, a very popular destination for both land and water visitors. We decided to anchor in Leed’s Creek, across the Miles River from St. Michaels (less crowded, better holding ground, and more sheltered). After a quick lunch, we went into town using our dinghy (about 1.5 miles) and tied up at the public landing, which is right next to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. We had been there once before, so we focused on their new exhibit (Recreation on the Bay) as well as our old favorite, the former Hooper Straight Light House, which was moved to the museum to preserve it. We highly recommend this museum as a good introduction to the Chesapeake Bay estuary and how special a resource it is.

From there it was on to the various shops, a mandatory stop for refreshment at the Carpenter St. Saloon, and on to the main attraction: more crabs. We panicked briefly when we discovered the St. Michael’s Crab and Steak House was closed (Tues. and Wed. closing seemed a bit odd), but not to worry: the Crab Claw restaurant was the solution. Some crab dip and a dozen large crabs later we were happy cruisers watching the sun set.

The trip back in the dark was uneventful. Brian used our portable GPS to retrace our track back to the anchorage. There were no lighted navigation aids on Leeds Cr., so it was a big help to us in avoiding the shallows near mouth of the creek. Another boat had anchored near us since we left.

Waiting out a Cold Front Passage (Thurs & Fri, Oct 11-12)

The forecasted cold front arrived promptly at 1:30 AM with some wind (20 knot gusts) and 20 minutes of driving rain. Our anchor held nicely and we woke to forecasts of continued gusty wind from the West. We (and other boats anchored near us) decided to stay for both Thursday and Friday. We won’t bore you with the details, but it is amazing how many things need to be organized, re-organized on a boat when you have the time. If I forget this, Sue (the information specialist/librarian) is there with a list of items that could be improved. These times, also give us a chance to catch up on our journal and prepare our next Buds-at-Sea posting. The continuing noise of the wind keeps you alert, rechecking your location (to be sure you’re not dragging) or adjusting the anchor rode (to avoid chafe on the lines). We even have time to listen to the local and national news (sometimes curious about what’s going on in the “real” world), and watch a few more X-Files episodes on the DVD. Of course, food is essential to crew morale (I re-learn that steaks take longer to grill in 20 knots of wind). The cell phone also helps when we discover something needs replacement (Dan – thanks for ordering some new laptop batteries) or we just want to touch base with family.

Oh Canada! (Sat, Oct 13)

With the winds dying down, our last night in Leeds Creek was very restful, and we awoke to the site of a waterman tending this “trot line”, which is a long line between floats with bait lines tied to it at intervals. Starting at one floate, the crabber places the line on a roller a few feet above his boats rail, and then very slowly motors along, raising the bait to near the surface, where he can use a simple pole net to catch any crab that is hanging on to the bait. Not used much commercially anymore, but it works well in this part of the Bay.

By the time we were ready to go (8:15 am), all the other sailboats had left as well. As we neared the Green, “1” day mark, we slowly and gracefully came to a halt, we had strayed ONLY 20 or 30 yards closer to the mark that we had on entering 3 days earlier –but that was all it took! We backed off, turned left, found the deep water and in less than 2 minutes we were back to normal speed. Our second “soft grounding” of the trip was no big deal, but it reminded us of how close the shoals can get to what you think is the “center” of the channel. In this case, the chart and GPS said we should have had 9 feet of water instead of the 5.5 feet it turned out to be. In both cases we had entered a channel with no problems, but grounded on the way out.
Once we were in the open Bay, we got some good winds and were finally sailing again at 5.5 – 6.5 knots toward the Little Choptank River. By 1:30 pm the winds were dying so we motored into Hudson Creek around 3:30, followed by 2 other sailboats flying Canadian flags. We quickly anchored in a group of boats numbering around 5, which grew to around 12 or so by cocktail time. At least 6 of them were flying Canadian flags, and were thus almost certainly going down the ICW to Florida and beyond. We had been seeing hundreds of migrating Canada geese on the Eastern Shore as we made our way down the Bay. It was now clear, that another significant Canadian flock was also passing through.

Crossing the Potomac (Sun, 14 Oct)

The next morning we got an early start (7:30 am) and our hopes rose as we got an early breeze in the open Bay. The sailing ended however within an hour, and we motored the rest of the way, with some help from the current, toward the Patuxent River, on the Western Shore. As we closed Drum Point at the entrance, the wind came on strong, and we had a great one hour sail, hitting 6 to 7 knots at one point as we tacked back and forth up the River.

The Patuxent River is known mostly for the local Naval Air Station on the south side and for Solomons Island across the river, a quaint little town with what sailors are looking for marinas, anchorages, museums, restaurants, provisions, shops and pretty scenery. Did I mention the Tiki Bar? We tied up at Zahnisers Yacht Center, and were given an outside dock to tie up to. Hooray! We would have to wait some more to practice boat handling in slips.

Sue’s older brother Dave and Lisa, his wife, live in Woodbridge VA, just south of Washington, DC along the Potomac. It seemed like a natural for them to come see us and Sogno, since we were within 50 miles or so. When we decided to look at a road map, we saw that for much of Northern VA, we might as well be in Baltimore! It turns out that the Potomac, which forms the VA-MD border, has only two crossings in Northern VA: one in DC (I-95) and one sort of near Fredericksburg. No other bridges or ferries. Dave and Lisa would not be deterred and they spent 90 minutes, braving DC traffic, to get to our end of Calvert County while we took a walk about town. Did I mention the Tiki Bar?

We had fun showing off Sogno for the first time to our landlubber relatives, catching up on family news and having a fun dinner at the “Captain’s Table.” (I confined my crab intake to a small cup of cream of crab soup.)

Change the Oil, Change the Plans (Mon, Oct 15)

The “plan” was to change the engine oil, tighten and lube the steering cables, post the blog, and take showers before shoving off at noon. The reality: it was 11:15 and we were still trying to post the blog. Time out for a crew meeting! We finally decided there was more to see and do, and no need to rush out. We signed up for another day, finished our to do list, and headed out to see the Calvert County Marine Museum.

What a great decision. We had a wonderful time in a fascinating display of all things marine. An estuarium, crabs of all kinds, fish, jelly fish, terrapins – much more than historical stuff. We especially enjoyed the lighthouse tour. The former Drum Pt light had been cut off at the base and taken to the museum intact. It was the best light house tour of the trip, and we got to clamber up ladders, through hatches, plus see the living quarters as they would have been furnished in the early 1900s. Other memorable stuff on engines, crab and oyster packing, fossils from the nearby cliffs, etc. If you get to the Solomons, MD area we highly recommend this stop!

From there we did the obligatory provisioning and shopping tour and returned back for a relaxing night aboard, complete with a mixed grill dinner.

St. Leonard, Crab Cakes and Thou (Tues, 16 Oct)

The day began with a flurry of blog postings, a bit of confusion in getting our holding tank pumped out, but with help from both Zahnisers and Spring Cove Marina, we were on our way out of Solomons by 11:30. Our destination was St. Leonard’s Creek, 10 miles or so up the Patuxent.

One point of interest about the Patuxent is that it is the deepest river emptying into the Bay. Practically right under the Thomas Johnson Bridge, the depth is 127 feet – the deepest spot in the entire estuary. From there it was a quiet and peaceful cruise (no wind) up the river to the very wide, and relatively deep St. Leonard’s Creek. We found a wonderful spot to anchor near a small bluff near Rollins Cove. After lunch, we took time to tour the creek for a few miles upstream, passing some very nice houses. Our one disappointment was that the widely known Vera’s White Sands Resort restaurant was not open. We walked the grounds that include palm trees, a beach, pool, large marina, etc. The “high season” was over now, but we could imagine this “exotic” complex would be really going strong on a weekend summer night.

Back to Sogno for the “best crab cakes” of the trip – created by Sue from authentic Maryland recipes and the better part of one pound of lump crab meat we had bought in Solomons the day before. Delicious! The evening concluded in the cockpit with some balmy breezes, starlit skies and sincere thanksgiving for being able to be on this journey. We saw only one other boat anchored in this entire beautiful creek!

Paulie, Eddie and Crabs to Go (Wed, 17 Oct)

We were hoping our next destination would be Smith Island, Maryland’s “last offshore inhabited island”. Located right in the middle of the Bay along the Maryland’s southern boundary with Virginia, we were concerned about the depth coming in. The chart said 5 feet, the cruising guides said 5.5 to 6, but we called the Smith Island Marina to find out what the locals said. We were assured that with our 5.5 foot draft we could make it, but it was best to be there at mid-tide, scheduled for around 2:30. And yes we could have a slip for $1/per foot!

With no time to waste, we had to motor all the way, occasionally getting some boost from our main sail, but mostly motoring right into the wind. We arrived right on time, held our breadth through some shallower spots, but really never saw anything shallower than 8 feet or so. Our next challenge was docking in a slip, but it turned to be no problem (no wind or current helped immensely). We came in like we knew what we were doing, and were cautioned to not come in all the way since the last ten feet or so were a bit shallow (or depth meter said we were virtually aground.) Our hostess, Paulie, gave us a run down on the island, and since most things were closing at 4:00 we took off to see the sights. We had the mandatory crab ceremony (I had a softshell crab sandwich, Sue chose crabcake) and we then walked around a very small town, with a large church, a grocery, post office and lots of crab shanties – all virtually one foot above sea level, or so it seemed. It was very quiet, but there was some action at the docks as the mail boat left for Crisfield, and the last of the day’s crabs were loaded up for market.

By the time we had completed the tour, we went over to the Hot Steamed Crabs sign to see what that was about. The very friendly proprietor Eddie (pronounced Edduh) told us the large crabs were $10 for 6 and $18 for a dozen, and when would we like them? We thought everything shut down by 4:30, but Eddie was happy to make them to order so we could pick them up at 6:00. What a deal (the going price for a dozen large in Annapolis was $64!)

We ate our fill of crabs at the marina patio, under the stars, fortified with some local Yuengling beer and some liberal use of “Off” to keep the local mosquitoes at bay. We couldn’t shake the crab habit, and we were loving it.

Three Groundings in less than 1 hour (Thurs, 18 Oct)

To catch the mid-tide, we had to be underway by 7:30 am. This time we were going out the eastern side of the island, which was supposed to be better dredged, but almost 4 miles long. Carefully noting how the 7:30 mail boat proceeded, I promptly ran Sogno aground within 15 minutes of starting. A bit of backing and turning and we were back in the channel. I now concentrated on being very careful to go straight for each day mark. This worked very well, and since I nearly went 20 minutes this time before running aground. Again we worked our way back to the channel, and by this time I was not surprised when again we ran aground in about 15 minutes. At least at this point we could see the end of the dredged channel. The nearby waterman, hardly seemed to notice what these sailors were up to, but we finally made it out to the “deep” water (6 feet) at 8:30 am. We had made it!

From there we headed for Crisfield, MD, the “crab capital” of the Eastern Shore. Our idea was to sail a bit, get a slip at the Marina, take a sight seeing trip to Virginia’s Tangier Island (a bigger version of nearby Smith Island), see the town, and then attend the Watermen’s Festival the following day. We arrived at the marina around 11:00 am after a 1 hour sail, and again made a nearly perfect landing in a nice large slip. [To be continued]

Coming attractions: We dash to make the trip to Tangier, we finally meet some crews of boats we have seen along the way, and we find out how long it takes to shuck 24 oysters when money is on the line.

Don’t forget to send us your comments. Click on Comments below!

Warm weather has returned, we’re getting closer to the end of the Chesapeake portion of the trip. Time to start reading up on the ICW.

Brian and Sue Schanning
Buds at Sea

Annapolis to Dividing Creek, MD

2007-10-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

October 15, 2007

Hi Everyone:

This installment finds Sogno and her crew currently docked on Maryland’s western shore, near the mouth of the Patuxent River in Solomons Island, MD. The weather is more seasonal now, but earlier this week, after over 3 weeks of great weather, we finally experienced a few days of “unsettled” weather while on the Eastern Shore. Nothing serious, but it gave us a chance to hang on the hook for 2 extra days and catch up a on a few things, including a more timely update on our activities and some more photos.

In the last installment, we had just about worn ourselves ragged running around with the Sailboat Show crowd in Annapolis and were scheduled to depart on Sunday. Sounds simple right? Read on my friends!

Backing to port, and other ways to leave your slip (Sun, Oct 7)

We got up early Sunday, to take care of the usual cruiser priorities: showers, internet, laundry, water, garbage, etc. Sue was in charge of laundry, and I tried to deal with the rest. I finally got a decent enough Wi-Fi signal from the Annapolis municipal system to pay some bills, check our bank finances, and learn that Notre Dame had finally won a football game (UCLA), after losing their first 5 games (ouch!)

Finally around noon, we were ready to untie the spider web of docking lines I had designed to keep Sogno in the slip and avoid toppling the telephone wiring enclosure located directly in front of Sogno’s bowsprit (and dueling anchors). I confidently talked about how easy backing out in the light wind off our stern, as we were finally down to just the spring line that kept Sogno from charging forward toward that telephone thingy.

I asked Sue to start backing out slowly and was keeping us off the various pilings and the sailboat on our port side, when we stopped backing. Sue politely pointed out that the spring was still tied. Oops! I looked around to make sure no one else had seen this faux pas, and managed to take off the spring, like it had been there all along to help with the turn out of the slip.

This was the crucial thing – we had to back the stern to the right (starboard), so we would be pointed out of the marina and toward the Back Creek channel. As many of you know, sailboats don’t back up very well, and when they do they tend to back to the left (port). Sogno didn’t change a thing, and with the assistance of the wind, we were consistently backing to starboard. Not too worry. “Full speed astern” said I, “We’ll just back out all the way” using the rudder to steer. “Stop!” said Sue, as I continued to back to starboard until we almost hit another neighboring boat. I obeyed, but continued to whine that I really could do it, if I was given half a chance. A cooler head (i.e., Sue’s) prevailed and I eventually gave a grand demonstration of backing to port, until I had turned Sogno 270 degrees between two rows of slips. She was now pointed out toward the channel and I could resume my cool air of authority. We were cruising again.
We had a great sail up the Bay but the winds died (don’t they always) as we approached the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. We had a good current and managed to drift through the bridges with sails flapping, before I gave up and fired up the diesel. (Yes, we went “north” for a while since time is not an issue and there are SO many rivers, creeks, and coves to explore.)

We arrived in the Magothy River and anchored behind Dobbins Island, a popular anchorage that eventually thinned down in the evening to a 3 or 4 sailboats and a trawler. Sue prepared a great dinner. “Chicken Parthenon” was named after the restaurant where our chicken leftovers had originated the night before. We were happy to escape the crowds and I was happy to not have to deal with those confounded slips!

Fuel Docks and Burning Sailboats don’t Mix (Mon, Oct 8)

We celebrated Columbus Day, by taking a short trip over to the Eastern Shore and Rock Hall, MD, home of the Sailing Emporium marina. We had noticed a slight oil leak under the diesel engine during the NJ leg, and knew this marina had plenty of experience with our type of boat (Gozzard) and engine (Westerbeke). We wanted a knowledgeable opinion and had gotten some good help during our last Chesapeake cruise in 2002.

We arrived around 11:30 and were told to tie up at one end of the fuel dock. Yippee! No stinking slip -- just a nice outside dock, where you could use their lines to quickly tie up. Eddie the mechanic determined our problem was a small leak in the oil pan seal, but certainly not worth pulling the entire engine to fix it. We could just monitor if for now, and it would likely not get any worse. When we asked if we could stay the night (and oh by the way this dock is very nice), we were told no problem. My next “Slip Maneuvering 101” makeup exam had been postponed.

Sue went off to gather some provisions in town. (Bayside Foods will pick you up and bring you back.) I was planning to microwave the last of the “Chicken Parthenon” for lunch and then “replace” some varnish on the starboard cap rail, that I managed to leave behind on slip piling in Cape May. As I was finishing lunch, I heard loud engine noises. I had been told a large boat was scheduled to share the dock for the night, so I came up to see if I needed to move Sogno down the dock. What I saw was a local waterman and a work boat, but what he and I were both looking at was big cloud of black smoke coming out of the sailboat directly across the dock from me in the last slip on the pier. “Circe” was on fire, right across from us next to the fuel pumps on the dock!

The waterman started shouting “fire” and gunned his boat to the shore. I ran down the dock, but he beat me to the office. I then ran back with a bunch of yard workers. I pulled the power cord on “Circe”, one worker with a fire extinguisher couldn’t see where to aim it, so he and his mate grabbed the regular hoses at the slips and started dousing the fire. Took a few minutes to get the smoke to subside, and find out that the fire was in the vicinity of a charred120VAC fan, burned rug, and very hot base of the aluminum mast. Whatever the cause, we were all very lucky that the waterman had come along when he did. Because of the way the wind had been blowing, I hadn’t smelled a thing. Also lucky was Circe’s live-aboard cat, who came out of the smoke tongue dangling, but alive. The cat’s name? Smokey – a prophetic name that was very prophetic for a feline with one less of his nine lives!

Sue was coming back from town as the Rock Hall Volunteer fire department passed by on the way to the marina. She got a bit of a scare when she saw they were all out the fuel dock. Sogno? Brian? Microwave? Nope – just a close call with a hot little sailboat named Circe.

The rest of our stay was much more relaxing – showers, cocktails onboard another boat with two couples, and dinner at a local restaurant (Baywolf had a half-price entrée special going). We were even given the keys to a car to help us get into town. Life was good!

Our first (but not last) Chesapeake Grounding (Tues, Oct 9)

We spent much of the morning with some minor engine maintenance, laundry (one washer and one dryer) and talking with some friends who own a Gozzard 37, the same type of boat as Sogno. John and Cindy gave us some recommendations for some nearby anchorages plus caught us up on what’s been happening with the Gozzard family. John drove me to the hardware store and West Marine to pick up some boat “stuff” and we were ready to go at noon. With no wind we were able to depart from our dock, stop at the pump out dock, and depart again without incident.

Our boat handling confidence restored, we almost immediately executed a perfect “soft grounding” just as we left the Rock Hall Harbor. Brian said port to the helmsperson, when he should have said starboard, and we ended up a bit too far to the right of the channel. The charts said we should be still afloat, but our keel told us otherwise. The BAD thing about the Chesapeake is that it can be very shallow and the shoals move around faster than NOAA can chart them. The GOOD thing is that it IS mud, from which you can almost always back out, unless you’re going to fast. We were back in the channel in less than two minutes, and we had re-learned a few lessons, and given a local waterman another story to tell about how those crazy sail boats from up North just couldn’t manage to stay in a simple channel.

We were hoping for some sailing too, but the winds were in the wrong direction, so we motored south, passed through Kent Narrows Draw Bridge with its 2.5 knot current, to the famously beautiful Wye River, where we took the eastern branch to Dividing Creek. This snug little creek had a surprising amount of room, and we were the last arrivals to join four other sail boats, including “White Skye” with a hailing port of Glenvil, Nebraska!

It was very beautiful, very still, very calm, very snug and very hot! That all changed during the night, when we were treated to our first thunderstorm. Lots of rain to wash off the salt, but thankfully, hardly any wind at all. Snugness can have its pluses.

Coming Attractions: Why we were so happy with our anchorage near St. Michaels, that we stayed an unexpected two days more; why one grounding in the Chesapeake is not enough for real cruisers, and why the crow can fly a lot faster to Solomons Island than family visitors from Woodbridge, VA.

We are really happy to hear your comments so keep them coming!

Fall is in the air. We are both well. Life is good.

Brian and Sue Schanning
Buds at Sea

City Island to Annapolis

2007-10-08T13:58:00.001-07:00

October 8, 2007

Hi Everyone:

Sorry about the delay, but we're happy to report that all is well with Sogno and her crew. We are now in Annapolis, MD finishing up our annual US Sail Boat Show gathering visit with some old friends and some new ones we made this year. The weather has been great, although we are still getting used to the Chesapeake humidity and heat. Hope the lingering summer weather has been good to you back in your area.

On to the news! We last left you when we were in New York on Sept 25, with Homeland Security blocking our exit, and Brian furiously typing away to finish our first blog installment before the City Island library branch would kick us out. We made it to Annapolis. But what about the "rest of the story."

Sailboat Maneuvers in the East River (Wed, Sep 26)

We had gotten so many stories about the United Nation security zones in the East River, that Brian decided to check one more time and got up at 5am to do that. Both by cell phone and VHF, with a bit of prompting, we confirmed that it was a go. Recreational vessels were going to be allowed down the East River on the EASTERN side of Roosevelt Island. The WESTERN side of the island (nearest the UN) was still closed to everyone except authorized commercial vessels under escort.

Sounds simple, right.? We had to arrive at a famously turbulent spot in the East River called Hell Gate at slack water at 9:12am, when the current is calm for a few minutes and then proceed down with the ebb tide (out going current), admire all the sights of Manhattan's east side and proceed into New York harbor, Statue of Liberty, etc.

Among the sights of course were all those big suspension bridges: the Queensborough, Williamsburg, Manhattan, Brooklyn, etc. No problem for Sogno's 53 foot mast to pass under. HOWEVER, the EASTERN passage of Roosevelt Island. had a lift bridge (a type of draw bridge) that was only 40 above the water in its normal position. Most sailboats normally avoid it by going down the UN side of the island (WESTERN passage), but we didn't have that option this time. But everyone from the Coast Guard to the bridge operator assured all the sailboats that it would duly lift when requested to.

Well you guessed it - when the lift bridge got its moment of glory around 9:15, it wouldn't budge! Now there were around 10 sailboats, and some larger power boats all circling around in the rapidly building current waiting for the bridge or Coast Guard to do something. In the meantime a tug and ugly scrap barge were approaching and the skipper was telling us to be sure to get out of the way, because he was coming through and could get under the bridge in any event. Things then got even more interesting.

We were ordered by the Coast Guard to go around and wait on the WESTERN side. They planned to escort us through soon, but until "plan" was all approved, be sure NOT to go past the Queensborough Bridge. That was easy to figure out since there were USCG boats with 2 machine guns each, clearly blocking that area.

We all then sped off at max speed into the ebbing current to go around the north end of Roosevelt I., and then got out of the way of the tug/barge, which was escorted through the west side after all. The CG then said the lift bridge would be fixed, head back to the EAST. Then the NY PD said, we could go back down the WEST side, but the machine gun boats didn't get the word, and all was a big mess for a while. Finally it was all straightened out (after nearly 2 hours) and we all motored as slow as we could, in a single file past the UN, trying to stay separated by 1000 yards!

We were out into the Harbor by 11:30, but some of the boats near the end of our Conga line were stopped again, by a new security zone set up around the heliport at then end of Manhattan. Pres. Bush had decided to leave an hour early and they got trapped again.

All in all, everyone acted reasonably, but the need for disciplined communications by all agencies, commercial vessels and all the recreational folks was never more clearly illustrated!

The rest of the day was much more uneventful, and we motored in light winds to Great Kill harbor on Staten Island. The Richmond County Yacht Club provided us with a mooring, some showers, and a great little bar. We were ready to hit our second NYC borough. We ended up at a very unique happy hour, with a bartender who did magic and card tricks between drinks. He cleverly took Sue's marked dollar bill, made it disappear, and then reappear inside a fresh lemon he produced and cut open to reveal the bill. A pizza under the stars at a simple restaurant got us pack to the RCYC. There we hooked up with many of the East River sailboat veterans and discussed the (now) many funny things that were said and done that morning.

Hang a right at the Hook, and straight on to Barnegat Inlet (Thurs, Sept 27)

We got a nice early start and were soon rounding Sandy Hook and heading down the Jersey coast. There are only a few good inlets along the coast. Plan A was Manasquan – no room at any of the marinas. There is some room to anchor, but we decided to press on to Barnegat Inlet, motoring, sailing and motor sailing along the way as the winds changed speed and directions. At 5.5 to 6.0 knots, this 51 mile trip can be a bit boring, but we at least had a few times to practice some navigation in the patchy fog along the coast. We arrived around 6pm, and just had enough time to successful anchor on the second try.
We had our first Dark and Stormy to celebrate the event, and tucked in for the night with Barnegat light and another cruising sailboat for company.

AC Here We Come! (Fri, Sept 28).

This leg started out with great winds and fair tides, and we were sailing in bursts of 7 knots, which is well above our average sailing speed of 5.5 to 6.0. This of course couldn't last all day, and by the time we were off Little Egg inlet, the winds died, and we got one of our first attacks from some flies. How they can find us 2 miles off shore is always a puzzle, but we motored on and arrived in Atlantic City. Our marina was opposite the Trump casino, so we had a nice backdrop of large motor yachts, and LOUD music at night. We fueled up (our first one since Marblehead) and tied up at their bulkhead. (Lots of practice with fender boards, and adjusting dock lines to keep us from hitting the boat ahead of us). We got our showers, and headed off to the Gardner's Basin area where the last of the local clamming fleet is. There was quite a lot of residential development going on along the water (townhouse units), so some of the casino money seems to be reviving this area. Our f
ish and chips dinners were a disappointment (the fish came from Gloucester, via Gorton's we think), but we found some hospitable Phillies fans at the establishment next door, one of whom gave us a ride back in his van. We even found out that the Sox had made the playoffs!

Rolling the dice to escape our Atlantic City Berth (Sat, Sept 29)

We awoke to forecasts of 15 to 20 knots, with gusts to 30, but the good news was they were from the East. We knew Sogno could handle this and really fly. We thought we were up to the task, but our basic concern was leaving our bulkhead berth with out spearing the large Egg Harbor ahead of us with the anchors we have mounted our bowsprit rollers. The winds from directly astern didn't help, but after much talk in the increasingly gusty morning, and much movement of dock lines we were ready. We cast off, put it in gear and gave it the gun – we were committed. We cleared the trawler ahead of us, circled in the basin, and made a clean getaway. It was good to see a few more sailboats proceeding out with us, and we were soon making good speed off the coast – until the winds died again. Yikes – where are those 30 knot gusts when you really want them!

We eventually had to motor the last 10 miles to Cape May, and had some adventures going into our first slip of the trip. The second attempt was the charm, but we still had a lot of neighboring boat skippers watching us closely as we finally tied up. Laundry, navigation planning, and time out for dinner kept us pretty busy. Lights out early – we had an early departure to catch the tide.

Two hours after low tide is the secret (Sun, Sept 30)

After spending an hour planning our departure from Cape May for Delaware Bay and the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, Brian figured the best time to leave was around 6:30 to 7:00 am. Low tide was at 7:00 am, and this would allow us to get our 53 foot mast under two 55 foot bridges in the Cape May Canal with plenty to spare during a spring tide, AND catch the incoming tide in Delaware Bay. A quick look at one of our cruising guides, revealed that everyone knew that leaving 2 hours after low tide was the way to get a favorable current up Delaware Bay and then have a favorable current through the C&D canal. I guess it pays to read ALL the material if you go the trouble of buying it in the first place!

The short story was we had some great winds at the start, and a whole gaggle of sail boats joined us in an unofficial race up the Bay. We were easily sailing 7 knots over the bottom, with 2.5 knots from the current in the Bay alone. The trip was over 50 miles, and we were way ahead of schedule so we kept on motoring through the C&D canal and anchored in the Bohemia River with only 1 foot of water under our keel. We were in the Chesapeake Bay in September!

Heading North Already? (Mon, Oct 1)

Finally we were in cruising territory, and we had a few days to spare, so what do we do? We tried to connect with two Marblehead friends, John and Barb, who were in Annapolis for two nights, but couldn't figure out a meeting place in between that made sense. We finally decided to head up the head north to the Susquehanna River, the river that originally formed the Chesapeake Bay estuary. The destination was Havre De Grace, MD, actually named by Lafayette, but pronounced by the locals – HAVE a duh grace. Brian spent six months in the area at a nearby naval base, and was interested to see how it was now. We sailed around our first crab pot area, so we felt more at home dodging those little floats. We arrived around 3:30 and anchored after two tries. The wind was making things a bit choppy, but we were eager to get in and at least check out the dining possibilities. It took us a while to find where to tie up our dinghy, but soon we were checking out all the menus. We found out
along the way that Brian's naval base (Bainbridge) was completely closed and an environmental disaster!

We ended up at a very popular Irish pub and had Maryland crab soup and two crab cakes. We finally knew we were in Maryland! As it got dark, we beat feet for our dinghy, as the Monday Night football crowd began to arrive. Unfortunately the gate to the marina was locked. We circled the marina and began to debate jumping the fence or asking the police for help, when we found out that we could just yell at one of the boaters still in the yard, for the security code to get in. We got back to Sogno, let out some more anchor rode and watched another X-Files DVD episode as the 15 knot wind blew. Life was good!

Which way to Witchcoat? (Tues, Oct 2)

Our next destination had to be somewhere within 30 miles of Annapolis. We took the easy choice and picked Back River, MD. Actually there are more Back Rivers and Back Creeks in MD and VA than there are Dunkin Donuts in MA, and this one was just east of Baltimore. We had read about a good anchorage off Witchcoat Point, so we headed there until the depth was less than 1 foot under Sogno. The first anchor attempt seemed to be a bit tight (0.5 feet), so we tried a second time and managed to end up in about 2 feet under our bottom (suggested by helmsman Sue). We backed down on the anchor and everything was cool. It was very quiet with only the local watermen leaving any wakes as they went about their crab business.

Sue created "Chicken Witchcoat" that night and we hit the sack well fed and looking forward to Annapolis. Three days anchoring in a row also felt like we are really getting into a cruising mode.

Back River to Back Creek (Wed, Oct 3)

The forecast said a chance of rain, but it was mostly overcast and no wind when we carefully motored our way down the Back River. We were now seeing more large ships as we passed by Baltimore – staying out of the ship channels was the easiest way to deal with these guys, but it was still fun to practice with the radar to track them as they stayed in their assigned "traffic lanes." We arrived in Annapolis around 12:30 and could not resist a little drive by the Sailboat Show which was opening the next day. With all the flags and banners flying and all the boats packed in the inner harbor it was quite a sight. Sue and I had been going to this show since 1976, but this was the first time we had seen it from the water, so it was the first time we realized how many visiting sailors were anchored in every available space in the harbor, in Spa Creek, Back Creek and any place that could be found to drop the hook.

We then went to our marina in next door Eastport, fueled up, pumped out, and got into our slip on the first try! We were getting better at this thing, although getting all our dock lines straightened out and keeping our bowsprit from blocking the dock walkways took an hour of assorted cleat hitches, round turns and clove hitches! We had arrived: showers, water, electricity, Wireless internet (sort of) for the next four days!

We launched our inflatable dinghy and although it took a while, with help from a local tourist "chart" and two teenage girls we found the Sixth St. public dinghy dock. We were able to grab a bite to eat at Davis Pub and then join in the sixth birthday of another local pub. Tomorrow it was time to hit the show!

A Drinking Town with a Sailing Problem (Thurs Oct 4 – Sat Oct 6)

Annapolis advertises itself as America's Sailing Capital, and to be honest it is a great for a boater of any persuasion, with hundreds of marine businesses that can help you dispose of your "boat units" (a boat unit is $100) at an amazing clip, plus give you a super selection of cruising destinations to visit up and down the Bay.

Sue and I used to live down in Hampton and Newport News at the mouth of the Bay (Hampton Roads) and we have continued to attend the show since we left in 1978. Our good friends Mark and Nancy from Seaford, VA (near Yorktown) get together with us and over the many years we have stayed in a variety of "value" motels. This was the first time we would be bringing our own lodgings.

We lucked out and got a marina slip at Annapolis Landing in Eastport, on Back Creek, which was easy dinghy/walking/water taxi distance from the show at the Annapolis inner harbor. The weather was great, and despite the overcast early mornings, by 11am, everything had burned off and we had plenty of sunshine. As always it was fun to go aboard all the boats in the water, and prowl the tents looking for "accessories" for Sogno.

We also get a chance to connect with friends among the exhibitors, especially the builders of our boat, Gozzard Yachts. We get to see the new Gozzards boats and see what's new in improvements, plus ask questions about particular items we need help with fixing and/or improving.

Needless to say there are plenty of pubs, restaurants, shops and historical places of interests in Annapolis, Eastport and outlying areas. We especially recommend Galway Bay (pub), Mike's (streamed crabs), Davis Pub (atmosphere and cheap food), and Parthenon (Greek). The State House, Naval Academy and Paca House (garden) are also good places to go when the boat show gets a bit overwhelming.

This year we also attended the Seven Seas Cruising Association "Gam". A gam is an old nautical term for getting together to talk and exchange news, which usually occurred when two sailing ships encountered each other out in the open sea. We joined 2 years ago, and the group is a fantastic resource for finding out about cruising anywhere in the world. They had an excellent set of seminars Sat. morning on: medical kits, electronic charting, and dealing with marine head "issues". We wish we could have caught the whole meeting, but "so many boats, so little time!"

That's about it for now, but we'll try to post another segment soon.

Coming attractions: Our exciting adventure in backing out of our slip on Sunday, drifting under the Annapolis Bay Bridge, and a fire at the slip next to us in Rock Hall, MD.

We'd love to hear your comments and ideas for what to include (or leave out) in future postings.

Regards,

Brian and Sue Schanning
Buds at Sea

Marblehead to City Island

2007-09-25T14:31:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone:

Well things are settling down with Sue and I aboard Sogno, as we work our way down the coast toward our first major cruising ground, the Chesapeake Bay. We are currently in the Bronx City Island to be specific and since we have some extra time, we decided we had run out of excuses to start recording our adventures on the way down the coast. (More about why we have "extra" time later.)

Before the Beginning

Somewhere along about Sept 10, we really started to realize we were running out of time to meet our Sept 17 departure target. Let's just say that we managed to jointly work through our personal packing/cleaning issues as we approached Sat. Sept 15, our planned move aboard Sogno date. We had lots of cleaning and restowing to do to make our home ready for our wonderful house sitters Jon and Shawna to move in. Brian, the pack rat, had plenty of things to dispose of, which was really a challenge. We almost finished by Sat. at 1pm, but had to call it quits on a few last things, until Sunday.

We then dashed down to attend a 60^th birthday party for our longtime friend Margaret who lives in Guilford, CT. Thank you Bob and Margaret for thoroughly decompressing the Schannings at your great pig roast! Thanks also for our overnight hosts George and Lee for your wonderful hospitality in Niantic. A fabulous breakfast got us going for the trip back to Schooner Ridge on Sunday.

Sunday we finally moved all our stuff aboard Sogno, stowed most of it (sort of) and then had a farewell dinner at the Marblehead Yacht Club. Not fancy by any means but our friends Dan and Elaine assured us we were DONE, and it was time for us to go. We were running out of room inside, and the painted water line was about to submerge. Any more time and we would probably sink poor Sogno who was stuffed to overflowing.

The Start (Mon, Sep 17)

We woke to a great morning with good winds out of the NE, which was perfect for getting to our first stop, Scituate, MA (just 20 or so miles on the other side of Boston). Before then, we stopped at Marblehead Trading for some fuel. When we showed up with 5 gal. Jerry Jugs to fill up along with our regular tanks, the attendant realized we were not just going out for some local cruising. As we left with the Jugs securely lashed to our starboard rail, we got a very hearty, and welcome "Bon Voyage" from the dock hand. I took a long look at the familiar Marblehead scenery, and found it hard to believe we might n ot be back to see it for 8 months.

Even though every thing was perfect for a good sail, we decided to turn it into a motor sail, to give the batteries a good charge. The trip was only about three hours, but the work involved in getting this first step had been way more than either of us had anticipated.

We had our usual nice time in Scituate, with a walk down the main drag, a stop at the hardware store, grocery store and of course the Satuit Tavern for some steamers and a beer. It was an early night after one of Sue's many variations on a chicken theme for dinner.

Getting in the Cruising Groove (Tue, Sep 18)

Underway at 9am to get through the Cape Cod Canal. For those not familiar with this Corp of Engineers wonder, it is a sea level (no locks) large, deep canal that separates the Cape from the rest of Mass. It was finished in the early 20^th century, and is most noted for the 4 or 5 knot currents that can rush through it when either Buzzards Bay or Cape Cod Bay has a higher tide, which occurs every 6 hours. We had a great sail for 4 ½ hours before we had to turn on our motor for the canal passage. We arrived to an unusually calm Buzzards Bay and continued our sail into Marion. We spent some time looking for some moorings we could use, as members of the Blue Water Sailing Club. Luckily we finally found one which belonged to members Ruth and Herb. We left a message on their voice mail, and they returned it to say that we were welcome to use it, but had to promise we would call them in Florida when we got near their home in December.

It had been a long day, so after "Broccoli Alfredo" it was lights out at around 10.

Cruising where the Cruise Ships go (Wed, Sep 19)

Our next stop was Newport, RI. We had less than an hour of sailing, when the winds calmed and we were motoring down Buzzards Bay. As we neared Newport, we were surprised to see a huge floating hotel exiting the anchorage outside the main harbor. The Grand Princess was leaving and it made all the surrounding mansions seem just a bit smaller and a tad quaint in comparison. We got a mooring in Newport, and discovered that things had gotten a bit pricier over the years! We checked out the Black Pearl outdoor bar, and then proceeded to the Brick Alley Pub for dinner on the town. A very popular spot, with large (actually too large) portions the rule. We were stuffed, and managed to roll ourselves back to the launch before it shut down at 8pm. Once aboard, the lights were out by 9pm. We were definitely falling into cruiser's hours a good sign!

Stepping Back into History (Thurs, Sep 20)

As we left Newport, the Crystal Symphony cruise ship was arriving with its USCG escort. Newport seemed to be a very popular stop these days.

This time the sailing was limited by the direction of the wind, but we managed to turn it into a motor sail which improved our speed. (We were motoring but getting some boost from the wind that was off our starboard bow.) Our next stop was Mystic Seaport in CT. Although we felt a bit nervous, we managed to squeeze into Fisher Island Sound at the Watch Hill passage, at the same time a tug and big barge were sharing the narrow pass. In short order we were soon motoring up the Mystic River for our encounter with the two draw bridges. We had to wait at the RR bridge for two Accella express trains, and one local to pass, before the keep er would open up the swing bridge at 4:45pm. We then raced up the river to request opening of the second draw. They only open during the day for a 20 minute period beginning at 40 minutes after each hour. It turned out we were there with plenty of time to spare, and were soon tied up at the Mystic docks. (There's more to it, but lets just say we had a good landing, but it took us time to sort out our position on the pier, and where the lines would go.)

After checking in, Sue led the cleanup gang, before we could have cocktails and a steak dinner on board Sogno. We then went up to the Seaman's Inne, and got "shanghaied" by a wonderful couple from Cos Cob, CT, who were also on a dock near us aboard Devil Moon. (That should have been a clue). We went back to see each others boats, and talk about heading south. We didn't get back to Sogno until 12:15. So much for cruiser's hours!

Membership has its privileges (Fri, Sep 21)

The next day we had a chance to enjoy the many exhibits at Mystic. We have been members for a year, so we finally had a chance to really see things we never seemed to have time for when we came down for day trips. We really liked the Restoration Shipyard and were amazed at all the things they can do when restoring vessels in their collection. We also had our first chance to check email and do the internet thing at the members lounge area, complete with fresh coffee. (Badly needed after the late night on Devil Moon).

We also arranged to have our first repair done, replacing a broken batten. (This is a flat "stiffener" made of fiberglass, which is used to keep the sail well shaped. There are four of them on our mainsail, and the top one had snapped.) We ended up finding a very helpful sailmaker (UK Halsey) that managed to replace the one that had broken, plus give us some spare material we could use, if we had any problems with the other battens.)

We finished the day, with a relaxing walk down the river to the town, and dinner on a patio next to the river walk. Cruising was getting very addictive.

Rocking at Sachem Head (Sat, Sep 22)

We left at 7:40 for the first Bridge opening and slid through the already open RR bridge without a problem. Soon we were trying to sail on Fisher Islands Sound, but the wind was quickly gone and we were motoring into Long Island Sound with a 1.5 knot current against us. We passed by New London, but no submarines were to be seen. Then we passed Niantic, Old Saybrook, Clinton, and Madison, CT all places where Brian had first learned to sail with his friend Bob. We were on our way to Guilford, to check in to see how Margaret and Bob were doing after the 60^{th birthday bash.}

We arrived at Sachem Head Yacht Club, and Brian was immediately slimed by the first mooring we tried to tie up to. The pennant (rope) attached to the float hadn't been used in years and was covered with all kinds of gunk. The second mooring went much better, and we soon dinghied into the dock to be greeted by Bob and Margaret. They immediately helped us with provisions and showers. We took them back to Sogno for cocktails in what was now a rollicking good swell from the exposed SW, with rain threatening from the North. We stuck to our guns (I mean glasses) and were able to enjoy a decent sunset, before we went ashore for a delicious dinner at Bob/Margaret's, even though they were leaving on an early flight the next day. We were back aboard Sogno by 9:30 and were glad to see the seas had calmed considerably. We had a restful night.

Long Island Soundings (Sun, Sep 23)

We had our best sail of the cruise, with strong winds that got us most of the way to Eaton's Neck, Huntington, Long Island. We motored into a quiet little cove that we shared with just a few boats and the local Coast Guard station. It was a very narrow channel, but it turned out to be very well marked, and after some anchoring adventures, we were all set for a restful night with nothing but sand and marshes around us.

Seaport of the Bronx (Mon Sep 23)

Long Island Sound was dead calm as we made the short run to City Island, which is a world of its own connected by a small bridge to New York City and the Bronx. We arrived at the Harlem Yacht Club, and received a very friendly reception. After some needed showers, we checked out the local scene. After testing some mussels at one spot, we finally decided to go Italian and had most of a very nice restaurant to ourselves looking out on the New York City lights in the background. Tomorrow would be another big day with the always impressive trip down the East R iver and Manhattan,

Homeland Security (Tues, Sep 24)

Well today's entry is pretty short. As we were heading out at 8:00am word came over the VHF radio, that the Coast Guard was shutting down traffic on the East River near the United Nations. All the world's leaders were seemingly conspiring to stop our voyage! We should have known, but we had no choice but to turn around for another day in City Island. The outlook appears good for tomorrow that a partial opening will occur, and we're hoping to find our next spot in Staten Island.

On the bright side, we finally found the time to organize our blog a bit, and give you an idea of what we're up to. Our goal is to update this once a week. No promises, but we do want to share our experiences with all our friends. You've encouraged us, given us advice, and helped us out in many countless ways as we got ready for the big trip. We hope you'll enjoy it and drop us a line occasionally to let us know what you'd like to hear more about.

Sue and Brian

Adventure begins

2007-09-25T12:35:00.001-07:00

Our adventure has begun. Both of us will continue to this blog, sharing our journey. I am writing from the City Island Public Library outside New York City and Brian is composing on his laptop -- wireless. Hopefully, you will read more about our adventure soon.

Sue and Brian

Sogno

Lists are US

2007-09-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

Our journey will begin in just a few days. Most of the food and beverage has been stored as well as "spare parts", charts and books. Today, we brought our clothes to Sogno and will move on board on Sunday - YIKES!! Our lists are now short -- or are we just not adding to them anymore?

Depending on the weather -- and how tired we are -- we will spend our first night in either Scituate or Onset.