Memorial Day 2019 to mid summer

Blog Memorial Day forward to mid summer

We had to be towed in on Memorial Day and we ended up at Dowry Creek Marina. What good luck we have!  This place was the best marina we have ever stayed in. There was a lovely pool, big captain’s quarters with books and games and a big TV, free laundry, a courtesy car, nice selection in the ships store and people so wonderful that we think of them as family now. 

We spent six weeks at the dock unable to move. The transmission that went out was too old to be rebuilt because they no longer make parts for them. That took about the first 2-3 weeks to figure that out. Then we decided to put in a new transmission so we had to wait on parts to be shipped in to Belhaven. Darrell and Ann were the mechanics that did the majority of the work. We had some help here and there but mostly it was us. We put the new transmission on but the new one required different brackets to attach it to the motor mounts. These had to be fabricated from scratch and Darrell was the designer. Thanks to connections at the marina, they were fabricated in a week or two. Reinstall the coupling on the shaft ends and realign motor to shaft and we’re back in business. 

Well, Belhaven puts on a big deal for July 4th so we had to stay close for that. We left the marina for a few days of shakedown cruise to be sure all mechanics were okay. While we were out and about, we spun the hub on our dinghy prop. (Possibly weakened when we pushed the big boat with the dinghy.). Anyway, no problem. There was a place in Washington that said if you ordered it by 3PM it would be here by 9AM next day. After nearly two weeks this place couldn’t order the right prop to fit our motor - we said ENOUGH!!  We can idle around in the dinghy - just no fast speeds. It was time to leave North Carolina. 

We motorsailed up the ICW for a few days to Norfolk, VA. Our first time this far north in the sailboat. The shipping lanes and boat traffic were amazing. Big navy ships in the yards being maintained. We anchored near the Naval Hospital and began exploring. Boy is there a lot to see around there!!  We still need a dinghy propeller and now, we don’t have a nautical chart (paper) for places we are about to explore. We have waited, thinking we could purchase a used one but we couldn’t find any consignment stores there. 

We spent a half day at Nauticus where there were many marine and historical displays. We walked the decks and below of the USS Wisconsin - a WWII battleship. We spent a half day in Portsmouth and found a nautical antique store that was really cool. As you see, many of our excursions are half day because of the unrelenting heat wave that was plaguing the east coast at that time.  We had to be careful because heat indices were in the 110+ degree range. 

Darrell and Ann could spend a lot of time in the Portsmouth and Norfolk area exploring. Like the “excursion” to go purchase a chart of the Chesapeake. It was a half day of walking (4.5 miles walking) and bus rides to get to a West Marine store. It’s fun to experience different locales this way. Anyway, chart in hand plus a few other purchases and we are ready to move on. 

So we moved a little north to a creek across from Yorktown. The weather forecasters said it would be 10-15 knots from the SW.  Well it was 15-20+ out of the SW and after we turned the corner, guess what.... On.The.Nose!  We are becoming more and more respectful of these inland rivers. We chose a good anchorage for some thunderstorms coming the next day. Great choice!

We called West Marine and by telephone ordered a new propeller for the dinghy. They said it would take two days and just as promised, they called on the second day and it was THE RIGHT ONE!!  I’ve had my ups and downs with WM but this time, they came through!!  

During the down time (waiting on a part) we have relaxed and made a few improvements to the sun shade we made this year. We would not have been able to survive the heat without it. Remember, we don’t have air conditioning. That is one of the reasons we prefer to anchor out over staying at marinas. We get a cool breeze and we’re always facing into the wind. 

“How do they get all those boats to face the same direction?”

East Coast Tour - Take 2

We left Key Largo on March 12, 2019 heading north. Much of the trip was motoring in the ICW and a few hops outside for some sailing. The only “calendar” on this trip is the tickets and reservations for late March/early April for Disney with the grandkids and kids. 

We arrived in Merritt Island and put Alibi in a marina for a couple of weeks to make that date with our family. We have some very dear friends here and were able to get some quality visiting time in with them.  

The trip to Disney World was priceless. We made lots of memories and had a wonderful time. Our princess got to see some of her heroines. The trip ended way too soon. We also had a day at Cocoa Beach which was enjoyed by all.

We spent a week taking care of our friend’s farm and farm animals. The fresh eggs and fresh air was so relaxing!  A few extra days for Ann to recuperate from the illness she got from the trip to Disney was necessary.   

We spent a week in St. Augustine and enjoyed revisiting the historic sites. We were also treated to a meal and visit from the former owner of Alibi. It is always a pleasure to see Dick and Nelda!

Once again underway, we made  quick time heading north. We stopped for a couple of days in Beaufort, SC. We were surprised by a visit from a couple we had met in the marina in Merritt Island. They were passing through and saw our boat on a mooring and sent us an email. None of us planned that meeting but it was great to see them again!

Fast forward to North Carolina and our trip to the boat yard. We went up river to a marina and boatyard in Washington, NC to do maintenance work on Alibi. It was a grand reunion with Bruce and Jan from S/V Celtic Rover!  It is called being “on the hard” because your boat is pulled out of the water and placed on jack stands on land. It is also HARD because it is dirty, grueling work trying to get the work done quickly and get back floating. Roxy develops a case of ladder phobia because she has to be carried up and down the said ladder. We were ALL ready for that two weeks to come to an end!  Just not the time with dear friends. 

We had a lovely time in historic Bath, NC and could have stayed much longer. But if we are going to make it to Maine before the weather starts turning cooler, we have to get moving. 

Memorial Day 2019 we got up and got underway at a decent time. A 20 mile long stretch of canal connecting two rivers was our early destination today. Everything went as expected and we were about half way through the canal when we met a large, wide barge. He radioed and asked us to hold our position while he straightened up in the canal. I shifted into neutral to wait for him. When I shifted into forward, we didn’t move. We tried that several more times before Darrell went below to check the linkage at the transmission. All was okay there. We dropped anchor and began letting boaters in the canal know where we were and what our problems were. 

After some thinking and figuring out what our options were, we decided to hoist sails and try to sail out of the canal. We were making slow progress because the wind was blocked by the trees lining both sides of the canal but we were making way. We could hear other boaters trying to hail BoatUS for us (our AAA of the waters). We heard that they were out of Belhaven, NC - a town 15-20 miles BEHIND us. SO, we decided to turn around and head back towards them. We also felt that the knowledge of the area behind us was better than the unknown in front of us. Well, we must have had a little trickle of current helping us sail north because after we turned around, we were unable to make way going south. Darrell got in the dinghy and started pushing Alibi from the stern. We were able to make about four knots that way so onward we pushed - literally. After about twenty minutes, a red hulled boat appears from the south. We dropped the sails to hook up to the tow boat. They pulled us down that canal at 7 knots!  We were going to go into a boat yard in Belhaven but they were full. Instead, we were towed to Dowry Creek Marina - where we had purchased diesel fuel the day before!

We put back on the ragged clothes that I had washed and stowed after our trip to the boat yard and went to work. Two days of work and we had the transmission removed. Our mechanic (recommended by locals) is going fishing for a few days, so we wait. Normal temperatures here this time of year are in the mid 80 degree range - May set records for high temps in the mid to upper 90’s.  So we have some time to work on other boat projects and swim in the pool here.  🤪I'll take the pool!!

****  For those who have been following our adventures for several years may remember that we had issues with our transmission in South Carolina in 2011 and put in a rebuilt transmission in Charleston. The Carolinas must be hard on transmissions or not want us to leave!!

Tearing Apart Alibi

A very intense project to say the least!  Alibi turns 30 years old this year. It was time for her chainplates to be inspected and replaced. Planning this began around the first of the year when we contacted Garhauer to see how much lead time was necessary for manufacturing new stainless chainplates for an Island Packet 35. They said four to six weeks and that was exactly what it took. 

When we learned that they were about to be shipped, we began to clean out all the storage on the boat. Everything above the seating area of the settee had to be removed. We rented a storage unit for our belongings and the parts of Alibi that had to be removed. It was a good time to “clean house” of things that had accumulated over 10 years of living aboard. 

It is very difficult to hear and see your home torn apart. I joked with a friend that there was not enough beer to soften the stress of this project. The sound of hammers and grinders on your beautiful boat is enough to make you climb the walls!!  Imagine taking your house down to the bare studs for a remodel job. We persevered and learned exactly how WELL MADE these boats truly are!  

Demolition began on what we thought was the “easy” side. The starboard side doesn’t have plumbing and the head. The fellow at Garhauer said he didn’t think there was an easy side. Pretty much everything teak had to come out. There are literally hundreds of stainless steel screws in those cabinets!  We started the project with a jar but quickly determined  that the length and size was important so they were sorted into a clear plastic divided box. 

Once the cabinets are removed, there is a facade wall that covers the hull. This is held in place with screws at the bottom and some small blocks epoxied to the hull up top. Electrical wiring runs just under the headliner along the hull and is held in place with metal straps hooked over the top of that board. 

Eventually we figured out which screws had to be removed and which ones could stay in the cabinets. We knew that all those teak plugs were going to have to be removed and then replaced. Darrell was so careful with the veneer pieces since he knew that matching the teak would be really difficult. Probably the walls covering the propane locker gave us the most problems. 

And yes, getting the propane hooked back up after removal of the cabinets was a priority. After all, we live aboard full time and we had to have plenty of coffee to get through this project!  We were able to stay on the boat for the entire time, thanks to the ingenuity and expertise of Darrell. 

With everything removed, you can finally see the chainplates. The next step involves removal of the fiberglass covering them. We tented off the work area with a tarp and set up a shop vacuum to apply negative pressure. This is in addition to having dustless attachments for the power tools used to remove the fiberglass. So begins the noisy and messy part!

The 30 year-old chainplates didn’t want to come out. It took a lot of “persuasion” on Darrell’s part to coax them out. And when they did come out, some of them broke. I guess it was about time they were replaced. Several that didn’t break had cracks and a lot of rust. The holes in the cap rail had to be enlarged a little for the new ones to fit. We used halyards in place of the shrouds to keep tension on the mast. 

After grinding the old fiberglass for good adhesion of the new, it was time to suit up in our Tyvek suits. The strands we used were approximately 6 feet in length with 20 strands per bundle and six bundles per chainplate. We used West System epoxy with the slow hardener. Actually, this part was easier than the prep work. In the heat of the Florida Keys, we had almost an hour before the epoxy began to get hard. 

Now, with the starboard side installed, caulked and retightened it was time to put that side back together. If you label the pieces and parts as they come out, it’s not too hard to put the cabinets back together. It takes about 45-3/8 inch teak plugs to fill the holes in each half of the project. 

We thought that we started on the “easy” side because of the bulkhead and the head being on the port side. We weren’t sure how much we were going to be able to remove in the head. The salon cabinets were relatively straightforward except for the electrical/radio cabinet. We decided to cut the shelf at that juncture instead of removing all that electrical work. We finally decided that the workers at Island Packet wanted that cabinet in the head not to be removed. We were able to get to what we needed by leaving it in place. We just shortened the strands in that area. 

The port side plates were in slightly better condition but not much. They also had cracks and broke apart on removal. Once again, we tented off as much of the area as we could and applied negative pressure to minimize dust from grinding fiberglass. I guess some would say I’m a good sport for being able to stand the mess and continue living on the boat the entire time. We did have to go out to eat a lot because most of my galley was shut down for the six weeks. 

The aft plates for the back stays are easier to keep the mess at bay but harder to access. These were not in quite as bad shape.  After all the strands are looped around the chainplates, a piece of fiberglass cloth is fitted over them. This helps them adhere to the hull. We left an area in the middle of each one to provide drainage for any water intrusion. This seemed to be the problem with the old ones and in a few spots on removal, water drained from the fiberglass. 

During this process, we also did some upgrades on aging systems. We installed all new LED lights for the interior. We replaced the faucets and decided that Grohe makes such good quality fixtures that we would use them again. We installed a new solenoid for the propane system. We put in a new hot water heater. We had Garhauer manufacture a new staysail bracket and below deck supporting structures. We intend to check all the bolts and the forestay bracket soon since we’ve seen pictures of a sheared off bolt on another IP. 

We lightly sanded the cabin sole and varnished the old flooring. It is time for it to be replaced but we know that the water tank or fuel tank will need replaced as soon as we put in a new teak and holly veneer floor.   We plan to go to a boatyard and do bottom paint and pull the mast. The electrical chase in the mast has slipped down and has been unusable since we’ve had the boat. We also want to replace the sheaves at the top of the mast. 

As the above paragraphs imply, the list of projects is never ending. When we owned the dive boats, I was happy to report to our seasoned captain and main maintenance guy that we had almost completed our “to-do” list. He said: “Oh no, leave something on the list, otherwise something will break!”

Starboard side cabinets removed

Port side chain plate removal

Starboard side after removal

All that work to see just this much!

Port side getting ready to grind and install new

Port side

Bahamas 2018 and Home

Alas, the windlass motor fix did not last more than a few times. It stuck on one time and never worked after that. Yes, we're done trying to fix it. Darrell is getting in shape by hoisting the anchor!

We left George Town after a nice visit with Celtic Rover (a boat couple we have been friends with since our Caribbean cruising days in 2012-14). We were on a mission to get back to Farmers Cay by their 5F festival and we made it. About 100 cruising vessels descended on this island paradise. The regatta was well worth getting back for - lots of pictures and video on my Facebook page. 

Darrell made a visit to a couple of lobster spots before we left and was rewarded with at least two nice meals!  It was hard to leave such a lovely island and her warm welcoming people. 

Since we promised folks in Key Largo that we would come back and work by March 1, it was time to begin the journey towards the keys. We stopped at Black Point just a few miles north of Farmers for a couple of days. After that, we decided to sail on by Exuma Land and Sea Park because there is no cellular service there. Next stop Norman Cay!  

We knew that a couple of folks on S/V Ragnarok were at Norman Cay. We had met CJ and Erik in Key Largo in our anchorage at Tarpon Basin. They are on their first trip to the Bahamas and we wanted to hear about their trip so far. Darrell took them fishing one morning (turned into Day) and got to enlighten them on how to catch and clean lobster, lion fish, and conch. It was a bountiful catch!!  Erik caught one of the biggest lobsters we've ever been around. 

We're a little jealous that they are starting off on a journey similar to our Caribbean cruise!  We enjoyed our time with them and will live vicariously through their travels. But alas, we still have a deadline of March 1 to be back in Key Largo and supplies on board are starting to dwindle. 

Next stop Nassau. We had a lovely beam reach for just over 1/2 day sail to make the harbor. The bonus is that we stay at a marina so there is no anchoring!! Yay!  So, it is the 11 th of February and we are in a pickle -- do we use the good weather window that we have for making tracks back to FL or do we make plans and buy stuff to get us through another couple of weeks. The good news is that through this last portion of the travels, Darrell's mom was hospitalized and released. She is fine now but there has been a constant worry that one or both of us might need to make a trip back to Amarillo. Hence worries over always having cell coverage.....

On the return trip, we stopped again at Morgan's Bluff. These people are good competition for my favorite place in the Bahamas!  We had a great 7 hour sail in "robust" seas. 

We had a local giving us a sales pitch for coming back for their regatta in July. It is VERY tempting!!  Prices are reasonable here and the people are lovely!!  

So.....with an excellent wind and weather prediction for westbound travel we left. Starting out, we had lighter winds than expected. We turned onto the banks with the wind to our stern and began making good way towards Florida. We reached the edge of the Great Bahama Banks about 10PM. Within 24 hours, we were at the entrance of Angelfish Creek. We anchored by Pumpkin Cay near Ocean Reef for a couple hours of sleep before continuing the last 17 miles to Tarpon Basin. Ahhhh, home at last!

Southern Bahamas 2018

I never thought there would come a day that I would be glad for Darrell's stubbornness!  Yes, he can be bull headed!!  I guess that we are together today, after more than 20 years because he wouldn't give up. 

Well folks, he didn't give up on our windlass motor. We were told about 7+ years ago that it probably couldn't be rebuilt any more. We have experienced intermittent problems with it but could usually get the thing working. It recently quit in the remote islands of the Bahamas where replacement or rebuilding it was highly unlikely. He decided that it couldn't get more broke than it already was (thanks Captain Al for giving us courage and wisdom in this realm) so he tore it apart. After several attempts to find a replacement here in George Town, Exuma, he decided to try and repair it. My cockpit became a workroom and my lovely varnished teak table became a workbench. The guts of something similar to a starter motor were strewn about and Darrell finally used line off an old scuba dive reel to slip half hitches along the lengths of bare copper wires inside the motor. We painted the rusty outside and added material for an end cap where it was rusted through. The motor now has a permanent umbrella and the exterior parts will have a sunbrella (type of waterproof fabric) cover to try and keep everything dry!

A few days of mess and lots of head scratching and we have a temporary fix in place to get us home where we can order a new motor for it. For those who don't know what an important piece of equipment a windlass is, consider the following. A 44 pound anchor on the bottom of the sea bed (buried in sand) attached to 5/16" chain - usually say about 75 to 100ft of scope out. Every time we change locations, this comes back on board and goes back out. Yes, we are both capable of lifting and pulling all this in but it takes its toll on our worn out old bodies. So yay!!  The windlass is working once again!!!

The fact that we have a windlass is especially nice since we are expecting a big wind event here. In fact, the hardest non hurricane blow I think we've ever endured on the boat - sustained winds in the 30 knot range and gusts into the 40's (multiply mph by 1.13 or 1.151 depending on the source).  Weather has been less than cooperative for the second half of our trip. Between wind and several days of rain, it has been hard to get much done outside on the boat. No, I'm not whining because we could have been at home in the keys where it has been an unusually cold winter. Argh!  A hot, hot summer - a hurricane - then a cold and windy winter!  Mother Nature, give it a rest please!!

Alas, our fun time in the Bahamas is quickly coming to a close. We promised our employers that we would be back in place to drive the dive and snorkel boats by the beginning of March. Attempts to verify that Darrell still has a job have been fruitless. We will return to the keys as promised but the wanderlust bug has bitten us again. Who knows how long we will be able to keep the travel fever in check.....

From Farmers Cay, Exumas and South

We sailed to Farmers Cay on December 12.  We have been there before and LOVED it. We sure weren't disappointed this time either. The people there are so warm and friendly. We were invited and attended an awards presentation at the school. Of course we also enjoyed the bounties of the sea!  Darrell caught 3 large lobsters, one large lion fish and a small Snapper. We stayed 3-4 days but when a good weather window opened for moving south, we took it. 

We had a glorious sail to George Town on December 16. About 7.5 miles from entering the harbor, Darrell caught a wahoo. Nice!! We have a few items to take care of before our holiday guest arrives - Captain Jim Fagan. There are not near as many boats in the harbor as we are used to seeing!

It's amazing!!  You sit in an anchorage and think you are all alone but then you get to thinking about cruisers that you have met and you feel like you know everybody. We are in George Town and I can count 3 boats that we know, 2 boats that we are expecting and one or two more that we hope to meet up with. Darrell played volleyball and Texas Hold 'em poker here. We even thought we heard a boat we knew from Grenada hailed on the radio today - thinking about you today, Pierre-Yves and Mireille from Umido!!

We have had such a wonderful time meeting people from all over!!  And seeing some we haven't seen in a long time!

George Town is always busy with something to do. Water aerobics, shopping, regattas, and many others!  Darrell got to play Texas Hold'em a few times in George Town and was the tournament winner one night!!!  While here, we added to our crew list!  Captain Jim Fagan flew in on Christmas Eve. We always look forward to seeing him!!  

Christmas Day we had a potluck lunch with several other boats. We had a total of twelve at our table. All the tables at Chat n Chill beach were full and the total count was somewhere close to 150 people.  Good times and great food!!

The following Saturday, we had the right wind direction to sail to Long Island. It was a beautiful day with about 10 knots of wind. On arrival in Thompson Bay, we had four friends dinghy over to welcome us to the harbor and enjoy a few cold beers over stories to catch up!  Of course it's always great to meet up with fellow cruisers we have met through the years!!  We got to show Jim a few sites on the island, thanks to Alibi II (Bill & Bess)!  

On New Years Day, our guest, Jim Fagan left. We had a wonderful time during his visit and we're all always sad for him to go. We will meet up again in Key Largo in a couple of months. Next trip to the Bahamas, we hope to get Wayne and Sherry on board for a visit!

Happy New Year to everyone!

Bahamas 2017

We left Tarpon Basin on November 17, 2017 and we were escorted out Dusenberry Creek by our friend, Mitch. Thanks for the send off!!  We rested that night near Pumpkin Key off Ocean Reef Club. At high tide the following day, we transited Angelfish Creek to the Atlantic side. We took a mooring out at Turtle Rocks. It was a little rolly so we decided to depart early. Winds were light so we had to use the motor in addition to our sails. We were near Bimini at about 3 AM after a good crossing. This is not a place that we felt comfortable entering in the dark - especially since Irma could have changed things since we were there two years ago. So we continued on.

We rounded the reefs and shoals to the north of Bimini and entered the Great Bahama Banks. Typical waters like the keys - relatively shallow. After daylight broke, Darrell decided we needed to start fishing. We trolled some lures and had a double hit with two great big Mutton Snappers. Sweet!!  Especially since the vet told Darrell that Roxy would benefit from a diet high in omega 3!! She is on cloud nine with all that seafood!

The first night at anchor was spent outside Chub Cay Marina and we were going to try and clear customs there the next morning. They want to charge cruisers $100 to dock the dinghy to do this. So we pulled anchor and sailed to Morgan's Bluff, Andros - not very far away. The people here were lovely and we stayed a few days. Darrell and I got to play some dominoes with the locals. We decided to explore more of Andros Island this trip so we sailed south to Fresh Creek and anchored inside a barrier reef about 1/4 mile from shore. We awoke to find the cockpit full of tiny mosquitoes!!  Ann sprayed bug spray out the net and later that morning, we had to clean up all the carcasses. It looked like pepper all over the cockpit!!

The decision was made for us by the mosquitoes to get out of there and left for New Providence Island (home of Nassau). We anchored in West Bay for a night then rounded the corner to Nassau the next day. We needed to do laundry, grocery shop, and get some diesel fuel. That accomplished, we left for the Berries. We spent 4-5 days there but many of the islands are private and we couldn't walk Roxy on the beaches. Also, we needed protection from certain wind directions that was hard to find. So we left and sailed back to Nassau for a quick trip to BTC (phone company) and grocery store. Of course, we really didn't want to go to Nassau and tried in vain to get east to Eleuthera but the wind and seas wouldn't cooperate. 

We left Nassau for the Exumas. We stopped at Highborne Cay for a night then continued south to Exuma Land and Sea Park for the next several night stops. Ultimately headed for a place to find protection from an approaching cold front. Winds can clock from the south to the west to the north in a front and many anchorages don't have protection from all directions. We stopped at Staniel Cay for the next several days to get that protection, plus cell coverage to be in touch with friends and family. And NO, we're not going to see the swimming, begging pigs!  They have tried to attack Roxy in the past so we don't find them amusing.