Bahamas Trip

Arrived Bimini and leaving today May 5, 2010 for points east. The cut and paste feature that I thought would work is not working. Running out of time to depart slip without another day's fees. Will add the detailed information at next stop.

Below is the cut and paste version:

Saturday, May 1, 2010

1630 left Sundowner’s Anchorage heading north to Pumpkin Key. Anchored for the night near Ocean Reef. Spent the night and part of next day rearranging provisions and preparing the boat for the Gulf Stream Crossing. Left in the afternoon heading for Carysfort Reef. Arrived at Carysfort in the late afternoon and tied up to a mooring ball on the northwest corner for dinner. What a mistake!! We thought that the waters would be calmer behind the protection of the reef and they were……but!! With a southeast wind coming around the reef - we had a washing machine agitator going on with 3 ft waves. We moved moorings just before dark but to no avail! Have you ever tried to sleep in a washing machine???

We left Carysfort Reef at 0630 (later than earlier planned because of the waves and we were afraid to begin the crossing in the dark). This turned out to be a good call - wave height was 5-7 on the reef and five footers for the first hour. We had planned to stick our nose out there to be sure that we were ready for whatever the Atlantic had to give us - and we were good with the conditions - always willing to turn back if necessary. We began with SE 20 knot winds predicted to decrease and we began the trip with everything reefed to the max until we got comfortable. We eventually shook out all the reefs and Alibi stopped rolling so much - we set sail for Bimini. We calculated the course based on everything we had read and were accounting for about a 2.5 knot Gulf Stream flow (because of the SE winds for several days). Turns out that we underestimated the actual flow of the Gulf Stream but with the direction of the winds, we couldn‘t compensate any more - we ended about eight miles north of Bimini and had to tack back.

We arrived at Bimini at around 5:30 and by the time the anchor (note singular) was set it was about 6. Darrell took off in the dinghy with our important papers to get us cleared through Customs. After about a mile hike he found out they were closed and would reopen at 9AM. He reloaded Roxy in the dink and took her for a little exercise and potty break. After they were gone about 30-40 minutes, Ann heard something on the VHF radio that sounded like Alibi. It was Darrell calling. He said the dinghy was out of gas. What were we to do - Ann on the “big boat” all alone and Darrell & Roxy on a dock with security telling him he had to leave. After a fretful few minutes trying to figure out what to do - Darrell finally came up with a solution and it got him back. After Darrell’s arrival at Alibi - we were concerned that the changing tide might have us grounded - since we only had one anchor out. Darrell’s brother had called and since we don’t know Ann’s password to voicemail, we had to just go ahead and call him. After a short conversation, the phone went dead in Darrell’s hand. Since we were concerned about the tides, he didn’t try to call Mike back - sorry guys!

So we weighed the anchor (singular) and drove the “big boat” out a narrow channel in the dark. Not a great idea to navigate this course at night. Ann finally had to drive the boat out because she is better at following “bread crumb trails” left by GPSs and Darrell is better at night vision so we combined our two strengths to get us out into deeper water. Now, where is there a good anchorage for us to spend the night? None. We call a marina on the radio and go back in the same channel we just left (not recommended to do at night or in a west wind situation). Got her docked - Ann was even challenged at this because we were so tired!! We stayed at Bimini Sands Marina for the night - beautiful, clean and all the amenities of a US marina.

Darrell went to customs in the morning after a very restful night. We spent the day at the marina cleaning the boat, cleaning Darrell and Ann and Roxy, and resting. As we write this we are contemplating the next portion of our journey. After studying the charts and guide books, its off to navigate the Bahama Banks for about 16 hours of sailing to more islands (probably Great Harbor Cay).

P.S. For those who were skeptical when we bought a pressure canner and talked of canning meat: we have had spagetti with the hamburger and we had brisket with potatoes, garlic and onions last night that was so tender we cut it with a fork!

It is hard to believe it is now a year since we became the new owners of Alibi!! We are so proud of her and so glad we have her.

Here is a brief recap of the year:

Five day sail from St. Augustine to bring her home.
Got hit by lightening about a week after getting her to Key Largo.
New alternator and regulator.
New exterior canvas including a bimini, dodger, and mainsail cover.
New Mainsail.
New electronics including Garmin chartplotter, radar, and sonar.
New lifelines.
Sand and varnish all exterior teak.
Hand rub all interior teak with Scott's Liquid Gold.
New water pump after many attempts to fix leaks on old one.
New wind generator.
New dinghy.
Several short sails around Blackwater Sound and a few longer ones around the islands of the Keys.
Dividers made by Darrell for settee storage to accommodate canning jars.
Ann has been learning to can meats for provisions for longer sail trips.

List still to do:
Recertify liferaft.
Fix autopilot.
Fix cockpit mic for VHF radio.
New inverter/charger (fried by lightening).
Recover cockpit cushions and interior cushions.
More coats of varnish on exterior teak.
Fresh bottom paint in the next year or so.
New foresail and staysail.
More sail trips to further destinations.

Stay tuned, if all goes according to our plans, we will be in the Bahamas the first part of May - perhaps into part of June. There will be more frequent posts here if/when this trip indeed happens.

We're on the way back from the cold and snowy Texas Panhandle. When we get back, we have a list of things we want to get done on the boat. We have done quite a few things since the last post here..... Will update with a few pictures later. We are dreaming of a way to escape south Florida and go to the Bahamas. Stay tuned for the updates - sorry for the long time since the last post!

Recent FUN sail

A couple of day ago we went for an afternoon sail with some dear friends. We had Jason, Nicole, their two children and many of their in-laws on board. In all, we had eleven on board counting the children. We had light winds that afternoon but a fun time was had by all. Here are some pictures of the day's events.

We have been working on the teak trim and varnish but got side-tracked. It looks good now but wait til we get finished with all the coats we're going to put on her! The materials are here to start the new mainsail cover so her look will be changing again soon.

Darrell and Ann have been compiling the information to renew their captain's licenses. Ann even got to teach some diving earlier in November. Just like riding a bicycle.....kinda!

Time sure flies by when you are busy! We have been doing lots since the last post. We have been for one or two more 2 day sails. The best one was the last one. We went from our mooring south to "Cowpens" anchorage in Islamorada. The place got its name from history of the Keys when they used to herd the manatee cows into this area. We were just outside Snake Creek for the first night then we went under the drawbridge at 10 AM the next morning and headed north in Hawk's Channel - average speed about 6+ Knots. We anchored at Pumpkin Key (just inside of Ocean Reef club) that evening (over 40 miles that day even with the late start). On the way back to Key Largo the next morning, the winds were very light so we got up the courage to try out our Gennaker. For those of you who may not understand this term - it is a light, downwind designed sail that neither of us have ANY experience using. We have been wanting to get it out to try it but the winds were usually too strong or we could find many other excuses not to get out of our comfort zones. Anyway, that morning, we got a dose of courage. Darrell was at the helm and we rolled in the genoa in preparation so our speed dropped to 1.5 knots while I was forward on the deck readying the gennaker. While I was up there, I thought the winds picked up a little but I was busy getting all the lines and "tackle" sorted out. Anyway, I was finally ready to hoist the beast. The sail has something to help contain it until you are ready to let the wind fill it (called a sock) so you send them up together then raise the sock to open up the sail. When we took the sock off, we went from 1.5 to 6.5 knots in the blink of an eye and the boat heeled over about 15-20 degrees! It was exciting!!!! The whole flight of "Wild Thang" probably only lasted 10 -15 minutes before I went back up and doused it with the sock. Getting that sock back down over a big parachute full of wind was not easy - in fact at one point, I didn't have the lines secured to anything on the sailboat and I thought I was going parasailing! It was a great workout for me but since I am usually the photographer, we only have one picture of it in use. I was headed forward to take a picture of it on the foredeck when all H___ broke loose and I had to throw my phone back into the cockpit so I could wrestle the beast. There definitely is a learning curve there for both of us on using a cruising gennaker. Perhaps next time we'll get more pictures. On that trip, we also got Alibi out into deep blue water for the first time.

Our latest undertaking is to refinish all the Teak trim on the boat. Darrell and I had some time on our hands while awaiting our trip to Texas to visit family - bad thing, too much time! Anyway, we began scraping, sanding and prep work to varnish the teak and had the whole thing planned out to do in stages since there is a lot of wood on this old boat. Three days of scraping and sanding and we finally put the first two coats on the back half and some of the pieces that could be taken off the boat to work on. She is looking good but there are several more coats of varnish to go. We will post before and after pictures later.

We have a new mainsail on order and will be making a new cover for that when we get it. Even though we have a sewing machine fully capable of doing the work, we opted not to try and make our own sails. We did some repair work on a friend's sail and that was a chore. The other canvas work is done and we are truly enjoying the protection from weather.

All projects are at a standstill for now - we are flying to Texas today for a long overdue visit with family. When we return, we will get back to putting more coats of varnish on the wood and getting her ready for some cruising. We are glad to report our friends on board S/V Selkie have made landfall in the US Virgin Islands and report that within 1.5 miles of the coast of St. Thomas the water is that beautiful sapphire blue that we occasionally see here in the Keys. Someday we will go see them!

A recent sailing trip on august 17th and 18th - we went from our mooring to Barnes Sound and through Card Sound - out Angelfish Creek to the Atlantic Ocean and south to just a few miles from our house ( near the Pilot House Marina). We sailed the next morning to Sanke Creek and back to the bayside to return home. It was lovely! We all enjoyed it very much.

The dodger is nearing completion - just a few minor tweaks to get her done. Then we plan to install a window in the top of the bimini and a "connector" between the two to keep the cockpit dry as can be. She is looking good! We also got new lettering done that lists our hailing port and changed the color to navy blue (eventually will be khaki and navy) instead of green.

We are getting bids for a new set of sails but they are pretty pricey so we're not in too big of a hurry. We bought some line today to replace some of the more worn lines of the "running rigging". Eventually all of it will be replaced. Most of the items on our list are MORE big ticket items so we are slowing a bit in our spending spree.

Yup, we have had a little time to do some sailing! Here is a shot from the parasail boat that docks in the marina with our dive boats. Isn't she beautiful!!?? She will be even nicer when we get the dodger done - the sewing machine is coming back next week!

Not a lot of news but we are steadily making progress on our list of items. We are certainly getting itchy feet too! About time that we make a pilgrimage to the Texas panhandle. We miss all the family back home.

We enjoyed a visit from Tom Loveday this week. He seems relaxed on Alibi - a bit TOOOOO relaxed!! LOL Great fun the other night, Tom!