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It’s Thursday morning and it’s the “morning after” from yesterday’s front.  Actually, it’s been pretty windy for several days with what Chris Parker, the weather router, calls “pre-frontal” winds.

However, as the “actual” front approached mid-day yesterday, we were anchored off of town, across the harbor, a location that was fairly protected when the pre-frontal winds were blowing from the south.  As the front approached, the wind shifted, within just a few hours, from the south to the southwest, west, northwest and finally north.  All this happened in pretty short order accompanied by winds that gusted into the 30kt range accompanied by squalls.  It wasn’t particularly fun, actually.

As you can imagine, things got a bit bumpy and finally, (sort of) between squalls we decided to move over to the other side of the harbor to find a more sheltered spot.

Pulling up the anchor, in a chop that was pushing 4 feet, was a bit challenging but we got it done with a minimum of problems.  However, once we headed over to the other side of the harbor, anchoring in so much wind proved to be tough.

As you may recall, some time back I damaged my Bruce anchor and had switched to a large Fortress anchor that I have had aboard for use in storm conditions.  I hadn’t really used it much but it took the place of my damaged Bruce.

I have to say that, after several weeks of use, I am not all that impressed with it as a primary anchor.  When it sets, it sets hard and fast but so often I found that in weedy conditions it tended to skip along the bottom gathering up loads of weed and not really setting.  There’s nothing quite as frustrating as trying to anchor in strong winds when the anchor won’t hold.    In the interest of fairness, I have also had the same problem with my Bruce in the past.

In the “anchor doesn’t set” department, yesterday was one of those days.  We did quite a tour of the harbor, trying to drop the hook a total of five times and in several locations, until we finally found a good spot.  The problem is that much of Georgetown harbor is moderately weedy and in strong winds anchors tend to load up with weed before they can set properly.  This isn’t as much of a problem when the winds are lighter as the anchor can dig through the weeds and into sand when there is less pressure on the anchor.  That was not the case yesterday.  Not at all.

The Fortress is billed as a sort of “last resort” anchor and many boats carry one on board for storm conditions.  With the exception of powerboats that rarely anchor anyway, you almost never see one used on a sailboat as a primary anchor.  After a month of use, I can now see that the anchor has some limitations. The problem is that it’s hinged and when it’s deployed in very fine sand or mud, the hinge sometimes gets gummed up and won’t move properly.   What this means is that it gets stuck, with the flukes in the “up” position, and just skips along the bottom not hooking at all.   When I pulled up the anchor yesterday, I was shocked to see that one of the flukes and the shaft were slightly bent.  Amazing for such a “tough” anchor.  I have been told that there is a lifetime warrantee on Fortress anchors.  I’ll have to test that when I get home in May.

In order to find a replacement for my Bruce, I made an announcement on the radio net here in Georgetown and there’s a guy with a spare CQR anchor that will fit Pandora nicely.  The CQR is an old style design, but pretty good anchor and works well in most conditions. I plan on visiting that boat today or tomorrow to see if we can work something out.

Anyway, yesterday was pretty rough as the front came through, and I hope that we won’t have conditions like that again anytime soon.   Some folks I was talking to this morning said that yesterday’s frontal passage was the roughest they have ever seen in years of Bahamas cruising.

However, today is a new day and what a beautiful one it is.  The wind is still a bit brisk but the sun is out and shining brightly.  And, we are now in a protected location off of a beautiful beach.

Interestingly, when we finally anchored yesterday (Did I mention that we had some difficulty anchoring?) I noticed that our friends on Cat’s Meow were anchored nearby.  We met them last winter in the Bahamas and really enjoyed their company.  Cat’s Meow is a HUGE catamaran, 80’ long.  La Vonne and Don live aboard and travel up and down the east coast.

We’d love to have them visit us in Essex  but their mast is 102’ tall and they can’t fit under the I-95 CT highway bridge which is (only) about 90’ tall.  That’s a very tall mast.  Their boat is so wide, at 45’, that there are only three boatyards on the entire east coast that can haul them out of the water.  I’ll bet it’s tough to shop for the best price when choice is that limited.  Perhaps folks with 80’ boats aren’t that price sensitive.

There is an interesting story behind Cat’s Meow as they purchased the boat at auction from the DEA who had seized the boat from a drug dealer a while back.  I wonder if the Coast Guard has them on a “watch list”.

What a boat.  HUGE, doesn’t begin to describe it.  For a stove they have a 6 burner Wolf oven, the type you might find in a commercial kitchen.  It’s quite a stove.  And, they have a “butler’s pantry” off of their cabin.  Alas, no butler aboard.  “Get your own ice.” Speaking of the Coast Guard, back in February, a sailboat from Canada had gone up on a reef off of Cuba and was in danger.  Some local fishing boats helped get them off and the boat was repaired.  As the hull was steel, the damage was minimal. However, in the process of trying to get help, they had contacted the US Coast Guard who, as you can imagine, declined to help them as they were in Cuban waters.  

So, fast forward a few months, to when they tried to clear customs in Florida and they ran into real difficulty as they had been put on a “list” as someone who had “traded with the enemy” in Cuba.  As a result, their boat was denied entry into the US and were told that they could continue up the coast to their home port in Canada but that they could no longer leave the boat in the US for the summer, as they have done for the last few years.

I know that Americans are not allowed to visit Cuba but thought that it was OK for citizens from countries that do not have a trade embargo with them to visit and then come to the US.  It seems that as they had decided to visit the US directly from Cuba, they were somehow in violation of American law.  Oops…

I don’t know much about the finer points of the law but it seems that they are in a bit of a fix as to get just about anywhere south from Canada requires being able to stop in US waters.  Perhaps if they had cleared into the Bahamas instead of going to the US directly from Cuba they might have been better off. Who knows.  Not a good situation to be in at all.  It would be interesting to hear more.

Brenda and I would love to visit Cuba but have no interest in running afoul of Customs in the US.  Perhaps in time, we’ll have an opportunity.  (That’s to visit Cuba, not to run afoul of US customs, just to be clear.)

Now for a particularly jarring change of topic…. There’s a very “interesting” boat anchored nearby.  Jumbo, and it’s anything but…  If form follows function, I wonder what the function of Jumbo is.    So, if Cat’s Meow is huge than Jumbo isn’t.  Perhaps they should trade names.  Jumbo looks more like a Tylenol capsule than a boat.   I hope Jumbo‘s owners don’t see this post as I wouldn’t want them to be offended.  Jumbo is quite cute, actually.  I wonder where their home port is.  Probably not France, although it would be quite at home on a canal there but perhaps less at home on the open ocean getting there.I have to say that yesterday was the nastiest day we’ve had in our two winters in the Bahamas.  However, today, the morning after, is a new day and what a beautiful day it is.   Here’s  a shot of Pandora off of Monument Beach.   It’s named after the “monument” on top of the hill which shows just to the right of Pandora.  Perhaps we’ll take a walk up there later today.I’ll close with a picture we took last winter when our son’s Rob and Chris, along with Rob’s girlfriend Kandice, visited the monument with us.    Now that was a great day.

 

It’s Wednesday morning early and I have the SSB radio on and am waiting for Chris Parker, the weather router to begin his 06:30 broadcast.  Yesterday was pretty windy and quite a chop built up here in Georgetown Harbor.  Georgetown is quite a large harbor and while it is protected from all directions, the distances are quite long as the harbor is one mile wide and ten long.   As a result, when the wind directions change, folks move from one side of the harbor to the other and then back again.  It’s called the “Georgetown Shuffle”.  How quaint.

However, if you have to weather a front, and we have one coming, yet again, Georgetown is a pretty good place to do it.

During the broadcast, Chris Parker had lots to say about the front that’s coming through now, which is a pretty strong one in spite of it being fairly late in the season.  Normally, spring is the time when things settle down here from a weather standpoint.  However, this season continues with one nasty cold front after another penetrating the area on a more or less weekly basis.  Have I mentioned that there have been a LOT of fronts this winter?

As of today Chris noted that he expects that we will have yet ANOTHER front early next week and even ANOTHER the following week.  As Rob and Kandice are going to be with us beginning in about two weeks, I sure hope that things begin to settle down by that time.  As nice as it is to be in the Bahamas in the winter, this front-after-front deal, for months on end, is becomming a bit tiresome.

You may recall that I wrote a few weeks ago about my trials with assembling crew for the run north in May.  Getting folks to commit to heading 1,000 miles aboard is always tough and this year has not been an exception.  When the departure date is far out in the future, it’s easy to get crew to say yes but as the departure date nears, things come up and plans change.

I have been moving boats around with crew since the early 80s and getting crew then was tough then and is still tough now.   However the distances that I move boats now is much further as way back when, a 100 mile run was a long way.

As you can imagine, getting people with busy schedules to commit to be aboard, with weather delays, for as much as two weeks, to make a run from the Bahamas to CT is a big deal.  And, as the date for departure approaches schedules change.  It’s no surprise that it’s easy to say YES in February when winter winds are blowing snow around.  ANYONE would say yes to heading south.  Right?

However, in spite of changes in schedules and family obligations from crew, I was able to arrange for crew this year as well.  SUCCESS!!

Here’s the plan.  (Take notes as there will be a quiz)  Here goes… On May 5^th, Brenda flies out of Nassau to Baltimore to visit Rob’s home for a few days prior to heading to CT after that.  The same day Rich, one of my crew, flies to Nassau.  It’s possible that Rob will stick around, following our week with him and Kandice in the Bahamas, and make the run with me and Rich aboard Pandora to Charleston where we will meet up with George.  Rob would then fly home from Charleston with Rich and George continuing on to Essex with me.

Of course, this is all dependent on good weather for leaving Nassau on the 6^th as planned.  If we are delayed, and that could easily happen (think cold fronts), Rob will just head out from Nassau with Brenda and Kandice.  In that case, me and Rich will take Pandora to Charleston, as soon as we are able, to meet up with George.  George’s plans don’t put him in Charleston till a week after Rich meets me in Nassau.   Following this so far?  I think I do.

One way or the other, we will make it home and I am very much looking forward to the trip.  It’s just not certain how long it’s going to take.

While Charleston is a bit out of the way to head home, I am excited about a visit as it’s a beautiful city and getting reasonably priced flights from there is easy.

Brenda and I spent a week there on our trip down the ICW in fall of 2012.  How about a few pictures from our visit there?

We’ll likely tie up at the city Marina.  There’s Pandora on the dock.  I expect you are so busy looking at Pandora you missed the bridge.  Beautiful.Lots of huge oak trees.  A bit of a contrast to the Bahamas.  The islands of the Bahamas once had trees of this scale but they were all cut down by early settlers following the American Revolution in an ill fated attempt to grow cotton and other crops as they had in the southern US.Lovely homes everywhere.  And white, the color of choice. And, the Bahamas, with “world class” sunsets, doesn’t have a lock on beautiful ways to end the day.  How about a stately schooner and the setting sun as the day winds down?So, here’s the deal.  Winters in the south and summers in tbe north.  Works for me, fronts and all.  

And, as we continue the “Georgtown Shuffle” my thoughts are indeed turning to spring and our home up north.   Yes, something to look forward to.  Spring is here.

It’s Sunday around mid-day and we are enjoying a perfect sail back to Georgetown from Long Island.  The wind is behind us and we are cruising along with the water chuckling alongside.  Life is good.

Brenda’s up in the cockpit reading and keeping watch and I am down in the cabin typing away.  It’s a beautiful day.

Here’s the view out of the cockpit.  Puffy clouds, blue sky and perfectly clear water.  Even though we are miles from land it’s less than 20’ deep.  Such is sailing on the Bahamas Banks.On Saturday we rented a car and toured the island with our friends Dick and Anne of Nati.  I have written about them before and we really enjoy spending time with them. 

We stopped in Clarence Town for lunch and had the best grilled fish soft tacos EVER.  And let me tell you that there aren’t a load of places that serve great food to choose from in these parts. 

Long Island has some beautiful old Anglican and Catholic churches that are beautifully kept by their congregations.  This is one that we stopped to visit. The interior was simple and very peaceful.A well known priest here in Long Island was Father Jerome who had a very big impact on the island.  One of his best known churches is in Clarence Town.  What a beautiful spot.  Looks like the top of the right hand tower was struck by lightening.   Perhaps one of parishioners was thinking “impure thoughts”.   Something to think about.  Right?You can climb up into the towers if you have the nerve.  I had enough nerve to climb the narrow and very steep ladders, one after another, to reach the top but not quite enough nerve to do anything once I got to the top.  Once I arrived I was just about frozen and couldn’t take my hands off of the nearly vertical ladder to use my camera.

Oh well, Dick climbed up the other tower and mugged for the camera.  Reminded me of one of the characters from the old TV show Laugh In from the 60s, or was it the 70s?  Hmm…I took this shot of the view from one of the towers last year.  I guess I had more nerve last time.  Go figure.We also visited the deepest “blue hole” in the world, Deans Blue Hole.  In case you are wondering, it’s located in Deans LI.  No surprise there but I did find myself wondering if there was a “mister Deans”.  Blue holes are formed when seawater leaches away the bedrock and creates underwater caves that lead to the ocean.  These “holes” are all over the Bahamas with some being only a few feet across and other 100s of feet across.  Deans has the distinction of being the deepest in the world at 660 feet deep.  Question: If it’s 660′ deep is that at low or high tide? Perhaps they are averaging.  I won’t be checking that fact myself anytime soon.  

And, it’s the site of competition “free diving” where folks hold their breath and swim down, and back up, on a single breath.  Sounds nuts to me.  There’s a plaque nearby that commemorates three swimmers that have lost their lives here.  And, I know that another diver lost his life last fall and wasn’t listed so that’s four at least.  It’s a very dangerous sport. 

While we were there the current champion free diver was practicing. His current record is 100 meters.  That’s over 300 feet deep.   Just the thought freaks me out.  He’s the guy with the cute cap.  Pretty “hunky” guys.  Yes?They swim off of a platform that has a wire suspended that they follow on their way down and back up again.  The wire is reeled down to a chosen depth to guide them so that they know when they have reached their goal.   They also wear wetsuits and carry just enough weight to counteract the buoyancy of the suit. If you are also interested, you can buy a decent man scuba suit, here.

Another popular pastime here is to jump off of one of the surrounding cliffs.  Not sure I’d have the guts to do this either.  Here’s a guy that did.  I took some solace in seeing him stand there for quite a while till he took the plunge.Oh yeah, and here’s a shot of one of the “locals” that was peeking out of a hole in the surrounding cliff.  He, I guess it was a he, was sharing his “home” with a little hermit crab.  Brenda opted to pass on trying to pet him.On our way back to Pandora we were going to take a guided cave tour. However, the “proprietor” was out at the airport picking up a friend so there was  nobody to take us.   I expect that he was the “chief cook and bottle washer” too.   No luck there.  

We also tried to visit the Long Island museum, which we have heard is terrific.  Alas, closed.  Of course you’d expect it to be closed on a Saturday afternoon, right?  Not… So, what are a couple of tourists on “tour” for the day to do?

Here’s an idea.  How about a visit to a local bar?  It must be 5pm somewhere.  No wait, it was Saturday afternoon so it’s OK. 

Confident that it was indeed a “good time”, we followed a sign on the side of the road and there it was, “Seaside Village”.  Perfect. Actually, the entire “village” consisted of a dock with a bar perched on the end.  I guess he could call it a village as there was a half finished guest house, no make that 20% finished, along with a goat and chickens.  You heard it, goats and chickens.   Here’s the main attraction.  The bar.Not exactly a resort or much less a village but a lot of fun.  Here’s our crew. When was the last time you were at a bar with a goat?  Probably never, I’ll bet.  Then you have never been to the Bahamas mon.  Chickens?

Here’s Brenda, fiber lover, petting the resident beach bar goat.  A moment later she butted Brenda in the leg.  “bar fight!”  I guess it’s his/her way of showing love.  What a hoot.Did somebody say goat? Here’s  a few (sheep actually) I spied earlier in the day hanging our at the Clarence Town police station.  Yes, the police station.   That evening, not to let a moment pass unproductively, we headed over to Chez Pierre for dinner.  The owner and chef is Pierre, as you would expect.  I think he’s been running this place for about 15 years and is known for having one of the best dining spots in the Bahamas. 

It’s also perhaps the most remote as it is located several miles off of the beaten path down a badly rutted dirt road.  It’s so far from the road that Pierre has never had power lines run from the main road and uses his own generator that purrs along all day and night.  Pierre also has a few guest rooms. 

It’s a beautiful spot, right on the beach.  However, as the water is so shallow, the closest that we could get with Pandora to shore would be about ¾ of a mile. The view from the dining room is very peaceful. The building is fairly rustic but inside it’s a different story.  Quite unique.We had a terrific time.   I think that the only other folks dining that evening were guests that were staying in the cottages on the property. 

As a funny anecdote, Pierre has a selection of wines to choose from with prices penned on their labels.  When I asked him about a French Chardonnay that I was considering, he grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me over to another guest’s table.  He picked up their bottle of wine from the ice bucket and poured a taste for me. I couldn’t believe it.  He gave me a taste from someone else’s bottle, without asking…

It was good, so I ordered a bottle, and everyone seemed to be amused by the incident.  Just try doing that in New York.  You’d stand a good chance of being shot or at least punched.  “Hey you, buddy! Skinny guy!  What’s you think you doin, sippin on my Chianti?  I’m gunna punch your lights out.  Get outa hea!”

All and all, a lovely day.  And, we even were able to find our way back to Pandora in the dark, a 1.5 mile ride from the dock where we landed.

No, we still haven’t arrived in Georgetown and are still sailing along merrily.

Today, it is indeed “about the journey” and a lovely journey it is. Alas, as they say “it’s better in the Bahamas”.  Indeed, roadtrip or not.

It’s Friday morning and we are back in Thompson Bay Long Island (that’s the southern LI, not the one in the USA and it’s a LOT different).  Yesterday we had a ROUSING sail back to Thompson Bay, hard on the wind from the north end of the island where we had spent Wednesday night with our friends on Nati.

On Thursday morning Dick, from Nati, and I went snorkeling on a very nice reef near where we were anchored prior to heading back here.  I have to say that the reef was one of the nicest I have seen with a great variety of fish and coral.  The water wasn’t terribly clear but with about 30’ of visibility it was quite beautiful.  The prior afternoon we had gone into the mangrove swamp to do a bit of exploring and on our way back to Pandora we ran into a cruiser who had been fishing with a spear on the same reef.

We asked to see what he had caught and were impressed with the very large trigger fish he had speared.  We were also blown away by two beautiful large shells he had collected. I am not sure what type they were but they were beautiful and about a foot long.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have the presence of mind to get a photo.  Oh well.  Both Dick and I just had to find one too so that’s why we decided to go for a swim.  Unfortunately, no luck but the views on the reef were terrific.  Actually, the variety of coral, sponges and fish were the best we’ve seen.  Very nice.

Our run back here was a bit too exciting as the apparent wind was gusting into the mid 20s and we were hard on the wind really heeling over.   However, the seas were calm so it wasn’t that bad.  I’d love to have a run that isn’t quite so windy which hasn’t happened in a while.  Have I mentioned that this winter has been particularly windy?  Thought so.   We might get lucky as Sunday, as we will be going down wind and it’s supposed to be lighter then.  I think we will head back to Georgetown to avoid the exposed harbor here when the winds clock ahead of the cold front that is expected early next week.

The Bahamas are primarily arid with the only rain that falls being from squalls, usually associated with a frontal passage, or during tropical storms, hurricanes, in the summer months.  That means that water is in pretty short supply much of the year.  As a result, the islands only have vegetation that can stand extremely dry conditions.

As much of the Bahamas are very shallow (you can be miles from shore and still be in less than 10′, or less, of water) mangroves are fairly common.   Mangroves grow in water that is very shallow and can pop up wherever there is fairly sheltered thin water.  These areas often dry out at low tide and have miles of winding shallow channels running through them.  When we anchored in the northern part of Long Island we were just offshore of a large area of shallows and mangroves.  This shot shows how shallow the water is and just how insignificant Pandora looked anchored off of the lee of a small island with Nati.  Pandora’s on the left. We took our dinks up into the shallows to do a bit of exploring.  Here’s Dick and Anne in their dink.I am always so fascinated with the change in color of the water depending on the depth.  Generally speaking, the darker the water the deeper it is, but not always.  You can be sure that water that is very light in color is very shallow.  The contrast of the blue of the water to the blue of the sky is so dramatic. As we were sailing back south to Thompson Bay I got some great shots of Nati.  Dick and Anne have lived aboard full time for the last 6 years.  While Nati is only 38’ long, she has three times the room of Pandora.  And, as we were sailing along, heeled on our ear, they were sailing flat and even a bit faster than we were.  Doesn’t Dick look relaxed? He was.I have to say that the idea of a catamaran is getting more appealing every day.  However, sailing in Maine with two engines and props in the water, one in each hull, is a bit daunting with all those lobster pots to snag.  It’s worth nothing that while there are loads of cats here in the Bahamas there are very few in New England.   However, it seems that catamarans are becoming more popular every year.  To step aboard one tells the story as they are very comfortable and have so much more room than boats like Pandora.  We’ll see… 

However, right now I have to figure out how to round up crew for the trip north in May.  Unfortunately, while I thought I was all set a month ago, changes in schedules and a bit of lack of clarity on my part mean that I am back to ground zero with no crew.  Oops.

While having a full month till I leave may sound like a long time to recruit crew, it really isn’t as most of the folks I know have made plans already on other boats and can’t join me.  I have sent out more invites and am hopeful that I will be able to fill in for the run north.

Getting things squared away for a long run in the crew department is always challenging and I am particularly stressed out now.  Hopefully, it will all work out.  Brenda says so and she’s not even that optimistic usually.  I am trusting her on this.

Want to go sailing?

It’s Wednesday morning and we are still here in Thompson Bay Long Island.  Yesterday we decided NOT to head over to the Jumentos, after all my posts to the contrary, as the weather for next week is looking fairly nasty.  As I mentioned many times, the Jumentos are not well protected when fronts come through and it looks like the next one will be fairly bad as has been the case much of the winter.  As a friend told me yesterday, “the Jumentos will still be there next year”.   Indeed.

Happily, there is plenty to do here on Long Island as it’s quite large.  So, the plan is to do some short sails to the northern part of the island over the next few days and then come back here to where it is “sort of” protected from the expected clocking winds.  Actually, it’s exposed to the south west but hopefully, the winds won’t be from that direction for long or be very strong.

We also plan on renting a car for a few days to see the sights on LI.  Last year we did that and had a great time.  There is only one road that runs from north to south so it’s not hard to find your way around.  We are continuing to “buddy boat” with our friends on Nati so that will make the week even more enjoyable.

One of the things that I really enjoy visiting the Bahamas is watching the dramatic clouds.  Sometimes they are combined along with big winds as well but not always.  Can you say “squall”?  On our last night in Georgetown a front came through the area bringing with it quite a show.  We had drenching rain, if only for about 15-30 minutes.  It was nice to get Pandora rinsed off.  However that didn’t last long as our run over to LI the next day got the boat pretty salty.

I was particularly struck by the sunset that evening.  As the sun set we could still see blue sky above and the orange sun setting below.  It didn’t look real.  Quite a shot.A bit later, a beautiful sunset too.  It’s amazing to watch the light change as the minutes tick by. 

So, today a short 20 mile run north to an area called Joe’s Sound.  We heard that there are lots of sea turtles there.  Should be fun.

More to come but it’s time to shove off.