May 2012

The plan for bringing The Abby back from Nassau called for a stop in Beaufort, NC, for a crew rest and to get fuel.  My parents have always said that I have always been blessed with a guardian angel, and she was on full alert yesterday when the auto pilot failed just as we entered Beaufort Inlet, just south of the notorious Cape Hatteras.   The Abby is a big boat, and the idea of hand steering her 24/7 wasn’t appealing at all.

I have to give The Abby’s owner Bob, credit for being a very handy guy, and he had the problem diagnosed within an hour of docking and he was on the phone with the manufacturer getting a replacement part, a stripped gear that engages the auto pilot.   I am always amazed by how durable equipment on boats is these days.  Bob’s autopilot is 10 years old and this is the first major failure.  Impressive and good news as Pandora has the same autopilot.  I think that I’ll be checking the same gear for wear myself soon.   As is often the case, the part was not expensive but when you combine that with overnight delivery and and extra night of dockage, that was one expensive little gear.  Not a bad place to have gear problems at all.   This “surprise” will keep us here for an extra day, which is fine with me. Besides, they say that cruising is just boat repair in exotic places.   Works for me.

The Abby is looking good in her slip.  Most of the boats here are on delivery up the coast from warmer climes.   I am told that the mix will shift next weekend when the locals will be out in force.   I have to say that Beaufort  (and I am told that it’s pronounced “Bowfort”, and not “Byuufort”), which is in SC, is a lovely small city.  In fact, Beaufort was named “the coolest small town in America”,  a distinction that they are very proud of.  Their official site certainly makes me want to visit.   No wait, I am here…

Beaufort will be an early stop for me and Brenda as we make our way south in the fall and I am really looking forward to sharing this spot with Brenda.   The town dock is right in the center of town which is lined with wonderfully maintained historic homes.

This beautiful spot is a great example of homes along Main Street.  It’s not hard to imagine a mint julep hear on a cool evening.   Very nice.  Shrimping is a big thing here (actually, I had some of the local critters for dinner last night) and here’s a few of the fleet at the dock.  Reminds me of Forest Gump.The town planners must have been really anal as it’s hard to imagine a street that’s straighter. 

Even the boardwalk is perfect and there’s someone who waters all of these pots each day I would guess.  There have to at least 100 of these in a row. 

The local fauna is not afraid to hang out on the dock to snag a snack.

Off to better hunting grounds I guess.

There’s  a very nice maritime museum, The Beaufort Maritime Museum,  a very nice museum that gives a good history of the area.  It seems that Blackbeard’s ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, sank here, and there are plenty of artifacts on display from this ongoing archeological dig.   Is it a “dig” when it’s underwater?  Hmm…  Lot’s of pirate references here and you know that the locals take pirates seriously when you see a bumper sticker that says “Arrg”.   Is that how you spell it?  Perhaps it doesn’t matter as I doubt that Blackbeard was a great speller.  Actually, our captain says that it’s spelled ARG which stands for “alcohol research group”.  I’m voting for that.Some nice models on display too.  What post is complete without a sunset shot?   You can’t beat sunsets, or sunrises for that matter, when you are at sea.

Oh yea, one of our crew, Mark is a fabulous cook and judging by the massive pile of ingredients that just showed up for dinner we are in for a treat.  Can you say Brontosaurus burger?  Where’s my statin?

 

 

 

It’s 10:30 Wednesday and we are nearly to Beaufort NC having left Nassau on Sunday morning.  The weather has been changeable and has given us everything from NE winds in the wake of tropical storm Alberto to strong SW winds pushing us along.  One thing for sure, we had plenty of variety with what Mother Nature tossed our way.

Beyond hours of crashing into big waves earlier in the week, the most interesting weather came to us earlier today when we tangled with a line of very strong thunder storms that hit us at about 05:00 today.

Bob, the owner of The Abby, is big on weather information and subscribed to no less than three services for our trip up the coast.  One service that came in particularly handy last night was XM Satellite Weather. With a special receiver aboard Bob is able to see, in real time, all sorts of weather information including how a storm cell was tracking, and of particular interest last night, lightning strikes.  And, there were plenty to count as they piled up on the screen, one after another, until the marched like little (ok, perhaps not that little) soldiers within each of the multiple cells displayed on the screen.  We have all enjoyed looking at the weather channel on TV and then going outside to see what’s happening.  However, doing that on dry land is a poor substitute for seeing it in real time when you are on a “small” boat 100 miles from shore on a pitch dark night.  A unique experience, to be sure.

However, what struck me most about all of this was the fact that we had a very good idea of what we were facing and when it would hit.  It was sort of like a complex video game with vectors, lots of bright colors and endless options.  However, to look at the screen and then outside provided a bit more reality than most might have bargained for in the pitch dark of night.

As it became clear that we were going to tangle with this weather, like it or not, Bob decided to begin preparations in advance of the storm’s arrival to get the boat ready.

We took in the sails and got everything buttoned down as you would expect.  However, given the fact that The Abby, like so many boats these days, is tremendously dependent on sensitive electronics so securing these, as best we could, was a high priority.

By the time the storm finally hit, we had turned off everything, engine, all electronics, everything.  With everything secured, The Abby was just jogging along with Bob at the helm while the wind and rain whipped at us.  Actually, Bob got the bulk of the whipping as he was at the helm steering and getting soaked.  All and all, the whole process including preparation and the storm itself only took about 90 minutes and we were certainly happy when it was over and that the boat didn’t get hit by lightening.   Getting struck by lightening on the water is not particularly life threatening, but it’s hell on electronics.

To see dozens of flashes light up the horizon really made it clear to me that when it’s all said and done, nature is really in charge.  We can get more information, yes, but when you are out in it, you are out in it and there is no getting around that.

All the while, our ship mates, Bill and Mark were off watch and snug in their bunks snoozing away.  Well, perhaps not snoozing but they didn’t seem too concerned.

Oh, did I mention that the temperature, following the storm, finally dropped to a tolerable level in the high 70s?   Yes, it’s very hot in the Gulf Stream and as the storm passed we were getting out into cooler waters.   I guess that that was the greatest relief of all.

And another thing, I just realized that I had not reactivated the SPOT unit this morning.  It only tracks for 24 hours and needs to be reset.  When you read this, look at the “Where’s Pandora” page and you will see when I reset it.

That’s all for now.  More to come from Beaufort.   But, before another post, a nice cold beer, or two when we tie up at the dock.

It’s 10:30 Wednesday morning, and we are heading toward Beaufort, NC, having left Nassau on Sunday morning.  The weather has been changeable and has given us everything from NE winds in the wake of tropical storm Alberto to strong SW winds pushing us along.  One thing for sure, we had plenty of variety with what Mother Nature tossed our way.

Beyond hours of crashing into big waves earlier in the week, the most interesting weather came to us last night when we tangled with a line of very strong thunder storms that were traveling perpendicular to our course finally hitting us at about 0500 this morning.

Bob, the owner of The Abby, is big on weather information and subscribes to no less than three services for our trip up the coast.  One service that came in particularly handy last night was XM Satellite Weather. With a special receiver aboard, Bob is able to see, in real time, all sorts of weather information, including how a storm cell was tracking, and of particular interest last night, lightning strikes.  And there were plenty to count as they piled up on the screen, one after another, marching like little (ok, perhaps not that little) soldiers within each of the multiple cells displayed on the screen.  We have all enjoyed looking at the weather channel on TV and then going outside to see what’s happening.  However, doing that on dry land is a poor substitute for seeing it in real time when you are on a “small” boat 100 miles from shore on a pitch dark night.  A unique experience, to be sure.

What struck me most about all of this was the fact that we had a very good idea of what we were facing and when it would hit.  It was sort of like a complex video game with vectors, lots of bright colors and endless options.  To look at the screen, and then outside in the cockpit, provided a bit more reality than most might want in the pitch dark of night.

As it became clear that we were going to tangle with the whole mess, like it or not, Bob decided to begin preparations about an hour in advance of the storm’s arrival to get the boat ready for the inevitable.

We took in the sails and got everything buttoned down as you would expect.  And given the fact that The Abby, like so many boats these days, is tremendously dependant on sensitive electronics, securing these, as best we could, was a high priority.

By the time the storm finally hit, we had turned off everything– engine, all electronics., everything.  The Abby was just jogging along at a few knots with Bob at the helm, while the wind and rain whipped at us.  Actually, Bob got the bulk of the whipping as he was at the helm getting soaked.  All and all, the whole process, including preparation and the storm itself, only took about 90 minutes and we were certainly happy when it was over and that the boat didn’t get hit by lightening.   Getting struck by lightening on the water is not particularly life threatening, but it’s hell on electronics.

To see dozens of flashes light up the horizon really made it clear to me that when all is said and done, nature is really in charge.  We can get more information, yes, but when you are out in it, you are out in it and there is no getting around that.

All the while, our ship mates, Bill and Mark, were off watch and snug in their bunks snoozing away.  Well, perhaps not snoozing but they didn’t seem too concerned.

Oh, did I mention that the temperature, following the storm, finally dropped to a tolerable level in the high 70s?   Yes, it’s very hot in the Gulf Stream and as the storm passed we were getting out into cooler waters.   I guess that that was the greatest relief of all.

And another thing, I just realized that I had not reactivated the SPOT unit this morning.  It only tracks for 24 hours and needs to be reset.  When you read this, look at the “Where’s Pandora” page and you will see when I reset it.

That’s all for now.  More to come from Beaufort.   But, before another post, a nice cold beer (or two) when we tie up at the dock.

We departed on Sunday at 07:30 from Nassau Bahamas, headed for Beaufort, NC, a trip that is expected to last until Wednesday afternoon.  The plan will be for us to stay there for the night, take on fuel and then head up the coast around Cape Hatteras for the two day trip up through New York and on to Norwalk Yacht Club.

Our plan originally had us leaving Nassau on Friday or Saturday but the weather wasn’t cooperative with a small tropical storm off of the Florida coast that would have had us motoring into strong NE winds, something that you don’t want to do in the Gulf Stream.

The Gulf Stream moves along in a northerly direction at up to 5 knots as it is squeezed between the Florida coast and the shallow waters of the Bahamas banks and if the wind opposes the direction of the current, as is the case with a northeast wind, the seas can get steep and nasty.

To be certain that we had the best weather information available, Bob, the owner of The Abby, subscribes to the weather service provided by Chris Parker, who advises cruisers on what to expect from weather along their route.  By checking in with Chris on a daily basis, Bob was able to determine that we would be better off leaving on Sunday to avoid the unfavorable winds.

As he reviewed the forecast for the next few days, Chris Parker predicted that we will have to motor for several days, and then he feels we might very well end up with some favorable winds for sailing as the week goes on.  As I write this we are about 90 miles east of Savanna and the winds have not yet filled in from a direction that is favorable for sailing.

Prior to leaving Nassau we took on about 95 gallons of diesel to top off Bob’s 200 gallon capacity so that we would have an adequate capacity to get us to the states.  Bob’s boat is very well thought out off-shore yacht with large capacity of both water and fuel and we can  easilymotor much of the 750 or so miles to our first stop.

After several days of uncharacteristically rainy weather in Nassau, we are now out in our second picture perfect day with clear blue sky and deep blue tropical waters.  The seas coming out of the Bahamas were very flat, much like you’d expect on Long Island Sound, but as we entered the Gulf stream and began to head north, we found ourselves motoring into a really nasty mess that had waves breaking over the bow every 8 seconds or so.  I took some videos of this on Monday and it will be interesting to see how they look when I download them at home.   What we were experiencing was the result of a current running north with opposing winds.  Beyond that, the waves were kicked up by the tropical storm churning up the waters off of Florida, just ahead of our path.

Now, as I write this on Tuesday the waves have calmed down quite a bit and it’s an easy if hot ride north.

It’s been a long time since I have been this far from land but after our many trips to Maine over the years, it doesn’t look much different from what I have experienced except the fact that I am aware of the fact that the water depth is close to 1,000 feet.

Also worth noting is that there are plenty of flying fish that launch themselves from our path as we head along and skip from wave top to wave top for 100 yards or more.  They are well adapted to getting away from those who would like to make a meal of them.

Finally, this note comes to you via a SSB radio transmission sent to Brenda as an e-mail.  What a great service.   You can see where we are right now by clicking on the “where’s Pandora” button above this post.

I am pretty sticky in the 80+ heat and humidity but I am looking forward to that “just showered feeling” as I am about to get a much needed rinse.

More to come on Wednesday.