It’s Saturday morning, only a few days untill we head back to Pandora and the second half of our journey.  We’ve been back in Essex for nearly a month and really enjoying time with family and friends.  In spite of our both catching colds as soon as we returned to Essex, we have had a great time.

Here is Essex CT it’s been quite cold and snowy with something like 6″ of snow hitting the ground just after Christmas.   If this early snow is any indication of what the winter will be like here, it’s going to be a long one.  I am sure glad that we are going to be enjoying “winter weather” of a different sort.  For me, it will be my warmest winter EVER and none too soon.

We have been working for some time on a provisioning list for when we return to Florida and it looks like all of our work preparing Pandora with all sorts of food prior to our departure from Essex and along the way has paid off as our provisions are in pretty good shape.  Yes we still need a variety of things such as perishables as well as the all important wine and beer but we are in pretty good shape.  Our last minute shopping list, while impressive by usual weekly shopping standards, is not that overwhelming.   I expect that we will be able to get everything on the list in the two days that we have allocated for shopping prior to shoving off.

I have also ordered a number of spare parts that I have shipped to my friend Keith’s home in Vero Beach but it seems that we are in pretty good shape to leave.

I key milestone coming up shortly after our return to Florida is Brenda’s birthday.  Make a note in your calendar, it’s January 15th as I am told that there is consideration being made to declare this a national holiday.  However, national holiday or not, Brenda would prefer to celebrate with our boys.  However with a planned rendezvous with them in George Town on February 9th, we have to get back to Pandora so as to allow plenty of time to make the crossing.  Wish me luck in making this birthday a memorable one for Brenda, but in a good way.  Who knows where we will be on the 15th so I will have to come up with a fun birthday celebration for her.  Thinking hard….

Speaking of crossing to the Bahamas.   The weather for crossing the Gulf Stream has been very much on my mind.  With the constant parade of cold fronts barreling down from the US, we have to time our departure carefully so as to make the trip as comfortable for the birthday girl as possible.    Another issue to consider is if we will just make a run for it when the weather is good and continue all the way down to Georgetown or to break it up into segments.  Me, I’d personally like to break up the trip if we can so that it is as fun as possible along the way.  I’d love to make a stop in Nassau on the way so that Brenda can enjoy a short visit there on our way further south.

In spite of the fact that we aren’t even in the Bahamas yet, I am beginning to make plans for getting Pandora back to RI in the Spring.  As I have some favorite crew that I enjoy spending time with, I have already made a few calls to put the thought in their heads for late May.

Well, think of us on Wednesday as we wing our way south to Florida.  It’s pretty funny to make the trip that took us three months in just a few hours buy plane.

As I think about the crossing here’s what I should try to avoid with that birthday girl. This would surely be a CLM )(career limiting move) Perhaps a crossing more like this would be preferred.    Hmm…

Fingers crossed…

Sorry to not be more communicative these days.  I have to say that I have had difficulty in coming up with ideas for posts while I am home.  When we are underway I find inspiration nearly every day when I see something that I just have to write about.  When I look out of the window here in Essex at the grey sky it’s harder.

Well, I am back with yet another titillating post .  It’s Friday morning and about ten days until we return to Pandora.  The weather here in Essex has certainly been different than what we should expect to enjoy in the Bahamas with a few inches of snow on Christmas day and overnight temperatures in the 20s.  Just for fun, and too torture myself, I checked the weather for Georgetown today and it’s  currently 75 verses the 25 here in Essex.   Hmm…  All’s not lost as it’s supposed to go up to 38 later today, an increase of OVER TEN DEGREES.  George Town will only go up by a mere five.  ” Stop whining.  Soon, Bob, you’ll be warm soon.”

Our “vacation” here in Essex has been great fun, setting aside the “cool” weather,  (yes, a big thing to set aside I realize) with a whirlwind of visits with family and friends.    Of particular note, yesterday we had our friends Chris and Pat over for lunch and had a great time.  Chris has been a great friend since high school and was the one that introduced me to sailing.  He also was the one that gave me the idea of going south as he did the same trip over ten years ago when he Pat and their then small children headed south for a year aboard.

It was fun to catch up and exchange experiences.  I have to say that I am still amazed that we are doing this and am very excited about heading back down to Pandora to begin the second half of “Bob and Brenda’s most excellent adventure”.

“Santa”, with a little help from my parents, brought me a really great waterproof case to hold my i-phone so that I can take videos and pictures underwater.  I, no make that Santa, spied a press release about it in one of the sailing magazines last month.  The case is made by a company “Watershot” and is the newest addition to their line of camera cases.  The case, which fits over my phone, is waterproof to 130′ (a depth that I don’t plan to test personally) which is certainly going to be plenty deep for my snorkeling exploits.  After years of sailing in Maine, being in water that is actually warm will be just so great.  I can’t wait.  There’s a certain symmetry to getting this from my parents as this blog is perhaps more about them “coming along” with us on this trip than anything else.

I also now have a copy of Chris Parker’s book on basic weather for the southeast US, Bahamas and Caribbean.   Chris is our weather router and a great resource for helping to keep us happy and safe.  We listen to Chris on the SSB radio when we are aboard and via a webcast here in Essex.   He has a very helpful website with many resources for clients.  His broadcasts begin at 06:oo every day except Sunday and run for about 3.5 hours with segments devoted to weather for different regions including the Caribbean, Bahamas, Gulf Stream and Atlantic.   Chris’s routine is to cover area weather for a particular region and then take calls from customers or what he calls “sponsoring vessels” so that he can give them a personalized forecast for their area and travel plans.   The book is an excellent companion piece designed to help his clients better understand what he is talking about it.    It’s written in a very conversational style so you can nearly hear Chris speaking while you read it.   As this is the first book I have ever read about weather, it’s a great primer.

Before I break I should include a video of a wreck of a landing craft that I dove on when I was in Nassau last May to help bring back The Abby.   

I tried to take a video myself when I was there but wasn’t able as the battery in my recorder wasn’t properly charged. Next time I will be sure to have my battery fully charged, for sure.

We will be in the Bahamas in about a month.  I am just sooo excited.  Checking again.  The temperature here in Essex?  It’s still 25 degrees.  Bahamas?  Warmer…

 

 

For several years prior to our departing on Pandora to make the run to Florida and winter in the Bahamas, Brenda and I spoke to everyone that we could find that had done the run down the ICW to get their thoughts on the trip.  How long should we allow for the trip?  Should we make the run inside all the way?  What about shopping for food?  Laundry?  What does it cost?  What were their must stop places?   As y0u would expect, there were just about as many different answers as there were those with an opinion.

With all of our questions and often conflicting answers, what’s a cruiser to do?

For now, I’ll tackle the issue of leaving the dock.

The only really universal answer that we heard was something like, JUST DO IT!!!  Yes, the advice from everyone was to cast those lines off and go.   As I used to say to my boys when their rooms needed to be picked up “now’s a good time”.   As we have often heard, “you are never any younger or any healthier” which gets you back to the “now” part.

As I look around at all of the non-cruiser folks we have met, many with much bigger boats than Pandora, often mortgaged to the hilt, it’s easy to see how they will never be able to make the plunge.  One basic truth is that the more “stuff” you have the harder it is to leave.  When we moved from NJ to CT we tossed a ton of stuff that we had accumulated over the years.  Unfortunately, we still have tons left.   Oh Well.   Someone once said that you spend the first 50 years accumulating stuff and the next 50 trying to get rid of it.  In our case, the accumulating part seems to be a lot easier than the disposing part.  Why is that?  However, I am still cautiously optimistic as we are only early in the second half (I hope).

So, I’ll set aside the issue of stuff for now.  Many of the folks that we met along the way, perhaps most of those that cruise, have chucked the shore-side attachments and moved aboard full time. We met plenty who have been living aboard for a decade or longer.   Some were taking a year off to see the sights with the plan of heading back to shore after they spent their cruising kitty or had used up all of the good will from a patient employer that granted them a leave of absence.   However, the vast majority have retired, many at a fairly early age.  Perhaps the choice of boat and home verses boat alone is often a matter of economics. It’s painful to pay all those bills for the shore home when you are afloat.

Having the ability to maintain a home and boat can work although it’s much more complicated than just tossing all your stuff and casting off the lines.  For me and Brenda, we will be splitting our time between Pandora and our home in Essex CT.  Of course, for us, the $64 question is what the balance of time will be between our time afloat and on the hard.   As is so often the case, the guy (me) in this equation wants to spend more time aboard.  However, I have learned that there is truth to the saying, “when the Queen is happy, there is peace in the kingdom”.  So…we will have a more reasonable split of shore verses afloat.   Got it?  Of course, getting a good definition of “reasonable” will likely take some time.   Patience is a good thing.

One common theme that we also observed in the couples that had been cruising together for years is that, as a rule, they seem to get along very well.   It’s possible to spend a two week vacation with someone that you don’t get along with that well but it’s entirely different kettle of fish to spend many months in a small space together if your thoughts turn dark too often.

Thinking of the short time folks, I am sure that you have seen, rather heard, guys screaming above the wind, at their partner up on the bow, when they are anchoring.  Those are probably not going to be long term cruiser types.   It seems to be a badge of honor among the cruisers we have met to use hand gestures,usually subtle, but not always, and never (well mostly never) raise their voices.

Another basic truth in cruising is that your biggest enemy is your calendar.  The ability to wait a day can make a huge difference in how enjoyable a trip is.  Motoring into 20kts on the nose is a lot different than sailing on a broad reach in the same breeze.  Happily, wind direction changes on nearly a daily basis so a flexible calendar makes for happy cruising.  I have some cruising friends who almost never sail with wind ahead of the beam.  They just wait a few days till the wind clocks around.  Yes, that’s the true cruiser or at least the mark of someone who’s not in a hurry.

Before I break, I’ll touch on a few of our favorite spots along the way.  We loved the Dismal Swamp Canal.  Meeting the ever friendly lockmaster Robert was a particularly special treat.  He was clear that he wanted us to bring him back a Conch shell to add to his already prodigious collection.   Here’s a link to my post about our experience with Robert. The canal’s primeval look and remoteness was a special treat.  We highly recommend it.  And, don’t forget to stop at the visitor’s center near the southern end of the canal. We also loved seeing the landscape change as we headed south including the live oaks that graced every place that we went.  Perhaps some of the best examples that we saw early on were in Charleston where we spent a week.  There area  few key things that cruisers look for, beyond other cruisers to hang out with.  These include access to groceries, laundry and great spots to dine.  There are plenty of spots that fit these criteria but perhaps none that fit the bill like Charleston.   Beyond having a great grocery, there is plenty to say about Charleston, that’s for sure.   We were most impressed with the gardens and many of the details of the architecture, especially if you like doorways.

We loved so many places along the way it’s hard to say which cities were the best.   It was also an eye opener to see how much of the ICW is still fairly wild with it’s barren remoteness. Perhaps this was most typified by the abandoned rice fields near Myrtle Beach and the meandering channels heading through Georgia.  I’d also recommend a visit to Brookgreen Gardens, as we did, although you will need to rent a car to get there.

Georgia is much maligned for it’s shoaling but we had not trouble because we were able to time our trip to coincide with rising tides.  With a 9 1/2 foot tide, there is plenty of water at least half of the time.  I do not recommend trying Georgia when the tide is low in the middle of the day.  As annoying as the winding channel can be, the views are worth it with soft grasses in every direction.  While some said that we should avoid GA at all costs, others said it was great, perhaps their favorite part of the trip.  We loved it.

I have to say that a list of favorites could go on and on but perhaps it’s best to leave it at that for now.  If you have considered doing this trip, I’d say that “now’s a good time”.   Just go.

Besides, where else could you be treated to sunsets and sunrises that rival those you can see when aboard?   It’s hard to say what was our favorite part of the trip.  Perhaps it’s less about the individual places that we visited, and more about the journey itself and such a journey it has been.

So, what has been our favorite part so far?  It’s hard to believe but I expect that the best is yet to come.  Bahamas?  I’m thinking that’s gonna be pretty good.

 

 

On December 11th, three months to the day and 1,500 NM south since our departure from Essex CT in September, we left Pandora near Vero Beach Florida to return home for the holidays.  When we tied up Pandora to the dock I was complaining about the near 100% humidity, still hot air and no-seeums buzzing all around.  now, it’s Saturday and feeling plenty cold here in Essex, a far cry from the semi-steamy sub-tropical Florida that we left earlier this week.

Funny how quickly I have become “soft” as we have followed the warmer weather south.  Me, I am happy to stay away from cold weather for ever.  Alas, this snow-bird, will have to settle for some snow, now and then so I’ll just have to make the best of it here in New England. I guess that I can tough it out as I have for the last 56 winters.  It will be great fun as the next few weeks will be a whirlwind of visits and parties with family and friends.  That should keep the blood from clotting completely.

For those who visit this site with some frequency, you may notice that I am repeating some of the information that you might have seen recently.  That’s because the server that supports this site crashed earlier in the week resulting in the loss of some content, my last post, that I  had added since the last backup.

The server is maintained by our son Christopher in his office in the department of physics at Columbia in Manhattan.  Oh well, so much for fail-safe redundant backup servers scattered around the globe.  Having said that, the up-time on Chris’s server “Cheeto” (not sure where that name came from), has served him well.  It seems that the hard drive crapped out in a cloud of acrid smoke and that was that.

Oh well, down but not out as Christopher had what I guess is now “son of Cheeto” up and running on a new, probably filched, computer later the same day.

Well, enough excuses.  Here’s some more information from the last post I made since leaving Pandora earlier this week in Florida.

As we headed south from Vero Beach, it was very clear that we were passing through some decidedly higher income zip-codes.  It seemed that each home was larger than the last, with some looking more like resorts than single family homes.   These mansions (forget micro mansions here) clearly have the best views.  No views of trailer parks and split levels to bother your view.  No way, no how.   Their views?  Beautiful marshes to enjoy from their infinity pools.  “Buffy, can you fetch me another mohito?  No, I can’t get it myself as it would be just dreadful if I missed the green flash?”.A nice side benefit of being facing west is the great sunsets, a real plus of being on the water.  This view is worth paying for.

It would seem that being energy efficient and resource stingy isn’t in high on the list of priorities for these owners.   Imagine how much water it takes to keep these lawns looking “golf course green”.  Well, I would expect that it’s about the same amount as you’d need for a golf course.  How about picking up some carbon offsets?  Better yet, how about a baker’s dozen Prius to make them feel better?  Not happening.  Probably not a lot of sweating the point as they tool around in their hulking SUVs.  Better yet, make that a hybrid SUV.  That’s the ticket.  Much, much better to get 14 mpg.  Yes, that’s perfect.

Funny, after years of feeling like the massive stucco homes in Bergen County, where we lived for some 20 years, looked just so nasty.  The whole stucco thing seems to work in Florida.  Perhaps it’s the warm weather lulling me into a stupor   If so, it’s a trance that I can get used to.   Stucco?  Bring it on.  Christmas lights on palms.  Yes! Yes!  A New England Christmas?  Ok, but after the new year I want to high tail it back to where the water isn’t hard unless you drop into off of a bridge at terminal velocity.

Interestingly, the ICW is so close to the ocean and gulf sream here that you can see the cloud banks that run up center of the stream.  It seems that when strong winds blow over the warm water of the gulf stream that the moisture that is evaporated causes massive thunderheads to grow.  You can clearly see them from along this part of the ICW.  Pretty impressive.  Pandora’s home for the next few weeks isn’t grand at all as I am a cheap Yank at heart.   The yard, clearly a working facility, is fine place to park a boat but not a place that you’d want to visit for fun.  No pool and tennis courts here.Lots of boats, however, of all descriptions.   Loads of sailboats waiting for their owners to relaunch them and head off for adventure.I found myself wondering if these boats were about to be launched for a winter of sailing south or if they had been hauled out at the end of the season.  I expect that it’s more like the prior given the nasty hurricanes that rip through this area off and on through the summer.  I did see plenty of boats held tight to the ground with long woven straps over their decks anchored to huge concrete blocks off of the bow and stern, a sure sign of insurance company influence.

One more thing.  Remember when Brenda and I were in Charleston earlier this fall and spied the Volvo racer Maserati at the docks checking in with customs?  They had just arrived there from a trans Atlantic run in preparation for an attempt to break the record for the fastest run from New York to San Francisco. They are now in NYC waiting for the weather window to begin their potentially record run.  Not a bad neighborhood.Not a lot in common between Pandora and Maserati I guess.  Oh well, I can at least take comfort in knowing that a SAGA 43 is more like a Volvo ocean racer than an Island Packet.  This is an Island Packet.  Well, to me it looks different.  “Sure Bob, if it makes you happy.  Go ahead and cling to that”.   It does have a plumb bow…  Come on, you HAVE to see the similarity.    

As I sit down to write, it’s just before 06:00 on Friday morning and still dark.  Brenda’s alarm went off a few minutes ago and she is really struggling to wake up.  A painful process, complete with more than a little bit of moaning at the tragedy of it all.  So, why, on board a cruising boat, would two retired folks set an alarm, you ask?  Well, today is a big day.  We will be enjoying the Gam in Melbourne FL with our friends from SSCA, the Seven Seas Cruising Association.  I signed us up to help with check-ins and they want us to be there by 07:30.  These days that seems pretty early.  It wasn’t that long ago when I was at work by that time every morning.   My, how times have changed for the crew of Pandora.  I do have to wonder who will show up that early.  Well, we will be among the first to find out.

Brenda and “early” aren’t two things that are generally described in the same sentence as 06:00 is not easy for Brenda, that’s for sure.  I guess that I have used up a few of my “good will points” with a dark beginning for her day today.

The SSCA is a great group with some 8,000 members that are focused on helping cruisers get the most out of their boats and time aboard.   When you ask one of them when it’s the right time to shove off they chant in unison, “JUST GO!”.  While many members of the group live aboard, there are plenty like us that spend a good portion of their year afloat and yet have a land base too.

Several times a year the group has events like the one that we are attending for the next few days and I am looking forward to it.  There will be experts talking about  topics like weather, safety, cruising destinations and other areas related spending time aboard.

In particular, we will have an opportunity to hear from Christ Parker, the weather router that we use.  As weather, and by extension Chris, whom we have never met, is such a big part of our life on the water.  We are particularly excited about hearing what he has to say.  This event, over the next three days, should be a great time.

Speaking of being in Melbourne, I have enjoyed seeing the local sights as I do in each area that we visit.  In particular, the water clarity is much better here so that you can see about 6-8′, which is a lot better than anything we have seen to date on our trip south.  Of course, when we get to the Bahamas the water will be REALLY CLEAR, but for now every little improvement is good.

Around the town dock, thousands of mullet congregate because the pilings and dock structure give them some cover and shade to hide in.  The fish in the schools run from a few inches to around one foot long.   I got a kick out of seeing so many of them in such a small space.  In this part of the school, these are all about a foot long.  This photo doesn’t really show how many there were but trust me when I say that there were plenty. In Florida, it seems that where there are fish, there are dolphins.  Unfortunately, this is the best shot that I could get as they move along really quickly. It was fun to see them work as a group to “corral” fish into a tight space so that they could dash through the group and snap them up for dinner.   One of these days I will get a good photo of one.  This is a distinct improvement as the last time I posted a “dolphin photo” it was nothing more than a swirl in the water, a sort of “where a dolphin used to be” photo.Also, there enjoying the pickings was a heron, standing about four feet tall.  A regal bird.  I was able to get within ten feet before he had had enough of me and flew off. There are quite a few boats anchored near us here for the GAM and it’s fun to see what sort of craft show up.   I was particularly interested in this boat and the funny boxes “perched” on top of the davits on the stern.   This spot on cruising boats is often occupied by solar panels, an important addition to any boat.  What ever it was, it must be important to take up such prime real estate   They looked a lot like cages to me and I couldn’t imagine what could be inside them.  Perhaps they enjoyed fresh poultry, I imagined, or that they were a member of some sort of satanic cult and needed to keep their sacrificial “offerings”on board.  So, what’s a curious cruiser to do?   How to solve the mystery?   Well, of course, just go say HI, and I did.It turns out that they were pet parrots.  I have seen plenty of boat pets but never parrots.  Having said that, I recall seeing pictures of pirates with a parrot perched on their shoulder so perhaps there is a sort of symmetry to all of this.  So, up I went and introduced myself.  Happily, I was invited aboard Equinox for a tour by Dave and Trish and had my first “aquatic parrot moment”.   I should note that Trish, the true parrot lover in the group, didn’t utter “ahoy matey” even once and if she had an eye patch, in the true pirate tradition, she wasn’t wearing it.  It seems that all parrot owners on the high seas aren’t all blood thirsty savages.  Oh well, another myth settled.Trish introduced me to Lucie (Lucifer when she is bad), a Eclectus and Dante, a Congo African Grey.  It seems that a key benefit to the outside cages, beyond giving their charges an excellent view of the area, is that when they (how can I put this delicately?) poop, it goes in the water instead of on the cabin sole.   Wait a minute.  They poop into the water?  What about avian marine sanitation devices?   I hope that the Environmental Police don’t catch “wind” of this.  Hmm…

So, how do parrots take to sailing?  I learned that Dante does fine but that Lucie suffers from the male de mare and throws up when the going gets rough.  I guess that makes sense, but it seemed pretty funny to me.  The idea of bird puke doesn’t seem that funny but hey, it’s funny in a “potty humor” sort of way.  Trish told me that Lucie does a bit better in the puking department when she sits on the dining table, yes the dining table, on her perch under way and that as the boat sways to the waves, Lucie sways back and forth on her perch staying perfectly still.  Yea, if I were a parrott I’d blow lunch doing that.   Oh, another funny thing is that Lucie, since enduring a traumatic hurricane season in 2004, plucks out her breast feathers so she is in a prepetual state of scruffiness. “OK, OK, I’ll go with you on that ^%$# boat but I am going to pull out all of my feathers if you insist”.   It’s sort of like picking your nails but looks a lot worse.

When the going gets rough they both can hang out in their “down below” cages.   So, cats, dogs, birds?   Which is the best to have on board?   Sounds complicated so I’ll leave it at that.  It would seem, from my tour of Equinox that parrots are not the simplest of all possible boat companions.

Oh yea, one more thing.  As everyone knows, parrots can imitate noises and these two are no exception.   Boating has it’s own set of fun sounds to mimic and these two have picked up some great ones.  How about the beeping that a truck makes when it goes in reverse?  Yea, that’s a good one and the travel lift operators at the marina do a double take when they hear it. Weather alarm on the VHF?  Check.   Some of the sounds that happen on Pandora are best not repeated but I’ll just have to leave it at that.

Switching the subject, have you ever wondered what would happen to that schefflera plant that you have in your living room would look like if it was planted in your lawn?   Me too.  Here’s what happens when one is happy.  Pretty impressive.  So, call me a sheltered New Englander, but I am enjoying seeing new things.  Simple pleasures for simple people.

While Friday’s sunrise was foggy, the first on our trip, we had a terrific sunrise on Thursday morning.    Look at this cloud bank which persisted all day and that evening gave us an amazing light show with dramatic lightening flashes each second for hours.  Happily we were sung at anchor enjoying another great day in paradise.  I wonder if Lucifer and Dante do good thunder too?