Cruising

Location: Monument Beach anchorage, Stocking Island, George Town, Exuma
Position: N 23 31.640 W075 45.952 

We've often heard cruising defined as “working on your boat in exotic places”. As much as we'd like to deny it, there's altogether too much truth in that statement. Take the last several months for example...

November, Isle of Palms, SC: install new below deck autopilot. Remove stuff from basement, stow on deck under tarp, crawl around in the aft pointy end of the boat (big thanks to Jim & Betsy for the use of their shop and to Randy & Pat for the use of their truck. You guys rock!).

One month later: Remove tarp, put stuff back in basement, and head south using new autopilot.

One day later: Autopilot quits working.

December, Vero Beach, FL: replace faulty parts on the new autopilot. Remove stuff from basement, place on deck under tarp, crawl around the aft pointy end of the boat. Finally finish new autopilot installation. Remove tarp and put stuff back in basement.

January, Black Point, Exumas: wind generator centrifugal brake breaks – can't use in more than 20 knots of wind until fixed. Contact friends in Vero Beach, Florida who are Bahamas-bound to bring along a piece of stainless steel (among many other things – thanks, Roger & Jane!) so we can have a new part fabricated.

February, Thompson Bay, Long Island: friends w/ stainless delayed, so we go to Thompson Bay to have the wind generator part welded. While we're at it, we also have extra bracing added to autopilot bracket to reduce flexing under load. Do the stuff out of basement, crawl around in the aft pointy end of the boat, stuff back in basement routine again.

February, Red Shanks, George Town, Exuma: anchor windlass quits while anchoring. Turns out the brushes in the motor are shot. Order new parts to be shipped in via air freight.

March, Red Shanks, George Town, Exuma: after spending way too much money on shipping, customs, a customs broker, and local delivery, and spending two frustrating days chasing around after customs, paperwork, customs broker, etc., our windlass brushes arrive. After spending several more frustrating days taking windlass apart, installing new parts, and reassembling, windlass works fine – we can finally haul anchor and move! On our way to Stocking Island we discover new autopilot doesn't work again – now it's blowing fuses. For crying out loud – enough with the autopilot, already!

March, Stocking Island, George Town, Exuma: troubleshoot autopilot w/ manufacturer – he says it's a cable. Same old drill - stuff out of basement, stuff back in basement. Cruising friends have visitors scheduled to come, so we make arrangements to have them bring a new cable to replace the suspected faulty one (Thanks “Jezebell” and “Steve”). New Cable isn't problem. Other cruising friends have visitors coming the following week who bring replacement circuit board (Thanks “Aeolus” and “Hootie Hoo”). That fixes it. Take a test run back out to Long Island for a mini-regatta for which no racing boats show – many of us who were there have taken to calling it the “Long Island Mini Non-Regatta”. Chased back to Georgetown by weather. Scrub exterior teak and apply teak sealer in our spare time.

April, Stocking Island, George Town, Exuma: Sun damaged thread on homemade “stack pack” sail cover begins failing. Remove stack pack, restitch all seams, and reinstall. Luckily, nothing needs to come out of the basement for this job!

Toss in a bunch of other, smaller jobs and you get the picture – we're not just sitting around on a sandy beach contemplating our navels and watching the sun set while sipping wine. However, we ARE in the Bahamas, there ARE sandy beaches and crystal clear water, there ARE happy hours and friends around, there ARE beautiful trails all over the island that we love to walk, and there definitely ARE worse places to be stuck doing boat jobs!

Cruisin' along,

Mark & Julie 

(And thanks to Barefootin' for the photos!)

Going Walkabout

Location: Monument Beach, George Town, Exumas, Bahamas

Position: N 23 31.635 W 075 46.052

A cruising boat's dinghy is like the family car. Providing transportation, our dinghy “Belle” allows us to go ashore for entertainment and to shop and exercise. She hauls trash, laundry, fuel jugs, snorkel gear, beach treasures, and us with aplomb. She never complains and is always helpful. We both need and love her.

Every so often we hear on the VHF radio that someone has lost a dinghy. Most of the time what is lost is found, sometimes days later. Every so often it's not found and our hearts go out to the owner who has to cough up a bunch of money for a new dinghy and outboard. Most dinghies are lost because their owners don't tie them up correctly, or they don't maintain the painter (the rope used to tie the dinghy) and it breaks. We hear of the lost little boats and we shake our heads and say “Why can't people just tie their dinghies up properly?”. We chat with our friends about it, tut-tut for a while, and feel a tiny bit superior because we've never lost our dinghy.

A couple of weeks ago we went over to our friend's boat “Hampshire Rose”, for dinner (barbequed ribs – yum!). Rob was in the galley applying an awesome rub to the ribs and Holly welcomed us aboard. We handed her Belle's painter and climbed aboard. Holly tied it off and we proceeded to have fun conversation and a glass (well, maybe a few glasses) of wine.

A few hours later, after dinner, we were relaxing in the cockpit chatting away when Rob said “Hey! Where's your dinghy?”

To which we responded in unison “OH...MY....GOD!!!!”.

Belle had gone walkabout!! It was breezy. It was dark. The last time any of us had noticed “Belle” was about ½ hour earlier. How far could she get in 30 minutes? We couldn't believe it - the dinghys had been happily nuzzled up together back there for a couple of hours with no problems. Oh well – nothing for it - the two guys hopped in the remaining dinghy and went off searching.

This left Julie & Holly back on the boat.....waiting...wondering....worrying. Holly felt really bad as she was the one that tied “Belle” off. Julie was trying to make her feel better saying “I'm sure it will be OK” and “Even if they don't find it tonight I'm sure it will wash up across the harbour and we'll find it in the morning” and “ It can't possibly have gone very far”. But inside she was thinking “OH MY GOD WE LOST OUR DINGHY!!” and “It will float right out of the cut and be lost at sea”.

Meanwhile Mark and Rob headed downwind in Rob & Holly's dinghy. Luckily there was a pretty full moon just coming up. They stopped a few times so they could feel the wind to make sure they were still heading in the right direction and correct for the running tide. Further and further they went feeling less and less optimistic. After about 25 minutes they were nearing the cut that leads out into the ocean. They were almost ready to give up when Rob spotted her! There was “Belle”, bobbing around on top of the water about 200 feet off to their left, just barely within visual range. It was unbelievable luck to have found her – thank goodness for that moon!

They picked up her painter and towed her back to the boat. Needless to say, Mark tied her up when we got back. We never did figure out what had happened. Holly is an experienced cruiser and certainly knows how to go about tying a bowline. All we can figure is that we were all excited to see each other, it had been a while since we'd last been together, and the fun of the reunion must have clouded her mind for a moment. However it happened we were ecstatic to have our “Belle” back in the fold.

From now on we're tying off Belle ourselves and we'll let our friends tie off their dinghies when they come to Rachel to visit, too. Not because we don't trust our friends but because if something does happen it's best if it's your own fault and not someone else's.

The next day we took “Belle” to shore and cleaned her up nice and pretty, to show her our appreciation for her safe return and to encourage her to want to stay with us.

Going a bit dinghy,

Treasures

Location: Undisclosed Cay, Abacos, Bahamas

Position: N 26 ?? W 076 ??

The Abacos, the northern island chain of the Bahamas, is mainly populated by descendants of English loyalists and their slaves who fled the American colonies during the revolution. Because of this there is more of a white population here than in other areas of the Bahamas. The Abacos is one of the more touristy areas, after Nassau, but that being said it's not really that touristy. We tend to try and stay with the more natural and less inhabited areas when we can, but that's not always possible.

Yesterday we went on our first beach-combing trip of the season on an almost uninhabited island, the location is secret. This is one of our favourite pastimes. On a good day we'll find sea beans, sea glass, or unusual shells, on a bad day we just get a lovely walk on a beach. Either way it's win-win!

Yesterday we really scored in the sea glass department. This was especially exciting as the whole time we were in the Western Caribbean we found no sea glass. Not even one tiny piece! Sea glass, as you may know, is broken pieces of glass which get swished around by the waves crashing them against the sand and causing them to get scuffed. The perfect piece of sea glass is a piece which has no shiny areas left on it. White, green and brown are the most common colours (think beer) so we always find more of them. Other 'prize' pieces are any other colour but especially blue, which is quite rare.

As you can see we did find a few pieces that were 'prize' but also came home with a golf ball. We found tons of sponge one of which we kept, and a cute piece of coconut that if painted could look like a monkey's head with a tuft of hair. You have to be imaginative... and what else are we going to do anyway. It's all about entertaining yourself and staying out of trouble right? Just like when we were kids.

What are we going to do with all this stuff?

Blue Water

Location: Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, Bahamas
Position: N 26 45.824 W 077 20.045

This Khronicle is about how beautiful the Bahamas are - no grounding reports, no boat job complaints, no whining!

Our boat jobs were complete, Rachel was all provisioned up, fueled up and ready to go. We finally set off from Lake Worth, Florida to cross to the Bahamas and had a delightful and, thankfully, uneventful trip. We fished (unsuccessfully, unfortunately), crossed the Gulf Stream and passed onto the Bahama Banks. The water goes from a depth of over 1,500 feet to 9 feet in the space of 20 minutes, a bit disconcerting, to say the least. Night fell and we traveled overnight across the banks. This was a bit nerve wracking in the pitch black in depths of only 8-14 feet (we draw 6 feet!), relying entirely on our electronic equipment for steering and depths. We have traveled this area before and the charts are very accurate, but after Hurricane Sandy had passed we weren't 100% certain!! Luckily nothing untoward happened. The moon rose at about 10:30 and we could see again. We were anchor down at 8:30 and all cleared in to the Bahamas before noon.

Now that we are back in the Bahamas we are filled with joy. We had nearly forgotten just HOW beautiful it is here. Our fist morning, as we traveled down the banks toward Green Turtle Cay (remember – “cay” is pronounced “key” here in the Bahamas), the sun was shining and the water, spectral in every shade of blue to green, was spectacular. It has been so long since we've been able to see the bottom in 20 feet of water! As the sun rose we looked out and remembered how much we love it here. A picture tells a thousand words so go to the blog and see for yourselves. We have been here now for 4 days and we just can't get enough of the sandy beaches, the friendly people and the oh-so-beautiful water.

Yesterday we went for our first snorkel in two years. Boy have we really missed this pastime! The water was cold but it was great to be swimming around the coral heads and re-acquainting ourselves with all our favourite fish. Mark tried spearfishing for lobster with no success, but who cares? We had a great time just swimming around looking at stuff.

It is phenomenally beautiful here. The people we meet are friendly and helpful. The friends we are with (new and old) are generous, clever, and quite enjoyable to be around. All these continue to draw us out here, wrenching ourselves away from our loved ones - who we miss, sometimes terribly. But sometimes, especially at times like these, it's all worth it. This is what it's all about.

Speechless,

Grounded

Location: Vero Beach, Florida
Position: N 27 39.725 W 080 22.384

We've been sailing for 13 years, owned Rachel for 8 years and have been cruising full time for over 5 years. In all that time we've been members of BoatUS, a boating association that offers reasonably priced unlimited towing insurance. This insurance offers free towing if you run aground, have engine problems etc. So far, knock on wood, we have never had to use it. That is until this month.

Within 4 days we grounded twice and both times we had to call Tow BoatUS and be towed off. We were in a hurry to get to Vero Beach to see an ailing friend (who we missed by one day and who sadly died the day before Christmas). Because we so wanted to see Bruce one last time, we were taking chances traveling through known shallow problem areas at low tide.

The first spot was just south of Fernandina Beach, Florida. In our log from last year when we transited the Amelia River at high tide we wrote “Several shallow spots. Do not travel through this area at anything less than mid-tide”. So we obviously were not thinking clearly. As we were approaching a turn, a passing boat told us we should keep way to the right of the channel. For some reason we decided to follow their advice and …...boom. We hit bottom. We rode up over a hump, then bumped into another one. So we ended up being stuck unable to go either forward or backward. Luckily it was only mud. A sailboat passed by us, about 25 feet further into the channel, and shouted “we're in 12 feet right here”. Great! We sat for a while but the tide was still going down so we would have been sitting there for at least 3 or 4 hours. Well, we were in a hurry and that's what we pay the insurance for, right? So we called and Captain Joe who came by and towed us off.

Then, three days later we were just south of Daytona Beach at Ponce de Leon Inlet, another known problem area. In these places the sands constantly shift so we called the local Tow BoatUS operator and asked for some local information. We were told we would be fine with our 6 foot draft except for at red marks 18 and 18A where we should favour the right side of the channel. Ok, great. We thanked him and headed down through this problem area. Everything was going fine. We had no problems and as we approached the 18 marks we stayed well over to the right side. Then.....bonk, we were aground. Again. Once again it was low tide but this time the wind was 20 knots from the side and it was pushing us further aground. Mark tried using the engine to get us off but the wind kept pushing us further onto the shoal. The boat was heeled over about 20 degrees and we kept feeling it bonk as we were pushed further onto the sand bar. Yikes!! We called Tow BoatUS and the guy that gave us the “advice” came to tow us off. He apologized and said that last week when he was there the right side was deepest. We were a bit skeptical about that statement – seems like that's an awful lot of shoaling in just a weeks time. Pretty good way of drumming up business just in time for Christmas, eh?

Today we thought that we might try going 56 miles from Vero Beach to Lake Worth, but due to the timing of a falling tide at a trouble spot between here and there we've decided to just go 10 miles to Ft Pierce today. Then we'll leave Ft. Pierce first thing tomorrow morning so we can get to the trouble spot near high on a rising tide. We're turning over an old leaf, being cautious and doing it the way we've always done it – slowly and carefully.

If the weather predictions hold we'll be heading over to the Bahamas sometime this week.

Merry Christmas

Location: Vero Beach, FL
Position: 27 39.738 N   080 22.358 W

We just wanted to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a peaceful, happy, and fulfilling New Year.  We are aboard our "Rachel" in Vero Beach, FL. and will be here for Christmas.  We had hoped to be in the Bahamas by now, but various boat jobs needing attention before a prolonged voyage outside the US prevented that from happening.

on the beach

Reindeer cookies & gifts

Even though we'd rather be on our way sailing to the Caribbean, we are nonetheless looking forward to celebrating Christmas here in Vero.  Our solar powered LED Christmas lights are up and the stuffed moose head on the mast is decorated.  Tonight we'll begin our tradition of watching one of our old favorite Christmas movies each evening as the big day approaches.

Love to all,

Serenity

Location: South Santee River, SC
Position: N 33 08.978 W 079 19.308


In this bustling world we live in it's often hard to find a quiet place. Wherever you go there is noise, neon and over-stimulation. We, on Rachel, are lucky to have managed to escape from that, for the most part. Right now, in this serene spot, we are feeling especially thankful.

Containing some areas of “civilization”, America's Intracoastal Waterway is, for the most part, a wonderful natural and man-made aquatic highway. Just a few miles from the industry and naval ship yards of Norfolk, VA we entered the wilderness. Now, over 300 miles later, we are still a part of that wilderness.

 

This evening as the sun sets we sit in the cockpit looking out over the marsh grasses. The sky is ablaze with reds and oranges, birds skim over the water looking for their last feed of the day, a couple of guys sit quietly in a little fishing boat. Nowhere do we see neon signs, billboards, or buildings. Nor do we hear factories or planes or cars. We just sit and absorb ourselves into the serenity, the calming feeling of just being in this place. Physically and spiritually at peace.

We are so blessed to be able to enjoy this feeling on many nights and days. The ICW brings this especially close and more real. Not every day is like this but in the last 300 miles we have spent most days and most nights in spots just like this. The scenery is always different, the birds, grasses, trees, and flowers change, but the quiet......it's always there. We immerse ourselves into it and it warms our hearts.

Hunkered down, safe and sound

Location: Little River, SC
Position: N 33 51.706 W 078 38.271  

In case you didn't already know, there's a hurricane named Sandy traveling up the east coast of the US. We stopped in here to visit friends last Thursday and, given the size and projected path of the storm, decided to stay put tied to the floating docks at the marina until the storm passed.

We're doing fine. The marina is in a very protected basin so we're only seeing a fraction of the storm winds. Every once in a while a strong gust lays us over a bit, but we're feeling safe and secure. The worst is over now but unfortunately the hurricane is followed by a strong cold front so we'll be having windy and cold weather for the next few days.

Yesterday evening the buoy at Frying Pan Shoals off Cape Fear, NC, 30 miles from here, reported 42 gusting to 52 mph and 20 ft. waves with a 12 second interval. We're really, really glad we weren't out there!!

Stay safe and warm and dry out there,

It's show time!

Location: Annapolis, MD

Position: N 38 57.962 W 076 28.914

For the last month we've been hanging out in Annapolis, Maryland – one of the many 'Sailing Capital of the World'. October is boat show month here and we secured positions on the boat show staff. Sounds pretty exciting eh? Mark got certified as a fork lift driver and Julie's bookkeeping experience qualified her as a ticket seller. The whole gig was about 2 ½ weeks We helped set up the sail and power boat shows, worked both shows and then worked to strip the show back down.

For those who do not know, this show takes over the entire waterfront of downtown Annapolis and half of the harbor. Fences are erected around the exterior, huge sections of parking lots are covered with wooden flooring, and enormous tents put up. Then 50-some pilings are driven down into the mud and barges are towed in by boats and connected together to form a floating town which is filled with boats and more booths. Boats are brought in, bridges are built behind them, and more boats and barges are brought in. It was really something to watch the whole show emerge in just 3 days and it was very exciting to be part of such an amazing feat. And of course Mark had loads of fun zooming around on the forklift lifting things and putting them down.

 

We worked long hours but we had a great time and met a really great crowd of people. We were fed 3 meals a day and a lot of camaraderie developed as the days proceeded. It's been a fun and rewarding experience.

Today was our last day at work and tomorrow the winds will be from the north so we'll haul our anchors in the morning and start heading south, hoping to make tracks before the weather gets too cold.

Oh say can you sea

Location:  Sassafras River, Chesapeake Bay
Position:  N 39 21.895   W 075 58.887

Labor Day weekend. 

Cape Cod/Buzzards Bay area. 
 
For those of us who live on our boats and enjoy stopping in quiet, serene anchorages, these two just don't go together.  But that is where we are on the Thursday before the long weekend, the last fling of  summer in the US.   There is no way to escape the crowds and we are trying to decide our best plan of action for the weekend.  Our friends on Osprey and Celilo are going to make the jump down to the Chesapeake Bay but we aren't really prepared for a long trip.

But what the heck!!  What better place to spend the busy Labor Day weekend than out in the Atlantic Ocean?  It is a good weather window and with storms brewing down in the mid Atlantic, who knows when we'll get another opportunity?  At least we don't have to worry about crowded anchorages when we're offshore!

Mark prepares the boat, Julie cooks some passage food, the dinghy is stowed on deck, everything below is well stowed so it won't go flying around while we're underway.  After a flurry of activity  we suppose we're ready.  We all celebrate Mike on Celilo's, 60th birthday with mudslides (a very dangerous drink) ashore and a shared dinner aboard.  6am comes way too soon after a restless night, always the case before a passage, but we suck it up and haul anchor.

We head out into Buzzards Bay with good winds and a good forecast.  By 2:30pm we are passing Block Island, at the eastern end of Long Island.  We set a SW course for a straight shot in the Atlantic, a 230 mile leg.  The sails are set and our plan is to get to a waypoint at the bottom of the Delaware Bay at 4:30am on Monday, 38 hours from now, to catch the tide going up the Bay.  It's not pretty bucking an outgoing tide in the Delaware Bay, especially when the wind is southerly and against the current, which is what the weather gods were predicting.  For now, though, it's just a matter of sit back, enjoy the ride and make sure our timing is as close as possible.

The first night we're romping along on a broad reach at 7, sometimes 8 knots when, just after 9pm, we notice some fireworks off in the distance.  We watch them for over 30 minutes.  It is spectacular, an amazing display.  The thing that intrigues us is that we are 15 miles offshore, so the origin of the fireworks has to be at least that far, somewhere on Long Island AND we can hear the “whee...pow!!” as the fireworks rise and explode.  And we are upwind from the display.  Amazing.

The next night we are 8 miles off Atlantic City, NJ, a big gambling mecca, and we can see all the brightly lit hotels off in the distance.  We see another firework display, not nearly as spectacular but still a lovely surprise.

Around midnight we all decide that we are going to arrive too early so we adjust our sails to slow down - an intriguing and unusual process that we are not used to performing.

At 4:30am we are at our waypoint and enjoy a raucous trip up the bay with a 2.5 knot boost from the current.  At 12:30pm we pop into the Chesapeake Delaware Canal just as the current shifts to take us all the way through the canal and into the Chesapeake Bay.  We have the pleasure of sharing the Canal with an enormous car freighter from Oslo, it's as close as we'd ever want to be to anything that big.  We have to scoot way over to the side to give it room to pass.

As we exit the canal we run through a big thunderstorm with 30 knot winds and lightning striking way too close.  Welcome to the Chesapeake!  We work our way down the bay to the Sassafras River, drop the anchor, and have a good night's sleep.  It has been a long trip, 3 full days and 2 nights, but we were all glad to be back on the Chesapeake, home ground for all 3 boats, and glad to have the miles behind us.


Chilling in the Chesapeake