Sergeant Majors

It took me a few moments to realize it, but after we tied up at the Green Turtle Club (GTC), checked in at the marina, and checked in through customs, I ordered a Kalik Gold at the GTC bar and turned around to paradise!  It finally hit me when I saw Sergeant Majors swimming around the dock and a 5′ wide stingray just chilling at the end of our finger pier.  This morning that stingray was gone, but it was replaced by a lionfish, once again – at the end of our finger pier!

We’ll post some photos of the GTC and the beautiful town here on Green Turtle Cay named New Plymouth.  An interesting side note regarding this Cay is that Key West is it’s sister island because in the 1830’s many residents of New Plymouth packed their houses on barges and settled in Key West. Try to imagine Key West without an ATM and only 300 hundred people in town.

But we didn’t just arrive in paradise from a cruise boat, I need to tell the story of our adventures on the high seas and the Little Bahamas Bank…

Christmas Morning:
We woke up at Old Port Cove Marina and departed about 3:45 after topping off our water tanks.  Our target was Memory Rock on the Little Bahamas Bank and we had to cross the Gulf Stream to get there.  Winds were supposed to be out of the east at 10-15 and turning to the SE during the day, waves 2-3′ with an 11 second period.  As we motored out the ICW and the Lake Worth Inlet we hit the ocean and things weren’t exactly what they were calling for.  I turned on the weather radio to get the latest update, the only thing that had changed was the 11 second period was now 4 seconds. (For those that don’t know, wave period is  the time between wave crests, long period means long swells, short period means steep waves with white caps.) Groan…. If there was one word to describe our crossing it would be SLAM, meaning the bow kept slamming into waves!  Furthermore, the wind never did fully turn to the SE, so we motor sailed across the Gulf Stream, but it was calm enough to have a Fox Family traditional Christmas breakfast of “Breakfast Pizza” with fresh fruit.   Sadly, no fish were caught in the Stream despite my best efforts. We found a tiny little spot of mangroves (properly called Mangrove Cay) to drop the hook on Christmas night and grilled rib-eyes and baked potatoes with salads for Christmas Dinner.  The captain slept like a log and we planned a lazy day of about 4 hours the next day.  (Side note:  The scariest part of our Gulf Stream crossing was getting out of Lake Worth in the dark, it’s shallow, the markers are unlit, there’s a narrow bridge, and numerous derelict boats without anchor lights, after that the Gulf Stream was relaxing.)

December 26th:
If there was one word to describe this day it would be SNAP. About 9 o’clock while enjoying my morning coffee, reading a dive guide for the Bahamas, and discussing our 4 hour trip to Great Sale Cay that was planned, I heard the anchor snap.  Normally this means that it worked itself up the roller and was just settling back down, but then about 5 minutes later I heard the anchor alarm?  How could we be dragging?  I ran to the bow and looked into the crystal clear water to see the frayed end of our anchor rode – it had cut through!  I ran to the cockpit, started the engine and we motored to where our anchor and chain laid on the bottom.  This started an exhausting sequence of events:

• We retrieved the spare anchor and set it by hand
• Sabrina and I strapped on snorkel gear, grabbed some fenders and swam up current to the anchor
• After attaching the anchor and chain to the fenders we floated it down current to the swim ladder
• I cut the last link off the chain which had rusted under the previous splice (with a Dremel, bolt cutters didn’t do much)
• I flipped the anchor rode end for end and redid the rope to chain splice
• We replaced the length markers on the rode
• Pulled the spare anchor in by hand and reset the primary anchor
• Finally we got the whole 170′ (down from 200′) back into the windlass and stowed in the locker
  And we did all of this while fighting about a 2 knot current

At this point I was exhausted, it was 2:00 and we wouldn’t make Great Sale Cay till after dark, so we settled in for another night at Mangrove Cay, unfortunately the wind picked up and we had a little bit of a rougher night, but nothing like what was to come….

December 27th:
We woke up early, hauled the anchor and were underway at sunrise.  Our destination was the north side of Great Abaco, and we were making miles.  After we motored away from Mangrove Cay we set the sails and we were making between 5.5 and 6 knots.  When we cleared Little Sale Cay the wind picked up and we were doing over 7 knots sustained with long periods of over 8 knots.  We carried full sail through a little squall and it was a blast, finally we had to reef the genoa as the wind continued to build from the south.  There weren’t many anchorages protected from the south, but we found Crab Cay that looked to have good protection. It’s a little piece of land nestled just north of where Great Abaco and Little Abaco almost touch. As we approached Crab Cay I noticed a sailboat and a funny looking power boat in the anchorage. We set the anchor in about 8 feet of water, it bit hard and I looked up and saw that the powerboat had a “P48” on the side, it was a Royal Bahamian Defense Force boat, similar to the US Coast Guard.  There was nothing to do now, it was late in the day and it was too rough to consider going elsewhere in the dark.

It was now that we realized we had another problem that wasn’t related to wind, weather, current, or anchors.  Our freezer was defrosting!  I started doing the math and realized that we hadn’t motored very long in the last two days and we had run the windlass a lot with the anchor problem and had the autopilot working hard all day in the strong wind.  Our freezer compressor was seeing a voltage drop and wouldn’t kick over, we still had power, but it was “sensing” a low battery.  I fired up the engine and started dumping 120 amps into the batteries from our alternator, this quickly remedied that problem, but it was a scary until we figured out what was going on.  Like most cruisers we PACKED our freezer before we left with chicken breasts, beef, sausage, etc.  Estimated value was about $200 to replace it on sale in the USA, or maybe $800 to buy it all in the islands!

While I was messing with the engine, P48 moved to a position 500′ off our stern.  About 7:00 they flipped on their lights and I thought we were going to get boarded.  Then they dropped the anchor.  About 7:02 they flipped on their lights again and pulled up their anchor.  Very strange.  This scenario repeated itself a few times. I tried to call them on the radio, but there was no answer.  It was while I was watching them that I came up with three theories:

Theory A:
P48 is a highly trained group of individuals operating a drug interception sting.  They are using our boat to block their radar signature and will be zooming out of the Crab Cay anchorage when they see their target approach.

Theory B:
P48 has already met their quota for boat searches for the day and is waiting around till after midnight to search our boat.  That way they can fill their quota and get back into port early the next day.

Theory C:
P48 can’t get their anchor to set and is using our anchor light as an aid to navigation while they motor 500′ behind us.

We went to sleep about 9:00 with all our anchor alarms set and I was able to get a little sleep.

Suddenly I awoke to the anchor alarm clatter!  I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter! Away to the cockpit I flew in a flash, after opening the companionway sash!  (See what I did there, didn’t want you to get bored.)  Luckily our anchor was holding strong, the wind had strengthened and was coming from our least protected direction, WSW at about 15-20 knots.  We had white caps and the boat was pitching pretty badly.  I returned to the salon from the cockpit and prepared to try to get some sleep. It was now that I heard a thick Bahamian accent come over the VHF radio,

“Sailboat in Crab Cay, Sailboat in Crab Cay, this is P48….”

Uh, oh…. Sheepishly I acknowledged them, “P48 this is Joint Venture?”
“Joint Venture, please switch to 14”
“Acknowledged, 1-4”
I switched over to channel 14 on the VHF, and checked my watch, it was 12:30, Theory B was right, we were about to be boarded in 2′ white caps and a 20 knot wind!  Argh.

“P48 this is Joint Venture on 1-4”
“Joint Venture this is P48, our anchor drag, we on shore”
Looks like it was Theory C!
“You have a sea boat?”
“You mean a dinghy?  Yes we have a dinghy on deck.”
“Yeah, can you pull us off?”
“One moment Captain, let me go outside and evaluate the conditions.”
“P48 standing by on 14”

I returned to the cockpit to judge what would happen next, I took a look at our dinghy, uninflated on the foreward deck, once I untied it it would be a kite in this breeze.  I looked at our swim platform, pitching and rolling and imagined trying to get our engine off the rail and onto the dinghy, and I took a look at the whitecaps and tried to imagine piloting the dinghy through them in the dark.  Then I took a look at their 40′ steel boat and considered what I would be able to accomplish in a 10′ dinghy with a 10hp outboard?

I returned to the salon to make the call:
“P48 this is Joint Venture, too rough for our dinghy, launching it will endanger my crew.
We’ll stand by, if you need immediate assistance, please call, in the morning we’ll reevaluate.”
“Roger Joint Venture, P48 returning to 16”
“Joint Venture standing by on 16”

The wind hadn’t let up, and I called them in the morning to see if they needed anything or needed me to make a call, but they were waiting on their sister boat, P130, to come pull them off.  We left Crab Cay as soon as the tide came up and we heard their VHF conversation.  They ended up borrowing the dinghy from the other sailboat to take a tow line between the two boats, a much better proposition in daylight.

We had a nice downwind run to GTC, and after all this excitement we’re going to take some time to explore this island.  Whether it’s SLAM, SNAP or midnight visitors, as I keep telling Sabrina, “It’s better in the Bahamas!”

Courtesy of the great wifi here at GTC, here’s some photos of these last few exciting days:

(I’m guessing that I saw the sunrise before you did this morning.)

The temperature was a beautiful 81 degrees Saturday in North Palm.  We were able to buy some groceries and do some last minute “Christmas” shopping at West Marine and Diver’s Direct.  My lines are rigged and ready for the Gulf Stream, and we have a new pole spear for fishing in the Bahamas.

If all has gone well, by the time you are reading this Sabrina and I received a wonderful gift this Christmas morning – hopefully we watched the sun rise over Memory Rock in the Bahamas as we  approached the Little Bahama Bank.  If the plan holds, for Christmas dinner we’ll be anchored at Great Sale Cay, ready to check into customs on Monday and go diving!  We’ll get to spend Christmas with Sabrina’s parents who made the crossing with us from Old Port Cove.  The Christmas tree won’t be decorated till Christmas day, but we’re fine with that.

Over the last few months things grew more hectic and more rushed as the days flew by.  One thing we haven’t lost track of was how fortunate we are to have wonderful friends and family who supported us in our decision to go cruising.  We are very thankful for all the help and support we’ve received and we will miss everyone we left behind.  We are looking forward to the next time we can catch up with you all.

From our crew to yours, we hope you enjoy this Christmas day, we’ll miss you all, but we’ll see you soon….

A Colder Christmas Up North

We’re tucked in safe here at Old Port Cove Marina in North Palm Beach, gotta run some errands, check the weather, and see when we’re leaving for our crossing.  We hit some adverse current and it was easier to keep going through a second night rather than duck into Cape Canaveral yesterday afternoon.

Fernandina Beach was a nice little community, I think it was far enough north in Florida that it’s not just transplants and retirees.  They have a rich history and we’d like to go back to check out Fort Clinch and the museums, not to mention the fresh seafood.  As promised, here’s pics from the trip from Morehead City to Fernandina:

After some internet research with the wi-fi here at the mooring and quite a few phone calls this morning, we were able to find a suitable part at the local Fernandina Beach Napa store. Brad’s changing the oil and installing the new tank as I type, and we’re planning to fill up with diesel and be back on the move south very shortly.

My parents have joined the crew, and my dad will board at the diesel dock while my mom moves the car a little farther south on land before jumping aboard. We’ll be waving goodbye to the dolphins in the mooring field and will post another update as soon as we can!

Here are some photos Brad took this morning of the engine issue:

Here’s a late breaking development in our cruising plans:
Remember when I said we had a “minor engine issue” in Morehead City?  To better describe the problem, our coolant expansion tank had developed a couple of cracks.  (One was below the strap that holds it to the wall, and the other was at the base where the hose barb comes out of the tank.)  I think it was probably just because the plastic is 10 years old and subject to a lot of heat and vibration, therefore I tossed a little silicone “Rescue Tape” on the cracks and my fix got us to Fernandina.  Tonight while preparing to change the oil, I noticed a lot of coolant in the engine bilge and that’s when I noticed that the hose barb had fully snapped off, no chance for repair now!  Now I need to see if anyone in the area has part number 24977 in stock, and if not, I need to get the part overnighted here to Fernandina…  Before the weekend… Right before Christmas…

Hmmmmm…… While I haven’t fully counted us out for leaving Fernandina before Christmas, I’m preparing for the worst on this issue. Here’s a few of the  pros and cons of Fernandina Beach.

Pros:
Inexpensive moorings ($20 a night)
Free dinghy dock, showers and lounge included with the mooring
Free wifi
Nice laundry facility
Quaint historic downtown
Numerous museums and historical monuments
Fresh seafood from the many fishing boats in town
US Customs office for us to check out of the country
Many restaurants and shops

Cons:
Paper mill that sends horrible smells across the anchorage
Same paper mill causing noise 24/7
7-9 foot tidal difference makes life interesting, and hence the moorings are necessary

The pros outnumber the cons, but this place isn’t quite the postcard perfect port that I could have hoped to be stuck in.

Here’s some photos from Oriental and Morehead City, it looks like I’ll have plenty of time to get pictures of offshore and Fernandina posted tomorrow.

Hello Florida!

Things are kind of hazy right now due to lack of sleep, but here’s the high points:

• We got a late start out of Morehead City due to a minor engine issue, and therefore we didn’t get underway until 7:30 on Sunday morning. (After resolving  an engine issue you should always head directly out to sea for an extended passage.)
• We traveled 365 nautical miles within 56 hours:
  When the weather turned on us south of Morehead City, we headed to Wrightsville Beach
  When the weather got better we turned south again to Cape Fear
  When the weather turned bad again on us we headed to Savannah
  When the shipping traffic at Savannah got ridiculous we headed to Fernandina Beach.
• We saw a ton of dolphins and one sea turtle.
• I got to talk to the Coast Guard because I was on too close of an approach to a sub they were bringing out of St. Mary’s.
• I caught a bunch of skipjack tuna (if only they tasted good, we would have feasted for days.)
• It was COLD on the overnights, but now it is nice a warm.
• Nermal gained his sea legs (hysterical to watch a cat trying to navigate the cabin in pitching seas.)
• I have to change the oil because we’ve run the engine for 100 hours since we left Bo Bay.
• When you’re on night watch and a dolphin screams “EEE-eee-eee-EEE” right next to where you’re sitting, you’ll be wide awake for the next couple of minutes.

Good night everyone, more to follow tomorrow after I get some sleep.

We unloaded trash in Oriental, took on water and filled up with diesel here in Morehead City. In cruising books they call this “staging for departure.” Tomorrow we head out to the Beaufort Inlet light and turn SW for a destination TBD. (Hint: it will be another state). No wifi tonight so no pictures, and I typed this on my phone, so please excuse my brevity and any typos.

We’ll be out of range of wifi and cell phones for the next couple days, but pictures will be posted when we hit port.

Quick notes:
We sighted the first dolphins here in Morehead City.
The water is much clearer, I actually saw the bottom in places.
Colder today, not warm enough yet.

After a much needed lukewarm shower and a wonderful night’s sleep we left Centerville Waterway Marina at 6:15 on Thursday morning and slipped under the Centerville Bridge before it closed for rush hour from 6:30 to 8:30.  From there it was a lot of motoring on the ICW without event, but once we hit the Albemarle Sound the wind was on our bow and we fought that through the Alligator River.  This hurt our speed and we stopped for the night just before the Alligator-Pungo Canal.

Sabrina and I had anchored in this spot when we brought JV north from Wrightsville Beach 5 years ago and my dad had anchored there when he helped my Uncle Bill bring his sailboat north 10 years ago.  Both of us had weathered storms in this anchorage on those occasions and true to form, the wind picked up overnight.  Our new 40 lb. Manson Supreme anchor held wonderfully though, and the only problem I had was getting the anchor back on the boat in the morning since it had buried itself overnight.

Today was another early morning and after getting the anchor back on board we motored along through the Alligator-Pungo Canal and the interior of NC.  With very little breeze and nice weather, Sabrina and I were able to finish rigging the boat and finish up some of our projects while my dad had the helm. Late this afternoon on the Neuse River we stretched out the sails to make sure everything was working for the next leg of the journey.  We’re docked at the Oriental Marina and Inn since the (free) Town Dock was full.  A very nice shower and some shore leave helped out the morale of the crew this evening.  You should be able to see JV past the large blue hulled sailboat when the Oriental Harborcam updates in the morning. We hadn’t arrived yet when they snapped the last photo today.

Our current plan is to finalize more items tomorrow while we sit at the dock.  Then we’re going to fill with water and diesel and take an easy day to move the boat 30 (statute) miles to Beaufort, NC.  Weather permitting, Sunday morning we’ll head out the Beaufort Inlet to some point further south.  The weather and our stamina will determine how far we go!

The Spot will be on for the voyage, so please follow along if you’re curious about our progress, you can find our latest updates here.

Some quick thoughts that I forgot:

• I was down to short sleeves and thought about putting on shorts earlier today
• Our cell phones don’t work in Oriental, maybe we’ll get service again before we head out to sea
• Yes, I thought it was strange to watch the sun rise on the Bay in full camo without a gun in my hands
• Nermal is no longer terrified of the engine
• My dad snapped all those pictures, I haven’t located my camera yet, and I’m not sure where I packed it
• We haven’t fished yet, but once we hit the ocean expect photos of our catch
• M & M’s Cafe in Oriental makes the best Shrimp n’ Grits and their fresh oysters were great too
• The marina here is decorated for Christmas, I almost feel like we should put up our Christmas lights

We’re docked in Oriental, NC (the sailing capital of NC) and they have wonderful wifi access, so here’s the photos from the first leg of the trip down the Bay:

We’re tucked in for the night at the Centerville Waterway Marina near Great Bridge, VA. We wanted to make it through the numerous bridges and locks near Norfolk today, but we didn’t have the energy to continue on or find an anchorage south of here on the ICW. The captain crashed shortly after arrival due to the last twenty-four hours…..
See it all started when we departed Bohemia Bay with the high tide at 10:45 yesterday morning, we were making fantastic time through the Upper Bay with the tide pushing us along. There was little wind to only a slight breeze on our stern, to the point that around Poole’s Island it was almost a dead calm. Because of the lack of a breeze, I didn’t rig our genoa and our traveler still needs to be installed before we can unfurl the main sail. We had a largely uneventful start to the trip and I was more than happy to motor the whole way to Norfolk due to the fact that we still have a large amount of provisions to stow and some other items that haven’t found a home onboard yet. I played with the new electronics and educated the crew on how to use them. Nermal was an especially difficult student.
We discussed the watch schedule in the afternoon, and as the captain I made a statement that I wanted to be at the helm as we passed the mouth of the Potomac (notoriously one of the more difficult stretches of water on the Bay.) As we continued south very quickly it looked like we would arrive at the Potomac around midnight. Due to the excitement of the trip I was more than happy to take the majority of the time at the wheel, I know the Bay and the instruments and I shaved a few hours off our trip. As it neared midnight I almost remarked to Sabrina what an easy trip we were having, and thought about getting some sleep instead of piloting the boat to Smith Point on the south side of the Potomac. Since you’re reading this narrative, you’ve probably guessed that it didn’t continue easily from there.
Moments after thinking I could go below and get some sleep, the Potomac hit us. The wind started to build to about 10-15 knots from the NNE in opposition to the outgoing tide and it was hitting JV directly on our port quarter. Due to the opposing wind and tide the waves were steep with a short period and cresting around us, the autopilot couldn’t keep up and we often found ourselves swinging from 30 degrees off course to the port to 30 degrees off to the starboard. In addition to this the steep waves were causing us to roll about 20 degrees from side to side very frequently. It was at this point that I disabled the autopilot and steered by hand till we crossed the Potomac.
Lest you think that we are in over our heads with this trip, believe me, both of us would have LOVED to sail in these conditions. But, as you may recall, I didn’t rig either of the sails before dark because of the early calm conditions. In addition, all the items we still had to stow that were loose in the boat weren’t helping matter. Furthermore, we just completed all our work on the boat, and we haven’t had a proper shakedown cruise. You can go crazy in the early morning hours trying to remember if you tightened all the bolts and snugged down all the hose fittings.
Lesson learned – batten down the hatches and prepare to sail regardless of the forecast.
On the bright side, we did 160 nautical miles in 24 hours and pulled into the Norfolk approach just after 10:00 this morning. The engine performed flawlessly, and the electronics and the electrical system work just like I imagined. (For all you night sailors, radar and AIS are the best inventions ever, I don’t know how I ever did without, and that’s after only one night of using them.) As we continue south through this stretch of the ICW we’ll finalize all the items that were causing us problems last night.
I lost my internet connection and had to finish this from my phone. I’ll post more photos when I get a chance, but here’s the boat before departure.