Mission Impossible

  It's been a genuine test of our will to get to the Bahamas this year. We almost elected to visit the Florida Keys instead. There were a few glitches with the boat but mainly it was the weather affecting the Gulf Stream that contributed to a rough start of the season. Many of us regularly looked over the weather forecast, shared our opinions, and decided it was not worth the risk to venture across the Gulf Stream on a regular basis. It seemed like every week the winds would build out of the North East and roil up the Gulf Stream to make passage impossible for all but the largest yachts.

 I know I've mentioned before that small craft warnings are meant for all boats shorter than 60 feet but there had to be times the mega yachts would not go out. It would be too rough on the equipment.
 When we decided to leave Fort Lauderdale on 12/23/11 the forecast was for 2-3 feet waves spaced at 8 or 9 seconds. That is the same forecast we had a week earlier when we attempted to cross the stream but the wind and waves were out of the North East on the first attempt. Back then, they were steep and just far enough apart that the bow pulpit was in the water every three waves or so. Our concerns for the freezer and free standing furniture we have aboard Freedom grew. If it started falling over or moving about it would make our ability to focus on handling the boat impossible. That day we looked out at the stream and saw that the horizon appeared to be closing in, and it was not smooth. These are not good signs and given the pounding started within 3 miles of the Florida coast we turned back. And it's a very good thing we did. Shortly after getting back inside we heard the forecast had deteriorated from underneath us and any cushion we had in our assessment of our abilities evaporated.  
 But on 12/23/11 the waves were out of the South East which meant we could quarter the seas making for a much smoother ride. It wasn't exactly a comfortable ride and one crew member thought this was probably number two on the all time worst ride list because yet again, once in a while Freedom took a sudden dive off the back end of a swell into the next wave stuffing the bow pulpit into the water. The forecast may predict 2-3 footers but we all know there are better than that out there and we found them. Deb would say we found them all.
 Initially for this crossing I took a more Northerly course that lined us up with Memory Rock more than it did with West End. This allowed for a smoother ride until we found ourselves in calmer water that facilitated a more direct course to West End. If that didn't work out we had an alternative of going back into the Lake Worth inlet of the Florida coast. It wasn't a desirable alternative but it works if things get bad. As it turned out we eventually had a decent ride that enabled us both to carefully move around on the boat to take care of things like nature calls. Fortunately this wasn't the worst ride so I was able to leave the helm once. On other occasions morning coffee was my worst enemy.
 And then we saw the coast line of Grand Bahama and left the Gulf Stream. With the change in current and a few course corrections we wound up in West End along with a squall that removed a small amount of the salt Freedom was sporting.
 In summary the crossing was good because we made it! It was also summed up by another as "you wouldn't have to wait long for help if you broke down there was so much traffic out there" which is indicative of the number of boats that had piled up in Florida patiently waiting for this opportunity.
 Once at the customs dock at Old Bahama Bay I fueled up Freedom while Deb filled in paperwork. The officials here were terrific moving through all the forms and documents quickly and professionally. All said and done we had our six month hallway permission slip and we cleaned up and met up with others for a burger and brew at the restaurant Old Bahama Bay has. Without question it's a great place to break up the trip, check in, and blow off the stress of crossing the Gulf Stream.
 Early in the morning we spun up the Detroits and made our way past Indian Rock and over the shallow water that leads North East past Church Bank towards Barracuda Shoal. The procession of boats moving on all backed off a bit here due to the shallow water and fog. Thick fog. Enough that we could not see the boat in front of us a mile away. But with radar and common sense we all lined up at a common speed around 7.5 knots and had a safe trip to clear skies by the time we passed Barracuda Shoal.
 Fortunately it stayed that way and we enjoyed a very pleasant ride across the Bahama bank to Spanish Cay. To our pleasant surprise we were welcomed onto the bank by a pod of dolphins that shot under us as we moved. It is always alarming because we are concerned for them but so far by leaving the boat at a constant speed they travel under us and pop up behind us in the wake where they play for a while. Once at Spanish Cay marina we stayed for the night enjoying their house specialty grouper. After dinner Don the owner of the island hooked up the Karaoke mics and music and started belting out songs. He came over to the table and handed me a mic at which point Deb's face took on a horrified expression. No. Not that.
 And it happened. Notice the pictures stop here.
 I got up and started singing. It was about this time Deb cut me off and for good reason. Regardless we all had a good time, although I could not have known otherwise, which resulted in a couple of rocks in the aft cabin that didn't budge until we were an hour late to move on in the morning. Fortunately getting back aboard Freedom went well because I left the transom lights on. This brought in a large number of snapper as well as some sharks. Falling into the water with all the sharks around was not an option.
 In the morning we discussed the evening over breakfast and Deb reflected on a couple of songs I did. She said I could actually have a future as an Elvis impersonator. I laughed and she went on to say there was one song I did that sounded really good! At that point I realized I should have cut Deb off as well. Anyway,
 I have this thing about traveling through Whale Cay Channel when the tide is running since that passageway is known to be a dangerous segment of the trip to the Abacos via boat. It has led people to try Don't Rock passage instead of going outside around Whale Cay and one year we saw many bent propeller shafts outside one of the local marinas testifying to the nature of that course. It's not impossible to pass Don't Rock and many do. I'd rather ride with someone else before I take that leap.
 The trip out Whale Cay channel was effortless thanks to relatively slack tide, light East wind and a calm Atlantic. We had a good feeling about going out directly from Spanish Cay because as we made our way South passing a number of cuts to the Atlantic, we saw no white caps or elephants on the horizon and there was no swell from the Atlantic making its way into the Sea of Abaco. All we had going out the cut and heading to Loggerhead Channel was 2-3 feet of chop that was closely spaced and worked really well at 10 knots. I think we dipped the bow pulpit a few times as we traveled over the reef into the Atlantic. No big deal at all. And in a few hours more time we were tied up at the Hope Town Marina which is one of our favorite Winter hangs. The sun is shinning, the winds are light, and our spirits are up because the journey over here has FINALLY been completed. Mission Accomplished!
 By the way that was a great movie but catch it in an IMAX theater if you can.

          

And now it's getting Ancient. . .

 That's correct we are still in the United States. Fort Lauderdale Florida to be more precise. We are kicking ourselves for not crossing last Wednesday when it was forecast to be 2-3 at 9 seconds. Oh well. We have been in water like that several times before and we could have handled it. For example every time we crossed Lake Ontario from Oswego to the St. Lawrence Seaway and back we had similar forecasts. I believe the last Ontario crossing was worse and we altered course to mitigate the slamming. The determining factor this time was that it will take us all day to cross the stream vs. 4 or 5 hours to cross Ontario. But it is what it is, and here we are still. Adding to all of this gloom, today we heard that a well known expert with regard to weather associated with boating, has come out and said we should all forget about crossing to the Bahamas until after the holidays. So perhaps we will stay Stateside even longer than we thought was a worst case scenario.

  Fortunately at the Fort Lauderdale City Marinas, we have access to shopping, dining, and a rental car if we have need. In spite of all of these conveniences and most importantly, we got a close look at Theodore The Tug. It was only fitting to walk around and get close because he had been staring at us for a few days "weirding us out". He seemed easy going enough and had plenty of Santa's helpers aboard dressed in miniskirt elf outfits so perhaps he's not so bad after all. Maybe that's why he has that grin on his face all the time. And that defines the environment here on the New River this past weekend.
It was holiday season parade time again and we had to move in support of that effort since the Downtown marina was the kick off point for the boat parade that spans two days. Once the parade finished on Saturday night it continued on Sunday to wind up in Pompano Beach. The logistics of making this happen on Saturday were complex and frustrating for many boaters. Dock space on the New River is limited especially in consideration of how large some of the participating boats are.  Not only that but navigating the river during this time is a bit more stressful at best. In support of the notion the authorities were quite busy at the 7th Avenue bridge here when the river was locked down at 2:30 P.M.. This led to a confrontation between the authorities and several boats that did not want to be held up. They wanted to either participate in the parade, which required registration, or get to a good anchorage where they could review it. Since the closure of the river occurred at the 7th Avenue bridge and it is right off our port side we were "offered" a commanding view of the whole affair.

 One boat had a gang of folks on it and they missed the 2:30 deadline by a couple of minutes. My heart when out to them but what are you going to do? Another boat was also caught upstream of the bridge as a matter of happenstance. They also had a number of folks aboard but their intentions were merely to return home. What were they supposed to do? It did not matter what kind of boat you had. It could have been a dink. Some were. The CG was not going to let you under the bridge. The regulations were well published on the web and the notice to mariners probably had this event documented as well since the Coast Guard had a pronounced attendance in the form of boats and a helicopter. Loud speaker announcements were made threatening citations. People held their ground. More boats arrived adding to the confusion. Occupy New River was taking shape. Game on!
 We were not happy about this because our bow pulpit had been the subject of abuse by another boat last month and things were getting very crowded in tight spaces. Let's face it when the tide is shifting on the New River it's not going to be a pleasant boating experience if everyone around you has issues controlling their boat. Fortunately more law enforcement showed up making the point clear to the hold outs and they all eventually left the area one at a time for points up stream. Fortunately for the folks on the boat trying to get home, they were able to arrange a tow through the area and get where they had to be. They did not need a tow, and I am certain it cost them, but they were able to get home. Not exactly a great way to finish a day on the water. Occupy New River broke up after about an hour and a half. Here's hoping other venues are as fortunate with short lived demonstrations.
 Regardless of all the posturing, stress and difficulties it was evident many people had a pleasant evening. Reviewing the above photos will illustrate that well given the crowds lining the waterway at dining tables and chairs. Looking up we saw many condo balconies loaded with people reviewing the event.
 All in all, it was a good time to be on the New River.  

This is getting very old...

 The notion of being stuck in Florida for the rest of the season is gaining some traction. Neither of us recall a "crossing season" that was laced with so much wind for extended periods of time. It's making a mess of the Gulf Stream again as I type. A small craft advisory is in effect until Monday and has been for a day or so because the seas are reaching 8 feet at 9 second intervals. Keep in mind that this is what they call significant wave height which can be half of what peak wave height will be in reality. So having a sense of the reality of it all based on our experience with the Gulf Stream, we know that there will be waves in excess of 8 feet so we are not going "there". It also tempers the urge to get the crossing over with when the forecast indicates seas of 2 to 3 feet. While optimism for success increases at that reduced prediction the period of the waves can make a huge difference. If the period is 4 seconds the waves are close together and the resulting ride will include spray over the top of the bridge with water sheeting down the enclosure making it difficult to see the next wave and prepare. I know, we should install spray rails. But for two crossings a year?
 By the way, according to the United States Coast Guard, the definition of small craft is a vessel less than 65 feet in length. So we are certainly in that category regardless of how some folks have labeled Freedom.
 Along with the delays in getting across the stream we have put the car into storage for the Winter in anticipation of actually getting to the Bahamas. As a result our mobility is reduced but our walking has increased and this has assisted the waistline since we are probably walking at least a few miles a day now.

   But last night we were treated to the Annual Palm Beach Boat Parade. The parade consisted of all sorts and size of boats. Participants included one person dinks, dinner cruise boats, center consoles, sport fishermen and yachts. As far as overall decoration content goes I have to give kudos to this particular boat which was about 30 feet long. It seemed to have as much color and brightness going for it as the fireworks barge that preceded most of the boats from Peanut Island up past us at the North Palm Beach marina.

 And the fireworks! While they had chosen low altitude displays, they had more fireworks going off all the time than I can remember for the 4th of July in Kingston. To provide a little insight, they started shooting fireworks down at Peanut Island and kept them going all the way past us, the Parker Avenue bridge and points North. That spans about 4 miles and at maybe a speed of 3 knots that meant they were shooting them for at least an hour, and they kept going off as far as we could tell.
 Here is a link to a video of the fireworks display at the Parker Avenue Bridge here in North Palm Beach Florida. The bridge carries US 1 across the Intra Coastal Waterway at the North end of Lake Worth. If you look closely you will see that the bridge is open in support of letting the parade pass without delaying it. I can imagine how frustrating this could be to the motorists waiting to cross the bridge. Fireworks Display
 Everyone in the area had to be pleased to see this display with the exception of the bridge operator. It certainly looked like they got the display finished before they passed through the bridge opening but it was close! And no sooner did they get through the opening did they start a new display!
 It's things like this that help us pass the time while we wait for the opportunity to cross the Gulf Stream. At this point it looks like we will move down to Fort Lauderdale to take advantage of the effect the Bahama bank has on the wave height predictions. Generally speaking the wave height predictions are more favorable in Fort Lauderdale and Miami than they are up here. Yes, we will spend more cash on fuel but we will at least make some progress. Even if we wind up at Bimini, the passage North to Lucaya seems to open up more frequently than the path between the Bahamas and Florida.
 Of course we can expect that to change as soon as we locate there.