Cruising with Freedom

One Month in the Abacos is gone already

2012-01-29T09:37:00.001-05:00

Wow, where did that go? With the month of January coming to a close it was time to move for a change of scenery. Upon a rising tide and calm weather we moved down to the Sea Spray Resort and Marina where we've previously had lunch after walking South along the Atlantic side of Elbow Cay. I think I mentioned they have a good grouper sandwich here and while chowing down on a couple of occasions we took in a couple of football games. Specifically, those leading up to the Giants vs. Green Bay.
The crowd here was decidedly pro Green Bay and being a Giants fan, I intend to take full advantage of their prophecies. We'll see how it all plays out in the Super Bowl and I am thinking it will be a good game regardless of the outcome. Eli got away with a few hail mary passes in the last couple of games. Count me as one who is not sure that tact is going to carry forward well. We'll all see.
The ride down was uneventful except for the fact that several sailboats were heading out of Hope Town Harbour to participate in a sailing regalia on the Sea of Abaco. Fortunately as our preparations evolved our departure from the dock fit into the pattern well and we had no issues. In fact we followed the Rage ( http://abacorage.wordpress.com/ ) out of the Harbour into the Sea of Abaco. It appeared as though many sailboats were headed out for a great day of sailing in a wonderful environment. As we continued cruising along the shore of Elbow we were in calm water in spite of the fact that the wind was stout out of the East. It pays to be in the Lee where the calm waters are. Docking in at Sea Spray we found our reserved slip was taken so we moved deeper into the marina and after a miscue of getting into a slip that was too short for us we found ourselves located on the other side of the finger we occupied last Winter. So it's all good and we are settled.
It wasn't long before the beach walking along the South end of the Atlantic side of the Cay started and our beach combing began to produce some results. We found a few shells of interest but we have to admit this year it's slim pickings for shells with all of the dune repairs. It seems as though all of the shells are buried with new sand or, they were blown away by Hurricane Irene. Regardless, one item of interest turned up and it was this message in a wine bottle. If you click on the image you can read the details. It seems like they were out in the Atlantic cruising along having a great time throwing bottles over the side. Cool. So I sent them this same photo without the omissions and sure enough we received a response. Good fun. I asked that next time they send a full bottle enclosed in floatation to our attention although I'm relatively certain they will not. I'm thinking this bottle has been bobbing around about a year. Who knows. Regardless it was certainly quite a bit of fun for everyone at the Garbonzo bar here at Sea Spray where we had the "opening ceremony". Fortunately they had a cork screw to get the bottle re-opened. I was initially surprised how long it took to locate one but in reflection it makes sense given beer and rum are the preferred mechanisms here in the Bahamas.
Speaking of hurricanes, things here survived very well. Probably better than other locations. The coastline is still a very comfortable walk and the road past the Abaco Inn has been stabilized. While it is a lane more narrow than it was before the storm it all works well enough and traffic flows without issue. Many houses are getting repainted since the storm provided a combination power washing and sand blasting of their trim and other surfaces. There's good stimulus in hurricanes and tropical storms. Ask any of the people in the North East United States that lived through this past Summer.
Using Google Earth if you look at Sea Spray and compare its location to the Hope Town Inn and Marina, you will see it is more protected and well inside White Sound away from the inlets to the Atlantic or Sea of Abaco. Strangely it seems there are more fish in the marina here. Last night I turned on the transom lights and to my surprise there were many snappers swimming around in the light. So I went back aboard and got some old turkey stuffing that we saved for times like this. Once back on the dock I started to throw some into the water and it wasn't long before I had the surface quite active with fish hitting on the cubes of toast. That's when the unexpected happened. I good sized shark swam right under the dock I was standing at the edge of. I'm not thinking it was a Nurse shark because the nose was more pointy than that but it didn't have the black fin tips either. I suppose it could have been a juvenile Bull shark but the water was cloudy obscuring a good view even though it was perhaps only 4 feet below the surface.
The pool is looking better all the time.

It goes on

2012-01-17T20:02:00.000-05:00

Here in Hope Town things have settled down. We've had a chance to visit a number of establishments and now that the boat is parked for a while, some work items I've wanted to get underway have been started. Some have actually been completed! Occasionally I impress (even) myself because now that we are retired finding time to squeeze in projects has become challenging.
Today in spite of the demanding schedule and brisk winds out of the ESE we took the dink out onto the Sea of Abaco hoping to get around to the new place on Elbow called Firefly. Lunch out and about was our game since we had been cooped up with getting projects underway. We were hoping to use the dink since the West side of Elbow was in the lee today and we didn't want to walk all that far. As it turned out the ride around was smooth enough allowing us to make it to Firefly easily. Looking at the first two photos one can conclude the Sea of Abaco was cooperative. I believe the owners of this esthetically well positioned place are involved with Firefly Sweet Tea back in the States. I imagine they decided to burn some cash on a place over here on Elbow. In our opinion they have done a terrific job of locating a very pleasant establishment.
They did a really nice job of laying out the property and setting up a very cool place to have a meal. As well accommodations within various cottages are located on the property if living aboard is not and option. As you can see from these photos taken from the bar the view is spectacular and sunset dinners will be awesome. But we were here for lunch and Deb had a bowl of conch salad. I had their tuna as well as a calamari appetizer. Yes! We found fried calamari in the Bahamas and it was very good. It came with a sweet and spicy chili sauce drizzle that went well with an ice cold beer. The tuna was also well prepared and quite tasty although I would have wanted a bit more on the plate. The conch salad was as good as any on the island and there was plenty of it. So we both had a great meal at a reasonable price (for the islands) with a wonderful view.

It was a refreshing break from installing a new outlet in the galley for the microwave, a stereo on the bridge, and some work with DirecTV that spanned several hours.
Nothing goes into Freedom easily. Well, nothing of substance anway. To get the new outlet from a stand alone breaker associated with the inverter, I had to pull all of the paneling off the starboard interior wall. It might look easy but it isn't. The paneling fits into a groove under the window sill and another groove in the floor. That means paneling that has aged since 1985 has to bow out in the middle for its entire length to facilitate popping out of both grooves. If it cracks, the finish is ruined and it's in an obvious location. Anyway this portion is the comfortable zone of this project and it went very well. I was able to get the cable into the A.C. panel and pull it through under the inverter I installed in 2008. Once that far it went into the bilge where dwarfs have the advantage. Dan does not fit well down there. If you look closely at the photo (click on it) you will see the outline of the hatch over the starboard engine. That engine would be a Detroit 6-71 turbo charged inter cooled diesel with a 400 pound gearbox. The cable goes down into the bilge just aft of the floor mounted battery selector switch under the inverter. From there it goes across the salon floor and down into a conduit up to the bow where it then goes through the floor up into the galley. Cake. Not. But it's done and I can enjoy morning coffee without having to get up and reactivate a breaker that pops because the coffee maker and microwave are on the same circuit. I've had the parts on the boat 2 years now.
What can I say?
She finally wore me down.
Anyway along with this, the stereo that has been aboard for a while also got installed. You may have noticed the grey wire hanging out of the vent opening above the inverter? They go to the speakers that have been muted by removal of the stereo to make room for the inverter. With this latest surge of activity the stereo has been relocated to the helm and we have speakers up there now as well. Once this grey cable gets pulled up a very narrow raceway that is loaded with control cables, A.C. freon lines and all sorts of other "trivial" stuff, we'll be able to listen to the Door's album (inside) I down loaded from Itunes the other day. Something like 40 of their best on a single album. I'm thinking the folks on the mooring balls would appreciate our keeping the volume down so the inside speakers are probably a good idea.
As for DirecTV, I have to hand it to them. We have been down here the past three Winters and the basic antennae has worked flawlessly. We can order movies over the internet, and the picture only pixelates during stout wind storms or thunderheads when I don't have the tracking system up and running. This year we switched our install address to be that of Miami Florida coincident with our departure from the NYS residence. You guessed it, right when the playoffs started, the company (Sunbeam) owning the station that broadcasts FOX decided they wanted more money to transmit their infomercials and local news. DirecTV said no. Sunbeam pulled the plug. As a result everyone here as well as in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale using DirecTV missed the Giants game this past weekend. Last year we had good reception for the NYS stations all the way down to Staniel Cay which is the rumored limit so we knew based on past experience that we could watch FOX if we were not associated with a rogue local network. Even though we are no longer resident in NYS, DirecTV let us use the old address so we could watch FOX. Thank you DirecTV!

Finally a break in the wind!

2012-01-07T19:19:00.001-05:00

This last week we had a real blow out with 50+ mph winds in the Abacos. Freedom was moving side to side and around in her slip testing the lines to their limit causing some sudden stops that caught us off balance on a number of occasions. It was enough movement that it reminded us of crossing the Gulf Stream at the end of December but only in an amusing way. It wasn't like we had to crawl around on our hands and knees to prevent injury but it was enough that balance and composure were challenging to maintain. In spite of the rocking and sudden stops caused by taught lines, we managed to get the stereo installed, the electronics station on the bridge cleaned up and its face repainted.
We did not hear of any damage being done but we all had to make certain the boats were adequately tied up. Those out on the hook moved to more protected areas like Marsh Harbour or the West coast of Abaco to be in the lee of shore thus mitigating the affect of the winds. It was a time to hunker down and keep an eye on the boat. Along with the wind the temperatures got down into the 40's and we were fortunate to have reverse cycle air conditioning aboard Freedom. At this point of Winter we think we have used the heat more often than we have in all years past. Hopefully this is not an indication of how the Winter will continue once this break from the cold fronts has concluded.
Given the opportunity with this recent calm and warmer weather we were able to get a good walk along the Atlantic shore from Hope Town down to the Abaco Inn for some of their specials. It was comforting to learn they still make darn good conch fritters and their seared tuna is still a stand out special that can't be beaten. Others may try but the Abaco Inn has a lock on this dish.
Since the weather window was good for a second day, and the second day was more calm, we took the dink out to the reef at the North End of Elbow Cay and looked around. It was calm enough we didn't need the look bucket or need to snorkel. The water was clear and calm enabling us to merely putt around looking at the coral heads and the fish living near and within them. There were a few encounters with nurse sharks and some large snapper that made us wish we had gear with us to capture some good eats. While we did not see any lobster antennae I'm thinking we might have found a couple if we were to throw the hook out there and dig around under the coral heads.
Eventually we had seen enough and I pointed the dink at Snake Cay where we were hoping to see some of the large spotted rays but the sun hid behind the clouds by the time we got there and we could not see deep enough into the dark water to pick them out.
Perhaps if we had not stopped to help a sailboat that ran aground in Tilloo Cut we might have had sun light at Snake Cay but boaters have to help each other out if they can. They were hard onto the sand and grass with the tide going out, and they had a mess of kids on the boat with them. We pushed and tugged on their boat with all we had but we could not budge it. The captain elected to spend the day there waiting for tide and we moved on after wishing them good luck.
Regardless it's all good and on the return to Hope Town we stopped off at Sea Spray for some of their awesome conch salad and blackened grouper sandwiches washed down by a couple of ice cold Kalik's.
Days like this are tough to beat.

The garmin data is up to date.

Happy 2012 and Goodbye 2011!

2012-01-01T19:50:00.001-05:00

Finally we can kiss off 2011. It was a rough year for the market, and for us, a difficult year to cross the Gulf Stream. We've been in Hope Town a full week now and the notion that we are here has crept into our minds allowing us to relax. We don't have all of the concerns over the weather and the boat delivered us safely.
So we struck out to see how Elbow Cay fared in consideration of Hurricane Irene. I know that between Irene and Tropical Storm Lee many lives were left in waste, and we saw plenty of it when we drove out to Sayre Pa. just after Lee left that area. A major arterial Route 17 was underwater in many places and closed to traffic between Vestal and Elmira NY. The devastation that was brought upon so much of the East Coast and inland areas of the United States by those two storms is mind boggling. Our hearts go out to those that have and are still living a nightmare as a result. But now we are in a different environment and let's face it, a direct hit by a hurricane here is as significant but fortunately it does affect less people.
However Elbow Cay seems to have survived in style! From what we have seen the beaches have some weak spots and serious erosion but by and large they managed to avoid destruction the likes of which New York and other New England states saw. The worst of this storm damage is focused at the cliff road leading South to the Abaco Inn, and the beach area just North of Sea Spray. The roads are safe and open but there are some pot holes and other repairs that are still needed. The locals have responded quickly to make restorations that can be depended on.
In spite of the bad weather, the Hope Town Inn and Marina is quickly taking shape and we look forward to the point that it comes online completely. It's going to be a very special stop for mariners willing to make their way to the Abacos and for a number of reasons. It is well located with regard to Marsh Harbour and it is in central Hope Town. Everything is a short dink away across the Hope Town Harbour and there are many facilities within the harbour that cater to travelers. It's going to put a stamp on the Abacos for sure.
Since we were held up in Florida for an extended stay we had some extra expenses and we have to curtail some of the extra spending on dining out. In support of this we immediately ate out at the Edge, Sea Spray, The Reef Bar, Cracker P's and we also celebrated New Years Eve at the Hope Town Harbour Lodge. Maybe next week we'll settle down but some steam had to be let out and it was worth it.
Friday evening we were fortunate enough to hitch a ride down to Tahiti Beach where many folks reviewed the fireworks display John Bull puts on for everyone. It was a great show and a lead in to the New Year's Eve festivities that take place in Hope Town. Up at the Reef Bar we had dinner and a D.J. along with all sorts of party favors revolving around a theme based on the Blues Brothers. Everyone had stern faces and cheap sunglasses on making for a fun evening. At midnight we sat on one of the porches overlooking the harbour and were treated to a great fireworks display put on by the Lodge. It was full of color and noise and right in our faces. Once in a while the wind shifted carrying the display overhead.
After the fireworks everyone joined in with the Junkanoo parade that marched all around Hope Town and then back to the Lodge where free champagne was waiting for us. Not too shabby.
With that, we hope everyone has a Happy Healthy and Prosperous New Year. Let's all make 2012 better than the past!
Some extra photos are in the bucket here Photo Bucket Link
The Garmin Tracks are up to date excepting perhaps the Lubber's dink ride. I have to create a new file for 2012 yet.

Mission Impossible

2011-12-25T16:04:00.002-05:00

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. . .

2011-12-12T18:00:00.002-05:00

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...

2011-12-04T09:38:00.001-05:00

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.

North Palm Beach via the ICW

2011-11-29T16:42:00.001-05:00

Last night we took in a final sunset, and you knew this was coming, at the Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart Florida. Along with the Sunset came calamari at the Sailor's Return restaurant which is located on site at the marina. The evening started by sitting at the bar and being welcomed by Kelly who after one prior sitting remembered us and how we liked our drinks! Amazing, and she makes a great Mojito. Soon enough we had some freshly sliced calamari fried up in some kind of special seasoning with marinara, and we dug in. It was so good we ordered up a second batch. I really hate myself for not badgering them for the seasoning recipe it was that good. All in all I'll give it a 9 out of 10 which represents some of the best calamari we've had in about a year or so. Combining the view and good snacks together the evening was special enough and summed up our stay at the Sunset Bay Marina well. They have great staff here at the marina, and a good place to eat as well. The only thing this marina could use is a pool. With that it would be much more difficult to move on.
But move on we did. We pulled out of our slip with the help of our neighbors at slack tide. This made it all quite easy especially since they gave the bow of Freedom a good shove. In no time at all we were outside the marina calling the Roosevelt Avenue bridge for an opening. Since this bridge is an "on demand opening bridge" we were treated to an immediate opening that allowed us to move on without delay. There's nothing like an easy start to a day of travel. As we moved along the St. Lucie river heading for the inlet we were treated to views of some very special houses. I have to say that it boggles the mind to think how many folks have so much cash that they can afford to build houses like these. They are all over the place down here and completely line the shoreline. I guess this is why America has such an issue with illegal immigration. All one has to do is review a few places like this to be convinced of the possibilities here in America. Kick it all you like, it certainly has worked well up to this point.

Moving on we came into the Jupiter inlet area. The water there turns a brilliant turquoise and we thought to ourselves it would be terrific if it stayed that way as we left the inlet area. However soon enough the water color fades to dull green but the passage of the inlet is certainly scenic with the water color and the lighthouse standing proudly ready to mark the location with beams of light.
And shortly afterwards we found ourselves in a slip at the Old Port Cover Marina on Lake Worth.

The worst part of this move is we have put the car down for the season. It was left behind in Stuart and hopefully it will survive the Winter in good form and start for us when we return to it next year.

Still waiting on the weather

2011-11-25T17:48:00.001-05:00

But it's all good. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner courtesy of Deb's talent in the kitchen, wait, galley. We are on the boat after all. It wasn't the largest turkey we ever cooked but its eight pounds just made it into Freedom's oven and after a good roasting it came out with stuffing as well as the rest of the trimmings including a hearty gravy. The local weather cooperated offering up a sunny warm view from the aft deck ensuring a pleasant environment for our early bird special at 2 pm.
Since we have some spare time these days we took a few rides to have a look at property down here and while we were driving around in an area near the shore, on a lightly traveled road, Deb says did you see that hawk? I said no and she says it was in the tree just to your left off the road. So I backed up and sure enough there this hawk is sitting there about 6 feet from my window. It was certainly proud looking and I have to admit it was also patient enough allowing me to get a good photo. Certainly this was a rare opportunity. We were lucky to get such a good clear photo of one of Nature's best predators.

All of this has tempered the urgency we have about getting across the Gulf Stream. Others have come and gone while we have stayed here at the Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart. We came close to leaving last Wednesday but decided to stay given the wind was going to pick up substantially on Thursday. While we would have made it across the stream the odds were against us making it around to the far side of Abaco the next day or so and having had a bad day on the bank between Spanish Wells and Nassau we elected to sit this one out in a more economical environment.
Besides this allows us to get more work done on the boat.
New VDO oil pressure gauges and senders went in and I have to admit this is probably the first time the oil pressure indications on the bridge were accurate and smooth. While we have mechanical gauges in the bilge for each engine, this adds up to a bit more confidence in the machinery while underway. A little less faulty gauge induced apprehension leads to less incentive to check the bilge while underway. With exhaust gas temperature, and solid oil pressure readings as well as a host of alarms we are now better suited to long days on the water without having to check the bilge every 15 minutes. For several years now we would open the salon floor and review the mechanical gauges I installed to ensure the engines had adequate oil pressure. It's one thing to depend on the alarms that are functional, and another to see how the pressure fluctuates within different environments. So now we can take some solace in the more accurate readings we have on the bridge. This will not obviate the need to perform frequent bilge checks but it does offer us some peace of mind while underway.
Along with these upgrades we managed to get a second starting battery installed. This one was for the port engine. The starboard engine starting battery was one of the first things done after arriving at Stuart since it was relatively easy. In spite of it's 150 pound (plus) weight I was able to remove it from the battery box, bounce it to the center of the engine room, hoist it up about 3 feet to the salon floor, up onto the aft deck, down the steps to the dock, into the cart and then into the car. The only difference associated with the port side starting battery was that it had to be lifted up over the starboard battery before it came around in front of the engine to the center of the engine room. This is all a genuine test of forearm and back strength since this is performed on hands and knees in very tight quarters.
In hindsight I, and my back, are glad we had a universal machine that I worked out on for several years. For one reason or another this chore went better than it did back in 2005 when I last changed out the engine starting batteries. Maybe the extra working our paid some dividends but regardless the residual effects will be resolved with a few Advils and a Margarita.
So all of this waiting around is good. Things are getting taken care of in an environment more suited to the task. Parts are located close by and we still have not stored the car so we can travel as we wish. While we could have made due with the batteries for another year we'll sleep better knowing they will not need to be replaced over in the Bahamas at a premium price. Let's face it 190 bucks each at Sam's club is going to be a heck of alot better than anything we will come up with in the Abacos. As an example I believe West Marine wanted 400 dollars and more for a generic lead acid 8D. It's probably safe to include a 100% price increase for the pride of being in the Bahamas.
However soon enough we will move because we are at least a day away from an inlet that offers safe passage to the ocean. Given all of the logistics we have to get closer to the ocean in the event an opportunity to cross the Gulf Stream arises.
It's getting late in the season and we will take advantage of a one day window here and there to get going if that is what it takes. The notion is, that if we get stuck, we are at least a bit closer to the goal each time we have to wait on the weather.

Deb has Ray eating out of her hand.....

2011-11-15T20:08:00.001-05:00

So today in an effort to blow off the stress of getting across the Gulf Stream we went to the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center on Hutchinson Island. It was a short drive from the marina in Stuart. Once on the island it offered us a chance to look out at the Atlantic / Gulf Stream to get a read on how things looked. It's not that we don't trust the forecasters. We just don't trust them. Upon reviewing the water we knew we were making a good decision to sit out the following day in anticipation of the day after which would have been Thursday 11/17.
Anyway the center http://www.floridaocean.org/p/58/visit has a small air conditioned area with a few tanks of interest as well as a large outdoor pool containing several varieties of fish and a couple of different turtles. All in all it was an interesting stop that broke up the monotony of waiting out the weather that has refused to cooperate. The anticipation of happy hour only goes so far in that regard.
Along with the pool there is an interesting walk around the facility that takes you through mangrove swamps and out to the lagoon side of the park. As we walked along the path we were constantly reminded of the fact that their are critters out here. Fish, tracks, and rustling sounds caught our attention all along the boardwalks and paths that took us through the swamps with the sulfuric smelling multi-colored waters fed by the decaying foliage. It wasn't offensive like the sulfur springs in Yellowstone Park. Just a hint of sulfur and fortunately there were no Golden Orb spiders hanging out above the path we were walking today. I hate walking into their webs.

After finishing the trail and upon exiting the building towards the parking lot, we were again reminded of the fact that others inhabit the area. Florida with its warmer climate offers us a different set of living beings from those we are used to in the North East. As I walked down the steps leaving the park I was greeted by a snake that reared up as though it wanted to make a snack out of my foot. Deb elected to divert to an alternative set of stairs but I decided that moving forward was not much of a risk and as I did so, our new friend slithered off into the brush at the left of the stairs. Cheap entertainment and fun.
And we can use that since we are going to be here an additional week. We originally thought that the Gulf Stream was going to be passable on 11/17 and yes that is the case but the Bahama Bank is going to be a mess Thursday evening into Friday and the following days. Even though the water on the bank is shallow, it still gets ugly and can turn a long day into a very wearing experience. Given the outlook we bailed out on a marginal crossing that would have left us stuck at West End for a week.
Sometimes it's better to sit it out and we take some solace in the fact that there are others here of the same opine. Maybe next week.

Waiting on a "Window"

2011-11-13T18:24:00.001-05:00

Or how do we spend our time while the Atlantic churns.

We've actually been ready to cross the Gulf Stream for a few days now but with seas approaching 12 feet recently we have elected to sit things out. Especially since our pain threshold is right at two feet. Call us wuzzy, but I double dog dare you to ride it out with us on Freedom in 4 to 6 confused seas. We've done it. We've learned. Patience. This latest disturbance was dealt us by tropical storm Sean which made a mess of things for a while, and it seems there are additional disturbances in the form of cold fronts making their way this far South. So the Gulf Stream remains a place for those with strong stomachs or boats able to plow through it. It's not only the Gulf Stream that's rough.
A mail transport named Legacy ran aground at Lynyard cay in the Abacos this week. Considering we have received weather reports from them regarding passage of Whale Cay we wonder how they found themselves in such a horrific experience. Fortunately there was no loss of life and Legacy has been hauled off the reef at North Bar, and towed back to Marsh Harbour. We have transited this area and know it to be fickle, best left for calm seas. In spite of being inside the reef this is where we first experienced weightlessness on the bridge of Freedom.
But it's all good since where we are we have a monthly rate, the condo has been sold, and we have the car with us as opposed to renting cars which we done have in the past. The serious issue here is not going out for dinner because the food at the marina restaurant smells great and based on our experience it also tastes terrific. Calamari at the bar is outstanding.
Fortunately we are not alone here since there are several folks in a similar situation. We all have frequent conversations regarding the crossing which helps us temper the urge to get the crossing over with. We know this is supposed to be fun. A bit of an adventure yes, but fun. No one wants to take on more risk than they or their equipment can tolerate. While the "battle wagons" go out and crash through this weather, for the most part we are fair weather boaters that would find themselves in a very uncomfortable situation if we moved into this weather on the big water. We could easily take the boat South to Lake Worth and or Peanut island so as to be close to the inlet for an early morning departure, but why give up a monthly rate on the gamble of a very narrow window only to be stuck on the Bahama Bank waiting for better weather? Along those lines today's talk is centering around a crossing on Thursday the 17th but I look at this "weather window" as being quite narrow. Given that we know we will be caught in the stream with rough water, or, caught at a marina charging high fees for docking and utilities the rationale in favor of the crossing is weak at best. But it is a hurdle to surpass and always presents itself as a goal worth accomplishing regardless of the consequences. We look at it this way. Unless you can run at 25 knots you will be stuck at West End, Lucaya, or elsewhere waiting on weather to get around to the Abacos. Most weather windows at this time of year are not wide.
So we plod along with additional preparations that don't need to be performed but we need to get out of the way. The dink has been hauled, cleaned and waxed. New registration numbers have been applied to the tubes and now all vehicles are registered in Florida. Provisioning has been accomplished but will have to be replenished.
Anyway it's easy to while away a weekend when the local airport hosts an airshow. We were in the area at this time last year, and witnessed a F/A-18 Hornet buzzing around at very low altitudes. Cool. This year we had the privilege of seeing a restored P-51 in military color fly over head. I have to admit the jets are impressive when they fly over. The F-16 at full afterburner was clearly heard at the marina even though we had to be at least a couple of miles away. But that P-51 with it's old Merlin(?) sounded sweet as it entered steeply banked turns overhead. And then there was the surprise entry a MIG-17.
All of these demonstrations were a pleasure to watch and commanded respect for the people that were willing to put on the show. Let's face it. Air shows have taken a hit this year with a number of accidental deaths caused by crashes. Nothing happened this weekend and we are all grateful for the show and its safe operation.

So we wait. Could be a while. So what. Better to be safe.

Making ready for the Bahamas

2011-11-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

Here we are in Stuart Florida backed into slip C38. We had no idea how long we were going to be here and that made it rough on the dock master and his team with regard to scheduling of transient occupancy. Let's face it they want to accommodate everyone they can, but we were clueless. We knew we had work to get done on Freedom, as well as quite a bit of provisioning, but we had no idea how long this would take. What we did know was that the Gulf Stream was a mess and it was not going to lay down anytime soon. So we settled on "about a week".
With that the first several days here blew by in a whirlwind of maintenance and shopping. The freezer was loaded as well as the refrigerator and pantry. And then it dawned on us that we needed a new laptop, the radar had to go back to Furuno, and several other areas needed substantial amounts of attention.
After some agitated dialogue with Furuno the radar went back to the West coast for a second pass by the Furuno service team and came back in time given the evict order we originally had from the dock master. As it turned out it required a reworked CPU board because the connector that facilitated communication with the navigation chip card reader had failed during the rework we originally requested, in a couple of ways. We'll leave that item open for discussion in another forum. After getting it back a second time we were very pleased to see that the National service manager had dug in to find out what was going on and get it resolved. So while they may have lost a buck on it, the unit appears to be working now and perhaps everyone is happy.
But before the radar/plotter was returned to us, I was working on the dink in the water in between Freedom's transom and the dock. I hear all this screaming and yelling up front, Deb comes running aft waving her arms and yelling at me like I should be doing something and it happened. The owner of the restaurant here had his boat resting against our bow pulpit crunching away at the paint and fiberglass. Swell I thought. Well, not really. That certainly isn't what came out of my mouth. The dock hand greeting the man covered her face and pulled her hat down over her face it was that bad. Settling down I went forward and directed him off our bow because he was obviously clueless given the tidal current and wind. Having helped him get off the bow of Freedom I then directed him into his new slip and it went smoothly enough. So we worked out a deal, and to their credit the staff here at the marina ran point for us and made it happen. Freedom had her face fixed and the bow pulpit scars are gone.
These two prior items took their toll but then the battery issue cropped up again. With a new battery installed for the starboard engine it spins up very well thank you, and the list of concerns is reduced.
That is until we were asked to move to another slip. This is all part of not knowing how long you are going to be staying at a popular marina. If this was a no-name marina we probably would have been good to go for a month but the notion of foul weather slowing everyone up combined with the fact that this is a desirable place to be, made for competition of boat slips. And we moved so we could stay here winding up in C44. Mind you, we moved but the projected new slip owners have yet to arrive. Fast forward we are now in D15 and the new owners for both of the slips we left have yet to arrive. At least we did it in good form without hitting other boats. This in spite of having a mega yacht about 60 or so feet off the bow when we pulled out of C44. A little planning help us get this done easily. All one has to do is review the wind and tide before moving. Just sayin'.
It's all good because at this point we have a great view in a quiet area of the marina. Works for us. And more work is getting done. Not all of it by me. In fact, the collapsible stair system we have has casters on it that squeak. They squeaked so much a neighboring boat owner snuck up on them and oiled them. Twice. But he was ok with that because he saw how I was coming out of Freedom's bilge on a regular basis and did not have the heart to push the issue.
After a number of days that combined to reduce my bulk by about 5 pounds we had the good fortune to be invited aboard some friends boat to commiserate and imbibe while watching the Giants win with scant seconds left on the clock.
Then it was Sunday and the Farmer's Market was active in Old Stuart. It's a small quaint section of Stuart Florida that is on the shore of the St. Lucie River on the East side of the U.S. route 1 bridge to Jensen Beach. It wasn't as large as what we had in Kingston N.Y. but we found some great vegetables and fruit at reasonable prices. White eggplant, peppers, oranges, and various other selections filled up our bags before we left to return to Freedom where Deb went to work on a grilled eggplant, tomato and mozzarella cheese stack for lunch.
Life is good. Freedom is approaching stability and so are we.

Across Lake Okeechobee a couple of times.

2011-10-30T10:20:00.001-04:00

When I last spoke we were in Moore Haven wondering if the batteries had enough juice to crank the engines over. Our concerns were warranted but we managed to get them running and move Freedom to a dock for the overnight. After quite a bit of thrashing we had Freedom ready to run over to Stuart Fl. where we intended to make ready for the crossing to the Bahamas. We were exhasusted after a long drive, the launching and stowing. But it all went well enough and in the morning with the fog lifting we were happy to realize that two days of charging left the engine starting bank in good shape. The engines spun up and fired quickly.
Around 7:30 A.M. we ventured out from the marina into the canal with the bridge enclosure all dewed up and difficult to see through. It didn't matter that I had shammied them a couple of times. The moisture settled on them immediately making it a difficult transition into the canal with reduced visability. However no one else was out on the water except, the alligators.
They were frequent acquaintences along the trip to Clewiston Fl.. We'd see some "debris" floating in the water out in front of us and as we approached it would suddenly dissappear below the surface leaving rings in the water. Alligators are certainly a bit more intimidating than dolphins jumping along the side of Freedom yet they are fun to observe from a safe distance. Without question they are easily scared away by objects larger than themselves.
The channel leading out to the lake from Clewiston is lined with markers and many of them were occupied by Cormorants and Ospreys. The Ospreys were more amusing due to their animated head bobbing to get a good viewing angle of us as we passed them by. Light winds prevailed and the Okeechobee crossing was smooth. Along with this there was no traffic except for a 52 Egg Harbor that blew by us relatively close enough to rock us a bit but no harm was done. If anything the passing broke up the monotony of an otherwise slow crossing of the lake being followed by gulls.
We passed through the Moore Haven, Mayaka and St. Lucie locks easily with the light winds and small elevation changes. Arriving at Sunset Bay Marina we backed into a slip, tied up and were greeted by friends we had met in the Bahamas back in 2008.
After a Looooonnnngggg day on the water, we cleaned up and met Mads and Lani for dinner at the restaurant here and thoroughly enjoyed it. Soon enough we were out cold for what seemed like minutes. The alarm rang at 6 A.M. and we hustled to get off the boat by 6:45 AM since M & L offered us a ride on Dauntless back to Moore Haven so we could get out car back! As they say timing is everything and with our arrivals coinciding at Sunset Bay Marina, a great facility by the way, it spared us the drubbing of renting a car, driving out to Moore Haven and returning in separate cars. A full day of driving was turned into a smooth ride back over the lake with friendly conversation in an air conditioned bridge.
The fun ended when we they took Dauntless into the marina and there were no easy access spots enabling Debbie to hop off without concern. So Mads ably maneuvered the bow (also the highest egress) of Dauntless to the lift pit where three of us grabbed Debbie by the limbs waist and back while she slid off the bow with a life preserver on. Not exactly graceful but we "got 'er done". After I hopped off we were informed that this was a first for the marina. No one else had ever pulled a stunt like this before. In spite of the notoriety, I'm thinking Deb doesn't have very fond memories of the event....
Regardless, we were grateful to get a ride, and assisting with the locking was a breeze. Thank you team Dauntless!
And now the cleaning and preparations begin in earnest.

Freedom Floats Again, and it's for the Ta Ta's...

2011-10-26T22:02:00.000-04:00

The last week has been a whirl wind of selling the condo, moving into storage, driving South, acquiring driver's licenses and registrations, and launching Freedom. It should have taken a month. But we managed to get all of this done in 6 days.
But she is afloat, rather grudgingly but she is floating. The crew here at River Forest Labelle did a great job with class equipment getting her in the water. And that is where the fun stopped.
The main engine batteries were not properly charged because well, the boat was not plugged in enough. Even though we paid for it, the boat was down on charge. Fortunately the port engine spun up as usual but the starboard engine needed help from the house bank. I'm really glad I decided to put in a switch to combine the house bank with the starting banks when I installed the inverter. It was the first time I had to use it and it payed many dividends. Tomorrow we will see if the charger will manage to pump life back into the starting bank. Once tied up at the dock we learned that the satellite tv tracking system went down and needs to be replaced, not fixed. But the real pain showed up when the Radar Chart Plotter we had upgraded by Furuno died. All of this adds up to quite a bit of concern given the itinerary we normally ply. So when we move to Stuart tomorrow, hopefully we don't learn more about what failed over the Summer.
That's the bad and it probably isn't done showing itself yet.
The good? She started up, moved out of the slings, spun around smartly and pulled into her new slip running smoothly. She even revved up a bit without complaint. Next time I will remember to turn on the fuel valves. Yes, I did that. I forgot to open the supplies to both engines. But she ran long enough anyway. I'm not sure what that says about the valves but I am sure glad they ran given all of the expensive hardware in the marina right now. Freedom is nothing but a glass bauble in comparison.
Anyway, before we arrived here at Freedom we stopped in at Green Cove Springs to register the car, acquire our driver's licenses, and register the boats in Florida. It was probably the best experience I have ever had with any department of motor vehicles. Florida really has it's act together. You bring your papers of identity etc. and they enter it into the system. If you qualify the job is done. It took the nice lady named Geri two hours to get all of our processing done. And she worked diligently all that time, non stop.
And, she did it with a smile, spoke perfect English, and in spite of all the non stop work, she remained professional and courteous. Now for the fun part. You may be wondering about the title of this particular entry in the blog.
All the while I was standing in front of a glass divider that had one of those holes you pass information through. On the outside of the divider there were cancer walk-a-thon cards stuck up with tape filled out by donors.
One of them stood out. I kind of laughed to myself without being too obvious but Geri noticed being the sharp lady she is. She could not read the writing because the card was taped to the outside of her window facing out. So she's typing away and I draw Deb's attention to that particular card. She leans in, reads it and starts laughing.
Now Geri is really getting nervous and wondering just what is so special about this card that was stuck to her window. She can't read it and obviously never looked at it prior to the contributor sticking it up.
Being a good sport I waited about 15 minutes and eventually bust out laughing. Deb and I kind of outwardly didn't hide the notion that this was on her window and would be embarassing, but we didn't tell her promptly and let it fester for a while. But then it happened. Yes, I bust out laughing because the cancer walk-a-thon card had an in memory heading filled in with "It's for the ta ta's" along with an anonymous contributor. At the point I fell apart laughing Geri in calm Florida Cracker demanded to know what that card said. So I peeled if off her window and turned it so she could read it. It was a moment of controlled astonishment for her but being a good sport she shared it with all of her coworkers.
It was a good moment.
Having been there, through all of this, she asked if we would be organ donors and we said yes, we will. In spite of all the time spent standing outside her window, it went very well, and we all had a great time.
And tomorrow we move to Stuart traveling across the State of Florida.

Buh Bye New York State

2011-10-26T20:51:00.000-04:00

This topic is about one of those large changes in life. It's time to move on. Up to this point both Deb and I have spent all of our lives in New York State. It's a wonderful state full of great attractions and wonderful people to make them all that much better. We have so many great memories of times spent here. Good friends, terrific times, great laughs and bittersweet experiences. Life. Good life. So much to let go of. None of it easy to leave behind.
But there comes a point in time when we know it's time to cut and run. The state has too many obligations to fill and too little base to fulfill the financial needs required to sustain the infrastructure. It's a damn shame. NYS is now number two with regard to tax burden and given the political climate it will surpass New Jersey quickly. Laws are being enacted to bypass tax levy increases enacted at the state level. Politicians are getting aid to build hotels on their property instead of pursuing money for infrastructure that will make the state a place people want to live in. Low income housing projects demand more attention than keeping us safe.
All around NYS has what it takes to draw people in for a life experience. Summer beaches, Fall colors, City life, Winter Skiing, Museums, and on. But it's falling apart. Bridges such as the one between Kingston N.Y. and Port Ewen are rusting to pieces. The walkways should be condemned. They are not safe. Pumps are stationed in mid town Kingston in the middle of Broadway to pump waste or sewage because the system can no longer handle the flow. Roads are full of pot holes tearing up our cars and gangs fueled by low income housing and drugs are taking over the streets with their colors.
Why should we stay?
In spite of losing a significant investment in our abode we are calling it quits. We just don't see the support required from elected officials to maintain this state at a level commensurate with the level of taxation.
It's really disappointing. We have a great view off the deck overlooking the Rondout Yacht Basin which has been our favorite escape from drudgery. I have to admit there were many hours of hacking code for main frames spent here, and looking out at a sunset after a full day of debugging or coding was very gratifying and soothing. Even though we worked many additional hours having the view tempered the sentiment that we had to maintain status with this extra effort.
Family and regular dinners out at Ship to Shore and other establishments, let alone the home cooked meals have been a large part of life here.

But it has come to this.

Good bye New York State. You are asking too much and returning too little to those that are footing the bill.

Where did the good Summer weather go?

2011-09-09T18:04:00.002-04:00

I thought Summer meant calm weather in the North East United States! Wow, how wrong can you get? We had Hurricane Irene and flooding that wiped out the New York State canal system, and then the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee about a week later. No one had a chance to recover from all of the water that Irene left behind before the down pours from Lee arrived.
The Rondout Creek crested at a new record but thankfully all of the marinas survived in good form. Catskill was not as fortunate and suffered extensive if not total damage to all of the creek side facilities. I suspect that the Erie canal is done for the year, and probably will not open until Spring. There is so much damage resultant from the flooding that some marina operators that survived have closed up shop for the season early, asking their guests to haul out. If the flooding did not adversely affect travel plans with closures I am convinced the debris left behind did. It choked marinas and bent running gear all along the Hudson.
There are rumors about the Internet that boaters trying to make their way South are going to gather in Toronto where they will meet a ship to bring them South. They originally intended to get this done in Oswego, but the Jones Act has prevented this from happening in the United States. Hopefully this works out and these folks only suffer an inconvenience as opposed to a total change in their Winter plans.
Anyway, Freedom seems to be riding out the Summer, on the hard, in relatively good form. With any luck she will be ready for us to re float her early in October when we head South. Once afloat and provisioned we will head over to the Bahamas again hoping to rekindle friendships and enjoy the hospitality of the locals.
Our prayers and well wishes are with all of those that were unfortunately dealt a cruel slap in the face by Mother Nature and we hope the emotional and financial injuries heal quickly.

Here's a Summary of the last 8 months

2011-07-17T16:34:00.005-04:00

Enjoy the show, it runs about 30 minutes. Turn off the screen saver and crank up the volume.

http://www.photodex.com/share/danmapes/ap4b9mg4

The Deed is Done

2011-06-13T20:34:00.000-04:00

We hate to say it but Freedom is on the hard. This was like having a tooth pulled. It was back in October of 2010 that we moved aboard and while that starting point seems quite distant, it tends to lend insight into what we have been about for the last eight months.
As far as the act of having the tooth pulled goes we have come to the conclusion that setting aside one day to remove items, and finish cleaning up is totally insufficient. It's not as bad as moving from one apartment to another excluding furnishings, it's worse. The reason being we are the landlords and we know what we need to have when we return. It's not like we can give up a month's rent in security when we walk away (not that anyone would want to do that these days). So when we go down this path again we'll make sure we have at least two days set aside to unload. Note this does not include washing her down, changing oils and all of the other mechanical preparations for storage. Adding all of that up will extend the time required significantly. But as they say it is what it is, and Freedom is taking a well deserved break.
We put 158 hours on the engines this year and all things considered it went extremely well. Freedom covered roughly 1200 nautical miles over all sorts of water. That translates to an average of about 7.6 nm per hour. Not bad for a 25 year old boat with ancient Detroit 6-71TI technology driving her. Most of it was shallow but we had the deep big water also. You know it's big water when you see the U.S. Navy heading out into the Atlantic and points East. You also know it's big water when the swells come at you and there are no harbours to duck into. We got to know this feeling well on our way to Royal Island from Little Harbour in the Abacos. This was probably the most risky passage we had given its distance from the States but the risk was mitigated by the notion we traveled with others we knew. At least most of the way. Well, ok, it was only over the most remote sections. Anyway, it all went well and fortunately it went well for those folks also.
But it's all good. We had a great time traveling. As long as one studies the available forecast data and looks out for changes the chances are quite good that a pleasant passage will result.
This year we ran into many familiar faces in the Abacos and rekindled several friendships. We spent hours on beaches without another soul around and found many unique shells to add to our collection. We also finally reached the Exumas on the third attempt. It seemed that Freedom was not ready the first two years and she groaned a bit this time but whenever we called on her to deliver she did so without hesitation and most importantly she did so with ease. In spite of some rough water between Fleeming Channel and Nassau, water spouts of West End, and shallow water around the Florida Keys, Freedom kept plodding along smoothly.
Along with Freedom being such a good sport this year, the weather turned out to be exceptional. We found that out of the last three years, this year was best. Many folks that have Wintered over proclaimed this year the best out of the last five! We'll take it!
But now it's time to turn our attention up North again. And with that, we'll probably slow down the rate of updates until we get back to Freedom. So with that we'll see y'all later.

Naples up to Fort Myers

2011-06-05T16:11:00.000-04:00

Our ride up to Fort Meyers was prefaced with the notion that we could be in for some rough water. Having been tossed around between Fleeming Channel and Nassau we were concerned for what lay in store for us on this portion of our trip.
But we've had a couple of good nights in Naples at the City Marina. It was located convenient to many places within Naples, well run, and the fuel was well priced given we got a 10% discount having purchased 200 gallons. Actually it was 197 but the attendant was very understanding. Given our average speeds were a bit high to move us through some rough water, we received reasonable economy from Freedom.
However our concern regarding the weather on the GOM was not warranted. As long as we stayed within a mile of the shoreline we had calm seas with a light breeze keeping the bridge at a comfortably cool temperature. So we chugged along on a holiday in the U.S. expecting to be confronted by crazed boaters getting their last run of the Summer in. Yet again we were pleasantly surprised to have nothing but pleasant encounters with other boaters. Everyone was well behaved making the passage easy.
Ft Myers is home to several points of interest including the Edison and Ford vacation homes. Considering their wealth I have to admit they lived in what would appear to be modest accommodations. The settings the dwellings find themselves in is very appealing being riverside and Edison had a penchant for importing many different varieties of plant life and trees. The tour of this attractive site is informative and well worth the stop. I'm sure everyone will learn something while enjoying the scenery. By the way did you know that Edison was Ford's mentor? Just how far this man's creativity went is amazing.
Arriving in Ft. Myers signals that our trip is at an end. The 2010-2011 boating season is over and we will be putting Freedom up on the hard for the Summer. If it wasn't for the threat of Jury duty I have postponed already we probably would have stayed aboard even longer this year. At this point we'll have less to talk about with regard to boating but that doesn't mean we won't be working the subject. We're already considering the "honey do" list Freedom is demanding.

Key Largo to Naples

2011-05-29T11:46:00.000-04:00

We've moved quite a bit over the last several days. Our time on Freedom this season is coming to an end and soon enough we'll put her on the hard and drive North. We don't want to but it's inevitable. Anyway the reason we are going all the way around the Florida peninsula is because the Okeechobee Waterway is very low. The locks are on a restricted schedule and only one of the routes across the lake is marginally passable for us. Under these circumstances hearing debris banging against the (expensive) running gear is more likely.
But it's all good and we have enjoyed staying in various places along the way around. Key Largo was fun and the pool at the Anchorage was good and we had good company there. Several of us shared conversation about politics, economics and boating while enjoying our time in the pool. As an added source of entertainment there were a few boat loads of folks that were practicing their docking skills. Fortunately we were buried deep within the marina thus isolated from their maneuvers.
The establishment is actually a time share but they rent out slips to defray other expenses. Across the waterway was a large tiki bar and if we did not intend to crank out the miles we probably would have stopped in.
Moving on from here we went down to Marathon and the Banana Bay Resort and Marina. It's a well laid out facility with a terrific pool and a small poolside tiki bar. The restaurant is currently closed but everything else appeared to be up and running. The docks are only a couple of years old and work well for a boat our size. But then boats much larger really should not be taking the Southern route along the Keys. The water is that shallow.
At first we started with depths around 10 feet up by Miami, and that gradually diminished here to about 6 or 7 feet. We were quite concerned initially but then we became accustomed to this amount of water under the keel. With the depth sounder set at 5 feet we lumbered along at our relatively slow pace clicking off the miles. About half way down, the depth reduced to about 5 feet and the sense of imminent grounding grew. So we set the depth sounder to 3 feet and continued albeit a bit slower and more attentive to the color of the water. Once in a while near passages to the East a pod of dolphins would ride along with us and their company was appreciated because it distracted us from the possibility of a grounding.
But nothing happened and we had a great stay at Banana Bay for a couple of nights. We dined out at the Barracuda in Marathon where I sampled their HOT calamari and shrimp. They're not kidding. It's all of that HOT. The interior is simple but loaded with some really good Barracuda art and sculptures making it a fun place to have a meal.
Once on our way to Everglades City the depths improved and again a family of dolphins swam alongside for several miles. Going up into Everglades City was another interesting passage that wound around mangroves and through some shallow spots. Up in the City we tied up at the Everglades Rod and Gun club which is an interesting place that only accepts cash and personal checks. The lobby has several antiques, stuffed animals, and plenty of old American sentiment. However all of the dock poles lean to the water and happen to be at a perfect height that gets under the teak hand rails along Freedom's perimeter. Not good. So I installed just about every fender we had between Freedom and the poles enabling the overnight survival we had. The area looks well kept as though this is a good community. While some of the waterfront docks are a bit worn from flooding etc. the houses were all well kept and the lawns were mowed. This is a refreshing scene compared to some we have witnessed while house hunting in Florida.
Going back out towards Cape Romano we were greeted by the lone dolphin who passed under us even though the depth was only 8 feet. Then we heard the updated forecast provided by the coast guard.
I have to admit they are busy down this way with recreational and migrant boaters. We heard several maydays, and a call about a raft loaded with migrants. Back on the forecast, they changed it to mention the wind was out of the South East, and look out for our favorites, dangerous water spouts.
"Kewl".
We saw a cell out in front of us that was directly in our path around the Cape Romano Shoals Light. By the time we were into the open water the waves picked up to a couple of feet plus. Of course there were the occasional swells blending into the water that made for some sudden rolls since all of this was directly on the beam and we had little choice given we had to clear the shoals. All of the reading we had done indicated one should clear all of the shoals by going around the Light. There are several passages through the shoals of 20 feet or more and after an hour of rocking we decided there was plenty of room to travel between the 2nd and 3rd banks. The added advantage of shortening the trip to Naples was that it turned off the rocking and left us in a following sea that was much easier to manage. I just had to watch the charts and depth to make sure we stayed in the path through the shoals.
This path also took us away from the cell which subsequently gave up and dissipated. So we settled into a more comfortable ride and finished up in Naples with a Tcell on shore sending bolts to the ground on a regular basis. Fun to watch from a distance. On the way into the inlet we were greeted by all of the boaters returning from the Gulf of Mexico that wanted to beat the storm and there's always one Sea Ray in the bunch that rocks everyone at speed. He probably thinks a rain water wash down is a bad thing. If you're in the area, look out for Toot-Sea. She rocks.
Deb found that there are something like over 500 restaurants in Naples. Fortunately we found a decent Sushi Shop named Thai Sushi Too and they delivered to the marina. With a little left over Saki it was all good after some long days on the water.
And with a walk around town the legs are stretched out and we're now ready for our next stop Ft Myers. Once we're located there we'll get serious about cleaning up Freedom and getting her ready for storage over the Summer.

Key Largo

2011-05-24T16:04:00.001-04:00

We had a great ride down to Key Largo today, and for those that happened to watch the helm cam it was probably pretty dull. It was surprising to pass "Stiltsville" and see these houses out near the Atlantic that are built in shallow water. It makes you wonder about the die hard attitude that leads people to take on that sort of risk versus the weather.
Today's hop was relatively short but helps us break up the trip to Ft. Myers enough and more importantly kill time while the wind blows. Hopefully by taking our time on the Atlantic side the Gulf side will calm down enough to let us anchor out where or when ever we feel like it. Since the weather patterns have changed the predominate wind direction is out of the East. Having this on our side as we move up the West coast of Florida has proven to provide benign wave heights good for motor boat traveling.
And being back in Florida those loveable dolphins are at it again. I finally caught a short video of them diving under the bow of Freedom as we moved along at 7.5 knots. It always bothers me when they do this and I think they know it. They finish the dive under the bow by popping up for air in our stern wake where they ride along with us for miles.

Miami and wow is life different or, is it normal?

2011-05-23T07:32:00.000-04:00

When I last wrote, we were in Nassau at the Atlantis Marina. I may not have accurately described what that facility is like and words are probably inadequate anyway. With some time to burn I'll discuss a few aspects that perhaps lend insight. It's huge. I believe I spoke about how I thought the rest of the island suffers rolling outages to keep Atlantis "hot" and after being there a couple of nights without so much as a blip in the voltmeter I have convinced myself that many people on Nassau put up with power shortages for the sake of the Atlantis.
But what a place. I have to admit having Freedom tied up there was probably cheaper than renting a room but consider the price of bringing her there. I'm sure the rational mind will agree if you are going there once, flying in is going to be cheaper than coming by boat. These days the fuel bill alone will set you back enough to justify the room. Freedom get's 1-2 nmpg ok? If it's almost 200nm to Nassau from Florida (let alone NY) so do the math. I am sure you will agree! In spite of the expense we enjoyed quite a bit of what the place has to offer. Heck we walked around 90% of the place. They have tunnels with portals into the aquariums, and many spots from which to gaze down into the pools of fish. The water parks are quite good and the adventurous will enjoy a number of the slides. Couples will also enjoy riding the double tube rides. On the plus side of our stay, the freezer on Freedom was still well stocked so we did not have to eat out. Let's face it, a 50 dollar entree is going to impose a penalty on many budgets.
We had a great time regardless.
On the way to Chub Cay we were pleasantly surprised to see a couple of our modern destroyers heading out towards the Atlantic via the North East Providence Channel. The good thing about this was the consideration they showed to all of the boaters out that day. With Summer approaching the Bahamas busy season gets going with a significant increase it boat traffic. Regardless of being in the big water, we were never out of sight of other pleasure boats. If anyone was within a couple of miles of the Navy the Navy hailed them identifying their pleasure boat style, size, speed and course. Everyone answered which I thought was wise. Considering what happened to the U.S.S. Cole my thoughts are that only an idiot would not have a watch going on VHF 16 and refuse to answer the hail. I sort of think the use of deadly force would be authorised if the wrong boat got to close. We were within 3 miles and happy enough with that distance. Clicking on the photo will provide a better image. I wanted to hail #95 and express our gratitude but they were busy. Next time I think I will make the effort to hail and thank them. It's gotta go over well.
Moving on to Chub Cay we elected to stay off the beaten path at the Berry Island Club. Certainly at 2 bucks a foot the price was right and if you are patient the WIFI is free. They are working on the place and given the situation we are not the least bit sorry for staying there because we know it supported some folks that could use it. Yes, Chub Cay also needs support but wow did the folks developing that place have cash going in. We found the channel into the Berry Island Club well marked, the power was adequate, and the environment quiet except for some locals walking out to the end of the dock to fish. It's exposed to the East but with luck once can look at the weather and if the slip assignment works the boat won't be set on the dock all night.
From here at the Berry Island Club we set out at 7 AM for Bimini. It's a long ride to Bimini at 9 knots, something like ten and a half hours. Listening to a pair of 6-71TIs drone on for that amount of time wears on you. But we broke up the trip with frequent bilge checks, lunch, snacks, and while one played electronic Yahtzee the other looked out for shallow water and debris. Occasionally much to our enjoyment a pod of dolphins would come out of nowhere and glide right at the bow of Freedom, dive under us and pop up in the wake only to move on without riding along for a while. Perhaps they knew we were not Bahamian because the dolphins in Florida almost always hook up for at least a mile or two. This time across the bank we had no hitchhikers in the form of lost birds so hopefully they all made it home that day.
Arriving at Bimini, we were severely disappointed to find out our reservation at the Bimini Blue Water marina was lost. That left us without a spot for Freedom. We were very upset given how long we had traveled and that the reservation was made two days ago. Along with this a fishing tournament was underway at the Bimini Big Game Club so we were wondering where we would be at the end of this long day. Fortunately the prepaid BTC cell phone still had some minutes and we relieved to learn that the BBGC had a spot for us. It was not exactly the smoothest approach I made when I pulled in. The tidal current pulled us right up to one of the glossy sporties sitting on a T head. Everyone scrambled but I managed to hit all the levers and move Freedom around the bow and anchor of the boat without incident. Regardless of the long day I should have been more on my game.
Since BBGC was expensive compared to the Bimini Blue Water we cut our time in the Bahamas short by a week. We were going to stay longer but the cost and facilities issues just didn't line up elsewhere. So various vendors missed out on our dollars. Oddly enough, passing by the Blue Water we saw the slip we stayed at last year was open. We chalked it up to being a "Bahamiam Ting" and moved on to the Gulf Stream the next day.
But it all worked out well. That took us across the Gulf Stream towards Miami in good water since the forecast was promising. Initially the seas were confused but only 1-2 feet in height and Freedom handles that well. Once out into the stream proper, things settled down into a gentle roll out of the South East and we were making good time. We had a few occasions where we encountered commercial traffic and we had to dodge them, but otherwise the crossing was good. You might think that out running a tanker or bulk carrier is an easy task in Freedom but those large boats move quite well and looking at the distances and closure rates on the radar will put the fear into anyone.
Back on the military theme, the Coast Guard was stopping many vessels that left Bimini and Cat Island and boarding them as part of our homeland security efforts. All vessels except one answered their hails and it was a go fast doing 43 knots. I'm thinking they radioed ahead instead of continuing the chase. It was interesting to hear others talk about flashing their badges to the CG folks in an effort to mitigate their boarding. All in all that act was no help and we were glad to see that the CG ignored the badges and proceded with their work.
Now over here in Miami, we are surprised to realize that taxis, wifi, dockage, and many things other than fuel are cheaper in the Bahamas. Filling Freedom hurts but a 25% break in the cost is welcome.

And that's the last time we come home to be here in time for the Rapture.

The GPS data is current and there are new photos in the bucket.

Back to Nassau

2011-05-17T21:25:00.001-04:00

After a night out at Shroud we moved Freedom back up to Highbourne Cay where we were going to spend three nights. We had this tentative plan to take advantage of an approaching good weather window to cross from Highbourne back up to Nassau so as to enjoy a smooth ride. Being a bit more conservative with our planning after our experience with the ride from Spanish Wells over to Nassau we were hesitant to take a chance on the weather again. But Highbourne is expensive for what it offers and they were a bit inattentive there. Lets face it, 50 or 60 bucks a night for power is a bit on the cher side or reality even if they need to generate their own power.
With our original reservation we were offered a couple of nights in a comfortable slip but after that we were going to have to move to an alternative to make room for a long term resident. We had no issue with this and were willing to play along. However, whenever I asked where we would be next we got a less than substantial commitment like "somewhere over there". Having refused a slip "over there" already we began to think about moving to Nassau earlier. On the second day I again asked where we would be and I received another less than definitive answer so we got serious about moving on knowing others had issues with their reservation "system". When Saturday rolled around we looked at the forecast and decided it was adequate and left for Nassau. In hind sight we made the right call since Sunday the bank was much more rough based on our observations from the shore of Nassau which we made during our drive around the island.
The boat ride up to Nassau was uneventful and calm because the water turned out to be a foot or less of chop which was well within our threshold of discomfort. Upon arrival we tied up at the Nassau Harbour Club where we spent 3 nights. While the price was reasonable and the water unlimited the water was not potable. A test of the water with our hand held TDS meter indicated that it was at least double and almost triple the World Health Organization standards for dissolved solids. So I washed the boat with it. If it was just the water quality we would have been ok with a longer stay but the club is frequently rocked by boats in the harbour and, electricity is frequently off. We suspect that it is off due to rolling black outs that enable B.E.C. to keep Atlantis "hot". The lights are always on over there.
As I forwshadowed on Sunday, having plenty of time with nothing to do we rented a car from Budget and drove around the island. If you think the U.S. has issues with immigration you have not seen anything yet. I won't go into it but suffice it to say there are serious issues developing in the Bahamas and there is no way anyone could encourage me to purchase property here. It would not matter if it was the outer islands, Nassau or Grand Bahama. Along the way around the island we passed by many upscale developments that have fallen into total disrepair. It's remaniscent of what we have seen all over Florida in our travels there.
But in spite of the outward appearance we enjoyed the ride having stopped in at the Compass Point Inn for lunch. After another day at the Nassau Harbour Club we decided the weather would soon look good enough for a crossing to the Berry Islands followed the next day by a crossing to Bimini. With the anticipation of only a couple of nights more in Nassau we moved Freedom to Atlantis.
Given it's 4.50 a foot plus utilities to keep a boat in a slip here, there was no way we were going to stay here until the weather and water settled down. This is why we started at the Nassau Harbour Club. The notion was to time our stay with Atlantis with an approaching weather window and move on after a night or two.
Hopefully the plan pans out and we wind up with a smooth crossing to the Berry Islands in the near future.
I will say that Atlantis offers a means to ease back into life in the United States. The Abacos are wonderfully quiet during the Winter, offering one a distinct change from life in surburban NYS. At least here, while there are crowds waiting in line for water slides etc., there are no cars honking horns and syrens screeming. Neither of which are aspects of living in NYS that we look forward to.

Shroud Cay

2011-05-13T13:12:00.000-04:00

We stopped in at Shroud Cay after leaving Warderick Wells for a night in another spot with some natural attractions. The mooring field is totally exposed to the West as are most anchorages down in the Exumas but we paid close attention to the forecast allowing us to anticpate a restful night at a remote location.
Since we filled up the dink at Staniel Cay we had plenty of fuel in it to carry us around and after launching it we left for the North end of Shroud Cay. The water was calm enough so we crossed over to Little Wax Cay (I have no idea how they dream up some of these names) landing Madonna for a walk on the beach.
There is an obvious difference between the beachs of the Exumas versus those of the Abacos. They are much cleaner in the Exumas. Up in the Abacos plenty of plastic and other forms of debris land on the beaches making shelling a sometimes disturbing passtime. It's pretty shameful to see those beaches as cluttered as they get with bottles, cans, flip flops, and all sorts of rubish that floats in. Beach glass is fine, since it can be used to create something artistic like jewelry but the amount of plastic that washes in makes me look out into the ocean wondering what people are doing out there.

Anyway, since taking anything out of the Exumas Land and Sea Park is in violation of their regulations we left any interesting shells we saw where they were as much as we didn't want to. After the walk we left for the return to Shroud Cay and located the entrance to Sanctuary Creek. Since the tide was coming in we made our way up the creek all the way to the Atlantic side. This was the most interesting part of the stay at Shroud Cay that we found although with persistance someone could probably locate better snorkeling than what was charted as Neptunes Oasis.
Speaking of snorkeling, Thunderball Groto back at Staniel Cay was the highlight of our swimming. If one waits for low slack tide, one can enter into the cave and exit the other side into an area of coral and fish that will surely please most. I cannot remember a snorkel that was packed with as much variety and color of fish, sponge and coral unless it was much farther South.
After all of the riding around was done we packed up the gear and loaded the dink onto the davit at the transom of Freedom. We settled into the sunset hoping for the green flash but a cloud line on the horizon prevented the possibility of one appearing.
Once dinner was done and we laid down for the evening the wind clocked around and the dink started squeeking against the davit with the wave action. If the CIA needs help I have something that will probably work as well as water boarding.

We Got to Represent

2011-05-10T15:38:00.003-04:00

There is a hill on Warderick Wells Cay known as Boo Boo Hill. The walk up to it isn't so bad, but if one is not cautious a serious injury could be the result. This would not be from a fall from height, but merely a fall to the ground with your foot stuck in a hole. Fortunately this didn't happen to either of us either time we walked up to the hill.
The first time up to the hill we learned of the legend where people leave driftwood inscribed with their boat name piled up on the peak. The notion here is that by contributing to the heap of driftwood name boards we placate the ghosts inhabiting the island. The contribution is also considered to be an offering to the spirits of good weather for traveling boaters. So we had to find a piece of driftwood suitable for use as a name board.
Given this first walk up the hill was the longer walk that took us around a good chunk of the cay and over some very rough terrain we kept our eyes open for driftwood. But this walk took us over all of the other hills and away from beaches and we came up empty handed. The next day we were out and about in Madonna the dink and after landing on a number of beaches in the area we finally found some driftwood.
So I fashioned up a board and we took it up to the top of Boo Boo Hill and laid it down on the pile full filling our obligation to the ghosts and spirits of the seas. Our representation has been achieved.
This makes another mark in the long term goals of cruising the Exumas. Without question Warderick Wells offers up an amazing panorama from atop Boo Boo Hill. While there isn't much here, what is here is spectacular. Our time on mooring ball #9 was enhanced by the fact that there is a sunken sailboat underneath us depending on which way the tide is moving. On incoming tide the wreck is directly under us, and outgoing we can see it a little ways off. At night with the transom lights on large yellow tails swim about and smaller ones dart in and out of the light. Small angle fish can be seen within the wreck very clearly. We also had two days of calm winds that kept the Atlantic side flat calm. So Deb got quite an eyeful with the look bucket even though it wasn't really needed. Even though I was standing up driving I could generally see most of what she could since the water was that clear.
We also had quite a bit of company out here. Bananaquits would fly into the aft deck early in the morning and later in the afternoon looking for a hand out. Once they got to know you they would eat out of your hand after landing on a finger. Good company but they crap all over everything. Nothing like another high maintenance friendship.
With that it's getting to be time to move on again. I'll upload some more photos in a day or two when we get better bandwidth. Right now, it's 10 bucks for 24 hours or 100 megabytes which ever happens first.

Staniel Cay

2011-05-06T13:52:00.001-04:00

Back on Wednesday the 4th we traveled from Compass Cay down to Staniel Cay. The ride down was calm and without issue or so we thought. Arriving here at the Staniel Cay Yacht club we found the water to be just as clear as that of Compass Cay however the view off the aft deck was a relatively unobstructed panorama of the Bahama Bank and it's turquoise water.
It wasn't long before things got interesting here. Fishermen returning to the marina gathered at the fish cleaning station and held up some awesome looking Mahi (Dolphin). When they started to throw the scraps into the water, nurse sharks showed up. You'll also note that Ray is not above looking for some Mahi snacks. After a couple of days it became obvious that they know about the fish cleaning station because they lay on the bottom waiting for scraps on a regular basis.
Staniel Cay itself is composed of a relatively small community without much going on except for the Yacht Club we are staying at. Small pathways in town lead to the grocery stores and upon arrival the owner will turn on the lights for you. Everyone is saving money however they can these days. We attempted to get to the beaches on the East side of the Cay but we were unable to locate a safe path down from the bluff we found ourselves on. Perhaps with the addition of a golf cart tomorrow we will be able to locate a good path to one of the beaches.
However in the mean time we were able to get out in the dink and check out some of the nearby Cays. In particular we went to Big Majors Spot, and Bitter Guana. Both of these cays have interesting inhabitants that run out to greet approaching boats. In fact, some are so happy to see you they will swim into the deeper water where the boats anchor for the evening. But that only happens at Big Majors Spot.
The locals on Bitter Guana are members of the endangered Exuma Islands Iguana club. http://www.iucn-isg.org/actionplan/ch2/exumaisland.php
These reptiles actually hear approaching boats and run down to the beach to see if anyone has interesting bits of food to eat. We had some Belgian Endive with us and it seems they have good taste in their selection of veggies. They readily accepted the Endive, and also enjoyed some Romain lettuce. There were many of them in attendance and I'd say the total topped out at about 20 of them on the beach at one time. They regularly threatened each other and would chase one another away if their space was invaded. It wasn't long before we learned just how fast these critters can run. Given they have some nasty looking claws we kept our distance staying close to the water since they seemed as though they wanted no part of it.
But over on Big Majors Spot the pigs swim on out to check out your offerings. If they don't line up with their palate, they swim away towards another boat. The above greens didn't work well for them and they left it floating in the water or on the sand of the beach. We elected to stay in the dink since we had heard they can be aggressive. We also kept the dink in a few feet of water so they had nothing to use as a base to jump into the dink with. Another couple came in with their dink and all of the pigs went over to see what they had. They actually got out of their dink and went to feed them by hand on the beach. I don't participate in feeding wild animals out of my hand ever since I saw someone teasing a large black bear in Yellowstone park. While he got away with it, the impression it left on me is permanent. Anyway I guess the pigs were a bit upset because we had nothing interesting and they spent extra energy swimming around and sure enough the lady was nipped while feeding the big ol' sow that pushed her way to the front of the pack. After she screamed it wasn't long before they were back in the dink as well.
So don't feed wild pigs. They may look pleasant with spots and such but they have teeth and use them.
With all of the traveling this year I've had to create another link for the GPS tracks, they file size got too large for the Google Earth conversion program. But all of the tracks are there. I've also uploaded additional photos into the bucket -> http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh40/danno53/Boating%202010-2011/

By the way the reason for the remark about an uneventful trip, is that the people that installed our new shaft seals did not polish the shafts and the seals have worn enough to start leaking already. Insert explitives.

Compass Cay

2011-05-02T18:48:00.001-04:00

I open by saying that without question this facility is one of, if not the most interesting and enjoyable stops we have made with Freedom or any of the other boats we have owned. It rivals all of our travels except, perhaps, French Polynesia.
The ride down from Highbourne was uneventful except for one Grand Alaskan style 80 footer that blew by us at 20+ knots leaving a wake about 7 feet high when it caught us.
Otherwise we were mowing down the wind generated 2-3 footers that were coming straight at us. It was lumpy but nothing like the offensive rolling we absorbed after passing through Fleeming Channel on the way to Nassau. But it was enough to deposit copious amounts of salt all over Freedom yet again. Fortunately our water maker is working well this year so I can get after the salt once in a while at a reasonable cost.
Upon arriving at the entrance channel to Compass Cay one is greeted with shallow water. They have channel markers that sort of match up with the cartography we have so in spite of what was a imposing appearance we moved on slowly. This makes the entrance to Cocles Harbor on Shelter Island look like a cake walk. Heading up into the Navesink in New Jersey was a breeze in comparison. Propeller scour marks in the bottom were a frequent observation. I was constantly bumping Freedom in and out of gear even though we only require a bit less than 4 feet of water to prevent damage to the running gear. By the way, there is no place South of Spanish Wells that can haul our boat let alone some of the large yachts down here. We made our turn in and we were immediately greeted by Tucker the owner of Compass Cay.
They really make you feel at home here, and he congratulated me for being a first timer that did not run aground. The hindsight based on that remark was somewhat sobering.
When a new boat pulls in all sorts of fish show up to see what scraps you might have to throw in for them. Many nurse sharks, snapper, grouper, and triggers, cloud the water looking for a hand out. With water that is crystal clear to 20 feet it makes us feel as though we are floating in an aquarium. Part of an acrylic bauble.
While all of these nurse sharks are docile, something like big salt water cat fish, there are others lurking about. For example once in a while a large barracuda will pass through. This shot was taken at the marina shark feeding station. The dock at the right of the photo is actually submerged during high tide and the sharks swim up onto it and wait to be fed. Reaching down and petting them discloses just how rough their skin is. It feels something like 80 grit sand paper. Certainly different from a Hudson River catfish. No slime.
Today we went out in the dink and made it over to Sampson Cay for a burger. It was actually reasonably priced and quite good. The conch salad was fresh and we are certain of that since they were cleaning it when we pulled up to the dock and the chef left the kitchen to go get some.
The ride over was interesting in that we had to cross a few ocean openings when the tide and wind were in opposition and the ocean is rough. Although we were well inside, some serious rollers and breaking waves were coming at us. It was challenging to get through it all while standing up in the dink. Deb was sitting but when cruising around in shallow water if you don't want to run aground it's advisable to stand for a better perspective.
Regardless of the challenge, we were both taken aback by just how scenic it is down here.

The GPS data is uploaded and these photos will have to suffice until we get some more bandwidth.

Nassau and Paradise Island

2011-05-01T07:44:00.001-04:00

We were both relieved to be in Nassau. We'd had a rough ride into town and we both wanted some rest after it. So we walked over to a local Chinese restaurant and had a dinner that was actually quite good. It wasn't long before we were out cold snoring away.
In the morning we decided to get over to Paradise Island and check out Atlantis. The forecast was improving so we walked along the shoreline of the harbour towards the bridges. The East side of the Harbour has a number of marinas and quite honestly some of them have been beaten down by years of use and storms. The view of the Harbour on this side is full of derilict boats sinking, floating, and sort of floating. It gives one pause to reflect on how a government would tolerate this situation when it is so dependent on tourism.
And then there is the other extreme. The Atlantis marina is loaded with Megayachts. Including the one that ran its generator all night long in Spanish Wells because he was too cheap to pay for power. I would have thought the generator in a 110 foot Lazzara would have been more quiet than that one was. By the way it's not in this photo.
The hotel itself is massive and loaded with attractions that look tempting enough. We walked through quite a bit of it. But it's loaded with people and after the quiet life in the Abacos this past Winter it's not something we are the least bit acclimated to. We much prefer the walks on beaches that are less traveled and actually have some shells to collect.
With that we made our way back to the boat and checked in on the weather. As it turned out Saturday was a good day to travel so we booked reservations at Highbourne Cay and Compass Cay. Right after I get off the phone, Deb discovers her Strep throat has turned into scarlet fever. So we walked out to another walk in center and fortunately the good doctor there prescribed some more medication to clear up the residual indications of Strep.

So off we went for Highbourne on Saturday. As it turns out the dockmaster here is terrific. She remains cheerful in spite of our making and canceling reservations. That and all of the larger yachts are demanding special treatments and attention. For example, it could take one 45 minutes to get into the marina on Highbourne and if you can do it in 5, they wonder what your problem is if you scoot in front of them when they are going about a 1/2 a knot 2 miles away from the place.
But the water here is very clear and today we move on to Compass for a bit of a stay and some relaxation. I might even get to launch the dink!

The GPS data is current and I'll load up some more photos shortly. No dissing on the lack of photo comments please.

Spanish Wells to Highbourne Cay

2011-04-29T20:09:00.001-04:00

Well, not really. The forecast was for winds around 15 knots out of the East and the wave height predictions appeared to be within reason for us to make a transit from Spanish Wells to Highbourne Cay. The notion here was that we'd have a following sea until we rounded Yellow Bank after which point we'd be in the lee of that bank on the way to Highbourne Cay. The path we chose to take had us head SW out of Spanish Wells to a point past Meeks Patch. Then we'd go South West to Current Rock. From there we were going to turn to the Bank and pass through Fleeming Channel with a heading towards the West end of Yellow Bank where we would then turn towards Highbourne Cay.
It started out all well and good and it turned out that the wave height predictions were on the low side. Cool we thought, and life is good.
Note these predictions were also associated with the area South East of Current Island, Shilling Cay, and Rose Island which all form a sort of barrier between the Bahama Bank to the South East, and, the North East Providence Channel which we were in. The bank is shallow at around 15-20 feet. The N.E. Providence Channel is not shallow. It's deep as I have spoken about previously. While we commiserated with other boaters over the VHF radio about our intentions and theirs along the way we settled into a ride that included a few squalls that washed off some of the salt Freedom had been accumulating from the spray she'd been exposed to already.
That clean feeling didn't last long.
We turned into Fleeming [break] I'll call this Flaming Channel since it rolled up on us and we started stuffing the anchor into the next wave [/break] and motored along with about a knot and a half of current pushing us backwards even though we thought we hit this after low tide during a lull in the current. We associated the rough water with the fact that we were in the cut and it's residual tidal flow. So we soldiered on. Stooopidt that was. We should have turned around and gone back out to the N.E. Providence Channel and bailed out on going to Highbourne immediately. What was supposed to be about another 6 hours or so of boating had turned into a projected 6 hours of hell.
Our course after this passage through Fleeming (sp based on my prior remarks) is not the least bit direct or smooth. We started to hunt for a path that gave us a relatively comfortable ride along our projected path but we had no luck. In fact, we kept ducking shallow spots of 15 feet because with 4 footers rolling under us we were starting to get concerned that Freedom would bottom bounce if we hit a very shallow spot that was not charted.
But it all passed and after quite a bit of rolling and rocking we found ourselves committed to a trip across the Bank into Nassau. What would have been another 6 hours was now only 2 hours of bad boating. There are passages back out to the N.E. Providence channel but given the seas, shifting tide, and wind, we came to a consensus that a direct path to Nassau was the best possible route to take. It genuinely sucked, but it was a better decision than running a narrow break in the barrier with unforgiving water, wind and current. But we made it to Nassau ok. We pulled into the Nassau Harbour Club where dock hands met us and in spite of our rattled bones, we tied up without incident in a slip that is only two feet wider than Freedom.
Once again the Exumas was looking like a destination to be denied.
Upon arrival I was informed that all sorts of changes were going to take place. No solar panels, no more thought of Staniel Cay in the Exumas. If anything, that was a destination achieved only via airplane. I agreed. I did not argue. It really sucked that badly out there. Freedom rolls quite a bit and without a lower station it's all accentuated. It was fortunately only about 3 hours of some serious chop that was following us of the port side. It was about 2-3 most of the time but at a 2-4 second interval and steep. So it really shoved us around and had us pitching. But Freedom, to her credit just kept pushing us along and delivered us. Every cabinet, freezer, refrigerator, cupboard, compartment and cabinet was booby trapped with objects spilling out when opened, but Freedom delivered and in great form. A bit crusty with salt, but here we are parked in the shadow of Atlantis.

Did I mention Deb has Strep throat and that this was her birthday? Ok, but we both knew the goal was to get her into the Exumas on a good passage. Oh well. Maybe another time. Lightening is flashing in the sky off to the East of Nassau.

Eleuthera or translated, Freedom

2011-04-20T11:34:00.000-04:00

On a number of occasions here in Eleuthera I was pleasantly surprised by the smiles the name of our boat generated. After the second pleasantry I was given a very simple explanation. When the island was settled over 300 years ago the folks that did so were looking for religious freedom and since they found it here, the name was cast. It's a shame they had to ship wreck on the Devil's Backbone in the process. Eleuthera Origins
Now depending on who you talk to, they will tell you the name Eleuthera has different origins and one of the alternative origins is based on the separation of the Bahamas from the U.K.. At least that is what the folks have told me. So I say run with what works and we'll be grateful it doesn't mean something else to the people! Anyway, here is a photo of Preacher's Cave looking out. It's right off the Devil's Backbone that wrecked them way back when. Fortunately they were able to find some shelter there because the terrain in this area offers little protection from the elements. Something like 70 people shared this cave until they could work out better facilities.
To get over to the main island of Eleuthera from Harbour Island we took the water taxi. It's nothing fancy and all the locals depend on it to get to work on either side of the harbour. It's a generic 26 footer or so with a couple of outboards and people pile into it at the price of five bucks a head each way. Once on the other side we hooked up with a road warrior style taxi to get to the North Eleuthera Service Center where the ride was waiting for us.
The ride was an older but still fully functional Lincoln Town car that set us back 80 bucks for the day plus gas. At the end it drank 11 gallons and took a substantial portion of the 100 dollar cash deposit we left behind. But she ran good and carried us over the entire length of Eleuthera on the left side of the road without issue.
Along the way South we stopped in at the Glass Window, Hatchet Bay, Governors Harbour, and North Palmetto. Having passed through all of these we then visited Rock Sound and its blue hole and continued on to Cape Eleuthera which was one of our intented stops with Freedom along the way to the Exumas.
The Glass Window is a repaired natural bridge that connects Eleuthera and lets the ocean pass under. Yes, the island is that narrow at this point. It reminds me of the bluff just North of Sea Spray on Elbow Cay. On the way down the tide was in and water was passing through to the West underneath the bridge. While the tide was out on the way North, we could hear the relatively light surf crashing into the walls of the shoreline with authority.
If I was to chose an island that was more interesting to tour by car, I'd give it to Eleuthera hands down. The island has more terrain as opposed to the flatness found on Abaco, and everything is open in stark comparison to the gated communities found in Outer Islands of the Abacos. Not only that but since the island is narrow, often times the roadway is on the shoreline and the views provided by this proximity are nothing less than spectacular.
It seems as though no matter where you look there is a panorama including the turquoise waters that transition to royal blue or pale light green. But it's not really about driving to the views over here, it's about walking the beaches, enjoying the water and kicking back to the pace the Bahamas lives by.
I've uploaded more photos of these stops and the trip along Eleuthera to the bucket.

Bone-i-fied

2011-04-13T16:33:00.002-04:00

I bet you thought I was kidding at the end of the last post. Yes, we are around the Devil's Backbone with the help of Woody. At no time was there less than 7 feet under the depth sounder and I am thinking he had other tracks in the bank that he uses for larger craft. No big deal there, why not get it over with as quickly as possible and move on to the next boat requiring passage.
At no time were we the least bit concerned for our or Freedom's welfare even though a perfect stranger hopped aboard and took the helm once I had his boat in tow.
Woody was cheap insurance for safe passage around the Backbone and I heartily recommend him to everyone who will want to bring their boat around to Harbour Island.
As an aside we now know Freedom has no issues with towing a good sized dink on one cleat. That is to say, we didn't pull the starboard aft cleat or haws hole out of their screws while pulling his boat along at 9 knots.
I've updated the Garmin tracks with todays's data and I will have more photo's uploaded later on.

Added photo's to the bucket...

Photo Link

Suddenly. . . .

2011-04-12T19:06:00.000-04:00

We found ourselves in Spanish Wells, Eleuthera. The ride lasted about 8 hours and it started off ugly. It was ugly enough that I thought to myself, "This is a long ride, and it's gonna suck". The forecast data was accurate enough, it's just that it left out any additional wave action associated with the wind shift to the South, and the fact that the wind velocity was about 10 knots less than reality of 20 knots. Things were not exactly calm.
Upon leaving Little Harbour with sore brains caused by Pete's Pub trademark drink the "Blaster" we turned out of Little Harbour cut and slammed into 2-3 out of the North East combined with 1-2 of chop out of the South East. Not quite a washing machine, but sloppy and confused. The Blaster damage wasn't all that bad, and we had plenty of sleep, that's just my excuse for feeling rotten about the slop we found ourselves in.The conflagration presented to us was enough to make us think it was more than we wanted to deal with all day. Freedom was bouncing and rolling along at about 8 knots while I was hunting for a course we could use to our advantage without rocking our bods. When the wave action combined to create peaks we were popped up sharply and dumped into holes. But I am ahead of myself.
I woke up early and checked the WxWorks data. The wave height predictions were about the same as earlier predictions at two or three feet out of the North East. The wind was indeed out of the South as predicted, but it was at almost 20 knots for an extended period of time over night. However it was subsiding at the time of 4 AM. Later on at sunrise looking out towards the entrance of Little Harbour, and having been here before (very rough ride in past North Bar the first time) we were lulled into the notion things were not going to be bad at all. Nothing was crashing into the West shore of the harbour entrance. So we dropped the mooring pennant and proceeded out of the Harbour into the cut. Wait a minute. We never did this cut before. Ok. It's well charted and all of the nav gear is running well. So what if we cannot see where we are going because the sun is in our eyes, the water is reflecting more of it up at us, and we can only see the obvious portions of the reef? As captain Ron says, if it's going to happen it'll happen out there. And on we went to get out there. I was able to pick out enough of the reef to line it up with our charts and I managed to put Freedom out through the middle of it. Having calmed down the panic induced by this situation I then settled into the drive.

And on it went. On and on. Rolling and rocking. Spraying sea water. Deb had so much Bonine in her system her facial muscles around her eyes were twitching. Or was it anger at me for getting us into this? Was I about to die?

Anyway we originally wanted to head straight for Spanish Wells. However with the condition the water was in we elected to run along as though we were going to Nassau with a couple of other boats from the Royal Marsh Harbour Yacht Club. On a side note, we are very happy we joined up. The registration fees are insignificant in light the people we have met, the memories made, the experience gained, and the savings we have realized. All things taken into consideration, it's well worth joining. Along the way we all checked in with each other every hour or so. While their itinerary took them to the West entrance of Nassau, we wanted to get to Eleuthera specifically Spanish Wells.
After a while, the winds abated, the tide switched and the water laid down quite a bit. So we began our turn towards Royal Island once we were as far as the "Hole In The Wall". This is the Southern most point of the island of Abaco and is marked by a tall lighthouse. In spite of being so distant it was a welcome sight in that it marked a significant portion of the trip had passed under the keel.
Now on a course of our own out in the ocean we entered the North East Providence channel. It's deep there. Over two miles deep. The depth sounder has this eerie look about it that indicates it has rolled over many times like a scale would when it's stepped on by an elephant. 500 feet? I don't think so. How about 14000 feet? That's a bit over my head. It was at this point that the chop out of the South East turned into a good swell of about 2-3 feet. When it lined up with the North East Swell of the same magnitude under the bow of Freedom it shot up and dove down into a hole. Urp. But we kept going on, knowing that in reality this water was not as bad as the Gulf Stream crossing we had returning to the States in the Spring of 2009. But to give you an idea, those are salt foot prints I left on the aft deck carpet after a few steps along the side of Freedom.
But eventually we found ourselves in the lee of the bank of Eleuthera and the water laid down. The last two hours was composed of an hour off the bank and then the bit as we crossed the bank from Royal Island to Spanish Wells. We could clearly see sharks swimming in the clear water below us.

But it's all good. We've made the largest jump in the ocean we need to for a while. All we have left is to get "boned" by the Devil, as we head around to Harbour Island through what they call the "Devil's Backbone". Novice boaters like us need not apply without a pilot. So we'll shout out "Little Woody" so the boning won't be so bad.

Little Harbour

2011-04-11T19:09:00.001-04:00

I have to say that one of our favorite stops in the Abacos has to be Little Harbour. While there isn't much here, what is here shines. They have Pete's Pub and Gallery which is definitely a favorite among cruisers. The food here is good and reasonably priced. The gallery has many bronze castings on display that can be bought by those with deep pockets. While there are smaller items available, when you look at them your heart sinks when you think about the others. Simply magnificent art here.
Anyway, the ride down from Hope Town was uneventful. We only churned up sand a couple of times crossing from Elbow over to Lubbers. All in all a good transit. North Bar inlet also cooperated in that we had some rollers coming in that bounced us around for a while but it was nothing serious. Only 2-3 about 3 seconds apart and it was off the port bow. Going into it is always easier to manage but it is a bit rougher on the skeleton.
Once inside Little Harbour we grabbed a mooring and then went to lunch at Pete's. A couple of Blasters, some seared tuna, pasta salad and cole slaw and we were set.
Tomorrow, well, we'll see. Maybe we'll wind up in Eleuthera.

http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh40/danno53/Boating%202010-2011/

I've added some photos to the bucket. The one of more interest was a 70 footer that thought it could handle the Little Harbour entrance at mid tide. Not. We only pull 3.5 to 4 feet but I'm thinking that boat needed a bit more. Given where it was I might have continued on since there were in the skinny water already. Maybe they were churning sand and thought otherwise. Heck it's only money and I bet their props are only 10 or 15 grand a pop.

GPS data will have been updated shortly as well.

Life on Elbow

2011-04-02T21:40:00.002-04:00

It's been rather quiet of late so we haven't had much to talk about. Kind of sedate, not moving around much at all. Life here at the Hope Town Marina is good with progress on the renovation moving along very well. It's going to be a very special place when it all comes together!
As a sign of the seasons we've seen quite a bit of boats passing through the mooring field in Hope Town Harbour. Many have returned North from the Exumas through Little Harbour to Hope Town Harbour on their way back to the States. Spring has sprung and Summer is not far away so many are on the move. Well, with the weather and time of year it seems that way to us but up North the Spring storms are certainly a twist of Winter's last thrust of the dagger. Hopefully this will pass quickly.

Down here the weather has been quite warm and dry. In fact we had to run the air conditioning the other night since it was almost 80 degrees over night. We are used to the temperatures for the most part but there is quite a bit smoke coming across the Sea of Abaco with West winds. Many fires are burning in the brush on the island of Abaco. Westerly winds carry the ash over and across the sea and it has been piling up on the decks of Freedom. With the dew of the morning it runs along the side of the boat pooling up where it forms black sooty spots. Without rain to help extinguish the fires, the ash is not washed off of the decks turning them a pale grey as well as forming the dark spots. I'm not totally anal about cleaning Freedom up all the time, I'm just trying to outline how much ash is in the air over here. Let's face it, water is a commodity to conserve down here and washing a boat on a regular basis might make some enemies.
While we have some foul smokey air from the fires to contend with it pales in comparison with what the volunteer fire fighters are dealing with. They have been working these fires non stop for several weeks. And they have been working them twenty four hours a day seven days a week! Requests for help to any and all volunteers with any fire fighting experience have been made on VHF 68. Let's also consider they need contributions to pay for all of the diesel that is fueling their efforts. Hopefully we get some serious rain that gives everyone a break by extinguishing the fires. The first photo is not at all representative of the amount of smoke these fires are sending into the sky. It was taken just outside White Sound at the North end of Lubbers Quarters. This second photo was taken prior to the rain we had yesterday and it was shot from Elbow Cay in Hope Town by the public dinghy dock. The outline of clouds is really smoke in this second photo. It doesn't do the situation justice. So with that let's all hope they get some rain or other luck that helps put these fires out.

Otherwise, we were fortunate to get out in the dink a few times and chase around some 4-5 foot sharks. I'm not sure what variety these are, but they are distinct in that from above they have a ray like appearance with wide flat fins but they definitely taper into a shark like body. They are not hammer heads because the fins start aft of their eyes from what we can see. I couldn't convince Deb to put the look bucket over the side so we don't have identification of the fish. While we were out in the dink today there were several of them loafing around in the shallows just outside Hope Town at the North end of Elbow cay.
But yesterday, the wind was out of the North West and strong. The Sea of Abaco was whipped up well. We knew this was coming based on forecast data. At least we had an inkling it was coming. After all how much faith can we put in forecasts these days? But based on the data and the fact that Orchid Bay Marina has no power for boats these days, we elected to hop aboard "Last One" managed by Froggy's in Hope Town. They gave us a great ride to and from Guana Cay so we could get to Nippers and attend the Barefoot Man concert. The ride over was worth the price of the fare alone. I'd say it was blowing about 30 knots and the sea states were about 2-3 feet a second apart. This state makes for a very uncomfortable ride in Freedom that is better left avoided. Once ashore we made our way up to Nippers so we could take in the Barefoot Man Concert.
I have to admit the folks at Nippers have their act together with regard to this show which is free. That's right, in this day and age there is a no cover charge concert in the Bahamas! Not only does the bar work extremely well but the kitchen some how manages to keep up with a very large crowd. Their seared Tuna and Burgers in Paradise were thoroughly enjoyable and washed down with some cool frozen drinks. When the BFM is in town it's a fun time to visit Guana Cay because well, it's a time when many adults forget their age and have a good time. Nothing outrageous, just everyone seems to unwind and smile. People dance and sing, and helicopters buzz the bash. Check out this high end helicopter that did a curtsey, flew North a bit, flipped around and then buzzed the bash. Really cool for everyone in attendance. I have to admit this helicopter was quiet as it shot by towards the end of the video, but perhaps it was drowned out by everyone cheering over its appearance.
And now, we're back at the marina, the sky is clear the stars are out, and Uconn is kickin' butt. Gotta run.

I've added some photos to the bucket linked below, the tracks are pretty much up to date as well.

Moving around a bit

2011-03-16T19:50:00.001-04:00

As some might know, we had company for the last two and a half weeks. Deb's brother was in town staying with us aboard Freedom. It was a challenge to keep everyone occupied or, more appropriately, entertained because the weather was good and sunny, but windy. The wind kept us from taking the dink out to the reef or other areas across the Sea of Abaco where one can find some of the best sights in the area. It also prevented us from making a run South to Little Harbour so that we could stop in at Pete's Pub. Oh well.
So once we had witnessed Junkanoo we were left to make the best of the rather windy weather we found ourselves within.

But in spite of the wind we managed to get over to Lubber's Quarters and Cracker P's for lunch a couple of times. If you are ever down this way, it's a must stop for a fantastic view with a good lunch and cold beer. The food is good pub food that includes fresh grilled fish sandwiches etc.. And the view, well, there are probably better but this photo accurately illustrates how good it can be looking East towards Tilloo Cut. Staying at the Sea Spray marina made it very easy to get across to Cracker P's since the stretch of water separating the two places is in the lee of weather from the East and West. About the worst we saw was perhaps a foot of chop which our Avon RIB dink can handle quite well.

So while we were at Sea Spray we spent quite a bit of time foraging for shells on the Atlantic side. While the East side of Abaco is mostly beach sand, just off shore at low tide there are several flat rocky areas one can wade through looking for shells. Not only are there shells, but small octopus, eels, and other life inhabits this area. It's always a pleasure to come upon the life and witness it. As long as you keep your eyes open and look where you are stepping you will have no difficulty as long as you have a good sense of balance. Once in a while you may even get to pull in a good size lobster. But without wearing gloves one does not want to pick one of these critters up. They have spines all over their shells that easily pierce your skin and once having been made aware of them, the spiney thorns, one is not likely to attempt picking them up without gloves unless one has a shot at grabbing their antennae.

So having time to move around we moved Freedom up to Guana Cay. We really wanted to head South to Little Harbour but the Atlantic was rough and I refused to take Freedom through North Bar Inlet. It's just too rough a ride and the thought of dumping a freezer, refrigerator or two of food, emptying closets and shifting furniture just didn't float in my mind. The ride up to Guana was a bit sloppy but nothing of concern. We rolled along until we cleared Point Set Rock and made it into the lee of ManOWar Cay. Once in the lee of ManOWar things settled down considerably and we settled down to enjoy a smooth ride.
Arriving at Orchid we were greeted by McKenzee who was happy as usual to see us. He asked us about all of the other boaters we knew and if we had news of their arrival in the Bahamas. We didn't really know why until we were there about six nights.
During the day at Orchid Bay I was running the water maker. It eventually filled the tank and coincidentally a ferry arrived with a crew of Bahamas Electric Company (B.E.C.) employees. They walked by smiling and waving and we waved back. As a matter of process I went into the bilge to shut down the pumps and as I released the pressure to idle the power went off!
No shore power!

Subsequently we learned via a letter of apology from the managers that B.E.C. had shut off their power. A subsequent conversation with them informed us that the Stateside company was not paying the bill. So with that we hauled anchor so to speak and went to Hope Town to finish up Rich's stay. When I think about it, it wasn't such a bad thing because Guana hasn't as much going on as Elbow anyway. I mean, there are only so many frozen Nippers one can consume.

With time winding down on Rich's stay we wound up with walking some more of Elbow and enjoying all of the sights and establishments it has to offer.

Anyone else up for it? Tracks loaded up, I'll post some photos into the bucket soon enough.

Junkanoo!

2011-02-28T09:48:00.008-05:00

Junkanoo originated in the Bahamas back in the 17th century as a form of celebrating Freedom from Slavery. It is distinctly Bahamian with perhaps a few other occurrences elsewhere. Junkanoos occur several times a year around major holidays and most have judges awarding prizes to the best groups. This particular Junkanoo had three major players with a couple of beginner groups.
The people here take this celebration seriously by creating brightly colored costumes that are larger than life. They form parades at night with groups of brass and drums pounding out the beat for costumed people to dance to. And wow do they dance. I haven't experienced this much energy since I was passed closely by a freight train.
Here's one man working it out -

And more -

He was one of the more interesting male dancers but I will say everyone had their boody wound up. Each team approached the area we were standing at led by people in brilliantly colored costumes. They would bounce up and down encouraging the extremities of the costumes to gyrate and swing about. Given the heat it was good to see there were people carrying cool drinks for the performers. Plenty of them were taking advantage of the offer and it was no surprise they needed the refreshment. It's good to see people celebrating their advancement in such a colorful, noisey, stampede of smiles.

None of us expected anything as elaborate as this to be displayed.

Moving about

2011-02-18T17:12:00.002-05:00

Last Tuesday on the 15th we looked at the weather forecasts and wondered if we would be able to get out on the Sea of Abaco with the dink. The wind was predicted to be out of the South East but clocking around to the North as the day progressed. After mulling over the choice between a walk and time in the dink we decided to go out in the dink and if it was rough we'd go up to Hope Town and walk around up there a while.
Once out on the Sea we were treated to calm water and not having been along the West shore of Lubber's Quarters I stuck the nose of the dink at the North end and moved on. Once around the tip of the cay we were greeted by shallow clear water and a number of live shells going about their livelihood on the bottom. We could clearly see Tulips and a few conch. Given they were alive we left them alone and moved on. Eventually we ran into very shallow water so Deb had to move to the bow and I stood in the middle. With the engine set to the highest operational angle we were able to bounce along the bottom without grinding the propeller up.

Eventually the water deepened and we made our way over to Witch point on the West shore of Abaco. There were several beaches over there and we spent some time scouring them for shells. It's been my experience that the shores of Abaco don't offer many shells of interest because there usually are no reefs encouraging their growth and this area lived up to that expectation. After a while we drove down to Snake Cay and looked at the water life under us. There are some really large spotted rays down there and they get close enough to warrant caution since we have seen them jump clear of the water several times. As our luck would have it the sun hid behind the few clouds in the area and this put an end to our viewing since the water is deeper here.

Along the way back to Lubber's Deb took a sudden move to the starboard side of the dink when she saw a nice shark swimming along with us. Pleasant looking fish they are. Especially when their mouths are open and headed your way. Since we were going past Cracker P's on the way back to Sea Spray, and it was lunch time, well, we pulled in for a bite and the next episode of "Everyone Loves Tobi". "Dan just smile and nod ok?" Next time I'll bring my hearing aids but we may not laugh as much.
Today it's February 18th and Freedom was tied up here at Sea Spray for over a month without moving. her bottom was starting to get shaggy with growth. Coincidentally the Royal Marsh Harbour Yacht Club was sponsoring a seminar on the passage to and cruising of the Central Bahamas. Since this is one of our goals we elected to move Freedom over to Boat Harbour at the Abaco Beach Resort for a night. Our membership in the club provided us with a docking discount so the pain of a daily fee was reduced a bit. It was worth it.

We attended the seminar and picked up a number of pointers from several people that had experienced the trip to Eluethera and Exumas. Afterwards, we hooked up with the other members of the Club at 5 pm for the evening happy hour out on the peninsula. These people know how to make an hour happy. Everyone brings their own beverage and a snack. The picnic tables fill with goodies to munch on while chatting with friends. Having been reminded that our attendance was appropriate on the way back from town we picked up a pint of fresh conch salad from George the conch salad man. He hangs out at a small booth next to the Harbour View Marina and chops up conch. Darn good salad. It didn't last long on the table. A few of the ladies got together and made up conch fritters the likes of which we had never experienced. I'm hopeful we'll get the recipe for these but I suspect it's going to take some investment in beverages to loosen up the security system.

Today we hauled out of Boat Harbour a well protected and high class facility, and made our way back to Sea Spray to finish our time here. Since we had not run Freedom in a while I opened her up and with a puff of black smoke she struggled up onto plane at 17 knots. Fully 2 knots less than what she normally can do with a full load. Certainly the growth on the bottom was holding her back. But the gauges looked good so we ran her at speed a couple of minutes before settling down into a casual 7 knots or so. Fortunately we left with some tide and ran fast because by the time we reached Porgee Rock we were stirring up sand as we traveled. Back in the slip we were happy to see most of the shag was gone.

The one that got away

2011-02-09T10:15:00.001-05:00

Early yesterday we were hailed on the radio by Bob. He has a great view of the Atlantic from Atlantic Horizons http://www.hopetown.com/rentalsearch/atlantic-horizons so he knew the ocean was in a cooperative state for fishing. I think I hesitated about a millisecond before saying well..... ok.... if you insist. Since we don't have a center console here invitations like this are really appreciated. We can get around on the dink but the weather has to be perfect, and Freedom is not a boat to take on the Ocean for the purpose of fishing. In 2-3 foot seas a fishing drift will rock most into a state better left near the side rails or a bucket. So we dug out some gear and waited.
After a while Bob showed up at Sea Spray with Ridge Runner which is a 24 Stamas with a 250 Suzuki 4 stroke outboard. We loaded up and set out for Tilloo cut at a good pace. The engine was smooth and quiet and the ride was good. Passing by Cracker P's we could see the cut over the beach at Tahiti and it looked a bit rough. After going around Cooper Jacks Cay and arriving at the cut we were greeted by 3 to 4 foot swells about a couple of seconds apart. Just enough to get a roller coaster scream out of Deb. But these soon passed and we found ourselves out on the Atlantic with gentle rollers passing under the boat smoothly. The water and sky were clear and the sun was up. We hoped the fish were biting.
After a short ride Bob shut everything down and we started a drift. As we drifted North East (see http://home.roadrunner.com/~danmapes/Voyage1011.kmz track named Out Tilloo Cut Fishing and In Tilloo Cut from Fishing) luck was with us and we hooked up several grouper and stashed them away in the live well. One was rather small and foul hooked so we decided to use it for bait.
After a while my line went tight and heavy. After about a minute or so I had a 3 or 4 foot lemon shark next to the boat. At this point Deb decided the other side of the boat was a more appropriate place to sit. But the shark shook the bait loose and went about it's business of looking for another bit of food. Since the bait was still on the hook and Bob thought the shark was good eating we elected to re-hook the fish since it was loitering in the area. While we were talking about it the fish passed within a few feet of the boat several times. So Bob and I both put our lines in and sure enough I re-hooked the shark. This time the hook was well set and the fight resumed.

The shark ran off line a few times and then predictably tired. It was perhaps 5 feet under the boat in front of me and moved towards the bow and under the boat. So I ran forward to resume the struggle and turn the shark back. Just as I had it turned the leader snapped and the shark got away. Steel leaders are a good thing, nylon leaders are not.

After this we returned back to Tilloo cut which at first appeared quite imposing with waves breaking across the cut. As we approached it though the water appeared to lay down but I think the initial impression was probably caused by the angle we originally viewed the cut from. It looked like it was breaking all the way across but soon enough as we got closer the center opened up and we rode the waves back in. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzk9u2HClLA
Once inside the cut Deb's face lightened up considerably. All in all her first experience in a small boat on the Ocean went really well and she enjoyed it. It left her thinking that running down to the Exumas on Freedom might not be such an ordeal after all.
After all of this adventure Deb fried up some fish and we had a bit to eat. Then it was off to the SOTs get together for a libation and gathering of friends at the end of a great day in Abaco. The folks at Sea Spray put on a terrific spread of appetizers and there was plenty for everyone to have. And people have to ask why we like staying here...

I've loaded up some more photos at http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh40/danno53/Boating%202010-2011/ and the GPS tracks link is available here as well.

The Quest Continued. . . .

2011-01-29T20:47:00.002-05:00

Today the Internet was down so I couldn't make calls or pay the bills. I hate it when that happens. The good weather happened to line up with this grave situation so late in the morning as the wind laid down we took off in the dink to check out some spots I thought might contain a Blue Hole. The tide was right and the wind was down so we headed South and started at Sandy Cay to check out the reef.

Sandy Cay is part of the Pelican Cays National Park where fishing etc. is not allowed. That means the population of crites beneath the surface can live in their environment without having to contend with us so there are plenty to review. Even if this is done with a look bucket as opposed to snorkeling, it's worth the effort to get down there and look around.

As illustrated in the first photo the ride down was uneventful and smooth. On many occasions we were treated to crystal clear water with depths exceeding 20 feet. It was really spectacular. All sorts of fish, and rays passed under us as we motored along. But as we approached Channel Cay from the West side the swells from the ocean were pronounced and we had to back off a bit. It wasn't serious, just a good two feet of closely spaced rollers coming in that made for an interesting ride in a dink. By the way it's an Avon 340 RIB with an 18 HP outboard. Anyway the waves were smooth and non-breaking but close together thus pitching the bow up a bit once in a while. But soon enough we were in behind Channel Cay and the surface was quiet again until we cleared Gaulding Cay. At that point we were back around to the East of Sandy and into the area of North Bar. That means we were back into the rollers.

Note.

This is the inlet where the ill fated crew of "Rule 62" lost their ride to the sea and Laura Zeekol went missing. When the weather is foul this area is not to be take lightly. I'd go as far as saying don't pass through here if the weather is off at all and the tide is running strong. But all of the inlets on the East Side of the Bahamas are to be treated with respect. Their circumstances were grave that night. They were traveling at night with an exhausted crew battling high seas and that led to the disaster these people had to endure. Perhaps this over simplifies there predicament but the reality of it all is as clear as the water we were traveling in. Bad weather, rough seas, and a notorious inlet.

However with the weather we had the situation at Sandy Cay was tolerable and a relatively easy snorkel but we did not have the gear with us. Regardless we tied up at a mooring long enough for Deb to get her fill of fish watching with the look bucket.

From here we moved on to the West looking for the Blue Holes. I had mentioned that the tide was with us and this was where that was going to be important. To get all the way back up to the spots I had located on the charts we needed a rising tide and that was what we had. Back in behind Black Point we went, into water that was maybe a foot and a half deep. We were planning on it rising so we could move about and get back out into the Sea of Abaco when we were done.

Along the way we saw several live tulip shells. All of them were bright orange or yellow which is in stark contrast to their appearance when the animal has gone. Initially the water was very shallow and the going was slow. We bumped and churned several times in the dink in spite of our efforts to keep the prop high. At this point the bottom was uninteresting as it was mostly sparse grass in sand. But we were happy because this meant the prop was not being exposed to rocks or other debris that would damage it. But all of this changed after a while and we were treated to many green turtles darting about in front of us.

On several occasions along the way we had depths exceeding 20 feet. There was quite a bit of life within these pockets. Barracuda, Snapper, Rays, all sorts of fish and other life like sea fans. It was worth the effort to get down here and back behind the small cays that insulate this area from the Sea of Abaco.

At the last way point I had programmed into the GPS the bottom opened up and sure enough we found our quest, a Blue Hole. It wasn't the classical version in that it appeared to be "young". Many huge slabs of rock had caved in making convenient hideaways for the snapper and sea turtles our presence disturbed.

In spite of the sun lowering in the sky we were lucky to see what we did. We wished we had arrived earlier in the day so the sun would be overhead, but you can't have everything like tide, wind, and sun lining up all the time. With that were happy to have what we did. The sights were special.

We could have spent another two hours back here but time was running out with the tide. As a result we bailed out of looking for the other Blue Hole in the area and set our course back the way we came in for the Sea of Abaco. Since the tide was high now the trip out was much easier in that we had less concern for the depth. In spite of that Deb sat on the bow of the dink and I stood up in the middle. This way we kept the transom as high as we could and only bumped a couple of times.

Once back out of this serene environment we found that the wind had picked up as well as shifting so that it would be on our bow all the way back to Elbow Cay which was a distant 7 miles or so. Keep in mind we're in an inflatable ok? It's ok unless you wear a bra. We had a foot of chop all the way up to Tiloo, maybe as far as Lubers. Once in the lee of Lubars the water laid down and we motored along beaten by the chop and sun.

So we skipped over a stop at Cracker P's and went straight to the boat. All in all a very good day on the Sea of Abaco. The sun was going down, and we were on the Sea of Abaco fully two hours later in the day than we wanted to be. We were shot.

The GPS tracks are up to date, and I will upload some more photos soon but these are about as good as they get. Maybe the next pas we'll take more time with the camera instead of being spell bound by the sights!

Shopping, outer island style

2011-01-21T19:52:00.002-05:00

I have to admit that the new Maxwell's in Marsh Harbour is a great food store. It's a huge improvement over the Price Rite that existed there, and that store always seemed to have good product available. The produce section in the new Maxwell's was as good as or better than some of the stores we have in Kingston N.Y.. It's definitely a welcome addition to the growth of this area and I am sure that local folks as well as visitors like us will appreciate the investment made by the owners. They can't go wrong.
Maxwell's is very similar to a ShopRite or Stop and Stop back in the States. Fortunately they have not taken on the role that Publix has in Florida. Publix seems to have quite a bit of product but their fish, meats and poultry are substandard compared to what is available here. We have always been and remained shocked at the difference in meat qualities between the two areas. Especially when high end markets like Adam's Fairacre Farms are included in the comparison.
So it all sounds good right?
Well not really. Consider a 5 mile ride in a 10 foot inflatable to get onto the main island and then a 1 or 2 mile walk to get to the store. Then there are the logistics of making sure any refrigerated goods survive the trip. I know, we should not complain. Especially when the environmental comparision includes -10 degrees F vs. what we have here. Yesterday it was 80 degrees and well, that works a heck of alot better than what is going on in the home region.
But then we had to slog it back across the Sea of Abaco into about a foot and a half of chop to get it all back onto Freedom. Normally we would not venture out into this with the dink but the forecast included clocking winds that indicated we would be in a following sea on the way back. Not. Did not happen. We plowed into the water for about 1/2 an hour. It wasn't that bad. I mean, we kept the bow of the dink up and this diverted the spray to the sides. It took longer but we were in no danger. Will we do it again? Not if we can avoid it. But all in all it worked out well and we are better off with the new stores aboard Freedom. Consider the GPS tracks we did with our Avon 240 RIB going to Boat Harbour and that the wind was out of the South East. We around quite a bit until we were in the lee of Luber's.
We knew all of this was going to happen, since we docked the dink at Boat Harbour and could observe the Sea of Abaco from their facility. We had to pay 25 bucks for the rite of parking, however, this fee can be used as credit at the pool bar/grill. So after slogging all of the groceries back from Maxwell's to Boat Harbour we sat down by the pool side and had a burger and a beer before we set out in the dink against the wind. I have to admit it numbed the senses to the slamming we put up with.
It's all good.

The quest for the Blue Hole

2011-01-11T22:09:00.000-05:00

One of the best scenic finds down in the Abacos is a Blue Hole. Back in March 2009 we happened upon one of these while trying to get to a beach on the main island of Great Abaco. It was a very pleasant surprise in light of the situation we were in.
On our way back from Crown Haven which is at the far Northern end of the island after driving half way back to Treasure Cay we decided rather randomly to visit a beach along the way to look for shells. While traveling down a winding poorly maintained road full of ruts and spent appliances we decided we were in an area to be avoided. Right where we turned around we found it.
I've hunted around and looked for photos but come up dry on this one. But I can tell you exactly where it is and you can zoom in on it with google earth. If you look at the CrownHavenCarRide track within the http://home.roadrunner.com/~danmapes/Southbound2.kmz link at 26°47'55.43"N 77°25'23.60"W you will find where we gave up on driving a rental car to the beach due to road and environmental conditions. That was when we saw the blue hole so we hopped out of the car to look at it. It was only a few paces off the road and the path was clear. The color of the water was remarkable as was the amount of fish swimming around in it.
Having experienced that find we have been on the look out for more of these, and we have had some success with this activity. Using Google Earth one can pick some out and subsequently last year while we were at the Berry Islands we did locate one a bit North of Great Harbour's Marina.

Today, we elected to use the information we had obtained from various guide books and other folks that have been around a bit. As far as we could tell from all of this information and Google Earth there are Blue Holes around Snake Cay and Iron Cay. For example there is one at 26°24'12.89"N 77° 2'33.53"W. It's gotta be one. But marching through the terrain in that area without a machete is not in our game plan and carrying one around in an inflatable dink is not either. Sure we could shealth it but the notion of hiking in flip flops adds more concern to the notion.

Anyway we left the marina today with light winds yet intimidating skies. While out on the Sea of Abaco I mentioned the cloud lines looked ominously familiar. They looked exactly like what the spouts formed out of on the stream. But on we went taking advantage of the flat water and some solace in the notion that others were out there with us. We gunked around behind Snake Cay and Iron Cay for quite a while and made it to a couple of spots some would call Blue Holes. But they were nothing like what we had seen earlier so there was some dissappointment with this realization. In spite of that those locations did provide interesting displays of sharks, rays, lobsters and other fish in some very clear water. Believe it or not there is a spiney lobster hanging out under that rock. This lucky lobster was small and we had no ice to keep it while we traveled. In this photo all we see are the antennae when the photo is enlarged by clicking on it.

But without decent sunlight over us the photos don't show well so perhaps another day we'll be able to get better pictures to post. The track named Snake Cay Dink 2 within the http://home.roadrunner.com/~danmapes/Voyage1011.kmz batch of tracks might be fun to fly with G.E. and they will lead you to Cracker P's where we stopped in for lunch. Their smoked fish dip is outstanding and goes well with a cold Kalik and grilled Wahoo sandwich. Even if the food wasn't good the view would make the stop worth while! It's a good thing we ignored the signals the clouds were giving us earlier in the morning because the day turned out quite well. Maybe the forecast of 15-20 knots of wind for the next week won't turn out to be accurate either but we are getting into that part of Winter down here when the wind blows strong and steady.

Time for some dink action

2011-01-04T17:56:00.000-05:00

But first we had to put a patch on it. Somewhere along the line late last year the starboard tube started requiring a pump or two every other day or so. With additional use over here and cooler temperatures the requirement grew as the leak became more serious and after a cool night the tube was well on its way to being deflated. With the help of a neighbor we pulled it up onto the dock so I could work on it. At mid tide the lift was about 6 feet. After about an hour of looking around with soapy water a bubble finally appeared and it was a good thing because I was ready to give up at that point. It would seem that sitting in the sun on a warm dock increased the pressure in the tube enough to force the air out. With the patch installed just aft of the N in the registration the tubes were re inflated and since I had it out of the water the bottom was cleaned up and waxed. A review of the dink the next morning confirmed that the fix was good and we were ready for a ride. The wind was calm and the water was flat. Perfect for a run in the dink.

Just about all the way across the Sea of Abaco heading for Snake Cay from Hope Town I happened to have the camera recording when a fish started tail walking in front of us.

We were running at about 15mph at the time so perhaps that lends some insight into the capabilities of these fish. It's always fun to see these or flying fish take off away from the boat when we are underway. Some might say it's mean and we should not be in the water scaring them like this. We don't do it intentionally and we don't chase them. That this one happened to take flight in a direction aligned with ours is a coincidence. I look at it this way, through the extra exercise we encourage, maybe we are enabling a mutation that will be better able to defend itself. It might even become a man eater. Right.

Moving along, and some might say gratefully, we found ourselves on the West side of the Sea of Abaco by Snake Cay and with about half a receding tide under us we elected to go in behind the cays in the area to see what was in the shallows here. Some might recall the dink rides we did back in early 2009 at Hill's Creek near Treasure Cay and this area certainly held promise to be as good or better because of it's proximity to North Bar inlet. The notion being that perhaps more larger fish would be around spawning etc.. We did not happen upon any small sharks but the turtles were everywhere. Clicking on the photo will provide better detail of one shooting away from us. They may be slow on land but they can move very quickly in the water! In time with only a minor encounter with shallow water we made it down to the South end of Iron Cay but unfortunately we did not find the blue hole that is supposed to be in this area. Perhaps another day we will find it, and Wednesday could be that day since the winds are predicted to be light again.

Given this was a perfect day to be out and about in a dink on the way back we elected to pass by Hope Town and Freedom and head straight to the Atlantic Ocean and the reefs in between Elbow and Man O War cays. It was worth the extra time in the dink as the water was surprisingly clear and calm affording us a great view of the coral reef and fish living within it.

It's not often one gets the opportunity to hang around over a reef on the Atlantic in calm water like this! The GPS tracks have been updated and at some point I'll update this entry with a link to more photos when I get them loaded.

As always it's not a good day on the water unless we disturb Ray.

In between Holidays with good weather

2010-12-29T19:49:00.002-05:00

So the initial holidays are past and for the most part everyone can look forward to the New Year having had all of the family together for celebrations. While we are located remotely we still manage to have a good time during the holiday season with many folks down here. We also have folks back in the States working with us to make things happen thus enabling our comfort and continued success.

For example, Vic's DC http://www.vicsdc.com/ worked with me over a scratchy internet telephone and email connection when our starboard engine's alternator failed. In spite of the remote location and difficult connections we were able to diagnose a balky alternator on the starboard engine and facilitate repairs with a minimum of replacement parts. An alternator may sound like a simple item to swap out but when they are gear driven and almost 30 years old parts are difficult to come by and easy to damage when maintaining them.

Today I installed a new voltage regulator on to that alternator and it sprang back to life. This was a wonderful Christmas present as it means we can move the boat around with more confidence now since we don't have to worry about draining the battery on the starboard engine. While the load on this battery is light, the notion of not having a fall back alternator when running off shore in another country is intimidating.

As well, Village Marine converted our water maker to a higher powered 220 VAC unit free of charge (excepting my labor) and with new membranes installed it is producing water at a decent rate and good quality.

So some of the mechanical issues that have plagued us have been resolved and the outlook for heading South to the Exumas in the Spring of 2011 is improving. Given some say oil will hit new highs again in 2012, it would seem our decision to retire at our earliest opportunity was a good decision. If it gets as high as it did in 2008 the boating industry is going to take yet another serious hit to its bottom line since no one will want to pay to play. Regardless of our ability to pay the notion of scarce oil will put a damper on anyone's travel plans and that scarcity has taken a toll over here already. There are a number of facilities that have not had fuel available for traveling boats let alone golf carts on their islands. People like to knock the development of electric cars, but if they can make them better I am sure sunny environments like the Bahamas will benefit from their efforts.

ANYWAY,

Today we found ourselves here on a very pleasant day with light winds and calm water within the Seas of Abaco. A great day to get out in the dink. Having explored quite a bit of the area we decided that since the dink was running so well we should take a shot at Man O War Cay. The information I have indicates this Cay (pronounced key) has been named after the Man-O-War bird or Frigate. If you have more detail feel free to comment. Looking at this Cay along the main road at "The Narrows" we can clearly see the Atlantic side which is inside the reef, and the Sea of Abaco on the left. If you click on the right hand photo you will readily see the difference in sea state. Certainly we were not up for a ride on the Atlantic which has been stirred up quite a bit lately. In support of this we encounterred 1-2 foot swells and chop when traveling over the bars in between Elbow Cay and Man-O-War Cays. Even though these areas are inside the barrier reef, plenty of water was coming in beyond them to upset the ride. Otherwise we were able to maintain about 13 knots of speed in both directions. I should have brought the dive suit with me since we were traveling over prime conch grounds but having two in the freezer already is plenty and there is no need to waste it.

But I am ahead of myself.

Last night we were down at the Sea Spray resort and Marina where a rather impromptu fund raiser occured. In what seems like a couple of weeks, a pleasant young woman named Lauren Chu organised The New Entry Band and Dan Baily with the Living Rhythm band along with Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to put on a great show that had what must have been 500 people hopping. While the Chili's are not my favorite band, without question Chad is a fantastic drummer who fills any void the other musicians might leave open. Watching him play one could easily see his head moving at least 5 to 6 times as fast as the beat of the music thus defining the tempo.

The fund raiser was for Every Child Counts here in the Abacos http://www.everychildcountsabaco.org/ and without question the bands did a fantastic job of bringing in the crowd AND entertaining it. All of this was for a good cause and contributed towards making this one of the best concerts I have attended in recent memory. It took me back to some of the block parties I was lucky enough to attend in NYC. It was that kind of environment. Everyone was up close with the band and dancing within 10 feet of them. It seemed as though the band and the crowd all fed off of each other making for a lively experience.

Very cool.

It was fun to listen to the drum exchanges between the African bongo played by Dan and the minimal drum set that Chad was working to extremes.

It was enough to keep me up past 10:30 last night. Wow. Good training for New Years Eve I suppose. No dis, it was indeed a great evening.

The GPS tracks of the trip in the dink have been updated, and I've uploaded some photos into the photobucket at the link provided in the blog body.

A walk on the beach

2010-12-22T20:46:00.000-05:00

While the weather here in the Abacos has been relatively stable things are happening in the Northern Atlantic, and those situations have been propagating their large swells all the way down here. Since the ocean swell was out of the North and East while at the same time the wind was out of the West it made for some scenic views from the shore line. The waves were rolling in and their tops were being ripped off by the wind. Generally speaking the ocean didn't look too bad at first, but a circumspect examination of the horizon indicated the water was high out there. Whenever the horizon appears close in, it's because the wave height is extreme.

In evidence of this notion people taking their boats around Whale Cay were reporting swells between 5 and 8 feet. Certainly this is beyond our comfort zone but a good sail boat with the sheets up would be relatively stable in spite of the water. I've been out fishing in a 26 footer in that kind of water and it all depends on the boat. And this was the sentiment we heard along with the wave heights. The reports generally indicated it was doable but that caution should be exercised.

However our interests at this point were simple. All we were interested in was getting a little exercise via a walk on the beach. It just so happened we wound up at "On Da Beach" which is a conveniently located spot on the Atlantic side of Elbow Cay. It's convenient because it is a decent walk South from Hope Town. Not too far mind you, but enough to justify having a beverage before the return trip.

After stopping in at On Da Beach, we walked down on to the beach and headed North towards Hope Town. Along the way back North we watched as a Heron (?) landed on the beach and froze in its tracks. As we approached it was content to sit tight and not move a muscle so we wondered if it was on the hunt. The closer we got the more apparant that became. Right in front of this little guy was a crab hole and he was not going to give in and retreat thus losing out on the prospect of a tastey morsel. He let me get within maybe 10 feet and didn't flinch. We didn't get to see him pounce but I'm betting there was enough persistence there to capture the quarry. Usually a relatively small bird will not let a person get to close so I felt lucky to get a shot yet not disturb the hunt.

Moving on it seemed like things were laying down as the afternoon wore on which is a good thing for the folks looking to head South from Green Turtle etc.. But the forecast is against them. A quick check of Windfinder.com for Green Turtle indicates some significant wave heights for the next several days. Hopefully things work out for them with regard to their destinations and the holidays.

All conched out

2010-12-17T16:46:00.001-05:00

Today was one of those days we come to the Bahamas for. The sky was clear and blue, while the winds and water were calm. So let's go out for some conch we thought, and that we did. Upon departing Hope Town Harbour we were greeted with flat water all the way out to the reef that isolates the Sea of Abaco from the Atlantic. Today there was no need of insulation from the Atlantic as the Atlantic was calm as well. In fact boats coming around the Whale reported that the only rough water they encountered was from the wake of another boat.

It didn't take us long to locate some conch that meets the harvest criteria. They were all over the place and given how calm the water was we didn't need the look bucket to spot them. I was able to run the dink at 16 knots and see them well enough to decide whether or not they were keepers. We passed up quite a few before settling in on a spot to jump in for the harvest.

And that was an experience. I'm very happy I had the 3 mil suit on because it was not exactly warm water. Can you spell "Pucker"? But after a moment or two in the water I was more or less, ok less, acclimated to the temperature. Fortunately, in no time at all I had three keepers in the dink with Deb. I was glad I picked over where we wanted to stop as I was only in the water a few minutes at most. Perhaps the water temperature was an incentive to making quick work of the harvest.

After collecting the conch we motored out towards the reef hoping to take in some underwater sights via the look bucket. Given we did not actually cross over the reef 'proper' we never got a look at the spectacular sights a reef provides, but we were able to spot several varieties of fish, no lobster antennas but plenty of fish. Perhaps next time.

After a pleasant ride back to Hope Town I unloaded the conch at the dock and pulled the animals out of the shells. At this point I gave them to Deb to skin since I had to run across the harbour to purchase fish from Down Deep Charters. I had a great excuse to skip out on skinning these crites. Down Deep was at the dock and had plenty of Grouper, Lobster and salads at a reasonable price. With this perfect excuse to bail out of skinning a slimy tough skinned crite I dumped and ran. The best part of this was knowing that I left the eye stalks on the animals so when Deb started to work on them the eyes were staring at her.

Anyway, we have conch for various recipes, as well as fresh grouper and lobster tails. And Deb will have nightmares due to the eye stalks staring at her. There isn't a cloud in the sky and the sun is going down on a very pleasant Bahamian day.
The GPS data is up to date including the run in the dink.

She's still doing cart-wheels

2010-12-16T16:04:00.001-05:00

With a long awaited break in the weather we were able to get out onto the Sea of Abaco in the dink and get around. So we took a ride from Hope Town around to White Sound where we pulled in at the Abaco Inn for lunch. In the past we learned to expect a good lunch with a terrific view and we were not disappointed this year.

The tuna appy and shrimp po-boy were both very good and thoroughly enjoyed. We enjoyed them almost as much as we enjoyed the view of the Atlantic with the people surfing and fishing in the calm seas.

On the way back about half way in between White Sound and Hope Town there is this statue of a girl doing cartwheels. It looks like she is still at it. I'm thinking this is some of the work out of Pete's Pub which is located down South a bit in Little Harbour.

Elbow Cay and not exactly Bust

2010-12-12T13:27:00.002-05:00

For a while we thought we were never going to arrive. But through determination and quite a bit of sweat in the form of exertion and concern, we have finally pulled into the Hope Town Marina. While the facility is undergoing an extreme make over, Aaron is terrific and doing everything he can to ensure we have a pleasant stay. Let's face it given the location he doesn't have to work too hard to enable that.

The ride over from Guana Cay was a bit lumpy with maybe 1-2 feet of chop on the Sea of Abaco as we crossed the openings between the Cays along the way. And of course, we were greeted by a boat headed to Marsh that wanted to play chicken and refused to back off or steer a bit to indicate he was yielding right of way in spite of our being the stand on vessel. That's two years in a row someone off of Man O War has pulled this stunt. But given all the room out here, it's not such a big deal as much as it is a message to people coming to the Bahamas.

Once beyond ManOWar the Sea of Abaco laid down and we pulled up to the slip in the marina for a month's stay. With the transom facing East we have great sunrises and the aft deck stays cooler in the afternoon. Even though this side of the harbour has no access by road, everything is very conveniently located across the harbour only short dink ride away. Usually several folks are aboard their boats out in the harbour making for a pleasant dink ride with social calls along the way.

A little video of Freedom on the move near Spanish Cay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woBj-ec7twc

The GPS data is up to date, and the photo bucket has several new photos including a view of the area around the light house.

Around the Whale

2010-12-09T19:35:00.000-05:00

Ever since we arrived at the Bluff House on Green Turtle we have had an eye on the weather since we want to spend the holidays in Hope Town on Elbow Cay. Hope Town has a bit more happening than other places in the Outer Islands thus making for a better experience. Especially on New Years Eve.

We did manage to get the dink in the water yesterday and head over to New Plymouth. The Sea of Abaco had laid down in the afternoon so this was an uneventful ride in the dink. From my point of view New Plymouth is looking better in and around the harbour. Perhaps everyone has been busy with paint as well as patching up here and there. It just seemed a bit brighter this year. Sadly groceries were a bit on the cher side compared to the other outer islands.

Over the five days leading up to our departure from Green Turtle we spent (probably) a total of an hour a day checking and rechecking various sites to see how the weather models were progressing as time went on. Throughout our 5 night stay the preoccupation was "how will the Whale look tomorrow". We based our criteria for departure on light winds for a couple of days along with lower swells either locally generated by the wind or, distantly generated in the Atlantic. With the winds we had upon arrival it was a no brainer we were going to be on Green Turtle a bit. We needed to be patient and let things lay down.

We could have gone around yesterday in the morning and in fact several of the boats left White Sound either for Dont Rock or the Whale Channel out to the Atlantic. I gave a call out to some folks that were traveling around the Whale and they reported it was "do-able, not a bad ride" but the forecast indicated improving conditions on the Atlantic over night so we sat it out. The additional wait paid off and we were rewarded with mild swells once out side Whale Cay all the way to Loggerhead Channel. The only time things were remotely dicey was when we crossed over the bar at the North East end of Whale Cay. Here we were greeted by 4 foot rollers at about a 3 second interval but thankfully the bar is narrow and we were through this in short order. Once out in the Atlantic we found ourselves in 2-3 with about a foot of chop on top. It was a following sea as well which made for a decent ride.

Once around the Whale and into Loggerhead Channel the water settled down and I was able to engage the autopilot through Bakers Bay to Orchid Bay. This part of the ride was very comfortable because now the apprehension of being out in the Atlantic was over, and all we had in front of us were the submerged steel pole that were used to mark Loggerhead Channel for the cruise ships that never came. Originally Loggerhead was dug out for cruise ships. The idea was to provide a stop for them that encouraged the local economy. It's a shame it didn't work out, but in another sense perhaps that's a good thing. A review of what has happened in Freeport and Lucaya might give pause to this sort of development in the future.

Anyway, we're safe in the shallows of the bank again and that is comforting. The only down side is that we have yet again disturbed Ray. On the upside, our buddy the green heron is still seeking out transom lights in his quest for bait fish snacks. I went to get a photo of him but the new camera has a distance sensing light that is kind of bright in the dark and it scared him away.

I've loaded up the GPS data and we'll put more photos in the bucket when we arrive in Hope Town.

Across the Little Bahama Bank - Sunrise to Sunset

2010-12-06T15:27:00.002-05:00

We left the dock on Saturday 12/4 just prior to the crack of dawn as the sky was lighting up. Heading out onto large water there is always a sense of apprehension but they were assuaged quickly. The Northwest Providence Channel was calm so once we cleared the shallow water I pushed the throttles to the stops and Freedom responded. We hopped up and we started making great time towards the Grand Lucaya Waterway. This was important since our total planned trip was about 94 nm and we had to maintain at least 10 knots to get to Spanish Cay before sunset. Having the calm water at the outset was certainly beneficial.

It also helped us avoid all of the dive shop mooring balls and crab pot floats we encountered along the way. Having wasted no time out on the N.P. Channel we turned into the Waterway and pulled back on the throttles since the canal and its side canals have many houses with docks and boats exposed to our wake. But we did manage to keep a decent pace in the canal and after a couple of hours we could make out Dover Sound. However there was a work barge visible and we did not know if it was blocking the channel leading out of the water way. This channel is about 2 boat widths wide with little room for error. Fortunately the barge with crane were pushed up onto the shallows and well outside the channel.
Since we had been waiting for high tide and weather (wind) to line up with our arrival we were pleased to see that we timed it well and we had plenty of water under us as we lined up in the channel leading from the water way. Just consider that plenty of water in this case means 4.5 feet under our depth sounder transducer, which only leaves a couple of feet under the keel, props and rudders.
Once out on the sound we motored along at about 9 knots and to our surprise we picked up a little shove from tide that moved us along at about 10.5 knots or so it seems. This was great news for us and in spite of the wind out of the North and the developing chop we made great progress rounding Mangrove Cay on schedule.
That was when I looked at the gauges again and saw the starboard alternator had stopped working. At this point we were about 1/2 way along and we both knew that turning back was not a good option since the tide was going out and that would take away all of the clearance we needed to get back into the water way. So on we went with Deb at the helm while I reviewed the schematics for Freedom's DC power. Luck was on our side since all of the important equipment was being supplied by the port side alternator. The starboard alternator and battery merely supplied the power for the starboard gauges, starter motor and generator starter. With the built in solenoid to jump the engines from each other we felt safe continuing since in addition we have to 8D AGMs to draw on if we need to start the generator.

Once we turned to the ESE to track to the South of Great Sale Cay the wind started to clock around to the WNW and then from the West while the water laid down becoming calm. While progress is slow at 10 knots and you're all alone out there, with a change in weather coming during the evening, sometimes you get a pleasant surprise and ours was a playful dolphin that jumped along with us for a minute. By the time we had the camera ready it was gone.

It wasn't long before Little Abaco came into view followed by The Center of the World Rock, which was our decision point. Once here we planned to review our progress and decide if we had time to travel to Green Turtle Cay. We don't travel at night and the time was tight. But our nav software told us we would arrive at sunset so we pushed down the throttles for a while and ran at 16 knots to provide a buffer in the schedule. As we turned into White Sound the sun was setting on a long day but a day of excellent progress in spite of the alternator calamity.

Given the battery charged overnight and started the engine the next day we figure we are good to move on to Hope Town where we will reside for a few months. While Freedom is getting on in years I'm still glad we chose her since her engines are all mechanically injected and throttled. All we need to be able to do is start them. And hopefully that's what they will continue to do.

But right now we're very glad to be at the Bluff House Marina on Green Turtle Cay. Running the extra distance paid some very large dividends because the wind kicked up considerably over night and it has made the Sea of Abaco quite choppy. This would have made a stay at Spanish Cay a bit more uncomfortable because the wind was out of the West and brisk. Here on Green Turtle we are much better protected and we don't have to worry about slogging it out in 1-2 feet of chop which is something a beautifully restored Bertram Moppie(?) appears right at home in.

The GPS tracks have been updated but given the bandwidth here additional photos will have to wait but we'll get them into the bucket soon. I'll post a link to them then.

Small fry in a big fish pond

2010-12-03T09:33:00.000-05:00

Here at the Grand Bahama Yacht club we've learned some humility. But only up to a point. The Affinity Yacht sporty off our bow facing starboard is quite a boat and it dwarfs Freedom.

They pulled in a day after us and proceeded to have all sorts of issues that included power and etc.. After flicking breakers on all the power towers (ours included) several times, my patience ran out and I let the owner hear it. At least I am not alone. The crew quit the day they arrived with some rather unflattering words.

After all of this, with several folks aboard working on the boat, the dockmaster knocks on the side of our boat hoping we have some duct tape to lend him. Yes, now he wants my duct tape also.

Ok we let him have some.

After this we took a ride in the dink to blow it out for the season. As it turns out we got about a mile away from the facility and the next round of Dan vs. Tohatsu was rung in. Sadly, there was no scantily clad woman nearby holding up the round number. Deb and I smelled some gas. I pulled the bonnet off the outboard and sure enough there was some gas leaking from the accelerator pump. Fortunately it only leaked at high rpm so we could safely putt back to the marina at a slow speed.

Given our experiences with this outboard last year, this season we left with a complete rebuild kit in our bag of spares and I went to work on the carburetor yet again. This time I think it's really fixed but time will tell. For the first time in many years I have not seen gas weeping out of the accelerator pump bellows after a good run.

As far as moving on goes, we are hoping the predictions for Saturday hold up so we can make a run for Spanish Cay. It's a long run of about 100 nm that we need to get done in a hurry because there is foul weather coming and we don't want to anchor out in it. Thus what we would do over two days normally will be done in a single day this time. There were some days we could have made the trip if the tide aligned with our departure of the North end of the Grand Lucayan Canal but with the tide running high late in the day we could not make the trip. The North end of the canal dumps out into a stretch of pilings that mark the most shallow water we have ever taken Freedom through. Tomorrow morning we should have high tide there, and that gives us a couple of feet of water under the running gear to spare so we'll plan to be there then.

A Big Move Today!

2010-11-30T19:52:00.003-05:00

Not.

We moved from the Port Lucaya Marina over to the Grand Bahama Yacht Club. While the Port Lucaya Marina is right in the center of activity for the area, we get a better rate here so in the interest of saving some dollars we moved over. It was extremely convenient to stay there a couple of days to take care of fueling and checking in, but after that, moving over to Grand Bahama is a good deal. If you look at the GPS track I loaded you will see exactly where we are and it's a great spot. Bow in with a bit of a view off the aft deck where we can have dinner in privacy.

By the way they have a fabulous swimming pool here, the WIFI seems a bit more stable, and we don't have all the arrogance of a Megayacht running its generator all the time to save dollars over the locally billed electricity rate.

But we will miss the restaurants the locals hang out in at Port Lucaya while over there. Agave, was terrific place for a beverage and food. It was a Latin inspired fusion sort of place and the food was terrific. While we only had a couple of appetizers they were excellent. The calamari was tender and well spiced as was the shrimp bruscetta. Their margaritas were very good also and I recommend their Golden Cadillac. Since it was happy hour they were half price and well worth the expense.
The real loss at hands of the economy at the Port of Lucaya was Jade. They did excellent sushi and rolls. Alas, they are also gone now another sign of the times.

Anyway here we will remain until what looks like Sunday when the tide and winds align to allow us a good traversal of Dover Sound. The North end of the Grand Lucayan Waterway is not to be taken lightly. Anyone with expensive running gear (most boats) will want to ensure that if they pull 4 feet of water, they had better time their arrival for a rising tide or at least high tide. Given all of the work we invested in this past stay at Indiantown we are hesitant to risk it even having passed through that area at mid-tide.

It isn't all that bad though. I've added some photos to the bucket outlining what happens here once in a while. It seems they had some photo work to do down here. Someone rented a boat and said if you want photos of this girl you will have to pay. Believe me, who ever sponsored this shoot paid. And big time. And they got ripped off. Up close she wasn't all that much to look at.

Stay tuned, we'll be on the move again soon enough.

http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh40/danno53/Boating%202010-2011/

Gulf Stream crossing, you're doing it wrong.

2010-11-28T19:04:00.002-05:00

As part of the preparation for the Gulf Stream crossing we regularly checked the weather looking for a break that included low sea height projections from a few sources. While they might all use the same data or models, some have a person look it over and add the human spin to it. The forecast for Saturday November 27 was very good. All sources agreed that the waves would not be significant, the period of time in between the waves would gradually grow to about 10 seconds, and that there was only a 20 percent chance of showers. With that news we spent quite a bit of time the night before making sure we had everything locked down, stowed and accounted for. The ditch bag was loaded a bit more than usual, the PLB was secured as well as the dink, and bolt cutters were made available in case we had to drop the dink in a hurry.

We planned our departure from the dock at the municipal marina by the 3rd avenue bridge for about 6:00 AM. This would put as at the inlet after the arrival of the cruise ships in Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale, Fl). This information is available on the web at http://www.porteverglades.net/cruising/arriving-and-departing/ on one of their radio buttons. They were all supposed to be docked by 6:00 AM. However our arrival at the inlet was greeted by the Carnival Miracle. Out in front was the Homeland Security inspired escort. Note the boats out in front of us are just off the shore of the inlet considering when it will be safe to sneak past the transom and get to the serious business of fishing. Everyone is obliged by law to keep about 100 yards off of these ships. We waited with them and after about 10 minutes of idling we all left the inlet.

Getting outside we were greeted by an accurate forecast. It was even better than we had hoped. The water was calm and we were making about 9 knots on our course made good for West End. We were surprised that there were not many folks out fishing, perhaps they were home sweating off the holiday. But they were out there and we could hear reports of some good luck on VHF 68.

Eventually we hit the Gulf Stream and the water color shifted to an appealing blue. Our speed over the ground picked up as the stream current swept us North towards West End. We were now making 11 knots over the ground. Life is good we thought since this meant we would be arriving earlier than we planned, something like 1:15 PM.

But we started seeing some ominous clouds. After checking WxWorx radar we noted that some of them had some very active centers. There were cells that had the peak color for reflectivity. Knowing people that were in Lucaya last March when the Tornadoes hit we were concerned and steered North for a while to avoid them. This put us on a course away from West End and everything else including what appeared to be all of the storm cells. We watched this for a while hoping that the cells would dissipate since many had already. But that was not to be as eventually we saw the first of many water spouts. Fortunately it was about 12 miles off the bow (click on the photo it will be easier to see). This got our attention in a hurry since no one wants to get hit by one of these things and the clouds started to line up behind us on a course to West End. That is to say, they were going to line the course we needed to follow to our destination. Because we had tried to go North for a while (see the GPS track) we now had a line of storm cells developing behind us and to the South West as well as a line going to West End. We were boxed out of West End and Florida was looking like where we should go. This is happening in the middle of the Gulf Stream. Better than half way across.

By this time I had tuned the radar to spot the water spouts and it was doing a good job of letting us know where they were forming. We continued North hoping the cells would dissipate but in a while one started forming right over us. I asked Deb to look up and behind us but there was nothing there. Thinking this was an anomaly I continued on with a wary eye on the radar. Then the blob on the screen started growing, and that was when I said to myself, later for this, and pulled a donut in the Gulf Stream. This is quite visible on the track as well. What I did was swing around and look for a break in the clouds. Once at the break we cut under them and got on the East side of the freight train.

Sure enough not long after we left that area a spout dropped down making us glad we left that spot but wondering what else was in store for us. And there was more. The show started to intensify and spouts started dropping in a line to the North of us, following the cloud line. We were now only 6 miles off of the line and some of the spouts were quite threatening. We were clearly able to see the water spray up at their bases and how they changed color when they touched down. We supposed they got darker with all of the water they ingested.

With the cat and mouse game in full play we tried steering a course that put us towards Grand Bahama in between West End and Lucaya. Every now and then things started to improve and we were actually within 10 miles of West End. We kept poking towards West End until the "BOW Echo" came on the radar screen. Those are associated with severe Tornadic activity. This put us on course to Lucaya with all possible speed of about 17.5 knots in a beam sea of about 2-4 and a period of about 4 seconds.

Farque'

And by the way, to our "pleasant" surprise another squall line developed to the South of us moving North and this was headed for Lucaya. Fortunately this only indicated rain and gusty winds, with no bright echos within it. Freedom had the salt washed off her before we tied up at the dock.

We pulled into the Port Lucaya Marina, and to our advantage they fueled us up while we filled out all of the required immigration and customs forms. Happily they granted us the full 6 months as opposed to the 3 months others were seeing at other stations. Filling out the marina guest information and turning that in was all that was left of a long day. Instead of something like 73 nautical miles on the water, or 86 nm to Lucaya directly, we wound up putting in 100 nm screwing around in the Gulf Stream. It's not all bad, because in spite of all of the heavy handed throttling, we still wound up with 1nm/gallon. Even though we like almost 2, 1nm/gal under the circumstances was well received.

In retrospect, I'm wishing I had taken some more photos of the spouts. Even some video. But we were too occupied with where we were, where we were going, the water, the gauges, the radar, the plotter, and WxWorx to relax enough. The first one we saw was cool. It was 12 miles away, and we thought it was a loner. Wow, were we wrong. When the large one showed up 5 miles off our port side with all of the spray at the base, we were more interested in making tracks instead of watching it.

So here we are, and we are safe thank you, pondering what the next batch of forecast data has in store for us. We still have to make our way around the North side of the Bank to the Abacos. Given all of the issues launching the boat and waiting on weather it looks like we will skip over Guana Cay until March so we can be on Elbow for the holidays.

No it's not broken down.

2010-11-22T14:12:00.004-05:00

I've loaded a video of a tow on Facebook: Tow in progress Sorry this is on Facebook but I didn't want to upload it twice. Next time I'll load to Youtube.

These photos ought to provide enough insight regarding navigation on the New River. Here we see a generic Mega Yacht being towed up the New River. When they pass by us they are quite close at perhaps 10 yards or so. And they are moving right along with a tow on the bow and one on the stern. Note the stern tow is facing away and being pulled backwards.

When traveling up the river everyone is obliged to be listening on VHF Channel 9, since the tow operators will announce their position and what they are up to. It's good to know about these movements because it is very narrow on the New River in many sections. And that is why the mega yachts have tows to get them up and down the river.

But it doesn't have to be a mega yacht to fill up the New River in a hurry. There's always the African, oops, Jungle Queen going up and down the river with tours. Last year we had the distinct pleasure of meeting up with this boat at the weary hour of 5 AM. We were departing for the Bahamas early in the morning so we could make Lucaya before sunset. Just as I managed to leave the other side and get Freedom swung perpendicular to the current, here comes the Queen (no saving graces were said or heard) around this corner. It stopped maybe 10 yards off our port side and then started to dart back and forth as though he was in a hurry to keep going. But the bridge wasn't open so we danced a bit with the Queen until she decided I needed some room to finish the turn and get out of her way.

And that we did

Up the New River

2010-11-21T16:41:00.001-05:00

We wanted to economize a bit so we moved up the New River to the Ft. Lauderdale Municiple Marina which occupies quite a bit of the river front from downstream of the 3rd Avenue bridge to upstream beyond the Andrews Avenue bridge. If you look at the webcam you will see our transom faces the third avenue bridge.
Looking at the GPS track one can see there is a confused path up between the bridges. We reserved in advance and were assigned spot #31. The attendant told us it was between the bridges. When we arrived we went between the bridges which required the 3rd avenue bridge to open. This bridge gets a huge amount of river traffic requiring openings. Anyway once inbetween the bridges with the 3rd avenue bridge closing we spoke with the marina and the spot was on the down stream side.
Being in current in a tight area with traffic is not exactly a relaxing situation. Especially since an 80 footer had to squeeze by us while I was on the phone with the marina. Learning where we were supposed to be, I asked the bridge to open again and since timing is everything, we had the tide running and a string of emergency vehicles that had to cross the bridge before it could re-open.

Swell.

Once downstream of the bridge again we find that someone is in the spot we were assigned. Talking on the phone with the marina once more we worked out another spot just down stream of the bridge and turned around once more. In the middle of our turning around the bridge opens and sure enough the Jungle Queen is coming at us blowing her whistle to let us know down stream vessels have the right of way. Like I didn't know it. I managed to get Freedom swung around and on the wall just as the Jungle Queen floated by.

We've had better boating experiences. At least the marital issues that can creep into special times like this didn't invade the situation.

But we're in and tied up and safe. A whopping 3.6 nm on the GPS today. I'll update this entry with a couple of photos including a shot of the Jungle Queen to add some perspective to the story. Perhaps sometime I'll have a wifi hotspot that allows folks to point the webcam and look at video. Adding to the fun on the day the generator refused to put water over the side so I'll be in the bilge trying to square that away. It's a good thing we always check for water when starting engines, the generator or the airconditioning. Especially in this case since it is a water cooled exhaust. It sounded louder than usual to me and the proof was no water going over the side.

Ft. Lauderdale on the ICW and the wait for a crossing begins

2010-11-18T19:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we moved the boat down to Ft. Lauderdale from North Palm Beach with the hope of getting into a geography that supports a more comfortable Gulf Stream crossing. Last year we learned that the wave heights taper off since more of the coast of Florida is sheltered by the Bahama bank. In other words, more of the Gulf Stream is protected by the bank the more South we move the boat.

We were wishing we moved the boat down on Monday to capitalize on the Wednesday through Thursday weather window but there is no need to rush and this way we have a better handle on the boat and what it needs. As we settle into a rhythm and develop more confidence we have the boat issues resolved the peace of mind goes up supporting confidence in the Gulf Stream crossing. Looking out at the stream over the palm trees one has to wonder why we sat here in Ft. Lauderdale.

So did we miss a window or avoid a train wreck? Both. We could have crossed over today and made Bimini easily. We probably could have made Lucaya or West End as well. But considering the outlook towards the end of the day and a forecast that was shifting in a negative direction we elected to sit here in Ft. Lauderdale until the next window. Given the notion that the word "probably" entered the scenario, we bailed out. Over the last couple of years we have had weather windows slam down on us and the last thing we need is to have one come down on us when we are in the Gulf Stream. So we'll hope for a window that offers us a cushion of fair weather after our planned crossing. It's always better to leave some room in the itinerary for unexpected events.

This is not a bad thing because we can focus on more preparations while we enjoy the sites and sounds of Ft. Lauderdale. There are much worse places to be stuck waiting for weather to improve. The area offers many places to dine, as well as a long clean beach to walk. Early in the morning there aren't so many folks on the walks but this is a far cry from the emptiness of the Bahamas and the peace that brings. No honking horns, or crowds to deal with. Since the Gulf Stream doesn't look as though it's going to settle down for a while we will be moving up the New River and closer to shops of necessity instead of curio shops.

Getting her ready and the trip to Lake Worth

2010-11-15T20:39:00.000-05:00

I know.

It's been a while since I wrote about our progress. We've finally had some break throughs enabling Freedom to move on. It seems like we were in and out of the water 4 times before the shafts were finally straight enough to run with. Each lift is no small task and very stressful. To put it into perspective, think about someone coming along with a crane and lifting up your house every few days. Anyway after letting Freedom rest in the water subsequent to the last launching the dial indicator told us there was virtually zero run out at a point about 1 foot from the hull exit point. Finally, no drunken drive shafts wobbling through the hull.

I have to hand it to the folks here at Indiantown.

They took a loss for the sake of dignity at the expense of the shop that was working on our prop shafts. We are very happy with the folks here.

So we took her out and ran her up. The Detroits screemed like 426 CID two stroke diesels do, and we plowed along at about 19 knots. It's not fast but that's good speed considering Freedom weighs in at 20 tons, we have plenty of the stores aboard, and a full load of fuel. I was surprised she wound up that fast. But in keeping with our luck up to that point the port engine sprang a fuel leak. Since this was a trial run for the work we had done the mechanics were aboard. After we turned around he ran up to let me know there was antifreeze everywhere on the port engine.

Insert expletive. "Farque" works for me.

I asked where the leak was and he said the aft most part on the inside of the engine. I said that isn't antifreeze and he said it was. He asked if we used the pink antifreeze and I said yes, but there is no way there is AF coming out of the engine there. So I went to the bilge and sure enough it was diesel. It's pink like antifreeze but easily differentiated from AF. Before leaving the helm to Deb I had throttled back so by this point the leak subsided. He indicated it was a cooler, and subsequently I pulled it out and had a look because it was soaked with diesel. It was NTF proven by a pressure test that was not required IMHO. My next guess turned out to be the correct assessment of where the fuel was coming from. It was a fuel pressure activated switch that turns on the engine hour meters and other trivia. Once replaced the leak was resolved and subsequently verified by throttling up Freedom at the dock in neutral.

With a sigh of relief since this was only 35 bucks and sweat equity to resolve we kicked back for the Saturday evening marina sponsored BBQ. It's a great time where the marina kicks in a main course and everyone in attendance brings a side and their own beverages. Lately everyone needs to relax because many of us here have been slogging through some major repairs. After eating, a married couple brought up their guitar and organ from their boat and began to play. They have done this for several weeks here and they are pleasant folk fun to listen to and be around.

But we heard yet another rendition of "Hotel California" that they like to play for the crowd at the marina. After hearing some of the repair stories people were going through we began to associate their singing of "Hotel California" with the plight of many of the boaters here. You know the lyrics "you can check out but you can never leave?". Many people were waiting on new engines, insurance claims and other issues. Every time they played that song it started to ring home adding to the incentive to move on.

In spite of the dull drums this maintenance has driven home we were in Stuart on Saturday to visit West Marine on US 1. It happens to be relatively close to the airport where they happened to have an air show running this past weekend. It wasn't a very large show but it managed to draw an Airforce contingency that included an F-16, an F-18 , various transports, and private stunt planes as well as crowds. We pulled into the parking lot at West Marine and to our surprise we had a great viewing of an F-18 pulling slow passes, full after burner ballistic shots, and 85 degree banked atmosphere shredding passes that went right overhead. We could clearly see the air condensing over the wings as it passed about 300 feet overhead totally banked pulling "G"s. I saluted the pilot and I could clearly see the helmet that's how close it was to us.

It scared the heck out of Debbie it was that loud but wow, was that cool. I wish I had the camera. Dang.

And today we moved on. Finally. Freedom behaved within expectations and brought us to Lake Worth and the North Palm Beach Marina. Along the way we were met by two exceptional AH's. One plowed along right at us and refused to back down. It was a good rocking. Then there was the bimbo driving her boat right at us with her leg hanging over the side. Yes, she was alone in the boat. If she fell in, it was going to get ugly. Given we know several people that have fallen out of a running boat left unattended, she had us concerned. We're unsure what her agenda is but some might think she was advertising.

I've created a new link off of the blog to the latest GPS data called "The 2010-2011 Voyage". It will contain the Google Earth compatible tracks so the trip can be reviewed. Depending on how you set up the tour play options it can be interesting. Particularly when reviewed from a higher altitude so you can see the properties that are along the ICW.

Some people know how to live. We do ok, but some people REALLY know how to live.

The first photo is Jupiter inlet. It looks placid enough but they are saying the Gulf Stream is still running high seas and it starts about 4 miles off shore lately.

I think I'd rather see dolphins next to Freedom

2010-11-08T14:04:00.000-05:00

Today we had Freedom hauled yet again. So far this commissioning has to be the worst we've ever experienced. Freedom has been lifted and re blocked in the work area, lifted and launched, hauled and blocked and launched, hauled inspected and launched, hauled and blocked and launched, and we anticipate this will happen one more time tomorrow.
See something missing in the photo? In between all of the hauling, blocking, and launching etc., both sets of running gear found their way to a propeller shop. Today we removed some of this reworked hardware and brought it back in so the owner of the propeller shop could review the work.

It did not go well. He was certain we would find the shaft was true, but much to his dismay that was not the case. I was able to observe some of the measurements. As they approached the problem area the dial indicator moved quite a bit and I looked at the owner, the team leader for the marina, and said, I think we are out of here now. That was as if to say we know where the issue is, the shaft is still bent.

Not too much time went by before I heard the owner screaming at the employee. Right about that time I told the marina's team leader it was time for us to leave. Since Freedom had been re floated with a stub shaft installed we had a place to run to. If you click on the photo of Freedom you will see the bright spot at the back end of the intermediate strut. That's the end of the stub shaft we are using to keep Freedom afloat while the real shaft is repaired.

While we were moving about taking care of the re floating details left unattended to while we went to the shop, a bit of company swam up to the side of Freedom.

Ali was in town. Real stealthy. Not even a ripple in the water when it moved. Real peaceful looking as it slithered by. Unless you were looking for it it probably would have gone by with us thinking it was a log in the water.

Hopefully we keep floating.

Another turn of the wheel.....

2010-11-05T18:12:00.000-04:00

All of the Kings Men have fallen on their faces. After pulling shafts, props, and couplings for all of the running gear, reworking it, and then reinstalling it, the same problem exists. I didn't even need to sea trial the boat to spot it and flag it again.

So Monday we get hauled again and they go to work. If we are lucky someone will find out what is happening here.

With that, I'm going in. LATER!

Back on the hard...

2010-10-29T20:32:00.000-04:00

As we reviewed the situation yesterday, we said out loud, "this is really gonna suck". Anyway it is what it is and Freedom is back up on the hard. We're not sure what the cause of the issue is, but it's better to get it resolved before we leave this marina and travel on risking more damage. Misaligned or bend shafts can lead to other failures that raise the cost of "poker".

So what happened?

At idle in gear tied down at the dock the port side propellor shaft was visably oscillating. One could look at the shaft seal and see it wooble quite a bit even at low speed. Good thing I checked it before we left.

We're not sure yet but we suspect one of two things happened on the port side. The flange attached to the propellor shaft that mates the shaft with the transmission is warped or, the shaft is bent. I installed new shaft seals prior to the launch. That entailed separating the transmission and propellor shaft flanges, removing the flanges from the shafts, installing new seals, and then reattaching everything. The port side flange was a bear to remove from the propellor shaft. Quite a bit of pressure on the "gear puller" was required before it popped loose. That could have warped 1/2 inch steel. Tough to imagine I could do that with a few bolts while using a pattern of tightening to distribute the load but it's certainly possible.

Part of the process of reinstalling all of this was to hand lap the shafts into the flanges again. They are a self locking tapered fit with a key. While this was a chore considering the flange weighs about 15 pounds it all looked good. I should have stuck a dial indicator on it though. We all believe this was not the source of the issue. The pros removing everything this time have no explanation.

So the running gear went to a shop for examination with all sorts of high tech gear and lathes. While all of this is happening we are dumping the GFO packing and Buck Algonquin spud type seals for Tide Marine dripless seals. Even though we were only idling at the dock in gear I could not get the temperature of the packing fittings on the shaft below a very hot to the touch temperature. Perhaps with two coils instead of three we'd get the temperature down but all recommendations were for three. Even with a large gap between the ends allowing for expansion on the starbord side, they both ran hot at a very loose setting of the spud.
Fortunately we have great people around us here at Indiantown Marina. I can't say enough about them.

Life on the road and at Indiantown

2010-10-19T18:56:00.000-04:00

We left NY for Florida last Wednesday setting aside three days of driving at 8 hours per day. Traffic was good and on every day we made great time down I95 towards Florida. There was only one major delay where a bridge was being raised to allow taller traffic on I95. Several of the bridges passing over I95 have been raised already but as fate would have it while traversing North Carolina they had both Southbound lanes closed at one of the older I95 crossings. All traffic had to exit I95 then cross an intersection and then get back on I95. It sounds simple but the traffic had to squeeze down to a single lane. We were lucky we left early in the day so we were only backed up in traffic about a mile deep when it caught us.

Arriving in Savannah, we had a great Sushi dinner out with Michele where we combined efforts to consume 6 rolls. Great food at Miyabi in Savannah.

We were lucky we left NY when we did because that got us to Indiantown in the early afternoon on Friday. If we arrived on Saturday we would have lost the ability to work on Freedom for two days because they don't run the travelift on weekends and the boat was not in the work yard. After driving 8 hours, we unloaded the car hoisting everything up about 10 feet onto Freedom, and then we helped move the boat and reconnect it to some power. A long day.

The boat made it through the Summer very well. Having a dehumidifier running aboard with an over side drain kept the insides dry. This kept just about everything free of mildew. But grinding off all of the scale on the rudders, trim tabs and propeller shafts was a 2.5 day chore with 40 grit sand paper on a 5 inch random orbital sander. It was like trying to sand concrete. This photo of the aft most strut displays the level of encrustation that was common to all of hardware under the waterline. At first blush it doesn't look dense enough to be a problem and that's what we thought. We know much better now. There has to be a better way that works for the EPA. Anyway the shafts are cleaned up and can slide through the cutlass bearings easily and that facilitates removal and installation of shaft seals which let go and started leaking water into the bilge back in the Spring. When they quit working we were traveling to the Berry Islands across the Northwest Providence channel (big, deep water) from Lucaya. While the Eastern opening of this passage is mostly protected from the open Atlantic, it can still get ugly out there. But we waited quite while for calm weather and it paid dividends plus. The water was very calm for that crossing.

With four full days of work done we still have two more and if we keep at it Freedom will be in the water Friday! But we still have install new shaft seals, lap the shafts into the flanges, connect the shafts to the transmissions and repack the rudders before we wash and wax the hull. By hand of course. I have to work off all of the conch fritters I consumed last season in the Bahamas somehow.

Once in the water we are thinking it will be another week afloat before we start moving again. With all of the work going into Freedom we want to make sure she hasn't sprung a leak or two. And there are all of the electronics to reconnect and check out also.

Tropical "storm" Nicole and getting ready

2010-10-02T12:26:00.000-04:00

Nicole came up our way and left quite a bit of rain in the hills to the Northwest of Kingston. Given some of the roads up around the Rondout Reservoir and Askokan offer good scenery we opted to go for a ride.

The roads of particular interest were Route 42 and 55A. The later was open for all we wanted and so was Route 46 leading to 42. But 42 was closed somewhere along the way so we could not traverse the entire length. We did go up the road from each end, and while traveling from one side to the other we were able to locate many waterfalls that were in full force. As you can see the leaves have not started to change much yet so perhaps we'll need another ride so we get to see them before heading South.

Parts are coming in all the time and we have a mountain in the basement that has to fit into the car. By the way, I am hoping our new webcam will behave well when we are hooked up to hotspots that play well with it. As it turns out some hotspots don't allow people to sign into the cam so merely looking at the photo will have to do. I'll update the blog with the link to the camera when it's stabilized as much as it can.

Battleship Cove

2010-09-04T13:06:00.002-04:00

Looking for anything boating related we can occupy ourselves with these days without Freedom we happened upon the opportunity to get out to Fall River Massachusetts where Battleship Cove has been set up. Here everyone can find a collection of warships that is open to the public at a reasonable price.

In this shot I am standing within the bridge of Big Mamie, the USS Massachusetts. There are several restoration efforts under way and one of them is the bridge. This view is so clear because at this time there are no forward windows in the bridge. Most of the bridge related equipment has been removed as well.

Even though Big Mamie is not one of our largest battleships, being a member of the South-Dakota class at 680 feet and 35,000 tons, it's immense. Everyone is free to walk around the boat and visit all of the decks. We spent quite a bit of time aboard and managed to get lost a couple of times. There are many passage ways that wind around the lower levels of the turrets, and they do extend down into the boat many levels.
Nothing is held back and people may also review the engine rooms if they want to. There are safety shields in places and the catwalks are open so it's easy to get the full perspective.

We toured all of the other warships in the cove and the USS Lionfish stood out as my personal favorite. It's a Balao-class submarine and if you want to know how cramped things can get in a submarine this is the place to learn. It won't take long to develop a special respect for submariners. Last year aboard the USS New Jersey at Camden I was informed by crew that I was "too tall for battleship duty". Having banged around aboard the Lionfish I'm thinking I'm not fit for submariner duty either.

Included in the list of exhibits are helicopters, airplanes, armament, beautiful examples of accurately restored PT boats complete with engines and drive gear, and even a Russian built missile corvette. With so much to look at make sure you have sneakers as opposed to brand new sandals that carve into your feet. Note to self, don't do that again.

Outside Battleship Cove, we were happy to have a long overdue dinner out with our boating buddies from the Bahamas and spend some additional quality time aboard their yacht. Another plus came our way since they gave us a tour of the locale aboard their dink, even making it around Bassetts Island in spite of the chop coming in from Buzzard's Bay. All in all it was a great weekend to be out and about in spite of the looming danger presented by Hurricane Earl. Fortunately Earl turned out to be an excuse to have a hurricane drill. Certainly it was a chore for those that had their boats hauled but I'm thinking it's cheap insurance to make the effort and be ready.

Earl barely lived up to a Winter weekend in the Abacos and hopefully that trend continues with the Hurricane season leaving everyone without any more damage that it has already caused.

Added a link to the bucket folder for 2010 through 2011.

Meanwhile back on the nautical theme

2010-08-10T19:25:00.003-04:00

We've been out and about up here on the Hudson River visiting lighthouses. There are several open to the public and they are all worth a stop. So far we have been to Saugerties and Kingston but Esopus and Athens are also on our list. While none of these lights are located in a romantic spot like Hopetown Harbour on Elbow Cay, they certainly lend themselves to visitors as interesting stops. Besides the Hopetown light is not open for overnight guests. But on the flip side the Hopetown light is open all day without an admission fee. It's just the travel expense that will set one back a bit.
Anyway - Kingston and Saugerties both have operational lighthouses that double as museums. Saugerties also offers an additional pleasant surprise as being an operational Bed and Breakfast located on the edge of the Hudson. It's open all year by the way.
But it wasn't always good for these lights.
Both of these lights have been brought back from the brink of demolition, and we are fortunate considerate people looked out for them and took control of their destiny. As I said the Saugerties light is well equipted as a Bed and Breakfast with comfortable sleeping quarters and plenty of space. Prospective guests may arrive by either boat or car. I'd say folks arriving by car have an advantage because they can travel into town for a meal if they like but from what I have heard the breakfasts at the light (included if I am not mistaken) are quite good.
Because the Saugerties Light is currently open to the public as a Bed and Breakfast in addition to being open for tours it gets the edge as my favorite thus far but I am sure young families will also enjoy visiting these places given their location and the content within them. People with young children will need to keep a lookout.

But the Kingston Light needs our support so stop in and look around. Ultimately the dollars will help with the restoration. Given how many communities have taken an interest in their lighthouses it's only fair that Kingston grow in this direction as well. These sites make interesting tourist attractions and Kingston has missed out on this revenue for too long. It's not all bad as far as the Kingston light goes, don't get me wrong. The Hudson Maritime museum has grown over the years and this also make an interesting stop loaded with artifacts from the industrial revolution. The museum more than makes up for the spartan musty environment the light contains.

And, the maritime museum frequently sponsors activities that many will enjoy. For instance this past weekend they held the steam boat rendezvous. While not many of them showed up this time, those that did were crewed by pleasant folks that were willing to discuss their hobby at length.

For further information see:

http://saugertieslighthouse.com/

http://www.kingstonlighthouse.com/

http://www.hrmm.org/

And you never know what you will find at the Hundson River Maritime Museum:

The Summer of 2004 Cruise

2010-07-05T21:35:00.000-04:00

For kicks I have uploaded the server with the Garmin data in Google Earth format of our trip up the Erie Canal to the Thousand Islands.
It's under the http://home.roadrunner.com/~danmapes/Summer04.kmz heading. The boundary markings and a route I had plotted may confuse the display a bit but you "get the drift".

A day in Lower Manhattan

2010-07-05T13:17:00.002-04:00

While it's not exactly what many would think is a great hike, it certainly is interesting. What we decided to do was drive down to Jersey City and then take the water taxi over to Manhattan for a walk. This all worked out quite well. As it turned out the parking was reasonably priced and there was plenty of it for a week day. All one has to do is follow the signs to Liberty Park. The ferry is a short walk and it runs every 30 minutes. At 14 bucks round trip it might seem a bit on the expensive side but if the weather is good the view will make it worth while.

The weather could not have been better for a walk in the city given the temperature was not predicted to exceed 75 degrees. About the only thing wrong with the view is the lack of the WTC but progress is being made. There are many cranes sweeping across the sky helping to raise up what was torn down. I can recall standing in front of the towers as a child with dad as they were going up. We looked up and almost fell backwards in amazement. And now we look up again while new towers are being built. All around lower Manhattan we see how the times have changed. Barricades are everywhere and pop up road blocks appear out of the side walk to prevent unwanted entrance into buildings with cars. I wonder what it would be like to be standing on atop one when they are raised. Not too fast I would assume.

Anyway we worked our way over to China town and it is every bit as busy as it was when I drove a taxi in Manhattan during the college days. All sorts of wares spill out into the sidewalks on shaky stands where passersby can examine them for purchase.

Once past China town and on Mulberry street, in the center of Little Italy the restaurant hawkers flash Menes at us and attempt to convince us into their establishment for lunch, but we know where we are going. And that is Pelligrino's. Over the years we came to know this place for good calamari and veal and they didn't let us down this time either.

After a large lunch the walked back to the West side a bit slower than we did on the way over but we managed. The rough part was leaving the city behind on the water taxi and then driving back North.

Cruisin' Cremes

2010-06-25T20:26:00.001-04:00

Every Friday here in Port Ewen the ice cream place Cruising Cremes hosts a hotrod show. If the weather is good we can count on a good turn out representing many eras of facination with the American Auto. There is always a diverse mix of cars to review but without question Chevrolet is well represented. If one takes the time to walk around and pause at all of the open hoods one will be rewarded and amazed to see flat head Fords, and Ofenhauser intakes as well as full on blown big blocks.

Not only are they there, but they sparkle. It's amazing to see how well cared for these cars are! If we didn't have a couple of Detroit 6-71TIs in Freedom I'm thinking a small block Chevy would be the target of our attention. While the first photo is a Mopar, check out the detail and cleanliness.

Then there are the Rats. This one blew by us as we walked up to the lot where all the cars were. It sounded good and the stealth black look was cool. Upon taking in a closer look we found it had "see through" valve covers. This certainly would have been fun to take in while the engine was running.

All of this harkened us back to Emily. We really were attached to her and had a great time with her while she was parked in our spot. But without a garage to keep her in we had to let her go back in the Fall of '08 when we started the adventure with Freedom. It sure would be great to have her with us in the Summer but she'd take a beating from the weather without a garage. So we'll live with our new car. A Hyundai Tuscon. Geeze do I feel old now.

Highfalls NY

2010-06-22T17:14:00.007-04:00

Trying to get some exercise these days we've taken to walking. Deb found the canal trail for the D & H canal online so off we went. The museum is located just off Rte 213 in Highfalls NY but it is only open on weekends from what we have read. http://www.canalmuseum.org/

Before I get into the path this area is somewhat familiar to me because we used to travel up from NYC on weekends and fish here. There was also a certain amount of swimming that went on as well. The canal actually traveled over the Rondout Creek via an Aqeduct and there are still ruins of that structure. That's where we used to get a running jump into the water below.

It wasn't a jump to take too lightly because one has to clear the lower ledge. All totaled I'm thinking it was about a 20 or 25 foot jump and about 6 feet or so out to clear the lower ledge. So back up a bit while counting your steps and take a running leap off the edge. Make sure you clear the point in the lower ledge as you go, and while you are thinking about that during the run, don't trip over the rocks at the edge.

Any way, jump we did and many times at that. I think the last time I lept off this was back in 1981 or '82. But no more! After taking in the familiar areas at the aqueduct and dam (yes we jumped that also) where the hydro plant is, we walked along the canal on the other side of Rte 213.

Looking at the canal and how narrow it is, I wondered how such a narrow canal could fuel the Industrial Revolution down in NYC. Going over one of the bridges supplied by the society I paced it off at about 13 feet at the widest point. Since Freedom needs about 14 feet I'm thinking we couldn't help fuel the Irevolution.

Maybe we can find someone like Bill Gates to chuck a ton of money at this and get it all operational again (ya right).

All along the path we were greated by the large Pileated Woodpeckers with their chattering and bright colors. There were plenty of mosquitos as well so if you decide to take this pleasant trail make sure you have some bug spray and apply it liberally.

I have to admit I was skeptical

2010-06-15T21:57:00.000-04:00

About the walkway over the Hudson when the idea was first floated. It seemed as though it was a waste of money. But it's here and without question it was a great idea.
The cost of 38.8 million and 16 months of effort to transform it seems high but given the amount of people that were walking along the bridge I'd say it was worth it. Especially given it would have cost much more to tear it down.

The views walking the Battery in lower Manhattan are different and include many historic landmarks like the Statue of Liberty but these views taken in their context, are all the equal and more. On a clear day it seems one can see many many miles. Having lived in the valley these last 30 years, being up on the walkway lent an insight to the lay of the land and buildings that one cannot enjoy unless being in an airplane. Speaking of flight it was different to have a seagull fly past and continue on below the walkway for what seemed forever.

The panoramic views from the walkway are nothing less than spectacular on a clear day. It makes for an excellent place to get a little exercise while enjoying the fresh air and view!

That's it, it's a wrap.

2010-06-12T17:15:00.000-04:00

Our 2009/2010 season has ended. Freedom is up on the hard and will stay that way for the Summer into next Fall.

She 'dun us proud' again this year, taking us around the Bahamas more than in the prior year but at least she didn't have to run the ICW this year. With that it was just about exactly 100 hours on the engines to run from West Palm to Lucaya, up the canal and around to the Abacos, back around the bank and down to the Berry Islands, to Bimini and back to the U.S.
But the years are adding up on her and as a result we have some work to do once the Summer is over and the next boating season approaches.
I have to admit she's in pretty good hands now. The folks that hauled her out were the first people to put a level on her swim platform to check their blocking. As a result, when the doors are opened up now they swing aft and point exactly aft. This is something that has never happened in the 10 years we've had Freedom stored on the hard.
That and the shrink wrapping is second to none. It comes just about all the way down to the boot stripe. Given that we are much more confident we won't have to worry about critters getting into the vents etc.. And they have this covering all the way over the dink and pulled tight!
So once again it's a wrap.

I thought I'd heard it all....

2010-05-19T20:39:00.004-04:00

Or,

How many ways can your significant other freak?

We are in the throws of prepping Freedom for life on the hard. That means all sorts of cleaning and sorting. What stays, what goes home. What needs to be cleaned and when does it have to happen so the boat is as clean as it can be when we leave it. We're moving around quickly and actually quite lucky that we have a parking spot for the van right by the boat. That means my path up to the van is short and the unloading process goes easily.

Up to the freak point.

A serious freaking occured. One that transcended sharks in the Sea of Abaco or surfing into Norwalk with Freedom.

Al came into town.

You know Al. Al E. Gator? It sort of just slid by the boat the way aligators do. Real quiet like. Until Deb went to pour a bucket of water over the side and it was right under the bucket.

Women make strange noises some times. The peacefulness of the day was interrupted by panic.

I thought it was cool. Actually we both did but it took a while for that realization to set in.

And so the Winter is over

2010-05-05T20:30:00.005-04:00

With a sigh of regret and a bit of apprehension we departed Bimini for the U.S.. It's been almost six months since we left the U.S. back in November. In fact our immigration papers expired on 5/15/10 so we really stretched our stay out as far as we could. Renewal of the papers is an option, and some do, but maintenance on Freedom is piling up and the only place to perform that is back in the States when she comes out of the water for the Summer.
The weather leading up to our departure was quite windy on many occasions. The Gulf Stream was not kicking up much but it was certainly agitated enough to prevent us from running it. After all we only have 13.5 feet of beam and we travel at about 8 knots. The combination of waves at short intervals lends itself to a slow ride with some sharp rolling. When they are close together the ride can be quite uncomfortable. Big 2000 HP Sporties eat this up without flinching. Ok, even the 40 footers with about 1000 HP have a good ride.
But not us.
Forecast data had the Stream at 2 feet or less. As many of us have learned this was not exactly the case. It was more like an ocean swell of 2-3 out of the South West with chop on top out of the South East that was representative of the forecast. So that meant we had the obligatory wave at 2-3 times the forecast picking us up and rolling us suddenly. Maybe it wasn't so suddenly because after all, you've got to be blind not to see it coming. Folks feeling seasick don't see it coming. They merely flow with the go. No one lost it but suffice it to say it was close.

In spite of that we whiled away the time watching flying fish shoot out of the water and glide above the waves. Once in a while other boats appeared as they traveled to their destinations. We figure that there were several headed to Lucaya or West End, as well as others traveling to Bimini. Many left with us upon reciept of the favorable forecast for the Gulf Stream crossing to Florida, but all of them out ran us.
I have uploaded the Garmin data including this run from Bimini to Pompano. It has our average speed at 7 knots from Bimini to Pompano Fl.. Note that this includes the ICW time heading up to Pompano, and that has time waiting for bridges to open so this is not representative of the average while we were out in the blue water. Out in the Gulf Stream our combined stream speed and forward motion had us at 10 or 11 knots over the ground on several occasions. Given the boat was making about 8 knots the affect of the Gulf Stream and Weather are now more understandable. We tried to maintain the course recommendations in the guides that account for the Gulf Stream current but the addition of the wave action and wind was enough to blow us North beyond the assumptions the guides made. The wave action alone dictated a more Northerly course to make the ride tolerable. It's not like we have a sail to flatten out the ride Maggie.
But we slogged back towards Port Everglades because Hilsboro Inlet has a bit of a reputation. The wind and wave action appeared as though they would make this inlet a "ride".
As a result I had to make a couple of corrections to keep us on track for Port Everglades Florida. One for commercial traffic, and much later on, another Southern correction to hit the Port Everglades inlet. The commercial traffic out in the ocean moves faster than one might expect for their size. In no time at all they are upon you and if you drop your guard their wake will catch you by surprise.
Now that we are back in the States we are trying to gear up again. It's culture shock. Drive on the right, traffic lights, and stop signs. Cars are everywhere and moving fast, instead of an occasional golf cart with a friendly face offering a ride to Hope Town. On the upside we can rent a car for what it costs to rent a golf cart in the Bahamas!
That and there are Italian restaurants serving up Calamari with Hot Peppers and Marinara.

It's good to be back in the States.

Now we have the usual remarks from dock masters over the air. After the initial dialog to establish connections and recall the reservation we have;
"Sands Harbor this is Freedom, which slip will we be in?"
"Freedom you will be in slip 15"
"Ok Sounds good."
"Freedom do you know where slip 15 is? Have you been here before?"
"Negative"
"It's between slip 14 and 16".

Having been out in the heat and on the water all day I was still able to laugh and afterwards he did give us much better directions. Dang Aussies, always have to get their shots in.

A little closer to home

2010-04-26T21:35:00.002-04:00

When I last spoke, we were at the Berry Cays, specifically on Great Harbour Cay. It was very scenic and quiet there but the weather prevented us from taking out the dink and traveling to some of the sites we wanted to visit, like Market Fish and Hoffman's Cays. These were long rides in the dink, perhaps as much as 15 miles each way. Given the westerly wind patterns and our experience telling us 8 miles was enough we elected not to push it and move on.
In spite of leaking dripless shaft seals, we have arrived at Bimini. We had to sweat things out along the way because the shafts started leaking. Not much of a leak. It was about the same as having standard packings. About a drop a second or two. Since this was in line with the non catastrophic failure, I pushed on and to our advantage the leaks settled down to the point they stopped for a while. All in all after traveling about 11 or 12 hours from the Berries to Bimini we only shipped about a gallon or two of water. Since (for years) I have been performing regular bilge checks while running we were on top of the situation and within a comfort zone. No big deal in spite of some paranoia. Besides the water was so shallow we could have sat on the bridge and waited for help if it got 'that bad'.
We chose some great weather to make the run from the Berries to Bimini. It was a very smooth ride and on several occasions we were treated to views through gin clear water. If you click on the photo and look closely you will see all the tracks that were left on the bottom. The water isn't very deep on the bank. In some places one can only expect five feet at low tide and that's when we were running. Low tide. Freedom only pulls 3.5 feet. Being fortunate to have good weather and light winds on we went until we hit the deeper water where all the "Sporties" took off by pushing the throttles forward on the V10 MTUs and V12 Cats. Awesome boats. Must be nice! Some might say the same about us also I suppose.

It was actually a bit of a dull ride across the bank. We took turns on watch while the other played electronic Yatzee. I guess that doesn't say much but it helped pass the time.
But when we were within about 3 hours of North Rock at the North end (ya think?) of Bimini, we had company. What we think is a Whip-poor-will caught up with us and started flying around the bridge. Since we had the enclosure down due to the heat we were wondering if it was going to land on our heads. We were hopeful it would land somewhere because there was no land in sight and it was flying low, seemingly 'out of gas'. Fortunately the bird landed on the bow rail and stayed with us all the way to Bimini where it took flight and landed on another motor yacht. This sly little critter had us worried. I'm thinking it was totally within its envelope now. It held on even after the swell from the Gulf Stream started to hit us on the starboard bow.
Coming around the North end of Bimini we dealt with bad information in the cruising guides that document one must go north and round the Moselle Bank. Not so. There's plenty of water there. However coming into Bimini, one has to have things working well and find the markers that may or may not be there. Fortunately for us they were present and the water was calm.

So we settled down and the next day we took the dink out to the wreck of the Sapona. It's pretty spectacular to take in from a dink and it was worth the 4 mile ride out against the chop. They say Henry Ford had it built and used it for an escape from Prohibition. And we all thought he was a good tea totaling business man that brought America into a new age. Anyway we circled it a couple of times and Deb was able to review marine life with the look bucket. Once we had our fill we moved on to the Rocks, the South Riding Rocks. We stayed in the lee which happened to be on the Gulf Stream side and worked these as far as we could back to South Bimini. It was a much more comfortable ride (I know, why didn't we go out that way) on the way back and Deb was able to use the look bucket quite a bit to check out coral and fish in the depths below us.
The water here is very clear, so all we need is some good weather now. That front that brought all the Tornadoes to the U.S. hit us today and tore all the zippers from the enclosure. Well, not all of them but quite a few. But we're safe and looking forward to some more sedate weather.

I've put some photos in the bucket and updated the GPS data as well. You might enjoy flying the "Sapona Wreck Dink" GPS track with Google Earth. And the web cam (for what it was worth) is dead. The router's just don't agree with the wifi here. That and having to restore the laptop due to an incompatibility between IE8 and Symantic, well, I've decided to wait until the wifi is more reliable and forgiving.

Touring around Great Harbour Cay

2010-04-20T20:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was mostly a day of relaxation after the stressful crossing from Lucaya what with the imposing weather. But after a while we went out in the dink and found a blue hole. If you review the GPS tracks you'll see it on Goggle Earth. Use Internet Explorer to open the files and G.E. will start up if you have it installed. It was difficult to see anything below the dink because the skies were cloudy, but Deb was certain the bottom dropped out from under us. Perhaps tomorrow the sun will be out and we can get a better look.
Later on Heinz came across from Lucaya with his gang and once again we were able to share an evening over some wine aboard their boat. I have to give them credit. Being German they were all willing to speak English with us with only an occasional translation for someone who did not understand.
Usually I am very easy to understand or ignore. But not being totally familiar with English they had a tough time once in a while.
We all had a good time having an enjoyable, lively discussion about Harleys, cars, and guns. But with their departure for Nassau we needed to find something to do so we ventured out and rented a golf cart for the day.
As the Bahamas go, or more correctly, compared to the Abacos and the outer islands we've been to, the Berry's are quiet. Everyone here has been friendly and warm. In fact we took a walk on the beach the first day we were here and while walking back along the road a kind man named Emerson stopped and gave us a ride back to the marina. That's the sort of folks that live here. Everyone waves and says hello. Do you think they want our dollars? If so they have certainly received the message but I think it's more their nature than anything else. Heck, they live in a very pleasant environment when the weather is good. Hopefully they continue to get good weather and avoid the storms.

Out and about in the cart we covered the island. To the north there are several beaches and we hit a few.
I have to say that overall the beaches here are devoid of sea glass or shells. Perhaps it's because there are no life supporting reefs just off shore. This would be a large geographical difference between here and the Abacos. But the beaches are very clean with natural debris like seaweed and etc.. The sand is soft on the foot being small grained. It makes it difficult walking but that's not bad because the conch fritters at the Beach Bar here on Great Harbour Cay are excellent and we have to work them off somehow.
They are probably the best I've had in the Bahamas. You wouldn't know it by looking at the place but the smell of bleach is reassuring and the view is nothing short of breath taking. The cook's approach here is to make smaller fritters, say no more than an inch in diameter and load them up with conch. Add in some spice and a good dressing and wow, were they were great! I should have ordered another round. Perhaps tomorrow. There's nothing like looking out at the Ocean on a calm day with a full plate of conch fritters and a couple of Kalik's. It just doesn't get better. And then Heinz shows up in his ride off shore. We gave him a call on the hand held radio, something one should always have available, and toasted them on their way to Nassau. It certainly looks like it was a day to make the run around the North East side of the Berry's and head South! If you click on the photo you'll see them out there with the hammer down on their 800 hp CATs.

But here you see Shark Creek on the South end of Great Harbour. Perhaps we could get in here with the dink but the water on the West side is really skinny so walking the beach will probably have to suffice.
On the way back into town, if you could call it that, we stopped to look over the air port. It's pleasant enough with a small strip mall housing some stores. Sure enough the Australian couple we met earlier over lunch at the Beach Bar were there trying to extend their visas. They were burning off some time over lunch waiting for the immigration official to show up. He was out on one of the cruise ships off Great Stirup Cay so they could not take care of business. So we offered them a ride back to the marina where their dink was. They had come North into the marina from South of Hoffmans Cay some 18 miles away over shallow water having to haul it a bit to get going again. Not a pleasant experience by any means. But they had to get their papers in order so they were in a bind. Last we saw they were able to get a ride later in the afternoon back to the airport since the officials had arrived. At least they were able to get gas for their dink while waiting for the officials.
It would be a bad thing to run out of gas 20 miles away from your boat out here.
It would also be a bad thing to try and land your airplane on a driveway. That just doesn't work.

Later Lucaya, and Hello Great Harbour Cay

2010-04-18T15:32:00.001-04:00

We finally got a break in the weather. We could have crossed yesterday but the forecast changed overnite. Fortunately the window that opened was at least two days wide so we geared up and left on the second morning at the crack of dawn. We had a great time on Lucaya, and enjoyed out stay there. The amount of time we were held up by weather worked out well enough so that we did not run out of things to do before the next window South opened up. Driving on the "correct" side of the road was different and in spite of that challenge we walked away from the rental without a scratch. Others were not so lucky.

I heard the rental owner and employees talking about the fact that at least two cars had been totaled during the week we had ours. In fact our rental was delayed by another one. Maybe it was all that practice on the BQE with the TR-4A back in the 70's that prepared me. It could have been the taxi driving I did in Manhattan while in college. All 83 days of it. No matter what it was it worked.

So I mentioned the weather window was two days wide right? HA! YOU FOOL!!! We caught you again the forecasters sneer. Feel free to insert your own expletives that reflect on the weather man.

This is a screen shot of what "blew up in our faces" once we were well off shore heading for the Berries. The WxWorx is a "North up" view and the nav software is a "course up" view so things may not appear to line up well. Regardless we're out there where the container ships rule and cruise ships stop to let people hang out on relatively remove islands. It's certainly not like Long Island.

Here is another screen shot of where we were at that time. As you can see we had some alternatives laid down that got us onto the "bank" at difference spots. In stead of driving into the weather not knowing how bad it really was we put the spurs to Freedom and she didn't let us down. It may not sound like much running her at 13 knots but she's running at about 80% at those RPM with a heavy load of fuel, water and "all that stuff what we take with us" when we travel. So the race was on and we pulled onto the bank by the cruise ships as the light rain set in. As it turns out the heavy rain disapaited just South West of the Berries.
Cool. So the weatherman isn't so bad after all.

So now we are on about 8 feet of water, and we're looking at all the dark spots thinking they are coral heads. Coral can do some serious damage to running gear. It's probably pushed it up into boats and pulled it out on others. They are quite solid and rock like but this time it turns out that they were grassy spots. So on we continue and we come up to a point where the island has been opened up to let people into what must be a man-made harbour (English spelling thank you very much).
This is what we've been looking for so in we go and with that we are tied up at the Great Harbour Cay Marina.
I've updated the GPS data and as we get some photos I'll add them to the bucket. But for now, we've been up since 4:30 AM getting the boat ready and piloting and it's time for a Bloody Mary!

Calm seas are still elusive

2010-04-15T11:21:00.003-04:00

Ever since we arrived here back on the 5th of April, we've been hoping for some calm water to facilitate the next part of the trip. We thought this would come sooner than today since we've been watching the forecasts for some time leading up to our departure for Lucaya. Back then it always seemed as though the Northwest Providence Channel was more cooperative based on the forecasts.

Since all of that has changed we'll be here was seems like another 5 or 6 days waiting on the weather to calm down out there. While the wave heights are not all that bad, the period of the waves is short making for a very uncomfortable and wet ride.

Our last encounter with heavy chop encouraged me to go after the seams in the hard top with some 5200 by 3M. Perhaps with this change the amount of water that makes its way into the bridge will be reduced. It wasn't the new enclosure that had all the issues. There are seams between the hard top cover and frame as well as between the enclosure bead and frame. With the help of the 5200 I have plugged up quite a few of these so I'm hopeful we will have less water dripping when we encounter weather.

So things are getting done while we sit out the slop.

Having a car for a week allowed us to move about Grand Bahama easily. We've done quite a bit of site seeing as well as shopping. Prices here are not all that bad but one has to be careful where one shops. Prices for the same items can vary substantially. More so than at home.

Our site seeing included a visit to the Lucayan National Park. They have provided walkways to a couple of caves near the Southern shore of Grand Bahama and a very pleasant beach. Walking down into the caves was a bit of an experience since the openings start out as a rock ledge that overhangs some pools of crystal clear water. Going down some wooden steps one arrives at some interconnected platforms that are attached to the rocks allowing you to look around. There are several pools of water that have fish in them. Perhaps bringing along some food for the fish might prove interesting as the fish are quite sedate.

I think if you click on the photo of the water in the cave you may see some fish eyes that managed to ellude the red eye function the camera has. Maybe I should have used a "fish eye" lens?
I know. Moving on -
We have driven from one end of Grand Bahama to the other. Along the way we saw the damage caused by the brush fire along the canal and, we encountered another brush fire that was threatening the road. It seems these fires are common here. The sun does leave quite a bit of dried our brush on the ground waiting to be ignited.
Arriving at McLeans Town on the Eastern end we were a bit disappointed because there was no place that looked like a place we wanted to sit down and have lunch at. This is the Bahamas and there isn't much to support a small restaurant at this end of the island. While there is ferry service to Abaco, the dock is small and there is only a small hut with a teller whiling away the hours of duty in between dockings. The ride back into Lucaya was pleasant enough with stops at several beaches along the way.
The beaches are quite clean from the water line up to the ground covering brush and trees but there isn't much besides the sand here. Apparantly the wave action is relatively light in close so nothing much is washed up. Once closer in to Lucaya we were able to locate Banana Bay where we had a good burger and a couple of beverages. It's the sort of place that comes to mind when you think of lunch by the beach. It's a very pleasant stop.

On the other end of the island is West End (nothing complicated about that name) and having been there last year we elected to stop a bit short of it and check out the beaches.

I came across this bit of rusted machinery and it appears as though this was a raft powered by an old aircooled Vtwin. It doesn't appear to be a motorcycle engine. It could be out of a small car or some other application. It had a manufacturer's tag on the block but I could not read it. I'm thinking some Haitian's made their way to the island on this given this memorial we found on a beach not far away. Hoping not to become another person of this sort of reflection we'll continue our wait for better weather.

We drove Freedom through brush fire.

2010-04-05T18:19:00.002-04:00

We never know what life is going to present us with. After leaving the Bluff House on Green Turtle yesterday we motored around Abaco and stopped at Great Sale Cay for the night. The trip around to the Cay was quiet and relaxing with only a small amount of chop on the Sea of Abaco as well as the Bank.

Pulling into Great Sale we were surprised to see what were new sand bars or "fish muds". Fish muds are areas of water you swear are going to rip your running gear out from under you. Schools of fish create this illusion by churning up the bottom. It's common on the bank. They look exactly like rocky sand bars but they are safe to travel over. We went around them regardless since there were Tornadoes in the area recently and we suspected some new sand bars had popped up. Regardless on we went into Great Sale and dropped the hook. In spite of 15 knots of wind we were hooked up well enough and settled into dinner. Deb did a Hunan Beef and Dan (after driving all day) ate and crashed for a while. It didn't last long.

Being out on the hook is always an adventure on Freedom. Ask people that have rafted up with us. Regardless of the anchor and how much chain we put down, she always seems to meander from the original site. Last night was no exception. We were in 10 feet of water at Great Sale. We payed out 120 feet of chain with our 55 pound Delta and she still dragged 70 feet over night. This isn't bad given we were in about 20 knots of wind, but it was unnerving none the less. I think I'm going to enter Freedom in Rue Paul's race. Next year we will move further into the protection of Great Sale as the holding appears to be better there. At least from our experience.

In the morning we chugged away at the break neck speed of 8 knots. Across the bank and into Dover Sound we went but this time through the sound I managed to keep Freedom in an extra foot of water versus the trip through Dover in November. Into the canal at mid tide we went and throughout channel into the canal we had roughly 3.5 feet under the transducer. That translates to about 5 feet of water. This was not exactly comfortable traveling when one considers the props (cheapo bronze by the way) are 1700 bucks a pop. But that was not the worst of it.

While heading South off the bank into Dover we saw plums of smoke rising. I was hoping they were merely an indication of a dump burning off refuse but that was not to be. It was a brush fire that was right on the rim of the canal we were traveling through. As we approached it the wind was fanning it over the canal encouraging us to turn around. Slowing down and waiting proved to pay off as the wind shifted opening an opportunity to blow by it all.

And that's what we did. I hammered the throttles and Freedom lethargically moved up onto plane. She's been a bit of a dock queen in salt water this Winter so there is all sorts of growth on her bottom and running gear. But plane out she did and she hit a respectable 16 knots in the canal before I had to shut her down because we were approaching a pinch point in the canal. Maybe she would have hit 19k. We probably put out some of the fire on our way by with our wake. Check out the width of the canal and you will see that one screw up and you are on rocks. Quite a bit of water was washed ashore.
So here we are in Lucya, and we're all tied up safe and sound. We're really fortunate to be here this week instead of last week given the Tornadoes that ripped through here. There are several boats with quite a bit of damage. Several of the dock poles, regardless of being concrete or wood, have been destroyed. It seems that line spreaders, antennas and canvas were the choice of the Tornadoes moving through Lucaya last week. Sadly a number of folks in Freeport were killed when the cranes they were working on in the Port had issues caused by the wind.

GPS data uploaded as well.