Post #82: We’re Doing It Again!!

Saturday, October 23 to Friday, October 29

Annnnddd, we’re off!  As my mother often said, “like a herd of turtles.”  

Delayed by boat improvements and a fierce weather system battering the east coast, we’re already a week behind “schedule.”  I use the term loosely because one of the lessons learned in the past 18 months is that nothing much seems to conform to a schedule anymore and all of us just have to be flexible.  I know, you’ve all learned that lesson, too…..

When I last posted in late spring, we were already past Charleston and were closing in on Annapolis. We arrived on May 22 and spent a month in DC with our kids and grands. When our granddaughter saw Boppa for the first time, all she wanted to do was sit on his lap.  Boy, those hugs felt terrific.

We had been in touch with the previous owner of our boat to learn where he had kept it in the Annapolis area. Jay had her at Bert Jabin Yacht Yard and Annapolis Boat Services had coordinated all repairs and improvements to our boat for its many years.  Fortunately Jabin’s had a slip available and ABS had time to make most of the improvements we were hoping to accomplish. Imagine our sense of relief when boat mechanic Brian arrived to assess our needs and told us, “Oh, I remember this boat.  I have done electrical and plumbing work on it, and installed some of the electronics.”  We were elated! It was like meeting the folks who had built your house, who knew it inside and out, including all its quirks and idiosyncrasies. We handed over our wish list (and our checkbook—yikes) and decided to keep the boat in Annapolis until this fall. ABS did a fantastic job and we now have double the solar power, a water maker, more USB ports, and new electronics. Like any product with computer chips, the new Raymarine navigation system had the longest lead time but the wait was worth it. We’ve now gone from Etch-A-Sketch controls to a touch screen and lots of integrated technologies. Huzzah!

In order for all this work (and other repairs and maintenance) to be done, we needed to take everything off the boat—cushions, bedding, food, clothing, supplies, dishes, towels—you name it—so that Brian could access all the interior spaces where electrical and plumbing magic happens on a boat. We schlepped all our stuff to our kids’ homes.  They graciously let us fill closets and basements (reciprocation for all the years we stored their stuff after college ???) and we moved in with Sarah until late June.  Then back to Boston for 6 weeks, sans sailboat.

It felt great to be back in our land-based home.  It had been over 10 months and we were astonished at how ginormous 1600 sq. ft. felt after living in 500. Can I just say again how wonderful it is to have an endless supply of water and electricity, a giant refrigerator (and freezer!) and, last but not least, that wonder of the modern age, a dishwasher!! Never to be taken for granted again. 

First priority was seeing family and friends in person now that we were all vaccinated.  I’ll never take those much-needed hugs for granted again, either.  But much of our time in Boston was spent on our favorite (?) pastime—schlepping our stuff around.  Why? Because retired friends of friends have rented our home (furnished) for the two semesters they attend Harvard’s Leadership Institute.  We packed up our closets, emptied some shelves and cabinets, and carted it all to our now overflowing storage unit.  They took occupancy on August 20 and we were once again “counting the cars on the NJ turnpike” on the way back to DC, knowing we’d be “couch-surfing” for the next 9 weeks.  Hardly a rip-roaring script for the next movie sequel of “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” but now you do know.

Just in case you think we may have gone soft, we didn’t hire out all of the boat projects! David took a 2-day course in diesel mechanics at Mack Boring in NJ, learning how to maintain and repair our specific Yanmar engine, just in case we ever run into trouble. In preparation for this second trip, he replaced pumps, belts and filters; lubed fittings, inspected hoses; changed impellers, oil and fuel—and purchased spare parts that we now know are difficult to source in the Bahamas.

I made dinghy chaps (a protective covering for the pontoon sections of our dinghy) from Sunbrella and vinyl.  Honestly, it was one of the most difficult sewing projects I’ve ever tackled and took about a month to finish. 

Finally, once Onward’s bottom was painted, topsides polished, 

and all our belongings moved back on board, we set sail last Saturday, bidding a fond farewell to our children and grands. In three days we were in Norfolk, VA where we sat for 3 more days, waiting out the storm raging along the eastern seaboard. Here’s what it looked like on Windy, our preferred weather app. Boston got it worse than us but it wasn’t pretty in Norfolk, either.

When the storm died down a bit on Thursday, we left at first light, entering the ICW about 10 a.m. Last year on our first trip southward, everything was New and Exciting and Different. Of course, the sheen has worn off a bit but now that we are no longer neophytes, we can relax more, enjoy the ride, and notice the things we missed the first time around.

Yup, she just keeps rollin’ on da river……

Post #81: Musings on the Northward Passage

Saturday, April 17 to Wednesday, April 28, 2021

I could make up a lot of excuses for not posting anything for the past three weeks but the truth of the matter is that I didn’t feel like I had much to say. But, as those who know me best will agree, that never lasts for long.

Sailing back up the east coast has been a bit like reading a novel you’ve read before (and really enjoyed)—but backwards.  The pages in the cruising guides are in the wrong order, the charts must be flipped the other way so that north is still at the top of the map (although the type is then all upside down) and the order of our memories has become confused. (Truth be told, that’s not a new problem....) 

We returned to Cocoa Village Marina (where we had spent six weeks last winter) for a couple of nights. It was nice to be remembered and a pleasure to walk the familiar streets especially in warmer weather.  We went to our favorite outdoor barbecue spot, Cryderman’s, and visited the secondhand book store to “reprovision.” The marina’s resident heron even came by to say hello:

When the weather cleared we headed to New Smyrna Beach, a charming town we had not stopped at on the way south. We weren’t able to get to the eponymous beach but we did explore a bit around town. Scottish doctor Andrew Turnbull was granted a large tract of land back in the mid-1700s where 1300 workers from Minorca, Italy and Greece grew rice and indigo on his plantation.  The operation collapsed after nine years and the 600 surviving workers moved to St. Augustine and New Smyrna went into a bit of a hibernation. However, the fort-like Turnbull Ruins, made of coquina stone, are still explorable, just a short walk from the marina. The foundation was used again in 1859 when Jane and John Sheldon built a large hotel on the site which was “destroyed by cannon fire from Union ships.” After the Civil War, Jane Sheldon built a smaller structure that served as a general store, port collector’s office, boarding house, and print shop until 1900. 

I appreciate the plaques that have been mounted on the ruins which made these silent stones come alive with the real events they witnessed.

The weather gods were with us so we motored out the New Smyrna inlet and sailed the 60 miles to St. Augustine, avoiding the anxiety-producing low bridges and Fiery Tentacles of Hell near Daytona. Waking up before first light in order to take advantage of the tide, we heard  (and felt!) the loud rumble and then saw the SpaceX launch of the the astronauts bound for the International Space Station. The aura created around the rocket was truly awe-inspiring:

This is not my photo but similar to what we saw.

I remember that when we left St. Augustine last November, I had high hopes that when we returned things might be different and that we’d be able to visit the museums and eat inside at one of the many wonderful restaurants in town.  Nope.

We ate outside at The Floridian (fried green tomatoes, pickled pepper shrimps, and a Dixie burger—not bad for a dyed-in-the-wool Yankee, eh?) with Lesley and Gary on Happy Together, one of our original 6 Bimini boats.  David and I window-shopped Old St. Augustine and visited the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.

These “mer-man” ornaments made me chuckle. Which one would you choose?

Closed during our first visit, the Castillo de San Marcos was now open to 100 masked visitors at a time so we toured the uncrowded battlements, casements, watchtowers and the drawbridge. It is the oldest masonry fort in the United States and the original walls date back to 1672! Coquina stone doesn’t shatter but rather compresses under fire so the fort was impenetrable. Although never taken in battle, the fort changed hands many times at the treaty table so Spanish, British and American flags have taken turns atop the flagpole.

Situated at the confluence of the Tolomato and Matanzas Rivers and the inlet from the Atlantic, you can see why it's a strategically significant position.   

We sailed out that inlet behind David on April 26, entering at Fernandina, our last port in Florida.  I remembered seeing this complex in the pre-dawn fog on November 13.  Back then I thought at first that it was some kind of amusement park with roller coasters and cool slides. Nope, it’s a paper mill!

There have been people living on Amelia Island at the mouth of the St. Mary’s River for over 4000 years but the seaport of Fernandina Beach dates back to the 1850’s when the railroad first appeared. The 50-block area of historic gingerbread houses and shops reminded me a bit of the architecture of Martha’s Vineyard.  We met up with Happy Together again to enjoy Mexican food.  Our friend was competing on Jeopardy that night, having won twice in a row.  The restaurant willingly turned one of the TV sets to the game and everyone cheered when he won again!

We took to the Atlantic again on April 27.  There’s not always a lot to see out there but sometimes you’re surprised.  We were 3+ miles offshore and saw scores and scores of pelicans just hanging out in pods or “briefs” waiting for the next fishing boat or school of herring to pass by....

 or maybe something larger:

Far from the Florida crowds and the paper mill, we went back “inside” at St. Simons Island, Georgia, and wound our way up the Frederica and MacKay Rivers to a secluded anchorage on Buttermilk Sound. Here’s a video to give you a sense of the sounds of the Sound:

We were treated to a glorious double sunrise/moon set experience the next morning.  I remember viewing a simultaneous sun set and moon rise over the Grand Canyon some 30 years ago.  There must have been a few hundred of us gathered in silent awe at the majesty of the event. Then someone broke the silence with the cry, “Do it again! " The crowd erupted in joyous applause and appreciation.

Living under the heavens for nearly nine months now, I can attest to the fact that Nature does, indeed, do it again, and again, and again.

Post #80: “Back, Back in, Back in the US of A”

Tuesday, April 13 to Friday, April 16, 2021 

This is what we left:

And after a ten-hour sail across the Gulf Stream, we were back in the Palm Beach area of Florida:

It was a bit of a culture shock to be back in the US—traffic, train whistles, huge boats, enormous houses, and access to a seemingly endless supply of anything we need (or even remotely think we need) to buy.  On the other hand, we are very grateful to once again see reliable navigational aids, hear messages from the US Coast Guard and SeaTow on the VHF knowing they are there in case of an emergency, have excellent phone communications, free potable water (hot showers, hooray!), an almost obscene abundance and variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, possible access to Covid vaccinations, and to sleep in the calm, protected anchorages of the ICW.  We take so, so much for granted.

We were able to clear in through US Customs and Immigration by simply filling out a form online.  Sometimes vessels are required to participate in a video interview but we were already Verified Travelers and had our vessel decal. David had registered us (back in January) via the Customs and Border Control app ROAM so officials already had our passport and boat registration information. Sure beats standing in line for hours at the Miami airport where the lines are longer than at Disney World and, trust me, Mickey is not there to entertain you. It’s a preview of Purgatory even in non-Covid times.

We spent only one night in the Palm Beach/Lake Worth area and sailed to Ft. Pierce on Wednesday.  Blessed with great wind and the extra 2 knot boost of the Gulf Stream pushing us along, we flew northward, actually reaching 9 knots for about an hour.  That’s over 10 mph which for Onward felt like we’d ignited the turbo thrusters! Our incredible speed attracted some playful marine life to come by to say hello. (If you don’t see two videos, click on View Web Version at the bottom of this post.)

We entered the Ft. Pierce inlet with the tide against us and the wind and our diesel pushing us forward, creating the harrowing sensation of being inside a washing machine. It was 15 minutes I do not wish to ever repeat in my lifetime.  Once again, David was laser-focused on getting us through it and we were soon back on the ICW heading to Vero Beach Municipal Marina.

Our first order of business now that we had phone service was to try to get vaccine appointments.  CVS will take us even though we aren’t Florida residents—hooray! Next was laundry, grocery shopping and trying to figure out why Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts had terminated my health insurance policy on April 1.  I will not bore you with the specifics, but I got caught in a catch-22 between BB/BS and Medicare, each blaming the other.  (I think they need to spend time in the lines at the Miami airport as punishment.)

We’ll stay here for a couple more days, enjoying the beach and avoiding the ICW weekend boat traffic.  And getting those long-awaited first Covid shots. 

Post #79: Bimini and Beyond!

 Monday, April 5 to Monday, April 12, 2021

Monday night we were in Staniel Cay and Tuesday once again in Highbourne.  It was time to make some tracks and take advantage of the good weather.  We spent Wednesday night at Old Fort Bay on the west end of New Providence Island (where Nassau and the huge Atlantis resort are) but rose early to head towards the Tongue of the Ocean which I wrote about back on February 4.  We were moving along quickly, planning to spend one night anchored on the Great Bahama Bank, some 30+ miles from land in all directions.  Last time we did this, we were a group of 8 boats, sort of a floating wagon train.  But on Wednesday, April 7, it was just the four of us, Fantasea and Onward.  I was no longer apprehensive about spending a night in the open ocean, testament to how much we had learned and how much more confident I feel after living aboard for the past 8 months!

The exciting part of the crossing was Mike’s catch: a 4’ long mahi-mahi! 

The four of us went to sleep that night with visions of a delicious fish dinner in the future, once we returned to Bimini.

Pulling in to Bimini Blue Waters Marina was like coming home—except none of the relatives were there!  This is where we had spent 12 days back in January, cementing the friendships that would define our time together in February and March.  It just wasn’t the same.  But we needed to wait (again) for another good weather window to cross the Gulf Stream so in the meantime we went back to our favorite conch shacks, enjoyed time at the beach with Sheri and Mike, bought bread from Charles and stocked up on water and diesel and propane.  The island is so much busier than when we were here in January! People are beginning to travel again and more of the stores and bars and restaurants have opened up. Sport fishing boats go up and down the channel and the marinas are almost full.  In fact, Star came by to say welcome back.  He said that when our group came over in late January from Miami, we were some of the first cruisers Bimini had seen in almost a year.  He thanked us for coming then and for returning now! So typical of the gracious welcome we have received from so many Bahamians.

Tomorrow we leave for Florida. Sheri and Mike head southwards to the Keys and then home to St. Pete. We will miss them terribly. We are reluctant to leave the warmth and sunshine and hospitality of the Bahamas but eager to see our family again in DC (and to get vaccinated!). Onward we go!

Post #78: Where to next?

Saturday, March 27 to Monday, April 5, 2021

Well, now we were faced with some itinerary choices:  do we book it to the north end of the Exumas on our own and then head to Eleuthera and then the Abaco chain before returning to Florida or do we travel more slowly for a week and stay with the remaining boats a while longer and return via Bimini and then Florida? If we were truly adventurous, we would have gone off on our own but the truth is, we really like the folks we’ve been traveling with and we’re just not ready to say goodbye.  We can visit those islands another time but might never have the good fortune to sail with these good folks again.  If we’ve learned anything during this year+ of Covid, it’s all about spending time with friends and family that really matters.

So off we four boats sailed, back to Darby, an island near David Copperfield’s Musha Cay that I wrote about earlier. We explored a shallow lagoon by dinghy as the receding tide quietly exposed more and more of the sand, Mother Nature’s version of a cable knit sweater pattern:

Sheri from Fantasea spied another treasure of the sea—a stranded octopus! Fearing that it would die in the drying sand, she picked up the seemingly lifeless white creature and placed it gently back in the water. At first there was no movement but slowly, slowly, it began to change   color to match the darker wet sand. After observing it for a while, it became clear that it preferred to be in the darker water created by Sheri’s shadow.  So once the octopus began to show more movement, she “walked” it to even deeper water by moving her shadow slowly and carefully along the shore, prodding the octopus to safety.  Sheri the Octopus Whisperer.

(If you don’t see the videos below (or any of the others in my past posts) on your phone, you can click on “web version” at the very bottom of the post on your phone, or check it out on a tablet or computer screen.)

And finally the little guy swam away, flexing his legs to propel himself back to the sea.

David and I walked around the edge of the lagoon, still (after three months of exploring) fascinated by the way the rocks wear away and the shoreline weathers.

There were shells and mollusks hidden in holes that seemed to have been carved out just for them.  What a great place to for an Easter egg hunt!

Our next anchorage was only 11 miles away but a world of difference.  Little Farmer’s Cay (3.5 miles long) is a “particularly lovely and lively cay surviving on spunk and an independent, self-sufficient populace,” according to our cruising guide.  There are only about 70 residents with a small settlement featuring a couple of restaurants, a one-room grocery store  and JR Tinker’s woodcarving gallery.  

We learned a bit about this tiny island’s history.  A freed slave from Barraterre settled on the island in the 1800’s with her two sons, Michael Joseph Nixon and Adam Brown, who later purchased the island from the British Crown.  Michael had 13 children and Adam had 5. They willed the island to their descendants who are the only people who can build on the island and cannot sell to outsiders.

It was very quiet when we arrived as it was Palm Sunday.  Everything was closed and folks were home with their families for church services and family dinner. We were the only visitors that day but found our way to the Ocean Cabin. We were fortunate to find Terry Bain, owner and renowned raconteur who opened up to provide us with his special rum punch although, since it was his daughter’s day off, couldn’t offer us dinner until tomorrow.  We promised to return the next day.  

Now, about his special rum punch—we had to guess the five ingredients which, admittedly took us a few minutes but we finally succeeded: blue curaçao, coconut water, rum, pineapple juice and the secret ingredient (don’t tell anyone), grapefruit juice.  I liked the color the best, same as the Bahamian blue sea.

Terry regaled us with story after story until our sides were splitting.  Really, the guy should do a stand up comedy act! He is also the founder of the Five Fs Festival, a regatta and festival held on the First Friday of February at Farmer’s Cay.  We’d like to come back next year to see the racing of traditional Bahamian sloops with their giant sails.  We did go back for dinner the next night at Ocean Cabin, as promised.  The lobster (with special sauce, of course) was delicious, Terry and his wife taught us the Little Farmer’s Cay national anthem, and a good time was had by all. Sailors from all over have visited this unique spot and we now know why!

The next day we sailed to Black Point on Great Iguana Cay, the spot we hated to leave back on February 28. Of course, we did our laundry, had the buffet dinner at Lorraine’s and bought four loaves of bread from her mother.  David had his hair cut at the laundry and Stick made us all loaded foot-long hotdogs for $5 a piece. We even got cabbage and peppers at Adderley’s Grocery.  Honestly, it felt like coming home.  What a welcoming community!  We looked forward to the regatta on the Saturday before Easter, services on Sunday, and the egg hunt for the kids on Easter Monday.  But then the blow struck and we had to miss it all as the wind howled and the rain poured down and we didn’t leave the boat.  Maybe next year.

My father’s mother, Grammie Benson, held an Easter egg hunt every year for all her grandchildren with real colored eggs—none of those plastic eggs filled with candy for her, no sir! Since I lived next door to her (in the house she had been born in back in 1882), I helped dye the eggs for many years.  However, since they were always brown eggs, it wasn’t until she got a color TV in the mid-1960s that I realized how brightly colored the eggs were supposed to be!  

There were white eggs available in Black Point so I hard boiled six of them to make our Easter morning more festive.  The only problem—no dye.  Fortunately, the WiFi in Black Point is pretty strong so I searched for directions on dying eggs naturally.  Unfortunately, there were neither onions, blueberries, nor spinach available. So I tried the recipes using teabags, paprika, turmeric, red wine, and substituted kale for the spinach.  Truthfully, it was pretty stinky and not very successful, but I had fun trying.  Looking back on the photos, I guess in truth, I spent the day turning white eggs brown.....How Grammie would laugh!

On Monday we bade farewell to Happy Together, Buiochas, and our lead boat, Equinox.  Fantasea and Onward headed northward to Highbourne, West Bay on New Providence (the island where Nassau is) and finally on to Bimini. It was very difficult to say goodbye but we promised to meet up again next year for more adventures together!

Post #77: Return to George Town

 Monday, March 22 to Wednesday, March 24, 2021

With only a few days left before Sarah headed back home and our turn to head northward, too, we spent time in George Town doing boat chores, buying a few souvenirs and stocking  up on groceries, fuel, and water.  I took a few more photos around town.

The supply boat had come while we were on Conception Island so we were overjoyed to find such rarities as romaine lettuce, eggplant and even watermelons at Exuma Markets. We might not see such delicacies again until we reach the States!  I will never, ever, ever, again take for granted the endless abundance of food and water we enjoy at home.

Our last adventure with Sarah was a dinghy ride to go snorkeling and then to a sand bar that boasts a swing, volleyball net, and floating bar (sometimes). We were so glad she was able to join us and experience the Out Islands of the Bahamas.  We plan to be back in the DC area by late May and can’t wait to see our family again.

The next evening we enjoyed sundowners and a potluck supper on the beach one last time with our group.  It was a bittersweet moment as it was finally and sadly, after two full months together, time to go our separate ways.  Miss Adventure headed back to North Carolina. Pleiades teamed up with some other “kid boats” (they all attend virtual school in their respective hometowns) and planned to stay in the Bahamas for three more months. Happy Together would soon head to Nassau to pick up a guest. Buiochas (who had joined us a few weeks ago) planned to stay a while longer in George Town. So Onward, Fantasea, Equinox and Happy Together bade farewell to the others and we began our trip northward.  We will miss our “pod” and remember them always. We began as six individual boats hoping to stay healthy and active during the pandemic and we ended up becoming good friends and supportive seafarers. What a series of adventures we have had together!

Post #76: Conception Island National Park

Thursday, March 18 to Sunday, March 21, 2021

We had time to visit one more island before needing to get back to Georgetown so we chose Conception, which the cruising guides call “the quintessential Bahamian wilderness. It offers idyllic pink sand beaches, clear turquoise waters, diving or snorkeling, and creek exploration by dinghy or kayak. You will probably see sharks and rays cruising through the anchorage.”  It was all true.  The whole uninhabited island is protected by the Bahamas National Trust and is, just like the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, a no-take zone.

As we approached the bay, we radioed to the others behind us that there seemed to be a set of light blue-hulled boats all anchored.  We wondered if they were part of some club or tourist group affiliated with a large resort.  As we ventured closer, we realized they were all white-hulled boats (some of them familiar to us from previous anchorages) but the water was so clear and sun so bright that they reflected a lovely turquoise! I wish I could have captured the effect on camera.  Same with the clouds—at times the reflection off the water makes even puffy white clouds seem a shade of aquamarine.

Sarah and I each took out the inflatable paddle board for a bit of exercise, visiting the other boats near us. At one point I was in the water near the boat and Sarah calmly called out, “Mom, I think you should get back on the board.”  I had no idea what she was pointing to but it was big and dark and I did what she suggested—immediately.

Those with better fish identification skills than me said it was a very large barracuda.  Barracuda are gorgeous, famously fearsome, and usually they do no more than stare at you....menacingly.  Probably would have left me alone but I wasn’t sticking around to find out! 

We spent some time snorkeling the reefs but the highlight of our time on Conception was a dinghy trip up the creek. We saw many rays and conch along the sandy bottom.  I think if, left to our own devices, we would probably have just motored slowly along but since we were with the family on Pleiades, we joined them as they jumped right into the shallow water and surface-snorkeled while pulling along the dinghy, taking advantage of the current to simply drift along the creek bed.  And, wow, were we glad we jumped in, too! The water was as clear as a swimming pool so we witnessed lots of fish swimming around the roots of the mangroves,  swam through a blue hole, and kept an eye on the barracuda which kept staring at us, in turn. Further into the center of the island, the creek water deepened and turned a darker green.  This we had come to recognize as turtle habitat.  There were scores of them!  But we dubbed them “Turbo Turtles” cause they swam away like a shot as soon as we approached, even if only using oars.  We all agreed that they deserved their privacy and quietly returned back down the creek to the ocean, appreciating the spontaneous call to adventure that comes from traveling with teenagers.  Sometimes you just have to dive right in!

Our passage back to George Town on Sunday was quite the sail—over 40 miles with winds of 15-20 knots on the beam but it was the large swells from the north that lifted Onward some 6-8 feet every 12 seconds that truly gave us pause.  Up, up, up we would rise and then gently back down again, akin to the sensation of swinging back and forth on the playground swing set.  We passed by the white cliffs we had climbed to see the Christopher Columbus monument a few days ago.  And we were humbled by the crashing waves (seen in the video below) as those same rollers met the rocks and reefs that protect Great Exuma from the Atlantic.  It felt good to be back in the protected bays of Stocking Island.