Bahama bound

On Monday Dec 14, the little boat called Fiesta with her fearless co-captains, Leslie and Tim,  cast off her double mooring lines from the coveted safety of Boot Key Harbor (Marathon, FL) to finally set out on her great adventure into the world unknown.....it was exciting....it was scary....it was simply time to go.  We have had the boat for a year now, working to make this one day a reality.  


Our float plan....with flexibility of course.  



Out into the Hawk Channel we motored northeastward paralleling the Florida Keys.....with hopeful anticipation of a flawless crossing of the Gulf Stream overnight.   Two miles out, we heaved up the large mainsail to catch the southeasterly 10-12 knot winds....all looked good.....and then BAM!  Narrowly missing Tim's head, one of the stainless steal blocks (pulley) that attaches under the boom to help guide the mainsail sheet (rope)--- 

broke off and slammed to the deck like a 10 ton weight....the holding pin was rusted through....so much for stainless steel.   Ok....down with the mainsail, find the replacement block in the spare parts locker.....reattach the new one....and back on our way with a full set of 3 sails....now about an hour behind schedule. 

 Not that sailors like to keep schedules, but the weather often forces us to make decisions on being someplace soon, as was our case.  We had 3 days to cross the big ocean river called the Gulf Stream and find safe harbor before a very large cold front with 25-30kt winds predicted to slam the entire Bahamas....closing a passage window for maybe 2 weeks. 
Though our first waypoint was a heading northeast to a middle-of-nowhere point called South Riding Rocks (south of Bimini) with a bearing of 71degrees, we had to account for the very strong current averaging 2 knots pushing us northward in the Gulf Stream....so our bearing became 90 degrees eastward to account for the "crabbing" angle it would take us.  About 5pm, the winds slowed down AND shifted due east, yep, on the nose and so we motor-sailed the whole night under a kazillion stars (and for a short while, the radiant Miami city glow to the north).  
Early on, we saw a very large electrified ship passing south about 3 miles in front of us....it was a cruise ship probably heading for Key West.  About midnight, the waves became rambunctious from the south east...maybe 4-6ft, not too bad, but keeping the helmsman awake for sure, which is a good thing.  We took turns between napping in the cockpit and taking the helm (wheel) about every 1.5 to 2 hours.....after midnight, the hours fly by.....and in the deep darkness before dawn, we crossed a major shipping channel on the east side of the Gulf Stream.  We could barely make out the monsters on the horizon with only a few running lights....more importantly, what direction and how fast were they going?  Depth perception is lost in the wee hours of an all night sail, but guesstimating their course and speed is tricky anyway.  According to our radar, it seemed like we were on a collision course with 2 different freighters within an hour of each other.  Throttle back and steer aft of them....they each passed within a mile before us....no racing ego here, large rusty monsters have our respect.  

Sunrise brought us off the 2500ft depths of the Gulf Stream, and onto the turquoise shallow waters of the Grand Bahamas Banks....ahhhh, now it's heaven.  Fried egg cheese sandwich, fruit and coffee for breakfast....we managed 5.5 hours of pure sailing, before the winds died, and we could have walked faster than we sailed.  So back on with the motor for 5 more hours until just after dark,  when we dropped the hook (anchor) in the vicinity of what's called the Russell Beacon (never saw a marker or a light)...basically in the middle of the shallow (8-10ft) banks with no land in sight.   This was magic....calm, quiet Bahamian waters with dolphins coming to say hello under a half moon...and except for a couple of anchor checks and position alignment with the North Star, the  gentle rocking induced a heavy sleep.  

Northwestern Channel pole in background...boring

Up before dawn (because we're usually asleep around 8pm) and on our way to the Northwestern Channel light.....which is a tall marker post---- still no sight of land,  but the coconut telegraph says the light doesn't work....welcome to another country.  This is a crossroads mile marker for getting off the shallow Bahama Banks and onto the 3000ft deep trench called the "Tongue of the Ocean". 




Tim was closely watching the beautiful build-up of puffy cumulus clouds over land in the distance....they seemed to turn into angry dogs warning us of the impeding predicted cold front storm coming our way by Friday night....we had 2 days to find a safe harbor hole. 

Morgan's Bluff--named after Captain Morgan

After going the whole day before without seeing a single boat, we now merged with 3 other sailboats/catamarans all heading with us to Andros Island's north harbor called Morgan's Bluff to officially pay our $300 cruising permit fee and check into Bahamas Customs.  

Bahamian beer---Kalik

Out of the 5 boats in the harbor, we were the newbies by a long shot.  The others, had been doing this happily and habitually for anywhere from 6-9 years...some part time...others full time. 


 A few Kalik's (Bahamian Beer pronounced "click")  were shared by all at Unca Harvey's Water Loop Bar (formally Willy's) on the small protected inner harbor ---just off the large outer harbor where we were all anchored.  Little did we know how important this would be to Fiesta....inner vs outer harbor.  The next day 4 of the 5 boats departed the outer harbor for other ports of call....we too decided to try and get to West Bay on Providence Island (Nassau) about 26 miles or 6-7 hours away and wait out the storm.  But, King Neptune decided to be difficult for us and kicked up 15-20kt winds on the nose with 5-7ft seas.....we tried for an hour to make southeast motoring, but soon made a smarter decision to turn around and go back to Morgan's Bluff....being humble is good.  Besides, we had discovered yet another possible weak point on the gooseneck pin where the boom meets the mast.....we we're afraid to use the mainsail, it'll need work.

Stormy outer harbor

Now, Morgan's Bluff outer harbor is open to the north and therefore not good for the imminent weekend storm.  

So the wonderful kind folks of the inner harbor AND mostly the supportive assistance of Karen and Dwight in his dinghy from M/V Popeye II  helped us get Med-moored (Mediterranean Moored) off a bank inside the protected harbor....it was hot and we were sweating bullets, we are so thankful to those that helped us get tied up. Here you can see the inlet to the inner harbor from the outer harbor....Fiesta on the left.

 Mediterranean mooring is a style, obviously popular in the Med, that ties your stern (back) end to the shore on trees or docks, and the bow anchored out front into the harbor.  And sure 'nough, here came the winds, clouds, rain and cold (ok, it only got down to 70F) Friday night.....we added more lines and have listened to the creaking and groaning of Fiesta for 2 days now.  

Video of the harbor

We feel blessed to be here experiencing the small harbor Bahamian people......so so friendly.....and great sense of humor.....don't take anything serious.....no problem mon.  This low key agricultural island is a beautiful view of Bahamian culture unlike other islands awash in mega yachts and tourism.  We feel lucky to be "stuck" here....it's more our style.  Though the intense north winds will eventually turn southeasterly, they are predicted to be 15-20kt on the nose for us all week...and the week after.  So.....we'll take the advice of the islands and....'relax yourself mon'.....and Happy Holidays to all!

Finally leaving the marina...

Note* the Popeye spinach

 While the wind blew strong the whole Thanksgiving week, we took the opportunity to tidy up the boat, do laundry and provision the boat for take off.  We borrowed friends cars and hauled pounds and pounds of canned goods......

......gallons of drinking water, dried milk, a dozen+ bags of white wine.....and most importantly, 10 cases of beer....."light" beer mind you.....except for the 2 cases of "lager"---that's for you Mike Fauser when you come join us.  It sounds like were beeraholics, but ya need to know that this refreshing beverage in the Bahamas is about $65/case vs $18/case here in Florida.  I've discovered Yuengling beer, brewed up in Tampa, to be an affordable and tasty choice, but the biggest challenge was finding space for 240 cans of beer.  It had to be secure from rolling around while under way and avoiding a messy explosion. 

In our cockpit is a designated "beer locker" with a drain to overboard
---Island Packet yachts thought of (almost *see below) everything-----it held 3 cases. 



 I found cubicles, closets and bilge floor lockers.....I didn't even have to throw the dried milk overboard----it was actually easier than anticipated....heck, I should bring 5 more cases and sell them to dry stranded sailors for $45/case!  We stocked up the first aid bin and battery stash..........extra line and engine parts...... flashing neon party light strands that cycle through colors of the rainbow (thanks Heinz!)....three more chart books covering the islands of the eastern Caribbean....plus a few wayward Cuban charts, just in case---ya never know where the wind will blow us. 

And then the time had finally come......

We love you guys---thanks for all your support and friendships!!!!

 .....2 days after Thanksgiving (and a large Fare-thee-well C-dock party--of course).....the dock lines were cast off and the little boat Fiesta pulled gently away from her berth of almost a year.  The good friends who had helped us immeasurably showed up for Bon-Voyage waves....we will miss all of you....may the fair winds blow us across the same path again out in the big blue!!!  

Leaving the nest...

Adios Fiesta!

 Nervous?  yes.  Excited?  yes.  Ready?  yes and no.  Did we think of everything?  no.....but we just gotta go....and figure it out along the way. 
True adventure always has an element of fear.


  We motor-sailed out into Tampa Bay for about an hour....cut the motor, raised the sails....slid out into the Gulf of Mexico where we took a left hand turn heading south....for 2 1/2 days on one tack.   

It was a banner day on many levels....the first of many legs in our journey to come....ready or not, here we come.

Welcome....another day

Conditions were a sailors desire--10-15kt winds ENE on a beam/broad reach

....sunset & moon rise off of Venice, Florida.  Then, the predictable rambunctious waves all night calling for a double-reefed mainsail + our new mini-staysail.  Bundled up in our winter ski clothes, we took turns napping and steering the helm....

....until, morning brought coffee with the sunrise off of Ft Meyers beach...

then....repeat for another day.

 On our second night, we had decided to pull into a favorite hidey-hole, Little Shark River, on the west coast of the Everglades National Park....to get a nights sleep before the next day of taking on the pinball-alley of crabby pots in daylight all through the Florida Bay to our destination of Marathon in the Florida Keys. Our arrival into the deep dark shores of the Everglades (the moon was late this night) was nail-biting, because we knew there were unmarked black metal pilings lurking offshore....but I had almost correctly positioned them on the chartplotter last May when we passed by here...so just as the moon rose, we dropped the anchor offshore around 11pm and slept soundly (between the anchor checks) 
in the rolling seas for about 7 hours.  

Pulling into Boot Key harbor was like coming home....but this time we got a mooring ball right away--no waiting like last March.  I guess the busy season starts more in January.  We called our Sea-Tek friend Alex (who had installed our solar panel last March) to come over and check a couple of electrical issues we've had.  Namely, that the batteries weren't holding a charge.  Sure enough, the 2 large very heavy AGM batteries were 8 years old and shot...so glad we found this out now. 

Alex--the harbor wiz

Boom....next day, Alex and Travis were onboard installing 2 new large heavy batteries....*this is where IP yachts could have made a larger compartment to support the energy storage needs ----it was a very tight squeeze.  They also installed a new hard-wired 1000 watt electric inverter (now we can charge our laptops, drill, razor etc) AND he fixed the ongoing tricolor issue on top of the mast.....all within 4 hours...someone buy this guy a beer! 
 And we did :)  

Thanks Alex.

While we now watch and wait for another weather window to cross the Gulf Stream to Bimini in the Bahamas, we're going to catch a local bus down to Key West next Tuesday.  We have an official appointment with Homeland Security (Customs/Border Patrol) to get our free LBO----Local Boater Option card.  This card will enable a very easy reentry back into the US with a simple phone call...instead of having to show up physically at a far away office in a specific harbor to re-immigrate.  

We have no idea when we will return or where that will be.....but it made sense.  

A peaceful state of mind

And finally....another creative video by Tim----"Unattended Dreams"

 

Fun, upgrades and repairs....a cycle

Kacy & Larry on S/V Providence--"little-boat" people

One beautiful fair wind weekend in October, 4 sailboats from C-dock at Regatta Pointe Marina set sail for northern shores.  


Destination:  Gulfport, Florida---often confused with the one in Mississippi, but a far cry different.
This one is located south of St Petersburg--west of Tampa.


 It was a lovely 4-5 hour sail across Tampa Bay---out into the Gulf of Mexico, north up the west coast a bit and then inland up the Florida Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) to a tucked away bay called Boca Ciega--translated Blind Mouth ....hmmm.  

Four renegade sailboats from C-dock

This particular bay has not only a good anchorage, but a small quaint town----with several loud & loaded bars that proved to be quite the party destination....perfect, for our small flotilla-----afterall, it was Steve's (from S/V Footloose) 60th birthday----yep, 6-0!  not to be taken lightly mind you.  

 

Steve----60 years young----rub a dub-dub

O'Maddy's

  

















There on the shore lies a favorite watering hole---
Omaddy's Bar and Grille.

O'Maddy's ------ O'boy, here we go

O'Maddy's is the famous loud bar offering karaoke until 3am.....yep, it gets really bad by then.  But contrary to what you're thinking, our particular "old" group of revelers start early with happy hour......and finish early.....tucked cozy in their berths by 9pm.....listening to karaoke versions of Jaggers  "Satisfaction" wafting across the water to our boats and in thru our fresh air portals.  Memorable. 

After 3 nights in Gulfport, we began our return trip back across Tampa Bay motoring into 3-5ft waves with stiff winds on the nose.....it taught us one thing AND it caused a major repair for another thing.

First, it taught us that we need a smaller jib (sail).  We have a large genoa sail, but we came back determined to re-install our staysail. A staysail is a smaller second jib on the front of the sailboat especially good for use in high winds. We had been sitting on the fence for a year whether to rig this small sail back on, making it a true "cutter rig" with 2 front sails...all older Island Packet sailboats are cutter rigs.  Our boat had all the parts, but had been de-rigged by previous owners for some reason. Introducing Collin....a British ex-pat with an expertise 50 year history of rigging sailboats.....2 hours later, it's done.....cheers to Collin (and Mike)!

Collin--an ol' salt

Assembling furling extrusions for staysail

"Vanna" showing the smaller staysail---the large genoa sail is furled up in brown on the bow

  The hard jaunt across Tampa Bay that day also revealed a breakdown of the motor mounts on our 35HP Yanmar engine.   The engine is suspended by 4 legs to absorb vibration & shock.....and like all things on a boat floating in salty water, they were deteriorating and collapsing.  So.....two weeks later.....we have new motor mounts...whew, we're glad that's all it was.

New and old motor mounts

Starboard settee

And finally, our new salon upholstery.......

.....long over due.

New foam with interior Sunbrella fabric....replacing the 25 year old original cushions.

Port settee

Lashed to a board on the starboard stanchions, we'll carry 2 (maybe 3) jerry can jugs for 10-15 extra gallons of diesel....   

Flag replacement after 9 months in the Florida sun

Projects and more projects....

Took time out for a smoked Mullet fest-----yum.

Two soul brothers

Vetern's Day brought old Navy friend Bob Hooke in for good times and farewells....and a sharing of the crossroads of life that we have found ourselves in.  
We all agreed....it's time to just "shove off" and go.

"Bones" hanging out looking for some action

 Now, it's less than a week from Thanksgiving and with hurricane
 season almost over at the end of November, we're starting to watch the weather reports for the west coast of Florida.  We're aiming to depart between Thanksgiving and Dec 1st heading south back to Marathon in the Florida Keys.  It'll take about 3-4 days to transit the 213 nautical miles (245 standard miles) depending on how many stop overs we take. Stay tuned.....

 One more fun thing.....Tim also continues to make videos----here's a link to an entertaining video about our friend and local marina diver----Tom Watson...watch this...

 

Dock antics

And so the carnival show began. 

The people had gathered anticipating a grand show!
In the center ring (the middle of C-dock around slip #26 to be exact) we have the Reeves trying to accomplish feats of large and small projects on their sailboat---Fiesta......

oh, but wait, where are they?  Oh yeah, it's September in Florida...sticky, like sweaty...cotton candy?  They must be hunkered down inside with their AC---it's the middle of the day and the humidity has them disabled (jeesh, what wimps).  

Yanmar 35HP maintenance--oh boy!

But all is not lost as they find there are plenty of indoor projects as well.   There's the stuffing box nut to juggle....there's thru-hulls to jiggle....there's engine belts, filters and impellers to wiggle----not to mention oil and trans fluid to re-fiddle....and THEN....the finale.....will she start?  Yes! 
But alas, not for long....she dies.....dang.  
Our Yanmar Guru, Kevin, showed our simple mistake....before changing fuel filters, we forgot to shut off the diesel line, so all the fuel had drained back into the tank.   Learn something new everytime/everyday.   A re-prime in the Racor fuel filter....and off she went---yippee!!!  Yahoo!!!  
(a real crowd-pleaser)  

Amongst other projects.... 
our luckiest find on the dock last winter in the "free-box" were these little companion-way screen doors....lo and behold, they fit our boat perfectly!  But, what good are screen doors, when the air conditioner is running?  So, with a little creativity (and borrowed tools), we cut 2 plexiglas trapezoid panels to inset with swivels so they can be removed.....sometimes, wimps can be smart too.

Companion-way doors to the cockpit

The new upholstery has been ordered (big applause)
as well as new Explorer Charts for the Bahamas....yes, there are 3 of them....Near Bahamas, Far Bahamas and Exumas.....these beautiful charts give our cruising dreams gusto----a treasure map to paradise.  Though we have our trusty Garmin chartplotter, it's electronic and there's nothing better than paper to back it up.  

New Tri-Color light

But let's get back to the Big Top Show....ladies and gentlemen...cast your eyes way up high (approx 48ft) on top of the mast, we have Miller the swinging trapeze artist hanging for hours in a bosuns chair trying to replace the defunct Tri-Color light.  Not for the faint of heart, especially in gusting 20mph winds.









And off to the south over on E-dock we have the truly talented Bill from Solo performing a variety of well known songs on his portable piano.  The amazing talent here is that he plays from ear.....doesn't know how to read music.  "MacArthur Park" shall never be the same....cake in or outta the rain....

E-dock's piano man---Bill from S/V Solo

And now circus fans........in the center ring we have a dueling birthday bash on C-dock.....
Leslie (Oct 14) and neighbor Larry (Oct 13)

We decided that the sum total of 124 candles would have burned the dock down.....but as all C-dock-ite residents know, one more party on the old pilings might take it down anyway.  

Speaking of going "down".....I had a one-act clown show that next morning (which no-one actually saw).  At 7:30am, while stepping from the boat to the dock, I slipped and fell between the two into the water....KER-splash!  (more like Ga-dunk!)

A demonstration of the gap

Barnacle crusted pilings under dock----aka meat shredders

Tim heard it and thought I had dropped something.....thank goodness I didn't have the cellphone on-board the body.....AND thank goodness I didn't hit the razor-sharp barnacles encrusted all over the pilings. 

It was.....therefore, quite humorous. 

I crawled out like a drowned rat onto our swim platform.....happy birthday Leslie....baptized by the Manatee River 

(which fortunately is not the typical sludge harbor water)

By the time the rumor ran around the marina gossip circle and got back to me that afternoon----it declared that: I had gotten drunk-as-a-sailor the night before at my b-day party and fell in trying to get back to the boat....not true, but would have been a humorous story as well. 
Yep----we live in a 3-ring circus on the west coast of Florida.....ha!

Robert and Joanie on "Rest-A-Shore"

Wednesday afternoon found us peacefully sailing out on Tampa Bay with our friends Robert and Joanie on their Catalina 385.  We slept on the hook (anchored) at Emerson Point with the dolphins that night.  Thank you Robert for a wonderful breakfast the next morning!
After being dockside for 2 months,  it was free sailing on a picture perfect day!

While we wait for temps to cool down and hurricane season to pass, I have been caught up in a geeky kinda syndrome called "Paralysis by Analysis".  There's so many decisions to be made which require hours of research on the computer......the analysis results in paralysis.....which results in nothing decided or accomplished.....that's me.  What we have decided is that......like an artist painting a piece, it can go on and on.....never perfect or finished.  We got a strong outfitted boat that will take us where we want-----without more expensive (not totally necessary) add-ons. So outside of a few more tweaks, twerks and twaks...(and the new upholstery)....we're ready to go....or.....at least we think we are.....but are we ever REALLY ready?  No we're not, but we're going anyway.  

"Bones" our newest crew member, though not the most dependable.

Back aboard Fiesta in Florida

Greetings again!   It's been 4 months since we last blogged an entry, so here's a quick update......

Back wind to a year ago........ July 2014, when we first left Taos, we had vague dreams and ideas of what we wanted to do or pursue.  Bucket List was to travel across the US in a camper van.....check mark

.....and then, 

to buy and live aboard a sailboat.....check mate. 

All the while, we were also looking, searching, exploring for what is next in our lives.  Would something pull us in and say "Turn left and live here!"  or "Hard to starboard and drop anchor here!"  We kept an open mind, totally widen-back perception so we wouldn't miss that potential fish hook, all the while following our heart, living the dream.  When we left Taos, we didn't want any responsibilities (i.e. hot water heaters, roof leaks, frozen pipes etc) after all, at the BnB we had 8 hot water heaters and 72 faucets for 25 years.  We knew that living on a floating home on the water would have enough of it's own leaky issues.  But  in the back of our mind, we wondered if the "all-water-life or nothing" approach would be the path for us.  

My life's motto has been----everything in moderation, including moderation itself.....so sometimes ya have to tie one on with a bottle of rum to realize just where that middle line is.....I guess it's my Libra thing to strive for balance.

The point of all this philosophy is that we had decided to re-visit the idea of establishing a balance in our life with some roots back in Taos.  Half a year as dirt-dwellers and the other half (or more) on the water?  It sounded pretty good....but in the back of our minds, we reserved the right to follow another dream....even over a rainbow into the for-sea-able future :)

  So...... in May, after 6 months on Fiesta, we left her contentedly tethered in a slip for the hot-hurricane months of June-Oct at Regatta Point Marina in Palmetto, FL (west coast Tampa area).  Our first stop was up to Burlington, VT for Krista's UVM graduation celebration.  So proud of her success to secure a job in the University Hospital as a Mental Health Technician.  Afterwards we headed back to Taos for some high altitude adjusting.....love and miss those mountains too.    

Northern NM was chilly with snow still clinging to the mountain sides.  We dug up our jackets and flannels from the storage unit, covering up the Florida tans we had acquired.......and settled in for a while with our daughter, Malia (moving in with the kid---a reversed situation for wayward parents).   We had a mission...... we were dog sitting our boy Rusty (the rusty colored dog on the left) while Malia left for 6 weeks to her job in Costa Rica. 

She had set up a cozy home in an old adobe house on the Yaravitz ranch way up in Des Montes overlooking the Taos Valley.....it   was an old childhood stomping ground for her....family friends. Not to mention the convenience to her job up in the Taos Ski Valley. 






 For 4 months we visited old friends, picked up a few odd maintenance jobs here and there (to feed the cruising kitty) including a couple of innsitting jobs.  July 4th weekend found us filling in for our old job back at the Old Taos Guesthouse for the new innkeepers who had a family emergency.  

Good times...good friends with Ric Speigel and Mary Collins

Lo and behold, there were several of our old friends staying there......like we didn't miss a beat.  It was a time warp.....and I had to ask Tim....
"didn't we buy a sailboat? or am I just dreaming?"  No problem.....a July 4th backyard party and 24 guests for breakfast the next morning.....don't even have to think about it after 25 years of doing it.

  

 We took hikes.....

 ....played disc golf.....and seriously explored the idea of owning a little house in Taos......alas, it did not grab us.  The roots/responsibility thing weighed heavy on us.....all we could think about was being carefree on the ocean with Fiesta.  For now, Taos has not drawn us back into her power...maybe in the future.

 We "strayed" long enough to catch one of our favorite annual music festivals, "Michael Hearne's Big Barn Dance"----a 3 day event of non stop music and songwriters---as a matter of fact, here's Tim's latest video:

 Afterwards....we said ADIOS! to Taos

and it's amazing sunsets.....

adios to Malia.........took a bus...

                                                   .....took a train...

took a plane.......and flew back to Palmetto, FL....and finally took a shuttle back to C-dock 

    at Regatta Pointe Marina .....and it feels so right 
                                   (big smiles).                                           

                       Ahoy!!!!    the gang is still (mostly) all here!!!

 

Our plans have us here dockside for a couple of months.........as  our list of "to-do's" is long, but not too arduous.  We had the bottom sanded and painted....reefing system adjusted, and now we'll look at a new tricolor light atop of the mast, lazy-jack mainsail system, new upholstery for the salon, SSB receiver, new Bahamian paper charts, new Garmin Platinum Chartplotter chip, rebuild the head system (ugh), basic maintenance on our 35HP Yanmar engine, etc etc 

.......and by December, we will be on our way south again to the Florida Keys......and then......onward to the Bahamas......and then......perhaps far off island destinations beyond.....to the dragons and pirates of the ancient Caribbean lore.....we'll keep on going as long as we're having fun.......stay tuned...