Bahama bound

On Monday, Dec 14th, 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 steel 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 three 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 three days to cross the big ocean river called the Gulf Stream and find safe harbor before a very large cold front with predicted 25-30kt winds slammed the entire Bahamas and possibly 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 71 degrees, we had to account for the very strong current averaging two 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 three miles in front of us; it was a cruise ship probably heading for Key West.  About midnight, the waves became rambunctious from the southeast, maybe 4- 6 ft, 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, but 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 two different freighters within an hour of each other.  Throttle back and steer aft of them. They each passed within a mile of 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 Bahama 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 five 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). It's basically in the middle of the shallow (8- 10 ft) banks with no land in sight.  This was magic with calm, quiet Bahamian waters and 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 simple tall marker post, but still no sight of land. 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 impending predicted cold front storm coming our way by Friday night. We had two 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 three 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 five 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 and others full-time. 


A few Kaliks (Bahamian Beer pronounced "click") were shared by all at Unca Harvey's Water Loop Bar (formerly 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, the 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- 7 ft seas. For an hour we tried 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 and we were 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.  

Inner harbor with Fiesta on left

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, but we are so thankful to those who helped us get tied up. 

Med-moored

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, but we added more lines and listened to the creaking and groaning of Fiesta for two days.

We feel blessed to be here experiencing this small harbor of Bahamian people. They're so, so friendly, with a great sense of humor. They don't take anything seriously...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'. 

Happy Holidays to all!

Finally leaving the marina...

Note: the Popeye spinach

While the wind blew strongly all Thanksgiving week, we took the opportunity to tidy up the boat, do laundry and provision the boat for takeoff.  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, ten cases of beer, "light" beer, mind you, except for the two cases of "lager"---that's for you, Mike Fauser, when you come join us.  It sounds like we're 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 underway and avoid a messy explosion. 

In our cockpit is a designated "beer locker" with a drain overboard. Island Packet yachts thought of everything; it held three cases. 



For the other seven cases, I found cubbies, 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 five 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. 

We love you guys!  Thanks for all the support and friendships!

And then the time had come, two 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 and 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, so ready or not, here we come.

Welcome....another day

Conditions were a sailor's dream with 10-15kt winds ENE on a beam/broad reach with 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. Myers 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 night's 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 seven 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 had.  Namely, the batteries weren't holding a charge.  Sure enough, the two large, very heavy AGM batteries were eight years old and shot. So glad we found this out now. 

Alex--the harbor wiz

New battery time!

Yes! The next day, Alex and Travis were onboard installing two new large, heavy batteries.  IP Yachts could have made a larger compartment to support the energy storage needs, as 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 four 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"