2/12/09 - Preparing to cross

This morning we watched as, one by one, all the other boats anchored nearby made their departures, including Leo and Betty on Dues Paid. The thought that crosses my mind is that they're all going to the Bahamas (which of course they aren't) and everyone but us knows that today is THE only day to cross the Gulf Stream.

 

The satisfaction of getting a lot of boat stuff done today helped put us at peace with our decision to wait until tomorrow, though. Wayne cleaned sea weed out of some filters, etc., readied our fishing gear for catching The Big One on our way to the Bahamas, and is now installing some fans. I successfully made yogurt on my first attempt without a yogurt maker (Wayne likes it better than store-bought), made a few phone calls, did a little cleaning, reorganized some things, etc. I best deal with stress by over-preparing (guess it gives me the illusion of control) and I have to admit feeling a fair amount of trepidation over our crossing and passage to the Exumas.    

2/11/09 - A very long day

We left Boot Key in Marathon at about 4:30 a.m. to time our arrival at Pumpkin Key at the north end of Key Largo for late afternoon. Motor-sailing into the waves made it not so comfortable to start with, but after turning north we had a lovely afternoon sail.

 

Midday I was down below when Wayne yelled to me, "Hey, I think that's another Island Packet 445! I'll bet it's Gail C." As they passed us from the opposite direction we caught the name of their boat, and it was indeed them. We met Frank and Gail two years ago - after we bought Lena Bea but before we commissioned her. Frank and Gail had Gail C. docked at Burnt Store Marina (which is in Punta Gorda) and invited us over so we could see how they had done things, where and how they had installed various equipment, etc., which helped Wayne a great deal. We knew they left for the Bahamas in January so were very surprised to see them. Wayne called them on the VHF and we learned that they had waited 18 days to cross the Gulf Stream and finally had to turn back due to a family matter. We think it was an unplanned family matter in their case, but cruisers with deadlines or schedules frequently have to cancel their trips when that ubiquitous weather-window just doesn't come along in time. The Gulf Stream is like a river in the middle of the ocean and it flows north at about 2.5-3 knots. When there are winds from any northerly direction, crossing can be miserable (depending on how strong they are) and even treacherous because the wind and current work against each other causing large, turbulent waves. After the wind changes to a favorable direction it takes a day or two for the seas to calm down enough for a comfortable crossing, which is why we'll probably wait until Friday.

 

We were cruising along, happy as clams, until we reached the entrance to Angelfish Creek. Some of you already know what I'm going to say, don't you? Yep, we ran aground. I fixed dinner and we ate while waiting an hour and a half for the tide to come up enough to get off the rocks, then waited another 45 minutes for good measure. Some people think Wayne never gets angry, but those folks have never been with him when he ran aground. I'll let Wayne fill you in on the details for the sake of accuracy, but basically he was looking at tide tables that had conflicting information. Leo and Betty had called to let us know the tide was unusually low due to the full moon and that we should probably wait until high tide to come in (they were already anchored at the other end). Wayne checked tide tables and charts again and called Captain Jim to get his input. Boaters entering the channel ahead of us didn't think we'd have a problem (note to selves: don't trust depth sounders on other boats to give the same readings as ours).

 

We turned left when we reached Card Sound just before sunset and I grabbed the binoculars to look for Dues Paid - Leo and Betty's catamaran - so we could anchor near them. As I looked around the anchorage at boat names, I noticed several boaters with THEIR binoculars trained on US. Guess they wanted to see who the poor suckers were who ran aground. As the saying goes, there are two kinds of boaters: those who have run aground and those who will. So they either have been or will be some day, in the same boat (so to speak).

 

We couldn't find Leo and Betty and finally had to call them to ask where they were anchored, and found out we should have turned right instead of left when we reached the sound. Oh well. As we were preparing to anchor and I was finishing up with Betty, someone called us on the VHF. It was a nearby sailboat, Brilliant, and they invited us over to share a bottle of wine. We agreed before thinking it through, then called back and pleaded exhaustion - getting up at 4 a.m., sailing all day, and sitting sideways in the channel for two hours will do that to you. I'm sure it would have been interesting to visit with the folks on Brilliant, though - they've spent the past seven years living on their boat.

 

Besides - had we not been so tired, we would have liked to get together with Leo and Betty. A couple from the Mariners of PGI, our boating club, put us in touch with them a couple weeks ago because Leo and Betty (neighbors of theirs) were planning to leave for the Exumas about the same time we were. Betty and Leo have cruised to the Bahamas 8-10 times and have shared lots of information with us; they and Wayne spoke on the phone many times, but we haven't met them yet. It looks like our meeting will have to wait longer because they are leaving for the Bahamas tomorrow and we've decided to wait until Friday and the slight possibility of a calmer crossing. We agonized over this and Wayne spent hours poring over wind and wave charts before deciding. The group from Boot Key is leaving on Friday (from Rodriguez Key), as are others we've talked to, so it's probably a toss-up and we'll be more ready after a day at anchor anyway.

2/14/09 - Chub Cay

After a quiet, calm, pleasant day we anchored off Chub Cay with Dues Paid and quite a few other boats. We decided to wait until Nassau to check in because it costs an extra $100 to check in here if we don't spend the night at the marina and $2.80/ft (($126) if we do. Besides that, we would have to go to the airport to do it, which is a five minute bus ride (or so they say). We plan to stop in Nassau anyway. Immigration will come to our boat and it won't cost us any more than the standard $300 for a cruising permit.

Betty and Leo had us over for "attitude adjustment" and dinner this evening, which was a real treat.

2/13/09 - Are we almost there yet?

2/13/09 - Crossing the Gulf Stream at last

I didn't expect to spend the first few hours of our crossing on my hands and knees scrubbing the floors and cleaning the cabin, but there I was. Crossing the Gulf stream was a piece of cake, even with north-northwesterly winds at about 10-13 knots. We had an occasional one-foot wave, but it was as calm as we could have hoped for. We left our anchorage at 6:30 and passed between Gun and Cat Cays (pronounced "keys") at 2:00. We motored all the way with help from our sails.

It feels like a different world over here - "I don't think we're in Florida any more, Emma!" Crystal clear waters of turquoise and azure welcomed us, and I was mesmerized by the white, sandy bottom of the ocean, dotted with bits of grass and countless starfish. It was very warm and I could hardly wait to get in the water.

We were in radio contact with Leo and Betty, who had checked in and spent last night in Bimini. We motored another ten miles or so and anchored next to them along the banks. After calling them with an invitation to come over, we put on our swimsuits and snorkel gear. I immersed the bottom third of my body in the water and changed my mind. We hadn't taken the time to don our wetsuits and the water was too darn cold - about 76 degrees.

Tomorrow we'll probably check in at Chub Cay, anchor there for the night, and continue on to Nassau. We traveled about 70 miles today from Key Largo, but have another 110 miles or so to reach Nassau.

2/12/09 - Crossing tomorrow

We haven't had Internet service the past couple days - I'm emailing this from my cell phone - but will post updates the next opportunity. And that will be from the Bahamas, because we're leaving in the morning. Yea!

2/12/09 - Preparing to cross

This morning we watched as, one by one, all the other boats anchored nearby made their departures, including Leo and Betty on Dues Paid. The thought that crosses my mind is that they're all going to the Bahamas (which of course they aren't) and everyone but us knows that today is THE only day to cross the Gulf Stream.

The satisfaction of getting a lot of boat stuff done today helped put us at peace with our decision to wait until tomorrow, though. Wayne cleaned sea weed out of some strainers, etc., readied our fishing gear for catching The Big One on our way to the Bahamas, and is now installing some fans. I successfully made yogurt on my first attempt without a yogurt maker (Wayne likes it better than store-bought), made a few phone calls, did a little cleaning, reorganized some things, etc. I best deal with stress by over-preparing (guess it gives me the illusion of control) and I have to admit feeling a fair amount of trepidation over our crossing and passage to the Exumas.

2/11/09 - A very long day

We left Boot Key in Marathon at about 4:30 a.m. to time our arrival at Pumpkin Key at the north end of Key Largo for late afternoon. Motor-sailing into the waves made it not so comfortable to start with, but after turning north we had a lovely afternoon sail.

Midday I was down below when Wayne yelled to me, "Hey, I think that's another Island Packet 445! I'll bet it's Gail C." As they passed us from the opposite direction we caught the name of their boat, and it was indeed them. We met Frank and Gail two years ago - after we bought Lena Bea but before we commissioned her. Frank and Gail had Gail C. docked at Burnt Store Marina (which is in Punta Gorda) and invited us over so we could see how they had done things, where and how they had installed various equipment, etc., which helped Wayne a great deal. We knew they left for the Bahamas in January so were very surprised to see them. Wayne called them on the VHF and we learned that they had waited 18 days to cross the Gulf Stream and finally had to turn back due to a family matter. We think it was an unplanned family matter in their case, but cruisers with deadlines or schedules frequently have to cancel their trips when that ubiquitous weather-window just doesn't come along in time. The Gulf Stream is like a river in the middle of the ocean and it flows north at about 2.5-3 knots. When there are winds from any northerly direction, crossing can be miserable (depending on how strong they are) and even treacherous because the wind and current work against each other causing large, turbulent waves. After the wind changes to a favorable direction it takes a day or two for the seas to calm down enough for a comfortable crossing, which is why we'll probably wait until Friday.

We were cruising along, happy as clams, until we reached the entrance to Angelfish Creek. Some of you already know what I'm going to say, don't you? Yep, we ran aground. I fixed dinner and we ate while waiting an hour and a half for the tide to come up enough to get off the rocks, then waited another 45 minutes for good measure. Some people think Wayne never gets angry, but those folks have never been with him when he ran aground. I'll let Wayne fill you in on the details for the sake of accuracy, but basically he was looking at tide tables that had conflicting information. Leo and Betty had called to let us know the tide was unusually low due to the full moon and that we should probably wait until high tide to come in (they were already anchored at the other end). Wayne checked tide tables and charts again and called Captain Jim to get his input. Boaters entering the channel ahead of us didn't think we'd have a problem (note to selves: don't trust depth sounders on other boats to give the same readings as ours).

We turned left when we reached Card Sound just before sunset and I grabbed the binoculars to look for Dues Paid - Leo and Betty's catamaran - so we could anchor near them. As I looked around the anchorage at boat names, I noticed several boaters with THEIR binoculars trained on US. Guess they wanted to see who the poor suckers were who ran aground. As the saying goes, there are two kinds of boaters: those who have run aground and those who will. So they either have been or will be some day, in the same boat (so to speak).

We couldn't find Leo and Betty and finally had to call them to ask where they were anchored, and found out we should have turned right instead of left when we reached the sound. Oh well. As we were preparing to anchor and I was finishing up with Betty, someone called us on the VHF. It was a nearby sailboat, Brilliant, and they invited us over to share a bottle of wine. We agreed before thinking it through, then called back and pleaded exhaustion - getting up at 4 a.m., sailing all day, and sitting sideways in the channel for two hours will do that to you. I'm sure it would have been interesting to visit with the folks on Brilliant, though - they've spent the past seven years living on their boat.

Besides - had we not been so tired, we would have liked to get together with Leo and Betty. A couple from the Mariners of PGI, our boating club, put us in touch with them a couple weeks ago because Leo and Betty (neighbors of theirs) were planning to leave for the Exumas about the same time we were. Betty and Leo have cruised to the Bahamas 8-10 times and have shared lots of information with us; they and Wayne spoke on the phone many times, but we haven't met them yet. It looks like our meeting will have to wait longer because they are leaving for the Bahamas tomorrow and we've decided to wait until Friday and the slight possibility of a calmer crossing. We agonized over this and Wayne spent hours poring over wind and wave charts before deciding. The group from Boot Key is leaving on Friday (from Rodriguez Key), as are others we've talked to, so it's probably a toss-up and we'll be more ready after a day at anchor anyway.

2/10/09 - An alarming situation

This morning we moved from the marina back to our anchorage for a third night at Marathon. A group of Bahamas-bound cruisers was meeting to plan their crossing, so Wayne took the dinghy in to the City Marina to join them.

We have these great little gadgets on our life jackets - a LifeTag system - that set off alarms on the boat if we get a certain distance away. That's so we'll be alerted in case one of us falls off without the other knowing it. It's a horrible, shrieking alarm, and guess what? Wayne forgot to take his LifeTag off before he left in the dinghy. I frantically tried to figure out how to turn off the alarm, but to no avail. I tried to call Wayne on his cell, but it was in a waterproof bag in the backpack and there was no way he could hear it over the sound of the outboard. I left a message ("The LifeTag works really well, but you can turn it off now," with appropriate sound effects in case he needed proof). Finally I retreated to the bedroom where Emma was already hiding out, closed the door and - hey! - I have ear plugs! I finally reached Wayne half an hour later and he told me how to turn the darn thing off - push the same button I had been pushing, but hold it down for five seconds. If you were on one of the many boats anchored around us today, we send our most embarrassed apologies.

2/9/09 - A day in Marathon

This morning after a peaceful night at anchor, we went in to Marathon Marina (where we're spending the night) because Wayne was expecting a visitor. We were met at the fuel dock by John and Chuck, two marina residents.

Being here afforded me the opportunity to get online, so I have been busy tweaking my posts and uploading photos, as you may have noticed.

Cruisers are such friendly people! Chuck and Judy stopped by this afternoon for a visit and to ask about places to stop along the west coast. Shortly after they left, Captain Jim (who Wayne knows from the Island Packet email list) and his friend, Bob, came over. Captain Jim lives in Marathon and has been doing boat deliveries for the past twelve years. He knows the Keys and the Bahamas very well and gave us advice on our crossing and places to go once we get to the Exumas. They were just getting ready to leave when John and Julie came by. They have an IP 485 - Island Chariot - which they sailed down from their home in Oriental, NC last fall. They invited us over to their dock for sunset celebration (they take their sunsets very seriously down here in the Keys), a daily event. So we meandered over there just minutes before sunset and watched people blow their conch horns (a sunset ritual).John and Julie then invited us onboard Island Chariot for a tour and to meet their beautiful cockatoo, Elvis. Coincidentally, we had been on their boat before - at the Miami boat show in 2006. Check out John and Julie's website at http://islandchariot.com/