Returning Home

April 15^th

We left this morning at 8:00.  My excitement was replaced by an urgency to return home due to my brother’s declining health.  The morning started with the winds to our backs and waves helping push us home.  We were again three hours on and three hours off.  I took first watch.  At the end of my watch, I had been watching a rain cell on the radar, closing in on us for about 45 minutes.  I hoped it would miss us but it hit us in the last 15 minutes of my watch.  George had prepared for the rain by getting on his foul weather gear.  By my second watch the rain had gone and the sky was clear.  We expected rain through out the trip back.  I was on watch during the 5:00 PM hour, when the sun’s glare on the water looks as if you have a billion diamonds sprinkled on the water. I tried to enjoy the moment.  When you are on a sail boat you need to be prepared for a lot of thinking time.  Those three hours during my watch were at times very hard.  Even when it was time for me to sleep my mind kept rolling. My thoughts kept going back to my brother, Jerry and my childhood.  My brother also loved the water.  That is somewhat of an oddity because my mother could not swim and did not want us to get near water.  Jerry was very active, even when he did not feel well, he loved going to the beach and he and his wife spent every September there. He loved to go to restaurants by boat.  This past year he had bought a pontoon boat. We had talked about going out on it this summer when we returned.

 I had a lot of time for remembering and thinking for we did not see another boat that day until about 5:00 PM and it was about 2 miles away.  I had the ocean to myself. When I got in the cockpit for my 9:00 PM watch I was shocked to see lights every where. There were 11 ships within 12 miles of us.  It looked like the L.A. freeway!  Where did my ocean go?  George said, “the good thing is that they are all going our way”.  This did not comfort me in the least. I was not very happy to be at the helm, during this much traffic but I let him go get some rest anyway.  I had to watch every light to see where it was and where it was going.  The radar was full of little and big red dots.  One was worrying me.  It was staying in the same position and getting closer.  That means we were on a collision course.  Even though it was two miles away I woke George up.  Just as he was looking at the ship it changed it’s course and turned broadside.  The boat I thought was a fishing boat was a cruise ship. When they are headed your way they look smaller than when they turn.  The ship passed on our port and then after passing us he turned across our stern, he had changed course to avoid me.  Cruise ships and bigger vessels sometimes have computer programs that turn the vessel when it gets within one and half miles from another vessel.  This happened again about 15 minutes later. I woke George up again.  We have AIS on the chartplotter but we could not get it to work.  AIS  stands for Automatic Identification System. It will tell you the ships name, speed, course, length, width, weight and the distance it will pass from you if you continue your course.

I wanted to stay on watch that night from 9:00 until 2:00.   I felt bad about waking George up so I wanted him to get some sleep.  I could not really enjoy this passage because I was in constant thoughts and prayers for my brother.  I understood his prognosis was not good.  I just wanted to be home.  I wanted to go fast and George had told me we would be going fast when we got into the Gulf Stream.  We were motoring north and the Gulf Stream pushes us north.  I wanted to stay on watch until we hit the Gulf Stream.  We were going about 7 knots.  George woke up about 1:30 and fussed a little because I didn’t wake him up earlier.  I could not sleep much during my time off but this time I did sleep.  I woke up about 4:30.  I was to go on watch about 4:30 but George told me he wanted to give me some extra time to sleep as well, but we were in the Gulf Stream and I wanted to see how fast we were going.  We were hitting over 9 knots.  I know you power boaters don’t think that is fast but it is for us.  We were just off the Florida coast.  I felt a little easier because I was closer home.  I started my watch and was a little uneasy because of the speed.  The waves had been on our beam most of the trip so it was what I call a rolly polly ride, and I was not used to going that fast in a rolly polly sea.  Our cell phones worked and as we were coming closer to Ft. Pierce Jack called.  Scott had picked him up in St. Simons and he was to help get the boat back up to Brunswick.   I was to get in the car with Scott and we were going to see my brother.  We did not realize it but our sailing skills were to be tested one more time. The inlet to Ft. Peirce was very rough when returned due to an outgoing tide. At the entrance the seas were about six feet tall. We could only make 1.5 knots instead of our normal 6 knots due to all of the current. George was at the helm and was afraid the current was going to take control of the boat and turn it around. We were meeting a sailboat under sail and there seemed to be someone in a red raft. George went between them and saw it was someone on a jet ski. He screamed, “My engine quit, throw me a line.” George knew our boat did not have enough power to fight the current and we would not be able to save him.  We might only make things worse by putting our lives and his in jeopardy.  George had to scream back “I can’t, I’m going to lose my boat but I will call sea tow.” When George called Sea Tow, a power boater called back that he had him in sight and would assist him. Sea Tow came anyway and so did the Coast Guard.

We docked at about 1:30 PM which concluded a 30 hour passage. Customs told us to come by the airport after we had lunch.  Scott and I finally left about 4:00 PM to start our 8 hour trip back home.  George and Jack were to try to go on the outside and get back to Brunswick on Tuesday morning.  This meant that George would have to be on a three hour shift for another 48 hours.  Jack who had just finished a 55 hour run bringing his boat back would have to get back on our boat for another 48 hours.  I told Jack how much I appreciated him helping George get the boat back where I could get home to see my brother a few days sooner. He told me that is what friends are for and with a little smile he said “you would do it for me wouldn’t you”. We both knew the answer to that. Sometimes thank you just does not seem to be enough to say.

I didn’t want my blog to end in such a sad way.  But I also didn’t want to just not mention my brother and our heart break.  We returned to be with him on Sunday.  He was home when we got to his house. He went to back to the hospital later that week and returned home on Thursday evening under Hospice care.  He passed away on Good Friday.  Jerry never wanted his wife or son to call and worry me.  He told me when I saw him that he felt he had shorten our trip.  I told him we had a great trip and that he was more important. This blog was a true blessing because by the time I got home Jerry was too sick for me to relate any of my stories from the trip. But I did not need to because he had been reading my blog and living the trip with me. He did love a good story and he loved going and doing things.  When we were in Ft. Pierce having so much trouble he advised me not worry about the Bahamas just enjoy where I was.  I will follow this advice and live in the moment each day and live life to it’s fullest.

 He was a true brother in all the ways you think of a brother being.  He picked on me, told on me, but he also motivated me and protected me, but most of all loved me and I loved him.  He was still trying to protect me even at the end of his life.  He faced death like a true Christian.  He said he didn’t want any soggy eyes. When I was little I would try to imitate Jerry.  When I die, I pray I will also be like my brother and face death with the confidence, peace and dignity that he did.  He will be sorely missed by all who knew him, especially his sister.

Jerry and his grand daughter, Carlie at my retirement party

Homeward Bound

April 13^th 2011

Yesterday we decided that we needed to start our way back home.  We feel it is time to be with our family.  It has been a wonderful trip and hopefully we will do this again next year.  We also plan to make some short trips this spring such as Brunswick to St. Augustine.  We plan to get fuel tomorrow morning.  The fuel barge came today which means we will get fresh fuel.  George was afraid that this marina may not have fresh fuel since the boat traffic is slow here.  The weather window seems to be good until Saturday morning.  We should be in Ft. Pierce by mid day Friday.  We will leave from great Harbour Cay which is not the usual departing area, and go toward Ft. Pierce.  We will not stay in the Gulf Stream as long as Martini did even though that would be a quicker way to Brunswick.  It took Martini 55 hours to cross and arrive in Brunswick.  For two people 55 hours is a long time to 3 hours on and three hours off.  We plan to cross over to Ft. Pierce which will take about 29 hours.  The winds appear to be coming from the right direction so we can motor sail a lot of the way.  After we get to Ft. Pierce we will probably stay one night and get some rest before we take her up the ICW.  If the winds are blowing from the right direction we may go on the outside and make better time.  Anyway I will not post again until we are across at Ft. Pierce.  So say a little prayer for us and for the weather to hold.  I am excited about making, what I hope is, another uneventful yet beautiful crossing.

Enjoying Another Sunset

George and Freida

Beach at Great Harbour Cay

April 14^th 2011

Sailing plans are written in sand and are changed by wishes, whims, weather and winds. After double checking the weather the winds shifted to the North on Thursday afternoon, so we can’t leave until Friday morning. We should be in Fort Pierce around noon on Saturday.

Cruise Ships and Mooring Balls

April 11^th 2011

We started out early about 6:30 AM., as we were waiting for enough light to see.  We had very smooth waters with very little wind.  George did great leaving the docks. We had no one to throw our lines, so we untied and jumped on the boat and off we went. George wanted first watch because he said the person on first will have an extra watch.  We were both  a little worried because if we did not make good time to the Berry Islands, we would  have to pick up a mooring ball or anchor in the dark in unfamiliar waters. Our alternate plan was to go to Nassua, where we have anchored in the dark before.  Even though the wind was on our nose, the wind was light and the waves were as well. Our ETA was 6:30 P.M., not much margin for error. As the day progressed and the water got even smoother our speed picked up to between 6.5 to 7 knots.  It even hit 7.4 once.  I realized if the waves had been 2-5 as predicted we would have never made Little Stirrup Cay before dark.  We saw a Cruise ship that I thought was on the same course as we were but after I woke George and looked closer it was anchored near the island we were going to anchor behind.  As we approached, the ship pulled anchor and motored away in front of us.  We got to the anchorage about 5:30 P.M..  We saw the mooring balls.  I have never picked up a mooring ball before.  George assured me it was a piece of cake….I always worry when he assures me “it’s a piece of cake”, but it was very easy. We did not  have to make but one pass and we got it.  That evening was one of the prettiest sunsets of the trip. 

A camera just can't capture the true beauty of a sunset.

April 12^th

We went to Great Harbour Cay Marina today.  We wanted to check our email and make some phone calls. Releasing the mooring ball was certainly easier than pulling in the anchor even with a windlass.  I like mooring balls!  Because of shallow waters we had to go around the island to get to Great Harbour.  As we looked to the end of the island where we were going, we saw one really big cruise ship and another smaller cruise ship.  Then we looked at the tip of the island which had been deserted yesterday.  The island beach was covered with people and umbrellas.  As we passed the island we could smell them cooking lunch on the grill.  We had to go around two parasail boats and we saw several jet skies.  We arrived at the great Harbour Marina about 1:30. The Marina is tucked back in the cut and you have to twist and turn not seeing where you are going at times.  With a boat that’s draws six feet it was a little scary.  We went to the Bar and Pool restaurant for lunch.  That was a real experience. It seemed that they were out of everything we ordered.  We also took a taxi ride to the grocery store.  We had to go to two grocery stores before we found bread.  As we traveled the roads in the taxi we saw a lot of the native island people.  They do not have much but seemed to be again very happy people. When we came back into the harbour area we saw a parasail boat and a glass bottom boat.  Most of the people here probably make an income from the cruise ships. George has seen the impact of the economy last year but he saw even more this year.  In every marina there were a lot of empty slips.  It seems this island was hit really hard as well.  You can see on this island that in years past it was much better kept.  When our economy suffers, the Bahamas suffer even more.

They are big and beautiful at a distance but scary up close.

On to Great Harbour

April 10, 2011

We slept late!! George vacuumed the boat.  I put up the extra sheets we had on the beds.  We tried the windlass.  IT WORKED! We also had to plot our course for the next day.  We will have a long day tomorrow 60 miles to the next anchorage or mooring.  I have never picked up a mooring ball before.  We will be up by 5:30 and out of here by first light.  If for some reason we don’t make it to Great Harbour, we will keep going until we get to Nassau.  George feels comfortable anchoring after dark there.  We are headed to the Berry Islands.  There are 500 people who live in all the Berry Islands.

Martini has been sending “spots’ and they were off the coast of Daytona at 5:00 PM.  A spot is a handheld device that sends a GPS location via a satellite to a computer or cellphone. They are doing well but I am sure they are tired.

And then there were two

April 9^th 2011

This morning we got up early to eat breakfast in Lucaya.  The wives left from the restaurant for the airport.  They only brought one carry on bag each.  After breakfast we called a taxi and said our good byes.  Last week really went quickly.  The guys are going to see them in a few days. After the wives left we all left to prepare Martini to leave.  Jimmy moved his stuff off Celebration and on to Martini.  I reminded Jack how well Jimmy had be treated on Celebration and that he was accustom to a few things like cheese toast, sandwiches wrapped just a certain way when under sail and French pressed coffee. Jack assured me he had plenty of salmon in the bag and peanut butter, anyway Jimmy would have to work his way back up from a swab to mate.  The humor was keeping us from expressing our true emotions about Martini leaving.  After hugs and hand shakes, the time finally came when we had to throw Martini the dock lines and wave goodbye.  We followed them down the dock waving as if they were our children going off to college and we were running down the street waving.  After they were out of sight I turned to George but could not speak.  I am not sure if the tears that were swelling up in our eyes were from the sadness that we were going to really miss our buddy boat, or being unsure of what lay ahead.  I feel it was mainly the end of a great adventure with a great group of guys, and also the feeling of being blessed not only with friends but with the opportunity to experience all we had experienced.  About an hour after they left, Martini hailed us on the radio to say goodbye one last time before they got out of range.  

Charlotte P, Charlotte H, and Linda leaving for the airport.

Saying goodbye to Martini and her crew, Jimmy, Greg and Capt. Jack

After a few hours of sitting around feeling a little blue, the reality set in.  We had a lot to do if we were going to leave the next day.  Wash, go get some oil, hair cut, and check the windlass. We put on the wash, and then we went into Port Lucaya to have my hair cut.  It seemed like the thing to do a few days before.  I don’t know who was more nervous the Bahamian lady cutting my hair or me.  I knew she was cutting it really short.  All I was thinking was “it will grow”.  She had me turned away from the mirror, so when she turned me around I had my fake smile already for the reveal.  George was waiting for me at the Rum Runners Bar and Grill, that was an excellent place to wait.  I am sure those two Kaliks helped him adjust to my new hair cut.  I told him that I felt like one of the guys now, we both laughed. 

The security Lady at the entrance gate told us she would take us to the store to get our oil when she got off at 3:00, and she did.  The Bahamians are the nicest people.  When you hear them say “no problem mon” they really mean it. Everyone goes out of their way to help.  We met another couple who had spent all winter in the Exumas.  They invited us to their boat to show us some anchorages for our way south.  They had a lot of good information.  After the visit with them we decided not to leave Port Lucaya until Monday.  We just wanted to chill.  I also wanted to hear from my brother again before we left for another anchorage. 

Lucaya

April 8^th 2011

Today was our only full day in Lucaya, and we really pack a lot into it. All the ladies walked to the grocery store while George the mechanic worked on the Windlass.  He also worked on our fuel tank problem as well as our refrigeration problem.  Jack, Greg, Jimmy and George stayed with the mechanic to lend a helping hand if needed.  Seems this guy might know what he is doing.  Another solenoid was needed. The first one we put on was not the right one and was wired incorrectly.  We will find out as the trip progresses to see if it is fixed this time or not. We got back from the grocery store, Jimmy, Charlotte, Greg, Charlotte, Jack and Linda went to the beach and pool.  I stayed back to called my brother to wish him a happy birthday and to see how he was doing   He has been in the hospital with a blood infection.  I was relieved to hear he was doing better, but I am still concerned about him being in the hospital.  I then went to the beach to join the others.  George followed soon after.  The swimming pool has a swim up bar. That night everyone took George and me out for dinner.  We again had a great meal.  As we sat there and ate my thoughts were about all the things we had been though for the past 6 weeks.  After dinner we topped the night off with music in the public theatre and another limbo show.  Tomorrow the wives are flying home and Martini will start the passage home. I think we all were dreading the next morning.

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This is the ship that they used in the third Johnny Depp Piraes of the Caribean.  It was filmed in the Bahamas.

West End

April 5^th 2011

John Travolta's Condo at West End

Today was very stormy. It was a very lazy day.  It rained most of the day.   It was very relaxing to just stay on the boat during the rain storms.  After the rain stopped, we had hot dogs and hamburgers on the picnic table on the dock. Nothing is better than a good hot dog off a grill.

April 6^th 2011We had another wonderful day without any excitement …..of course we didn’t move the boat. Met some people from Augusta on the Salty Dawg, a fishing boat.  They caught a tuna they believed to be about 100 pounds, but did not have any scales that would weigh that high.  I had to admit I brought my bathroom scales.  They used my scales and the fish weighed 87 pounds.  The young man who looked to be about 15 or 16 fought the tuna for about an hour before he brought him in.

Greg cooked lobster for dinner. I know lobster again.  You just can’t get too much lobster.  We are expecting to go to Lucaya tomorrow.  We met a lot of good people in West End.  Most of them are leaving as well.  Good weather.     

April 7, 2011

We left for Lucaya about 8:45.  The wives are sailing with us today.  Two of the wives have trouble with sea sickness but they took some meds and seas were smooth, so all was well.  Arrived in Lucaya about 2:45 and of course Celebration feed their crew, but Martini’s crew was starving when we got off the boat.  So, we had to eat again.  Too full to eat a big dinner so we opted to have ice cream for dinner. I made an appointment to have my hair cut on Saturday….pictures later.  Tomorrow we hope to have our windlass fixed AGAIN!  I also want to wish my brother a great Big Happy Birthday tomorrow and a get well wish as well.

Gary the lobster/conch man

April 3^rd 2011

Today was wash day for Celebration’s crew.  It seemed like it took all day to do the wash.  I had to walk at least a 1/4 of a mile to go to the laundry. Greg and Charlotte walked on the beach, and sailed a Hobie Cat.  Jack and Linda rode bikes and also walked on the beach, Jimmy and his Charlotte did as well.  George and I just rested and washed. 

Yesterday, soon after we got into our slip, another Tayana Vancouver 42 pulled into the slip directly across from us. Why this is so remarkable is that there are only 176 of these boats built.  Of course George had to go over and meet the owners.  The owner and his friend had been sailing together for many years.  The owner had bought the boat new in 1991.  He and his wife flew to Taiwan and designed the lay out of  their boat . You could see the women’s touch.  We like our boat more and more, but after talking to him, we are convinced this is the right boat for us.  Greg cooked lobster on Celebration once again.  Then we all went for a walk on the beach. Great meal!  Great memories!

April 4, 2011

We were out of bread so we took a bike ride to the grocery.  It was about a mile or two by bike. Most of the ride was a road by the water and the view was gorgeous.  On the way to the store, we saw Gary.  Gary is the guy that George, Greg, Jack and Scott bought lobster from last year.  He remembered George and the group from last year. When we saw him he was diving for Conch.  He free dives for conch.  After we talked to Gary, we stopped at the Bakery for a Guava pastry.

Gary

After lunch I thought I would try snorkeling.  I was a little too adventurous, got too far out and George sent in a Navy Seal for the rescue.  I will admit I might have been out too far but I swam back. The Navy seal was not that good looking or I might have let him help me.  We saw some one pulling a big box with styrofoam pieced around it.  It was Gary again.  He was still diving for conch.  I wanted to try to cook some, but it is very tough if it is not cooked right.  Jack and Greg also wanted to try some.  So we bought 6 conchs.  I asked Gary how to cook it.  He said you had to tenderize the meat by pounding it.  As I walked off I looked back and the lady from the shell hut was looking over Gary’s conch.  I went back and asked how she cooked conch she told me to sauté it with onions and peppers and add tomato paste after I had tenderized it with a pressure cooker.  I used her recipe and severed it over rice.  It was great.  By the way the pressure cooker is great on the boat, baked potatoes in 15 minutes.  

Nothing is easy with Celebration

Cooper Town

March 27^th

We had a brunch on Celebration and invited Bill.  He seemed to enjoy my biscuits. After we tested the windlass we left Marsh Harbour about 12:30, headed for Guana Cay.

Guana Cay is home of Nipper’s.  Nipper’s is a three tier open air bar, with a beautiful view of the beach.  It also has a swimming pool on the lower tier, and of course music.  We also met some very interesting people at Nipper’s.  Now, it was really hot that day, and the guys really enjoyed the view.  Just saying…..       Because we had a late meal that day we shared a fried lobster sandwich.  Yes, lobster again.  For dinner we went down the road the Grabbers. Grabbers is famous for the view of sunset.   Nipper’s….Grabber’s where do they get these names?  The sunset was again beautiful.  Again we met some very interesting people at Grabbers, someone from Germany, England and Trinidad.

March 28

Left the docks the next morning headed for Powell Cay.  We sailed almost all the way. This is the same anchorage George and I anchored when we were coming in.   However, when we looked at the wind direction we decided to anchor across from Powell at Cooper Town.  Cooper Town is a small village that has been untouched by the tourist.  Greg asked one grandfatherly gentleman on a motorcycle, “where could we buy some lobsters?”  He also asked some guys sitting outside a bar.  Two of them picked up their cell phone and started to call people.  Before we knew it Greg was coming out of a house with a big bag full of lobsters.  Just about the same time, a pick up truck stop to offered us some as well.  Greg got about 30 lobsters for a little over a dollar a piece.  There were three boats in the same anchorage.  One was another Tayana.  In the middle of the night the anchor alarm went off.  We were dragging.  We had to pull up the anchor in the middle of a moonless night and move to the other anchorage that we were going to early that day.  It took about 30 minutes to get to the other anchorage across a body of water.  We could not see anything. The winds were blowing and it was also raining. Thank goodness the windlass worked!  Jimmy had also interred a waypoint in the GPS earlier that day.  We radioed Martini and told them we were dragging.  In just a few minutes Martini called and asked us to guide them in because they were also dragging.  No one got much sleep that night.

March 29^th

Pulled up anchor the next day and motored sailed to Allen Pensicola Cay.  We got in the dingy and explored the island. Jack had made a sign with the names Celebration and Martini written on it.  He also wrote the crew’s names.  There is a tree on the island called signature tree, in fact, many signature trees.  We placed our sign in just the right spot.  While we were on the other side of the island Greg, Jimmy and George fished.  I looked for sea glass without any luck, and Jack looked for some shade. 

March 30^th

We sailed all the way from Allen Pensicola to Great Sale Cay.  We got up to 7 knots with a double reefed main.  When we got to Great Sale cay we decided to anchor on a different side of the island again because the wind was coming from the wrong direction to anchor where we had planned.  The seas were too rough for a dingy ride for Martini to come for dinner.  Martini fixed spaghetti and so did Celebration.  The engine gave a skip as we were coming in and it worried us so we changed the fuel filter.  We had some trouble last June with the port tank but thought we had it all corrected.  We thought about switching tanks but we only had only 10 gallons in the starboard tank.  That is about 10 hours worth of fuel and it was about 10 hours to the next destination.

March 31

Weather report was not good for that day, but Greg’s, Jack’s and Jimmy’s wives were flying into Lucaya on April the 2rd.  We pulled anchor and I mean we pulled anchor. The windlass did not work again.  In the winds it took at least 30 minutes to pull anchor and get going.  George and Jimmy went forward to triple reef the main.  George look at Jimmy and both decided we should not go.  We were only going about 4 knots at that speed we would not get in until lateat night and at low tide.  The weather reports were talking about tornadoes and thunder storms.  We knew we were headed toward bad weather.  We called Martini and told them our plans.  They were too far gone to turn back.  They might not have enough gas to come back and go again the next day.  We told them to do what they had to do and go on. I was disappointed because I was out of contact with my family for four days.  I was worried about my brother and how he was doing.  He had recently been in the hospital.  We tried to call Jack but could not reach him by cell phone or by radio.  I felt cut off from the world.  I just had a sick felling something was not right.  I wanted to call my family and tell them I was OK. The spots we send our family is the location of where we are.  I was afraid they would worry if they saw we were in the middle of no where for a few days.  I wanted to get in touch with Jack to have him to call my family.   We had tried and tried to call him. That afternoon George’s cell phone, we all thought, that’s Jack!  But it was not Jack It was my daughter Jill.  She had called to tell me my brother was fine but he had been in the hospital again.  We could not reach anyone by cell phone but that call came from Thomasville Georgia……Now that was a God thing!  We tried to call Scott, Jill or Courtney to have them call Jack.  Then we tried to call Jack.  We could not make a call.  Jack was trying to call us I know. The call from Jill made me feel so relieved.  That after noon the winds stayed in the high 20’s.  That night we thought about how much fuel we had and our options.  During the night the front moved through.  We had thunder storms and rain. 

April 1^st

The next morning we could see the front was over us.  We thought it would move through.  We pulled up anchor and left.  The winds were high so we triple reefed the main but it still was rough.  The winds were hitting 30 knots and the waves were 5 to 6 feet.  We could make it but with the fuel problems and the rough seas we again decided to  turn  back.  This time we anchored on the other side of Great Sale.  The wind had changed. George had toyed with the idea of transporting some fuel from our port tank to the starboard tank. We now only had 8 hours of fuel due to the move this morning. We were sitting around waiting and thinking.  I voted for fuel transfer and Jimmy quickly agreed.  So the process started!  I used a ½ quart measure cup to mark a line on a bowl for a quart.  We had to use a UGA coffee cup to dip the fuel out of the tank and into the bowl.  As George dipped out and Jimmy poured in the other tank, I counted, with slash marks.  224 UGA coffee cups of fuel later we had transferred 14 gallons of fuel to the port tank.  We now can motor into west End.  We all slept well that night.

April 2

We woke to very calm waters.  The sunrise was of course beautiful.  We got the anchor up in record time.  We set sail for West End.  We saiedl some of the way but had to motor at least half the way.  I was excited to wash and to get the garbage off the boat.  We were disappointed that the wives would have to come from Lucaya to West End to meet us but at least we could see them today.   Jimmy was especially happy to be getting into West End. Jack called early afternoon and said the ladies had been taken care of.  He and Greg were still at West End waiting on us.  Coming into West End is very shallow, so we had to be very careful and plan our arrival at mid tide.  As we approached West End we could see big starfish on the bottom.  We got to West End just before the wives arrived by taxi.  All the guys were very happy to see their wives and I was happy to have some girls with me as well.

sunset at Grabbers

Marsh to Lynyard and back to Marsh

March 23

Left the dock headed for Lynyard Cay about 9:45 and arrived at Lynyard about 2:00p.m. Greg and Jack had to dive under our boat and Jacks boat - fishing line was involved.  Greg and Jack took the dingy to the island to do some exploring.  However Jack forgot his shoes so Greg had to go alone.  My camera needed charging so I was going to wait to go to the island.  By the time Greg and Jack got back, we decided not the get the dingy off and go ashore.  That night we had pecan crusted salmon and a home made peach cobbler, that was promised to Jack and Greg for diving under our boat. 

March 24

We left Lynyard Cay about 7:30 in the morning and again our windlass did not work.  George is really going to be buff. We all were prepared for a long day.  We were expecting to get to our next anchorage just before dark.  It was an unfamiliar anchorage for us and we needed to get to it before dark. We were going to Royal Island through Little Harbour pass, which meant we had to go through some open water.  The wind was blowing much harder than the weather forecast predicted.  The waves were 4 feet to 7 feet on the nose.  George and Jimmy, on Celebration got a little woozy. After about 2 hours of the seas not letting down, all of us decided to turn back and anchor at Lynyard Cay again. We need to allow enough time to get to Lucaya before the other wives fly in.    

 We were all a little disappointed that we could not make that passage.  We got back to Lynyard about 10:00 a.m. This time I had my camera charged and I was ready to go explore the island.  We walked and walked and walked trying to find a path to the other side of the island with Greg leading to way.  We walked through miles of brush but we did not give up. We finally find the path that lead over to the other side.  It was will worth the effort.  The view was amazing, and as we looked down we found a piece of sea glass.  We were hooked.  Hunting sea glass is very addicting.  Greg went one way and George and I went the other.  We found a lot of sea glass.  Some pieces were worth being made into jewelry.  It was hard to stop looking but we had not prepared to stay so long in the heat.  We had nothing to drink and we were in long sleeves. After getting up so early, a rough sea, and exploring the island, we got back to the boat and  passed out from exhaustion.  Martini tried to call us but we had inadvertently turned off our radio.  Celebration had soup for dinner and Martini had spaghetti. 

March 25^th

We woke up earlier to hear the weather forecast in hopes to continue on to Royal Island, but it appears that the seas were going to be the same so we opted to turn back to Marsh Harbour.  Jack’s sail had a minor tear in the sunbrella part of his sail, and we again wanted to get our windlass fixed.  As it turned out it was a great day of sailing back to Marsh Harbour.  Martini asked permission to pass on our port…..Jimmy and George was to have none of that…..we had out our genoa, and the main sail. So when we saw they were passing, we put up the staysail, everyone was surprised how much difference the staysail made.  It was a shame they could not keep up enough to take some good pictures of us under our three sails…. Just kidding Martini we love you and your dingy Olive.

We got back to Marsh Harbour and Bill, a fellow boater called a guy, named Bryan that rebuilds motors; again this was a Friday afternoon.  He checked out the windlass and said he believed it was the solenoid.  George asked if we could buy one from him and put it on ourselves, if not we were going to have to wait until Monday. George was to go with him to his shop and get the part and take a taxi back.  Instead, Bryan loaned his car to us and our new friend Bill.  As it turns out Bill who helped Rey, the dock master, catch our lines when we came in was a good electrician. When Greg volunteered Bill to put on the solenoid, he cheerfully agreed to help. As we talked to him, we realized the man lying in our “basement”, a small compartment where we store stuff and where some of the electrical stuff is located, was a physician from Australia.  He was a very interesting “bloke”, to use one of his terms. We all went out for dinner at Snappas. We had a wonderful time talking and visiting with such a fascinating person.   Meeting people from different places and backgrounds has been one of the highlights of our trip.

March the 26^th

Today was another lazy day.  We did wash, bought groceries and planned our trip to Guana Cay tomorrow. Low tide in at 9:00 tomorrow, so we will leave about 12:00 noon. 

Martini under sail

Dinner by Martini

March 22, 2011

Some of you may be wondering what is raking and scraping.  It is when you scrape a screw driver on a hand saw.  George, did not take a picture of me but here is a picture of Scott last year raking and scraping.

.  Greg and Jack went snorkeling today.  Greg took some great underwater pictures. Tonight we had lobster provided by Chef Greg. As we had hoped we plan to leave for Lynyard Cay tomorrow.  So this is the last post for a few days.

George and Freida

Hope town and the coconut!

March 20 th

We are waiting for a weather window to go south,   where we are going we are not sure.  Depending on how much time we spend waiting for the weather.  We stayed around Marsh Harbour and just chilled today.  Winds really were blowing today.  Glad we waited.  Tonight we had Ham Steak, cabbage, potatoes and corn bread. After the meal we watched a movie about sailing ……All the guys went to sleep during the movie. 

March 21, 2011

Today we went to Hope Town.  We did not sail because we were afraid of the low tides, so we took a Ferry.  We got to the Ferry Landing over an hour early. Someone read the schedules wrong….not calling any names ….Jack.  The boys did find something to do to occupy their time.  They found a coconut!  Many of you may not know this but there are stages to bursting a coconut open.  15 minutes of throwing the coconut against a rock, 15 more minutes of trying to pull the outer layer off.  Then you cut the “eyes” with a knife and drink the juice.   Then bursting the inter coconut, the one that has the eye on it that we all would recognize.  Well that kept the boys busy until the Ferry came.  Had a great meal of conch fritters, conch burgers and peas and rice. Peas and rice is the local favorite.  We took some great pictures from the Light House.  Oh by the way, I learned not to eat too much raw coconut.  After dinner we planned the trip south.  It looks like we will be leaving Wednesday morning and headed to Lynyard Cay where we will anchor for the night. The next morning we will continue on to Royal Island and on to Spanish Wells.

Living to dream

Freida and George

The Limbo man at the Jib Room

A Wild Dingy Ride

March 19^th

We planned to go to the Jib Room for steaks tonight.  George thought it would be a good idea to take the dingy, it is a straight shot from our marina to the Jib room but if you walk it is about two or three miles. We decided to go for a trial run. So we finally get the dingy started, after we called Scott to “find something”. Jack was in his dingy. George, Jimmy, Greg, and I were all in our dingy. Watching Greg, George, Jimmy and Jack “parking” the dingy at the Job Room was really entertaining.  It was a true comedy show. This is like being on a vacation with Larry, Moe, and Curly.  Only I am with 4 of them.  We got back to the boat at 6:00 and had to be back to the Jib Room at 7:00 for steaks.  All the guys took a 30 minute nap. This is such a hard life!  The docking of the dingies that night was much better.  It was good that we had a trial run because that night we had a much bigger audience.   I tried my hand at raking and scraping at the Jib Room and also did one turn under the limbo stick.  The limbo guy at the Jib Room is really amazing. I will try to post the video. The night trip back in the dingy was just as entertaining as the docking earlier that day.  Larry, Moe, Curly and #4 were at it again.

Laughing, Loving and Living the Dream

George and Freida

just another sunset

 

Here is the “rest of the passage summary”

March 16th

We had a great trip to our first anchorage Great Sail Cay. We only saw one boat that was three miles away. It was my first anchoring with this boat and our new anchor. Thank you kids for the Marriage Savers. These are a head set you can talk person to person from bow to the stern without screaming, hence the name marriage savers. Had you wondering, didn’t I? We anchored but were so tried we had to work at staying awake for the sunset. It was worth the wait!


March 17th St. Patrick’s Day
We cooked breakfast. We had to wait until the fog lifted about 10:00. We didn’t mind the wait because we were still a little tired from our crossing. When we tried to pull up the anchor we realized the windlass was not working. This is the motor that raises the anchor. George wanted to work on his biceps anyway. He pulled it up with the wench. We had a wonderful motor/sail to Powell Cay. We average 6.0 knots, sometimes going as fast as 7.2 knots. We got there at 4:00 PM. We had left over Pizza from Fort Pierce and warmed up in a frying pan. Who needs a Microwave? Again it was an effort to wait until the sunset to go to sleep. Again it was worth the wait.

March 18th
After a breakfast of eggs and toast, we pulled anchor at about 10:30. We headed for our next destination, Marsh Harbour, where we hope to meet up with our buddy boat. We had to travel thought Whale pass which is unprotected water and was a little rough. Between 11:00 and 11:30 we heard a familiar sound on the VHF radio “Celebration Celebration this is Martini”. Our buddy boat, Martini was trying to hail us. We got into Marsh Harbour with the crew of Martini waiting for us to throw them the lines. It was a great reunion. We went to curly Tails and then on to Snappers for dinners. Jack reminded us we had been on the boat for 74 hours. That was shocking to realize we were on the water for that long. It seems Martini’s crew was ready for some of Celebration’s provisions. They keep talking about salmon from a bag with rice. However, Martini did have fresh lobster one night and steaks another night.

Crossing the Gulf Stream

March 15th
On March 15th we left Fort Pierce at 2:30. I was filled with emotion. I had spent a week of waiting and hoping to leave for the Bahamas. Just when I let myself stop hoping it happened the workmen said “O.K. we’re finished”. George and I were like two captured wild animals being set free.
George took first watch from 2:30 p.m. till 5:30 p.m. We would be at the helm 3 hours on and three hours off. I had what he called the sunset watch from 5:30 till 8:30. Earlier that morning I had wondered, “Isn’t it easier just to fly to the Bahamas. After the first few minutes on my watch, I realized why I wanted to go by boat. Something caught my eye on the starboard side of the boat. I saw what I thought was the noses of seal. Now they talk about having hallucinations on long passages with out sleep, but this was much too early in the trip. Before I knew it the seals noses were getting closer. There were at least 25-30 dolphins jumping in unison along side of the boat. For a moment I just looked with complete amazement. I tried to go forward to get my new camera to take a picture. By the time I got my camera, most of the dolphins were gone, only 3 or 4 dolphins were playing hide and seek with me. Later that watch I enjoyed a beautiful sunset, and a beginning of a very special night. My next watch was from 11:30 till 2:30. We were in the middle of the Gulf Stream. Oh! By the way, much too much adrenaline to sleep between watches. The moon was just enough light. The moon glistened on the water and highlighted each wave with a white cap. The waves were in rhythm with 3 or 4 short smooth waves then the last big one that shot water over each side of the bow. I looked up at one point during that watch to see our stern light shinning on our American flag, with the flag in the fore ground and the moon shinning in the background. A vision I will never forget. My next watch was from 5:30 to 8:30. By then the moon had disappeared and the night was much darker. As your eyes begin to get adjusted to the darkness, I realized that the stars have taken the place of the moon lighting the way. They were collectively giving light. Two or three were very bright. Each star was so defined. It was as if they were saying it’s our turn to shine. Just when I had started enjoying each star in its own brilliance, I saw a glimpse of light coming over the bow. The sun had also wanted to take my breath away. George got up to put another way point in to continue our passage to Great Sail Cay. I cooked breakfast, then I lay down and this time I slept like a baby. I awoke from my two hours nap because my body is now on a three hour on three hour off schedule. I woke up to the most beautiful deep calm aqua waters. All you could see 360 degrees was beautiful aqua water no boats no land just water. George was forward watching dolphins play. He had a big smile on his face. He greeted me with “Welcome to the Bahamas”. Now you know why I didn’t just fly to the Bahamas.

Praising God for all of this, and for the opportunity to live the dream,
Freida and George

Leaving the mainland

Believe it or not we a leaving Fort Pierce headed south. We will turn to go across to the Bahamas about 11:00 p.m. Hope to be in West End Bahamas before 3:p.m. tomorrow. Say a little prayer for us.
Living the dream in the gulf stream
George and Freida

 

Well another weather window comes and goes. The cabinetry people did not understand they were supposed to replace the bolts….. Long story! So they will come tomorrow to finish the work. We were planning to leave the docks at 7:00a.m. TOMORROW. That’s not happening. However, this should be the last of the repairs. So maybe the next weather window we will cross to the Bahamas. Since we have been detained in Florida for almost threes weeks, it makes me wonder if I am being punished for all the bad things I have thought about the Fla. Gators. O.K, I admit we have met a lot of really nice people since we have been in Fort Pierce and on the way down. The view is not bad either.

 

Celebration got a brand new sail on Friday.

A walk down memory Lane

As some of you know George spent half of the year in Fort Pierce Florida until he was about six. After Christmas his family would move from Haddock to Fort Pierce until June. He, his sister, brother and cousins would go to school half the year in Florida and half in Georgia. Yes I married a migrate worker. He also returned there frequently when he was older to check on the plant in Fort Pierce. So we took a trip down memory lane yesterday and today. Yesterday we rode bikes to North Beach where he climbed on the jetties as a child. I was surprised to know that Elaine allowed him to do so. He said it made him feel big. He was about six. Today we went by Casa Caprona, the apartments where they lived when in Fort Pierce. Yes the are still there. They were built in the 1920s. He showed me the tree where his mother fixed a picnic lunch. Yes in a tree, long story. He also showed me where the swimming pool was but is no longer there. Today we went by the cannery site. There was a vacant lot over looking the Indian river on one side and a train track on the other. He talked about the smell of the citrus plant and the smell of a bakery down town when they passed on the way to pick up his father from work. On Monday we went under what he called the swinging bridge where he almost lost his life. It seems his mother was going over the bridge and the guard rails did not come down, so his mother stopped the car with her front tires barely still on the bridge as it swung out. So it has been a very nostalgic past few days.

Living the dream in Fort Pierce
Freida and George

Missing Al

Yesterday Al Barnes (MVP) or (MVC) most valuable crew of the Celebration left to go back to Brunswick. George and I were both sad to see him go. What can you say about someone who was brave enough to go grab the roller furler. Before he left he also got in touch with another rigger who we like and trust a great deal. Now we are looking at a shorter time in Florida and fewer repairs. Al you are the greatest! Hope to sail with you again sometime.

We hope to leave for the Bahamas early next week, but to quote one of our sailing friends, ”sailing plans are always written in sand”.
Living the Dream
George and Freida

Still at ft. Pierce

Due to the fact that it may take two weeks for Celebration to get all of her standing rigging fixed, our buddy boat Martini had to go with out us. It took a lot of talking to presade them to leave but the weather window was closing and the only right decision was to go. They left about 3:30 PM headed south. They probably turned about 3:00 in the morning to cross over the gulf stream headed in to West End. So we are probably in Ft Pierce for a while.

Wait wait wait

We are just waiting until the riggers get here to see if we leave today. If the boat is not finished by 5:OO the weather window will close. If that happens we will have to wait until the cold front moves through.

 

George can now parallel park the boat now.

Time to rest

We are usually up at 5:00 A.M. and leaving the docks at 7:00 am. Today we will wash, buy any last minute supplies and just chill. Oh course George will be watching the guys doing the repairs. Oh, the West Marine is within walking distance so I'm sure the guys will make time for a trip.We will try to get some rest in before we go on the outside to go to Miami.

Sound Bound and Down

We did make it to Fort Pierce tonight ready for the repair work tomorrow. It has been long days as Greg will explain in the following paragraphs, but it has been great fun. One of my favorites is to have all the people on their way to work stop while they open the bridge for us to go through. Sorry, I know that's mean but it is fun!
Greg from the crew of Martini contrtbuted the following. We could not get on the wi-fi to publish it until tonight.

Well we have been steadily moving south over the last couple of days. The weather for the most part has been good, a little chilly, very little rain and some sun. We are looking forward to the days of shorts and tee shirts and the clear water of the Bahamas.

Our best run for one day has been 70 miles and that was an exceptional day mileage wise. Can you imagine getting excited over a total of 70 miles in one day? That is about the distance of Milledgeville to Macon round trip. Those 70 miles was the main topic of conversation over supper of grill chicken, new potatoes, biscuits, and salad. This meal was supplied by Celebration. The next day run was only 62 and we hardly mentioned anything about it at dinner last night. Oh, our dinner last night was hot dogs and potato chips, which was provided by Martini. They seem to eat a little better on Celebration; it may be the influence of Freida. Come to think of it last year with four guys we ate well on Celebration as well.

It is the hope of the crew of Martini that if we serve hot dogs, Celebration will do most of the cooking.

It is our hope to make Fort Pierce today, a run of only 54 miles, so we will be sitting at the dock Monday morning when they are scheduled to start the repair work on Celebration. We are thinking, hoping and praying that the repairs will go as plan and we will be on our way on Tuesday.

If things go according to plan we should make our crossing to the Bahamas mid week weather permitting.

Crossing the Gulf Stream is always exciting. The Gulf Steam has a steady current of 2-3 knots flowing from the south to the north. You have to time your crossing when there are no north winds. If the winds are from the north and the stream is going north this creates very large and bumpy seas and that is not fun.

That is about it for now; we all know how lucky we are to be out here living the dream.



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St Augustine

One correction on the blog from last night, Al will be on the Celebration on the trip to the Bahamas.  We did not scare him away.  We called the sail maker in Stuart Fl. It usually takes about two weeks to order sails.  When we called  Mack Sails to order a new sail they told us they could have it ready for us on Monday.  What Luck! They will put on a new forstay and furler.

We also had a great dinner at the Columbia resturant.  Great food! Great fun! Great Stories. 

When I started this blog, I thought this will be a very boring blog ……Maybe not.  Not if yesterday was any indication of the trip ahead.  I was at the helm and George was below.  Al was up top with me.  The winds were around 20 knots. We had the jib out to about 100%.  Something snapped.  The drum, that’s what I call it,  that holds the jib on the deck turned loose.  Greg was on Martini, our companion boat and wrote the following to the sail club.

Well got underway yesterday and decided to go outside, out in the ocean instead of going down the ICW. We have two boats going to the Bahamas this year, one is George’s 42 Tayana named Celebration and the other is a 33 foot Gib Sea, owned by Jack. We have Jack Sterrett, Jimmy Harrell, and me on the Gib Sea, named Martini. On Celebration George and Frieda Bloodworth and Al Barnes, who has a boat docked next to Celebration in Brunswick? Al we be leaving us in Miami and driving back to Brunswick, and then Jimmy will be jumping ship and going on board Celebration.

Well as Captain Ron would say, if it is going to happen it is going to happen out there Boss and it happen. We were sailing down wind with just the jib, or the front sail only. The wind was 20-25 with seas 3-5 foot, with the updated forecast we decided that we were going to pull into Fernandina spend the night and continue down the ICW until the weather improved.

We were about two miles from the entrance to Fernandina and the bolt holding the forestay on Celebration broke loose. This cause the forestay to fly freely in the wind and on the end of the forestay is a furling unit weighting about 30 pounds about the size of a soccer ball. Keep in mind the wind is blowing 20-25mph and you have a furling unit weighting thirty pounds on the end of a 55 foot forestay that is flying around the boat wildly with 3-5 foot seas. Al was able to grab and hold on to the furling unit and one point he actually was lifted off the deck. Freida was able to grab Al and they were able to secure the furling unit with some line to the deck.

The sail was being torn to bits during this hold ordeal. The sail is was only 1 year old. The sail even though it was torn we were not able to get the sail down and created a few problems docking. Once we were at the dock we were able to get the sail down and the mast secure.

Celebration has a cutter rig, which means it has an additional sail on the front of the boat. We this sail it has an additional stay, which attaches to the mast to the bow of the boat. If it were not for this additional stay the mast would have come down.

We have everything under control now and will get underway tomorrow down the ICW to Fort Pierce Florida where we are going to get a new forestay, roller furler and jib. We are suppose to be there on Monday and should be on our way to the Bahamas on Tuesday.

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