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