BAHAMA 2016 Expedition

Click here for preparation picture album.

Tue 4/12/2016

Loaded the last supplies aboard, then went home for showers and a few last minute items. Closed up the house and walked to the boat. We had lunch on the boat and set out at 1 PM.

We had to wait at the 7 Ave bridge for the train bridge to open. Several large yachts were going up river but we did not meet the Jungle Queen until we were at the Intercostal.

2PM Anchored at Lake Sylvia and listened to the weather report to decide on the best time to cross. The plan was to cross Tuesday or Wednesday at night when things are calmer but after listening to the reports it seemed we might get a SE wind on Tuesday which means we could use the sails for the crossing. We decided to try it and set a wakeup alarm for 3AM.

The Stbd engine shifted hard out of reverse, it had been a little hard but now it was very hard. The cable has been replaced before but it looked OK. I thought it might be the control head which is a pain to take apart. I spend an hour disassembling the controls and it was the cable binding up in the reverse position. After cleaning and WD40 and working it back and forth, it loosened up and functions properly. It took another hour to wrestle the control head back together and we were ready to go. We brought out all the safety gear and stored spare gas cans on the stern seats.

Salmon fillets and asparagus for dinner, this is the life!

Click here for crossing pictures.

Wed 4/13/2016

3 AM, the alarm rang, all is calm and quiet until we started the engines and got under way. The tide is pushing us out quickly. 17 Ave bridge height gauge shows just enough clearance for us so we are off. The wind is 5-10 Kt from the East and with the outgoing tide it is a bit bumpy in the inlet but better once we get out.

6 AM, Just getting light and I spot a very bright shooting star, it looks like an airplane light but moving too fast and burns out in a few seconds.

7 AM, Turn the helm over to Cathy and fall asleep

9 AM, My watch again, East wind 10 Kt, motoring with both engines as we enter the Gulf Stream we pick up speed to 6.4 Kt and heading in the right direction. A surprise visit from the Coast Guard Rib zoomed up behind us, I slowed down, they just wanted to know if everything was all right, just checking us out. We both had our life jackets with flashers on so they zoomed away.

10:14 AM, Passed sailboat headed for Florida and we are half way to Memory Rock. Only a few freighters and nothing close.

12 Noon, Lunch consisted of egg salad sandwiches, coleslaw, chips and tangelos, Yummy. 22NM to go and the Gulf Stream is diminishing, Light East wind and the seas are flat, just a little swell. Gas tanks at about 2/3 full. AIS shows ‘Maria’ a 40’ pleasure boat a few miles behind us, when we spot it, it is a motor yacht.

5PM, entered the banks and anchored a few miles in at 7 PM in the middle of nowhere. The current has us sideways to the wind and waves and it is a bit bouncy but not too bad, we need the sleep.

Thursday 4/14/16

The wind was light but cool and it got cold in the salon so we both went below to sleep.

8 AM, Crew got moving, filled gas tanks, 5 Ga each, we probably used 12 Ga on the crossing. Had breakfast of cereal, yogurt and tangelo. Pulled up anchor and motor sailed on Port engine. Light SE breeze, 5 Kt, sea flat.

Cathy got a text message from ‘Horizon’, they are a Great Sale until Monday to sit out the weather expected this weekend. We should meet them tonight.

Listening to Buffet and enjoying the smooth clear water, we wonder what the temperature is?

Several power boats passed and we saw a few sailboats. Anchored at 5:30 near ‘Horizon’, Ray and Marylyn, flying their pink SSSF flag, visible from a mile away. They anchored yesterday after spending a month in a marina at Lucayan, Grand Bahama waiting for better weather. They had not assembled their dingy so we put ours in and went over. We shared crackers and cheese and rum drinks. Talked until sunset and then returned to our boat at 7:45. Quiet night

Friday 4/15, The wind came up from the South 5-10 Kt during the night and got us rocking a bit. At 6:30 the alarm went off and I took the all band radio below to listen to the weather report on 4045KHz. It was just barely audible and faded in and out but I got most of the Bahamas report. We decided to stay here with ‘Horizon’ until Monday to wait out the front coming through. The wind gauge did not work, battery is dead. I brought lots of batteries but not this size of coin battery. Something else to get at Marsh Harbor. The Cruisers net could not be heard from here.

11 AM Ray heard a mayday and texted BASRA, more on this later. We did not have any details so I did a few odd jobs, resew the Velcro covers on the Bimini top and change the batteries in the multi-meter. Enough work for one morning.

Only maybe not! Ray called, an 85-year-old single hander ran his 36’ trawler aground on the other side of the island. He alerted the authorities but help did not seem to be on the way so he suggested we dingy around the island and see if we could help. High tide was 5:30 and it is 7 miles around the South end of the island to his location so we agreed to leave at 1:30. We loaded Ray’s second anchor, radios, life jackets, water and snack bars into my dingy and started out. The wind was from the South at 10 Kt and it got a little wet. After 10 minutes the engine started sputtering so we turned back, got Ray’s 3 HP outboard and dropped my outboard back at WINIM and started again. The wind decreased and the waves calmed down by the time we reached the Southern tip of the island. We passed through a shallow bank and then headed North. There was a white object near shore but it looked to be too far South to be ‘Charmed’. A rain squall hit and for a few minutes we could not see anything. I was not expecting rain and did not bring a jacket. We radioed ‘Horizon’ for the coordinates which we forgot to bring. The boat was 3 miles further North and when we spotted it, it appeared to be a lot further from the island than the chart had indicated. It was leaning over 20 degrees. We greeted the captain and climbed aboard. I was freezing and the captain gave me a rain poncho which helped a lot. He said he was on the bow using the binoculars to examine the harbor when he hit the sand bar. There appeared to be only about a foot of water under the bow. There was shallow water all around, we even kicked up sand with the dingy near his boat. We set his anchor to the South, expecting the coming storm would move the boat into deeper water in that direction. At 5 PM the boat was almost upright and Ray decided to move the anchor to the northeast where the water looked deeper.

With the anchor tight, Ray tried to push the bow around and with the bow thruster on the boat would not budge. Marylyn on ‘Horizon’ contacted a salvager and the captain agreed to a $5K fee for the rescue. He did not want to give out a credit card on the VHF or agree to a salvage contract but would provide a credit card when the rescue people arrived. Ray looked at the engine water intake and strainer. The thru hull appeared to be jammed as no water was coming into the strainer. We had to leave to leave at 6 to get back before dark but at least help was on the way. We made it back around 7:45 and dropped off Ray and but his anchor, I kept his outboard until we were sure we would not need a dingy to help ‘Charmed’ again. I took a sponge shower and had a rum and coke and felt much better. Sauerkraut and sausage for dinner, then quickly fell asleep.

While Rich and Ray were rescuing ‘Charm’, here I am on the boat alone. Marilyn was on her boat alone. We are both texting back and forth while she is coordinating rescue for Charm via VHF radio to Ray. Now a squall comes thru with heavy periods of rain and what do I do start collecting water in the bucket. Meanwhile, I am looking at the GPS anchor and looking at other boats to see that we are all swinging the same way. I know the anchor alarm is on but to do if the boat starts to drag? Charm tells us that the boys are headed home so Marilyn and I anxiously await their return. We both out on deck watching for them and by 7pm we see them in the dinghy. They returned safely but when Richard got to the boat he was cold boy was I glad to see him. So while he is cleaning up I make him a TALL Rum and Coke drink. So my first learning skill will be anchoring this week.

Click for picture album.

Saturday 4/16

We had a little rain during the night. In the morning ‘Charmed’ was anchored near us with the rescue boat ‘Ocean Rescue’. They had fixed the engine water problem and replaced the impeller

11 AM, rain and wind 15Kt from 60 deg.

6:30 Wind and rain squalls with sun in-between. Took the carburetor apart but nothing was obviously wrong. I will try it with new gas when things calm down. The gas in the dingy tank has been there for quite a while.

I assembled the second anchor and set in out on the tramp so it is ready if needed. The Q flag was making quite a racked so I took it down before it shredded itself in the wind. We played dominoes and took a picture of a spectacular rainbow over the island. Cathy called on the VHF and several other boats thanked her for the heads up. The weather is slowly improving during the evening. Played dominos. Had pork chops, onions and carrots for dinner. Still windy and cool wo we broke out the blanked, hadn’t expected to do that but it made a very comfortable night.

Sunday 4/17 Worked on the autopilot that was binding up. The belt needs replacing, I cut off some reinforcement threads that were separating from the edge of the belt. There are still enough threads for strength. Something more to look for in Marsh Harbor. The wind still blows 20 with occasional gusts to 25. Cloudy but it does not look like rain.

Tuna fish for lunch. Then Len on ‘Charmed’ called ‘Horizon’, he was coming over for a visit. Ray called us and we hopped in the dingy and joined them for a gab session. Len is leaving tomorrow for Mangrove Cay and then West End. At the end of the week the wind and seas should be down and he will continue to West Palm Beach. Ray worked on his dingy engine which was cutting out at anything above idle. He got it working a bit better. It was a new 3.3Hp Mercury but the dingy got away and it got wet a while ago.

When we broke up we had to decide how to get everyone home which turned into a big logistics problem. I took Cathy to WINIM and returned to HORIZON, left Rays engine and rowed the dingy back. Then Len motored back to CHARMED. We watched to make sure he made it. Another sailboat downwind had helped him when he first went over and had engine problems. They were the backup if Len had problems getting home but everything worked OK.

Monday 4/18 Got up around 7:30, watched ‘Charmed” pull up his anchor and leave. 3 sailboats left in a pack. Stowed the 2^nd anchor, filled the gas tanks and got the weather report from Ray. Today sounds as good or better than tomorrow, more wind bit from a better direction so we said our goodbyes. We put the 2^nd reef in the main to prepare for the windy conditions. Cathy steered and pulled up the anchor while I directed. We put up the jib for the first mile out of the harbor, then pulled it in for a 5-mile motor directly into the wind and waves. Finally, we turned east and put the sails up. Doing 6 Kt on a direct course Crab Cay, close hauled and crossing our fingers that the conditions don’t change. Lots of boats going the opposite way, what do they know that we don’t? They are all taking advantage of the light conditions later in the week to make the Gulf Stream crossing. After lunch we had some rain which washed some of the salt off the windows, occasional waves would splash right up to the windows.

The wind got light and fluky, we motor sailed for a while, then sailed, then motor sailed again. Finally, around 2 PM it settled down and we could sail close hauled the rest of the way to Crab Cay. Over all we did pretty good, 6-7 Kt with a peak of 8 Kt. It was a bit lumpy but we are now in a well-protected anchorage. 3 sailboats were already there. Had dinner and went to bed early.

Tuesday 4/19

Cathy piloted and I supervised as we pulled up the anchor and headed to Spanish Cay. The other 3 boats in the harbor left before we did, 2 north to the US and 1 south, further into the Abacos. We motored up wind 4 miles to Spanish Cay and called the marina, the dock master met us and put us on the end of the middle pier at 11:30. We met the immigration officer in the bar and started filling out paperwork. Then she had to go to the airport on the north end of the island because a plane was just coming in. We ordered lunch, conch strips and grouper sandwich with Kalik beer. The immigration officer returned and we finished the paperwork just as lunch was served. Took pictures of fish and a shark swimming around the marina. Cathy picked up eggs and peppers at the small store in the marina. I found another Barefoot T-shirt on the wall with a few pictures and it was right next to a T-shirt form Wisconsin.

We left around 1PM and had a nice sail to Manjack Cay. The wind had moderated but there were still large swells hitting the reef on the ocean side. Lots of boats heading north. Sailed up to a pretty gaff schooner with MI FL on the back, Miami? Winds were fluky, 5 Kt then 10 Kt then 15 Kt then 5 again. We gained on them at 15 KT and were about even at 5 Kt. Cathy anchored t 4:30, did a nice job. 10 yachts in the anchorage, 2 motorboats and 8 sailboats. Another boat from Denmark sailed in after we anchored. Cathy got a text message from ‘Horizon’, they are at Crab Cay where we were yesterday.

We are thinking about spending 2 days at Green Turtle, Friday should be a good day to go through the Whale Cay passage. Ray send the weather forecast to Cathy. The Port forward night light broke, maybe hit by the jib. I rescued all the parts and may epoxy it back together. Nearly a full moon, quit but cool night.

Click for picture album.