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Wind-Borne III - Journal |
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Key Biscayne, Florida to Berry Islands, Bahamas February 15, Key Biscayne to The Bahamas We were supposed to have dinner with Dubi and Esti this night however, I was awake early (5:30 am), and the first thing I have been doing each morning is listening to the weather. The winds were forecast to be from the southeast during the day and night, switching to northeast by Saturday. So as soon as Rick was awake, I broke the news to him that we were leaving. He had to run into town and get some cash. We told Sea Witch and they ran into town to get a few groceries. We decided to leave at 3pm. This is not the time of day that most people leave but due to security, the Miami Government Cut is closed. We had to exit through the Biscayne Channel which has a lot of unlit markers and shoals so I didn’t want to tackle it in the dark. Right on time at 3pm we were off. The ocean was perfect for crossing but we knew immediately when we had reached the Gulf Stream because Rick turned green and hung over the rail for approximately the next 25 miles. We have heard from other sailors that they have been beaten up by the waves of the Gulf Stream. I wouldn’t even class what we had as waves. We had swells, less than 6 feet. Rick’s stomach doesn’t mind waves it just cannot handle swells. We arrived at Bimini in the Bahamas by about 4 am. We anchored in Nixon harbor, which is just south of the entrance to Bimini to wait for daylight and catch a few ZZZ’s. February 16, Bimini We had slept for about 1-½ hours and were awakened by really strong wind and waves. It was quite uncomfortable but sunrise was at 7am so we didn’t have to wait too long for daylight. Our friend Jim on Blue Angel says that shit always happens at 2am. and it was well past that time so I thought we would be ok. At about 10 am we raised the anchor and headed for the harbour entrance. Sea Witch went first and they almost lost their boat. The channel is so narrow and the waves were so strong that they ended up going hard aground and were on their side on the beach. What saved them was a larger wave that lifted them right up and at the same time John threw the engine in reverse and they made it off. We decided not to try that entrance. After a little radio discussion we returned to Nixon harbor to spend the rest of the day and night. The winds were to switch to NE so we thought it might be a little better there than it had been previously. February 17, Bimini to Cat Cay Well we did get a good nights sleep but it was so wavy that to walk through the boat you had to hold on at all times or you would lose your balance. It was easier to lay down and sleep. We spoke with Sea Witch about 8am and told them that we had decided to move down to Cat Cay for the night since the winds were forecast to get stronger. Sea Witch wasn’t sure that there would be enough depth at the docks so I called to check. No problem…. We hoisted anchor about 9:30am and headed out. It was less than 10 miles from where we were anchored to Cat Cay and that was enough. We had a strong following sea with waves well over the 6-foot mark. We arrived at Cat Cay by noon and felt we had finally reached paradise. This is a private island and we are not allowed to go near any of the houses. The yacht club that we are staying at has a sign that lists the “members in residence”. It was quite impressive with a Lady Mary and So & So the III, but there was no one I knew listed. It’s very nice but a little expensive so I doubt we’ll stay long. February 18, Cat Cay We stayed another day in Cat Cay, mainly
because of the weather but it is such a beautiful place we wanted to stay anyway.
I defrosted the fridge in the morning and it sure didn’t take long for
the ice to melt. In the February 19, Cat Cay Well we had really planned to leave this day but last night the wind howled, the halyards banged, the boat groaned, the lines creaked and the stupid bread maker beeped. I didn’t get a lot of sleep and the winds are forecast to be over 30 knots again tonight. We are paying $2.25 a foot at this yacht club, which is wonderful, exclusive and enjoyable, but definitely not within the budget. The best bargain of all was the Hydro. It was 25 cents a kilowatt. We charged the batteries, defrosted the fridge, made water, watched videos etc. and the total bill was $2.25 for three days. John avoided this bill by running his generator twice a day and using up a lot of diesel which costs more. The winds are suppose to diminish to 15 knots tomorrow so we decided to stay one more night. Meanwhile during the day I did a load of laundry and caught up with the email. We didn’t go to the beach as the winds and currents were too strong for swimming. We had cocktails aboard Sea Witch and then went to Bu’s Bar which is a chi-chi bar at the end of the docks. February 20, The Bahama Banks We were up and off the docks just after
8:30am. The winds were still strong (on the nose), the tide was We were about 15 miles out when the bilge alarm went off. Rick went down to check and sure enough, the connection on one of our thru hulls for the water maker had snapped off and we were taking on water. If we didn’t have a bilge alarm, we probably would not have known we even had a problem until it was too late. As it was, we probably took on less than 1 gallon of water before it was discovered. We closed the thru hull leaving repairs to be taken care of at a later time. Our alarm sits just about on the very bottom of the bilge, so our warning was almost immediate. Sea witch called on the radio to say they had caught a good size fish for dinner. My line went back into the water but again I caught baitfish. This time it was a Running Blue Jack fish. I had taken a turkey breast out of the freezer for dinner (forget the fish), and when I went to put it into the oven discovered that our propane tank was empty. Now the seas were really getting rough and beating us up a bit but Rick was still able to switch the tanks for me so I could continue with making dinner. It wasn’t long after that and we decided enough was enough and just dropped the hook. It’s really neat to anchor on the Banks. The closest land is almost 40 miles away and not visible, yet we’re sitting in less than 15 feet of water. We only put out one anchor and didn’t worry about dragging, as we couldn’t really hit anything. The rocking and rolling even at anchor was so bad that Rick didn’t want to look at food, so dinner was forgotten. February 21, The Bahamas Banks to Chub Cay, Berry Islands I can’t believe we got a good night’s sleep last night but we did. It was not possible to walk around in the boat because we were being tossed around so badly by the waves that we both just laid in the salon and read. Some time after 8pm the waves must have settled down because we both fell asleep until midnight when the rocking and rolling began again with a fury. I think it lasted until sometime after 2am when we fell asleep again until 5:30am. We awoke to calm seas and quickly ate breakfast and got underway. It was near perfect sailing. We were moving at 6.5 to 7 knots with a reefed main and both headsails. The water was the beautiful turquoise colour and you could see the sandy bottom just whizzing by. We were making such good time that John called to say he wanted to go straight to Nassau. We didn’t commit. Sure enough, it couldn’t last. We rounded the marker for the Northwest Passage where the water goes from 12 feet to way over 1000 fathoms. The wind was right on our nose and the waves were over 10 feet. We had waves splashing over the dodger into the cockpit. It was only 20 more miles to Chub Cay but it took us hours. When we arrived, the anchorage we were hoping to use was totally empty. It was too exposed to the southeast wind and waves. So I’m embarrassed to say, we again went into a marina (Chub Cay Club Resort & Marina). This one was a little cheaper but still not in the budget. It did make things a little easier for Rick to work on the repairs to the water maker connection. February 22, Chub Cay, Berry Islands The Captains all gathered together first
thing in the morning to discuss weather. The consensus is that the strong southeast
winds are here for at least another day so, no one is moving until the front has
passed. It was a really great morning for everyone to work on small
projects. Rick having completed the thru hull repairs the night before,
now proceeded to check strainers, put some pressure in the accumulator pump
and changed the engine oil. A Bahamian fisherman came by with some fresh fish and lobster
for sale. I bought 3 lobsters for $20 U.S. They were about 1 to 1 ½ pounds
each so I figured it wasn’t a bad deal, wrong!!! Later another fisherman
came by and Sea Witch bought a 1 ½ -pound lobster for 2 beers. I must
work on my negotiating skills. In the afternoon Rick and I headed for the beach and pool.
It’s the first February 23, Chub Cay, Berry Islands Well, good work Captains. We no longer have access to the weather on VHF radio, FM radio or TV. So the guys have been getting and interpreting the weather fax through the HAM radio. They also used Navtex and tuned in some of the HAM nets. They sure got it right. The winds were so strong in the Chub Cay harbour, which is very protected, the boat had a 5 degree heel at dock. It poured rain, which was needed as everything was coated with a thin layer of salt. We haven’t had many rainy days so was quite relaxing to stay below and watch a video and bake some cookies for a change. February 24, Chub Cay, Berry Islands I am so glad we are still sitting at dock. The winds yesterday were nothing. Then we had gale force winds overnight and they continued all day. Everyone was up during the night checking their lines and we are in a very protected marina. First thing in the morning a Canadian boat pulled into the marina. They had anchored off Whale Cay overnight. Their anchor held but it was bent out of shape, as well, their dinghy was ripped from the stern of their boat and is now far out to sea. Later in the morning 2 other boats arrived with ripped sails and they were very pleased to finally be in a safe harbour. It was about lunchtime when a boat called in distress. He had ripped his main sail last night, his engine failed a while ago, he was trying to beat into the wind with a head sail but was having problems steering. The marina was trying to help by giving him directions over the VHF radio so we walked to the entrance to watch him come in. On our way we were able to see a small anchorage that was used by boats with shallow drafts. Three powerboats were literally washed ashore and one sailboat was aground and on its side. The boat in distress was eventually led to an anchorage by a sport fisherman then later when the winds subsided a couple of the open fishing boats went out and towed him in. Meanwhile safe at dock it was time to trim Rick’s hair again. That night we had a potluck Happy Hour with almost all the boaters and some of the locals. February 25, Chub Cay, Berry Islands The winds finally diminished overnight. Most of the other boats left in the morning, including Sea Witch. We decided that the seas had not had time to calm down enough. The waves were still 10 to 15 feet, which would not make for a comfortable run to Nassau. We wanted to wait for better weather. This time it was my turn for a hair cut. Rick gave me one of his best cuts yet. I did some laundry and we went for a swim. The guys checked the weather at 5pm and another fast moving cold front is on its way. We would have a 12-hour window then very high wind and thunderstorms. It was safer, nicer and cheaper to stay at Chub Cay rather than getting stuck in Nassau so we’re still here. February 26, Chub Cay We probably should have left today however the forecast gave us only a 12-hour window, in fact it was referred to as a “Gamblers Window”. We had Cracked Conch at the restaurant for lunch and then joined Ron and Linda from Rognvald at the pool for the afternoon. The guys sat and gabbed over a few drinks while Linda and I collected many different shells from the beach and ocean. I saw huge starfish, queen conchs, horse conchs, sand dollars and sea urchins. There were also a lot of other shells that weren't identified in my shell book. They were all in sparse sea grass or on the sand so were very easy to see. The front has still not arrived so we're here for a while. February 27, Chub Cay The front finally arrived with high winds and even a bit of rain. The rain didn't last long. When it was over we headed for the beach with Ron and Linda. The plan was to snorkel and hunt for new shells. The water was perfect and as we were wading out, a beautiful Ray swam by. Ron quoted the Bahamians as saying “the sharks follow the rays, so be careful”. I ducked underwater to get a picture of the Ray as it went by and quickly noticed a huge school of good size Jack fish. As I was taking a picture of the fish my eyes traveled beyond them and I saw a fairly large (over five feet), shark just hanging in there by the fish. I slowly and calmly turned and swam to shore and told the others. Later I checked my book and I think it was a Sand Tiger shark. I decided to do a bit beach combing rather than swim. I walked quite a distance while the others remained behind and gabbed. When I returned with all my treasures, Ron told me that a couple of snorkellers had been spear fishing. They speared a large grouper and in a flash the shark swept in and took it. They had not even seen the shark coming it happened so quickly. By the time I returned they were no longer in the water. Linda, who is a hairdresser, offered to tidy up the cut that Rick gave me the other day. I took her up on the offer and she gave me another trim. When we returned to our boat I decided to see if we could get some fish for dinner. I went to five of the fishing boats and they all had lobster or conch but no fish. The last fishing boat at dock suggested I go and call the boat in the bay as they would probably have fish. I did and one of the fishermen jumped into the dinghy and brought some nice looking Porgys to shore. This time instead of asking how much, I just asked him to give me $5 worth. I think this new approach worked well. He gave me 5 reasonably large Porgys. Now it was up to Rick to clean and fillet them. He hasn't filleted a fish in many years and I don't think that Porgys are a fish that are easy to fillet so it took him a while and they now look a little like fish fingers but the bones are gone. Ron and Linda invited us over to their boat for cocktails before dinner. We had such an enjoyable time and stayed so long, dinner was canceled. February 28, Chub Cay It was another beautiful day in Paradise but one of the coolest we've experienced since being here. Rick helped Richard (from Osprey), set up his SSB to receive weather faxes. Richard and Francis are on a Morgan 43, docked next to us. Richard has joined Rick and Ron in meeting each morning and evening to discuss weather. In fact we now refer to these guys as having a weather fetish and belonging to the Chub Cay weather coven. After the SSB work was done, Richard and Francis came over to Wind-Borne for a visit and the discussion changed to engines, the “W” word was not spoken. March 1, Chub Cay Once in a while it is nice to receive confirmation regarding the accuracy of your decisions. Well today we had it. Many boats took off from the marina this morning headed for Nassau. In fact we even helped some of them off the dock. Four returned to the marina by lunchtime. The waves were breaking high over the bows of the boats and it was just too rough. So we all congratulated the weather guys for making a good call to stay at dock and head into bankruptcy rather than to head out to rough water. We went for a dinghy ride on the lee side of the island and then returned to do some beach combing in the afternoon with Linda. The winds may be very strong but the overall weather is perfect. While we were at the beach we counted 16 boats at anchor. The guys are taking bets as to how many will stick it out and how many will come into the marina. March 2, Chub Cay Happy Birthday Karyn. The wind howled all night it was blowing southeast 25 to 30 knots. Just after daylight we listened to the boats at anchor call into the marina for a slip. Within no time 10 boats had returned. They had all been up all night rocking and rolling with the wind. The wind was still very strong creating a bit of difficulty for them getting into a slip. Everyone helped and after settling back in, most decided they would be here for a while. I was onboard and just cleaning the last of my shells when I heard a little voice calling me from the dock. Payton is a little girl on a boat just down from us. She is four years old and loves to gather shells. Yesterday she walked miles with us. We had talked about going to the other beach to look for different shells and to build sand castles. She was to call me at low tide and right on time she was doing exactly that. We had a small swim and then got to work on the sand castles. In the evening, Richard from Osprey came over with his laptop so that Rick could help him set up his PC to receive a weather fax. March 3, Chub Cay The winds continue to blow but the weather for swimming and beach combing is beautiful. Considering I really only started collecting shells a couple of weeks ago, my collection is becoming quite large. I limited the number of large shells to just a few, the rest are very small. At this rate I’m not sure where I will find room for all my shells a year or so from now. I spent a few hours on the beach today but with all of the boats that arrived, it’s the first time since we’ve been here that my footprints in the sand are not the only ones. It appears that I now have to share the 4 miles of beach with others. With so many boats, a pot luck Happy Hour was organized again. As in the past, we met many interesting people. Richard from Osprey showed me how to make a horn from a conch shell. March 4, Chub Cay The roosters on this island have a problem. They start their stupid crowing before 5 am each morning. I have checked repeatedly, there is no sun. I may be a city girl but I know that a rooster is responsible for announcing sunrise. There is a definite training issue here. The winds were a little lighter this morning but a very large front is supposed to come through early this afternoon. Rick and I headed down to the beach to snorkel for a while. A few days ago a found a couple of lovely horse conchs but I didn’t take either of them because there was a huge beastie living in each. I was hoping to find an unoccupied horse conch shell for my collection but I was not successful this day. We relaxed on the beach for a while, Rick in a lounge chair and me in a huge double hammock. The breeze and clouds provided just the right conditions that we both fell asleep for a while. We returned to the boat so I could bake a blueberry pie for dessert tonight. We were invited to the Osprey for dinner with Richard and Frances. We got aboard their boat just before the front arrived. Frances taught me how to make cracked conch. Although the conch I had at the restaurant the other day was good it didn’t compare to what we prepared for dinner this night. The front that came through was so strong that a few commercial fishing boats pulled into the harbour overnight for protection from the seas. One was a conch boat. We spoke with the captain who said he would try to leave by 8 am next morning. His boat was quite a sight. It was piled high with many thousands of queen conchs. March 5, Chub Cay I was up and out by 7 am to take a picture of the conch boat in daylight but it had already left. It appears that the front that blew through here yesterday was an official gale. We have been here almost 2 weeks and had two official gales go through. The pilot chart states that the percentage of gale force winds at this time of year is only 1%. I think that two times within a 2 week period has got to be equal to more than 1%. It was cool enough after the front for the Floridians and Bahamians to wear jackets and the Canadians to eat soup for lunch. Evidently, during the weather discussion we learned that even Herb was telling people in our area to stay put. He did not expect the seas to die down until Friday or Saturday. March 6, Chub Cay Ron and Linda from Rognvald as well as Richard and Frances from Osprey came for breakfast this morning. We served pancakes with Canadian maple syrup. It ended up to be a three hour breakfast which included great discussions (I think we solved all world problems), and we got into watching a video we brought “Talking to Americans” which was a TV special put together by “This Hour Has 22 Minutes”. It provided many laughs for everyone. Happy hour in the evening was spent aboard Osprey. Ron brought some caviar and homemade humus. I took some smoked salmon and cream cheese rolls. We all drank Ron’s special martinis. I think our Happy Hour lasted about three hours as well. |
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