Bimini

March 19-23, 2013

We are in Bimini’s Big Game Resort and Marina, contemplating leaving this afternoon and making a run for Nassau Harbor.  We originally thought we might make Chubb Cay, 85nm east of here over the Grand Bahama Banks.  However there is some sort of Cold Front coming across Monday, or Sunday Night, and we would kinda like to be in the shelter of a harbor by then.  We will listen to Chris Parker this morning at 0630 to get a better feeling for that.

We left Boca Chica on Tuesday morning, March 19, at 0715 headed to Bimini as a formation of three vessels.  JonNe’; Ed and Claudia Davis, aboard Door Into Summer; and Shane ___ , aboard Lestrella. We crossed the reef off the Hawk Channel at Marker 26 basically for two reasons: to pick up some Gulf Stream Current and to avoid the crab traps that always seem to clog up Hawk Channel and make watching maneuvering to avoid catching one on the prop a real challenge sometimes.

It was a romping sail!!  It turns out my wind instruments are reading a bit high, and while Door Into Summer was reading 15-18 kts of wind from the Southeast, we were reading 25-30 kts.  Not a real problem, but it makes me feel a bit strange thinking 15 kts was pretty easy to sail in when in fact, it was a romping sail!  Most of the seas were about 3-4’ swells, with decent periods between waves, but we saw an occasional 6 out there.  Renne’ and I were braced in the cockpit and getting a lot of exercise just sitting there.

The amazing thing was at sunset, we shortened the main sail to the first reef.  That is a cardinal rule for us, and has only been violated a few times since Renne’ and I began cruising together.  So in keeping with that, we reefed, and it still amazes me that you keep on going at the same speed, with less heel, when the winds are at 15 or better.  So on into the night, we were seeing as high as 9 knots (5.2 kts is our usual planned speed).  As we were closing on Bimini, we were talking about slowing down!  Yeah, Right!!  We furled the jib completely and we were running under staysail and reefed main at 8.2 kts and wondering how we were going to handle the growing westerly winds and southwesterly seas as we approached the Western entrance to Bimini.  We were also struggling to keep on the rhumbline into Bimini.  The current was moving about 2.5 kts north, we were moving northeast, so we were crabbing as much as 30-35 degrees to the east to keep on course.  The problem was the winds.  They were in the southeast and if we got the bow too far into the crab, we would get behind the power curve and the boat would slow dramatically (3.4 kts).  We would add the engine to gain back some of the way we had lost, and repeat the whole procedure again!

As we gained on Bimini, it was evident we would make it in less than the 30 hours we had budgeted for the crossing.  We actually arrived in position to enter the channel by sunrise, but the last 10nm, the winds had finally clocked around to the west.  Our concern was making the entrance to the channel. 

We had become separated from Listrella early in the crossing.  Shane chose to go up the coast of the Keys, and made the direct crossing farther east than we did.  Interestingly, Shane made Bimini right a sunrise and was sitting in a slip by the time we arrived.  So Renne’ was in contact with him for the latest instructions for entering the harbor.  He confirmed nothing had changed since our visit there last May.

We worked hard at slowing the boats, and reduced our speed to 4.5-5.6 kts as the sun rose higher in the sky. We were obviously exiting the Gulf Stream.  By 0900, we were at the entrance to Bimini and both winds and waves settled down completely.  We pulled into the wind, dropped our sails and entered the channel and harbor with no difficulties under power.  We landed at Bimini Big Game Resort and Marina by 0945.

Tuesday was mostly a resting day. We slept hard once in the marina, and work on getting things put away and cleaned up were delayed until Wednesday.  Our only loss on the crossing was 2-1/2 dozen of our 7 dozen eggs stored in a plastic container in the V-berth that ended up on the floor.  Guess I will secure that a bit better before we leave!  I can't wait to smell the results if I missed cleaning up anything!!

Renne’, on Wednesday, called on the Bimini High School and Primary Elementary School, and met with both Principals.  She arranged for presentations on be made on “Being an Author”, and spent most of Wednesday night preparing for Thursday.  We were over at the Elementary School by 0830 for her 0900 presentation, and gave three presentations, one each for the 3^rd, 2^nd, and 1^st graders.  They all enjoyed the reading of the books especially, and it really is heartwarming to hear the kids talk about how much they enjoyed the pictures.  By the time they were done, they all knew who Juni was.  The High Schoolers were great.  They actually are jr. high here, and were 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th graders as well as the Language Arts teachers high school class.  That was an hour presentation, and afterwards, she was asked for her card, as one of the students was very interested in her poetry book.  This was a group of about 120 students.  She did an excellent job.

Wednesday afternoon, one of the boats donated about 5 pounds of shushi grade Wahoo to our boats, and dinner was Wahoo Sashimi and grilled Wahoo steaks Ed and Claudia.  Thursday dinner was stone crab freshly caught but purchased, more fresh Wahoo, shrimp, and lobster dip (from Boca Chica), with Ed, Claudia, and Shane.

We ate some appetizers at a beach bar and restaurant on South Bimini last night and ran up an $45 bill!  That was two beers, two coconut rums and an appetizer of Mozzerella Cheese!  Wholly Shiite Muslem!!

Meanwhile, Renne’ is preparing breakfast with fresh blueberry pancakes.  WaHOO!

We won’t be on the docks tonite for sundowners, so have one for us! 

JonNe’

March 23 (Update)

Looks like we will be here in Bimini for another couple of days.  The winds are very brisk (20+ kts) and will be so for the next 72 hours at least.  We don't have a problem with getting caught in winds or seas, but we would rather not set ourselves up for a less than comfortable ride for two days if we don't have to do that.  So it looks like we will settle in and enjoy the great weather here.  If you are interested in looking at the winds and waves we are seeing, we invite you to look at: www.passageweather.com, go to the North Atlantic, and choose the area for South Florida - you will see the Bahamas.

JonNe'

AMAZING Experience This Morning

We have a friend who is on a boat delivery at the moment.  He flew out to a central eastern Caribbean island to pick up a boat to deliver up the East Coast.  The last we had heard from him was a Facebook entry from Inuagua, Bahamas.  His wife had received an email stating they were departing for Georgetown, Bahamas immediately for a 30 hour sail with arrival planned for Saturday night or Sunday morning.  As a sailor, we all know that arrivals can be delayed for a whole variety of reasons: no winds, leaving you conserving fuel for the really necessary times you need your engine; bad wind direction, forcing you off your primary course; ornery weather, causing you to alter your travel plans and bail out someplace along the way; bad or lack of fuel, causing you to sail all of the way rather than relying on your engine; mechanical issues, which delays or alters your trip because something decided to go off-line; none of which may be a life threatening issue.  The other circumstance to recognize is that communications in the Bahamas can be very sketchy, with few areas of coverage by cell phone or WIFI.  One of the reasons we have a Single Side Band High Frequency Radio (SSB) on board JonNe' is just for this reason.  Other boats discard this radio as old fashioned and not worth the cost.  They would rather get their weather and communicate by SatPhone.  I personally believe one should be able to use every means possible for getting the word out.

The issue in this instance is the known weather in the Southern Bahamas.  Although 25 knot winds, gusting to 35, are very manageable, 10-13 foot seas on the starboard beam is nothing to sneeze at.  Arriving in any of the islands off the Exuma Sound in dicey winds and waves can be trick., The Sound can be as challenging to negotiate as the Gulf Stream in the Winter and early Spring.  We have delayed our departure from Key West specifically for winds and waves.  Our delivery sailors have both been on many deliveries and our friend's wife is much immune to issues with the deliveries.  However, by last night (Monday) at 2200 hours (10:00pm) she had not heard anything regarding his situation.  Had they arrived in Georgetown, she would have received an email atleast, so at 36 hours overdue, last night she called us to see if we could contact one of the various SSB or other radio nets covering the Bahamas, to see if the boat had been sighted.  She was NOT panicked, rather expressing concern.  Renne' and I informed her we were not too worried, but we would begin asking questions as of this morning on the various nets.

I took the time to send an email to Cruiseheimer's, via their published email address, with the boat name, type of boat, crew names, last known route, last known departure point, last known intended arrival destination, to alert them of our request.  Cruiseheimers is one of the more popular non-membership nets on SSB.  They are up every morning, on 8152 (SSB radio frequency), 7 days a week, at 0830 Eastern Time, with a very broad audience of cruisers checking in daily throughout the East Coast and Bahamas.

This morning at 0620, at 48 hours overdue, having heard nothing from our friend's wife, I called our cruising partner, who is a member of Chris Parkers Weather Service, with a request that he contact Chris with the above information.  Chris Parker conducts an extensive daily weather broadcast on 4045 (SSB radio frequency) at 0630 Eastern Time, and covers weather for a wide area of the East Coast, the Bahamas, and later at a different time, covers all of the Caribbean weather.  This broadcast is faithfully listened to by a very large number of cruisers for daily weather briefings to plan either daily activities or crossings from one exotic port to another.

At 0630, Chris Parker came up on the radio asking for any urgent traffic first, and our cruising partner called in, again with the information I had sent to Cruiseheimers. Expecting this might take a day or so for information to be passed, I was NOT expecting the response we received.  Immediately following our request, Chris received a reply from a cruiser on Rum Cay, 52 nautical miles from Georgetown, that our friends boat had been in port Monday and had departed last night for Georgetown.  In 30 seconds after the initial notification, we were satisfied our friend, the boat, and the rest of the crew were safe and continuing their journey.  I then emailed Cruisheimer's with the information we had received so as to close out that inquiry before it went out over the air.

Our lesson learned in this particular situation is:  1) Don't panic when you don't hear something!  2) Trust in the skills of the crew on board the boat you are tracking, disasters seldom occur.  3) File a float plan with your anticipated plans, with a friend who will be responsible for tracking your progress, 4) Realize the world is out there, and there are a lot of us cruising.  There are ways to find someone if you REALLY NEED to know, BUT DON'T ABUSE IT.  The other is it is nice to know there are those who love us out there, who are concerned.

Last night was a fitful night sleeping knowing our friend was out there in some dicey weather and his wife was concerned enough to ask for assistance.  This morning, life goes on as it has, and as the sun rises, I am grateful, AGAIN, that I have my SSB on board.  It has been an AMAZING morning!

See you guys tonite on the docks for Sundowners.  Look forward to it!!

JonNe'

There May Be A Slight Delay

March 09, 2013
Ed Davis and I have been checking the weather forecasts for the trip to Bimini. At this moment, our hopes for leaving for Bimini on Tuesday are quickly fading.  Our desire is to have winds below 90/270 degrees for our forecast weather window, and seas at least not directly against the Gulf Stream.  We were informed that Monday afternoon would be adequate to leave, but our limiting factor is a Wednesday arrival.  Winds will be directly from the west and making the approach off the Stream into Bimini with following seas and winds is not ideal either.  So we will continue to watch and wait. Today is Sunday, and as an update, Tuesday and Wednesday are out, so Saturday and Sunday, March 16/17. (March 10) As I have said before, we just don't see the need to get beaten up too badly if we plan it right!

We have been diligently working on the boat while we prepare to leave.  While gone for Christmas, a local carpenter came in and completely redid our counter tops.  We had considered upgrading to Corian counters, but opted for a laminate top to keep costs and weight down.  We already have enough weight aboard!

Here is the new counter top:

She also pulled all of the locker, closet, and cabinet doors off the galley and desk area and has completely re-varnished the woodwork in that area.  We will continue working on it, but she has done a superb job with it.  Here is the desk area:

I, on the other hand, have been working on the V-Berth to get it organized, again.  Tools, food pantry, Renne's books, Renne's paint supplies, diving supplies, charts, and a bunch of other stuff! I mounted our new Lake City Wringer last week.  Now there are no new ideas, just good ones you incorporate as you see them.  Our friends, Doug and Barb, installed one on there boat, and we used it extensively while we were in Europe with them.  So, with some improvements over last years design while we were in the Bahamas, I installed a permanent mount at the Mast Pulpit and this is what it looks like:

It probably will stay there, ah, another thing Renne' can create a cover for!!  LOL!

Renne' has been working hard on her Nighty Night Sailboat Series and is working with Legal Zoom to make sure she is protected legally.  She is creating t-shirts for young kids, and this is the proto-type for the shirts and nightgowns:

In the meantime, we continue socializing with friends, both on and off base:

So in keeping with our normal activities, plan to join us this evening on the dock at sunset, Sundowners are great!  Wear long sleeves this evening, there will be a nip in the air.  CYA there!

JonNe'

Almost Ready for the Bahamas

March 6, 2013

As the Navy stories of sea begin, "There I was, let me tell you, this is No Shit, Thought I Was Gonna Die!"

Renne' and I have, very diligently, been working on preparing for our departure date on or about March 11.  I had a brilliant idea the night before last (Monday). We have a few days to play with, so I thought I would polish the fuel in our port tank; that is to say, I would run the fuel through the filters to clean the bacteria that routinely grows in diesel fuel.  So I turned the fuel pump on, and selected the starboard (right) tank. Now, boat engines do not normally utilize all of the fuel pumped to it, and so there is a return line.  So the excess fuel goes back to the tank. It also allows us to transfer fuel into any of the three fuel tanks on board.  We filled our tanks last week, so the fuel should go back into the original tank. An hour or so later, Renne' begins to smell diesel fuel. I can't smell that well, and I said it was the varnish she had been working with earlier. Shortly after, I am smelling diesel. I shut the transfer pump off and began looking for the source of a serious diesel leak.

Much to mychagrin, I found fuel in the air conditioning closet. I mean it was all over the place; on the shelves, on the air ducts, dripping down the vents. It was on the floor of the closet. When I lifted the floor panel, it was below the floor panels-what a mess!  The problem, was it was 10pm! We were headed for bed. Renne' had taken two antihistamines and was very sleepy. The problem with diesel is it is obnoxious to smell! So cleanup was NOT an option.  I took down the 7" flexible ducting, and found 1/3 cup of diesel in the blower of the air conditioner. Now I was seeing $4,500 to replace the air conditioner, and frankly I could NOT comprehend how it got there!  I pulled the unit out 70 lbs, and wrestled it to the dock. Bu that time, it is getting on about 11:15pm. The cleaning was just beginning.  Some fuel was in the bilge, some had gone outside. I was so aggravated, I couldn't see the forest through the trees at that point!

By 12:30am, things were under control, the closet had been cleaned, the bilge had been washed out-several times, the deck outside had been cleaned, the air conditioner had been covered, and we finally drug ourselves to bed!

In the morning, when everything comes into perspective, I realized I was pulling fuel from the starboard tank and transferring it to the port tank. It already was full. So the excess fuel was sent up the vent hose. The problem with all vents to the outside is, it was plugged by a mud dobber. So the fuel could not vent to the outside-environmentally, a good thing. However, the fuel pressure built enough to send fuel out of the hose, and drained to the vents in the top of the closet, and the excess fuel drained down the ducting into the blower. NOT a good thing!

We are 5 days from leaving and I began calling the manufacturer of the air conditioning unit, the dealer, a second dealer, a repair guy. Etc!  The response from a guy here in town was, dismantle the blower and motor, wash the interior of the blower with a heavy detergent, then flush it with copious amounts of fresh water. I thought that was dubious, but to replace the blower was $600, with shipping to arrive here by Friday.  I washed the blower and ELECTRIC motor with soap and water! Holy Shiite Muslem!  I let the unit sit over night to dry, covered by the outboard motor cover, called our cruising buddy, Ed, to come over and help, I replaced all of the vent ducting which had mold in it any way, re-mounted the blower, carried it down below (with Ed's assistance), re-connected the ducts (so this is what duct tape is really used for), looked up which 115volt wire was HOT (black) and which was NEUTRAL (white), and reconnected the unit and the water pump, triple-checked everything with a multimeter, and flipped the switch! 36 hours after this near disaster and $80, the unit is working fine!

So in the meantime, Renne' begins cleaning our woodwork below. Off come all of the doors to the closets, lockers, and cabinets. Soapy water is everywhere! Then she gets the brushes out and the varnish and re-conditions the cabin table, the woodwork around the galley, all of the doors to the closets, lockers, and cabinets. We are 5 days out, and by tomorrow, we will have a pretty decent looking-and smelling place to take to the Bahamas!

Other projects have included:

Cleaning the center fuel tank; repairing canvas; shopping; renewing the jib and staysails; repairing the shower drain and pump;shopping; painting the aft head; storing away winter clothes; shopping; new canvas covers for the fuel tanks, life raft, and winches; purchasing book inventory to sell in the Bahamas; shopping; lecturing at the local school on "Being an Author"; book signings; and MORE shopping to get ready for 2-3 months in the Bahamas!

Did I say we were retired? I want to know how we ever found time to work! We're pooped

See ya at sunset tonite for badly needed sundowners!

JonNe'

Each Day We Get Closer

February 25 (Already!)

Several projects for that I am working on right now:

1) I was working on the bilge pump switch the other day.  In order to get to it, I had to pull the exhaust hose off the engine and break the exhaust loop apart.  In order to get it back together, I replaced the metal gasket I had removed, tightened the bolts down, and double checked the joint by putting soapy water over the joint while the engine was running.  Much to my disappointment, the exhaust leaked and I had to order new gaskets in.  They arrived the other day, and tomorrow when we take the boat over for new fuel and to have the engine mounts tightened, I will have the gasket replaced at the same time.  That project will be done tomorrow

2) I finished installing the secondary bilge pump yesterday and got the genset re-secured in place.  However, a diode was blown in the switch, so that got delivered today.  I will get that resoldered tomorrow and hopefully the secondary bilge pump will be working! 

I was looking back at the blog this morning recounting our first adventure crossing. We left on May 4, 2012. I relived the issues we had then and I want to make sure we have some of those issues re-addressed. It is interesting going back to that reading. I will have the others review it also.

Renne' and I have been running errands again today.  I am feeling pressed for time now. I need to get the shower drain blown out today and hope it will clear the drain hose. Although the pump runs fine, the drain quit pumping water out, so I assume the drain hose is plugged. We have been hand pumping it out for two days.

We also have to get income tax done in the next week. Ouch.  Discovered we have way underpaid, we are just happy we have the money in the bank.  

I rebuilt the secondary bilge pump and it is back n place and the genset back in position.  The day I originally installed that pump was one of those days when I was thinking I would NEVER have to work on it! What a pain that was to get it out and back into place. I found it was not the only issue. Apparently a diode in the switch went bad, and I have replacement parts coming.

When we were in Houston over Christmas, we purchased some lightly tinted plexiglass for the companionway cover and front access panel. The old stuff was orange and scratched and didn't allow much light in the boat.  Yesterday, cut the access panel out and mounted the boat lock to it. It makes a world of difference! Wow!  The companionway cover comes next, but that will be more difficult.

Began working on our new mount for our clothes wringer. It will be mounted on the mast pulpit amidships, and my holdup is a small amount of welding I need for the angled aluminum. It should be done Sunday!

Homemade pizza for dinner tonite!

See ya at sunset here in beautiful Key West for sundowners

JonNe'