Another Day, Another Day Toward Leavin' AGAIN

About 1700, Sunday, 02 Mar 2014

Pretty cool.  The months of January and February are gone and Spring is just around the corner.  With that, I have been working on and off at getting JonNe' ready for another run to the Bahamas.  We have different crew this year.  We will be taking two dachshunds that actually belong to our daughter, Shannon.  She has found herself in a bit of a pickle, and we have volunteered to keep them for a couple of months

The one here in front is Lina, she is the daughter of Pretzel, in the background.  So, in order to give them some running around room, I have installed safety line netting to try to keep them aboard.

Well, it is like most of my projects, it has been sitting for the past few days, and I am 90% complete.  I have to find the gumption to finish the frickin' project!!  I have 5 feet of netting left to install on the starboard (right) rear safety lines and aft pulpit, and I wasn't feeling well enough to finish it today.  Actually, although true, I was heading up into the cockpit and decided it was time to write something about what I was doing, and started taking pictures and writing this!  That and a large Sailor Jerry and Diet Coke, and I don't think I will finish anything today!!  I am here in Key West, and Manana!!  Sorry folks, but my Spanish dictionary was not installed!  There should be a TILDA above the first n.  So pronounce that n with your tongue high on the roof of your mouth, kinda like an n and y simultaneously.  It actually means TOMORROW!

I am making water this afternoon.  The panel lies right behind the settee cushion on the port (left side)

Then, Voila', and the cushion is removed, and the watermaker panel appears and I am making water!

Now, the pretty cool thing about this watermaker (Aquamarine Watermakers) is the fact that if you look closely to the gauge on the left side, it is reading just a hair over 21 gallons an hour!  These tanks are 75 gallons a piece, so in a couple of hours, I have atleast one full tank.

That is unless you discover what I just discovered!!  Here I was, after an hour of writing this, as it is now almost 1800 hours, I got up to figure out what I was going to make myself for my evening meal.  I am rummaging around in the refrigerator, and I notice water on the counter!  Not a usual occurrance!   I look at the sink, and doggone, it is FULL of water!  Two things became abundantly clear, and one of them was NOT that I had already embibed in my first rum and coke.  It was first, I had NOT opened the drain for the galley sink when I began making water, and second, and more frustrating, I had not switched over from the test drain which goes to the sink (in this case FILLING IT) to the tanks.  So for the last hour, I have been filling the sink and spilling the water all over the floor rather than adding 21 plus gallons of incredibly fresh water into my nearly depleted water tank!  Can I hear a DAMN! 

So, in getting that resolved, I opened a bar of Kaukauna Port Wine Cheese Spread and some Tostido's Scoops, got a knife, and I am aswaging my frustration with cheese and crackers, and ANOTHER Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum and Diet Coke!

With that, I am ending this, and heading for the cockpit to enjoy the rest of the sunlight and, Oh, By The Way, REALLY NICE WEATHER!!

Come on down to the docks, I will pour another drink for you, I promise!

JonNe'

Jan 10, 2014

Enroute NAS Boca Chica, Key West, Fl to Sarasota, Fl

1220
Renne' and I have taken the opportunity to assist Marlen Robb, owner of a Morris 46, s/v Menemsha,

in finishing this delivery to his homeport.  Below you will see the route from NAS Boca Chica to Sarasota, Fl.

The total miles for this trip is about 175nm.  Menemsha is on her re-fit maiden voyage, and has traveled 1775nm from the Morris Yacht Yard in Trenton Maine to Key West.  Marlen Robb

 

and his wife, Marlene, left Trenton on November 2nd, 2013, in 22 degrees.  They have had some pretty wild rides, and Marlen's comment was, "I don't mind being scared once a day, but NOT all day long!"  We agree with that completely!  Actually, this will be a bit like sailing the Harvest Moon Regatta. 

1615, 10 Jan 2014

We are doing 77kts over the ground at present.  Winds have been pretty much out of the southeast.   We just took a wind shift to the northeast, and it has changed our sailing to motor sailing.  Winds are now up to 11kts and we are doing 7.9kts over the ground right now.  Temps are dropping, but they should stabilize in the mid 60's and no rain.  Skies are mostly fair and the seas are only about 1 foot.

I spent an hour or more reconfiguring Marlen's Raymarine C-125 Chartplotter to a split screen with the chartplotter/radar on one side and CDI (Course Deviation Indicator) and navigational data on the other side.  I set it up in the same configuration our is set up.  He appears to be very pleased.

On the other hand, now that I have shown him how to do it, his configuration might change the next time he is aboard!!  Hehheh!  Attaboys can be fleeting, as we often found out in the fleet!!  LOL!  Actually, I am amazed the Captain they hired to get them south from Maine to North Carolina didn't take the time to set them up on something.

 

 

2024 10 Jan 2014

25 18'.704N

082 04'.198W

Great sailing - not sure how it could be better!!

Still motoring, but engine is clicking along at 1600 rpm and we are doing 6.8 kts.  It couldn't be nicer.  I have the watch from 2000-2300.  Marlen will have the 2300-0200.  I will, then, come back on for the 0200-0500.  Renne' gets to sleep most of the night.

The chartplotter is digitally tied to Marlen's IPAD.  Holy smokes, what an incredible tool!  This means I can sit on the settee in the cockpit, not on the lazarette.  it allows me to sit out of the wind and keep track of everything that is going on.  What a wonderful setup!  It is also slaved to the laptop below.  The advantage with the IPAD over the slave laptop, is I can change anything from the chartplotter on the IPAS without moving.  I could even take it below with me.  Very Cool!

2300, 10 Jan 2014
Off Watch

11 Jan 2014
0156
25 56'.431N
082 14.038W

On watch again, letting Renne' sleep.  Beautiful moon out, clear skies, cool, probably 64 degrees.   Have my foul weather jacket on.  Seas basically calm.  Nothing on radar.  We are the only ones out here.  Marlen is making coffee for me.  The moon is 3/4 waxing.  Interesting how the top of the moon is gone.  I don't remember seeing it this was in some time.

11 Jan 2014
0442
26 14.821N
082 18'.858W

A few minutes ago, while watching for satellites, a meteor came across.  One of the most blazing I have seen.  As it hit the atmosphere, it looked as though a flint had struck steel, as though you were attempting to start a primitive fire.  It seemed to throw off sparks on either side of its pathway across the sky.  Although I have seen longer streaks, I have never seen this type of display.

It appears to be 90% clear tonight, but there must be a very thin gauzy layer in the cirrus range.  The brighter stars are very obvious, but the more distant or less bright stares are a bit muted.  I believe that is the reason I have not seen any satellites tonight.  When Renne' and I were assisting our friend, Barb Schindler, bring her boat to Houston from Pensacola, Fl, I think it was 2010,, but it might have been 2009, I was able to spot 12 satellites in 25 minutes with the naked eye.  The moon has been down about an hour, so there is no influence from its' ambient light.  Disappointing.

I just heard what sounded like a cry off the port stern, a bit away from the boat.  When I tried to listen again, I did not hear anything, so I suspect it was a dolphin nearby.  That was a spooky feeling.  I am here in the cockpit by myself, and not normally subject to being nervous, but that was a bit unusual.

The wind has clocked around almost to our stern, so we are now running with the wind.  The main and jib are on the port side, or what we term as a starboard tack.  The apparent wind speed has now dropped to 5 or 6 kts.  I expect I will be gybing the main over to the starboard side in the not to distant future.

Sanabel Island is about 045 degrees at 20nm.  We seem to have picked up a bit of counter current and we are being set a bit to the east.  I am now crabbing three degrees to port and have lost almost a knot of speed.  We are down to 6.3 kts.  Still doing well, and anticipate being at the south entrance to Long Boat Key, west of Sarasota, at about 3pm.

1445

Arrived at the entrance of Big Bay Pass at Sarasota Point.

 

Marlen and I have been discussing the entrance.  It looks as though the waters are way shallow for the 5-1/2' draft on this yacht.  The channel markers are not well identified, and the water is cloudy and looks shallow.  I have called Boat US and Marlen has spoken with Marina Jack, and frankly, the reviews are very mixed.  The general responses have indicated that with the tide coming in, we might well have enough depth to enter.

WRONG!!

Our best thought was to find the shortest way across the shallows.  However, Menemsha grounded on hard sand, even though the charts indicated we were over the shallows and in an area of about 7 feet.  We guessed it had probably shoaled over.

Marlen immediately put Menemsha in reverse and began the seemingly torturous crawl back to deep water. 

Our immediate good fortune came from the surface waves impacting the boat.  The entire trip, there was never more than a foot of waves.  However, each wave that passed, raised Menemsha off the ground on the crest of the wave, and she struck the ground in the bottom of each trough.  Had there been more wave height, we could have been in a serious predicament.  As it turned out, we had no issues.

Our biggest disappointment was with SeaTow!!  Not to be confused with Towboat US!!  As we were attempting our entry, there was a SeaTow skiff about 300 yards off our bow, inbound toward us.  Over the next 5-6 minutes, as he neared us, he NEVER attempted to wave us off the shallow water.  NEVER got on the radio.  NEVER got out his air horn.  NEVER sped up to tell us it would be impossible to go through!! He sat off our starboard side, about 20 feet, and when we were trying to free the boat, he yelled across, asking if he could be of assistance!!  As though he were a vulture waiting for us to get into trouble.  I can't print the thoughts going through our heads about this jerk!  He almost overcame our being pissed at him by returning our dinghy, which we discovered had the towline severed when we put the boat in reverse, but not enough to overcome our ill-thoughts to the risk he let us accept.  NO TIP for the recovery!

Disappointed, we headed north along the coast of Long Boat Key to the entrance of Long Boat Pass.  A distance of 10nm.

At this point., it was about 1520.  The temperature was beginning to drop remarkably.

We all slipped on our jackets, immediately noticing a new fog bank developing.  Although Renne' and I have encountered a deeper fog bank along this coast, we were 1/2nm off Long Boat Key, and couldn't see the shoreline at this point. 

When we arrived at the mouth of Long Boat Pass, at 1640, visibility was down to 100 yards, and finding the channel markers required a steady hand holding the binoculars to see the markers through the fog.  We were able to spot land, then the Bascule Bridge that needed to open to let us through to Sarasota Bay and the InterCoastal Waterway (ICW).  From there, with a coulple of turns and some tight maneuvering, we were headed south toward Sarasota, another 10nm and 90 minutes.  We arrived at Marina Jack in Sarasota by 1815 (6pm), and pulled alongside the fuel dock.  45 minutes later, we were tied up, fueled with diesel, bags loaded in the car, and headed for dinner at the Dry Dock Grill on Long Boat Key.

12 Jan 2014
1000

Headed for Marina Jack to move Menemsha to her new mooring ball.

1130

Arrived, moved, and locked up the boat for a few days of rest.

Overall, a great trip, no damage, no real episodes to write home about, and two happy owners to be re-united and a boat in the marina.  This arrival for Marlen is the first time he has been to their new home in 7 months.  Welcome Home Marlen, Marlene, and Menemsha.

Renne' and I are headed back to Key WEst, compliments of Avis, via Miami, for a couple of doctors appointments for the two of us.  I really need to get on the ball putting JonNe' ready for our next adventure in March.

See ya back in Key West on Wednesday evening!

Cleaning the Water Tanks

Aboard JonNe', we are blessed with two 75 gallon st/stl water tanks.  When we purchased the boat in 2005, we installed a new water filtration system for the fresh water consumption aboard.  I had never really thought about the idea before, and Renne' and I had both chosen NOT to drink the water aboard either her Irwin 37 or my CT-41.  If we were moving aboard, however, we felt it was necessary to  have palatable water that we could drink, cook, and bathe with.  So we set out to find a good system.

After searching for a while, our next door neighbors, Al and Sue McDonald, owners the Mountain Valley Spring Water distributorship in Houston, Tx, set us on a research project that included reading up on water safety and health issues in potable (drinkable) water offered from various municipalities.  Al was out working on his water filtration system installed in their townhouse, and he had filled several white, 3-gallon buckets of water:  one was from the tap, one was from the filtered water after I believe three months or so, and one from a freshly changed filter system.  I was astonished when I noticed the differences.  The one from the tap was quite yellow, the freshly changed filtered water was beautifully clear, and the one after a three month period looked as though it needed to be changed, but was no where near the tap water. 

After looking at our budget, we purchase the same system, modified to fit in our boat, was installed under a cabinet in the after stateroom.

This is a bank of three 4" x 10" filters.  A 5 micron Spun Poly/Melt Blown Sediment Filter;

a MatriKX CTO+ Charcoal filter for filtering out chlorine and a bunch of other chemicals, taste and odor;

and a Centaur Carbon Cartridge which contains catalytically charged carbon designed for chloramine and chemical reduction.  This cartridge is for communities which use chloramine rather than chlorine for chemical cleansing of their municipal water systems.

So all of our water is filtered extremely well prior to it getting to us.  I have noticed that the sediment filter has been discolored and had to change the filter every three months or so.  The discoloration was from surface corrosion in the st/stl water tanks and the fact the tanks were installed in Taiwan in 1985, and probably never cleaned.  So this week, I decided to open the water tanks to find out what the issue was.

This is what I found:

I know, I know, it doesn't look real good.  But it is just surface corrosion, and now I know what the issue is.  I didn't really realize how large two 75 gallon tanks are until I realized that on either side of this are two baffles that open up (you can see the jagged holes exposed that the camera is looking through:

 

Those had to be cleaned too.  I went to the Dollar Store and bought a cheapo ($1.00) mop and cut off the handle.  I then proceeded to scrub all of the corrosion off.  Fortunately, it came off with no difficulty. When I finished, the tanks actually looked really good!

 

These aren't the finished, but you get the idea.  For some reason, I didn't bother to get the finished look.  Oh well!  The good news is, although the corrosion was removed by the filters originally, the sediment filter should now last a bit longer than 3 months.

 

I changed the sediment filter when I finished this job.  Now, realize this has got to be 10 times worse than usual, but this is all of the corrosion material that actually came through the tanks while I was cleaning:

 

New One

 

Old One!!

 

So we now have even BETTER water!

 

So we will be out on the sand bar this evening!  Come join us for sundowners - just a photo to give you an idea of where we will be. 

 

 

Ya'll come back now, ya hear!

 

JonNe'

Retirement - Ain't It Grand!!

October 11, 2013

I just can't believe it is October, and it is almost time for FantasyFest here in Key West!!  If you haven't heard of this great adventure in debauchery, Google "Fantasy Fest 2013".

I woke up this morning, realizing again, what a lucky fella I am to be here in retirement with this incredibly beautiful lady!

 With my cup of morning coffee, I climbed into the cockpit and looked around JonNe' and love the site of the other boats here in the marina

 

 

I started this morning working on the electrical system again.  I rerouted all of the connections, by removing them from the battery posts and installing them on separate terminal buss bars. I was excited I had finished them, bu I hadn't installed the covers to the battery connections yet, so that got done today.

 





 

We are pretty much self-sufficient, from the standpoint of converting fresh water from salt water, and we are "Green" as we are using both wind and solar power.  I decided yesterday to begin testing the systems to determine if they actually were working.  In fact, the solar panel is making electricity, but not enough to sustain our usage, so I will be adding another unit probably before we leave.  As far as wind power is concerned, the wind generator is DOA!  Dead On Arrival!!

 

Doggone it!  We just had this repaired about 10 months ago.  If you look in the picture above, of the battery connections, you will see a silver cable running along the top of the picture.  This is the grounding line I added today to ground the solar and wind power tower on the aft of JonNe'.  I also ended up scraping the corrosion off the connectors, one of which was the wind generator that make up the earth ground.  After talking with the folks at www.altestore.com, where I bought both the solar panel and wind generator, it is possible the wind generator may have been the victim of a nearby lightening strike.  Not close enough to affect the boat, but enough to kill the electronics in the generator.  Now I have to pull it down AGAIN and get it repaired!  This will be the second time this has been repaired!  I am thinking I am going to go with another unit!  Perhaps a D-400.

 

Have you ever found something on the internet that is so pervasive that you just have to try it??  I have run across several references to a thread penetrant that is even more invasive and much better than WD-40 and a host of other materials.  So I thought I would try it.  I went out and bought a small spray bottle yesterday at the dollar store, stopped by Home Depot and picked up a quart container of Acetone (which I hate to use), and mixed 50/50 Acetone and Dextron Transmission fluid, which I had left over from my last diesel engine transmission.  As I shook the two chemicals, they wouldn't mix, and I am thinking this was a bust!  Then globs of something began to materialize in the spray bottle!  I said this is "No Good"!  But I had bought the stuff, so I sprayed it on the threads of the propane bottle and regulator that were corroded together from our propane grill.  Got two wrenches out, and voila', they came apart! pretty easily. It actually worked!  Hmmm, maybe the internet has
"Some" things that are worthwhile.  Apparently the Acetone and Transmission Fluid mix well enough they penetrate the threads, then the acetone evaporates and the threads get slippery.  Hmmm!

 

Okay, another interesting thing:  I know everyone reading this has spent hours looking for something, tearing apart all of the known places that it might be, only to find it the last place you look.  Ever wonder what everything you look for is ALWAYS in the last place you look?  That is because you FIND it and stop looking!!!  LOL!

 

Anyway that happened again today!  I tore the boat apart looking for my little container of Lanocote.  This is a product, ideal for boats, and is used when two metals (aluminum and steel) are going to be, let's say, screwed together.  Because of the chemical makeup of the two dissimilar metals, they corrode very quickly in the salt air.  By putting some lanocote on the threads of whatever you are screwing together, there is a barrier between the materials and they don't corrode.  Very Simple!  Except when you can't find the stuff!!  So an hour and a half looking in every nook and cranny, including every box of tools and materials we have aboard, thinking the "Ghost of Christmas Past" was giddy with retaliation, I finally found it at my feet in a tool bag I had already been in twice today!!  I decided at that point it was time for a Yingleung Beer, and I quit working!!

 

Enough for today.  Gotta get ready to take my bride out to dinner.

 

Have a great day, and come on down tomorrow and meet us Sundowners here at the dock!  We will let the guards at the gate know you are coming.

 

Jon and Renne'

abrd s/v JonNe'

Our Incredible AquaMarine Watermaker

We are so blessed to have friends and acquaintances in the cruising arena who are willing to listen and help solve issues that occur on the boat.  It is not as though either Renne' or I had been born with knowledge of how to solve many of these problems.  Renne' and I both owned our own cruising sailboats prior to our meeting, but actually getting ready to cruise, and actually being out on deep, blue water cruising, has given us a perspective of maintenance and repairs well beyond what we possessed previously.

When we returned from our cruise to The Bahamas earlier this year, I let the watermaker sit for three months knowing I should run it every few weeks to make sure the Reverse Osmosis (R/O) membrane didn't get ruined by just sitting and growing bacteria.  In July, I finally decided I needed to run the unit.  After running it for several hours, Renne' smelled an odor originating from our watermaker a/c motor/high pressure pump locker.  Accessing the locker, I discovered high pressure salt water spewing from a crack in the output hose connector from the pump housing to the R/O membrane.

Water was everywhere, and the heat buildup in the locker had evaporated the saltwater on the motor housing, in the housing, and on everything around the motor housing, including most of the electrical connections (ac and dc).  I quickly turned off all of the electricity serving the watermaker and began the cleanup.  But that was Summer.

We had a two week trip to make, and I called the AquaMarine Watermaker Manufacturer, asking him for advice.  Dan suggested pouring a gallon or so of fresh water over the pump and all connections to flush the salt away to ensure minimal corrosion.  I was hesitant, but got a couple of gallons of water and literally drenched the motor, pump, connections, locker, etc., and left on our trip.

In September, I again contacted Dan, at AquaMarine, and arranged for him to send me a new high pressure connector to replace the cracked one. It arrived. I again procrastinated with the repair.  Today is October  9th. I began work on the watermaker again. I called Dan one more time about replacing the connector, and with his guidance, I removed the inner, faulty hose fitting, dipped just the new inner fitting in Glycerin, and reinstalled the connector, hand-tightened the connection, and turned on the motor. Voila', it worked! I did have to tighten the nut with a wrench slightly, per Dan's recommendation, but it was finished. As I added pressure, I did notice a bad water feed hose and replaced it and another hose with a better grade, and turned the motor on again.

We are now making 23 gallons of wonderfully sweet, fresh water an hour and filling the port tank with 75 gallons.  I again am surprised the R/O membrane continues to make fresh water with less than 275 ppm at very near the rated 24 gph that it did when we first installed the unit 3 years ago.   And that with letting it stand unattended for nearly 5 months.  From here on out, we will be filling both tanks as the starboard one empties, and continue making fresh water vs using city water here at the marina.   I am amazed sometimes, that I can do things like this!  Oh, and so is Renne'. LOL!

Good Golly!  I can't believe it has been 7 months since I had the gumption to get back to the blog.  Apologies aside, this has been a most enjoyable summer season since arriving back in Key West. 

Over the years we have had and worked on JonNe', I have had the opportunity to do a lot of recovery work on the electrical system.  As the boat was hit by lightening before we bought her from the previous owner, as the need arose, I changed out wiring.  Unfortunately, I am not the neatest person in the world, and some shortcuts were taken, although all repairs were to code.

This past week, I made the decision to rearrange the electrical wiring around the battery boxes.  I have been gigged three times on our inspections as I did not have battery box covers installed; resulting in both a possible safety issue should some errant piece of gear hit one of the battery cables resulting in a short, and in the event of a knock down, the batteries might become dislodged and result in a loss of electrical power all together.  In order to utilize a mounting panel I had installed for the automatic antenna tuner for the SSB, I had to relocate the tuner and freed up considerable space to install new terminal bus bars on the hull rather than attached to the battery boxes.

So after 5 days of very carefully lengthening all of the cables (2/0 down to 10 gauge) and rearranging and taking the time, it was finished and almost looks like a professional job.

I am looking at tearing into the navigation pod in the cockpit and see how I can make it more efficient.

Today, the 21st of September, we are in Tyler, Tx this morning, heading south to Houston. Will be back on the boat by October 3rd. We are beginning our next leg of our cruising schedule for February or March 2014. The plan is to head for Georgetown, The Bahamas again to meet our friends, Val and Ray Russenberger, then south from there, around Cuba to the Cayman's, and on to Belize and Guatamala.  But right now, it is just a plan, and until we throw the lines off the dock, it is just a plan!

Meanwhile, we will be in Houston tonight, we look forward to a couple of evenings raising glasses with a lot of our friends.  Come join us for Sundowners

Jon and Renne'

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'

The New Plan For the Bahamas is Coming Together

Renne' and I have been working hard to have JonNe' ready for our planned departure around the 1st week of March. We have decided to head back to the Bahamas again this year.  We will be joined by our friends, Ed and Claudia Davis, aboard their boat "Door Into Summer".  We met Ed and Claudia a year ago as we were headed north to Charleston, SC for hurricane season, and we spent the last days of October transiting south from Vero Beach together.

Actually, this years preparation has not been as grueling as in past years. We have had to work on two major issues: bad fuel in the Bahamas and a bad storm that tore up our jib in the Exumas (Bahamas) on our last trip. I finally got the fuel cleaned and transferred to one of the other tanks, then opened the access panel and manually cleaned the tank out. That was not fun.  The jib and staysail are in for badly needed repairs, and will be back to us by the end of the week.

We had a major provisioning trip today, and spent $250 today, $150 yesterday.  We were at the Miami Boat Show and bought a pair of "voice-activated" radios they call the Marriage Saver, so I can work out on the deck with the anchor or handling the sails without yelling anymore. I also anticipate it will be an excellent addition for being out on the deck at night.  Communications are the first thing we have to make sure works well.

I have to change the oil in the water maker, reinstall the secondary bilge pump, re-seat a metal gasket in the exhaust loop, and repack the V-berth. We will be storing lots of winter clothes in the car! I also plan on going through my tools to see if I can leave some here this time.

Rene's sewing machine is in for a checkup today, and we hope to get it back this week as she is hoping to make a cover for the life raft and outboard engine.

Other than those items, I think we are pretty much ready to go, so we have two weeks left!

So before we leave, if you want to catch up with us on the docks for Sundowners, you are always welcome.

Jon and Renne'