We decided to continue on down the Bahama island chain to the Exumas even though the auto pilot isn't working correctly. We will probably regret it later but there are not any over nighters that we will be doing until we return back the the U.S.
We left Lucaya on the 29th of December at 7:30 AM. The winds were blowing 10-15 knots out of the east and our course is to the southeast so we wouldn't really get much sailing in. We decided to go almost straight south and take the route that goes west of the Berry Islands instead of east of them. This allowed us to sail with the east wind. We were able to sail all the way down until we had to turn southeast to go through the Northwest Channel into the tongue of the ocean on the south side of the Berry's. When we went through the Northwest Channel we couldn't find the light that guides the way until we were within about 150 feet from it. The light was not lit and it was dark and scary out. So much for the Bahamians keeping up with the navigational aids. I'm sure someone will eventually hit the post the light is on and do some major damage to their boat.
We came out of Northwest Channel at 7:30 PM and went by the west end of New Providence island around midnight. We continued southeast to a point just south of two shoaling areas and turned more east onto the great Bahama banks. We picked this area to cross the banks because there were no coral heads around to hit. The sun came up just as we got far enough east where we could head more south down the Exuma chain of islands. We ended this leg of the trip at Warderick Wells island which is part of the Exuma Land and Sea Park. We did 183 nautical miles in 29 hours hand steering all the way. Which is really exhausting by the way.
We will stay here on a mooring buoy and head 10 miles further southeast to Cambridge island tomorrow. There is great snorkeling around Cambridge and we missed it last year so we plan to stay there a week or so.
Everyone have a Happy New Year. I will write more when we have internet connectivity.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Vero Beach to the Bahamas, MON
We left Vero Beach on the 23rd of December. This was the third time we had gotten all ready to leave with two times being cancelled because the weather changed so fast. But, this time was the charm. We left the mooring field at 8:30 AM went down the ICW to the Fort Pierce inlet and headed out. Once out in the ocean we turned south to hug the coast until we got down to the Lake Worth inlet. We arrived outside the Lake Worth inlet around 6 PM and turned left to cross the Gulf Stream. The wind was around 7-9 knots from the southeast so we were motoring right into it, however the seas were only about one foot in the Gulf Stream so the crossing was a piece of cake.
We had a comfortable ride over but had to dodge several cruise ships and cargo ships around the Freeport, Grand Bahama inlet. We passed by there around 5:30 AM while it was still dark so it was a challenge watching for all the ships. We arrived outside Bell Channel, which is the entrance channel for the Grand Bahama Yacht Club where we would be staying. We decided to go to the fuel dock at Port Lucaya and get diesel fuel and check in at customs and immigration which is right there before going over and getting our slip.
We were in the slip by 10:00 AM and ready to take a nap. We didn't get a chance to nap because there were four other boats there that we knew and as boaters are they want to know all the details about the crossing.
We stayed at the marina for five nights. We had Christmas dinner on Margarita, Bill and Margaret, who we were rafted to at Vero Beach. We both supplied the goodies and dinner was great.
On the way over to the Bahamas our auto pilot decided to give us trouble again. Here, I thought we had that all behind us. Now this brand of auto pilot is rated as one of the best and I'm sure I am the only one in the world that is having problems with it. I found a mechanic that works with hydraulics and had him come take a look at it. I told him that several other mechanics had severe problems getting the lines bled. He gave it a try and actually made it worse than it was. Now we are deciding whether to continue on or come back to the states. Hand steering on over nighters is not fun at all.
We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.
We had a comfortable ride over but had to dodge several cruise ships and cargo ships around the Freeport, Grand Bahama inlet. We passed by there around 5:30 AM while it was still dark so it was a challenge watching for all the ships. We arrived outside Bell Channel, which is the entrance channel for the Grand Bahama Yacht Club where we would be staying. We decided to go to the fuel dock at Port Lucaya and get diesel fuel and check in at customs and immigration which is right there before going over and getting our slip.
We were in the slip by 10:00 AM and ready to take a nap. We didn't get a chance to nap because there were four other boats there that we knew and as boaters are they want to know all the details about the crossing.
We stayed at the marina for five nights. We had Christmas dinner on Margarita, Bill and Margaret, who we were rafted to at Vero Beach. We both supplied the goodies and dinner was great.
On the way over to the Bahamas our auto pilot decided to give us trouble again. Here, I thought we had that all behind us. Now this brand of auto pilot is rated as one of the best and I'm sure I am the only one in the world that is having problems with it. I found a mechanic that works with hydraulics and had him come take a look at it. I told him that several other mechanics had severe problems getting the lines bled. He gave it a try and actually made it worse than it was. Now we are deciding whether to continue on or come back to the states. Hand steering on over nighters is not fun at all.
We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Fernandina to Vero Beach
We stayed in Fernandina Beach for two nights. We dinghies into the marina and walked the main street. There are lots of shops to stroll around in. We also had dinner at a Mexican restaurant, the food was very good.
We departed our mooring and motored down the ICW to Jacksonville Beach where we stopped at Beach Marine. We wanted to go into a marina so we could wash all the salt off the boat. We had quite a bit of sea spray during the first eight hours of our passage south and needed to get it off before the corrosion started. We also discovered that they had a really nice laundry room so Sandy did six loads of laundry.
We left the next morning and continued down the ICW to St. Augustine. It is always a treat to visit St. Augustine. There is so much to see and do there and they have some very nice restaurants. We met some friends that also left from New Bern and did a restaurant hopping adventure. I think it was mostly for the happy hours. We stayed for three nights and then continued on.
We continued down the ICW and anchored at Rockhouse Creek for the night. Our anchor windlass still wasn't working so I used the secondary anchor which only has 30 feet of chain. I have to haul it all up by hand and it can get darn heavy. The chain weighs 40 pounds and the anchor weighs 44 pounds. The following day we traveled 63 miles and anchored in Eau Gallie. We were the only boat at this anchorage. We had gone further than other boats on the previous day. Most of them had stopped 15 miles before us at Daytona Beach. On the third day out of St. Augustine we only had a run of 35 miles to get to Vero Beach where we planned on doing some last minute provisioning to replenish what we used on the way south and to get the darn windlass fixed.
We rafted with a Canadian boat named Moxie. We met Grant and Donna and got to know them, very nice couple.
The next day I took the windlass off the deck and tore into it. I ordered some parts from Defender not knowing for sure what I might need. If I didn't need them they would become spares. After stripping the gears all apart and taking the motor off I discovered that the motor runs fine. As I would put each gear back into the gearbox I would test it. It would go both forward and backward until the final gear went in. I think I had guys from 5 different boats coming by and giving advice. I was really stumped. By this time Margareta had come in and rafted to us. We know Bill and Margaret from the marina at New Bern. It was also Thansgiving so I put the windlass aside and Sandy and I celebrated with dinner on Margareta with Bill, Margaret and Hutch and Linda from Sandcastle. We know Hutch and Linda from the marina in New Bern also. We all brought part of the dinner and it was wonderful.
I needed to call a shop that works on windlass' for some advice but everyone was closed for the holiday until Monday. I finally got ahold of Florida rigging and Hydraulics in The Palm Beach area. I explained to the technician my problem and he respond with 'Oh, that would be the compound gear'. He knew immediately why the problem was. Later that morning we rented a car and drove the 75 miles to their shop. The technician, Buck, met us at the counter and immediately grabbed the gear and confirmed the problem. The compound gear is supposed to turn a quarter of a turn in order to reverse the direction. He had a new compound gear in it by early afternoon. Sandy and I went over to the Garden Mall and had a nice lunch while it was being worked on. Well, the windlass is installed back on the boat and we are now waiting for a weather window to cross over to the Bahamas. We may have one coming up this Thursday night. In the mean time we are strolling over to the beach and just hanging with friends. We know the couples from about 12 boats that are here also waiting to cross over to the Bahamas.
Next post will hopefully be from the Bahama Islands.
We departed our mooring and motored down the ICW to Jacksonville Beach where we stopped at Beach Marine. We wanted to go into a marina so we could wash all the salt off the boat. We had quite a bit of sea spray during the first eight hours of our passage south and needed to get it off before the corrosion started. We also discovered that they had a really nice laundry room so Sandy did six loads of laundry.
We left the next morning and continued down the ICW to St. Augustine. It is always a treat to visit St. Augustine. There is so much to see and do there and they have some very nice restaurants. We met some friends that also left from New Bern and did a restaurant hopping adventure. I think it was mostly for the happy hours. We stayed for three nights and then continued on.
We continued down the ICW and anchored at Rockhouse Creek for the night. Our anchor windlass still wasn't working so I used the secondary anchor which only has 30 feet of chain. I have to haul it all up by hand and it can get darn heavy. The chain weighs 40 pounds and the anchor weighs 44 pounds. The following day we traveled 63 miles and anchored in Eau Gallie. We were the only boat at this anchorage. We had gone further than other boats on the previous day. Most of them had stopped 15 miles before us at Daytona Beach. On the third day out of St. Augustine we only had a run of 35 miles to get to Vero Beach where we planned on doing some last minute provisioning to replenish what we used on the way south and to get the darn windlass fixed.
We rafted with a Canadian boat named Moxie. We met Grant and Donna and got to know them, very nice couple.
The next day I took the windlass off the deck and tore into it. I ordered some parts from Defender not knowing for sure what I might need. If I didn't need them they would become spares. After stripping the gears all apart and taking the motor off I discovered that the motor runs fine. As I would put each gear back into the gearbox I would test it. It would go both forward and backward until the final gear went in. I think I had guys from 5 different boats coming by and giving advice. I was really stumped. By this time Margareta had come in and rafted to us. We know Bill and Margaret from the marina at New Bern. It was also Thansgiving so I put the windlass aside and Sandy and I celebrated with dinner on Margareta with Bill, Margaret and Hutch and Linda from Sandcastle. We know Hutch and Linda from the marina in New Bern also. We all brought part of the dinner and it was wonderful.
I needed to call a shop that works on windlass' for some advice but everyone was closed for the holiday until Monday. I finally got ahold of Florida rigging and Hydraulics in The Palm Beach area. I explained to the technician my problem and he respond with 'Oh, that would be the compound gear'. He knew immediately why the problem was. Later that morning we rented a car and drove the 75 miles to their shop. The technician, Buck, met us at the counter and immediately grabbed the gear and confirmed the problem. The compound gear is supposed to turn a quarter of a turn in order to reverse the direction. He had a new compound gear in it by early afternoon. Sandy and I went over to the Garden Mall and had a nice lunch while it was being worked on. Well, the windlass is installed back on the boat and we are now waiting for a weather window to cross over to the Bahamas. We may have one coming up this Thursday night. In the mean time we are strolling over to the beach and just hanging with friends. We know the couples from about 12 boats that are here also waiting to cross over to the Bahamas.
Next post will hopefully be from the Bahama Islands.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
North Carolina to Florida
We left Oriental on Sunday November 5th after getting our transducer replaced. We crossed the southern part of Pamlico sound and went into Adams Creek. Adams Creek is a really nice stretch to get us down to Morehead City. The weather was not all that nice out in the ocean so we continued down the ICW to Swansboro. We were able to motor sail with 20-25 knots of wind on our starboard beam. There we stayed overnight at Caspers Marina.
The next morning we left at 0625 with four huge power boats. We had four bridges that we needed openings and two of them opened only on the hour. If you get there even a minute or so late they won't open for you and you end up waiting until the next hour opening. We lucked out and had the current with us the entire run of 45 miles. We got to all the bridges with minutes to spare.
We stayed in Wrightville Beach Monday night and on Tuesday morning met for breakfast with Island Packet 35 Island Spirit owners Hayden and Radeen and Island Packet 460 owners Eric and Pat. Hayden and I have been communicating through email for about eight years and this is the first time we have met in person.
Xperience IP380, Cutter Loose IP460
After breakfast we continued down the ICW where we anchored at Carolina Beach. We stayed here for two nights waiting for a weather opportunity to go out into the ocean at the Cape Fear river inlet. A cold front was about to move through the area so on Thursday we moved down to the Southport City Marina and get the boat prepared to leave on Friday behind the cold front. Thursday night the wind came up to 25 MPH with gusts to 35 MPH but was forecast to calm down by Friday late afternoon.
We departed the Southport marina at 1100 on Friday and headed out the Cape Fear inlet. The wind was blowing 20-25 with some higher gusts from the northwest. That put the wind on our starboard beam and gave us a really fast ride. The seas were running from 3-5 feet and were a bit confused so the ride was a little rough. Clewie did not have a good afternoon as she barfed all over the bed. Mercedes took it all in stride and rode it out in her kitty cave.
The wind did calm down some around 10 PM, a little later than forecast but we enjoyed the extra push it gave us. We passed the Charleston, SC inlet outer buoy at 0400 on Saturday morning. That was 114 miles in 17 hours.
We had to slow down quite a bit on Sunday morning so we could enter the St. Mary's inlet on the Georgia Florida border in daylight. We stopped at the Fernandina Harbor marina to get some fuel at 0800 and are now tied to a mooring buoy across the ICW from the marina. We will stay here a couple of nights and then continue down the ICW. We hope to be at Vero Beach for thanksgiving.
The next morning we left at 0625 with four huge power boats. We had four bridges that we needed openings and two of them opened only on the hour. If you get there even a minute or so late they won't open for you and you end up waiting until the next hour opening. We lucked out and had the current with us the entire run of 45 miles. We got to all the bridges with minutes to spare.
We stayed in Wrightville Beach Monday night and on Tuesday morning met for breakfast with Island Packet 35 Island Spirit owners Hayden and Radeen and Island Packet 460 owners Eric and Pat. Hayden and I have been communicating through email for about eight years and this is the first time we have met in person.
After breakfast we continued down the ICW where we anchored at Carolina Beach. We stayed here for two nights waiting for a weather opportunity to go out into the ocean at the Cape Fear river inlet. A cold front was about to move through the area so on Thursday we moved down to the Southport City Marina and get the boat prepared to leave on Friday behind the cold front. Thursday night the wind came up to 25 MPH with gusts to 35 MPH but was forecast to calm down by Friday late afternoon.
We departed the Southport marina at 1100 on Friday and headed out the Cape Fear inlet. The wind was blowing 20-25 with some higher gusts from the northwest. That put the wind on our starboard beam and gave us a really fast ride. The seas were running from 3-5 feet and were a bit confused so the ride was a little rough. Clewie did not have a good afternoon as she barfed all over the bed. Mercedes took it all in stride and rode it out in her kitty cave.
The wind did calm down some around 10 PM, a little later than forecast but we enjoyed the extra push it gave us. We passed the Charleston, SC inlet outer buoy at 0400 on Saturday morning. That was 114 miles in 17 hours.
We had to slow down quite a bit on Sunday morning so we could enter the St. Mary's inlet on the Georgia Florida border in daylight. We stopped at the Fernandina Harbor marina to get some fuel at 0800 and are now tied to a mooring buoy across the ICW from the marina. We will stay here a couple of nights and then continue down the ICW. We hope to be at Vero Beach for thanksgiving.
Friday, November 4, 2011
We have moved.
However we are now a little further north. We left New Bern on Thursday after waiting a couple of hours in the morning for the fog to dissipate. We couldn't see the channel markers that are about 100 feet off the dock.
Once it did clear out we motored down the Neuse River to Oriental, NC. We needed to stop at Deaton Yacht Service to do a short haul to replace our Airmar depth tranducer that quit working over the summer. I had ordered a new one last week and had it shipped directly to Deaton's. We were out of the water for only a couple of hours to get it replaced.
We are now sitting and waiting for the rain to pass over. Also there is forecast to have very high winds and seas for the next two to three days. Winds to 45 knots and seas running up to 20 feet. We have no business being out in that. It looks like we may leave here on Sunday or Monday and head down the intracoastal waterway to Southport and see if we get a good weather window to head out for Florida. If not we will continue down the intracoastal to either Wynah bay and exit there or go to Charleston and go out there.
Once it did clear out we motored down the Neuse River to Oriental, NC. We needed to stop at Deaton Yacht Service to do a short haul to replace our Airmar depth tranducer that quit working over the summer. I had ordered a new one last week and had it shipped directly to Deaton's. We were out of the water for only a couple of hours to get it replaced.
We are now sitting and waiting for the rain to pass over. Also there is forecast to have very high winds and seas for the next two to three days. Winds to 45 knots and seas running up to 20 feet. We have no business being out in that. It looks like we may leave here on Sunday or Monday and head down the intracoastal waterway to Southport and see if we get a good weather window to head out for Florida. If not we will continue down the intracoastal to either Wynah bay and exit there or go to Charleston and go out there.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Waiting for weather
We are pretty well set to head south. We are now just waiting for a good weather window. This weekend there is a strong cold front coming through. The winds are going to be north, which is good, but could be up to 35 knots, which isn't good.
We have all of our provisions onboard. All of our bins are full and the freezer is full of meat. The aft cabin which we call the garage is full of paper products and other dry goods. We are carrying three five gallon jerry jugs of gasoline and two five gallon jerry jugs of diesel fuel. The boat has settled down to almost the top of the bottom paint line in the water. I really wouldn't want to put any more weight on the boat.
We will most likely take the same route we did last year. Go down the ICW to Southport, NC and then out the Cape Fear river inlet and do a 48 hour run to the St. Mary's inlet at Fernandina Beach, FL. Once in Florida we will most likely stay in the ICW down to Vero Beach and wait there for a good weather window to cross over to the Bahamas. We still are not sure of what route we will take to the Bahamas but we would like to go out the Lake Worth inlet at Palm Beach, FL.
There are about ten other boats here at the marina that are also about ready to head south. We all meet on the docks in the morning to discuss the weather. When we are out cruising we live by the weather.
We have all of our provisions onboard. All of our bins are full and the freezer is full of meat. The aft cabin which we call the garage is full of paper products and other dry goods. We are carrying three five gallon jerry jugs of gasoline and two five gallon jerry jugs of diesel fuel. The boat has settled down to almost the top of the bottom paint line in the water. I really wouldn't want to put any more weight on the boat.
We will most likely take the same route we did last year. Go down the ICW to Southport, NC and then out the Cape Fear river inlet and do a 48 hour run to the St. Mary's inlet at Fernandina Beach, FL. Once in Florida we will most likely stay in the ICW down to Vero Beach and wait there for a good weather window to cross over to the Bahamas. We still are not sure of what route we will take to the Bahamas but we would like to go out the Lake Worth inlet at Palm Beach, FL.
There are about ten other boats here at the marina that are also about ready to head south. We all meet on the docks in the morning to discuss the weather. When we are out cruising we live by the weather.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Reprovisioning
We have started the provisioning process for our winter cruise. We will store about 5-6 months of food and supplies on board. We have already stored $400 worth of canned goods. Next we will purchase paper products and dry goods. After that we will get the drinks, soda pop, wine, juices and powdered drink mixes. Last we will get the meat products that will go into the freezer. In all we will spend about $2000 which isn't bad for 5-6 months. There will be some fresh produce and fruit we will purchase along the way when we can find it. While in the states that isn't a problem but in the Exumas you just cannot get much good quality produce.
We are still putting the boat back together from when we had taken all of the sails and canvas off because of hurricane Irene. I have finished the maintenance on the generator and the outboard motor. We plan to leave New Bern, NC around the end of October or the beginning of November depending on weather. This year we are going to store our Expedition at a friends house about 2 miles from the marina. We will come back here next summer at least for awhile.
We are still putting the boat back together from when we had taken all of the sails and canvas off because of hurricane Irene. I have finished the maintenance on the generator and the outboard motor. We plan to leave New Bern, NC around the end of October or the beginning of November depending on weather. This year we are going to store our Expedition at a friends house about 2 miles from the marina. We will come back here next summer at least for awhile.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
KF5MMB
Kilo Foxtrot Five Mike Mike Bravo
This is my new HAM radio call sign. I have been studying this summer to get my HAM radio license. I passed the technician test in August and passed the general test in September. I added a Pactor modem to our onboard SSB, Single Side Band, radio so we can now send and receive emails over the HF, high frequency, airwaves and also download more and better weather data. With the HAM license I can use frequencies that will allow me to do this anywhere in the world.
This is my new HAM radio call sign. I have been studying this summer to get my HAM radio license. I passed the technician test in August and passed the general test in September. I added a Pactor modem to our onboard SSB, Single Side Band, radio so we can now send and receive emails over the HF, high frequency, airwaves and also download more and better weather data. With the HAM license I can use frequencies that will allow me to do this anywhere in the world.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Hurricane Irene
We weathered the storm at Northwest Creek marina. It is just down the Neuse river from New Bern North Carolina. The marina has a good hurricane plan, that is one reason we decided to spend the summer here.
Xperience had no damage to her. Some boats had minor cosmetic damage and there was some minor dock damage. The biggest headache will be all the cleanup. We drove around the area and there are dozens of trees down just in this neighborhood. Some are on top of homes. Some area have there power back on but not the marina. We most likely won't have power for another 3-4 days. We moved back onto the boat on Sunday. Here we can cook with our propane stove and we have solar panels that can keep our batteries charged to run the refrigeration, lights and pumps. There is fresh water on the docks.
Here is a link to photos taken prior to, during and after the storm.
Xperience had no damage to her. Some boats had minor cosmetic damage and there was some minor dock damage. The biggest headache will be all the cleanup. We drove around the area and there are dozens of trees down just in this neighborhood. Some are on top of homes. Some area have there power back on but not the marina. We most likely won't have power for another 3-4 days. We moved back onto the boat on Sunday. Here we can cook with our propane stove and we have solar panels that can keep our batteries charged to run the refrigeration, lights and pumps. There is fresh water on the docks.
Here is a link to photos taken prior to, during and after the storm.
 |
| Hurricane Irene 08/27/2011 |
Friday, June 17, 2011
Just Hangin'
We are just hanging around and doing some boat work at Northwest Creek marina near New Bern, North Carolina.
We were able to get four coats of Cetol on our exterior teak. We cleaned it up real good and put two coats of Cetol Natural Teak which has a little bit of color in it, and also two coats of the Cetol clear gloss. You wouldn't believe how the salt water corrodes the stainless steel. We used Collinite metal wax to go over all of our stainless steel to bring it back to its shiny glory. It took lots of rags and a couple of toothbrushes to get into all of the little nooks and crannies.
We have met many nice people that have there boats in slips next to us. Some we knew from the Bahamas. There are about 6 couples staying here that we met in the Exumas. A few of them have homes nearby.
We rented a car and drove up to Hampton to pick up our Expedition. It is good to have ground transportation. We have gone around the city of New Bern and are learning where things are, especially the good restaurants. Eventually we will travel out a little further. Next week we plan on going up to Raleigh. It is about a two hour drive from here.
We have several more boat projects to do and we need some more spare parts for the next cruising season so we will be working on that stuff. There is always something to do on the boat.
We were able to get four coats of Cetol on our exterior teak. We cleaned it up real good and put two coats of Cetol Natural Teak which has a little bit of color in it, and also two coats of the Cetol clear gloss. You wouldn't believe how the salt water corrodes the stainless steel. We used Collinite metal wax to go over all of our stainless steel to bring it back to its shiny glory. It took lots of rags and a couple of toothbrushes to get into all of the little nooks and crannies.
We have met many nice people that have there boats in slips next to us. Some we knew from the Bahamas. There are about 6 couples staying here that we met in the Exumas. A few of them have homes nearby.
We rented a car and drove up to Hampton to pick up our Expedition. It is good to have ground transportation. We have gone around the city of New Bern and are learning where things are, especially the good restaurants. Eventually we will travel out a little further. Next week we plan on going up to Raleigh. It is about a two hour drive from here.
We have several more boat projects to do and we need some more spare parts for the next cruising season so we will be working on that stuff. There is always something to do on the boat.
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