December 2007

December 26^th, 2007 Christmas in the Islands. What an experience. We started out the holidays by trimming our boat in its normal Christmas attire.

Sorry for the blurry picture, but its hard to get a night shot of a moving target.

We then took a day off from volunteer work at the Park and drove the dinghy around to each boat in the anchorage delivering a Christmas plate of fresh Nancy-baked cookies, almond roca and fudge. After that was done we did a little sightseeing of the Island. We went across a swamp to climb Boo Boo Hill. The top of the hill is filled with driftwood on which cruisers have carved or painted their vessel name and year. We also found out that we had cell phone reception from the top of the hill if we stood on this one rock about 6 inches higher that the hill. Don't know why that worked but step off the rock and no cell phone reception. Spooky. Next to the hill are a couple of blow holes. Now, we are accustomed to the blow hole in Hawaii where ocean water comes screaming out of it. We searched for such a hole and never found it. Then Nancy made a discovery. As she leaned over two holes in the cliff to look down, a tremendous sound of a locomotive came from the holes followed by a very forceful blast of air. The blow holes.

The next day, Christmas, we opened our packages from Santa and then Nancy started cooking her dish to add to the potluck dinner. She made a huge scalloped potato dish. With our potatoes fresh out of the oven, we dinghied to shore . We were one of the first ones there so we picked our spot at a picnic table and set up our dishes on the serving table. Along with the potatoes, we brought olives, pickles and salt and pepper grinders. The park ranger had moved a tent in to use for the buffet line. It was a great spread - turkey, ham, dressing, vegetables, and fresh yeast rolls.

The other side of the tent had another table filled with deserts. The Park Administrator asked Nancy to say the Christmas dinner prayer and then the crowd settled on the beach with their plates full. What a feast!

I was up at the office porch later and was astonished at the number of boats that had come in.

In this picture, you can see a whale skeleton next to the tent. It died in 1995 after swallowing a plastic garbage bag. Sad that some people will throw anything overboard. The hill in the background of the picture is Boo Boo Hill. After dinner we hiked back across the swamp and up Boo Boo Hill to make Christmas telephone calls to our families. It was a real treat to talk to everyone from such a remote spot in the world.

So went our Christmas.

Today we hiked almost around the whole Island carrying binoculars, a camera, and bird identification cards as we participated in the the annual National Audubon Society Christmas bird count. Plum tuckered Nancy out. Sure helped us learn some the the native wildlife. Along the way we found ruins of a settlement built by Loyalists whom came here in 1780. The Davis family built a Plantation and attempted to farm here but never succeeded.

When we got back to the boat to rest, I was in the cockpit and looked at the ocean floor, 20 feet below us. What clear water.

We will stay here for a while longer helping the Park Rangers get some of the needed tasks accomplished. The Park operates on a small budget and relies on volunteers to help out.

December 23^rd, 2007 We left Nassau and headed to Highborne Cay, the northernmost inhabited island in the Exumas. The next morning we took the dinghy over to Allen Cay for a visit with the Islands' only Giant Iguanas. They are present on only two cays in the Bahamas and we visited both.

The Iguanas were quite delightful and would come down to the beach to investigate us (looking for food). If they did not get food, they would bite your ankles. A little cute in their own way.

Next we went to Shroud Cay. The interesting thing about this place is that it has a natural freshwater well that was used by the old sailing ships to replenish.

We hiked into the interior of the island and found the well and of course Nancy had to taste . So bucket in hand she dipped in to sample the cool refreshing water. We were the only ones at anchor.

What a treat! Shroud Cay is part of the Exuma Land and Sea Park and we were visited by the local ranger and guess what?? Larry is from Enid, Oklahoma. It is such a small world. In fact, there were even more Oklahomans in the park. The following day, we ran into Steve and Kate Smith who used to keep their boat at Cedar Mills. We invited them for dinner and had a wonderful evening reminiscing about the friends we have in common. (Your ears may have been ringing out there.)

We then pulled anchor and went to Warderick Wells Cay, the home of the Ranger station.

The park is administered by a husband and wife team (Tom and Judy), along with Larry as the assistant warden and 2 defense force guards. Tom and Judy were cruisers from the states who stopped by the park for a visit. They agreed to help the park administrator by watching the place while he was gone for 2 weeks. They are still here, 6 years later. Volunteers recently helped build them a home and some apartments for other park workers.

Because of the short staffing and funding, volunteer workers are encouraged and paid by free use of a mooring ball for the day. So, yesterday, Nancy sorted nuts and bolts in the shop while I helped install a water heater. The work involved in maintaining this beautiful park is just too much for the small staff to handle and we loved helping them out. We haven't even had a chance to snorkel or explore the many trails yet, but we'll have time over the holidays. Tom and Judy are hosting a Christmas party for everyone who is staying in the park. They are smoking a turkey and the rest of us will fill in the menu with side dishes and desserts. What a great place! A view from the office porch.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

December 15^th, 2007 We are in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. Nearly two weeks ago, we left Lucaya headed for the Berry Islands. The passage was smooth and we arrived at Great Harbor in the north end of the Berry's screaming in at over 8 knots. The cruise ships have bought or leased the northernmost two Islands for passenger day stops and two of the ships were anchored out there as we came by. That was the first indication that we were getting close to our destination. We pulled into Great Harbor Bay (its not really a bay) and anchored for the evening. The next day we proceeded down the Island chain and anchored in a a place called Devils-Hoffman.

The weather turned bad while we were there and we moved our anchor back beyond two more little Cays to get smoother seas. Now the sea swells were being blocked but we had a current. That didn't matter, the winds were so strong, the current had little effect on us. I put on my dive gear and dove the anchors only to find out that we were anchored in a wonderful dive spot with fans and corals. The current was so bad I could not swim back to the boat and had to dive back down to the ocean floor and pull myself up the anchor chain to get back to the boat. This is the first time that I dove from our dinghy. It wasn't all that bad, but I did miss having a dive crew to help me get back on a big dive boat with steps. The islands and cays around us were wonderful with 7 white sand beaches - all deserted and all within a short dinghy ride. One of the Islands had a blue hole

so we went into the jungle and followed a trail to it. Nancy had to go swimming in it.

Don't really know how deep it is but blue holes are notoriously deep. The Island also had some ruins on it from sisal farming attempts in the 1800's. So with our machete in hand, we chopped our way through the undergrowth until we finally found the ruins.

Now I know why people say that your machete should be razor sharp.

A few islands away from us is a world famous restaurant, Flo's Conch Bar. We hopped in the dinghies and went there. We read that we would know the place when we saw the welcome sign.

The water is very shallow here and our outboard propeller did a little digging as we went in. The food was great and a good time was had by all.

To order food, a radio call must be made to Flo's on VHF channel 68 about 3 hours before arrival to dine. When we called and said that we were coming she asked what we wanted. We ask her what she had. Her answer was "Lobster, Conch and Fish". Actually the menu includes; Lobster, Fish, Conch, Hamburger, Hot Dogs and a few other things. She will also bake fresh bread for you if you call her in the morning.

The Berry islands are mostly ignored by cruisers since they want to "keep going south" so it was nice to have the area with only a few boats around us - anchored at other close-by islands. We would talk to each other on VHF and get together when we wanted or have our privacy. We got together one day at the Beach on Devil's Cay for a garbage burning party. It turned out to be a real social event. Bring a picnic and what ever you want to drink (as well as your trash) and make a afternoon of it. Walking the beach and shell hunting is the biggest sport around.

We had planned on staying at the Berry's until after Christmas but decided to move on. One of the reasons was that we were tired of trying to anchor where the holding was not that great. Where there is sand to anchor in, there is surge. Outside of surge there is grass. We put two anchors down, our CQR and a Fortress. We still didn't trust the anchors as the sand and grass was a hard pack and nothing would really dig in. Jay used a Bruce and only one ear on the side was embedded in the hard sand. The anchors would never really set and because of that we had a loose anchor watch most of the evenings. The GPS chart plotter was kept on 100 percent of the time just to verify position and let us know that we were not dragging anchor.

So it was off to Nassau. We had to wait a few days for a good weather window. We got a one day window and we took off. The ocean waves were still high from the previous days' storms and winds, but the winds had changed in our favor so that we had wind driven waves on top of swells coming from another direction. It was like being in a washing machine on the agitate cycle. We had thought that we were sea worthy with everything we had already been through but we had locker doors open that had never opened before - spilling Food and supplies all over the place. We have now purchased positive locks for all of our cabinets and I will put them on tomorrow. Magnet locks, friction locks, etc. would not hold.

When we arrived here in Nassau, we where greeted by the cruise ship factory.

They sat in the middle of the harbor waiting to board their passengers. Nassau Harbor is notorious for strong current and poor holding, so instead of trying to anchor, we got a slip at one of the marinas. That night we had dinner with Jay, Di, Dennis and Lisa at the Poop Deck, a gathering place for sailors. We had talked to Dennis and Lisa on VHF radio in the Berry's but had never met them until now.

On Monday we take off again. Not sure where, but it will be south, away from the influence of the cold fronts.

Boat stuff: Our battery switch had failed; it smoked right up. Don't know why or when it happened - maybe the lightning strike we had when we first got the boat helped it along. I had a spare battery on-off switch on board and used it until I was able to replace it with the proper one when we got here.

I had noticed a small water leak on the engine and thought it was loose hose clamps and tightened them up. Nope, more water showed up and our bilge was filling up. Closer look. Engine exhaust elbow is cracked and pitted. Not a Yanmar dealer close by so I am trying Marine-tex to repair it. Tomorrow will be the test when I start the engine and see if there is still water coming out.

So it goes.

December 5^th, 2007 Before we left Fort Lauderdale, Ladd and Capt. Brenda took us onboard "Rubicon" for a boat trip of the canals. What a great way to see the city and homes.

Later we had Pizza in our cockpit.

The next day we finished some things on the boat and had dinner with Jose and Char at their home across the canal from our boat. A great dinner was prepared by Jose and Char. We then saw pictures of their sailing trips to the Bahamas, Jamaica and San Blas Islands (all places we want to go). What interesting places.

The next late afternoon, Jose helped us cast off and down the canal we went to get some gas. We had just finished fueling when the last bridge of our trip opened. Out into the Atlantic we went, a little early, about two hours early from out planned departure. Because of that, we made a very slow trip across to the Islands. We did not want to arrive in the dark and try to find the narrow channel into the marina at Lucaya. The crossing was a little rough at the beginning, 6 to 7 foot abeam seas. As the sun set, the sea starting calming down and when we entered the "Gulf Stream", we didn't know it. All we could go by were the distances we had traveled and knowledge of where the "Gulf Stream" was. The sea kept calming and the night passage was getting a little boring. Nancy made me chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, for a late night dinner with chocolate chip cookies for dessert. That helped things go by.

We have a set schedule now for night passages. I stay at the helm until midnight and then we start 3 hour shifts. Now what really happens is that if I feel tired, Nancy will take the helm for about 90 minutes and then she sleeps for a couple hours and takes the helm again while I sleep for a couple of hours. We have decided that whoever gets tired, needs to nap. And so it goes. It was a very dark night with the moon rising close to 4:00 am. The stars were so bright that it was hard to pick out Orion because of all the star clutter. Sunrise was a blessing.

We had slowed to about 3 knots about this time and now I could increase speed for the last 20 miles. We finally got into the marina about 10:00 am and check in with customs and immigrations. Before we checked in, we had to raise the the quarantine flag before coming into land.

That's the little yellow flag above me. After we check in we then raise the flag of the country that we are in as a courtesy.

That's the little flag part way up the mast.

We will stay here for a couple of days and then go to the Berry Islands to spend Christmas there.

We will be going to islands without internet and it will be weeks before we get back to it. In the mean time: Emails will be through ham radio. The address is wb0rvx@winlink.org. The number 0 must be used after the wb. It is not a OH. The wb0rvx is my amateur radio call sign that I have held for about 40 years. Because I will be using a ham radio, the amount allowed to be downloaded is very limited. It is for text only. No pictures, jokes, forwards, ads or anything other than text letters. We love hearing from everyone and I hope you will send letters to us.. It just is limited to text only. More about ham radio. On our home page of the web site is a link that says "Where is Solitaire". That is now working and you can click on it and see our position anyplace on this earth indicated by a blue balloon. Our past places will also be indicated by a green balloon. If you click on the balloon a message box will pop up and give our latitude and longitude along with a brief message. Since I will not be able to update our web page but every month or so, I will post a short message in the information box on the balloon. Sometimes it will be hard to get the ham radio to work. I need to connect with certain ham stations that can receive the message that I send using PACTOR. There are a limited number of these stations that are available and because of sun spots and lack of magic, I may not be able to connect to them using my low power transmitter (150 watts). Just be patient as I will get through sooner or later. I used a ham station in Virginia yesterday, a ham in Panama the day before and a ham on some island in the Caribbean before that. That's how conditions change.

About other radios, coming into Lucaya and talking on the VHF Marine radio, was the first time since we left Norfolk that I used high power.

All for now.

December 2^nd, 2007 We are now in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. What a great trip here. Some thoughts. We now have traveled from Maine to Florida (half of that twice) and covered over 2300 miles since leaving Deale, Maryland on July 14th, 2007. We have boated through rivers, marshes, sounds, bays, canals, and of course, the ocean. We have made night outside passages; gone through New York harbor at night; and seen harbor seals, dolphins, whales, snakes and other things we couldn't identify. We have toured through the history of America and seen many grand and sacred places. Visited with friends, met new ones and shared a few glasses of wine. What an opportunity we have had. What an adventure it has been.

We hope to continue this adventure on Wednesday by crossing the Gulf Stream and heading to the Bahamas. We are waiting for the winds to change from the north to the south so the stream is a little nicer to cross. Wednesday looks like west winds which will actually flatten the stream and give us about 2 foot seas. We will leave here in the late afternoon and make a night crossing to Lucaya (next to Freeport).

Our trip here was another story in itself. We left Daytona Beach last Monday and went to Cocoa Beach. We had a real good easy in and easy out anchorage. From there we went to Vero Beach and shared a mooring ball with Jay and Di.

(Don't I have another picture just like that one??) Jay had his dinghy down so he acted as taxi driver for us as we registered at the marina and later for a cruiser gathering.

Of course food is involved. After appetizers, Di treated us to a wonderful shrimp pasta dinner. We then left Jay and Di at Fort Pierce as they went one way and we another. We continued down to Lake Worth and anchored in a wonderful bay.

We had rain that night but we were well protected from wave buildup. Slept like a baby.

The next morning we left for Fort Lauderdale and had 22 bridges we had to have open up for us. Most the the bridges were restricted to opening only at certain times and a few were on demand. All bridges in Florida use channel 9 on the radio and because of that, the bridge tenders knew we were coming and joined in on a little game with us. The on demand bridges would ask us our over the water speed and then open just as we approached and we would go through under full power. They then would tell us the time for the next restricted bridge and tell us the speed we would have to maintain until we got there. They normally don't give that type of service but they all knew we were headed south and had to hit the restricted bridges just right. I told each of them that they could take the rest of the day off. Great folks. Because of bridge tenders' help, we arrived about 1 hour early even though we had to wait for 2 broken bridges to manually open up. The homes along the waterway down here are some of the nicest in the U.S.. I wonder how that many people get that much money because these homes go on for miles and miles and miles and miles.

Jose and Char welcomed us with open arms and helped us raft up alongside their boat at their dock on one of the canals. After we settled in Ladd and Brenda came over and the visiting started in earnest. We went out to dinner with the crew and Ladd's mother (Mimi).

and then visited some more and the next day went out to eat again but this time we were joined by Mary and Pete.

Mary and Pete were in town just for a short period of time to sign the papers on the 53 foot sailboat they had just sold. A trawler might be in their future. Last night we had another get together at the boat, followed by dinner at yet another favorite local hangout.

With transportation and local knowledge provided by Jose and Char and Brenda and Ladd, we are getting some last minute items purchased and are making Solitaire shipshape for leaving the country. Not sure what we have done to deserve such great friends.