Winter Storm in Bahamas!

The local Bahamians are cold!  We are currently in Bimini held up by the winter storm that has hit the East Coast US and reached down to Miami and the Bahamas!

We are safely tied up at a dock in Bimini, but the seas in the ocean just outside the entrance and the winds have been pretty wild the last couple of days.  We monitored winds well into the 30+ knots last night, adn temperatures are down in the 60s.  Brrr - its time to get south, but we are watching the weather closely for a window to leave -   possibly tomorrow afternoon/evening - but we will see.  That may not be long enough to let the angry seas subside.  So its time to just be a bit patient!  I finally got photos to upload - but a photo of the ocean just never does it justice!

I am struggling with "slow internet" and photos will not load to the blog.......but if I remember, I will go back and add photos when they will download. All is well - just cold and windy!

More later!

Happy New Year from Bimini, Bahamas - 2018

Yes, we have made it to Bimini in the Bahamas.  We arrived December 30, just in time for NYE.  A quick recap from where we left off, then a little about Bimini.  I think we were in Naples, FL at the end of my last post.  From Naples, we went to Marco island, staying at the Yacht Club (another free night and another plug for joining a FCYC yacht club).

The Crew at Marco island YC

From Marco, our next stop was a big more challenging.  We were headed for Marathon so that we could cut off Key West, but this was a bit far for a day sail.  Also, crossing Florida Bay, we wanted daylight due to the crab pots, shallow water, and unknown possible issues from storm damage.  So we elected a stop at Little Shark River in the Everglades NP.

As we got close, we realized we were only seeing mangroves, and we needed to get Salty on shore.  So we went a little farther south, still in daylight to Cape Sable, where we found plenty of beach access. 

Yes, I am sure it was against park rules to take Salty, but oh well - a dog has to go.  We were careful not to disturb anything.......like alligators and freshwater crocs.  While we didn't see any, it was obvious that they were there from some of the tracks we saw on the beach..Cape Sable is a spectacularly unspoiled spot - except for the remnants of crab pots and other fishing debris from the recent storms that have been washed up on the beach.

Victims of Hurricane Irma

After 2 nights at Cape Sable - OK, Larry figured the tides wrong and got stuck!.......after 2 nights, we left and headed for Marathon.  We arrived Marathon, Boot Key on Christmas Eve.  Marathon has done a great job of recovering after the hurricane damage and is back in near full operation.  Great job Boot Key!.  Now, you either love or hate Boot Key.  Yes, its a great cruiser facility and community adn for a couple of days, its a good place to hang and get caught up shopping, provisions, laundry etc.  Then you realize that its a bit like an RV/TRailer Park on the water.  I am  sure others will disagree with me on that, bit its just the way I felt. 

We met some great cruiser folks that were generally heading our way.  An English couple (hi Hatty and Phil) who were on their way to Cuba.  It was sad to see the damage that had been done to many boats.  Most of the sunken boats had been removed, but still many damaged in the mooring field.

We had our Christmas in Boot Key, and it was good to spend time with other cruisers, but we were then ready to be on our way as we saw a slight weather window for a crossing.  Not ideal with winds from the north, but only at 10-15.  We headed north to Rodriguez Key to see if we cold cross.

December 30, 4:30 am, we left Rodriguez Key in the dark.  a little anxious about what the gulf stream would be like with winds from the north.  We had 72 miles to make before dark.  it turned out to be a great crossing.  Big waves, but they were rollers, some definitely up to 10 ft.but spaced far enough apart that we rolled over them for the most part.

Photos never show the magnitude of waves!

With winds on the beam,  we were sailing good making 8- 9 kts for many hours.  As we hit the center of the Gulf Stream, we saw the swells at their greatest - but it was a comfortable and fast ride.  We made Bimini in under 10 hours.

New Year 2018

Dad and Aus!

We had our NYE celebrations in Bimini.  I had been here once before, but it was just an overnight stay.  After exploring the island a little more this time, I actually quite like it here.  The people are friendly and there are some good little bars.  We stayed at Bluewater Marina - at $1 per foot, definitely the best value.  Facility are basic but Bahamian-clean, the docks are in good shape (fixed) and the staff great.  Water is outrageous at $0.75 per gallon - so we are about to break out the water-maker.  For reference, we heard other marinas charge around $3/foot and up to $6/foot at the Hilton Resort World.

NYE was a fun time on the island.  We visited several bars - probably one too many, including the "End of the World Sand Bar". 

A good night was had by all from what I remember.Austin seemed to hit it off with the locals.

Beach at Hilton Resort World

Making our Way South

December 20, 2017

I am going to try to keep the posts about South FL brief as we have been to most of these areas several times in the past and if anyone needs more info, look back on our previous cruises.  We arrived in Naples yesterday after a short motor from Ft. Myers.  First time we had been to Ft. Myers and I must say the place was fair hopping for this time of year.

Santa on the bar at Cabbage Key

So let me back up a bit - its so easy to get out of sync when I don't write every day!  We were last in Venice.  Our route took us from Venice to Charlotte Harobor where we ducked on the inside to find an anchorage for the night.  We were thinking about staying near Cayo Costa and had heard of a great anchorage in Pelican Bay.  I think we could have got in there fine, but one of the boats traveling with un, Navigo, draws 6 ft. and that might be tight.  So we elected to go a little south on the ICW and this turned out to be a great decision.  We dropped the hook at Cabbage Key after consulting with Bob Kriegel on the anchorage location.  It was actually pretty easy to find being just off the ICW channel (east side) near the private channel entrance to Cabbage Key, against Useppa Island.

The Inn at Cabbage Key

 

Anchorage Location

This was our our first time stopping here, despite having passed through this area in 2014.  So if you get to this area on a boat, check it out - a wonderful little spot.  The restaurant was delightful.  Excellent food, excellent service.  We had a shared dish of stone crab claws and shrimp.  Delicious!

The atmosphere in the bar/restaurant was great, with dollar bills on the walls and just a great "Hemingway" feel to the place.  Definitely worth a stop over or even renting a cottage here.  So far, this has been one of our favorite stops.  But onwards, it was just for one night.  Our next stop was Ft. Myers Beach.  We hadn't intended to stop here, but we were searching for an anchorage around Sanibel, and just didn't find much protection, so we headed into Ft. Myers Beach for fuel, water (Diversified Marine) and a look at anchorages.  We ended up in the mooring field ($18), which was quite a good spot.  Took in a quick look at Ft. Myers Beach- definitely set up for the snowbirds, and surprisingly some younger folks - likely as school is out for Christmas.  We did get a great happy hour meal deal  at the Yucatan - $9 for ribs or pot roast - great food and great price.  However, I was concerned that eating so early, Janet's hair may turn purple!!

Salty Sam's - Ft. Myers Beach

Now - we had exceptionally low tides the following morning.  Midnight Sun and TraSea got our despite hitting something on the bottom - suspect it was a foundation to the mooring - ouch!

Navigo had to wait a couple hours for the tide - but that was ok, as we planned a short motor to Naples (no wind), with a 2-night plan for Naples.

Again, taking advantage of our PYC membership and the reciprocal arrangement, we decided on a free night at Naples YC followed by a free night at Naples Yacht and Sailing Center (a short 1/4 mile hop across the channel).  Also, its a laundry day!.....and yes, the YC at the sailing center has laundry facilities.

TraSea motoring to Naples

There are some amazing boats in Naples YC - mainly high dollar stink-pots, but look at this hand-built sailboat!

...........but they do let the "riff-raff" tie up too!

Midnight Sun at Naples YC

Where in the world is Midnight Sun II

Check out our real-time location at:

https://share.garmin.com/Midnightsunii

Drop us a line at ndaviesgeo@me.com

Under Way - Bahamas Bound!

Midnight Sun II and TraSea left Pirates Cove on Saturday, December 9.  As alway, we were not quite ready, but getting off the dock was an important step!.  The tide was very low; we plowed through the mud on the edge of our slip to make it to the channel, but we were off.  A short hop to Ft. McRee to spend the night and rest.  A very big thanks to Shaun and Casey for helping us get loaded, house sitting and offering to clear way the clutter in the garage from the final projects!  Thanks Guys!!  you are the best!

Off the Dock!

Midnight Sun and TraSea passing Pirate's Cove

So, dinner at McRee, and a fairly early start.  We were hoping to catch up to our friends Rick and Julie on Navigo I as they had left the previous Sunday and were holed up in Port St. Joe.

Sunset at McRee

We left Ft. McRee on Sunday morning with a plan to make either Panama City or Port St. Joe.  We sailed and motor sailed some to keep up speed, but based on our progress, we were looking at an early hours arrival in PSJ, so we made the decision to pull in to Panama City.  The day went well and we arrived in PC, after dark, dropping the hook at around 8:30 to 9pm just off the beach at Redfish Point (opposite St. Andrews YC).  Tracy had made an excellent Chilli, and we all had dinner together on TraSea  while pondering the plan for the next day.  We decided on a 6:30 am start, head in at PSJ, going up the canal to the ICW at White City, then motoring on to Apalachicola.  This is exactly what we did, making Apalach just before dark - wow....I even told Larry to slow down as we never seem to arrive anywhere in daylight!

We love Apalachicola, and it was busy with boaters.  We caught up with Navigo - they had taken a slip in Scipio Creek.  As for us - all marinas that could take us were full - its "Looper Season".  We had dinner at "Up the Creek" which turned out to be not only a great choice but about the only choice as it was Monday and many places are closed.  The great thing was that Salty could dine with us.  We later visited the old Bowery - which is now the Ice Company.  Again - dog friendly, and Salty was a hit!

Tuesday Dec 12

We left Apalachicola late morning and decided to head over to Dog Island.  We were on the tail of a cold front that was moving through so were watching the weather for our crossing of the Big Bend.  Should we leave Tuesday night or wait until Monday?  Hmm...seeing 22-25 kt winds and 6-7 ft seas on the sea buoys in the Gulf helped us make that decision.  By the way, I found that many of the Gulf sea buoys are currently out of action due to hurricane season damage.  It would be a 20-24 hour crossing, so leaving in the morning would give us a morning arrival.  We were convinced.  Midnight Sun and TraSea anchored off the beach at Carabelle rather than Dog Island as the wind was out of the north.  Navigo elected one more night in Apalachicola and an early morning start. 

Anchored just off Carabelle Beach

Leaving at 8 am, we had light winds on the beam.  We pointed directly at Clearwater, and settled in for 22 hours.  We started out motor-sailing, but soon cut the engine as the winds built from 8 to 15...then occasionally touched the low 20s.  We were flying at 7.5 kts.  Not bad with the boat fully loaded down.  Seas were a bit rolly, but not too bad.  TraSea at 47 ft, was flying too, making 8.5 and  touching 9.  She passed us at about the half-way point, but we kept her tricolor in sight for all but the last 8 miles or so.  Navigo was behind us by 10-12 miles.  We were able to maintain hourly radio contact, which just feels assuring on an overnight crossing.

Thursday Dec 14

We pulled on the dock at Clearwater marina at around 7 am.  Poor Salty, had spent the time in the head - this is his "safe harbor" during crossings.  We needed to get him off the boat as he chooses not to eat or go potty on the crossings.  This was his longest so far and I am absolutely sure he was relieved to "go".  We have been trying to get him to go on the deck of the boat - but that's a long story, and so far, no success.  So, with leg's stretched and bladders relieved, we set off again for Pass-A Grille near Tampa Bay.  We stayed at the Tierre Verde Marina - very reasonable at $1/ft, but few amenities.  Still, the purpose of the stop was to get a rental car and, collect our son Austin from the airport and stock up on the things we had forgotten.

Friday Dec 15

Headed out in the Gulf for a relatively short hop to Venice.  We stayed at Venice YC - very nice, great food!  This was a "free night" stay with our PYC membership (reciprocal agreement).  when I say free - we spent anything we would have saved on a very nice meal at the YC restaurant.  Oh well!   Today we are going to do another 30 miles or so down to Charlotte Harbor and anchor.  Slow but sure, we are making our way south.

Now that we are across the "Big Bend" and truly headed south, the weather is starting to warm up, and it feels like we are headed to the Bahamas!

Where in the World is Midnight Sun II?

For a real-time check on our position, click the link below:

https://share.garmin.com/Midnightsunii

Follow us on our journey south - we would love to hear from you!

ndaviesgeo@me.com 

Bon Voyage - Pensacola Yacht Club

Today we held an impromptu Bon Voyage Party at PYC for all the sailors heading out this week towards the Bahamas.  PYC Boats are:

• Midnight Sun II - Neil, Janet and Salty
• TraSea - Larry and Tracy
• Navigo II - Rick and Julie
• Doolittle - Roger and Angela

Other non-PYC boats that we hope to see along the way include:

• The Pearl - our friend Rivers from Pt.YC
• Sea Hawk - new friends Bruce and Chris who we met at PYC today.

New friends Bruce and Chris from S/V Sea Hawk. 
Hunter Riddle (sailmaker) to the right

We would like to thank all of our friends from PYC who came to the party today!.  We had a wonderful time and were just blown away (ugh....and we are leaving on a sailboat) by how many folks came out to wish us well.  Thank you to you all!  It was great to see you and very encouraging.  We hope you will follow along.  Moreover, we hope some of our friends will catch up with us and join us along the way.  We would welcome the crew!

Cuba Award

Returning The Boot

Past Commodore Alan McMillan surprised us with an award for our efforts chairing the second Pensacola to Havana Race (May 2017).  Thank you Commodores McMillan and Jim Reeves.  And while on the subject of awards, our friends Larry and Tracy Cost got the prestigious "Boot" award in the 2016 Isla Mujeres Race.time to return that so that it can be awarded again in the next race (2018).  We will miss all of our friends from PYC and Pt.YC, but hope you will follow along, keep in touch and more importantly come see us along the way!

Captian Brian

Photographer Casey

And of course first mate Salty waiting patiently for left-overs!

our current location:

https://share.garmin.com/Midnightsunii 

Happy Thanksgiving! - Almost Ready to Go!

Just a very quick post here to let you know that the Flotilla has started to assemble and we are near ready to go on our next cruise.  Boats planning to leave together are: Midnight Sun II, TraSea, and Navigo II.  We hope to be joined by Pearl along the way.

We are planning to leave for places south on or around December 3.  We will leave from Pensacola and the plan is to head for south Florida, taking our time with multiple stops along route.  Why?  well Salty will be with us and he likes to get off the boat at least once a day.  We also plan to make use of our reciprocal agreements with Florida Yacht Clubs - yes, that means a free night at each yacht club stop. Definitely a great benefit.

From south Florida, we will cross over to the Bahamas - likely Bimini, and then make our way south through the Exumas.  Form that point on, our plans become less firm as we intend to see what the latest news is regarding the state of the Virgin Islands.  We are looking at two choices depending on what we hear: (i) generally follow the Thorny Path to the Virgin Islands; or (ii) cut around the south coast of Cuba heading for Mexico and Belize.

Stay tuned to watch our progress.  I plan to post brief updates on most legs of the trip, and also update our position with DeLorme.

We wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.  We would love to hear from you is you are reading our posts, so either leave a comment or send us an email at ndaviesgeo@me.com

Flotialla Assembles - Midnight Sun (left), TraSea (right)

In preparation for the trip, I have been busy with multiple projects on Midnight Sun II, including:

• reinforcing dinghy davits, upgrading lifting blocks
• install replacement radar
• service line clutches and winches
• test out all electrical systems
• replace solar controllers and hopefully panels before we leave
• replace engine soundproofing -urgh!!  what a job
• replace cabin fans
• clean out AC Lines.........and the list goes on!

Also, been helping Rivers get the Pearl ready.  My part was installing new stern rails.

Follow our progress on DeLorme Midnight Sun Current Location

See our website: www.midnightsunii.com

What's Happening?

What Have We Been Up To?

Again, I find that several months have passed without me writing anything to the Blog.  Its certainly not because of lack of activity - just life got busy! And while we certainly have been doing some local sailing, the focus of activities has been getting the boat ready to go cruising again in December. 

Now that does not mean we have not had some great sailing fun.  We certainly have - some fun.....some; well let's say a couple of very great learning experiences.  Oh, and let's throw into the mix a 3-week trip to England .  No not sailing, but we did pend a few nights on England's canal system cruising on a long-boat.  58 ft long and only 6 ft wide!  We had a great time. 

Canal Long-boat "King Louis"

The boat was very  comfortable with all the typical boat amenities.  We were on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal between Blackburn and Wigan.  We did maneuver down and back up a set of 6 locks which was a lot of fun.  An of course there were quite a few pubs along the way!

Putting the Crew to work operating Locks

Sailing Fun and Lessons Learned

Back to sailing in the Lost Bay area - well we were visited by Hurricane Nate - our first named hurricane to come through the area since we arrived.  We had prepared both Midnight Sun II and TraSea for storm events before leaving for England.   - Lesson 1 - don't plan an extended trip away during hurricane seasons.  Before leaving, we stripped both boats of canvas and sails (a day's work per boat) and secured them.

Here's Midnight Sun II - stripped naked, and spidered into her slip.  The plan - if we have a storm while we are away, she is ready.  All that's needed is a line across the canal or a kedged anchor to hold her off the dock.

Fortunately - no storms came our way while we were gone.  Phew - a sigh of relief as there had been lots of tropical activity.  Remember, this is right on the heels of Hurricane Harvey hitting Houston.

Next step after returning from our trip - put her back together again right!  Ready for a sail.  Well that's exactly what we did - spent 2 days putting Midnight Sun II and TraSea back together.  Then....uh oh; only two days passed before Hurricane Nate appeared with a direct path towards us.  Crap! - take it all apart again.  Well at least we would be here - for good or for bad.  So we went into hurricane mode.  Boats prepped, house boarded.  Since TraSea normally lives in a marina, and the marina was evacuating we had to anchor her.  We scoped out a local, secret bayou, and set her with 4 anchors, including a 85 lb Mantus, Fortress FX-125 and FX-85 (massive storm anchors), and a Delta.

Here she is looking good at anchor.  Two other boats came into this spot.  One small sailboat did an excellent job of anchoring also.  As for the power boat - well, this is one reason why people get a bad name.  Two dock lines tied together holding the bow to a tree, and an anchor of the back.  The anchor drug before the storm even arrived, so we lashed this potential missile into the trees and hoped we would have an opportunity to to meet the owner upon his return.

Due South - aptly named, although I think the storm would likely have sent it north!  We figured this was an insurance claim waiting to happen.  Amazingly it survived the storm.  The owner did not appear the day after Nate.  The boat started to sink a day later, so we reported it to the local marine police, and then........it disappeared.  Hmmm.....fishy or what?  You decide, and if you know the owner, tell him he owes us for securing his boat.

Fortunately, as storms in the area go, Nate was not a big issue.  The boats, house and everything did well.  Some local flooding with a surge of about 3 ft., but other than getting wet feet on the dock a couple of times, no problem.  Our biggest problem with this storm? - getting the anchors up that we set for TraSea.  Wow - they were in deep but did their job well!

Trip to Galveston

I will try to give the condensed version of this, but is an interesting story to say the least.  First a little background.  My friend Dave has a beautiful sailboat which he recently bought from his father.  It is a 57 ft Bristol Ketch, named S/V Prologue.  Why Prologue? - the start of a new chapter of life....great boat name.  

Anyway, Prologue had been kept in Ft. Lauderdale for some time and Dave lives in Galveston - so time to move the boat.  OK, not a bad trip if you break it up, so Dave asked if I could help with the Gulf crossing.  Absolutely!  she looks like (and is) an amazing boat!.  

What followed can only be described as a series of  unfortunate events......

• Attempt 1 - I plan to help move Prologue from Tampa to Port St. Joe.  But wait, Hurricane Harvey hits Houston and Dave had to take care of his house.  So the first leg is delayed
• Hurricane Irma hits the east coast, and Prologue is still in Tampa.  She makes it through with no issues - phew
• While I am in England Dave and crew move her to Venice, LA
• Hurricane Nate hits - Venice is unprotected and in the direct line of fire,  Dave moves her upriver, and she is fine
• I get a call from Dave "can I help move her from Venice to Galveston"

Sure - she's had her share of bad luck.  Looks like a great downwind weather window.  Off we go.  We leave Venice at midnight on Friday.  Its pretty rough, 6 ft seas;  but this is a 57 ft, 66,000lb boat, should not be a problem.  We then have a series of damn unfortunate events....here's the quick summary:

• Tracy, Dave's girlfriend is miserably sick as soon as we hit the Gulf and for all but the very end of the passage.
• Autopilot would not hold a course for more than a few minutes - damn...handsteering all the way.
• Saturday - we break a Genoa sheet.  not a big deal, except its tied so high, it can't be reached in these seas - but we get by using one sheet
• Sunday - holy crap! we have a little warning but have no choice but to go straight ahead into a cold front.  We thought the winds would last maybe 15-20 minutes.  Two hours later, we are still in 60-70 kt winds and the seas are big.  We motor into it for 2 hours making no headway - in fact slightly backwards despite full power.  The reefed main shreds in 10-15 minutes; the engine quits - drained a fuel tank; we have water in the bilge, now hitting the floorboards; its still blowing 25-30 and the seas have hardly subsided.

We work through each issue one by one.  New bilge pump, repair connection.  Not sure where water is coming from but seems to have stopped (it turned out to be fresh water, probably a broken pipe/connection somewhere).  Engine - fill Racors manually and it fired.  Now let's get back on course.  We pulled the Genoa out and motor sailed,  Main still out but looks like a rag!  

Well  we made it to Galveston.  As you can see, a beautiful boat, but not much left of the mainsail.  This was apparently the original sail (1986).  While the storm certainly finished it off, I suspect this sail was past the end of its life.  So this is about lessons learned right?  Yes, many from this experience.  Although we did fine, and I must say and give great credit to Dave - he was extremely well prepared with spares, tools etc on board.  Still here's what I took away:

• Everyone should "know the boat," before setting off.  Where are the essential system's main components, spares etc.  I personally had not taken enough time to do this.
• Don't under-estimate a wind shift - yes, the weather showed a shift from SE to N, so it likely was a cold front on the way through, but the forecast called for 5-10 from the N.  Little did we know it would hit with such force!....definitely a lesson learned.  Understand what happens when there's going to be a change and the potential for such an event.  While I have the greatest respect for weather.  This only reinforced that.  I had never seen wind like that while on a boat, and I hope I don't see it again.  It was like spending 2 hours in a wind tunnel wondering what might break.  Holding the wheel and battling the waves, trying to keep her headed up.  I should say that Prologue performed amazingly and I never felt unsafe - well maybe when the engine quit and water was at the floorboards, I do remember thinking "what more Lord?", and yes, I do know where the liferaft is.

And in case you are wondering....Tracy recovered, we are still friends, we will sail together again, but Tracy says Prologue is not leaving Galveston Bay for quite some time.  Great people!  I am really hoping they will join us in the Bahamas.

Lost Bay Regatta

Crew - SV TraSea

More fun on the water in the amazing place where we live.  Point YC put on yet another great event, we have the PYC raft up, and I took very few photos.  But we sailed on SV TraSea and brought home a very respectable second in class, under the leadership of Captain Larry.  And yes, it was a costume party that night - we don't normally sail with hippy s!  

Rick Zern on SV Coyote took first in the non-spin class and was as always, amazingly fast!

Crew - SV Coyote

And that's all for now folks!  Back to work on the boat prepping for the next big trip - Bahamas December 2017.