Crossing Over

Well, we’ve done it.  Although Rob has encountered the Gulf Stream repeatedly, yesterday was my first experience.  Our small but capable crew of three boats got up before the sun and prepared for our trip “over”.  Engines started at 6:30, moorings dropped at 6:45 and the three boats – Nautilus, Long Gone and Moonshadow – were on our way.

The sun rose ahead of us as we left Dinner Key mooring field and we crossed Biscayne Bay heading out the Stiltsville cut and into a calm ocean.  Planning one of these journeys can be more eventful than the crossing itself if you pick the right day.  We have been watching weather for over a week searching for just the right conditions – wind WITH the gulf stream current and blowing under 15 knots. 

The wind was east southeast, just off our bow almost the entire way but we managed to keep some sail up the whole day.  We made repeated attempts to put up more or different sail configurations but were happy enough to have a smooth ride and motor sailed across the approximate 45 miles of 2.5 – 3 knot northerly current.

The clear but colder water of the Florida coast goes from 20 feet deep but drops over about 5 miles to over 2500 feet deep, turning a warm and beautiful cobalt blue.  The waves never got over 3-4 feet and we had a good ride.  As you arrive in the Bahamas, the water doesn’t get shallow until right on the coast – less than 2 miles out the water jumps from 2800’ to about 700’ and then waits until you’re right onshore to jump to 110’ and then about 12’ of crystal clear baby blue perfection!!!  Unfortunately, keeping a 36,000 pound vessel off of the shifting sands meant no thoughts were on picture taking!

The inlet was tight and the currents were running out and strong but we made our way through just fine and, following our two leaders, made our way to our slip in Blue Water marina with the help of JR, the most friendly and capable dock hand we’ve experienced to date!  After a quick and perfect tie up in our slip, I told JR this was my first time here.  His response “And you now have a friend in the Bahamas” with a big smile and a handshake.

The deal upon entering a country’s waters is to raise a yellow quarantine flag signaling you need to still clear customs.  This was done and the boys got cleaned up and headed to the immigration office to do just that.  Upon their return, the quarantine flag was replaced with the Bahamian flag and we were ceremoniously presented with our first Kalik Bahamian beer!

After a rousing sundowner with our three boats and Tom and Jean aboard Amadon Lights (who we met in Lake Sylvia) we took a welcome hot shower at the marina, had a quick bite and within a short time fell into bed ready to see the beaches and meet the people of Alice Town in the morning.  Bimini bread, anyone?!

Happy New Year!

First off, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  We hope this finds you all happy and well and having adequately celebrated 2012 and heralded in 2013 in style!

We have had a great few days (is it really five?!) here in Coconut Grove.  Once again, we reconnected with several cruisers from anchorages past and made some news friends as well.  Rob and Lidia (reminder . . . Rob's college buddy and his wife) came down the 2nd day after we had time to get re-situated, the laundry done and other chores out of the way.

As the old saying goes - Make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver and the other gold.  That little saying just covers it all.  We have such fun from port to port enjoying all of our new relationships, but there's something about "old" friends that just can't be matched.  We spent the last few days with the Clooses just acting like normal people.  Rob and Lidia had a room at the Residence Inn with a nice little kitchen and living area.  We practically moved in, cooking meals there and otherwise "hanging around" - everything but sleeping.  We certainly enjoyed sitting on the sofa, taking long hot showers and not thinking about how much power we were using every time we turned on a switch!  Funny how quickly you forget the simple comforts of the "normal" way of living!

The four of us took advantage of some fun to be had here in Coconut Grove when they held the 30th annual King Mango Strut, a satirical parade through the downtown area.  The streets were blocked off and the locals put a lot of energy into recapping the year's top social and political fiascoes.  We saw General Petraeus, some global warming quips, a little election spoofing, of course some Castro humor and more.  The town gets into the spirit as much as the parade participants and a good time was had by all.

Last night, we enjoyed bringing in 2013 together and Rob and I headed out in the dinghy back to the boat around 1am - with the wind kicking salt spray into our newly showered faces, welcoming us back to OUR new normal.  Rob and Lidia brought the marina shuttle out to the boat this afternoon and we had hoppin' john (the southern New Year's requirement) with Chuck and Stuart (Stuart's a woman, fyi) aboard Long Gone and Rick aboard Nautilus both who we will be crossing with tomorrow.  I even baked a carrot cake from scratch this afternoon to celebrate Cloos's 60th birthday tomorrow - we didn't go hungry!

We said our goodbyes to Rob and Lidia and they headed back on the 4:00 shuttle after which the rest of us put into place the final plans for tomorrow's trek across the gulf stream to Bimini.  Both other boats have crossed before and we're all glad to have company for the journey.  The weather's looking pretty tame and we're not expecting much drama which I, in particular, am very happy to report!

We're certainly starting our new year with a bang!  My camera's charged up and ready to snap my first clear water pictures tomorrow and I'm hoping for lots of great experiences to report in our journey ahead.   Happy NEW Year!

Moving Reunions

Well, we're out of Fort Lauderdale!  We tied up loose ends on the 26th and waited for Rob's college buddy (another Rob, aka Cloos) and his wife, Lidia, to arrive in Lauderdale for a visit.  We had waited around a bit as their arrival had been delayed by a week but we did connect that evening and had a great reunion at the Bahia Cabana bar and grill just off our anchorage.

That afternoon, before connecting with Cloos, we noticed a boat in the anchorage we thought we recognized.  It was Rich and Anna aboard Snow Goose who we met in Marathon last year.  This sailing community give the "small world" concept new meaning.   We made up for lost time sharing a sundowner toast before heading to the restaurant for our meet up.

It's so fun to have visitors during this adventure.  Finding ways to connect in strange locations makes for even more excitement when it actually works.   Rob and Lidia live in India so this required even more planning and maneuvering than normal.  And then in the midst of it all, you have chance reunions completely by surprise.

Early the next morning we left the anchorage with Rick on Nautilus, our traveling partner of late and Snow Goose after they decided to join us in No Name harbor as a next stop.  We had a nice run of it offshore without a lot of wind but without discomfort as well.  5 hours after our departure, we were happily anchored in No Name Harbor with the sun shining.

Justin from Fort Lauderdale met us there as well and surprised us with having his mother and companion onboard as well.  After 3 years of enjoying Justin's company, it was fun meeting his family.  Also in the anchorage were Jim and Irene aboard Escapaid who we sailed from West Palm with and spent time with in Fort Lauderdale.  So now we had five boats we new in one anchorage - almost entirely unplanned!


The biggest surprise was yet to come, however.  We dinghied over to Justin's boat to meet the family and realized the boat tied up just next to him we had met in Boca Chita last year on our way home!  We were all standing there getting reacquainted when Kelly Hood and family from Charleston appeared!  I wrote about Jeff and Kelly bringing their kids aboard last week before grabbing a charter with their kids for the holiday.  You can imagine how surprised I was when they showed up on the dock!

So in the little harbor of No Name, we knew just about everyone there before the power boats started arriving for the sunset.  Jeff and Kelly had to head out as their flight back to Charleston was the next morning in Miami but the rest of us planned an impromptu pot luck and made a celebration out of the evening, comparing notes of everyone's cruising plans for the season.

After great food (cruisers are really great at sharing food!) and even better company, we once again marveled at how unique this experience continues to be.   The next morning Escapaid made their crossing to the Bahamas, Justin and family headed back north to Lauderdale and Snow Goose, Nautilus and us moved across the bay to Coconut Grove.

The change of atmosphere and attitude in Coconut Grove is so refreshing.  After the negativity extended to cruisers in Fort Lauderdale, the community here is totally welcoming.  We're having a great time with Rob and Lidia who have come here for a few days as well as our fellow cruisers as we get ready to cross to the Bahamas in the next few days.

Keep your eyes open, the big crossing is due to happen on the 1st or 2nd as we join 3 or 4 other boats across the stream to Bimini.   The big moment is close at hand!

Christmas Afloat

Hello, my name is Laurie and I'm a Christmas-aholic.  I have been nuts over Christmas from the beginning of my memory.  In my land life, the routine included baking Christmas cookies.  This ritual began every year on my birthday in early October when I would pull out my books, choose my recipes for the year, organize my shopping list and get to work.  The finished project produced in the neighborhood of 10-20 dozen of 25 types of cookies that I boxed, plated, bagged and shared.  Yup, I love Christmas.

So being away from my family and friends (even in sunshine and palm trees) has really been the greatest challenge of this cruising life for me.  With the problem we had retrieving packages from home, Christmas has been harder than ever although each piece of mail received was that much more of a thrill!  Poor Rob has to endure my melancholy while I struggle with my addiction.  So he wasn't really surprised when I bought the box of candy canes on Christmas eve and we started "cane" deliveries around the anchorage with invitations to a "dinghy raft-up" Christmas day.  We stopped at near 25 boats in Lake Sylvia most of whom were "onboard" (that's a pun . . . ). 

While we were making our invitations, we were invited aboard a couple of boats for "an adult beverage".  We spent the rest of the evening getting to know new friends on two boats - BOTH of which I've forgotten the name of!  We had Swiss cookies with gin and tonics with Deider, Karen, Gabrielle and Dale and then had a great time with Cal and Marti who had brought both of their fathers (Cal, Sr and Irv) with them from West Palm for a Christmas Eve escape aboard their catamaran.  Marti and I hit it off immediately finding many things we had in common and Rob enjoyed the company of the three men. 

We told Marti of our plan to attend the 11pm carol service at a nearby church and she jumped on the chance to join us.  So we picked up her and Talulah, her purse hidden toy maltese pup in the dinghy at 10:30 and motored down the creek to the Church by the Sea.  We all found it funny to have to jump a secure fence to go to church!  We did have a nice time and appreciated the quiet and coziness of the candlelight service.

Christmas day dawned clear and calm with a 7:00 o'clock phone call from our new friend Rick saying breakfast was ready!  After a gracious albeit early feast, we came back to Moonshadow to attend to Christmas revelry.  Phone calls from both of our boys, our moms, siblings and best friends took much of the day and we prepared for our floating party.

Rick brought his trusty bruce "anchor-lette" and the two of us floated mid-anchorage wondering if we had a solo celebration on our hands.  About 15 minutes later, other folks started to dinghy over and before we knew it, we had 8 boats and 16 people!  Our crowd included Australian, Swiss, German, Austrian, Russian and we believe a Brit - amazing diversity for such a small group!  Oh - and here's my new talent . . . Rick (solo sailor), Rob, Jeff, Jeff Jr, Katherine, Luida, Gabrielle, Dale, Cindy (a solo sailor), Deider, Karen, John, Brenda, Julie, Terry, and Me!  I can remember names!  We shared snacks and stories for the next several hours before the clouds drifted in along with a building breeze and we all headed back to our floating abodes.

Our day ended with a feast of the remaining lobster gifted to us in St. Augustine.  Rick joined us for two massive tails with sauteed asparagus and wild rice pilaf.  We finished with a freshly baked key lime tart.  Quite a fitting, floating feast.

Rob and I  hope you all had a cozy and joyous holiday.  

Not all Fun and Games

 Ah, the sailing life!  And you are all thinking Rob and Laurie are out in the sunshine with the gentle breezes blowing.  We've gotten "away from it all" and are in some kind of blissful euphoria . . . all I've got to say is . . . HA!  Rob has exclaimed repeatedly in the past couple days "Cruising is HARD work!".

Yesterday was a good example.  The winds shifted overnight welcoming a new cold front with strong winds clocking from South to Southwest and around to the North.  The gusts were giving us a run for our money; our anchor had dragged and we woke up almost kissing a boat lift of a nearby property.  No problem, time to reset the anchor, right?

Well, that would have been much easier if we hadn't spent the last three days figuring out why our starter was blowing 200amp circuits (and, yes, I'm learning about electricity and just about every other boat function).  With the concrete pilings only feet away from our stern, Rob decided it was time to pull out the spare starter.

Earlier this week, the existing starter (55 pounds of it) had been hauled out of the engine compartment and WALKED the 1.5 miles to the repair shop.  We were told it was working fine without any load and we should look at the remaining elements of the system.  After more testing and failing, we realized that it WASN'T working under load!

So in the midst of a continually approaching dock and gusting winds, Rob lugged our 55 pound spare starter in and out of the engine compartment and bypassed the fuse just in case.  Of course another project Rob had done amending a fuel filter meant that the pump wasn't primed and we had quite the time of getting a start from our old girl - but after repeated priming tries, start she did!

Then came the saga.  The winds were at about 25knots in the anchorage and boats were shifting around like they were sailing.  We headed for our anticipated next anchor spot, dropped the anchor and swiftly floated backward without getting any hold . . . REDO!    We tried again.  No luck.  We tried another spot - between the shifty winds and the precarious bottom, we just couldn't get a hold!  We made several passes and 8 attempts at anchoring when we finally sat exhausted in our new spot.

Add to all of the simple physical element the emotional trauma and embarrassment of circling the anchorage and you have the REAL romance of the cruising life!  Of course, if this is what the entire experience was like, noone would stay at it very long but we count on the days of blue water and warm breezes to wash away these "not so romantic" days!

Despite the challenges, the week has brought visitors from home (SO fun to have you aboard, Hood Family!)  Today we went around town from post office (Tameka is THE BEST!) to UPS pick up center (more great staff here!) gathering the much anticipated Christmas gifts arriving and enjoyed the spirit of the REAL people of Fort Lauderdale.  We enjoyed a lively 45 minute bus ride and a Christmas carol singing customer at the post office.  Plans for Christmas day are being put in place and we toured Christmas lights along the river with several other cruising couples this evening.

Yesterday is almost already forgotten - and THAT'S cruising!

Test, Test, one two three . . .

I'm hoping we're back in business!  After much surfing of the google ocean, I believe I've found where my picture problem arose.  Now, with a monthly fee firmly in place (who woulda guessed?!), I believe we're ON . . .

It's funny, but technology sure does have it's price.  On top of a week of trying to sort through the self help menus of google (there is no other help besides SELF on google!) and hopefully repairing the photo storage, we both now have new fancy "smart" phones that we're trying to get used to.  I swore we wouldn't join that whole movement but I must say that we both secretly coveted people checking their email from anywhere.  Along with that, the apps available for sailors on these devices as well as the ability to have internet access without carting a computer around on a dinghy, made the choice a little easier.  Oh - and I didn't mention the ability to convert these internationally to boot.

So if you're trying to reach us and get an email with dozens of misspellings (the keyboard is definitely taking some getting used to!) OR we drop your call (do you ever figure out these buttons and push the right one?!) - please don't think we're in a state of perpetual "sea fever"!  It's the over 50 learning curve at work!

Let's see how my new memory is working.  Here are a few photos from our recent adventures and camera experimentations . . .

Time is Flying!

It's Saturday night.  We've been a long way since my post on Monday.  I could swear I posted since then but that's just my wishful imagination.  How does this happen anyway?!

Regardless, it's been a busy and eventful week although without a lot to really report on.  We had a great ride down the intracoastal waterway on Tuesday and Wednesday.  With our enclosed cockpit and the calmer waters of the ICW, it was pretty easy going both days.  The first night we stopped in Fort Pierce at a different anchorage than we were at in the spring.  We traveled with a friend we made in Melbourne, Rick, who owns a CSY 44 like ours but it's decked out with all kinds of amazing systems and gadgets - ah, a single guy on a boat!

We anchored safely and securely right next to a THIRD CSY 44!  We put the dinghy down and went for a row around the anchorage.  It's always fun to see how quickly you make friends when you're making your way in a dinghy.  A couple we met ended up coming back to Moonshadow with us as did Rick and we all had a glass of wine and dinner aboard.  More entries in the address book!

Wednesday was again uneventful as we motored the ICW once again heading for a destination of West Palm and Lake Worth.  Rick pulled off in St. Lucie to visit his son and family for Christmas and we continued our ICW trek through the building number of bridges along the way.  It was interesting to see the dynamics of the bridge operators.  Some were gracious and fun while others seemed to have some kind of power "trip".   Oh well, so it goes!  We definitely got good at maneuvering our approaches!

In making our way on Wednesday, we started up a conversation on the VHF with a nearby boat and were friends by the end of the day.  We both anchored together just outside of the Lake Worth Inlet and shared a sundown cocktail hour, getting to know each other.  Plans were made to sail outside the following morning and we shared our secret of the Lake Sylvia anchorage in Fort Lauderdale where we all ended up on Thursday eve.

Thursday dawned without a huge forecast contradiction and we did head offshore.  It started out as a beautiful day and we put up all the sails and were making a comfortable 5 knots until the clouds rolled in with an unpredicted front and we started the motor, took down most of the sail and closed up the cockpit for the rain.  No matter, we made decent time and were anchored in Lake Sylvia, our favorite little spot here, by 3:30 that afternoon.

Since then we've been enjoying the company of the folks in the anchorage as well as Justin, our friend of several years who brought his boat here for the weekend.  We've been to West Marine and of course the Southport Raw Bar and we're enjoying meeting our neighbors in the anchorage.  We're doing a few projects getting ready for the next leg - the big one - of crossing the gulf stream and entering the Bahamas.  Rob's double checking all systems while I'm recording all of our provisions and making lists of any last minute additions needed.

Tonight we were treated to the Fort Lauderdale Winterfest boat parade.  It lasted over 2 hours and was quite spectacular.  Seven dinghies from our anchorage rafted up on a couple anchors and enjoyed the show of the stream of mega-yachts all dressed up for the holidays.  The diversity was pretty amazing - everything from a few lights on the rails to the EXTREME.  Some had huge sound systems, bands and lighting that had to take several generators to keep lit!  It was a fun night leaving us with that Christmas glow.

I'm really sorry about the picture situation right now.  Today I've got one broken camera, a new phone with nice camera being charged, my favorite CANON's battery is dead and my photo memory on the blog is full.  I can't find anywhere how to upgrade my photo allowance in several days of trying so I'm as frustrated as you but promise that pics are soon to come.  I miss them myself!  Great opportunity to be in touch to give me some clues if you've got any ideas . . .