Sailing Arcas

Great Guana Cay to Hope Town

Well, it's Friday, and we're still in the Abacos. We decided to put off our crossing to Eleuthera for a few days due to weather. Tomorrow the ocean waves will likely be high from all the wind we've had this week, and Sunday evening a cold front is supposed to blow through. So we are hoping to cross maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. We were going to pass the next few days at Little Harbor (closest harbor to the passage between the Abacos and Eleuthera), but realized after looking at our guidebooks that there isn't much there. So we are staying in Hope Town, which has a well protected harbor, until the cold front passes.

We intended to sail to Hope Town yesterday, but when we woke up, 1) the holding tank for the head wouldn't empty, 2) the watermaker wasn't working, and 3) the dinghy floor had mysteriously deflated. Taking the time to address all of these problems meant that by the time we'd get to Hope Town, it would be low tide and we would have a difficult time getting into the harbor. Also, I figured that three bad omens were enough of a warning. If we sailed, the boat would probably spontaneously combust or something equally catastrophic.

Fortunately, all of the three issues were fixed reasonably quickly and we had a quiet day. We were at Great Guana Cay, an island which is something like the Panama City Beach of the Bahamas. Its claim to fame is a bar called Nippers on the ocean side that Hill wanted to visit. It's the kind of place where Jimmy Buffet would be right at home. There is great snorkeling right off of the beach, but it was too windy for us to try it.

If Great Guana is Panama City, then Hope Town is somewhere in New England. Like Green Turtle Cay, it too was settled in the 1700s by American colonists loyal to England. It has a candy striped lighthouse and numerous quaint cottages lining the harbor (all of which seem to be for rent).

We've been listening to the Abaco Cruisers Net in the morning (a radio program for sailors with weather, news, and local events) and learned that tomorrow morning the Hope Town Fire and Rescue is doing a demonstration. They asked that all of the boats in the harbor close up their hatches so as not to get smoke inside them. This led to a discussion between me and Hill of whether we should close ourselves in our boat (which could potentially lead to asphixiation?) or if we should exit the boat and go on shore. I think the answer will be determined by what time we wake up.

On Sunday the Hope Town sailing club is having dinghy races open to anyone, so Hill will probably take part. I was ready to join in until Hill told me that only one person can sail each dinghy. I'm not quite ready for that, although I'm sure the spectacle would be entertaining for everyone else.

Hope Town also has some nice snorkeling right off the beach that we are going to sample tomorrow.

P.S. I added another photo album with some pictures from the Abacos.

Moving on from Marsh Harbor.

Hill and I haven't been online much due to the lack of internet in Marsh Harbor. Even though this is the largest town in the Abacos, internet is hard to come by. This morning, Hill and I took the dingy in so that he could try to pick up some parts for our shower, and I was planning to surf the internet for a while at a cafe. However, the coffee shop I planned to visit first (which advertises "free wi-fi") told me that they no longer offer internet to their customers. I then tried Curly Tails, one of the marina restaurants, but their wi-fi was protected and the restaurant didn't open until 11:30. I then walked down to another coffee shop, to learn that they didn't have wi-fi at all. Then I decided "to hell with walking," and I walked back to the Curly Tails to finish my crossword puzzle and type this up to post once they open.

I spoke with my Dad on the phone last night and he asked how the sailing was going. "Well..." I responded, "We haven't been doing much sailing." We flew out to Long Island on the 14th to meet up with Hill's family for a five days at the Cape Santa Maria resport, then flew back to Marsh Harbor late Thursday afternoon. On Friday, we scheduled a scuba dive with Dive Abaco, a shop in Marsh Harbour. (Our second - we also did a dive in Long Island. My scuba certification is paying off!) We went out for the dive on Saturday morning with Keith, the owner of Dive Abaco, and four other people who planned to snorkel. Our first dive was pretty simple, a tour around a reef in the protected Fowl Cay area. It was beautiful, but cold. Even though I had rented a full wetsuit (most people rent shorties), I was full-on shivering by the time we got out of the water. I also learned that my scuba mask doesn't seal well under my nose and when I exhale, the air bubbles go straight into my mask, also letting in water, so that I have to clear my mask every few minutes. Annoying. So I decided to skip the second dive, mostly due to the cold, and instead snorkeled while Hill and Keith dove. Apparently I missed out because Hill said it was an awesome dive - they swam through some caves and also saw a eagle ray and barracuda. Too bad for me.

Yesterday we heard that a cold front was supposed to pass through, so we decided to put off sailing and instead devote a day to the many tasks that still need to be completed on the boat. We went onshore in the morning to provision. Back on the boat, Hill attempted to install our showerhead, only to learn that it wasn't the right size. I reorganized the v-berth and also put the final touches on our sun awning so that we can finally deploy it the next time we are at anchor. (Of course, the cold front never passed through and the weather was beautiful and sunny all day.)

The weather forecast for the rest of the week is winds at 15-20 knots until Friday. From what I can tell, the wind here is either 15-20 or 0. So we are going to head out to Great Guana or Man-O-War Cay today (depending on which direction the wind settles on) and make our way down to Little Harbour by Friday. All of these are short trips, less than 10 miles, so I think it will be a good way for me to get comfortable with the wind. Hill and I are both getting a little antsy (especially Hill). But I'm glad that we took a break. When we returned to the boat, I realized how many things I've done and learned over the first few weeks, and how much I enjoy living on the boat. But Hill and I planned this trip for adventure, not to chill out in Marsh Harbor for six months. We are ready to move on.

Back from Long Island - Great Time and Great Cocktails on the Beach

Just got back at Marsh Harbor following a fun time with the family over at Long Island.

Spent the last two days getting the boat sorted out and cleaned up, and plan on heading down to Hopetown and Man O' War Cay either tomorrow or Tuesday.

Much better weather and our spirits are improving as we get the systems on the boat sorted out. We are also working on our reading and our evening card game.

Went diving yesterday on the reef - Beth's 2nd time. Good times!

Hill's Update on the First Month - Part 3

3) West End to Spanish Key

 After several days exploring West End (well, that took a couple hours), and spending a lot of time keeping warm, we finally identified a good time to head to Great Sale and hence towards the Abacos.

 First stop, transit the reefs that mark the western edge of the Bahamas

. The entry, marked by Memory Rock, clears about 7 feet at high tide in the shallowest point. Visual navigation, combined with the GPS charts (Explorer Charts on the Garmin 476c) helped us slip our way through the shoals. Beautiful morning, probably around 65 or so, but warm enough in the sun.

Cleared the reef, then headed 20 miles to Mangrove Key – an uninhabited island at the north end of Great Bahama to spend the night. Then sailed from there to Great Sale the next day. Well, actually both of these were motored-sailed, as the wind was directly from the East, and we’ve got the blast reach on the jib roller-furler, not the blade jib, which would help us point better.

Got to Great Sale – a u-shaped harbor the next day. Anchored nestled in close to the northwest corner, protected from the W to SE, but open to the southwest. Of course, that night, a major thunderstorm built in the SW, and jammed us up close to the coastline, with breaking waves and just 8 feet indicated under the keel. No sleep that night.

 We spent two days in Great Sale, then headed over to Spanish Cay. Forecast was for 20 building to 25 in the PM, and it was a dead run down to Spanish Cay. We set up for the long run – it was around 40 miles down there, but with that breeze, it should be a quick ride down.

 

Headed out at 7 am, Beth pulling up the anchor, and us raising a double-reefed main and no jib to motor sail around the NW point of the island, before cracking off to rocket down to Spanish Cay. Conditions freshened to 20, building 25 almost immediately, and continued to build after we made the turn to a sustained 30 to 35, with guts to 40. Wave state built as well, to 3 to 5 feet in the protected water, solid whitecaps and occasional breaking waves – just under a full gale. We dropped the main and secured the boom, then, raised 2/3 of the blast reacher on the roller furler. We saw a high of 32 knots over the deck, roughly 40 knots, a high of 9.2 knots surfing down the waves. Sinbad (the Simrad TP32 autopilot) drove the whole time, generally pretty well although the waves were pretty short and choppy. We ended up jibing 10 times or so down the channel. But then, it was cold and gray out.

We did see a porpoise come over to play with the boat. That was pretty much the only civilization we saw until we had to get into the harbor.

Turns out, Spanish Cay harbor, while shown on the chart as having a major breakwater, was largely unprotected from the NW due to the breakwater being under built and having substantial gaps. As we approached the harbor, we had a sustained 30+, and 3 to 5 foot waves in the harbor. On reflection, we should have anchored out, but Beth, by this time, needed to get off the boat and find some peace and quiet.

At that wind speed, Arcas will be difficult to turn through the wind pressure, making her much less maneuverable. That, combined with her light weight made the docking very difficult. But in the end, we nailed it, pulling into a slip, with Beth on the bow to hand the lines to the three helpers.

 

Spanish Cay to Man Jack and Green Turtle

Had a nice sail in 10 – 15 from Spanish Cay to Man Jack Cay. See Beth’s blog for some updates on that leg.

Spend 3 nights in Man-Jack Cay, and then proceeded to Green Turtle, where we anchored for two nights. Finally, we had a lovely sail down through the Whale Cut (open and impassable in some conditions), before heading down to Marsh Harbor

At Marsh Harbor, we flew in to meet my family at Long Island

.

Hill's Update on the First Month - Part 2

2) The Crossing: Lake Worth, FL to West End

After getting on the SSB weather from Chris Parker (http://www.caribwx.com/) (our little SSB http://www.landfallnavigation.com/grundigg5.html receiver was a great investment), we heard on Fri / Saturday that there was a window coming up on Tuesday of the next week. A good weather window for crossing the stream is a non-North wind, and no north wind > 15 knots in the last 48 hours, nor anticipated in the next 24. Probably don’t want an east wind either, as you’ll be beating to the island.

 The forecast called for a SE / S from 10 – 15, with 2 to 4 foot seas.

In preparation for the crossing, we left the Riviera Beach Marina on Monday morning (with great difficulty due to the cross current). Next, we pulled into a dock to fill up. In doing so, I mis-judged the 1.5 knot current, and scared Beth half to death. And, it turns out that it wasn’t the fuel dock anyway. Not a great way to start our adventure…

 

So we left the dock, and headed out for our first sail with the new jib. We raised the main with a double reef in it, and headed out through the channel. The motion of the fully-loaded boat was notably different as we sailed through the 4 to 6 foot swells. More ponderous and slow moving than it had been in

Chicago

– probably not a bad thing for our comfort. Went out for about an hour, tacking several times, then returned around 4 pm to anchor just around the corner from the Lake Worth channel. The plan was to leave in the morning around 2 AM for the 55 mile crossing.

When we anchored, we pulled up the dingy, deflated it and stowed it underneath the settee table and secured the engine on the engine mount.

There were about 6 other boats that were planning on doing the crossing at the same time; we talked with some of them, and they were planning on leaving around 6AM.

After talking over it with Beth, we decided to push our departure back until 5AM, as it would minimize the amount of time we were sailing in the dark, which Beth had never done before. She was pretty nervous about the crossing. Her first offshore passage, the first time we’ve spent the night at anchor on Arcas, and her first time sailing at all in the night. I can’t imagine why she’d be nervous.

Ended up getting up around 4:30 am, pulling up the anchor after making breakfast, and heading out. Conditions in the morning were < 5 knots from the east. Not what was forecast, but good conditions for motoring. Some short 1 – 3 foot chop in the entrance, which reduced our speed to around 4.5 knots as we motored into it. Arcas does not motor particularly well in these conditions, particularly with the racing prop. Hope I don’t regret not getting the max-prop…

Motored for the first 2 hours, and as the sun came up, the wind began to build slowly from the south. 5 building to 10, and we raised the main sail, and removed the two reefs we had put into it the night before. 30 minutes later, we rolled out the jib (really nice 135% high-cut jib from UK Halsey – awesome sail / basically a blast reacher). South wind built to 15 to 20 with moderate chop (for us – which is probably 2 / 3 feet). We were zipping along at around 5.5 to 6.5 knots close reaching on a course of around 135 or so, to compensate for the gulf stream current. Autopilot was driving this whole time. Beth and I were both on deck, slightly sea-sick given our unfamiliarity with the boat’s motion in the Marina

We ended up leaving at 5:30 and arriving at 4:00. Total about 10.5 hours, over around 57 miles, which ends up being an average of around 5.5 knots. But we were also traveling motoring at ~ 4.5 knots for the first two hours. Ultimately, the boat did a pretty good job on the passage, and we saw 5.5 to 6.5 on the speedo for most of it.

 

The entry into West End was straightforward, and we pulled in a tied up at the Marina for the next two major fronts which came through over the next four days.

Hill's Update on the First Month - warning, a bit more technical

1) Florida prep and departure from Crackerboy / Riviera Beach Marina

We arrived in Riviera Beach, Florida on Thursday evening, with plans to spend a couple nights in a hotel before moving onto the boat on the hard. Spend the first couple days / nights letting Chris work on wiring the solar panels, completing the bowsprit and anchor roller installation, and finishing the watermaker installation. This lasted several more days than anticipated. Also, Chris volunteered to work on someone else’s boat for a portion of this time, which obviously gave us a bit less time to complete the work on our own boat.

 

Mid-week, we moved on the boat in the boatyard, just in time for a intense cold front to come through, dropping temperatures to a low of 30s to 40s. This was good for us, though, as it meant that Chris couldn’t work on the bottom of the other boat, but rather shifted to completing the solar panel fabrication and installation.

 

This fabrication was much more complex than I had anticipated, involving installation of numerous stainless-steel 7/8” piping over the cables to stabilize the mounting of the panels. The panels mounted well, though, and ultimately the rig seems pretty secure. We’ll see how it lasts. The other complexity was the support pipes – also stainless steel (one 7/8, one 1”, nested to allow them to expand / collapse to hold the panels perpendicular). We used two supports per solar panel. These things are pretty tough looking, which is what we wanted.

 

Ended up putting the boat in the water a couple days later than we wanted originally, which is really quite good for this sort of work. Always takes much longer than you anticipated.

 

Tested the engine in the yard, and discovered that the alternator wasn’t working. Not sure what happened, but it wasn’t putting out any power. Dropped it off at the local alternator shop – Riviera Generators and Alternators – and also ordered a new one. Now we have a spare! And they were able to fix the original one.

 

Moved the boat from Crackerboy and, after a brief motor, got a slip at Riviera Beach Marina. Very difficult approach, with a 1 knot cross current, plus 15 knots from the opposite direction. After docking in three different berths (they let someone else tie up in our slip), we finally found where we were going to stay. Still, pretty stressful.

 

Spend the next week in Riviera Beach Marina, troubleshooting the electrical system. Why weren’t the solar panels charging the house batteries? Why wasn’t the alternator charging the house batteries as well? Turns out the electrical system had been mis-wired, with the solar panels hooked to the ACR (automatic charge relay), and not directly to the house battery. In addition, there was a bad ground used for the house batteries; we ended up having to bypass the previous ground.

 

We also purchased some forespar mounts for the spinnaker pole / whisker pole, and wish I had gotten one for the bowsprit. It is a pain in the butt to keep mounting and removing every time we want to anchor, and it has been much too windy to use it. I think I’ll end up lashing it to the whisker pole.

 

But ultimately, we were able to get the systems up and running. At the same time, we also rigged the boat at Riviera Beach Marina, raising the new jib and fitting the main and backstay. Whew. Now we’re making progress.

 

Here’s the more detailed explanation I sent to Chris on how the systems are doing:

 

 

Chris,

 

Thanks for the note - been meaning to send you a message, but haven't had the consistent internet connection for a while. Generally the systems have been doing well once we made the crossing. We left Crackerboy on Friday  (the 23rd?). Then spent a frustrating week in Riviera Marina getting the systems sorted out (the solar panels weren't charging, nor was the engine alternator). Both were charging the start battery, but not the house battery.

 

I ended up fixing the solar panel issue - the hot lead needs to go straight to the house battery, can't connect to the ACR / charge relay device. Also ended up hiring an electrician to diagnose the alternator not charging the house battery. Turns out there was a bad ground on the house (it ran forward to the old house battery location in front of the port settee). So he bypassed the old ground, and used a common ground the start battery was charging from and the system worked perfectly.

 

The PUR 80E watermaker is (knock on wood) working fine so far - we've used it for the first time early this week and it generated good water and in reasonable quantities, although it is loud. Glad we got the larger capacity one, certainly, to minimize running time.

 

Solar panel (we purchased 4 85W BP solar panels) fittings have been working well - still need to figure out how to the keep the low-side panels out of the water (right now I just lash them in to the deck), and chafe on the lower lifeline cable may be a problem, but we can overcome both issues with time. (the solar panels were selected due to their mounting height – the BP and a few others were only 20” high, while the more popular Kyocera panels were 26” – the greater height panels would have been too tall to fit flush with the stanchions.)

 

Battery

capacity has been great - we're not really using most of the capacity - we've got 12.25+ volts all the time, and the solar panels charge it up pretty quickly - even if they're not raised. I've seen 15 AH with them up...

 

So all in all, the systems in the boat are now working well. I don't recommend leaving on a vacation right has a project wraps up - but then, we had planned on being ready much earlier. - shrug -

 

As for the trip so far - well, the weather has been crappy - cold, 20+ knots much of the time. So we're still waiting for the tropical paradise, but hopefully we'll get some nice days here. We're in Sandy Key right now.

 

Would love to get those GPS coordinates of the harbor you mentioned - be curious to see where it is.

 

As for the Volvo synthetic - we were going to return those to Jas Marine, but forgot about them. And thanks again for letting us borrow your truck - it was very useful for those last few errands before we headed out.

 

all the best,

Hilding

 

------------- end message to Chris -------------------

Spanish Cay to Marsh Harbor

 Hill and I are in Marsh Harbor, the third largest town in the Bahamas (yet the worst internet connection I've had so far). This last week has been a vast improvement over the previous one, with beautiful sunny weather and sailing that has actually been fun!

Before we left Spanish Cay, we had drinks with a couple aboard their 52 foot sailboat, Nautilus. (Hill was hesitant to let me aboard as he was afraid that once I saw their luxurious surroundings -- microwave, shower, washer and dryer... -- that I wouldn't get back on Arcas.) Randy and Michelle suggested that we make Manjack Cay our next destination instead of Green Turtle Cay, and we are so happy that we followed their advice. Manjack is a beautiful island with 3 or 4 private homes on it. One of the families cut nature trails all through the island, so Hill and I spent two days exploring the island's mangrove swamps, beaches, and harbors. On the second day, we came across Bill and Lesley, the owners, putting together a bonfire on the beach, and they told us they were having a Full Moon party to watch the moon rise over the ocean, and that everyone anchored near the island was invited. So we spent the evening with about 15 other people around the bonfire watching the moon.

On Monday, we had to leave Manjack and sail the two miles to Green Turtle Cay in order to reprovision and do laundry. We spent two days in Green Turtle exploring our first Bahamaian town, New Plymouth, which was originally founded by American colonists loyal to King George during the American revolution. At first the town was a bit of a letdown after the natural beauty of Manjack, but then we started talking to people in town, and they were all so nice. After living in big cities for so long, it's a different experience to be in a place where everyone knows everyone.

 Yesterday we decided to sail straight from Green Turtle Cay to Marsh Harbor. In order to do so, one must briefly cut outside of the Sea of Abaco into the ocean through a passage the locals call "The Whale." Depending on the weather, it can be an uncomfortable passage, but the weather yesterday was beautiful (sunny, light winds from the south), so we decided to go for it. We had a gorgeous sail through the Whale. Once we got on the other side, the wind died and we had to motor the rest of the way into Marsh Harbor. However, our surroundings were so stunningly beautiful that we didn't mind. On one side was Great Guana Cay, with long stretches of beach that almost enticed us to stop and go swimming. We were moving through about 10 feet of water, and with the wind almost gone, the water was like rippling turquoise glass - completely transparent. It was incredible - as we passed the tiny Fish Cays, they looked like they were floating. I took some pictures, but they don't even begin to convey what it was like.

We wanted to stop and snorkel back at Great Guana Cay, but we had to get to Marsh Harbor to investigate the possibility of flying down to Long Island in the Exumas to meet Hill's family. Originally we had planned to sail there by now but obviously didn't make it. So we are flying out tomorrow - taking a vacation from our vacation, if you will. Yeah, our lives are so hard.

Slowing Down

When Hill and I were staying at the boatyard in Florida, a German couple was living on the boat next to us as they had it repaired. We spoke to them right before we left, and I told the wife that we were going to spend the first few months in the Bahamas, but after that, I was trying not to make specific plans (I didn't tell her about the schedule I made on Google Calendar before we left Chicago). She nodded her head emphatically. "Don't make any schedules," she said. "That is the most important thing you learn while cruising."

Lesson learned. This morning, Hill and I tossed the schedule out of the window and decided that we are going to try to slow down. We are not leaving Spanish Cay until the weather is appropriately warm and calm enough for a nice smooth sail into Green Turtle Cay, our next destination.

In the meantime, we spent the afternoon exploring Spanish Cay, a private island with a hotel and marina. We walked down to the northern end of the island and watched the waves bashing the rocky shore on the Northeast side of the island. It's still quite chilly (in the upper 50s today) and looks to continue tomorrow before starting to warm up this weekend. We took some photos today and they look very untropical. But we are much more relaxed. Tonight we'll see if I can continue my winning streak in Gin Rummy. Hill hates losing...

Tropical Paradise, My A**

This week has not been at all what I envisioned when we were planning this trip. Every day before I left Chicago, I checked the weather in the Bahamas and it was a consistent 75-80 degrees. Then we embark on our adventure and it’s been nothing but bad weather since we left. Every day seems to get worse. When we crossed the Gulf Stream, I thought that was scary. When the norther hit our nice Marina in West End, I thought that was scary. But then there was the unexpected thunderstorm out of the southwest that hit Great Sale Cay, from the one direction that that harbor wasn’t protected. And then the second norther that went howling by. And finally the 25-30 knots from the Northwest that we surfed downwind into Spanish Cay Marina, only to learn that the Northwest is once again the one direction from which the harbor is not protected.

We decided to sail from Great Sale Cay, an uninhabited island where we spent the past two nights (the first of them without much sleep as we waited until 3am for the thunderstorm to pass), to Spanish Cay in order to wait out the second and third northers coming through this week. I was willing to sail in 20-25 knot winds if the end result was a nice marina with showers, laundry, and liquor. However, I was expecting it to be a MARINA, i.e., protected from the wind – the wind that ended up at 30 knots instead of the 20 that was predicted (I’ve also learned this week that weather reports are guesses at best). The scariest part of today’s sail was entering the harbor. Hill entered and the wind started pushing us into the docks. He had to execute a 360 degree turn of the boat just inside the breakwater in order to get us into the right position – a maneuver apparently remarkable enough that the other couples who are also staying here have commented on it several times.

Oh, and did I mention that today, as we sailed, I had on: jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt, a fleece sweatshirt, a fleece jacket, a fleece hat, wool socks, and my foul weather gear over all of it. By the time we finally docked, my one thought was to get the bleep off of this bleeping boat. After I checked in at the marina, I ran into two other women cruisers in the bathroom, and one of them was talking about how her son’s fiancé was seasick and was thinking of renting a room at the hotel here – in a clearly disparaging tone. I’m like, “Does she want to split the cost?”

The wind is supposed to clock around to a better direction this evening (just as it was only supposed to be 20 knots today, not 30). So I’m waiting to see what happens. But I’m not ruling out a nice comfy bed on dry land.

On a positive note: Hill is a great sailor and he’s also totally tricked out our boat. We have enough power from our solar panels to plug in and charge our laptops, cameras, ipods, and the Garmin GPS that also doubles as an XM Radio. He also got the watermaker working while we were at Great Sale Cay, so now we have fresh water from the ocean at any time. It’s pretty sweet.