Final Sail?

It appears that the boat had a peaceful (if salty) stay in Georgetown while we were in CA for the past two months. Mañana had a good coating of salt on her decks and hulls and the little wind spinner on the masthead had seized because there had been no rain at all while we were gone. With the high cost of water in the Bahamas there was little likelihood that we would be washing the boat in the near future so we were condemned to “pray for rain” for our salvation. We must not have prayed hard enough because this was to be a bone dry trip for the next six weeks.

We had seen plenty of Georgetown in January and were anxious to travel so we took just two days to prep the boat, carry jugs of reverse osmosis water from shore, buy a few groceries, and try a BBQ dinner at the Peace and Plenty before setting out for Turks and Caicos, the Dominican, and points south hoping to reach Puerto Rico by early June. Our first day out was a mixed bag.  At the top of list were calm seas, light winds, and a long downwind spinnaker sail under cloudless skies.  This, after all, is why we are out here. But we also had a major equipment issue. Our autopilot stopped behaving, and without the autopilot we were not about to tackle any overnight sailing. We decided to keep sailing for now and worry about the autopilot later. Long Island in the southern Exumas was our first stop.  Long Island was one of the Bahamas Cays that was devastated by hurricane Joaquin which made a direct hit on the Exumas in 2015. This long, thin piece of real estate provides protection from the prevailing winds and has several comfortable anchorages for slow moving sailboats. Thompson’s Bay in the middle of the island has become a winter long stop for some of the cruisers who are less than comfortable with the crowds of Georgetown, and Calabash Bay on the north end of the island has beautiful beaches and a pretty resort that welcomes cruisers to use their facilities. We enjoyed both of these picturesque bays.

From Long Island it was an easy day sail over to Conception Island which may be the prettiest spot in all of the Bahamas.  After nine years of visiting beautiful beaches in idyllic settings we were still impressed with the spectacular beauty of this remote Cay.  Neither pictures nor a few words can adequately convey the feeling of sailing into the small bay at Conception. We anchored off the long sand beach for several days which we spent exploring, snorkeling, enjoying beach walks, marveling at the clarity of the water, sipping cocktails while watching brilliant sunsets, dining on fresh caught Mahi (no, I didn’t catch it, but I ate plenty) and debating our next move with a balky autopilot, the autopilot getting much of our attention.  Our decision, finally, was to sail back the way we came because we believed we could get all the way to Florida without any overnight sailing while Puerto Rico involved several nights in the open ocean. And we were right, we did get to Florida easily, and we were wrong, because Florida is not Puerto Rico. This turned out to be a major detour as you will see later.

 

Our trip south in December had been a windward sail in somewhat cooler conditions.  In heading back towards Florida we were now traveling with the prevailing winds, and the trip was markedly different and much more fun.  We sailed the entire way from Conception Island, Exumas to southern Florida (about 500 miles) with almost no motoring. We moved slowly, we stopped often. We snorkeled on David Copperfield’s famed Mermaid at the Piano sculpture at Rudder Cut Cay. We swam in the Thunderball Grotto featured in the 007 movie. We gorged ourselves on the best grouper we have ever tasted as Scorpio’s in Black Point (coincidentally Scorpio’s also served the best and strongest rum punch we have found anywhere in our travels). At Norman’s Cay we snorkeled on the wreck of a sunken, drug running plane that was still remarkably intact.

 

We thought we would sail northeast into the Abacos, but the winds shifted slightly and we found ourselves returning to FL through the almost deserted Berry Islands.  This wind shift was a stroke of good fortune because the Berry’s were both remote and beautiful, and this turned out to be another pleasant, leisurely detour. Once again we were struck by how many islands in the Bahamas have so few people (or no one) living on them. At Little Harbor the only residents of the island were off island for a few days so the only bar (only building) was closed, but fisherman from Nassau were “resting” on the docks preparing for another day in the Northwest Channel, and we had a fun chat with them about life in the islands. 

The cruise ships have an island all their own in the Berrys called Little Stirrup Cay. Little Stirrup was to be our jumping off point as we headed to Grand Bahama Island so we stopped for the night at just one more picturesque island.  Fortunately we were there on a non cruise ship day. Imagine pulling into a pretty little anchorage and seeing a beach lined with thousands of beach chairs. This is apparently the “remote island” that you can visit by yourself and just 3000 other passengers to get away from it all. Bah humbug!

Although we had had several weeks of perfect weather at this point we were getting some high wind warnings so we set off for the protection of Port Lucaya where we could sit safely while a weather front passed through the area.  Port Lucaya was our first marina in a very long time and while the winds blew hard outside the breakwater we got to wash the boat thoroughly in a well protected marina.  This was our first wash down in over five months (since early November in St Augustine), and the boat was smiling the whole time. Port Lucaya is a pretty place with shops, restaurants, bars, and people, just right after 4 weeks of remote anchorages. If you ever visit there don’t miss dinner at Sabor.

Two nights in Port Lucaya was plenty, and we paused only briefly at West End on Grand Bahama before making our Gulf Stream crossing.  We had a vigorous sail in good wind and again our small catamaran handled the seas well.  We dropped anchor in Lake Worth, FL just 10 hours after leaving West End. We had accomplished our goal of making the long trip without any overnight passages that would have been difficult without an autopilot.  After a couple of days of rest (hey, sailing is tough work!) we motored north to Stuart, FL and took a mooring at Sunset Bay.  The bay is aptly named and the marina here is possibly our favorite marina anywhere.  The moorings are close to historic downtown Stuart, multiple restaurants, and convenient supermarkets. The staff is super friendly and they host a variety of events each week. Only Mario’s (in the Rio Dulce) with their $1 gin and tonics can compete.

We are selling the boat (we think), and we have listed it for sale here in Stuart, FL. That's a major step for us, and we debated long and hard before making this decision. We just began our tenth year aboard Mañana and some of these beautiful beaches are beginning to run together, to look the same, and there are fewer new countries to explore, but having to reverse course on our trip to Puerto Rico was also a factor.  With the two mono-hulls covering another ten years we have now been sailing over five months each year for a full twenty years. We have now sailed in twenty-two different countries at last count, and we think it’s time to do something else, but we do not know what that will be.

We have spent the past week polishing, cleaning, moving "junk" off the boat and making Mañana as pretty as possible.  We fixed the wind spinner and the nefarious autopilot and a few other items. The boat looks great, runs great, sails great. Who knows when, or if the boat will sell, but if we do find a buyer we hope to travel “off the water” for a while.  No buyer?  Well then I’d like to go sailing again. Easy sailing, easy living!

Tom  and Andrea

 

Better Late Than Never

“Really, how tough can it be?  You are sitting on a boat, moving less than five miles per hour,  or maybe, not moving at all, and you can't find time to write a little blog?  Too busy soaking up carbs (beer), Vitamin D (sun), or energy (sleeping)?  How about some pictures?  How about news?  How about a little work on your part?”   Yes, that pretty much sums up the e-mails and "welcome home" sentiment that I got from friends, relatives, golf buddies, and a few curious strangers who troll sailing websites when I abandoned the blog this winter (Nov – Jan, 2016).  Okay, I get the message.  News (yes, a little late) follows along with some pictures that I hope make you realize that it's not all fun and games out here (even if it is). 

When we flew into Brunswick to pick up the boat after the summer storage we found that Brunswick GA had been converted into 1920’s Ybor City, FL for the filming of the Ben Afleck/Dennis Lehane movie “Live By Night”.  “Live By Night” was one of the trilogy of books (fiction, well worth reading) by Lehane dealing with mobs and prohibition in the 20’s.  The Brunswick downtown had been converted for a week of shooting the Ybor City scenes.  Many buildings had false fronts, temporary balconies, the main street median had been torn out and the entire street covered with dirt, and old cars motored up and down the dusty road. Three days later the entire town had been restored to its current, small town state. The pictures here were after the dirt was removed. Needless to say this movie was the talk of the town and we look forward to seeing it soon.

Our latest excursion by boat began in mid-November and took us from Brunswick, down the length of Florida and then across the Gulf Stream to the southern Bahamas, aka the Exumas We had intended to sail the Exumas last spring, but we never got south of the Abacos, so we put the Exumas back on the schedule and once again headed off for the sunny southern cays.  Of course the problem here is that the first half of the trip involves traveling the "length of Florida" and this is a very long state. At this time of year the “length of Florida” also involves some bad weather so the trip was once again down the “inside”.   We did visit Cumberland Island again for a pleasant anchorage, and then we made an early stop in St. Augustine to haul the boat for a quick (minor) repair. We were out of the water for less than a week. That week allowed us to get reacquainted with St Augustine and our favorite bar (Hurricane Patty's) and our favorite restaurant (Back 40) there while we were "working on the boat".  We also had the company or our friends Liz and Craig on Salida (sailed with us in Panama and Guatemala) who hauled their boat at the same time. Unfortunately they spent two long months on the hard and we had to leave them behind.

Weather was not a significant problem, but it was nasty enough outside (ocean) that we chose to motor on the inside (waterway) all the way to Palm Beach before ducking outside to Ft. Lauderdale and then Miami. Our one significant stop was Stuart, FL for a week on a mooring at the town marina.  Stuart is a fun little town and it turned out to be a very comfortable week with plenty of opportunities to visit with other boaters and sample life in south Florida. We were in no hurry at this point since weather forecasts for crossing the Gulf Stream were pretty pessimistic.  After Stuart we lingered in Ft Lauderdale and then Miami and Key Biscayne waiting for the weather gurus to yell “go” for the crossing. 

 

Finally on Dec 16, a full month after heading south from Georgia, we made the crossing from Key Biscayne to Bimini.  When you read the books this is a short trip (50 – 60 miles) from FL to the Bahamas.  What they don’t mention is that once you get to Bimini you are nowhere. Actually you are a long way from nowhere.  It’s still another 120 miles to Nassau and at “boat speed” that’s still two more days. We left Key Biscayne at dawn, entered the Bahama Banks late afternoon, and sailed into the evening finally anchoring in the middle of the banks (read a “long” way from any land) for a short rest.  The following AM we set sail again. We found a buddy boat out there on the banks and they suggested Morgan’s Bluff on Andros Island for a check in port.  Perfect.  Morgan’s was calm and protected, the customs officers were polite and efficient and welcomed us warmly, and they had their own rum bar and restaurant in the harbor. There were big winds outside the anchorage, but we were snug and would be so until the winds shifted… which they did the very next day. For the rest of the trip, from Nassau to Georgetown, all winds blew AT US hard.  I don’t think there was another weather window to cross to the Bahamas for at least a month after we sailed and our entire time in the Bahamas was spent hiding in anchorages and trying to sail against the wind whenever we moved.

We did have a truly beautiful Christmas at Warderick Wells Cay which is the headquarters of the Exumas Land and Sea Park.  About fifteen boats had gathered there in the fairly safe harbor well sheltered from both wind and waves, and we were all invited ashore to the park headquarters for Christmas. The park buildings sit on a hill overlooking the anchorage. The cruisers provided side dishes and desserts and the park employees came up with the turkey and ham. No snow, but turquoise water, white sand, and 70 degree temps is a good substitute. It was a great party in a fantastic setting and a memorable holiday for our ninth consecutive Christmas afloat.

From Warderick Wells south we tried to find calmer waters inside the chain of Cays, but any sailing was a series of long tacks across the wind to move anywhere. Staniel Cay was an interesting (and pretty) stop.  Staniel Cay is the home of the swimming pigs and anyone with a little bit of food or water is welcome… by the pigs.

We took a look, but these guys were a little aggressive, even trying to climb into dinghies if they thought food was available. Not being wildlife aficionados we opted to retire to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club which was not very much like any yacht club at home. The Bahama Mamas and Goombay Smashes were pretty good though. Black Point, south of Staniel, was touted as the “Best Laundromat” in the Bahamas (and they had a couple of bars) so that was our next stop. Again, it was another beautiful setting, almost no people there, and a pleasant place to get out of the wind. Here we found other boats waiting to head south to Georgetown. 

The Bahamas is both crowded and desolate.  There are a lot of boats that head here for the winter from Canada, New England, the Chesapeake, Florida and the Gulf Coast states. They tend to congregate in some of the larger harbors so some islands definitely seem more crowded than the less accessible Western Caribbean.  On the other hand the vast majority of islands are uninhabited and even the populated islands frequently have fewer than 100 people living there. We spent New Year’s Eve alone in Rudder Cut Cay and then sailed (to windward) to Georgetown on first day of 2016.  The anchorage at Georgetown is well protected and HUGE.  We were early in the season and still there were well over 100 boats here. Later in the winter when the Cruisers Regatta and the Family Regatta events draw cruisers from all over the number of boats will swell to between 300 and 400.  That ranks up with some of the largest mooring fields/anchorages on the east coast of the US.

Exploring Georgetown ashore occupied only a day or two.  It is the biggest town in the southern Exumas yet there is just the one street through town. A well stocked grocery, a hardware/ supply store, some boat goods, a few bars, guest houses, food shacks,  and very good library pretty much describes the town.  Fresh water was available here and we hauled lots of jugs of reverse osmosis water back to the boat. We tried a “Rake and Scrape” (Bahamian music and dancing), had beers at the Chat ‘n Chill beach bar,  walked a lot, explored a little and generally relaxed after our “passage” from Florida to Bimini to Nassau to Georgetown. We spent one Friday evening at the local “Fish Fry” (which had no fish that night).  The fish fry took place at a waterfront area filled with small wooden shacks, each of which was a different restaurant and bar.  Buy a beer at one place, food at another, rum drinks at a third. No one cared if you brought beers from next door into their restaurant. Our group of ten wandered through the multi-colored shacks buying drinks and sampling conch salads and fritters before settling down to a delicious dinner of ribs, chicken and lobster in an extremely “rustic” setting. The only drawback to a great night was a long, moonless dinghy ride back to the boats very late on a Friday night.

Georgetown is where we will leave the boat while we head home for one more (final?) tax season. We found a lovely guest house in one of the hurricane holes that has moorings available for boat storage.  Kevali House will be home for Mañana until we return in March when we hope the winter winds have settled down and life will be just Another Day at the Beach.

Tom and Andrea