The home stretch

JP just posted more pictures here (the big fish is a mahi)

http://picasaweb.google.com/raconteurcrew/2009JuneB#

They hit the Bay last night at 11. They are headed for an anchorage or a marina tonight, then home to Annapolis at their leisure tomorrow.

Having a great time with mom - went to the Capitol Visitors Center yesterday, kind of a mixed experience. Had a fabulous meal in Baltimore the night before - Charleston.

Photos from afar

JP sent me some photos and two short videos, and they are posted on
http://picasaweb.google.com/raconteurcrew/2009June#
I didn't edit, but I did sort by those that are in Lauderdale, Marsh Habour (Thursday/Friday), en route(Friday-Tuesday) and at Southport Tuesday and today.
They are taking the inside passage to a marina around Beaufort today, and will head back out tomorrow. I'm kinda secretly hoping I'll see them in Annapolis by the end of the weekend - but trying not to count on it!!

In port!

They just arrived to Southport Marina near Cape Fear, NC (and Bald Head Island), about 45 minutes ago. All is well; they had wind on the nose for much of the night, so decided to bail before Beaufort. They will clear in, do the field repair, have a good meal, and at least one night's sleep (more likely two) at the marina. Winds are looking much more favorable starting Thursday. I'm sure Susan and Stan will be taking advantage of being in cell phone range (that's for you, Elsie, Cal and Lois!).

I'll post again when they are getting ready to go out - if no post tomorrow, that means they are still in port!

Plan B: Heading on to Beaufort, NC

They hit some thunderstorms last night (only casualty a hatch screen!) and the wind wasn't playing for going into Charleston, so they are riding the gulf stream and some decent wind (and a beautiful day) to head on to Beaufort. That's still 200+ nauticals from their current location, off Hilton Head Island, but there are a couple of other inlets (at Wilmington, which is where we came out from the ICW in November) if the need arises. Looks like good winds today, perhaps dropping some tonight through Wednesday; if this plan works out, they will be in Beaufort around 0600 on Wednesday morning. That will leave another 220 to the Bay, and another 120 or so to Annapolis. They've done about 370 from Friday 1630 through Monday 1030, for reference, for an average of 5.6 kts. With an overnight in Beaufort, they could be in the Bay on Saturday.

On their way into Charleston

They are about 120 miles to the south and east of Charle3ston, having some pretty good wind for a change. They need to do a field repair and re-fuel; they should be in Charleston Harbor sometime tomorrow (Monday) around 7 in the evening. They have good long days now, so that helps.
The repair is to a broken outhaul ring at the back of the boom. The mainsail is fine as long as they take at least one reef, so not a big deal but they do want to get it fixed. Everyone is well and able to maintain their watches, so no one is too exhausted yet.

I feel a bit guilty reporting on MY weekend, but here goes. I had an enchanted two days in New York City, seeing my friend David and his parents and sister, her husband and their two boys (I have not seen her in probably 30 years - it was really terrific). We saw the fantastic revival of West Side Story last night, and today I had an exquisite lunch, with service our French friends would appreciate, at The Modern, overlooking the sculpture garden at MOMA. Spent time in the museum after, seeing an exhibit of works on paper (an interest of mine) and flew back this evening.

Saturday afternoon, still no wind

So here is the Saturday afternoon position. They are still mostly motoring, and JP says they are seeing wind from north though the observations and forecasts all say it should be SSW or WSW. Ah, weather forecasts. SO helpful. They made about 50 nautical miles or so since this morning, or so I'm estimating. All is reported well, no bad weather - just no wind!

Saturday morning update

JP called around 0630. JP had a couple of hours under sail, and Susan was prompt for her watch at 6, so all was well. You can see their location (plotted by lat/long) at the time he called me. The front seems to be weakening, and may only affect them with some moderate north winds on Monday. That would allow them to keep going, and take full advantage of the Gulf Stream.

I'll post a Gulf Stream map a bit later; can't get my preferred version to load using Firefox.

They're underway

I heard from JP around 4:30 this afternoon; they had just set off from Marsh Harbour after an intense day of provisioning. There's a front coming from the north early week, so they are trying to get to Fernandina to tuck in before it comes through. They may be there a few days, because it is forecast to "stall". I talked with him again a little after 9, on the satellite phone this time. They are off Whale Cay passage, in dead calm, motoring. Susan was on the 6-10 watch and I had a text from her saying the watch was a lot nicer in June than in November. JP says the stars are gorgeous - he will be on the 2-6 watch, so Stan must be on "my" watch tonight, 10-2.
I'll talk with them again in the morning - hoping for some wind so they can shut off the iron sail.

Soon to be Raconteur, Northbound

HOME PORT

BAHAMAS

Susan and JP, with a crew member who is coming from Calgary, will be in Lauderdale tomorrow and then on to Marsh Harbour on Thursday. They are planning, weather holding, to set off from there for Annapolis and our new home base at the Annapolis Landing Marina (5 minutes from our front door) on Friday the 19th or Saturday the 20th. They hope to tuck into the Bay sometime the following weekend, the 27th or 28th, and then take a couple of more leisurely days to sail the final 100 miles.

I'm holding the fort in DC, although I'm sneaking away for this weekend, to NYC, to see my friend David and his parents and sister and her family, and my mom is coming to Annapolis next weekend.

I'll be the blogger, since they will be out of range for much of the passage.

Food, glorious food

This is a postcard that depicts George, who makes conch salad right outside the gate of Harbour View Marina in Marsh Harbour. We had our first Sho'Bo' (that's his nickname) conch salad when we brought Raconteur here in March, and when we arrived back yesterday [after heading straight for the local supermarket, PriceRight, en route from the airport to do our two week provisioning] JP made a beeline to pick up a container. We headed to lunch at Mango's, which is between Harbour view and the Sunsail/Moorings marina, saving the conch salad for an apero later. On the way back, we stopped again, and George was making a huge mound of the salad for some folks who were apparently off on an excursion (by plane, no less) and who had sent someone to pick up about 8 or so containers. Anyway, we were all exhausted so the conch salad, along with gin&tonics and Destrooper's Almond Thins, became dinner. If anyone will be in Saint Augustine on the weekend of May 16-17, you can meet George and his wife (who runs the kitchen at Wally's, a more upscale restaurant across the road from Harbour View) and, I hope, taste this fantastic dish, as they will be participating in a Junkanoo Festival there (ahead of the real thing, which happens here in June).
I started thinking about the extent to which we travel on our stomachs - all three of us now that JP and I have got hold of Susan - and what pleasure there is in these local foods. George fishes the conch himself, prepares it (it's very labor intense, because you have to pound the hell out of it to make it tender enough to eat), chops the vegetables (tomatos, onions, green pepper) and makes a hot sauce (optional) to add to it at the end for those who want a little kick in their conch. I don't think it is possible to find a better or fresher version of this Bahamian classic anywhere.
Here's to George, and all those like him in the world, who give us such experiences.
Relaxing at the marina today, off toward the south tomorrow. Still really nice here, not yet hot, quite windy...

Sneaking off again

We're off to Lauderdale on Friday night, and to Marsh Harbour on Saturday, with plans to stay for two weeks and cruise south to Eleuthera and maybe the northern Exumas. Really looking forward to it. Our friends Kaye and David will arrive in MH just after we leave, and will sail around for two weeks also. Sometime in June, JP and Susan and maybe a third crew member (I'll be holding the fort at the office) will make the crossing and bring her back to the Chesapeake for the summer. We have a slip that is a FIVE minute walk (max) from our new front door in Annapolis, so that will be fun.
We may be out of internet range for much of the time, but I will take pictures and we will post when we can.

Several lovely days

Kaye and David see us off
"In Dreams" at anchor, Double Breasted Cays
Marina, Spanish Cays
A little avian visitor to the hot tub
Yum!
Raconteur at Spanish Cays

With the help of Kaye and David, we made it off the dock at Riviera Beach Yacht Center around 1630 on Monday, and were approaching the Little Bahama Bank at Memory Rock by 0300 Tuesday morning. JP and Susan tacked and jibed, awaiting first light, and then we set off across the bank. Calm, beautiful conditions for motorsailing and sailing, and we were able to drop the hook at Great Sale Cay before 1700 on Tuesday. Wednesday we decided to make a detour for Double Breasted Cays, which are gorgeous. It's a "settled conditions" anchorage, at least if you are off the rocks versus between the rocks and the cay, but we were able to dinghy around, swim, visit the beach/sand bar, and meet up with Ken from "In Dreams" who had arrived ahead of us. Ken joined us for dinner and we had a great evening, swapping stories and drinking red wine. It was blowing rather harder Thursday so we decided to seek a little more shelter, and followed "In Dreams" to Crab Cay, about five nauticals from Spanish Cay. Yesterday, Ken headed on down toward Green Turtle, and after a rather gusty departure (Susan lost her Tilley Hat, and Leigh didn't think to set the MOB on the nav) we made a quick passage to Spanish Cay, cleared in, and spent the night docked at the marina. Fabulous spot, a favorite of the big sportfishing boats and large yachts, but very accomodating. Delicious dinner, ditto breakfast, and now we are heading back to gunkholing, this time at Powell Cay, only a few miles to the south.
The Atlantic is in a bit of a churn, so it will probably be Monday before we attempt Whale Cay Passage. Will be checking in again sometime...

What sailors do when they can't sail

So after JP and Susan cleaned the boat (exterior) and Leigh puttered around straightening the boat (interior), we loaded three Coronas and headed by dinghy for the every-weekend party scene on Peanut Island. After that, we dinghied across to the Tiki Waterfront Bar and Grill at the City of Riviera Beach Marina, had some great fresh seafood, and then came back to the boat to watch "Dreamgirls".
Our host marina sent us to Jas Marine, which does mobile dockside service, as we are too small for EITHER of Rybovich Spencer's yards ;-). Turns out we had not actually damaged the engine, but for good measure they replaced the impeller (we had a new one in our spares kit) and JP got to watch, which was well worth the investment. Took them less than half an hour!
So...we are off again late this afternoon, to cross the Gulf Stream overnight and arrive at the Little Bahama Bank with daylight, then on to an anchorage at Great Sale Cay on our way to the Abacos.

The end of the day, and the rest of the story

So this is how we began our day yesterday, exiting the Port Everglades inlet around 0615, passing the second of two large cruise ships (Ruby Princess, and then Independence of the Seas, which you see here). The wind was blowing rather harder than forecast - forecast said 10-15 from the East, it was blowing 20+ and gusting 25+ - and we quickly figured out that making Settlement Point/West End before dark might be a bit problematic. Adding to the fun, the engine temperature gauge was showing that the engine was running hot. We kept sailing (it was generally a lovely day) while JP tried to figure out what was wrong. It looked like he got it fixed, and then, feeling a little green from diesel fumes and being below too long, asked Leigh to re-open the seacock. Leigh, thinking he said "the one all the way left" not only did NOT reopen it, but CLOSED the one for the GEN that was open. Running the engine a bit later, of course, we blew the impeller. SO...we turned back for the Lake Worth inlet, called our friends Kaye and David (who, it turns out, were in CONNECTICUT!) who in turn contacted both TowBoat US and a marina where we should be able to get the engine fixed on Monday. So the first picture is how we ended the day!
Yes, the Bahamas are only 60 miles from the coast of Florida.

Still waiting

The "N" has persisted in the forecast, so we're hanging out in the apartment. Nice thing is, Susan's mom and sister and brother in law Nancy and Jeremy got to scoot over from the west coast for dinner and an overnight and lunch at Casablanca, so that was a little bonus. We've also been able to do some additional prep, which is always good - JP finished and mounted a board to hold our spare diesel and gasoline on deck (over my aesthetic objections, though I know it's a good idea).
Now looks like we will set off mid afternoon tomorrow, the 6th, head for Memory Rock and then on to Mangrove Cay and to Great Sale Cay. That's about 100 nauticals.

Spooked by the word "front"

We had Dawnna and Grant (aka D&G Services) provision the boat yesterday, preparing us to go out as soon as we landed, but after much studying, agonizing, more studying, intense discussion, etc. we decided if it took that much talking to decide if we could beat the front we should probably stay in port until it passes. So, here we are in Lauderdale, probably until Thursday when the wind shifts back to the east.
It IS lovely here today so we are not TOO deprived.

Destination: West End, Great Bahama Island

I'm typing from the office in Rosslyn, but we are in the process of making some intense plans to 1)fly from Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow (Saturday) night, and 2) take advantage of a relatively short weather window to cross the Gulf Stream on Sunday to the Old Bahama Bay marina at West End on GBI. We'll probably stay for a few days to let the norther pass, then make our way (probably) to the Abacos. We are dying to go to Eleuthera, but we probably don't have time this round, as we have to be back in Lauderdale on the 21st of March.
Dawnna and Grant are kindly provisioning for us, so let's hope the window stays open long enough for us to scoot through!