Adjusting to life ashore

We arrived into Oxford Boatyard Sunday morning and relaxed to recover from our trip and wash off the salt from the boat. One of the biggest challenges with the boat is keeping salt cleaned off to reduce corrosion to a minimum.

My grandchildren Jared and Abby at Cherry Point.

Monday we  had a cab pick us up early to take us into Easton to get a rental car for our trips and use around the marina. We had the cab pick us up at 715 and we gt our car early and drove to Lancaster, PA to the celebration services for my sister's husband who passed on May 4 at 70 years from pancreatic cancer. He was content to be at peace and gone home. At the services I ran into a high school classmate and his family whom I haven't seen in at least 30 years. Nice to hear how well he has done after suffering shrapnel injuries in Viet Nam. Very happy for him.

Tuesday we got back to the boat and got ready for our trip to Chicago and work the yard needed to do while we were gone. Wednesday we headed out and spent our first night on land in several weeks after the passages we had just completed.

The nights since we got back into the US have required some adjustment but the first night on the road in a hotel was comfortable but not. I woke up constantly because the usual noises and feelings were missing and I had to remind myself where we were. When we finally got up in the morning it took a little while to fully get into the travel mode. Even now almost a week later I still expect to feel rocking and hear the rigging sounds and each morning is an adjustment. About the time I get used ot it we will be back on the boat. I can't wait!

We made it to Chicago on Thursday 12 May and in time to spend time with Linda's dad on his 96th birthday. So we made it from the Bahamas to Chicago in time to celebrate another special day. On Friday night Linda's family got together with him at Lou Malnati's Pizzeria to celebrate the birthday. So great to be part of such a special celebration.

Linda's brother Stuart and his wife Debbie Lee.

Linda's nephews Ben and Abe Lee and Abe's girlfriend Cindy.

Linda's sister Ruth, her friend Jerry Miller and niece Sheri Van Overloop.

Linda's dad celebrating 96 years.

While we are here we are visiting with other friends and family that we don't see very often. One of the first questions asked is what is it like living on a boat or what about storms. Most folks have little or no concept of what living on a boat is like. But as different as it is it is very easy to get used to. In fact now it is hard to imagine living back on land. We are staying with Linda's sister and life on land now seems far more complex than living on our boat. We have come to enjoy the simple life aboard.

Unlike life ashore, aboard we are concerned about functions that are essential to living. Keeping the boat floating, keeping all the systems running, keeping everyone safe and keeping conditions livable become priority.  Ashore most of those things are taken for granted, not relevant or failure to perform maintenance will not lead to a catastrophic failure.

Sitting here we miss the water. We miss the blue water of the tropics. We miss the gentle swaying and songs of the wind. We will be happy when we get back home. Regardless of where that home is.

Some thoughts on summer work

This is our third work season on our boat. The first one was when we bought it and accomplished outfitting it for cruising. The second was last summer when we fixed things that didn't work or added new things and now we are at the point of final additions and maintaining what we have already done.

Here is our workplan for this summer.

1. Solar upgrades. When we bought our boat it had 1-130w solar panel. We added the arch with 4-85w solar panels for 340 watts. Last winter we had to replace 2 with 90w panels bringing our total wattage to 480 w which is not enough. We have found that at best we may get 3-4 hours of max output a day which is not enough and rarely do we achieve max output at anchor or in a marina. The wind generator only benefits us on windy days. Our power consumption is <200A per day and our present energy generation without mechanical power is not sufficient to meet that demand. So we plan to replace the 130w panel with 2-160w panels that will hopefully get us to be reasonably close to sustainability. Solar output is effected by distance from the equator, cloud cover and angle toward the sun. To add the solar panels we will need to engineer a support structure and reengineer our present hard dodger to support the additional weight which shouldn't be a problem and hopefully we can eliminate some of the sources of water leaks that have occurred through the present support structure.

2. Mechanical improvements. These are not so much improvements as they are maintenance. On the trip north we found our starting battery was fully discharged because a charging wire broke off the alternator. As a result all electrical equipment aligned to the engine control panel was malfunctioning. So we are now remedying all that by charging the battery, replacing the wire and testing the system. We had requested that the AC charging system also charge the starter battery but that was not completed last year. We need to have that completed this year to preclude a similar failure. Build in redundancy. We also need another 1000 hour service on the engine which will include replacing the alternator belt.

3, Security improvements. In the coming years we plan on traveling into some areas where personal security may be limited we plan to bolster our defenses. Since prevention is the best policy we are going to reinforce our hatches and companionway with solid metal barriers to entry. So over this summer we plan to install metal bars of some sort over our passable hatches to prevent intrusion and develop a metal barrier for our companionway to allow airflow but prevent unwanted intruders. We do have weapons on board for self-defense but would prefer that they will never be needed.

4. Additional upgrades. When we bought our boat it had a sonar system. Somewhere in our previous upgrades or in the initial installation the system failed to provide meaningful information. We're considering replacing it but having a meaningful sonar system to provide underwater information which would be valuable when passing through reefs and other narrow shallow areas. Offshore in deep water it's of little value but inshore or going into shore in poorly charted areas it could be of extreme value. I'm also considering some other upgrades and improvements around the boat to enhance overall seaworthiness and safety.  

These are the key areas of upgrades to finish our outfitting but we will do additional maintenance and I want to become intimately familiar with each area of the boat I have yet to discover. Several months ago an esteemed authority, Norm Pierce of Pierce Yachts, complemented me on how I have bonded with our boat. I replied that it comes from my military training in learning how to maintain and respect m equipment. In battle, your equipment is what will sustain you and so it is offshore. Equipment that has been poorly maintained will fail and put our life at risk. Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you.

Our Island Packets have been designed to withstand far more extreme conditions than we will probably ever see. If it is maintained properly and we get in conditions beyond which I can handle we will trust in our equipment to get us through. Some cruisers try to make their boat comfortable and conducive to "living." I want to do that but in the end function over form. I want our boat to sail well and true to make it through every day.  

Some thoughts on Instruments

Every now and then I like to make some comments about boat life for people reading this and looking for insight.

An adage that pilots learn is to trust your instruments. GPS may be off a few feet which in a narrow channel could be problematic but you can supplement with visual observation but at night offshore or in open water stress can be relieved with intelligent use of instruments.

Two absolutely indispensable aids to navigation in limited visibility is of course radar but also AIS. AIS is the Alternative Information System. While not every boat is on it, most offshore vessels are and that's where it is invaluable. On every one of our passages we tracked vessels miles away from us and followed them until we were clear. Coming up the Bay recently we talked to at least a half-dozen vessels either checking us out or we contacted to confirm their plans.

On a daily basis we hear radio calls to "vessel passing red 46" or whatever the local identifier. It is so much easier to call the vessel by name. Many times we came up behind a vessel not on AIS and no name visible that there is no alternative but to try to identify them.

At night especially I trust our instruments and watch our chartplotter for radar blips and especially AIS vessels approaching. Some boats have AIS receiving units but other vessels have no idea who they are.

Beyond AIS there is other information that is helpful. The knotmeter that can tell you the speed of favorable or opposing current. Gauges that can give you water temperature and of course depth all help pinpoint your location.

We also use radar to show us showers and squalls. It can help identify where they are and which way they are moving. On our recent offshore passage we watched a large squall on radar off to our east which was moving slightly southeast away from us and other cells moved behind us and gave us advance warning of rain and also potential wind gusts so on at least one occasion I pulled in our sails to avoid being rolled by gusty winds.

In the Army we used to talk about "situational awareness".   Being on watch is all about situational awareness. During the day visual may be good enough but in all conditions of restricted visibility know and trust your instruments.  They see more than you.

Enjoying our stay at Cherry Point and the last leg of the trip back

We got into Cherry Point and tied up just before a squall moved through with heavy wind and rain. The weather was deteriorating as we came up the ICW and ushered in another frontal passage that set up the pattern for the next couple weeks. While we were at Cherry Point we had rain almost every day.

Sunday evening after we got secured my son and his kids came by. The next day we picked up a rental car and were driving to West Marine when my son called and told me there would be a promotion ceremony for him that afternoon and we were very happy to see him promoted to Captain and went out for dinner to celebrate.

While we were at Cherry Point during the day we worked on boat chores and then spent the evenings with my son's family. On Tuesday we drove over to River Dunes and met our friend Dave Sikes for lunch in Oriental.

Wednesday my sister called to tell us that her husband died and we discussed the timing of the funeral. It didn't come as a surprise although we hoped he would hold out until we got back to the Bay. He faced death squarely and through his faith celebrated his homecoming.

As planned we left early Thursday morning under miserable skies. As we got down the river the wnd built and when we crossed the Pamlico Sound we were facing wind and swells on our nose until we turned and motor sailedto the channel. From then on we made good progress and got through the Alligator River - Pungo River Canal before 1700 where we dropped the hook.

Sailing through Pamlico Sound.

After dropping the hook we went to turn on the generator and found it had no power. I soon found that our starter battery was dead and wouldn't start the genset so we would be without heat. Fortunately, our boat has a parallel switch so we could restart the engine in the morning and then the engine would recharge the batteries as they seemed to be fully charged. This began an entire string of power failures resulting in the total panel failure when we got back to Oxford. Analysis revealed a broken charging wire off the alternator to the starting battery. Hopefully that will prove to be the total extent of damage.

After a very quiet night with lots of rain we left early in fog and made our way to Coinjock where we met up with our friend Dave Sikes again and had him onboard for dinner and drinks.

Our view at Coinjock.

We left Coinjock early morning Saturday uncertain about the weather. Forecasts were for heavy winds to come up the next morning possibly before we got into our slip. We considered a possible bailout at Norfolk but pressed on. The night was uneventful with lots of commercial traffic on the Bay and we got into our slip in Oxford about 0630 almost exactly 24 hours after we left Coinjock. The wind was very light as we got the boat secured and had breakfast. Later in the morning while we were sleeping the wind came up ferociously for the remainder of the day.

Our last sunset as we headed up the Bay.

An ominous sunrise on our last day before getting back to Oxford.

We completed our trip back to the point from whence we started back in October. Now time to do boat work, visit family and enjoy the summer. The trip from Cherry Point was about 400 miles and we did it pretty much in 3 days through the Intracoastal and finally up the Bay.

Slogging up the ICW

We made the decision to come in at Cape Fear instead of going to Beaufort because the forecast was for thunderstorms and squalls over night Thursday so we thought rather than get caught in them offshore we would go in at Cape Fear and in a day still make it to Beaufort. The thought of more time on the ICW wasn't appealing but the risk of being offshore with electrical storms was even a bigger concern.

Morning of our last day offshore.

Making landfall.

Our anchorage in Carolina Beach.

So after a beautiful evening on the mooring (it never did storm) and a good night's sleep we got up early, well not that early, and headed up the Intracoastal. We dropped the mooring about 0630 when we needed to leave about 615 to make the first bridge which only opens on the hour. With the current against us it was clear we weren't going to make the bridge so we throttled back to avoid being caught in the current and traffic at the bridge for a long time.

With the frequent inlets the current changed frequently from being favorable to being against us. We made our way through the bridges and past Camp Lejeune without and significant slowdown and we decided to stop for the night in Swansboro and fuel up at Casper's Marina. The last fuel we had gotten was in Marsh Harbor and we took 125 gals at Swansboro @ $1.61 so we made the trip back from the Abacos for about $200.

Casper's Marina in Swansboro.

Our first night ashore in the US we had dinner at the Icehouse just a few blocks from the marina and enjoyed another cool but peasant evening.

The next morning we got an early start and went the short distance to Beaufort where we met some friends Polly and Dave of Illusions who live in New Bern and drove down for dinner with us at Spouter's in Beaufort. We used the loaner car from the marina to run to the store and for the first time in about 2 weeks got fresh food and stocked up for the remainder of our return.

After another pleasant night we motored up the channel towards the Neuse River with wind behind us. We saw one of our friends on AIS and called and found he was gong to stay not far from where we would be at Cherry Point so we made plans for lunch in a couple days.

Hancock Creek Marina at MCAS Cherry Point.

After we turned up the Neuse River we were able to sail right up to the channel into Hancock Creek where we tied up at the Base marina to visit my son and his family for a few days before we contnue our trip up the ICW.

Making way back to the US

After a short night anchored at Great Sale Cay we left before sunrise and headed to north and west for the Gulf Stream.

Great Sale Cay offered excellent protection and a very nice anchorage. There were about a dozen boats there when we arrived and a few more came later. The anchorage on the southwest corner (known as the northwest anchorage) offered excellent protection from winds and swells from anywhere in the north or east direction. The wind was blowing out of the northeast and expected to turn southeast over night so this was an excellent anchorage. We tried to anchor further north on the western side but the swells from the northeast came around the end and made the anchorage very rolly.

Great Sale Cay.

Our spinnaker run

Trying to get a selfie from the bow with lots of wind coming.

Our route would be northwest to hit the Gulf Stream, then north, then northeast, then east, then north. It would be slightly shorter to go straight east of north but then we wouldn't pick up the advantages of riding the Stream. The Gulf Stream can provide at least 2kts of speed over a sustained time. That's about 50 extra miles a day. The challenge is that with northeast swells as forecasted it could be rough with the swell opposing the current and the swell opposing the wind.

We left about an hour before sunrise and motored as the wind was dead behind us and we expected to go to spinnaker once it got light. The sea was relatively flat with a slight southeast swell that built as we got further up the Bank. We had about 60 nm to the edge of the Bank and then another 40 to the Gulf Stream. Forecast had been for a dominant swell from the northeast that would eventually subside but we didn't feel it until after we got off the Bank.

Once we got to civil twilight we raised the spinnaker and sailed for about 6 hours until the wind dropped and our speed fell below 4 kts. From that point we motored the rest of the way. Wind, when there was any was behind us and usually 10 kts or less. Occasionally at night it got up to 15 kts for a while but would have required the spinnaker which we didn't fly at night. So we enjoyed the stream motoring most around 9-10 kts.

Linda enjoying the sail.

Storm clouds off to starboard.

Beautiful sunsets.

Weather our first day out was generally nice with a stray shower. But Wednesday we woke to an ominous sunrise which quickly developed into many squalls. We passed by a large squall off to starboard and later in the day the skies cleared and we hoped for better weather. Thursday's sunrise also was bright red and portending bad weather. Again there were squalls all around but eventually cleared and after we got on a mooring we had a beautiful sunset.

The  trip was uneventful with a few dolphin encounters and also an attack by Flying Fish. About 130 in the morning while I was on watch I was working on our satellite email and had a loud smack on the dodger right next to my head. I looked around and didn't see anything but later smelled fish and went out and found a Flying Fish lying on the deck. When Linda came on watch later I showed her and then tossed it off. The next morning I found 3 more laying on the deck.

We left Great Sale Cay about 0500 on Tuesday and about 58 hours later came in the Cape Fear River inlet making landfall about 1400 Thursday covering just under 500 nm although the actual distance was higher given the vectors taken to take advantage of the Stream.

After making landfall we slogged up the Cape Fear River against the outgoing current and turned off through Snow's Cut into the ICW and turned into the creek by Carolina Beach where we picked up a mooring and enjoyed our first night back in the US. We checked in with Customs and enjoyed a nice dinner under a beautiful sunset. The air was much cooler than we were used to but we were looking forward to a good nights sleep after being offshore for 2 nights.

Exodus from the Bahamas

After leaving Green Turtle Cay we did a short sail over to Manjack Cay for some unsettled weather to pass by and further contemplate our own plan to cross back over into the US. Manjack Cay is a largely uninhabited island with some interesting bays to explore.

The northern cays in the Abacos are generally less inhabited and also less visited than the central Abacos. So as we moved further up the chain we saw fewer and fewer boats. Most of the cruisers there were like us heading back to the US. However, unlike us, most were just going to Florida. There were also many coming in from Florida heading south. Many Floridians don't cross over until April or May after the northern cruisers have left and the weather is nicer.

The first stop on the way out of the Abacos was Manjack Cay. We got in fairly late because we left Green Turtle after doing some last minute provisioning because the mailboat came in late Thursday. After the short sail we anchored and wanted to tour some of the back bays but it was low tide so we were limited in getting access into the more remote areas. We beached our dink on one of the beaches and walked it looking for interesting things. We found a starfish washed up on the beach and it seemed to be alive so I took it into the water and put it down. Soon it turned itself over then started to move and we watched it move several feet before it buried itself. We have a video of it but it is in doubt too large a file to upload.

Our anchor wasn't buried too well so I was happy the next morning when we had only turned with the wind and pulled it up to move on to Spanish Cay.

Spanish Cay is another private island with a small boutique marina but very friendly and easy to like atmosphere. After hauling the anchor we had a great sail up to Spanish Cay right up to the time when we discovered an overwrap on the jib furler. Overwraps are a condition where the furling line gets a confused wrap usually from spinning too quickly but the result is that the sail can't be furled until the overwrap is resolved. So with the motor running we went into the wind while I undid and redid the furling line to resolve the overwrap. Once resolved we went into the marina with south winds in the 20's. When we got our slip assignment it was obvious that backing in would put over 20 kts of crosswind on the bow so with discretion being the better part of valor I pulled into the slip for the one night we planned to spend there.

While at Spanish Cay we continued our weather discussions to determine when we would be able to leave. After watching the weather evolve and getting word from our weather routers we decided that leaving Monday night or Tuesday morning from the Abacos would get us to Beaufort although the next weather system might move through Thursday night.

So we made our plans and enjoyed another night at Spanish Cay doing some beaching and snorkeling while we made ready for several days offshore.

Monday (Apr 25) morning we left Spanish Cay and with the wind behind us flew the spinnaker and sailed to Great Sale Cay in the extreme northwest Bahamas where we prepared to leave early Tuesday morning.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

We left the security of the Jib Room on Wednesday 20 April planning to go across the Sea of Abaco to Great Guana Cay and then through the Whale Cut on Thursday. But, on the way there we had a great sail. Because of the weather the whale cut had been impassable until Wednesday. So now the question was where to go?

The Abacos are divided by the Whale Cay. On the south side of the Cay is a channel going out into the sea and on the north side is a small channel between 2 reefs and with any heavy wind or swell it rages and becomes impassable. Such was the case and boats began transiting the whale on Wednesday. One of our friends, Hayden and Radeen Cochran on Island Spirit left the marina Tuesday afternoon to go through at high tide Wednesday morning because the rage would have been less. We showed up near low tide but boats were reporting no issues passing through. We were concerned because the wind was supposed to increase over night and on Thursday so we were thinking of going through and getting it behind us.

We saw 2 boats we knew, Toucan Deux and Finistere approaching and we discussed a plan to go through near low tide slack water. We actually had turned off to anchor by Guana Cay but after talking with them decided to go on. So we turned and sailed right up to the channel. We pulled in our jib and motored out the southern cut with our main and staysail.  The waves were coming on the beam so we turned into them and went to deeper water where they were less stiff and then turned in toward the northern cut and let the waves push us through. We did it! It was a piece of cake. So we shut off the engine and sailed up to Green Turtle Cay where we anchored for 2 nights.

Street scenes from Green Turtle.

Sundowners.

The decision to go through the Whale was only the first key decision we needed to contemplate. The big question was when to head north and cross the gulf stream. Our plan is to go from the Abacos all the way to Beaufort, NC in one passage. It is about 500 miles and will be 3 days offshore but save us lots of time by avoiding the ICW and let us get north quickly. But the weather challenges make this a difficult and protracted analysis. While the winds are favorable the sea swell is not.

But, while we wait out the weather we visit more islands. We spent 2 nights at Green Turtle Cay and it's primary town New Plymouth.

Green Turtle was among the islands settled by British Loyalists after the American Revolution.  The

 Memorial Park

island is the result of an enterprising and industrious community. Like most of the Abacos it exhibits prosperity with numerous stores and businesses. Unlike other islands in the Bahamas prices were also reasonable. We actually found an Asian takeout restaurant which is a first and the food was very good. We had Mongolian Conch

Our Bahamian Chinese dinner.

We also visited the Green Turtle Club which is a very nice resort on the northern end of the island. We rented a golf cart and drove around the island and found several very nice beaches. On Gilliam Bay beach we met another liveaboard cruiser couple from Annapolis who were heading back Friday. On their way out the came by our boat and hailed us. We loo forward to seeing them again.

On our first night at Green Turtle we had happy hour at Sundowners with our friends from Toucan Deux and Finistere. That night just after we had finished eating we heard yelling coming from the vicinity of Toucan and saw that a boat had drug anchor and was against them. I jumped in our dinghy and went over to see if I could help. The dragging boat had come to rest perpendicular to the hull of the catamaran with its tender caught in the anchor bridle so I cut the tender loose and the boat drifted off the hull of the catamaran and the owner could then get to his boat and reanchor. Fortunately it looked like most of the damage to the cat was superficial.

We are still debating our departure decisions with our weather routers Dane and Jenifer Clarke and in the next day or so reach a definitive plan. Tomorrow on to Manjack Cay.