Bahamas Bound

2006 - 2007

Another Adventure is getting ready to jump to the Bahamas. Right now we have one electronics (communication) issue to resolve and to receive the last of Buddy's permits - his passport. Going nuts in Marathon... its a nice place to visit, but...

We plan to post and update at least weekly. We move the older portions of the log to secondary pages accessible at the bottom of the page. Join our voyage!

Updated on 02/15/2007

1/29/07 - Monday, clear and cool. The winds let up a little so we reset our primary anchor to move us further from the mooring field. I spent the day on projects getting the safety straps on the dinghy hoist and troubleshooting the wind generator (an in-line plastic fuse holder had failed). Ruth spent the day on the phone doing her business. Lots of folks bundled up but really its tee shirt weather WI style (wussies). Now to get Buddy legal to leave and return and get the GPS talking to SkyMate and the VHF. 1/30/07 - Last night we went to Dockside for their weekly "Meet and Greet" where marina boaters get together over a pot luck dinner to get to know their neighbors. We got acquainted with a lot of really nice folk - all with an interest in cruising. It was wild to see some in tee's and shorts and others bundled up like snowmobilers. Today it is bright and cool, mid-60's. Ruth is doing business and working on Buddy's passport. Yes, he'll have a passport. I'm working on a consulting project - getting materials ready for a client. Yes, we do work several hours most days. Our offices are very waterfront.  I got an e-mail from Bradd asking for me to make arrangements to haul Sampatecho Friday... they will be limping in with a damaged cutlass bearing (main propeller shaft) and need to replace it before heading on to the Miami Boat Show.  1/31/07 - Beautiful sunny day - again. We're still in the influence of a cold front so it feels like a crisp 60's fall day. Actually that's nice. I've been trying to arrange a haul-out for Sampatecho. Prices really vary as does yard policy on owner work. I have one yard at half the price of another (and the cheaper yard is the one most recommended on the cruiser's net). Ruth's trying to sell paper and get Buddy legal to return to the US. We have the Bahamas end set up. About a dozen boats left today heading east to Rodriquez Key for a Bahamas crossing Friday when the wind switches to 5-10 knots from the south. We're working our way through the governmental maze for Buddy. It would be easier if he was stuffed! We got our US Customer sticker ordered today. It should arrive tomorrow or Friday. 2/1/07 - February -WOW! How'd that sneak up on us. Damn, another perfect day. Nothing to complain about. At least when I came across the lakes we had a little variety. We took Buddy to the vet today and got his exam out of the way - over-nighting the report to the Wildlife Service so he can get his passport. Now we wait for the result and get out of dodge. Sampatecho is sailing back sans engine - cutlass bearing failure. They should arrive tomorrow afternoon. I've made arrangements for them to be hauled, repaired, painted and re-floated. Miles and Laureen learned that their new vessel, Ariel, will be done someday. You have to love the way the Finn's schedule. 2/2/07 - Sampatecho arrived late last night. We talked to them about their Cuban experiences for a little while, picked up the materials we ordered for them and sent them to Outa The Blue Marina for the bearing replacement and bottom paint job. Ruth did the laundry while I put grommets in our present bimini getting ready to move the bows for a new top. Our Customs Users sticker arrived today... now we just need Buddy's passport and we can be on our way. The weather is suppose to turn against us for a few days with next weekend looking like the next opportunity to cross. 2/3/07 - An unusual night and morning - no wind, not even a zephyr. The humidity quickly turned to sweat as I worked with Bradd to remove the propeller shaft from Sampatecho so we could replace the cutlass bearing. After 4 hours of fighting corrosion we got the shaft out only to find the replacement bearing didn't fit. Monday Bradd would have to try to find another. We went on to cleaning the bottom and waxing the hull. At 6pm I headed back to AA, it was now windy and 70, another cold front had swept in. In my absence Ruth had completely cleaned the interior of our boat and was just getting ready to prepare soup for supper. 2/4/07 - Super bowl Sunday started with Mother Nature washing the deck and rigging with wind driven fresh water. I love it when the rain flushes the topsides! Looks like an inside day today. On the cruisers' net people were inquiring as to places to watch the game and arranging for Smorgasboat, the water taxi, to take them to shore. I finished reading Jimmy Buffett's latest book, "A Salty Piece of Land". Really enjoyed it! Rained all day with 15-20 knot winds - sure rinsed the boat down nice. We stayed inside, read and played scrabble. We decided we didn't want to watch the super bowl enough to get soaked going to shore. 2/5/07 - A grey day with 20-25 knot winds. White caps in the harbor. Earlier in the day it was interesting as the anchoring jobs that failed the test led to people scurrying around trying to sort the mess out. By noon everyone seemed to be pretty well settled in. The rain held off all day so I was able to get two shelves made with Ruth's help. Then we made a pizza run to shore. Looks like another Scrabble night. Ruth beat me 2 out of 3 last night, but not by many points (6 & 10. I beat her by 100). No passport for Buddy today. Ruth will call them tomorrow though the weather reports don't indicate a crossing window in the next 5 days - we want to be ready. 2/6/07 - Windy, cold and overcast. Sounding like a WI weather report... except that cold means low of high 60's overnight, 70's during the day. I spent the day helping Bradd and Maeve put Sampatecho back together and re-launch her. Outa The Blue Marina turned out to be a great do-it-yourself yard. We'll have to remember it. I sailed back to Boot Key harbor with them that evening where they joined us for dinner on AA. 2/7/07 - A beautiful morning! Ruth commented it was great to see Sampatecho anchored next to us again, even if only for a day. Today SeaMark came aboard to troubleshoot our NMEA link. After $240 we basically determined that the two systems are incompatible... however we did get out emergency broadcast systems (DSC) on our VHF radio working again so we have the ability to send out an automated call for help that includes our vessel position. We'll wrestle with the SkyMate position issue at another time. Maeve and Bradd had us over for dinner. It was a great meal and a nice evening with them before thy head north for the Miami Boat Show. We provisioned ($575.00) in preparation for heading to the Bahamas during the next weather window. It will be great to get moving again. All we need is to get Buddy legal. 2/8/06 - Thursday already! We had a beautiful dawn, light winds and widely scattered clouds. Sampatecho heads to Miami today. We're waiting for a packet with Buddy's papers or we'd head north with them for a day before crossing to the Bahamas. We spent the morning doing a little shopping and paying for the work SeaMark did troubleshooting our electronics. During the afternoon I started organizing materials for another article. 2/9/07 - TGIF, slight overcast - perfect day to do some exploring with our bicycles. We rode the length of Marathon to pick up some shelf brackets then slowly worked our way back stopping for a tasty fish sandwich at Herbie's and a tour of the Crane Point Museum and Nature Trail for a touch of local history. Then off to West Marine, our land home, for heavier fishing line and a couple of lures. Ruthie's going fishing! She picked 80# test line and 60# wire leader as she's meat fishing, not sport fishing. 2/10/07 - I thought our new neighbor had anchored a little close last night if the wind were to shift. It did and I awoke to the sound of his engine as he hoisted anchor and moved to prevent getting tangled in our anchor lines. Protocol dictates that the last to anchor is the first to move if an interference develops when the wind changes. Fortunately the wind was light and we didn't bump in the night. It's a good thing one has a lot of time when cruising - you need it. I started topping off the batteries today (adding water), and found I didn't have enough distilled water aboard. We got together a short shopping list and headed ashore at 10am, by 2pm we were back with 3 gallons of water. We've gathered quite a colony of barnacles in Boot Key (barnacles, sea creatures, not bar nickels). The conditions must be prime for their growth. I tried to knock them off with a synthetic scrub mop and gave up, calling on a diver to take a look and give me an estimate. Interestingly we didn't have that problem last trip in Ft. Meyers Beach or Key West. I'll have him check the zincs on the prop shaft while he's at it. An interesting aside, a barnacle's  adhesive is one of the strongest known to man. Dentists have studied it for insight into how to better fasten their devices. It's evening now, sunset and conch blowing time in a few minutes. Buddy's in the cockpit calling out to anyone that passes near (we're on the path to Dockside) to let them know he's here... after all it's all about Buddy. (It sure is when you consider how the US bureaucracy has dragged its feet in getting his passport. By the time they issue it, it will be obsolete because the vet's exam will be out side it's legal term.) Don't you love to see your tax dollars at work!

Buddy's passport photo? Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, Vaca Key viewed from AA's cockpit Sampatecho near ready to relaunch Bradd reseats prop shaft in new cutlass bearing Ruth goes island with affordable housing While Ruth snuck up to photo this one... Another iguana was stalking her from behind... whoops Doing the tourist bit at the Crane Museum

Visit earlier portions of the Bahamas Bound trip log...