2008 Cruising
4/16 to 4/30/2008
This is our log for 2008; the 2007 East Coast and other voyages are now in Prior Voyages.
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 05/01/2008
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4/16/08 - A sunny windy morning. At 1am this morning the winds peaked in the high 30's and the temperature fell to the high 60's. The cold front continues to pour into the Abacos (yah, like they know what cold is). Though we were snug in our slip, Ruth and I had to get up at 1am and tightened some lines to keep the boat from pounding on the dock. The weather forecast has us stuck here a couple more days. Kyanna (Klause & Rachael) and Pelican (Keith & Joanie) are in slips near us. They are the two boats from Bayfield, WI. Very nice folks! Ariel is a little further down the dock. Twenty boats, almost half the anchorage moved to slips yesterday on the forecast of another couple of nights of gale force winds. We helped the dock master bring in boats in the strong winds. An impromptu dock party followed with the marina discounting beer and mixed drinks for happy hour. It was fun meeting the other survivors of the winds the night before and exchanging adventures. Luckily only a couple of boats were damaged the night before, no one was hurt and most of the boat damage was minor, under a couple thousand dollars. The docks and facilities at Bluff House are great! It was nice to take a long hot shower. They have wild parrots here, a Bahaman Macaw. We've been watching them and hearing them as they fly above the harbor. Kewl! Buddy hasn't quite figured them out yet. 4/17/08 - After our second night in the marina we moved AA back to anchor, the winds had moderated to about 10 knots from the NE. Actually our 2 nights at the marina were very reasonable with our BoatUS discount, $143.00 and that included 4 drinks and 56 gallons of water. Getting out of the slip was a little tricky as it was a cross wind exit but it went well with Miles aboard to help walk the boat out between the pelican posts. How cold is it? About 69 F, even the dogs dug out their winter sweaters before going on deck. Okay, the Miami dogs. Ruth made Buddy's favorite dish - chili. It was a great batch, not quite hot enough to melt your spoon but warm enough to make your hair sweat. We've spent a quiet day, both of us are fighting some bug and are lying low to build strength for the longer days of sailing ahead. With the wind moderating I think there will be quite the exodus tomorrow as boat head north. We plan of leaving 7:30am with Ariel to catch the channel during high tide. 4/18/08 - Heading home, one more island and a night on the bank before we jump back to Florida. It was a beautiful day, however the wind was directly behind us requiring that we motor sail to cover the distance we wanted. Two more days of sailing and we'll be somewhere in the vicinity of Palm Beach... a little north or south depending on where Miles can get his transmission rebuilt. Enroute to Great Sale Cay Ruthie caught a Cero, a painted mackerel... two nice fillets for supper. Yaayyy Ruthie. I cooked it on the grill... made a great meal with rice and green beans. We anchored in the SW corner of Great Sale Cay, a nice spot of 10' water that provides good protection for winds from the NW to SE. 4/19/08 - Another 7:30am departure, 43 miles to Little Bahamas Bank... our last Bahaman stop before we leave for the USA. The wind way light, about 7 knot and directly behind us. We motor sailed for a couple of hours then furled our headsail as we were outrunning the wind. You can tell we are nearing the US, we can hear BoatUS and the Coast Guard on the VHF. Ruth caught another Cero, larger than the first. We have two beautiful fillets in the refrigerator for a future dinner. She's turning into a fishin' machine. We anchored in 15' of water by a reef at the edge of the bank. Bounced quite a bit in the 2' seas as there is no land out here to provide any still water. Pelican and Victoria 5 joined us as did a trawler, Jolie Blonde. All are headed for various Florida destinations tomorrow. 4/20/08 - Up at 3am after a rock 'n roll night. By 4 we were headed across the gulf stream for Fort Pierce, FL under the full moon. It was a pretty smooth crossing of 8 hour duration... motor sailing all 63 miles of the trek. Ruth "the fishin' machine" caught a nice dolphin (mahi mahi) and we threw the fillets in the freezer. We reconnected with the US on arrival. First phone, learning that we have an offer on the house - the realtor lost the SkyMate contact e-mail we'd given her and couldn't figure how to reach us. Then we checked e-mail, about a 100 though our filters cleaned about 75 of them out. Another batch were failure to deliver notices for e-mails we never sent. Someone is using one of our account to spam. We'll have to figure which one and close it. If I could find the guy I'd advocate cutting his fingers off! We phoned Customs and got an arrival number. Now we have 24 hours to get to the airport and check in in person. I wonder if the illegal immigrants make the airport trip? Dah? 4/21/08 - A cool morning, low 70's compared to mid-80's yesterday. Miles, Laureen, Ruth and I took a cab to the airport to clear customs. It took about 5 minutes to clear in. During that period we didn't see a single illegal trying to clear in... guess they didn't have the cash for a cab. Time to get my sore behind my ear looked at, so Ruth and I took $40 taxi to a walk-in clinic... knowing it was the start of a chain of referrals. The walk-in had met their quota for the day by 2pm so they told us to come back the next day. Tried to make an appointment but they said no, they don't do that... just come tomorrow and hope you make the cut-off. We walked a couple of blocks to another walk-in clinic and were seen right away. The Dr suspected my sore was skin cancer. Ruth had a bump on her leg and hadn't had a physical in a long time so he arranged lab screening for both of us and a dermatologist referral for me. He diagnosed Ruth's issue as an infected hail follicle. The game begins... 4/22/08 - Sunny with a nice breeze. We took a cab to the lab to get our screening started. Found that the walk-in clinic had messed up the spelling of Ruth Hammerberg so, on finishing at the lab, we walked to the Clinic and got that straightened out. We asked about the dermatologist appointment... they hadn't made it yet so we waited while they did. The dermatologist's office was another cab ride. They quickly took a biopsy noting the lab was backed up about 10 days. I signed forms so the records could be transferred to where we may be. By 2:30 we were back at the boat after about $100 of cab fares. Ariel's transmission was pulled and shipped, they're waiting for timing on repairs or replacement. I suspect we'll be here a week. I'll need to get the biopsy report and likely schedule treatment further up the coast. I traded e-mails with my brother Karl as he's gone through this several times. Can't figure where this came from... we don't have a family history that would suggest it. I spent the evening sanding and varnishing the swim platform, cockpit sole and deck trim. Maintenance is ongoing if one wants to keep the boat in Bristol condition. 4/23/08 - Late morning, 7:30am... started coffee. While the coffee pot did it's thing I did mine. Scuff sanded the swim platform and helm seats, applying a coat of varnish. Next I need to refinish the cockpit table and bow platform. These will be bigger projects as all the finish needs to come off before I start varnishing again. Our 3 house batteries have been suspect for the last few month. Thanks to the solar and wind we've been able to nurse them back to the states. Today I figured out a place to relocate the starting battery so we can put in a bank of 4 house batteries. It looks like my next project is to move the starting battery and install a new house bank. Can't really complain as the batteries have about 4 3/4 years of very heavy duty... even with loving care that's quite a while. Sanded the bow seat and applied a coat of Sikkens. Big improvement already. Two more coats of Sikkens and 2 of varnish and it will be restored. Mad Max called today. He'd worked with me at Ames Point Boatworks. He related that he was now working for a firm in Jacksonville that makes "shadow boats" - the small ships that shadow mega-yachts, carrying fuel, parts, supplies and toys. Imagine a yacht so big it needs its own supply ship. Laureen and Miles were over for dinner last night. We grilled a mackerel and dolphin, ending up with more fish than we could eat. Fish sandwiches or salad for lunch tomorrow. 4/24/08 - Again a sunny warm morning with strong (20 knot) winds whistling through the rigging. I'd rescued a runaway kayak last night along with an 18' fishing boat. The owner stopped by and thanked us, asking if we'd like a couple of nice swordfish fillets - hey, how could I refuse? Rain squalls all day. One minute sunny and mild, the next windy and rainy. Made for an interesting day. Given that, I got a coat of varnish on the bow seat and made a cutout and hold down for the new starting battery location. I need to get another starting battery as the old one is too large for the location and over 5 years old. Once that is moved we'll have an ideal setup for the 4th house battery. Not any too soon given the age of our current 3 batteries. Great day, Ruth sold 2 trucks of paper and our house. Yippee! Finally! Happy dance! Ruth will be heading home soon to clear things out while I work on the boat and move it north. For insurance coverage it has to be north of Morehead City, NC by June 1. So while Ruth is gone I'll be juggling clinic appointments and the move north. I may duck back to Boca for a doctor. The exact dates are all in the air right now but the closing in May 16th so the time is short. I just got our new address, it will be Florida... St Brendan's Isle effective May 15th. It is a mail forwarding service - Amy has been our mail sorter and forwarder - I'm sure she won't miss the job. We're now FL neighbors of Miles & Laureen:
Juan and his daughter dropped off a nice fresh swordfish steak for us. It looks delicious. Definitely grill material! 4/25/08 - Sunny and mild, almost perfect morning. Laureen got a rental car so they could get around town easier. Yesterday was haircut day for them. Today Ruth & I went to the clinic for our blood test results. Mine were A-OK except for the skin issue. Ruthie left with a couple of prescriptions. All in all we look good at the lab on paper. I spent part of the morning shutting down the Sail2Cure website. The information had become dated and we were no longer updating the site. The Leukemia Cup Regattas had been a good cause on Lake Winnebago and a lot of fun. Our current lifestyle and the end of Lake Winnebago Cups made the site passé'. Our Gemstones page still provides a link to the national regattas. The particular harbors data has been picked up and posted by an Appleton Yacht Club member. I finished installing the new series 24 AGM starting battery under the trash bin beneath the galley sink. It made a very nice looking installation and is perfectly positioned for proper boat trim. A quick test confirmed that everything is connected correctly... the engine started and ran; the charger charged - I love it when a plan comes together. Brad Abbott at Ames Point Boatworks would approve. Tomorrow we will take a slip, provision and install the new 4 battery house bank. 4/26/08 - Dawn... the sun broke over a low bank of clouds heralding another Florida chamber of commerce day. We moved AA into a slip so I could change out our house bank of batteries. I figured with all that weight to move around I didn't want to be messing with the dinghy. Also we wanted a good charge on the batteries before we put them in service. After securing AA in the slip we all went to the farmers market for some excellent produce. Nice treat and the prices were reasonable. Renee noted she'd like to live near the market for all her produce. After lunch Ruth did laundry and I did batteries. Hauled 4 old ones out and put 4 series 31 AGMs in... increasing our house capacity from 345 to 440 amp hours. Now we can bank more of that wind and solar power when it is available. The AGMs will also take a charge faster, utilizing our alternator better. After lugging batteries around all afternoon I'm sure glad that job is over! The installation looks very good! 4/27/08 - Again a beautiful dawn. We've been on shore power all night so the new batteries are fully charged and the air conditioner has worked out all the bugs of non-use and is running smoothly (we don't use it enough to keep all the valves free). Ruth has to set her travel plans. It's a little hard as she doesn't know where the boat will be when she's ready to return... doesn't know the return date either. If the house sale goes according to schedule the closing is May 16th. This week should shed some light on that. Ruth and Renee went to Wal-Mart this morning allowing Ruth the opportunity to get her prescriptions filled. Tomorrow it's back to the clinic for a blood pressure follow-up. When they returned we moved AA to the fuel dock for diesel and dinghy gasoline. While the prices are lower than the $5.45 we paid in the Bahamas by a dollar its sure higher than the peak of $1.75 we paid when we did the loop. After fueling we moved out to our anchorage by the ICW to await Ariel's transmission replacement. Ruth will likely be in WI by then and Buddy and I will be heading north.. We grilled the swordfish steaks, surprised by the amount of meat when we sliced the fillet to marinate it (Ruth mixed a delicious marinate with 1/2 cup soy sauce, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 tsp grated orange rind, 1/4 tsp grated lemon rind, 1/3 cup almond slices, 1/2 cup softened butter, and ground black pepper with 1/2 tsp dill weed sprinkled over the fish while grilling). In addition to an excellent economical dinner (our fill of fish and asparagus @ $0.65/plate) we also have fish for luncheon sandwiches. 4/28/08 - Yes, it's boring, yet another beautiful sunrise in paradise. The temperature was perfect for sleeping last night. We picked up our e-mail and found the IRS wants some more money for 2006. Back to Nancy's Tax service for review. Arrgghhh! How much did you earn? Please enclose it as payment. We returned to the clinic and had Ruth's follow-up blood pressure check. During the walk to CVS to pick up a glucose meter we checked to see if Al (the 6' alligator we'd seen in the drainage ditch running through the mall parking lot) was at home. Nope, must be out shopping. Back at the boat, courtesy of Miles picking us up with their rental car, we put together lists for the sale and distribution of the stuff in the house. Ruth will do that while I get my surgeries and move Buddy and the boat north. The wind built into the low 20's while widely scattered light showers whizzed through. Not much precipitation. By bedtime the wind had died to nothing. 4/29/08 - Uh huh, another warm dawn with a light overcast. Still no breeze. Weather guesser says chance of thunderstorms again today. Boats streamed by heading north. Our neighborhood dredge passed by, a cute little tug attached to a barge with a backhoe on it. They dredge, loading the sand on the barge until it is full. Then they run down to the port and stack the sand for export to the Bahamas? Looks like they've figured a way to get paid on both ends of the deal - smart! Ruth and Renee went gathering - found a Big Lots. Now we have a pantry full of canned goods again. Miles and I played with his jib trim, finally deciding that we had to like it the way it was as there was no way we were going to improve it. With the speed he has I'm not sure I'd change it if I could. 4/30/08 - Wow, it's the end of April. Overslept and awoke to Buddy's "Good morning" and "Barry, where are you?"... breaks me up every time. Miles called and I went in to talk to his welder with him. Got a tubing repair on the arch that's going to be a little tricky and a steaming light guard that should be pretty straight forward. No answer on Ariel's transmission yet. Also no results on my biopsy. It's been a week. Later in the day I left Ruth on a beach to play and went back to Ariel to see how work was progressing. No news on the transmission but the welder had straightened the arch and had a patch cut for the damaged tube. Looks like plan A is working. The painter had sprayed the dock dings and they need only to be polished and she'll be looking like new! |
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Refuges from the anchorage
Bluff House Marina facilities
How cold? It was a 3 human night at Green Turtle Cay
Taylor Creek, Harbor Town Marina, Fort Pierce - our US landfall
Our friends on Moon Beam head north from Fort Pierce after clearing Customs
Cruising sailors Laureen & Miles coming for fish - like that dinghy style?
Towboat heading for the bridge by our Fort Pierce anchorage
Restored cockpit sole - gotta keep the girl looking fancy
Restored helm sole and seats - she's looking good again!
Starting battery fit under waste bin
Port half of house batteries, 2 of the 4 new AGMs we just installed
Ruthie preps the swordfish fillets
Grilled Swordfish with asparagus... yummmmm, thank you Juan - Look out Wolfgang Puck
Dredge loaded with sand
Another sailboat under tow
Grady-White? Nope, Boston Whaler
One whistle pass skipper - USCG workboat for repairing day marks |
Visit earlier portions of our 2008 voyage...
| Boca Raton to Miami, FL - Jan 1 to 15, 2008 | Miami to Key West, FL - Jan 16 to 31, 2008 |
| Key West to Marathon, FL - Feb 1 to 15, 2008 | Marathon, FL to Nassau, Bahamas - Feb 16 - 29, 2008 |
| Norman Cay to Georgetown, Bahamas - March 1 - 15, 2008 | Georgetown to Royal Island - March 16 - 31, 2008 |
| Royal Island to Green Turtle Cay - April 1 - 15, 2008 | |
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