No blogging this week. dave n Jess
If I could say we were so busy that there was no time to blog I would but that would be lying. I don’t have pictures to post with my blog so who wants to read words without those fabulous pictures? When I finally post the pictures you will not need any words.
The abridged version is… the winds have been 8-12 (perfect SW winds to get anywhere north, perfect accept to give them the “ride” that Dan and Chelsey got. This is regular sailing not strong wind sailing. The boat is actually not heeled over with weather helm. She pretty much sails herself and we have had to assist with the engine to move us along to be “on time” for the airport on Wednesday.) We have had a night sail that was calm and sweet. It is fun to sail north and visit different places without having to be back at the same place in a short time. This crew is way into snorkeling and looking for Trrrreasurrrre.
Over the past months Ben and I have been able to witness the awakening or “spring” of the ocean. One year in Mexico our host lady said that the best snorkeling is spring and summer when everything is blooming or bloomed. In February the coral was brown and it seemed to blend into the rocks. BUT in the last 2 weeks it was bloomed and is now so colorful. It first started out with brown sprigs of finger sized shoots that look like baby catcuses. Then brown-like flower stuff grows and then falls off to leave the most beautiful colors to shine in the sun. Now everywhere we look in the Thunderball cave (where we were at in the beginning of march) it is colored with yellow, red, purples of all shades and a brilliant blue! How did we miss them the first time? They just looked like parts of the rocks but they are not.
We have arrived! Arrived to blue clear water. In the first 2 months the water was always churned up with wind/waves/sand and now on a calm day you can see miles underground. You can also just sit on the boat and look down and you can see fish swimming under the boat. Big and small fishes, all colors shapes and sizes. Dave and I saw a baby lobster in its second form of life. It looks like a spider – all legs.
We have tried to fish. We are not so good. BUT we did get a bite… a big bite… a bite that ate my dad’s lure again! Sorry dad, I’ll have to get you another one for your birthday or something, ha ha. But that was exciting to see Ben grab the pole with eyes wide open! Pull and Pull, well first he let it have line just like dad had instructed us… then he pulled and pulled only to have the line go limp… Awwwwwe we missed it! And now it has a lure in it’s mouth. Poor guy.
Speaking of “hunting for fish”. Dave, the hunter/gatherer has been waiting to hand grab a lobster. But none has been to be found until yesterday when there were 5 lobsters in a protected area and he could not bring them into our pot to boil up for supper. Poor dave, poor me cuz I want fresh lobster sometime from our own hands. Our time will hopefully come. We are going to another island the next day and hopefully that will be our last chance before we send them back to the arctic tundra. Jess hopes it will be “spring” when they get to MN. We say they are Home right here with us!
Our highlights for the week have been camaraderie and amazingly clear snorkeling, excellent food from the galley (smurk), games – many hands of 500 mixed in with banana grams here and there and fish/coral in all it’s Glory! His Glory is all over the place!
I’m still not used to such shallow water but am getting better at de-stressing when we have to cross a shallow area.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Swimming with Dolphins in the wild!
Dolphins in the wild
On my facebook I said, “I swam with dolphins.” One person commented by asking if I had been to discovery cove. No these are wild dolphins just swimming by our boat. Whenever we see dolphins I have noticed that if you give them attention they stay and if you ignor them they leave.
2 days ago we moved to be closer to this reef off of the buoy markers. On our way there Ben just noticed a fin and said, “Dolphins!” So I turned the boat around. We were motoring. And we kept going in circles as the dolphins kept playing by the boat. A few other boaters joined us in the meeting and celebration. Annie wanted to badly to jump and swim with them but there was too many other boats coming and going so we offered her to kayak around them.
Her and Chelsey hopped in kayaks and paddled as close as they could get. Which is pretty close, a few feet or so. There was this cute baby dolphin hanging around momma. The dolphins finally left and we were on our way.
We snorkeled the reef. This time we found a huge lobster. It was so big we could not get ourselves to kill it to eat it. Even though I have wanted to catch a lobster, this one seemed to old and too special to eat! I guess it will be chicken tonight.
Later in the afternoon, after we had snorkeled again. I don’t remember who spotted them but the call, “Dolphins” rang out again.
Dan looked at me and said, “Are you going in?” I quickly responded, “Well yeah!!!” Dan was so excited, just like I was. I turned to get my snorkel gear and poof, Dan just jumped in the water without his mask or fins. He did not want to miss anything! Ben saw that the dolphins were just going under him. I through Dan his gear.
I got suited up with utilities to help me be more fish-like, snorkel – to keep my head focused at the dolpins, Mask so I can see under water, fins so I can be Flipper too!
I was waiting for the dolphin pair (mom and babe) to pop up when Dan said, “They are right under you!” My head looked down and there were two dolphins just staring up at me! I waved and tried to make dolphin noises so as to show them how happy I was. (Yes one of my favorite parts about Finding Nemo is when Dori talks whale. I got to talk dolphin!) Then the 4 of us, Dan, me, mommy dolphin and baby all swam along together.
The baby was just as curious about us as we were about her. She looked up at us with her eye and followed our movements. Mommy gave her a little bit of space and we just swam with the baby. We are probably 6 feet above them. Once you dove down you would be within 1 foot of their tail. We would lose sightings of them and pop up they would come. By this time Annie and Chelsey were just getting in the water. The dolphins hanged around for a long time. Long enough for each of us to have a swim with the baby and almost feel like we could touch them.
I was so surreal. Just like a dream!
There was a connection between us all. The baby wanted to play and twirl around in circles. The mom was comfortable enough to give her baby a fun experience. Something I will never forget. Afterwards I kept repeating, “We swam with dolphins!!” Ben once again sacrificed the swim for pictures and he has amazing pictures!
I can’t describe the look of inquisitive-ity when that baby looked up at me. We both totally smiled and cherished each other and gave thanks to our creator.
Here goes Annie and Chelsey and Dan back to the frozen tundra. Now we welcome Dave and Jess!
Friday, March 18, 2011
3-17-11 cont
3-17-11
Dan, Ben and Chelsey went back out to the wavy churned up sea to take a joy ride on Cricket. While sailing in 3-5 seas one can go below and ride the "fun-house". They tacked back and forth while Annie and I went for the land and beach.
The sailing was fun. It included waves,sun, fun, wind, blood, all point of sail, and even a few gills turned green and feed the fishes with their breakfast. You'll have to ask Dan what the blood shed was about (Linda, don't worry he is fine now and no stitches needed)
The helmsmen (Dan) was dodging the morning traffic of boats entering as they exited. He learned alot about our system. I think he is ready to get his captains license.
Annie and I met a local guy, he was super nice to us. We went walking along the beach and tried to find the cave but in doing so we ended up on private property. The man tried to scold us but Annie is so cute how could he after seeing her smile. We apologized then went swimming to the cave then snuck away to the otherwise of the island. Phew! There are so many cool trails thru the palm trees! So fun!
We ended the night with banana grams, dan and I fought tooth and nail, back and forth all night.
Dan, Ben and Chelsey went back out to the wavy churned up sea to take a joy ride on Cricket. While sailing in 3-5 seas one can go below and ride the "fun-house". They tacked back and forth while Annie and I went for the land and beach.
The sailing was fun. It included waves,sun, fun, wind, blood, all point of sail, and even a few gills turned green and feed the fishes with their breakfast. You'll have to ask Dan what the blood shed was about (Linda, don't worry he is fine now and no stitches needed)
The helmsmen (Dan) was dodging the morning traffic of boats entering as they exited. He learned alot about our system. I think he is ready to get his captains license.
Annie and I met a local guy, he was super nice to us. We went walking along the beach and tried to find the cave but in doing so we ended up on private property. The man tried to scold us but Annie is so cute how could he after seeing her smile. We apologized then went swimming to the cave then snuck away to the otherwise of the island. Phew! There are so many cool trails thru the palm trees! So fun!
We ended the night with banana grams, dan and I fought tooth and nail, back and forth all night.
March 17 Happy Birthday Trent
Good morning… it is March 17, happy birthday Trent!
Here I sit in the dawn of the sun. The island is beautifully placed on the bow of the ship. Behind me just came by the big Mail Boats that bring all the supplies to the islands weekly or so. It is relatively calm and while sitting here since 7am in the past half hour there has been 10 sailboats going out to sea. Today the seas look still rolly-polly but the winds look a calm 14-19k and all those boats know it is a day to get out of dodge. Lila is cuddled up to me in the cockpit as I blog to you all.
Here I sit in the dawn of the sun. The island is beautifully placed on the bow of the ship. Behind me just came by the big Mail Boats that bring all the supplies to the islands weekly or so. It is relatively calm and while sitting here since 7am in the past half hour there has been 10 sailboats going out to sea. Today the seas look still rolly-polly but the winds look a calm 14-19k and all those boats know it is a day to get out of dodge. Lila is cuddled up to me in the cockpit as I blog to you all.
3-15-11
Gerogetown is a little city with hundreds of boaters hanging around the bays.
3-15-11
Our previous crew left yesterday at 5:15am and our new crew arrived yesterday at 5:30PM. During such time Ben and I had only enough time to do laundry (the sheets and salt covered clothes) get groceries and here is the most important… Ben had to get the dinghy working. Our outboard stopped working. Well I take that back, it starts but it does not keep working unless you hold out the choke and nurse it that way. He went to the town dinghy dock to work on it and a few people were there to cheer him on to affirm him to get his carburetor cleaned out. So he is my hero for the day.
The new crew arrived, Annie, Chelsey and Dan. With the new crew comes new excitement! (Oh sorry I can’t post pictures cuz we did not have enough time to find a wifi place before they showed up)
The winds are still strong NE winds so we decided to hang around the bay and feed the fish from the cave. We saw two sting rays all hidden in the sand. It was a good time. We went over to the other side of the island where the wind is rip-snorten-up good wave action. Even bigger than last week. We swam in the waves and crashed into the sandy beach. We body surfed the best we know how and just plain played in a huge wave pool of sorts.
We ended the night with games… stayed up late which is a switch from all our other crews. Mostly each previous week the crew is asleep or in bed by 10p or earlier. But not this crew, I think we stayed up till 1:30 or so. Chelsey crushed us in Hearts. Well Dan was a close competitor the whole night while Annie and I fought over the rear, and Ben was in the middle most of the night.
3-15-11
Our previous crew left yesterday at 5:15am and our new crew arrived yesterday at 5:30PM. During such time Ben and I had only enough time to do laundry (the sheets and salt covered clothes) get groceries and here is the most important… Ben had to get the dinghy working. Our outboard stopped working. Well I take that back, it starts but it does not keep working unless you hold out the choke and nurse it that way. He went to the town dinghy dock to work on it and a few people were there to cheer him on to affirm him to get his carburetor cleaned out. So he is my hero for the day.
The new crew arrived, Annie, Chelsey and Dan. With the new crew comes new excitement! (Oh sorry I can’t post pictures cuz we did not have enough time to find a wifi place before they showed up)
The winds are still strong NE winds so we decided to hang around the bay and feed the fish from the cave. We saw two sting rays all hidden in the sand. It was a good time. We went over to the other side of the island where the wind is rip-snorten-up good wave action. Even bigger than last week. We swam in the waves and crashed into the sandy beach. We body surfed the best we know how and just plain played in a huge wave pool of sorts.
We ended the night with games… stayed up late which is a switch from all our other crews. Mostly each previous week the crew is asleep or in bed by 10p or earlier. But not this crew, I think we stayed up till 1:30 or so. Chelsey crushed us in Hearts. Well Dan was a close competitor the whole night while Annie and I fought over the rear, and Ben was in the middle most of the night.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Kids going home
The winds have been NE all week and strong about 20knots. We are in a calmish place between Georgetown and stocking island. This week has flown by. Each crew seems to have a routine of it's own. This week is no different. We get up late. Eat. Then go in search of snorkeling.
When groups like this are on a schedule it is hard to sail to many places cuz it takes two days to sail to the out island it then takes two days back again. That's four days of sailing. All this traveling and no snorkeling.
So this week we thought to sail to long island except that last Tuesday the winds were west and we wanted to head directly east. That would require the crew getting up early to just motor most of the way so as to get there before dark.
Anchoring here in the Bahamas is a bit tricky in that it is a good idea to see the bottom cuz there are coral reefs everywhere. Plus if we anchor at night it is hard to get in the bay cuz there are so many boats!
So we did not trip over to long island. We stayed in Georgetown area. Really stocking island and Elizabeth island. We finally found a good snorkeling spot yesterday. We even saw a huge lobster.
Ben was brave and even picked up the big thing and then the lobster wiggled out of his hands. The lobsters here don't have pinchers like in Maine so they are a bit more approachable in demeanor.
we will post pictures when we can. After we snorkel we eat something made on the boat by the ships cook and captain.
Then we close out the night with games and early to bed. Yes these kids that stay up till dawn go to bed early when sailing. I guess we wear them out with all this sun and exercise.
Paul's favorite thing to see was the sting rays! Him and I were in the same spot where one stingray swam by him and one by me. We both swear it was 10 feet long to it's tail. They had a round body about 6 feet around.
Then a small shark swam by. Oh those black sharks are bull sharks. They sound big and bad but they don't eat people.
We found a cave where you feed the fish and they all rush out in a swarm of fish! Too fun!
The kids have all jumped off the bow sprit. It is a right of passage. Just like checking the anchor to make sure it is set.
Here is a smattering of our week:
We swam
We Snorkeled everyday or twice a day
We went to the beach that had huge waves so we all body surfed! It was thrilling.
Pancakes
Fish and more fish
We ate more
All is good! Your kids are all safe and sound!
Pam
When groups like this are on a schedule it is hard to sail to many places cuz it takes two days to sail to the out island it then takes two days back again. That's four days of sailing. All this traveling and no snorkeling.
So this week we thought to sail to long island except that last Tuesday the winds were west and we wanted to head directly east. That would require the crew getting up early to just motor most of the way so as to get there before dark.
Anchoring here in the Bahamas is a bit tricky in that it is a good idea to see the bottom cuz there are coral reefs everywhere. Plus if we anchor at night it is hard to get in the bay cuz there are so many boats!
So we did not trip over to long island. We stayed in Georgetown area. Really stocking island and Elizabeth island. We finally found a good snorkeling spot yesterday. We even saw a huge lobster.
Ben was brave and even picked up the big thing and then the lobster wiggled out of his hands. The lobsters here don't have pinchers like in Maine so they are a bit more approachable in demeanor.
we will post pictures when we can. After we snorkel we eat something made on the boat by the ships cook and captain.
Then we close out the night with games and early to bed. Yes these kids that stay up till dawn go to bed early when sailing. I guess we wear them out with all this sun and exercise.
Paul's favorite thing to see was the sting rays! Him and I were in the same spot where one stingray swam by him and one by me. We both swear it was 10 feet long to it's tail. They had a round body about 6 feet around.
Then a small shark swam by. Oh those black sharks are bull sharks. They sound big and bad but they don't eat people.
We found a cave where you feed the fish and they all rush out in a swarm of fish! Too fun!
The kids have all jumped off the bow sprit. It is a right of passage. Just like checking the anchor to make sure it is set.
Here is a smattering of our week:
We swam
We Snorkeled everyday or twice a day
We went to the beach that had huge waves so we all body surfed! It was thrilling.
Pancakes
Fish and more fish
We ate more
All is good! Your kids are all safe and sound!
Pam
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Georgetown
Yesterday we sailed to goergetown the major hub of over 250 sailboats all anchored. We anchor far off and went snorkeling! Melanie found a huge star fish! We have pictures for later.
Today we motored to the hub of sailboats. We went snorkeling near a cave that was teaming with every kind of fish. We brought food and lured out the fish The many schools if fish!
There were also huge sea slugs. They were just munchin on the bottom.
Afterwards we walked to the windward side. The winds are still pipin at 15k ENE. The waves on the sandy beach were fun to play in. We brought over the kayak to surf some waves. We body surfed till we were exhausted.
All in all a super fun day with the kids!
We ended the day with the traditional banana grams game.
Good night
Pam
Today we motored to the hub of sailboats. We went snorkeling near a cave that was teaming with every kind of fish. We brought food and lured out the fish The many schools if fish!
There were also huge sea slugs. They were just munchin on the bottom.
Afterwards we walked to the windward side. The winds are still pipin at 15k ENE. The waves on the sandy beach were fun to play in. We brought over the kayak to surf some waves. We body surfed till we were exhausted.
All in all a super fun day with the kids!
We ended the day with the traditional banana grams game.
Good night
Pam
Monday, March 7, 2011
All the kids arrived safely!
Paul and Allison, Jason and Melanie have all arrived safely! We are eating dinner and all are excited to go sailing tomorrow. The weather is perfect!
Smile
Pam
Smile
Pam
Sunday, March 6, 2011
3 seconds of sheer terror!
3 Seconds of Sheer Terror!!
How do I begin to explain this in words???
The waves were 5 seconds apart or so. The wave height 6 feet is a modest assumption. Some waves were closer. They just kept rolling and rolling and crashing into the breakers just outside of Emerald Bay Marina. We were out in the Sound and looking for the entrance to the marina. The winds a modest 13 knots but this is after 3 days of winds over 20-27 knots. The waves can pick up in the wide ocean. And Big waves they were. No surprise.
We had been watching the weather and watching a new website called windfinder.com! So for days we knew it was going to be rough going to get to Georgetown (GT). Ya know it is tough to put a sailor on a schedule and here again we are in a place of needing to be somewhere on a certain day.
When the student is ready the teacher appears. When we live by the spirit then the Divine appears. We were at Staniel Cay wondering when to leave and how to get to GT. We ate at a place and there were sailors that we had met in Nassau. We told them of our plans and they gave us a perfect way to get there. One short 20 mile day to Farmers Cay. Anchor for the night then Go out the Golliet Cut on an out tide to GT 30 miles.
The anchorage was beautiful at farmers cay. The sail was good again with winds at the 20k mark and we only used our Genoa. Ben sailed the full day while I read and relaxed. It was a very nice gift. We got up the next day and well… I will tell that story later…. You must be getting tired of our poop-pump stories – they just keep coming and coming! Or running and running or plugged up and plugged up.
So today we had to motor cuz the winds were finally turning southeast from our Northeaster and we were going southeast. We also knew that today was the mildest day in four days. Plus we read the chart book and it said not to enter the marina if you have a strong NE wind. I thought it would be fine due to the winds were now SE. little did we know that the waves were still crashing after such a long few days of NE winds.
We motored so as to not arrive in the night. It was about 5pm. We radioed the harbor master to give us instructions as how to enter the marina. It looked scary cuz all I saw was crashing big waves and then I saw the cut. Here is where the Terror begins…
As we were just outside of the harbor cut (and I mean a cut is where the opening goes from wide like the ocean to a narrow cut… all the weather, winds, current have to squish through a small cut in between the breakers. Breakers are big rocks or man made cliffs where the surf crashes on. Ya know just like Hawaii 5-0 where the waves are huge and crash up against the rocks spraying water 30-50 feet in the air… yeah that!) well this was an inlet cuz there was no outlet at the other side.
As Ben and I looked for the inlet, we could not see an opening. It looked like just waves and waves of surf hitting breakers and crashing. The waves were so huge! I just can’t describe it. But I’ll try…
I was on motor power going 5 knots. The swells were closer together and probably about 6 feet high. I rode up on one swell it was not curling into a crashing wave it was just a calm swell. I rode up the next one… all the while I was watching the red and green markers, around me was waves crashing into breakers making loud noises to the right and left of me. I stayed focused on making sure we shot through that small inlet! The next swell was even bigger when all of a sudden -as we entered the narrow channel- a wave caught us broadside. the boat heeled over 85 degrees… lets say the mast was almost in the water, sea water poured into the cockpit but I was unaffected by the water and didn’t even notice until later when it was all over the cockpit was soaked…. Ok back to the wave… it tipped us on our side… we were headed for a big breaker on our beam side… This is the moment I screamed really loud so loud that our new neighbor who was watching this all from the shore heard me yell. He thought we were toast.
He had been watching the boats arrive and each other boat had just missed the crashing waves by seconds but not us! Nope we got tossed sideways, it is here again where I said I screamed, out of terror but I was not unfocused, I was staring at the green marker, Ben repeated what the harbor mastor had said, “stay to the green marker” Ben said, go to the left of the Green marker. (I just could not get myself to do that cuz that is why they have markers so you don’t go outside them.) I was ready to run over the green marker but not go on the wrong side of it. So back to my blood curdling screa… One-thousand-and-one (we were tipped over) one-thousand-and-two we were just popping back up and one-thousand-and-three I cranked the wheel so as to surf the ridge of the wave to the green marker (can you imagin our boat suring on a wave? Yes it did just that. An 18 ton surf board!!,) the boat preformed amazing – she righted herself… rode the wave to the green bouy I gunned the engine to push harder through the waves and pop – just like my sore toe I felt immediate relief! It was calm inside the marina. I was shaking like a leaf. Ben was shook up too. During this he was sitting behind me in the stern pulpit thinking, oh no we are going to be washed up against the far breaker rocks.
I was amazed the harbor master let us come through that knowing how dangerous that was! And I’m happy we had no passengers so as to not scare them. It was scary but I never felt dispare or hopelessness like we were going to die. I have to say in the 3 seconds it is amazing how our minds can race with thoughts and things appear in slow motion!
In hindsight I can’t think of anything I would have done differently except to not go in the inlet. When we arrived a crew of awestruck sailors met us at the dock to help us tie up. Our neighbor who saw the whole thing said we did an excellent job getting through that. There was another boat that just tied up and he just finished entering, he was shook up too. Lots of camaraderie all around in admiration of getting through! Many of the sailors have been here for 3 days just waiting for the winds to die down and here we went through it! Never again. My favorite port is a port I have already been so I know the lay of the land. Now that I know the lay of the land, I would never attempt that again.
As I said before when you live by the Spirit the Divine shows up. And the Divine has kept us safe and I am truly grateful! Amen
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Thunderball Cave! Amazing
In heaven! Yup, ya know when you have an image in your mind and you keep searching for that to come to fruition. Or maybe a Dream and it comes true and it is even better than you imagined? Welp! Ta Da! We have found the perfect snorkeling place just like in the movies!
It is a cave. So going in the entry place is a little bit nervy cuz the hole to get through is low. I can’t imagin going in at high tide. Once you are in – and it takes a lot of kicking power to get in through the current! You can’t stop for a minute or you will be pushed out again.
We heard to go at slack tide so there would be no big tide. It was close to slack and it was still a good push against you. BUT inside it was a whole new world. One you only see in movies. And actually there was a movie made here at that cave called, “Thunderball” we will have to see it now that we have been in the cave.
It is relatively small. We saw schools and schools of fish. You can bring food to feed them and when we were there we did see a person feeding them and the fish were all around him! I mean all around him! We saw for the first time lobster in the wild! Parrot fish, schools of those cute yellow and black striped ones, and get this… we finally saw colorful coral! Purple, yellow, orange!
Everywhere you looked it was moving with excitement! Then looking up was fun too as the cave was like a dome shape once you got in. there were small outlets that you could shoot through to the outside if you wanted. We could see the sunshine streaming through the water. Ben asked if I was going out one and I responded with I’ll wait to decide until I get close. We got close and he shot through in 2 seconds… so I took a breath and went down to go through and whoooosh… I was through too. It was so fun!
This is why I am here! For the fish! Now to get to the place was a hard trek in a kayak. The winds and the current were against us! It took a long time but well worth it!
That all for now! Oh our waterproof camera’s batteries are dead so no pictures. But if you want to see what I mean then look at tany national geographic movie of the ocean and you can say, “Pam and Ben were there!”
Sweet day!
It is a cave. So going in the entry place is a little bit nervy cuz the hole to get through is low. I can’t imagin going in at high tide. Once you are in – and it takes a lot of kicking power to get in through the current! You can’t stop for a minute or you will be pushed out again.
We heard to go at slack tide so there would be no big tide. It was close to slack and it was still a good push against you. BUT inside it was a whole new world. One you only see in movies. And actually there was a movie made here at that cave called, “Thunderball” we will have to see it now that we have been in the cave.
It is relatively small. We saw schools and schools of fish. You can bring food to feed them and when we were there we did see a person feeding them and the fish were all around him! I mean all around him! We saw for the first time lobster in the wild! Parrot fish, schools of those cute yellow and black striped ones, and get this… we finally saw colorful coral! Purple, yellow, orange!
Everywhere you looked it was moving with excitement! Then looking up was fun too as the cave was like a dome shape once you got in. there were small outlets that you could shoot through to the outside if you wanted. We could see the sunshine streaming through the water. Ben asked if I was going out one and I responded with I’ll wait to decide until I get close. We got close and he shot through in 2 seconds… so I took a breath and went down to go through and whoooosh… I was through too. It was so fun!
This is why I am here! For the fish! Now to get to the place was a hard trek in a kayak. The winds and the current were against us! It took a long time but well worth it!
That all for now! Oh our waterproof camera’s batteries are dead so no pictures. But if you want to see what I mean then look at tany national geographic movie of the ocean and you can say, “Pam and Ben were there!”
Sweet day!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Staniel Cayee just did a quick
We just ds a quick over night from Nassau to staniel cay. The winds are still howling! A stiff 20-27k NE winds! It was a good sail. We had just our little staysail up and we were pulled along at 3k. Which was fine for the night hours. Then in morning we put out our hyperspeed jib which is really a 150 genoa. Two jibs and now we were at 6-8 knots flying.
The trip was a nice evening sail but were so tired that we slept a long time once we anchored!
Here is a blog from my computer that i wrote yesterday.
I'll try to get the big shark picture next time ben and I are on bluetooth.
Where do all the days go?
Leaving the dock was thrilling. My most nervous and the best outcome.
At the Marina there is a harbor master, Peter, he is Greek, has a heavy accent, big bushy gray hair that stand up on end. I’d say he’s in his 50’s? you will see him running down the dock to flag a new boater arriving to his dock by waving his arms like a flapping bird. You too will see him because he wears a long sleeve shirt that is a light-lime-greenish color everyday. I’m sure it is for us to be able to see him from a-far.
The first time we were looking for the marina I was talking to him on the VHF and he yelled (lets just say we all yell, you have to speak up to hear over the noise of the wind, the static in the VHF, the distractions around you – so – when I say yelled I mean literally but not in any negative way.) He Yelled to me, “Tell the Captain to turn to port NOW!” This was no time inform him that I was the captain, I just responded, “roger”. And actually I never felt the need to tell him.
We arrived in the strong winds 20k on our back with the tide following us, which is exactly the wrong time you want to enter a slip. As I came in Ben yelled back are you in neutral? I yelled, “No! I’m in Reverse.” I was not slowing down as much as I would have liked. Then I cranked it harder and I slowed down to a crawl – all-the-while I was thinking I hope Ben can hop off and run the spring line cuz I don’t trust dock handlers. After the last marina where the guy took our spring line to the bow. EEEKKK!!! You can’t slow a boat of this size down if the line is in the front! For you novices you take the spring line which is tied to the midship cleat of the boat and walk the dock line back to the stern, give it a good wrap around a cleat or pole on the dock and keep it taught while the boat moves slowly forward, the line holds the boat from moving forward and the boat snugs right close to the dock. All in theory of course.
Peter put out his hands to grab the spring line. (what are we supposed to do – say no?) Peter grabbed the line and I intently paid attention to his movements as I was watching the boat creep into the slip. Peter grabbed the line and knew exactly what to do. It was the most pleasant arrival I have made in a long time especially in such hard circumstances. The word got around that small marina that some woman docked a boat… This one guy said that is the best docking he has seen in 3 days (I might have already blogged this but oh well… sorry) this other guy also later in the day asked if I would captain his boat. Ha ha ha.
So when we left, I had complete confidence in Peter since I have watched him help boats go in and out all the time we have been here.
I was not going to leave the dock without his help! I called him on VHF and asked for his assistance and I also remarked, “… bring your friends too,” to indicate that I need as much help as I can get backing out into winds. Just a quick wind and current can pull this almost full keel over on its side so fast and leave me with no steerage.
So everyone was in their place. Peter at the stern line. He said, “Back up with power, and this line I will keep tension on it so your stern will be facing the enterance then you just keep powering it backwards all the way out to the entrance.” I said, “I just don’t want my bow sprit to swing.” He shook his head this a face expression of, “I know,, I know, I’m not dumb, of course, I know what to do… I see your bow sprit.” Of course all of that is my interpretation of his head shake. Sounds easy!
So 1, 2, 3, “Backing”… The other line handler works at the marina too. He had the front and Peter had the back. I backed hard but with caution. Ben was ready for the lines to be tossed to him. It worked so easy – amazing! I was clear of the dock and peter yelled, “Keep backing don’t let up!” But I saw there was a dock line in the water… or so you know what could happen with a dock line in the water… it can get under the propeller! Ben said, “I got it keep going”
So I did, I backed and backed and backed until Ben smiles and says, “I think you are clear now.” I was in a different world concentrating so hard at so many things… traffic from other boats, wind, this and that. You know when you are driving a car for the first time there is so much to think about and then later you can multi-task while driving. Yeah something like that.
Much love
Pam n Ben
The trip was a nice evening sail but were so tired that we slept a long time once we anchored!
Here is a blog from my computer that i wrote yesterday.
I'll try to get the big shark picture next time ben and I are on bluetooth.
Where do all the days go?
Leaving the dock was thrilling. My most nervous and the best outcome.
At the Marina there is a harbor master, Peter, he is Greek, has a heavy accent, big bushy gray hair that stand up on end. I’d say he’s in his 50’s? you will see him running down the dock to flag a new boater arriving to his dock by waving his arms like a flapping bird. You too will see him because he wears a long sleeve shirt that is a light-lime-greenish color everyday. I’m sure it is for us to be able to see him from a-far.
The first time we were looking for the marina I was talking to him on the VHF and he yelled (lets just say we all yell, you have to speak up to hear over the noise of the wind, the static in the VHF, the distractions around you – so – when I say yelled I mean literally but not in any negative way.) He Yelled to me, “Tell the Captain to turn to port NOW!” This was no time inform him that I was the captain, I just responded, “roger”. And actually I never felt the need to tell him.
We arrived in the strong winds 20k on our back with the tide following us, which is exactly the wrong time you want to enter a slip. As I came in Ben yelled back are you in neutral? I yelled, “No! I’m in Reverse.” I was not slowing down as much as I would have liked. Then I cranked it harder and I slowed down to a crawl – all-the-while I was thinking I hope Ben can hop off and run the spring line cuz I don’t trust dock handlers. After the last marina where the guy took our spring line to the bow. EEEKKK!!! You can’t slow a boat of this size down if the line is in the front! For you novices you take the spring line which is tied to the midship cleat of the boat and walk the dock line back to the stern, give it a good wrap around a cleat or pole on the dock and keep it taught while the boat moves slowly forward, the line holds the boat from moving forward and the boat snugs right close to the dock. All in theory of course.
Peter put out his hands to grab the spring line. (what are we supposed to do – say no?) Peter grabbed the line and I intently paid attention to his movements as I was watching the boat creep into the slip. Peter grabbed the line and knew exactly what to do. It was the most pleasant arrival I have made in a long time especially in such hard circumstances. The word got around that small marina that some woman docked a boat… This one guy said that is the best docking he has seen in 3 days (I might have already blogged this but oh well… sorry) this other guy also later in the day asked if I would captain his boat. Ha ha ha.
So when we left, I had complete confidence in Peter since I have watched him help boats go in and out all the time we have been here.
I was not going to leave the dock without his help! I called him on VHF and asked for his assistance and I also remarked, “… bring your friends too,” to indicate that I need as much help as I can get backing out into winds. Just a quick wind and current can pull this almost full keel over on its side so fast and leave me with no steerage.
So everyone was in their place. Peter at the stern line. He said, “Back up with power, and this line I will keep tension on it so your stern will be facing the enterance then you just keep powering it backwards all the way out to the entrance.” I said, “I just don’t want my bow sprit to swing.” He shook his head this a face expression of, “I know,, I know, I’m not dumb, of course, I know what to do… I see your bow sprit.” Of course all of that is my interpretation of his head shake. Sounds easy!
So 1, 2, 3, “Backing”… The other line handler works at the marina too. He had the front and Peter had the back. I backed hard but with caution. Ben was ready for the lines to be tossed to him. It worked so easy – amazing! I was clear of the dock and peter yelled, “Keep backing don’t let up!” But I saw there was a dock line in the water… or so you know what could happen with a dock line in the water… it can get under the propeller! Ben said, “I got it keep going”
So I did, I backed and backed and backed until Ben smiles and says, “I think you are clear now.” I was in a different world concentrating so hard at so many things… traffic from other boats, wind, this and that. You know when you are driving a car for the first time there is so much to think about and then later you can multi-task while driving. Yeah something like that.
Much love
Pam n Ben
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
pictures!
see the pile of sand
oh my! read the blog to find out what happened!
sewing
nurse shark! sorry I dont have the picture of the big black ones cuz it is on the boat with Ben's camera, i'll post those later.
sharks!
Highlights:
One day we were snorkeling close to the boat. There was this cute little reef. It was about a 12 foot circle of coral and teaming with fishes of all kinds, the adorable lion fish, bright blue fish, yellow fish, and many others… we were just looking down when I saw a big (well big to me – about 6 foot long, blackish) Shark! Ben had his back to the shark coming up behind him. I pulled my head up and said, “Ben a shark behind you!” he turned and sure-enough! The shark went under him then me… then he circled out and Ben swam parellel to the shark about 7 feet above the shark! Silly guy. Then the shark left only to come back again but this time Ben had dove down… all of a sudden Ben looked left and there was the shark heading for him. (luckily I did not see the beginning I only saw..) then Ben looked startled and the shark was startled too and the shark turned and swam away very fast. All I saw was a shark swimming away very fast.
We tried to look up this kind of shark but could not find him. So here are 2 pictures of the sharks we have seen. We had 3 sharks, that we did identify as Nurse Sharks, they were sucking on our hull. It’s a little eerie to swim to the boat knowing and seeing sharks sucking on the bottom BUT we know that nurse sharks only suck, plus they are very cute and small only getting average up to 3 feet.
Then we were swimming at a different place and there was a stingray. This was quite big from our standards. Next to her was a cute baby stingray swimming around in a circle near mommy. Also swimming with the baby was a fish about 1 foot long swimming in complete synchronization just above the baby, maybe above about 2 inches. The baby ended back at mommy’s side, gave her a kiss, then swam a few feet away and hunkered down into the sand. All amazing!
We had a very relaxing and precious time with Connie, Josh and Victoria. We are so blessed with the friends and family we have! Thank you for being apart of it!
I now know how to blog on the computer and send through my iphone so hopefully I’ll get better at blogging.
Ben and I will be leaving for Georgetown either tonight or tomorrow. I’m not sure if I will find towers on the way to send the blogs.. we’ll see…This morning we got hit with many winds and a front coming through. Plus I needed to get a few things done at work. We have not gone grocery shopping yet to get supplies for our guests coming to GT. We are going to pack up the boat again.
Till then all smiles here
Pam and Ben
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
1blog post done
More to come: sharks, sting rays and iPhone's don't like ocean dips. More soon. Enjoy the feb 23rd blog. Peace and love pam
Aground feb 23 - more later
blog 2-28-11
Feb 23
We picked up our friends and set sail for allan’s Cay once again. This time it would prove to be not as pleasurable for some.
The leaving the dock was uneventful which is always good. This time we had no wind absolutely none, which is always good for a new crew. We don’t know if they will get sea sick or not so this is a good way to get your feet wet yet it is boring motoring 6 hours.
We got there half way down the tide swing. (3.8 feet total – not like in Maine 12 feet!)
I wanted to get close to the shore so we could just swim to the beach. It is a narrow area that runs next to the shore. As we approached very slowly, I noticed that where I thought we could be was not in the 7foot water area… I recognized this… just before I thru it into reverse I remembered the dinghy line needs to be taken in so as to not get it stuck in the propeller. As I reached back Ben jumped up to take in the line. Little did he know that I needed to back up NOW!! I had a speed boat (a big one right too close to my tail… I had an anchored sailboat to the port… I needed to spin around in a tight spot so I don’t go aground…
Oh wait … back up … as we entered the tight cay Ben says with his happy voice, “Ya haven’t sailed the Bahamas until you have gone aground.” I answered with my serious voice, “I really don’t want to go aground!”
And so here we are in a tight spot. As I back up, Ben was looking bewildered and funny, he yelled, “stop” it was too late the dinghy line had gotten stuck under the boat’s propeller, pulled the line out of Ben’s hands so fast as to make a small burn like feeling in his hands… the engine seized to a stop and poof we ran aground. The current was pretty strong through the small cut and our boat went sideways to the current and the full keel plowed a bit of sand on one side until she stopped.
Ben jumped in the water to cut the line from the propeller while the anchored boat so graciously moved out of our way. Well I would do the same … if I saw a boat stuck next to me and when the tide comes up it might let loose on me – yup – I’d move too.
Ok it is 4pm the tide is half way down… in the time it took to access the situation and dive down to look. We were probably 4 inches stuck with a big sand pile up on the down current side. Ben said, ‘welp we are stuck here” meanwhile… I’m thinking can’t we power off of this? Ben’s calm and happy-go-lucky and he says that the tide will come up and we will get off. I’m thinking yeah but how far and how far does a boat like this tip when the tide goes down a foot or so? We both know that people actually anchor their boat close to shore during a tide so that the boat will tip and then they clean one side of barnacles; then they wait for the tide to do it again and tip the boat the other way.
Every 6 hours the tide moves up and down. We just happen to be on the down. So 4pm and aground we did nothing – which was funny that it went against what I thought we should do. I thought we should do something and try to get the boat unstuck, I think we could have done it. And this time Ben was fine with just waiting for the tide to drop then come up again.
Soooo we put on a good attitude. (The best I can do. I think I should get points for trying to have a good attitude and if you did not know me you would have no clue that I’M STRESSED. But If you are Ben then you know I’m stressed. And if you are me all I can do is fake it till I make it. Oh and of course send big prayers up to the heavens) so in the spirit of good attitude I wanted my guests to have fun but in no way did I want to leave the boat unanchored. So I asked Ben if he would stay with the boat while I and the guests swam to shore. He was fine with that.
Victoria and Josh and Connie and myself went swimming and snorkeling. It was josh’s first time and I think he is hooked. Victoria was a little fish that could not get enough of it. All good times were to be had. We fed the iguanas – just 3 small spinage so as to not upset their ecosystem. We walked a bit on the beach and swam back. Then Ben went back into the water to enjoy himself. All the while the boat is tipping but surprisingly not too much.
We guess that the tide will be up enough around 8:30 – 9:30. We all ate dinner about 8. We all sat on the up tipped side at the salon table. After dinner Ben went out to check the keel… we got up, he walked to the other side of the boat where the ladder is and we screamed as things came crashing from one side of the boat to the other, Ben was on the ladder on the down current side to see how far the water line was and he was so confused as to why we yelled a short burst and why are his pants wet? The weight of his body and the moving of the people after eating was enough weight to push us off that pile of built up sand on the starboard side and the boat all at once tipped sideways.
It felt like a lot but really when we sail sometimes we are healed over that far. But we did not know what to do since we have never done this before. I was concerned we would tip further and I was mad at myself for not atleast trying to back us off the sand bar. We all huddled in the cockpit as we leaned a good amount and laughed and told stories and watched the depth meter rise slowly until we were almost even. Ben and I stayed up till we felt the boat bounce on the bottom then it was time to quick move the boat to a deeper place… in the dark… eeeek!
I had the big spot light in front of the boat as we made our way through a few boats. Then we anchored between two boats. Although at night it is hard to figure distances. I knew we were really close to the shore but our anchor seemed good.
We set the anchor alarm for a tight 30 feet swing. It went off and Ben went up. It was a sleepless night for me as I then checked our position a few times. I finally woke ben up at 6:00ish thinking if I’m going to be up most of the night it is time he can wake up and sit here with me watching the shore so close we could touch it. Ok well it was 30 feet away.
WE got up and had a nice short sail to Highbourne Cay where we sit and Ben and Victoria are sleeping, Connie and Josh are reading, and I have emailed and now am blogging but have no way to send it until I get wifi. Unless – oh unless I hot sync it with my iphone… I’ll try that.
Tada! I can now sync with my laptop to my iPhone then send to blogspot so I can write longer blogs and more often. here is the first try. Smile Pam
Feb 23
We picked up our friends and set sail for allan’s Cay once again. This time it would prove to be not as pleasurable for some.
The leaving the dock was uneventful which is always good. This time we had no wind absolutely none, which is always good for a new crew. We don’t know if they will get sea sick or not so this is a good way to get your feet wet yet it is boring motoring 6 hours.
We got there half way down the tide swing. (3.8 feet total – not like in Maine 12 feet!)
I wanted to get close to the shore so we could just swim to the beach. It is a narrow area that runs next to the shore. As we approached very slowly, I noticed that where I thought we could be was not in the 7foot water area… I recognized this… just before I thru it into reverse I remembered the dinghy line needs to be taken in so as to not get it stuck in the propeller. As I reached back Ben jumped up to take in the line. Little did he know that I needed to back up NOW!! I had a speed boat (a big one right too close to my tail… I had an anchored sailboat to the port… I needed to spin around in a tight spot so I don’t go aground…
Oh wait … back up … as we entered the tight cay Ben says with his happy voice, “Ya haven’t sailed the Bahamas until you have gone aground.” I answered with my serious voice, “I really don’t want to go aground!”
And so here we are in a tight spot. As I back up, Ben was looking bewildered and funny, he yelled, “stop” it was too late the dinghy line had gotten stuck under the boat’s propeller, pulled the line out of Ben’s hands so fast as to make a small burn like feeling in his hands… the engine seized to a stop and poof we ran aground. The current was pretty strong through the small cut and our boat went sideways to the current and the full keel plowed a bit of sand on one side until she stopped.
Ben jumped in the water to cut the line from the propeller while the anchored boat so graciously moved out of our way. Well I would do the same … if I saw a boat stuck next to me and when the tide comes up it might let loose on me – yup – I’d move too.
Ok it is 4pm the tide is half way down… in the time it took to access the situation and dive down to look. We were probably 4 inches stuck with a big sand pile up on the down current side. Ben said, ‘welp we are stuck here” meanwhile… I’m thinking can’t we power off of this? Ben’s calm and happy-go-lucky and he says that the tide will come up and we will get off. I’m thinking yeah but how far and how far does a boat like this tip when the tide goes down a foot or so? We both know that people actually anchor their boat close to shore during a tide so that the boat will tip and then they clean one side of barnacles; then they wait for the tide to do it again and tip the boat the other way.
Every 6 hours the tide moves up and down. We just happen to be on the down. So 4pm and aground we did nothing – which was funny that it went against what I thought we should do. I thought we should do something and try to get the boat unstuck, I think we could have done it. And this time Ben was fine with just waiting for the tide to drop then come up again.
Soooo we put on a good attitude. (The best I can do. I think I should get points for trying to have a good attitude and if you did not know me you would have no clue that I’M STRESSED. But If you are Ben then you know I’m stressed. And if you are me all I can do is fake it till I make it. Oh and of course send big prayers up to the heavens) so in the spirit of good attitude I wanted my guests to have fun but in no way did I want to leave the boat unanchored. So I asked Ben if he would stay with the boat while I and the guests swam to shore. He was fine with that.
Victoria and Josh and Connie and myself went swimming and snorkeling. It was josh’s first time and I think he is hooked. Victoria was a little fish that could not get enough of it. All good times were to be had. We fed the iguanas – just 3 small spinage so as to not upset their ecosystem. We walked a bit on the beach and swam back. Then Ben went back into the water to enjoy himself. All the while the boat is tipping but surprisingly not too much.
We guess that the tide will be up enough around 8:30 – 9:30. We all ate dinner about 8. We all sat on the up tipped side at the salon table. After dinner Ben went out to check the keel… we got up, he walked to the other side of the boat where the ladder is and we screamed as things came crashing from one side of the boat to the other, Ben was on the ladder on the down current side to see how far the water line was and he was so confused as to why we yelled a short burst and why are his pants wet? The weight of his body and the moving of the people after eating was enough weight to push us off that pile of built up sand on the starboard side and the boat all at once tipped sideways.
It felt like a lot but really when we sail sometimes we are healed over that far. But we did not know what to do since we have never done this before. I was concerned we would tip further and I was mad at myself for not atleast trying to back us off the sand bar. We all huddled in the cockpit as we leaned a good amount and laughed and told stories and watched the depth meter rise slowly until we were almost even. Ben and I stayed up till we felt the boat bounce on the bottom then it was time to quick move the boat to a deeper place… in the dark… eeeek!
I had the big spot light in front of the boat as we made our way through a few boats. Then we anchored between two boats. Although at night it is hard to figure distances. I knew we were really close to the shore but our anchor seemed good.
We set the anchor alarm for a tight 30 feet swing. It went off and Ben went up. It was a sleepless night for me as I then checked our position a few times. I finally woke ben up at 6:00ish thinking if I’m going to be up most of the night it is time he can wake up and sit here with me watching the shore so close we could touch it. Ok well it was 30 feet away.
WE got up and had a nice short sail to Highbourne Cay where we sit and Ben and Victoria are sleeping, Connie and Josh are reading, and I have emailed and now am blogging but have no way to send it until I get wifi. Unless – oh unless I hot sync it with my iphone… I’ll try that.
Tada! I can now sync with my laptop to my iPhone then send to blogspot so I can write longer blogs and more often. here is the first try. Smile Pam
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