one anchor or two?

One Anchor or Two?

 For those sailors who have suffered through my blogs this past winter while I blog about visitors, snorkeling and fluffy stuff here is a blog just for you.!  Sorry about the long wait but I am back to my roots of sailing with the winds, with the tides and with my trusty first mate by my side. (not that I did not love all the visitors. You all know I love you!)

Sea date: 4-16-11

N 25.44.687 Lat

 W 077.49.9 Long

On the east side of Great Harbor. In a bay near the Beach Club.  The charts read do not anchor here in North or East winds, what it does not tell you is that it is horrible holding. I told you that story already.

This story is a boring day in the life and times of Captain Pam and Benjammin Joe; that is if you are a land lover but if you are a sailor you will appreciate this amazing day.

We tried to wake up at nautical sunrise (which is about one hour before sunrise) but oh well, we made the regular sunrise at 7:00am. We thought we were going to travel 30 miles to abaco, Cherokee island but the night before we did our true calculations and we were off by … oh 25 miles or so…always good to check twice… we changed our plans the night before so there was no real hurry to hit the waves before 7am anyway.

Ben muscled up the second anchor, then got up the primary anchor and away we motored out of the bay. 

It was my day to set the sails – since we have had so many guests… I did not want to take away any of their new fun of doing all that work for them… plus Ben is better at explaining how to set the sails than me.  For someone 5’1” and so many little pounds it is much tougher for me to do it anyway, but still I like to make sure I can still do it.

I pulled the main halyard as far as I could get it then winched it the rest of the way. (there is no shame in winching:) 

As I said, “You can fall off now” I was reminded of one of our guests who was quite concerned when the words came back, “Fall off”.. whos’ falling off and why? There are other funny words we use that I don’t even know I use them… Like, “turn on the anchor light.” There is no light on the anchor… so where is the light and why do we say turn it on?  All so fun… The anchor light really is at the top of the mast as a light for other boats to see. Or “Pull in the sheets”, I thought the sheets were on the bed? Or maybe the sheets are the big sails that look like sheets. Sheets you all know are the lines (or ropes but you can’t use the word rope on a boat or people will know you are green.) the lines connected to the sail’s clew.

I digressed for those of you non-sailors.

We set sail and the winds were a fine 12k and under full main and jib. The wind was a little ahead of our beam, actually 60 degrees off the bow to starboard. The waves were behaving themselves to 2-4 feet.  The best part was that I did not have to work or email  anyone and Ben sailed all day while I luffed and loafed and laughed at what fun I was having. The makings of a great day of sailing were at hand.

Only a few short hours of sailing and we set anchor… tried to set anchor… This stuff was even worse than the last stuff.  This bottom was tricky, cuz it looked like sand, and it was sand but when we dove to the anchor, it was 3-4 inches of sand and the rest under it was all hard pan rock! So the options were, try to set in the root-mingled weeds, or try to set in rock, or leave, or see what the weather will do… The weather was going to be southeast at night winds only 9-11knots.  We are in the wide open cuz we could not get close to the shore but we are not fully exposed to the wind… unless Windfinder.com is wrong and the winds shifts a little to the south, then we would be exposed.

Sailing in the Bahamas has done wonders for one’s knowledge of the anchor and how it works.  Ben can motor above and I can be in the water watching how the anchor moves and shifts or how it digs down to hold tight.

We chose put a second anchor down… the winds are not that strong… our anchor chain is so heavy that when we are in those winds the weight of the chain with the anchor is many times enough to keep us in one spot.  So mighty strong Ben set the second anchor by brut-force… even more than last time.

This time I lifted the anchor over the bow and threw it in the water… YUp just pushed it over near the bow.  I did however tie a line to it. Ben dove down 10 feet grabbed the line, came up (of course with snorkel and fins and mask) and he swam holding on to the line pulling the 35 pound anchor behind him. He dove down again and tied it to the anchor chain. He dove a few times and then set the anchor prongs into the sand into the rock.

Even though I know the winds were not so bad, and I knew that if we did drift we would wake up with the anchor watch on…even still, I could not sleep well.  My subconscious does not like a poor anchor setting and she will keep me up all  night…. EVEN though I know it is fine! Silly her!

Sailing in the Bahamas is a mixed bag of water… You sail either in shallows for miles or thousands of feet for miles depends on if you are in a sound or in the bank.  If you are in the Bank then there are less waves, less wind, but more areas you can’t just sail in cuz of the depth.  In the Sound it is wide open and deeeep! The waves can get big… one day NOAA said the waves were 11-16 feet in the sound! Needless to say we stayed put that day and I never told our guest that just on the other side of this cute island lies 11-16 feet of ocean waves! There are things one needs to keep to herself.

Our next sailing spot I told Ben, “I just want a good anchorage with tons of sand so I can get some sleep.” Since we have had 3 nights of 2 anchors and weeds and rock.

WE combed the charts, and Cherokee island still looked good although.  One chart read, this is a beautiful anchorage with lots of sand to anchor in, not good if seas are southwest. The other chart guide said, this is a beautiful anchorage good for day anchoring and no one would be caught in there for over night. 

OK who’s right? I vote for sand and lots of sand.  We know that if our anchor is stuck strong in sand we have been in 35k and have not budged a bit. I don’t mind waves for sleeping… dot dot dot … until now!

We set our anchor, only needed one. We dove down and it was buried deep into the sand.  Ahhh I thought a good night of sleep finally!!!

Only to be woken up by our boat sideways to the waves. Now we are rocking side to side… seems the same… nope! Wrong! Weird too! The boat rolls hard over then rolls back. For some reason this configuration is so annoying! The boat is built to rock forward and backward like a saw horse.  It has a nice slow curve slowly forward and slowly backwards. BUT now we are like out in the ocean when the boat heels way over, but this time it immediately heels right back as far the other way. Add to this each and every floor board SQUEEKS! And I mean loud! Each cupboard groans with each roll over and roll back again. The sounds were all new and deafining if you ask me.  Well Ben actually got up (he can sleep through any noise – except this – so you know it is loud!) he stuffed paper in each of the cupboard and tried to move the floor boards. He tried to put oil under one floor board that had a beam crossing over.

No sleep for us.  The anchorage was so beautiful and the town was as neat as a “new-pin” is what the book said. The chart guide was right. The town and area was so inviting and the anchorage was secluded (hard to find with all these boaters except for that past few places we have gone have been the less traveled trails).

We stayed one more night… thinking the winds are less and we are so tired we should sleep through anything!

I wedged myself into the sitting area near the table, so as to not roll on the floor. The night before I moved from the bow berth to the stern berth so I could move 90 degrees when needed, but still it was hard to get used to. Ben had another night of poor sleep (wow two days in a row) while I slept pretty good considering. Anyway I knew we were in tons of sand.

WE have now moved to a peaceful anchorage well protected and calm! WE both took naps and slept well over night.

The end of a long blog!

Pam

Wifi hard to find

Welp we have totally enjoyed being in the remote areas of the bahamas!

The sailing has been light due to light winds. We don't go far in a day cuz we just can't make it far plus we have discovered the fine art of motor sailing due to two factors: 1. light winds 2. we need to charge our batteries every 3 or 4 days.

My staff has needed a few things from me such as writing a bid for a contract.  it is taking a lot of my time but Ben and I manage to get to places as he sails and I write.  Today I thought we would be into a harbor but ya-just-can't-be- on a schedule.  We got to the anchorage and the chart said, "Not good in North or East winds." they forgot to mention that the holding stinks due to grass.

Some of the bottoms are sandy with grass, this grass is a massive entanglement of roots.  these roots are strongly intertwind.  the root system goes about 18 inches to 2 feet deep. on top of that is some sand.  so it looks like you can get an anchor hooked but you can't.  So what do we do?
think... we looked everywhere for sand.

I dove down to check the anchor and I watched it skip along the bottom of the grassy sand while Ben motored backwards. I tried to dive down and hook the anchor into the sandy grass. it was like trying to get an anchor into cement. No go!

So Ben and I put out a second anchor... this is new to us.  We used our danforth (the pointy anchor) to see if that will dig into the grass.  We set the danforth 30feet behind the plow anchor and attached it to the same anchor chain.  We pulled hard on the anchor with the engine and we finally felt stuck. (of course that was a good hour or two)... we got the danforth hooked by Ben getting in the kayak and he lowered the danforth and then dove under and connected the two.

difference between muscle and no muscles.  I would have connected it to the halyard and hoisted the danforth over the side and connect it to the chain while in the air suspeneded from the halyard.  both methods work.  well we don't know if mine would work cuz we chose Ben's way.

We are liking the Berry's so far.  They are small and quaint and remote.  Not many travel this way.
we are just on the east side of Great Harbor an island northern in the Berry's.  We are getting ready to sail to the Abaco.  But the winds are not favorable tomorrow but Saturday should be the day to travel on perfect 15k winds on our hind quarter.

yesterday while at hoffman Cay we went to the blue hole. it was amazing.  just like a mayan temple - blue hole in mexico. we had fun. Ben jumped in from above and I took a movie of him jumping.

WE still have fish to eat. We have had 3 meals and onemore left.  I love the fish, but I dont like having to cook it at night when I'd rather make a sandwich.  I'm easy.  any ideas of how to cook mahi mahi other than in a pan or on the grill? is this something you marinade?

So tomorrow we stay put in the grassy land, saturday we go remote again.
That is all the news.  I only have  short time. atleast I dont have to pay $10/hr for wifi.

until the next time?
Pam

Fish tonight

Our first fish story!

After many failed attempts with most of our guests we finally have a success story for us and a sad story for the fish.

 We left Nassau today! I really don’t like to stay in one place that long especially when we are at a dock and have to pay to sit someplace. (stingy or frugal – you decide)

We decided to head north east to the Berry islands.  On the way from Nassau to Frazer cay we pass through wide open and deeeeep ocean. Here is where our story begins…

Ben was motoring today since we had little to no wind and I was working hard trying to write respond to the state’s bid for interpreter referral services in northern MN. We were on the ride of depth from 1000 feet going to 30 feet in a short distance.  I had enough of working. (My back can only take so much sitting at one time and 4 hours was a good stopping point to stretch plus I knew we would soon be at our mooring.)

I poked my head out into the cockpit and there was Ben reeling in the fishing pole and it was hard to do.  He had been watching many seaweeds pass and he was sure it was a big clump of seaweeds. During the day he had pulled in many weeds and this, he thought, would be no different. He pulled and pulled, then I asked if he wanted the motor slower and he nodded.  I slowed us down and looked back in time to see a big fish jump out of the water! I was not sure if it was a big fish just jumping or if it was a fish stuck on the end of Ben’s pole?? (actually my dad’s fishing pole – thanks dad – this lure we did not lose!)

My heart jumped to…  “yahoo! We will have fish tonight!!!” And Ben’s heart jumped to a mixture of excitement with sadness. Happy for being able to catch a fish and happy to eat such a delicacy. Sadness sprang up because that is just how Ben is… He is grateful for where his food comes from and he also knows the fish sacrificed his life for ours. Plus Ben and I have  been swimming around such beauty that the fish we see as a precious creation… yeah we are all a precious creation. This fish was so beautiful! So colorful! Bright green, yellow, brilliant blue back fin and shown like a happy mermaid. (that mermaid comment was for Mark’s benefit back home.)

Ahhh, but wait! Ben also had apprehension in his eyes… How do we get the fish out of the water? How do we cut up the fish? What if the fish flops all over the boat?...

Ben slowly reeled in the fish, which by the way was a dolfin or a Mahi-Mahi or some call it a Dorado – all the same fish – yummy and none-better says the fish guide book.

I went to get the gaff. I leaned over and tried to hook it’s gill while Ben calmly kept bringing the fish close to the boat. It took 5 or so times and finally I gaffed it in the gills.  Then we did what Kell Aschenbach(our previous owner told us to do).. we poured Kell’s aged vodka that he had special for the boat. We poured the vodka down the gills of the fish.  Ben poured as I held the gaffed fishes mouth wide open.  The fish stopped flopping and was pretty much dead.

Now what next? Cut it up! I sharpened the fillet knife. I had watched my dad clean fish all my childhood and I had cut fish with him… but it has been over 30 years since I cut a fish up but I was determined to do as best job as I could.

The kayak was upside down on the deck and Ben layed the fish down and together we started carving out the guts… then we cut it in half the fillet way.

During all of this ruckus, Lila was curious and waiting patiently for her turn.  She got to sniff the fish as it lay on the deck and after that she walked away but not far.  While carving out the fish she was happy to take a taste.  Ben gave her a little nibble and she gobbled it down like a hungry lion – gulp gulp gulp. We knew we had plenty to share. 

The fish measured 37 inches long from nose to tail! No clue as to the weight.

I took pictures of Ben with his first big big fish.!! I’m so proud. Most “men” would have stood there with a grin from ear to ear just teaming with testosterone – ya know the caveman syndrom – “Me Hunt --- You cook --- Rrrrr” but not Ben, I’m sure he would have shed a silent tear if time permitted but we had things to do and fish to cut up. He stood for his picture with a sad face holding up the fish.

And yes we had fish for dinner.  We shared our dinner with Lila. I think she was even more excited to have fresh fish for dinner than Ben and I! She was so appreciative that if she could talk she would have said, “thank you thank you thank you God for fish, yummm yummy in my tummy!”

I’m sure we have 2 or 3 more meals each left – unless Lila eats it all.  She could put on a few pounds. She has not gained back her skinniness from the beginning of the trip.

And there you have Pam’s version of the fish story… now if I could only get Ben to blog about it cuz he is the one that caught it… I was just a bystander – a help mate – an encourager etc…

Time to go to bed. More fish stories to come.

Peace Pam

 

Antzy to get going

Welp, I still havemore work to do but I think I can Get it done while enroute our next destination. All the visitors are gone. We will miss everyone and now it's time to explore in Gods timing. No schedule just waiting on weather and guidance. Today ben and I poured over charts no knowing where to go. But then the divine shows up. We were going to the store and this couple at the pool gave us places to go at the berry islands which is best done in calm weather and guess what a calm is for the next four days. Then they gave us tips for the abacos too! Amazing, so tomorrow we leave and I should have plenty of time to get more work done as ben sails or motors depending on the winds.
Or ideas are to go to St marys in GA. We have to be south of Cumberland island and St marys is parallel so we will double check our insurance.
Yeah dad I keep forgetting to call you and when I remember it is late. We can touch base soon.
Adventure part B.
Thanks mike for the nice comments. I'm glad you had fun! We surely did!
Oh we took Lila for a swim in the pool. She is now all soft. She did not complain. We did it again, hen the maid lady yelled at us that it is illegal to have cats in a pool. Ooppss. Lila is such a good swimmer!
Good night all
Pam

Mike and Sue

Mike n Sue, Sarah n Ben
Week of calm to a week of winds again. 
Mike and Sue with kids, Sarah and Ben are with us this week. Today is the first day of sailing and off we go to Allen Cay where the iguanas are and where we ran aground before. This time the winds are not NE over our beam and 15-20k the winds are S 20-25k almost on our nose which is a tougher sail for the first timers. 
Connie my girlfriend that came in February said it perfectly, "so many people and movies glamourize sailing, it is a lot of work and can be rough." I could not have said it better. how can we prepare our guests for what is not in their everyday's life schema? If you've gone sailing on a little boat on a lake then you have an idea of wind and tipping but still no idea about how vast the ocean can be and how big the wind and waves are and how super boring it can be for some. 
For many that come visit us they don't know if they will get sea sick. They sure don't show that in the movies! Just picture, the lovely couple sailing off in the sunset with wine glasses in their hand. Reality is... one of the happy couple will have to be steering. Both of them at the same time can never just go down below and just sleep or or play cards and etc.
When Ben and I sail we both know what we are getting into for during the day. We have books, crafts and I have a bunch of emails and work to keep me occupied. The days fly by when we are on shifts sailing  i like my time "on" and "off" For the unsuspecting able body crew they might be banned to only the cockpick cuz they might get seasick if they read or go below. 
Going below is the kiss of death for a person apt to get sick. Same with reading books. For them 8 hours of sailing can be an eternity. For Ben and I , just another day at the office. 
Many have asked me what we do? In my recent blogs I give pictures of snapshots of our days of fun at anchor but I'm remiss in showing photos of sick crew or bored sleeping crew all huddled on the deck for fear of getting sick if they go below. 
For the most part sailing is a way to see places and ports as cheaply and slowly as a snail walks the earth. Ben and I happen to do well with stopping in ports and meeting locals and adventuring. We have great fun in seeing the history points of interest, seeing the scenery, smelling, eating, gazing and living as simply as we can. Plus we have time to let God show us mysteries and fun if we are willing to wait for it. People that come for a week have to pack in a lot of fun in a week. I'm finding that God is on His own time with us. 
I have so loved to share our experiences with our friends. Even though it was a short taste and even though when we sail it is different than a one week sail  and it is still a bit different experience when one does it everyday in and out. 
I'm glad we could give you as much of our gifts and fun as possible! Its not always like the week you had cuz everyweek is different when you are sailing by a month at a time the frame of reference is not the same as a weeks worth. Hard to explain. 
Soon we shall reach our destination to give our Crew shade and food.  They have not eaten much today. 
I forgot to post this blog. Here is a nice contrast... Now we are on our way back. The crew has their sea legs. The waves and winds are the same BUT we have a following wind which makes the biggest difference in the world. Instead if heeling over and crashing into oncoming waves we are level and are riding with the waves. Now the crew has eaten a good snack and are all happy. 
Miss you all
Pam

Anchor drag, No drill

Anchor drag at 25k in the dark at night... 4am. 
Welp this time the anchor drag was not a drill. 
There are three islands (Allen Cay, leaf cay and one more unforgettable now) that form a triangle, in the center are anchoring places with patches of sand bars the same sand bar we beached ourselves on in February. so I'm glad I somewhat knew the bottom terrain. 
The current seems to swirl around cuz if you are on the west side of the anchorage the boats face the opposite of the boats just 200 feet on the east side, in between is one of the many sand bars. 
It was late and strangely Ben and I felt the strong wind pouring in from the stern. A weird phanominon! We all know a boat points it nose into wind. We have been at places where the current pushes us sideways but never 180 from the wind. To top it off even more weird our boat was over the rode (anchor chain). The anchor was a stern pulling behind us. Not normal. Ben got up and pulled in the kayaks. Maybe those were pulling us weird. Nope. Then he moved the dinghy, nope that was not effecting our weird position. 
He stayed awake and marked our boat on the chart plotter. We were dragging. Now if one drags you have a few options. First look in the direction of the drag, will we go aground? Run into a boat? Land? Etc... If no the let out more rode (anchor line) changing the angle of the attack helps the anchor to dig in. 
In this case behind us were two things, first a sand bar and the tide was at high going to low, ( a terrible time to get stuck) if the tide was high enough and we dragged more we would run into a boat. So letting more rode was not the option. 
We discussed these many options and Ben checked our drag and we had no moved 60 feet or so. I'll have to ask him. 
We knew we had to pull up anchor in the winds in the dark near boats and sand bars. 
I have to say now was a good time to pray. I just kept the conversation going with God as we tried three unsuccessful times to set the anchor. 
I was so frustrated driving the boat cuz wind and current were so hard. I'd try to keep the boat straight and Ben needed me to fall off a bit so the anchor was not pulling so hard but once I did... Sure we would drift back, I  would crank the wheel around then we would lose steerage and the boat would pull just as hard on the other side. So I'd drive up giving the anchor chain slack, then I'd go too far, stop, lose steerage, and the boat would end up on the othe side of the chain. I could not win. So mighty strong Ben (he's needed some exercise lately with all this dinghy-ing and not kayaking ha ha) It took us three tries before the fourth stuck in. How good it stuck we don't know. It took well over an hour and I want to say almost 2 hours. One boater got up and shined his light on us. Yup we did see him. 
We have no clue why we dragged? I think cuz it was shallow and when our boa shifted 180 for the tide the anchor chain caught on the keel or belly of the boat and would not let us flip over? Sounds good but I doubt that was the problem either. Trying to explain the unexplainable! We will leave it up to God for those kind of questions. 
Our guests were tucked in bed all snuggily!
Missing you all
Pam

Dave n Jess here

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.