20091211 The Crossing from Ft. Lauderdale to Lucaya, Grand
Bahama (CET Version)
The Crossing! As you
know Jim has written most of the blog. I
have typed some of it, but for the most part Jim has been the author. I have been the photographer, the navigator
and at time the nervous Nelly as we have proceeded from Charleston to Lucaya,
Bahamas. Jim has asked me to write
about our crossing. I think he wants to
know if I want plane tickets for Christmas.
We left Bahia Mar Marina around 9:30 a.m. on December 10th
with my seasick patch in place! We
only had one bridge to navigate through, which we were lucky enough to fit
under without an opening, thanks to the bridge operator information! We then proceeded to the Port of Everglades
channel out of Fort Lauderdale and into the Atlantic Ocean. My second visit to the Ocean in “Angel.” Leaving we had to navigate around several
large container ships coming in to port, fishing boats and many power boats
going to the ocean to play. We had very
calm seas and a nice south wind. We
proceeded about 5 miles out and Jim slowed the boat and for the first time on
our adventure, put both sails up on Angel.
She glided through the water with ease and grace. We spent the day appreciating the beautiful
blue water of the ocean, looking for sea life and watching the skylines of Ft.
Lauderdale and Miami disappear. Before
we left I prepared some quick lunch and dinner items, fruit and water so it was
within easy grasp. We watched the sun go
down around 5:30 to a beautiful sunset.
The ocean and winds were gentle.
We were waiting for the winds to turn from the south to the north as
forecasted to get us to the correct course for our arrival in Lucaya around 10
a.m. on December 11th. The
weather man forecasted that the winds would change course around midnight to
the north. This would push Angel in a
southerly direction to get us to the course direction we needed. We checked our position using gps coordinates
every two hours to ensure we were on track.
After the sun went down I watched the horizon for lights, as I am also
the lookout for other water traffic, so we don’t get run over. The clouds in the sky were big and white;
however, the lightening in them should have been my first clue. But the clouds were north of us and keep
moving away, so I quietly calmed myself as all would be fine. I got out our foul weather gear just in case,
secretly hoping this would chase away all the weather. I have to omit from 7 p.m. until all hell
broke loose at 10 p.m., it was peaceful watching the stars above, picking out
all the constellations, and watching many planes as the winked by us. We took our last 2 hour reading at 10 p.m.,
finding we were close to where we needed to be and when the wind changed to the
north it would push us to exactly where needed to be.
Jim then asked me for his fleece and immediately changed to
his foul weather coat as it was starting to rain. And the adventure begins……! I gave Jim his coat and put mine on hoping
for a brief shower and we would continue sailing. I am not exactly sure what happened between
10 and 10:05 p.m., but I do know that I never want it to happen again! I was in the salon putting on my coat and
before I could get up the steps to the cockpit, we went from calm seas to a
howling northerly wind and 6-8 foot seas.
I have no doubt that I now know what it feels like to be in a washing
machine, on high speed! As I tried to
take my seat, I was thrashed around and sat down. I looked at Jim and he was busy trying to
keep Angel on course. We got that North
wind the forecaster promised and much more he forgot to tell us about. The north wind pushed Angel south,
unfortunately a little too far. At 10:30
Jim pulled in the Genoa sail to cut some of our speed and help with a little
more control. At mid-night it is not only raining, but
pouring, Jim decided the main sail had to come down. He started the engine and asked me to turn on
the spreader lights that he fixed the day before (the picture of him on the
mast). Great that meant in this mess, I
had to handle the tiller. My least
favorite thing to do on Angel is man the tiller and now I had to take over the
tiller in 6-8 foot seas and not toss my husband off the boat as he secures the
main sail. I did this with my eyes
CLOSED! Don’t you think for a moment
that I am kidding! I was freaked. Jim is taking down the main sail, let me
remind you in 6 to 8 foot seas with strong winds and he is bare foot! Ice is not as slippery as Angel’s deck when
wet. Man overboard is not in my
vocabulary and my eyes are tightly shut holding on to the tiller –
PRAYING!
My eyes were shut a lot, I cannot pray with my eyes
open. I know Jim thought I was
sleeping. Not a chance. Around 3 a.m. Jim said he needed to get some
rest. He then shows me his idea of auto
pilot, tie a rope around the tiller and secure it to each side, turn the boat
speed to idol and put it in neutral. My
job was to watch for lights and if any got close to wake him or if anything
changed. My stomach could take no more and I chummed the fish, so they got to
enjoy my first ever peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I guess at least one fish wanted more. This flying fish jumped aboard decided that
Angel was a better place to be than in the sea.
I was not touching him, so he got a free trip to the Bahamas, if we could
make it! Around 7 a.m. it finally got
light and now we can see the 6 to 8’ seas as they hit the boat. But it is light!
Jim continues to push us towards our destination of Lucaya,
Grand Bahama Island, but it is a constant struggle. We found the entrance to the channel for the
marina we wanted and Jim radioed the Lucaya Yacht Club for a slip and we pulled
safely in at 10 a.m. Jim went and
registered at the marina office and I got the immigration paperwork together
and filled out. I, as the crew, am not
allowed off the boat until the Captain has checked us in according to the
rules. Jim put up our yellow quarantine flag,
which has to fly until you have passed customs, and went up to the customs
office. We are finally in the Bahamas
safe and sound! Fixed docks (not
floating docks) are not made for sail boats!
This is the 3rd or 4th marina that I can stand on
the boat and the dock is almost over my head!
Off and on is pretty comical when you are 5’ and the dock is at eye level. We
named our boat correctly “Angel” watched over us all night and even though she
was getting thrown around, she made sure we were safe.
20091210 Passage to
the Bahamas (JRT Version)
“It was the best of times…It was the worst of times…” best describes
our transit from Ft. Lauderdale, across the Gulf Stream, to the Bahamas. We decided that going to the northern
Bahamas, with cooler water and weather is not for us, so from Ft. Lauderdale,
we plotted a path from Port Everglades at 84 degrees heading (True) to Lucaya,
Bahamas. After resting, we planned short
hops further south to the Exumas, saving the Abacos for the next trip. Cathy has prepared peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches and lots of cold drinks for the passage. The weather report is excellent for the day
passage, with a front moving in for the last couple of hours of the trip, which
may make the arrival in the Bahamas a little uncomfortable, but the wind change
will help us make the trip faster; or so I thought.
Casting off from our slip at the Bahia Mar Marina, we
motored to the gas dock and filled up for the trip across the Gulf Stream. The gas at Bahia Mar was the most expensive
on the trip so far at $4.03 per gallon.
Turning south again in the ICW, we dodged water taxis, mega yachts,
fishing charters, an incoming mail boat, a container ship and an incoming
Princess passenger cruise ship to make it to the Port Everglades channel. On the way, we encountered one bridge, but
just missed the opening. While the
bridge had clearance of 50 feet on our chart,
the bridge operator noted that it was low tide, giving us 56 feet of
clearance and just enough to sneak under without requiring an opening. This saved us a half hour of circling in a
busy water highway.
Moving out into the ocean, we found the predicted calm seas
with 1 to 2 feet waves. The sky was
clear and as we moved away from shore, the warm wind freshened to 15 knots from
the south. I unfurled and set the 130%
genoa from the cockpit easily, which heeled the boat to port slightly, but
stabilized its motion. Going forward
with a winch handle, I removed the sail cover from the mainsail and tossed the
cover down the companionway into the cabin.
Removing the sail ties, the sail flopped into the lazy jacks, which kept
it under control. I attached the new
wire rope halyard from the new mainsail winch and even on a beam reach, cranked
the sail up the mast. It caught the wind
and we accelerated. Adjusting the genoa
and the main sheets, releasing the topping lift; I fiddled and tweaked the sail
trim to maximize our speed and comfort of motion. Angel settled into a 15 degree heel (tilt),
with a little weather helm (tiller toward the south wind). Literally, the wind blew with a 5 – 15 knot
wind speed from the south, clocking westward over the next 12 hours. I did not adjust the sails, and only small
tiller movements to check our trim and speed.
This was GLORIOUS sailing. Bright
sun, clear skies, warm wind, easy boat motion all combined to make the start of
our passage an idealic treat. The ease
of travel did not foreshadow the coming night’s events.
Just after 10pm, the cloud chasing us from the east caught
up. In less than 2 minutes, the world
changed for the Angel and crew. The wind
shifted from southwesterly to north. The
seas grew from 1-2 feet to 6-8 feet and were confused. For a couple of hours the battle versus the
weather raged, with good progress on our route, but uncomfortable and
tiring. Around midnight, I had to reduce
sail to better control the direction and speed.
I tried reefing the genoa, but little changed. I then furled the genoa completely and we
proceeded another 2 hours with difficulty, under mainsail alone. The house battery, which had powered the
running lights and navigation instruments since 6pm, showed low voltage, so I
started the engine; then went forward to furl the mainsail.
It was raining hard and the deck was slippery. During my work, I slipped; grabbing the boom
hard with a bear hug. The solid spruce
boom is 5 inches in diameter and 15 feet long…it is hefty. As I got my grip, a wave rolled Angel to port
and I “kissed” the boom. It did not
respond to my affection and split my lip.
No time for self pity. I got back
to the cockpit, applied power and we motored on towards Lucaya, Grand Bahama. My split lip was not the only injury during
my long night in the cockpit. A winch
handle fell from the cockpit seat onto my right big toe. I slipped in the cockpit, landing hard on my
butt, slamming my back into the
seat. Initially, I thought that I had
cracked a rib, but after regaining my breath, I decided that only my back
muscles and pride were bruised.
All night long, we motored on through confused seas. I kept the lights Westend, then Freeport,
then Lucaya on my port side. With the
coming dawn, we appeared to still be miles away. The progress was slow with Angel’s 25 hp (50+
year old) Atomic 4 engine and captain.
My energy low, I was hallucinating, seeing sea buoys and markers in the
main shipping channel as we approached Freeport. By 8am, we were approaching our destination,
but the charted buoy and channel eluded us.
Finally, re-examination of the chart and the shoreline, Cat spotted the
Bell Channel, through the binoculars. As
we moved closer, the path was clear. We
contacted a marina on the VHF radio, received directions and proceeded to tie
up at the dock. Fortunately, the marina
office, customs office, showers and bathrooms are all in the same building at
the head of the dock. This area also is
the main shopping and restaurant district for Lucaya, only a few steps from our
slip. I went in and registered for the
slip, while Cat filled out our custom forms.
We had to re-fill out the forms (they need two copies) and received our
cruising permit, fishing license and permission to take down our yellow (Q)
quarantine flag, replacing it with our Bahamian courtesy pennant.
We were exhausted, both mentally and physically. A great lunch was enjoyed at AGAVE
(Bahamian/Mexican) restaurant. Cat’s
shrimp quesadilla was so huge, that we could not finish it. My fish tacos were fresh and delicious. We tried to walk around, but the call to
sleep could not be ignored. We returned
to the boat for a well deserved nap.
After 2 hours of sleep, we rose, still groggy and sore from our all
nighter. Cathy prepared pasta with Prego + (must maligned)
canned hamburger. It was delicious. Sated, we tried watching a movie, but after
half; we were both sleeping and we went to bed.
Exploring can wait until tomorrow.
Jim & Cathy
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