Added Lesson's Learned during the trip to the "Other Stuff" tab.

It's good to be home.  It was a great trip but, as always, it's good to be home where things are so much easier to do and you are around your loved ones again.  The winter has made a mess of my yard but no damage to the house from tree limbs etc. - just a lot of clean up.  Still had a little snow in my driveway but was able to chisel enough away to get my car out of the garage and get up the driveway.
For anyone still following along who has any geeky tendencies, I posted a somewhat lengthy and detailed descriptions of our onboard communications to the outside world.  It is under a tab in the blog that I just renamed "Other Stuff".  Also, I've not posted much about my Dad's health. Two or three days after I joined the Pintita in St. Thomas, he went to the hospital in a coma caused by a brain tumor.  Naturally, it was quite upsetting and his condition has been on my mind a lot during the trip.  I'm happy to report that he is doing well.  He started a 7 day a week, 45 day long, radiation treatment plan about two weeks ago.  He isn't driving but is still living at home, cooking all his meals, exercising, etc. and is doing very well.  I plan on going down and visiting him in the next couple months (we skipped over Florida on the way north).

Last night was a little scary.  The boat was on the T-head at the end of the Getaway docks and the wind was blowing it hard against the dock.  We had 4 fenders out but they were flattened by the drop in temperatures that went from 65 to 35 in just 4 hours and by the force of the winds gusting to 60 mph. The boat was heeling between 20 and 30 degrees and the fenders became stuck under the dock.  Fortunately, the dock had rubber edging that protected the Pintita's hull until I was able to adjust two of the fenders.  Today has been cold (around 30) and windy (still 30 to 40 knots) but the sun is shining.  Cleaned the boat most of the day and posted ads for the Islander.  Captain Phil went to West Marine and got more Captain Tolley's for the v-berth sole.  I caught a ride with him up to the Cook's house (Joan's sister and her husband) and met her at around 3:30 for the drive home.

We're IN.  It's "funny" how Mother Nature has to have the last laugh.  15 minutes before returning to the Getaway docks, the wind went from 5 to 20 in less than a minute and then to over 40 in another 5 minutes.  It made docking at real challenge since it was blowing us onto the docks but we gave Captain Phil a 10 for rounding up, heading into the wind and wiggling the stern back into the dock. 

After a nice dinner last night, and a quiet night aboard at ACM, we fueled up this morning and headed for "HOME".  The forecast was for S at 15 but it never materialized.  We motored up the Bay and into the Patapsco.  We did set the jib but it never did much to help.  We have not filled the water tank since Masonborro NC.  Captain Phil assured me several times that we wouldn't run out of water but, to his surprise, we ran out about an hour out of Baltimore.  Of course, no marinas in the last 300+ miles have had their water turned on anyway so we couldn't have taken any on if we had wanted. 

So, it's good to be in.  Phil and Ollie, and I had an early cocktail to celebrate. Phil posted a photo on his Facebook page. 

 

As a nice welcome home, Brianna left work early and greeted Captain Phil and I with a huge chocolate chip cookie.  Thanks Bri,.

We see light at the end of the tunnel.  It's 1:30pm, Tuesday.  We are just south of the mouth of the Patuxant River (entrance to Solomon's).  We anchored on a one of my favorite creeks last night - Dymer Creek.  It is about 5 miles north of the mouth of the Rappahannock River.  It was a very peaceful evening and night.  The temperature only got down into the high 40s or low 50s so it was comfortable sleeping. This morning, we weighed the anchor just after 7 and were underway.  We have been reading forecasts for a strong cold front moving into the area Wednesday night and Thursday. Preceding it (tomorrow) the weather should be a little rainy with some possible thunderstorms.  Today is bright and sunny (but windless).  So the plan for today is to make it a long one and make it into Annapolis.  We will tie up at the Annapolis City Marina (the regular).  We are calculating we will arrive around 9pm.  Tomorrow will (should) be a short/easy motor/sail up to our Baltimore home port.  Needless to say, we are all getting excited to be home.

It's 10:30pm.  We got to Annapolis at 9pm, tied up at the Annapolis City Marina, and dashed over to the Boatyard Cafe for dinner.  It's nice to have heat again.  Plan to leave around 9am and be in Baltimore around 1pm.  Plan for me is to catch a ride with Captain Phil up to Joan's sister Teresa and husband Robert's house tomorrow evening. I'll stay over there tomorrow night and Joan will drive down and pick me up Thursday. 

I'll post recent photos tomorrow night when I have wifi.

Yesterday was a long, but productive, day.  We made it to Portsmouth on the west side of the Elizabeth River, across from Norfolk.  The entire day was canals, and cuts in narrow rivers and shallow sounds.  I ran aground (for the second time in a week) yesterday.  I was even following behind a barge that made it through but, in some areas, the cuts are very narrow and shoaled into the cut.  Fortunately, the tide was rising and we were off in about 10 minutes.  We went through lots of bridges and one (Great Bridge) lock.  The timing all went pretty well and we got into the Tidewater Marina just after sunset.  Today we will have returned home to the Bay. We are looking forward to sailing again.  The wind today is forecasted to be SW at 10 to 15 so it should be a good sail.  More later.  It's 8am and we need to fuel up and head out.

OK - now it's "today".  It's noon and we are almost half way to our destination anchorage.  We got up this morning to bright sunshine, winds NW at about 10, and temps around 30. We got going at 8am sharp for a 52 nm day.  We motored out of the Pantego River and into the (large) Pungo River.  It was about 8 miles up to the head where we left the river into the south end of the Alligator-Pungo cut.  This (ICW) cut is almost 20 miles long with two 5 degree turns near the center.  So it's two very straight 10 mile stretches till you reach the bottom of the Alligator River.  As I type, Ollie has the "watch" (wheel) and Captain Phil is doing some patch work on the dinghy.  It is nice and sunny.  The temp inside the cockpit is around 65 or 70 and below it's about 55 or 60 - a HUGE improvement over the last 3 days.  I know, though, that the forecast for later in the week (up north in the Bay) is for colder temps again.   

Rev. 1 - it's 7pm and we just dropped anchor in the North River on the north side of the Albemarle Sound.  We ended up making good progress all day and reached our previous destination earlier than expected.  So we decided to keep going.  One factor was that the Albamarle Sound was like glass - making the passage across a piece of cake.  It is notorious for being a real pain.  I've read reports that it is the most difficult stretch of water between Florida and Maine so we are glad to have it behind us.  So, the plan now is to make Great Bridge tomorrow and South Norfolk Monday.

It's now 3/8.  We were docked the entire day and I had big plans to tour the town of Belhaven, do lots of reading, and update the blog.  So much for plans.  It rained and the nor-easter blew through all day yesterday and last night.  We were in a very protected anchorage for the wind direction but we were still rocking and rolling, heeling sometimes to 15 degrees.  It didn't rain the entire day so I was able to go to the head to use the wifi etc.  Wifi was available on the boat but you had to be in the cockpit and that was cold.  The marina was very small but was the owners (a husband and wife) were very nice and had the office and small outbuilding fixed up and decorated very nicely.  The head was set up as a shrine to the owner's uncle who had been in the Navy in the 1940s. It was decorated with 30 or 30 pieces of memorabilia - really cool.

We went out to dinner again last night to and, again, the food was really excellent.  As usual, lights were out by around 9pm.

Don't ever think the weather can't get any worse.  We have "joked" over the last week that we were heading into the "Polar Vortex" of the mid Atlantic and Northeast.  I know we haven't been having the record lows of those back home but when you are boating, 20s and 30s can be a little uncomfortable.  So, if that weren't enough, a big low pressure has developed to our south.  Ever feel like you are being squeezed? We anchored out last night in NE 10 to 15 with temps around 40.  Today, we motored out of "Gale Creek", north into Goose Creek and then into the Pamlico.  The further north we got, the windier and rougher it got.  The swells in the Pamlico River were easily 6'.  We had spray coming over the top of the bimini.   Fortunately, it was only a few miles across to the Pungo River and the Pintita and her engine (Big Blue) took it all and kept is dry and safe.  We pulled into the Belhaven Marina at around 1pm.  Our plan is to sit the low pressure (nor-easter) out until the weather improves (forecast is for Saturday).

With bad weather forecasted for today and especially tomorrow and Friday, Dad decided trying to make it to Norfolk was too risky.  To be on the safe side, he rented a car in Morehead City this morning and began a 7 hour drive home.  We will miss him - especially on "anchor detail".  So now it's down to Captain Phil, Ollie, and me.  We left Morehead City at around 9am in a light sprinkle and about 40 degrees.  We had the current with us motoring up the Adams Creek canal and were through Adam's Creek and into the Neuse River by about noon.  We were making such good time, we decided to head up the Neuse and into Bay River.  We are now anchored in Gale Creek on the north side and near the head of Bay River.  The "silver bullet" (generator) has been running for about an hour, we have transferred fuel from the 150 gallon aux tank to the 55 gallon main tank.  We all are enjoying our favorite adult beverage and Phil is reading and Ollie is playing with his phone. The forecast is for NNE 15 to 25 tomorrow so we plan to cross the Pamlico river and head into the Pungo River.  Near the head of the Pungo is Dowery Creek Marina where we plan to stay tomorrow night.  Tomorrow should only be a short 30 mile day.  We have not had sun for 3 days now and it has been raining off and on.  The wind and rain is supposed to pick up tomorrow and Friday but the forecast is for sun and warmer temps starting Saturday.  We can't wait. 

Ever try typing on a keyboard that is 45 degrees?  Weighed two anchors with very muddy 150' rodes this morning at 7:30am - on an icy deck.  What a mess.  Underway now, headed north. Just passed the dreaded inlet where Pintita ran aground on the way south (green 61a).  The buoy has since been moved from the east side of the ICW to the west side. 

We are underway again.  Left the dock at Masonborro YC at around 8am and stopped for fuel at Wrightsville Beach.  Wrightsville Beach seems to be a very affluent area with lots of very nice homes and marinas etc.  Our plan is to go just 37 miles today to a large anchorage just NW of the New River Inlet (south of Moorhead City by about 40 miles).  Last night low temp was around 50 and it's currently around 55 with SW winds around 15.  The wind is supposed to "haul" around (CW) to the west and then NW and begin blowing this afternoon and evening. Well,  its now 6:30pm and the wind did haul - and picked up to 15 to 25 from the NW.  We dropped the anchor (both of them) at about 5pm and have been running the generator (for heat ever since).  The temp has dropped to around 40. It's nice to be in safe.  It is howling outside and the boat is healing (under bare poles) from side to side.  Tomorrow will be a long day to get past Moorehead City and up to Adams Creek.  From Moorehead City on will be familiar territory for me from my trip there two years ago.

Given all the talk about cold weather coming from up north, we decided to make today a boat work day.   Having temps in the 60s, sunny skies, and light winds helped in the decision.  This morning, Captain Phil did laundry and went got a ride to the grocery store with one of the marina employees.  We began working on sail slides around 9am.  Every one of the slides on the boom had broken and 6 or 7 on the mast.  It appeared that UV in the sunlight had caused the plastic in the slides to become brittle over time.  Ollie had ordered 15 new slides for the mast from Sailrite.  A couple weeks ago, we realized the slides for the boom were a different size so he ordered 15 of those.  We used all but 2 on the boom.  Anyway, it's nice to know the mainsail is now fully attached to both the mast and boom.  Tonight we ate Ollie's Wife Ann's 2 x 4 soup, French bread and a salad.  The soup was a real hit. During and following the movie, we watch "The Wild Wild West".  Tomorrow, we plan to leave Masonborro around 8am for a short 37 mile motor up the ICW to some anchorage I'm not yet aware of.  

After almost 12 hours of sleep, it was up at the crack of dawn for a planned 65 mile day - hoping to get to the Wrightsville Beach area of NC. As I type, Captain Phil is preparing a gourmet breakfast of smoked salmon and beagles (with lots of toppings).

It's now almost 5pm.  It's been a long day of motoring.  Fighting a 3 to 4 knot current for several miles north Cape Fear didn't make it any easier.  From the Cape Fear Inlet, the ICW joins the Cape fear River for about 5 miles and we passed through at max ebb (see video).  We are approaching the Masonborro Yacht Club and Marina where we will stay overnight.  This was the location where the Pintita stayed for a week, waiting for a weather window to head offshore for the passage to St. Thomas (last November).  I think this might be a little nastalgic for Captain Phil since he has now completed a loop from which he left for his voyage.

Spent the night at Barefoot Landing Marina, along the ICW at Myrtle Beach.  The "marina" is really nothing more than a floating dock about 10' wide and about 300' long that runs parallel to the waterway on the east side.  The dock master was very helpful and even drove us to the NAPA store for oil in the morning.  Not much for amenities but right next to a large shopping center with lots of restaurants etc.  As we approached the dock, Ollie's friend Chuck was waiting.  He jumped aboard and had the problem isolated in 20 minutes and repaired in about an hour.  Then, the 5 of us went over to Ollie's house for a fantastic pasta dinner (and, for me, shower, and laundry). Thanks Ann and Ollie!!  Phil and Dan and I came back to the boat for the night.  This morning, we did boat work till around noon - changed the engine oil, cleaned, tidied up the new VHF power wiring, ate breakfast, planned our trip for today and tomorrow.  We only motored for 3 hours today. The current was with us and we made 20 miles to the Ocean Isles Marina - a very nice marina, primarily for small boats. They have inside storage for over 400 runabouts and docks for only about 20 larger boats. Very nice staff and facilities.  After an "exhausting" day, all but Dan had fallen asleep by 8pm and we were all in bed by 9:30.

One of these days, I'm going to document all the options and challenges that exist with communications and data transfer on the trip. We have an amazing number of devices and methods for both but 90% of the time, we don't have internet and only about 50% of the time, we have phone service. 

We were late getting into an anchorage last night (it was almost dark and rainy) at a little after 6pm.  We had hoped to make it to Georgetown but were 3 hours short because of the tug/barge event yesterday.  We must make it to Myrtle Beach tonight (Ollies wife is preparing a hot meal for us) so we were up at 5:30am this morning and underway in the dark at around 6am.  We expect to make it to some marina around 6pm.  The temp this morning was 37 which made hauling the anchor, and motoring for the first two hours lots of fun.  We MISS the Caribbean!  It's now almost 10am and the sun is out so it's much better.  A nice breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast helped a lot with morale. 

It's 5:30pm and we are at the marina in Myrtle Beach. I'm sitting in a little hut about 1/4 mile from the boat because the wifi doesn't reach there.  It turned out being a nice sunny day but cool all day. Tonight is supposed to be cold and tomorrow a high in the low 50s.   I believe we will be motoring up the waterway until we get to Norfolk. 

Had a nice motor up the ICW today.  After a nice pancake breakfast, weighed anchor around 8:30am.  Some of the rivers and cuts in this area are a little tricky but we have never touched bottom yet.  Came into Charleston and are at the Mega Marina on the south side of the historic district.  It's a huge marina with hundreds of very huge boats (in the 80 plus range).  Went out for a great dinner and am back at the boat now.  The skipper and the rest of the crew turned in at 9 so I'm up top pounding this out before calling Joan (she works tonight) and then off to bed.  Tomorrow we are off to Georgetown SC.  It's a town I've seen on the maps/charts and always wanted to go to. 

I had trouble sleeping last night.  Went to bed later than normal (10:30pm vs. 7 or 8) but woke up at 5 and was up making coffee at 5:30.  Fortunately, Dan is an early riser and didn't mind being awaken.  Soon, Captain Phil was up and dashed the plan of leaving at 10 (waiting for a favorable current) and, instead opted for weighing anchor ASAP to get out of the very narrow canal we had anchored in the night before.  So, we left the Hilton Head area before 7am.  We motored up the ICW all day and made just under 50 miles before dropping anchor somewhere in the middle of no where (Raccoon Island) about 30 miles south of Charleston.   It was a beautiful, sunny day with little wind until about 2pm when an East wind around 10 knots came in.   Tomorrow night we will be staying at a nice marina on the South side of Old Charleston.

Up at 6 this morning and weighed anchor at 7.   Motored out Doboy inlet and headed north.  Weather was mostly cloudy till about noon when it started sprinkling and getting a little foggy.  Had planned to only go about 40 miles but decided early to make it to Hilton Head (around 65 miles).  Came into the Savannah River past Tybee Point at around 5:30pm and to our anchorage around 6:45 (after dark).  So, it was a somewhat boring and dreary day.  On the bright side, Captain Phil did boat work and made good progress replacing some of the parquet flooring that had delaminated in the forward cabin.  I began work on replacing some of the broken sail slides.  Tomorrow, we plan to leave here around 10am (to be with the current) and head up the ICW.  Our current plan is to make it to Charleston Tuesday night.

What a great day yesterday, last night, and this morning.  It's almost 1pm on Saturday. It's sunny and around 60 degrees and we are motoring at about 6 knots up the waterway, north of Brunswick.  Our destination for the night is only about 25 miles north (about 15 miles north of our current position). We will be anchoring just south of Doboy Island, just inside Doboy inlet.  Tomorrow, we plan to go outside and will likely motorsail up to the inlet at the south end of Hilton Head.

Coming in yesterday, we ran head into a huge (Maine to Florida) line of thunderstorms that produced headwinds in excess of 60 knots and driving rain.  Thank goodness for the Pintita's sturdy enclosure.  It lasted about 30 minutes and we were very fortunate to be inside the inlet so the seas never had much of a chance to build.  However, we had the engine at 3,000 rpm and were still doing only a little over 4 knots.  We docked at Brunswick Landing Marina about 1pm.  What a really nice marina.  The dockmaster, Sheri was a real gem.  It was nice to get in early and take somewhat of a break since we had just finished a 3 day passage.  Later in the afternoon, I did a load of laundry and downloaded my Plan2Nav chart plotter app onto Captain Phil's smart phone (see below).  We went to dinner at Foxy's Pizza in downtown Brunswick.  It was a 6 or 7 minute walk from the boat.  It was the only place in town that showed any kind of life but it was lively and fun.  Good beer (Tarripin Mo Hoo) and pizza (buffalo wing and blue cheese) made it great.

Captain Phil has been coming along at erasing his "analog captain" label given by Dewey a couple weeks ago.  Over the last two weeks, he has been asking more and more frequently to use the charting app on my phone to get into and out of a number of tight inlets and reefs.  Last night, I downloaded the app and charts onto his LG phone with a 6" screen.   Today, he beginning to concede that there is some considerable usefulness to the device (other than as a phone and to look at photos of his new granddaughter). 

It's now almost 6pm. We pulled into an anchorage on the south side of Doboy island on the west side of Doboy inlet.  A strong ebbing current is pulling us out toward the inlet and the wind is trying to blow us the other way.  it's a pretty weird sight - small breaking waves blowing from the stern to the bow.  The plan is to weigh anchor at around 7am and head outside (offshore) for a 50 mile motorsail up to Ossabaw inlet (about 15 miles south of Savannah).

2/21/2014

Notice of blog format change. 

Readers may have noticed that I've not been - up with the "Photos" tab. Instead, I've been putting a limited number of photos under the Daily Trip Summary tab.  I've decided to just delete the photos tab to eliminate the redundancy.  Also, our new crew member, Dan (a computer expert) encouraged me to post my videos on You tube - which I have figured out how to do.  I've inserted links to the videos in the blog text.  If you are interested, you can scroll down through the text looking for the links.  They should be easy to find.

It's now 7:45am.  It was a long (and chili night).  We left the gulf stream sometime before midnight and the temperature started dropping.  I came on watch at 1am and the wind had picked up to South at around 25.  Captain Phil had just made the decision to reef the main.  It seems almost absurd to be on the foredeck of a 45 foot boat in 6 foot seas in total darkness to do a maneuver like this.  In retrospect, we should have set the reef just before dark when we dropped the mizzen.  Oh well, it had to be done.  Ollie and I were on the foredeck as Phil rounded the boat up into the wind.  Of course, the sail began flogging like thunder, making our adrenaline pump even harder.  It took about 10 minutes and the flaking job looked awful but the reef was in and the boat handled better.  By 3 or 4am, the wind had died to around 15 and the seas began to calm.  At this point, we are about 10 miles east of the outer buoy off Brunswick GA.  We motor sailed all night and are currently under a reefed main and staysail only, doing about 5 knots.  We expect to enter the inlet about 10am and be docked around noon.  I think we are ALL looking forward to the FREE laundry at the marina.

 

It is now 11am and we just sighted land for the first time in 3 days.  Hooray!  The weather stinks. It has been cold and foggy for the last 2 hours.  We just got a cell signal so we're able to use the AIS app on my phone to look for ships.  More later.

2/20/2014

Back in the US of A
It's now 1am Thursday morning.  We have sailed since yesterday morning (having left from Freeport).  We saw the last of the northwestern tip of Grand Bahama (West End) at around 4pm. Since then, it's been the open sea.  We had distant encounters with 2 or 3 cruise ships and 2 or 3 other commercial vessels during the night.  It seemed like we would never hit the gulf stream but we finally did at about 1 or 2am.  Our speed (motor sailing) went from 6.5 knots to the mid 9s.  The wind overnight couldn't have been more favorable for a "crossing" of the gulf stream.  I had read lots of articles about how treacherous it can be but it has been a piece of cake so far.  The winds are currently SE around 15.  It is supposed to shift to the south.  With all this working in our favor, we have decided to "skip" Florida and hope to make landfall in Brunsick GA - entering into St. Simon's Sound.  We have verified there is a customs office there and have made reservations at the marina (right in the town of Brunswick).  Joan and I traveled there 2 years ago ago, on the way to visit my Dad in Florida and loved the place.  Great French Toast for breakfast this morning.

Our newest crew member, Dan is a 26 year old, very fit bicycle racer who works for Martin Marietta as a cyber intelligence analyst. I think that means he spends most of his (working) time looking for foreign countries trying to break into and steel our military design secrets.  Much of their work is for the Department of Defense.  He grew up sailing at the Baltimore Sailing Center off Back River north of Baltimore and crewed on the Pintita during high school.  He lives in downtown Baltimore and  commutes to Gaithersburg Md every day.  Having Dan to help with the watch rotation has been very nice.  Getting 2 good hours of sleep between watches overnight is a real treat.

It's now 4:40pm and we are happily motoring along in the center of the gulf stream doing around 9 knots.  The wind has clocked around to the south so it is directly behind us.  We are motoring because if we weren't, we would have to bear off and we would be heading further out to sea - away from our destination onshore.  We have the main and mizzen out fully and locked in place with lines (jibe preventers) and both jib and staysail hauled in tight so they don't flop around (which is hard on the sails).   We are currently about 80 miles offshore.  In about 2 hours, we plan to jibe over to a port tack and head for Brunswick GA.  After jibing, we will continue to be pushed to the north by the current but in 2 or 3 hours we expect to be out of it and will then be on a direct path for St. Simon's Inlet.  We expect to make the inlet around noon.  From the inlet, it will be another 5 or 6 miles up the rivers to Brunswick.  Needless to say, we are looking forward to being back in the US.

It's 8am on 2/18.   We just finished an overnighter from Eleuthera to Freeport - about 150 miles.  It blew E at 20 most of the day yesterday and we had a great sail.  We started out on a port tack for about 2 hours and jibed over to a starboard tack that we were on for the remainder of the day and night.  Going through Flemming Channel at the far West end of Eleuthera was a little exiting.  We were sailing with a 3 knot current through the channel with the wind at 90 degrees to the current.  It created a very steep chop that lasted for about a half hour.  We dogged the hatches after taking on a couple quarts of salt water into the salon.  The wind finally died off around 9pm as we sailed into the lee of Great Abaco Island.  We were still 20 miles off shore so the seas were a little rough.  We ended up motor sailing all night.  I'd say we have gotten into a routine of motorsailing at night because having the engine running keeps the batteries charged and the auto pilot (Fred) uses a fair amount of power.  Hand steering at night in seas of any size is a pain so running the engine allows us to have Fred steer - making watch standing much more pleasant.  During the night, we must have seen 15 or 20 ships (freighters, cruise ships, etc.).  Only one came close enough that we changed our course for several minutes.  At 1am, a cruise ship passed us and we could see a large screen TV on his upper deck (over a mile away).  We are currently about 15 miles from Freeport on Grand Bahama.  We will be stopping to pick up Dan Kotowski (another long time Pintita crew member) and will stay over at a marina.  We have had great weather for our direction in the last week.  It has truly been fair winds and following seas.  But the forecast is for a major front to come through in about a week and our plan is to get to the Florida coast ASAP.  I expect we will be picking up Dan, provisioning, and heading out tomorrow for a Gulf Stream crossing tomorrow and tomorrow night.   When we leave Freeport and where we head will depend on the weather (primarily wind direction and strength).  Coming into Freeport now (12 noon). More later.

It's almost noon. We departed Cape Eleuthera this morning about 9am after saying so long to our friends and shipmates Mary and Dewey.  The wind went from W at about 20 yesterday evening to zero this morning.  We are motoring up the west coast of Eleuthera to Governor's Harbor to pick up Ollie.  He got in last night and stayed over somewhere in town.  We plan to pick him up at Government dock at about 1:30 and then take off for Hatchet Bay which is another 20 miles north.  Hatchet Bay is VERY sheltered and a better anchorage than Governor's Harbor.  It will also get us a little closer to the cut at the west end of Eleuthera that will get us to Freeport in two days.   Both harbors are supposed to be beautiful so will try and get some good photos.  After an hour of motoring, Captain Phil did his first laundry since Providenciales in the T&C.  I expect pulling into Government Dock to be a little embarrassing (with all the laundry hanging out to dry - see photos - but Captain Phil assures me that he won't be the least bit bothered).  Captain Phil ended up removing his laundry and donning a shirt for the Ollie pick up that we timed almost perfectly.  We sailed on a very nice close reach from Governor's Harbor to Hatchet Bay.  Hatchet bay has about the most unusual entrance I've ever seen (see photos).

Today was a really great sailing day. We left our anchorage behind Compass Cove at 8am and sailed 35 miles on a single (port) tack to the western tip of southern Eleuthera.  The wind was out of the west all day blowing between 10 and 25 (mostly around 20).  We got into the marina at Powell Point at 2pm.  Did laundry in a bucket and made several calls on Google talk/voice.  This is the first internet connection in 3 days.  Tomorrow, Mary and Dewey will be flying out and Captain Phil and I will take the boat north about 30 miles to pick up Ollie, who is flying into an airport at the north end of the Island. 

Happy Valentine's Day Joan!  Happy Valentine's Day Dad and Quinn and Jaylen, Mike and Jody and Jeannine and to all my other loved ones. 

We came into a beautiful anchorage just inside the north tip of Compass Island.  We motor sailed most of the way.  We got an early (8am) start into a 10 knot NE wind.  We headed out East for an hour and then tacked over to a starboard tack.  The wind picked up to about a little over 15 kt. from about noon till two then died off to zero as we came into the cut north of the island.  I told Captain Phil I was proud of him for anchoring in our shallowest depth yet.  He is so used never anchoring in anything less than 10 or 15' that depths showing 1 meter on the chart makes him very nervous.  So, here we are, anchored in 1 meter with (on the chart).  Within 2 minutes of dropping the anchor, Phil was the first in and I was the second.  It is the clearest water we have seen yet.  From 10' in front of the boat, we could easily see the rudder over 50' away.  Tomorrow it will be up early to be off for Eleuthera where Mary and Dewey will depart for Nassau and then Denver.

This morning was decision making time.  Mary and Dewey are scheduled to fly to Nassua from Eleuthra on Saturday.  With the progress we have been making and the bad weather forecasted, we had to decide whether to forge on and reschedule their flights and return home or to fly out of Georgetown on Great Exuma.  We decided to forge on.  They made some calls and got it worked out.  We were late leaving - after provisioning twice and taking on water and fuel - left about 10:30am.  Our plan was to make if about 45 miles to Farmers Cays.  After the first 2 hours of a really nice westerly beam reach, the wind picked up to around 25.  We dropped the mizzen and reefed the main.  The wind was forecasted to clock around to the NW so we decided to stop short.  We went through Adderly Cut (at about 4:30pm) and into an anchorage with about 8 other boats, in the lee of Norman's Pond Cay.  Dewey swam a quarter mile to shore, I sun showered.  Had coctails and them Captain Phil fixed burgers on his George Foreman burger grill.  They were great.  Had a huge thunderstorm at 10pm that lasted about 30 minutes with lots of rain and winds that sounded like 50 to 60 kts.  Happily, our single anchor (delta) held.

Sailed about 25 miles from Long Island to Georgetown on Grand Exuma Island.  Now THIS is the Bahamas.  Beautiful aqua blue water, lots of little cays with beautiful beaches and many great anchorages.  Got into Georgetown around 2pm after a 5 mile motor through coral heads and reefs.  Captain Phil's nerves are being tested but he knows there is much more of the same to come since the central and upper Bahamas are mostly islands on "banks" that are mile after mile of water just a little deeper than the Pintita's keel.  The banks are surrounded by waters that drop off to over a mile in just a few hundred yards.  As I type, we are running the "Silver Bullet" - the boats AC diesel powered generator.  Everyone has their cell phones, kindles, and other devices plugged in for charging.  We are staying at a marina that is redoing all their shore power and right now, we have none.  Looking out over the harbor (it's 9pm) is like star gazing. There must be over 100 boats in site at anchor - all displaying their anchor lights.  It's really a cool sight.  We are expecting the first (for the Pintita) in over 2 months. Fronts from the US typically don't make it below where we are - the East Trade winds keep  them from pushing south.  From this point north, we will be getting a lot of influence from the US weather.  We have read about all the winter storms marching across the country (brrrrr!).   Tomorrow morning, we will do some light provisioning and take on fuel and be on our way up the Exuma chain.   Will probably not be in contact till we reach Eleuthera in 2 or 3 days.

Started out at about 8:30am from Flying Fish Marina in Clarence Town this morning with fairly good (15 kt) ESE winds.  Wind dropped to about 10 knots so we motor sailed the 70 miles from there up to the northern tip of Long Island.  Motored around Santa Maria point and about 3 miles down the west side of Long Island to Calabash Bay.  This is a very remote area - like much of what we have seen for the last 3 days. Tomorrow, we will head to Georgetown on Great Exuma.  The plan is to get fuel there and anchor out, waiting for a cold front to pass through.  The west side of Long Island is the eastern side of the Grand Bahama Bank, where, for a hundred miles, the water is only a few feet deep.  We are anchored in a completely white sand bottom area and the almost full moon is shining off the bottom making the water glow.  It's amazing.   The downside of this anchorage is that it is a bit rocky from the surge.  The water is very smooth but big swells come around the top of the island and find their way into the anchorage. 

Tomorrow, it's up early and on to the northern tip of Long Island and around to the West side where we will anchor and then proceed onto the Exuma chain.  Should be two days in the Exumas and then on to Eluthra where Dewey and Mary will disembark and Ollie will arrive.  Will likely be out of touch for several days.  Had cracked Conch at "Rowdy Boys Restaurant tonight.  Everyone else is in bed and I'm heading there now.

I'm behind on my blogging for a couple reasons.  I've started reading a great book and I've been enjoying chatting with our new crew member Dewey Dyer.  More about Dewey and his wife Mary later.  Yesterday afternoon, we arrived in Little Harbor at the south end of Long Island. We debated on whether to go a little further north to Clearance Town but since we will be going there today to spend the night at a marina we decided to "rough it" last night.  Little harbor is the prettiest anchorage I've seen yet.  It's very deserted and peaceful.  We have concluded that most of the anchoring in the southern part of the Bahamas and to the south east is in deep water.  From here on, it will be much more shallow.  Arrived in Little Harbor at about 2:30pm - plenty of time to snorkel and relax.

See the Charts tab for a discussion of the charts we are using for the trip.

Motor sailed overnight and most of the day today from the NE tip of Aukins Island to Long Island.  The winds were light, around 10 kts. but seemed lighter since we were broad reaching the entire day.  Had great breakfast (eggs, potatoes, sausage) and a fantastic cold pasta and lobster dinner last night thanks to Mary and Captain Phil.  Little sea life today but great weather.  Seems like we have left the Caribbean squalls behind us.

Got a late (11am) start out of Abrahams Bay but there was no rush since we had decided to do an overnighter to get to our next destination.  Had good 20 to 25kt ESE winds all day with 6 to 8' seas.  Our new crew members are troopers and are handling the seas with no problem.  Dinner was Captain Phils Dirty Rice and sausage in a bowl (every try eating while riding a "mechanical bull"?).

Left Turtle Cove at about 8am.  In the end, Phil's interface with Customs lasted only about 5 minutes.  We has Joeseph lead us out through the reef.  The day was uneventful with 15 to 20 knot ESE winds and 3 to 6' swells.  We arrived at the entrance of Abraham's bay just after sundown which made entering the anchorage a little iffy.  We anchored about 1/2 mile behind a reef that was a little awash making the night pretty rocky. 

Because of the logistics of clearing out of the T&C, we have decided to leave Turtle cove tomorrow - a day later than planned.  Tomorrow morning, we will sail around 70 miles to the island of Mayaguana.  It is big enough to have an airport but is pretty small.  We got provisions for over a week today and ate lunch at a real "dive" - see photos.  Customs was to have met us at the boat at 3:30pm but never showed. 

Rest day in Provo

At Joan's suggestion, I'm reversing the order of the photos to put the most recent at the top - same order as the blog.  I'll be leaving what is there now "as is" till some later date. 

Todays photos are of Captain Phil doing his laundry on the dock and a short video pan of the marina. Tom left to fly home an hour ago.  We will miss him.  We have finish several boat projects this morning - patching a tear near the head of the yankee jib, swapping anchor chains to put the 100' chain on the number 2 (starboard) anchor.  The number 2 is a delta that holds better than the number 1 (CQR).  We will be leaving (cab ride) to go provision next.  Will likely be out of any kind of cell/wifi range for the next 2 to 3 days.   For those back home weathering the snow, ice, and cold, I'm sitting here on the Pintita sweating profusely in the AC.  I know it's hard to imagine. 

If you click on this link and zoom out and in, I think you will be able to see where we are now (Turtle Cove Marina in Turtle Cove).

https://www.google.com/maps/preview/@21.7852112,-72.22692,14z?hl=en

Welcome to the Turks and Caicos Islands. It took us 4 days to get here - the longest single trek I will have taken on the Pintita's voyage.  She took almost 2 weeks to get from North Carolina to St. Thomas so this was small by comparison.  There , be one or two more single over nighters before getting to Baltimore in mid March.  Since overnighting is a lot different than Island hopping, I'll give some details on what it's like.

Over the days, we were on a watch rotation (for the 3 of us). It was more strict at night than during the day.  We stood one hour watches and rotated on the hour.

1.       Ron at wheel, Tom on standby in the cockpit, Phil below asleep.
2.      Tom at wheel, Phil on standby, Ron below asleep.
3.      Phil at wheel, Ron on standby, Tom below asleep.

The first night, it took 3 to 4 rotations before we were able to sleep well (with all the banging and wind noise).  We would begin sleeping at around 7pm.  After a day or two, sleeping on standby was no problem.  During daylight, those not at the wheel were free to roam about.

We certainly miss Bri's gourmet cooking but Captain Phil has done an honorable job of keeping the crew fed.  Eggs to order and toast, French toast, for breakfast, great sandwiches for lunch, and tuna, pasta, dinners.  A well fed crew is a happy crew.

Conditions from Puerto Rico to T&C

Generally, winds ENE at 25 with sea swells at 10 to 12 feet.  Squalls every 4 to 6 hours (usually when Tom had the wheel) - more frequent at night.  Squalls had light to heavy rain and winds 30 to 50 knots.  The stronger winds created a big weather helm that made the boat round up into the wind and made it nearly impossible to turn the wheel back down.  Fortunately, they were all short lived.  The seas had a fair amount of cross swells (waves coming from 2 directions) that made for very choppy and uncomfortable seas. Yesterday was a welcome exception - the wind and waves moderating some and fewer squalls.

We left San Juan at 8am (dock at 7) Saturday.  Captain Phil had cleared us out of the US on Friday.  Leaving the harbor brought immediate rough conditions that persisted for the next 2 days.  We were on a course of 310 to 340 degrees day and night.  We were broad reaching on the same (starboard) tack for the entire trip.  We tied a boom jibe preventer onto the mainsail boom to prevent accidental jibes.  Depending on the swell direction, steering a straight course was usually difficult. On the third day, we sailed on the north side of three banks (under water plateaus).  On the last day, the wind moderated and we motor sailed for about 14 hours straight.  At 4am today, we shut off the engine and hove to about 20 miles north of the Providenciales bight at the west end of the T&C.  We had to wait till 8am for our guide boat to come out and lead us in through the reefs. 

Over the 4 days, we were greeted on two separate occasions by schools of dauphins.  On the second occasion, Tom and I went to the bow and I'm certain the dauphins could see us as the swam back and fourth across our bow - sometimes jumping out of the water. They seemed to tire after about 20 minutes and would fall off behind.  This morning, about 5 miles off our entrance to the reef, we saw a hump back whale jump and clear the water making a huge splash when she/he came back down.  It was an awesome sight.

We will be here at Turtle Cove Marina tonight and tomorrow night.  Tom will fly out tomorrow and Dewey and Mary will arrive tomorrow night.  We will be off again on Thursday morning.  The entrance through the reef was unreal.  I assumed having a guide was a local money maker but after all the twists and turns, we were all glad we had one. 

 

The steering has held up well but the main sail keeps breaking the plastic slugs that attach it to the track on the mast.   Phil has tried finding slides at ports since Antigua but has been unsuccessful. Coming in this morning, he noticed 4 in a row that were broken.  The plan is to start removing slides from the mizzen sail to install on the main.  Also, found another small tear near the head of the jib that will have to be fixed before leaving.

 

 

The weather in Puerto Rico is significantly different than that ESE of here.   We have had rain 2 to 3 times since we came in 24 hours ago.  It's also odd that there are such a limited number of marinas.  We are at the only "public" marina in the city.  The marina office didn't open till after 10am - you can ignore the 8:30am on the sign.  Tom, Brianna, and I took a taxi into Old San Juan around noon and toured the majestic Fort El Moro (see photos).  The fort was on our left as we entered the San Juan harbor and will be on our right tomorrow morning when we leave.  We walked over 2 or 3 fairly major highways this morning to get to the Pueblo supermarket where we got our last provisions for the next several days.  Brianna left at about 3:30 to catch her plane back to Baltimore (brrrr).  We will certainly miss her and I'm only hoping we can survive on the cooking of the remaining 3 old "salts".  Time will tell but I'm sure we could all survive for several days on what we have gained in weight.  The winds for the next 3 days look a little stronger than normal - East, 20 to 30.  The night sailing will be "fun".   Will likely not post again until we get to Providenciales on Turks and Caicos. 

Woke up to a rain storm around 6 am.  Got clothes off the lifelines and closed up the boat but it only lasted for 15 minutes.  Left the anchorage at around 9am and didn't get into San Juan till around 5:30pm, making this the longest sailing day yet.  Had the biggest seas yet with swells averaging 6 or 7 feet with infrequent 9 or 10 footers.  As we rounded the fort into Old San Juan, we were hit with a downpour and squall just as we were taking down the mainsail.  By the time we got to the marina, it had cleared up.  Since the marina closed at 5, we ended up staying on one of the T heads.   Had dinner at the Sizzler steak house overlooking the marina.

Since Brianna departs tomorrow at around 6, we plan to tour the city tomorrow.  Captain Phil, Tom, and I will leave early Saturday morning for a 3 day, two night sail to the Turks and Caicos.  

Anchored in a not so sheltered cove in Endanada Bay on Culebra last night.  Had lots of wind overnight but the wave action made it a fairly good anchorage.   It was surprising to come in and see 10 or 15 boats anchored with no shelter but the reef on the south side of the entrance.  Was lots of noise but the best night sleep I've had yet.

This morning we were up before 7 and after our first "light" breakfast.  Weighed anchor at around 8:30 and were off for my longest (in a day) sail yet - about 45 miles.  It's funny because that's my average distance single handing on the bay.  Of course, I usually start out before 7 and sail till 4 or 5.   We sailed to a small island just off Fajardo.  It is the largest town on the east end of Puerto Rico and the place where Joan and I caught the ferry to Culebra two years ago.  In fact, we can see the ferry landing from where we are anchored.  There were lots of wrecked boats of all sizes all over the island.  The place looks a bit of an eye sore.  It appears they are still recovering from some recent hurricane.   We dropped the dinghy and went for a ride around the island - looking for some good snorkeling. It was refreshing to get in the water but the visibility was very poor. 

Tomorrow, it's on to San Joan where we will be staying in a marina.

Around noon two days ago, I got a call that my Dad who lives in Florida had been rushed to the hospital in a coma.  The gardener had just spoken with him an hour before so finding him was some kind of divine intervention - thank you God.  My sister hopped on a plane from Pheonix and arrived yesterday at 3pm.  By the time she got to the hospital, Dad was conscious and talking.  That was a blessing.  But the doctors concluded from the MRI that he had a 2 brain tumors that caused the seizures.  He is doing better but more tests to  come.  Please pray for him.

Yesterday  broad reached  from the East end of St. Johns back to Charlotte Amalie.  We were in 20 to 25 knot trades with 7' swells when one of the previous repairs in a steering cable let go.  Luckily, Fred (the Pintita's trusted autohelm) is a direct drive to the steering quadrant so that we were able to limp back into port.  Of course, this was after some quick action by skipper and crew, we rounded up, started the engine, and tacked to a hove to position.  On a starboard tack, we motor sailed the 15 miles back to port where we dropped and anchor and re-attached the steering cable. This morning, Captain Phil purchased a couple more clamps that should hold the remainder of the trip. 

Today, it's onto Culebra at the east end of PR.

Left Jost Van Dyke early - but not too early to have some great French toast for breakfast.  Broad  reached  SW to the cut between the west end of Tortola and the east end of St. John.  Had a great view into Soppers hole (West End) where I remember clearing customs 25 years ago when chartering.  Sailed south along the east end of St. John, rounded the point on the SE corner and jibed over to a broad reach into Hansen Bay.  This was our original (3 days ago) first day destination.  Was sure glad we made it because it is a beautiful anchorage with good shelter.  We are not in but are adjacent to the National Park.   Snorkeled in the afternoon and had another fantastic meal, thanks to Bri.  See Photo page for shots from the last 3 days.

It's Wednesday, 2/26.  We were up this morning at 6:30, fixed coffee and took on water (Pintita holds about 200 gallons and we take on about a hundred every 3 or 4 days - with 4 people on board).  We had a nice breakfast and got underway around 9am.  We motored out toward Ft. Sumter and then headed north into the ICW.  As we did, one of the more interesting events of the trip began to unfold.  A good size tug pushing a small barge was gaining on us from the rear.  We assumed he was going somewhere else but started getting nervous the closer he got.  When he was about a hundred yards behind us, we radioed him and he told us that he, too, was going up the ICW.  He wanted to pass us before entering the narrow cut and told us that about 3 miles into the cut, he expected that we both would be running aground since the area was known for severe shoaling - we both drew 6'.  We followed him up the canal and soon, another tug with a larger barge came up from behind us.  We were now sandwiched in between two VERY large vessels with very little room to maneuver.  The tug/barge behind us asked to pass us and we obliged.  As he began to pass, the barge in front of us ran aground and stopped. We quickly stopped and were a little fearful of being run over by the one still behind. The three of us ended up spending about an hour, from 10:30am to 11:30am maneuvering around trying to get off the shoals all over the channel.  We exchanged positions in line twice with the second tug.  My video shows the two tugs jockeying around trying to break free.  Around 11am, the first tug made it through. We got off at around 11:15 and never again saw the second tug (who drew 7').  It was quite an ordeal with all three captains chatting and sharing possible strategies over the VHF on channel 1. 

It has been raining lightly all day.  Thank goodness for the enclosure that is keeping us dry.  The temp is around 50 so it's a pretty miserable day.  To add to the excitement, the ICW north of Charlestown is about the most boring part of the ICW I've ever experienced - mile after mile of treeless grasslands.

 

Note: posted this 2/27

With a week to get to Puerto Rico (from St. Thomas), we developed a cruising plan last night.  The plan was to go from St. Thomas to the SE end of St. John where there is an underwater national park.  From there, we would sail to the West end of Tortolla to Soppers hole.  Then on 1/26, we would sail north to Jost Van Dyke. The next day would be back to St. Thomas for the night and then to Calebra - one of the Spanish Virgin Islands at the east end of Puerto Rico.  An overnight there on the 28th, to the east end of Puerto Rico on the 29th and then on to San Juan on the 30th.  Bri is flying home from Puerto Rico on the 31st. 

We left St. Thomas at around 10am this morning after a provisioning run.  We sailed on a close reach to the SE for about 15 miles and then tacked back to toward St. John.  Around 1pm, the wind picked up to around 20 and we reefed the main.  Around 1:30, it picked up another 5 knots and we furlled the jib (never did set the mizzen).  With only a reefed main and staysail, we were headed into the East end of St. Thomas and with rain setting in, we decided to pull into and drop anchor (mooring ball) at the east end behind Great St. James Island.  That was the right move since it rained on the way in and during our first hour at anchor.

Made it to Baltimore without much trouble.  Snowed till around 10pm with accumulations to about 8".   Temps overnight dropped to below 10 making cleaning off the car a pain.  Picked Tom up at 5:10am and then drove to the airport with Joan's brother in law Robert.  Luckely, our flight was on time (thank you Southwest).  The plane took a flightpath down the western side of the Bay that enabled Tom and I to see every river off the western shore, Norfolk, the Dismal Swamp, the sounds of North Carolina, as well as Beaufort and Cape lookout bight. 

Got into San Juan at 2 (a little late), got bags and onto the Seaborne puddle jumper to St. Thomas.

Well, it's T = minus 1.  The good news is I'm packed and ready for Joan to pick me up in an hour for the drive down to Baltimore.  The bad news is the worst snow storm of the year began this morning and is scheduled to be over at around midnight tonight.  Joan cancelled her appointments tomorrow morning and plans to leave Baltimore early in the morning for the drive back.  I'll be riding to the airport with Tom Hosford (Pintita crew member) in the morning.  I wonder what the chances will be of a delay in the flights tomorrow.