LEAVING NASSAU, HEADING FOR ALLAN'S CAY, EXUMAS

Thursday, February 16

We've been having the dickens of a time getting wi-fi connections here in Nassau, so please excuse our tardiness in updating the blog.  We arrived in Nassau last Saturday after an overnight sail from Bimini.  A lot of conversation took place on the VHF in the morning concerning whether we (Wind Dancer) would accompany our friends on their three boats on their planned route or whether we would head north, going around Bimini and then down to Nassau (a longer route by approx. 40 miles but with deeper water for the entire trip).  Our draft of 6 ft was deeper than that of the other boats and there was cause for concern since we were slated to go over an area of very shallow water.  One boater (whom we did not know) got on the radio and said "Don't even think about it.  No boat with a six foot draft EVER goes that way!"  Well, we decided to trust our friends and go with them but, yes, it did get shallow (but gorgeous!).  It was between eight and nine feet deep for a substantial portion of the trip (the lowest we saw on our depth finder was 7.8 feet, so we were okay).  But what was funny was that after all the VHF discussion in the morning before leaving Bimini, when we four boats finally left harbor, four other boats (whose occupants we did not know) came racing to catch up with us and then stayed right behind us all the way to Nassau.  Al and I figured that they, having heard the VHF traffic, decided to follow hard on the heels of Wind Dancer.  If we could make it, so could they!  In any case, all of us managed to stay fairly close together for the entire overnight trip and arrived in Nassau harbor Saturday morning like 8 little ducks, all in a row.

While in Nassau, we took one day out to simply be tourists and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.  We walked over the bridge to Paradise Island and toured the really impressive Atlantis aquarium there.  The battery on the camera chose that day to require a charge before it would continue, so we didn't take as many pictures as we would have liked.  Sorry about that!  It really is worth  seeing.  (Pictures will be posted next time; in our haste to get to the Texaco station tonight to take advantage of their internet access, where we are now, we completely forgot to bring the USB cord to download the pictures.  Sorry about that!)

As far as our time in Nassau goes, we have spent it doing what seems like a jillion things getting us and Wind Dancer prepared for the next part of the journey, which is heading for the relatively uninhabited Exuma cays where we'll be anchored out the vast majority of the time, using our dinghy to get to shore, and, in general, having to be more self-sufficient than has been necessary so far.  But it's the part of the trip we've looked the most forward to and we can hardly wait to get going.  We're leaving for Allan's Cay tomorrow morning (having stayed at the Nassau Harbour Club Marina while here, where Peter, the dock master, took great care of us).  Among other things, Allan's Cay is known for having a substantial population of prehistoric iguanas who apparently come out to see what you're all about when you dinghy in to shore.  They have been led to expect handouts from cruisers and we understand that they absolutely love grapes, apples and, of all things, weiners.  Unfortunately, they often can't tell the difference between the weiner and your finger...and they bite!  We had initially decided that there would be no feeding of the iguanas by Wind Dancer but have since been told that a grape-on-a-stick is enough to make an iguana happy and that sounds doable.  We'll see.

We sail tomorrow w/o Manatee; Rod & Eveline left a couple of days ago and are headed for Grenada.  But, as much as we will miss them, we have met many people here at the marina who are headed for the Exumas and we'll no doubt be running into many of them as time goes by.  We may even run into Rod & Eveline next year in the Virgin Islands.  Sounds good to us!

Sue celebrated her 65th birthday here on Monday and has decided that 80 degree weather makes for a much better celebration than does the typical February Houston weather!  

Well, that's all the news that's fit for reporting. Heaven knows when we'll have internet access again but we'll keep you posted as often as we can.  Thanks once again for following us!

Fair Winds from the Crew of Wind Dancer
Sue, Al, Sophie & Chelsea

WE'RE IN THE BAHAMAS!

Thursday, February 9

Leaving Boot Key Harbor

We made it!  We left Boot Key Harbor on Tuesday afternoon, with Chris Parker's blessing for an easy crossing of the Gulf Stream...and it was gorgeous!  We sailed overnight with three other boats (Emerald Seas w/ Jim & Renate, Manatee w/ Rod & Eveline, and Orion w/ Lyle & Julie), arriving in Bimini, Bahamas at approximately 10:00 a.m.  And what a crossing it was!  Beautifully calm seas with a full moon and a 3-4 knot current zipping us along.  Although we motor-sailed most of the way, at one point Al turned off the motor and, with all three sails flying, we flew along at 8 knots.  How nice!

Dawn on the Gulf Stream

The water here is simply not to be believed.  There's a reason The Bahamas are known as having the most beautiful waters in the world; absolutely exquisitely clear water with every shade of blue and green imaginable.  At one point when we were approaching Bimini, Al asked me what the depth was.  When I replied "60 feet," he said "I can see the bottom."  Truly breathtakingly beautiful.  And so remarkably clear!  How fortunate we are to be here.

Weech's Marina in Bimini

Bimini Island is a delightful little community.  Very quaint with extraordinarily friendly people.  Our group had cocktails last night at the End of the World bar and then went to a little restaurant overlooking the water where we feasted on fresh lobster (at half the price of lobster in the U.S.).  Since lobster is my favorite seafood and rum & pineapple juice is my favorite drink...and both are half the price we're used to paying...I'm happy!

Our group of four boats (we call ourselves the Moonlighters) is heading off tomorrow for Nassau.  It's another overnight sail with the weather forecast not quite as great as it was for the crossing of the Gulf Stream, but it s/b fine.  We hadn't initially planned on going to Nassau, thinking we would prefer to visit the less inhabited out islands, anchoring out as much as possible and dinghying around the various islands as opposed to staying at marinas.  However, the water here is chillier than we were used to when we snorkeled in the Virgin Islands and our friends have convinced us that we really do need wetsuits to be comfortable.  Did I mention that Bimini is quaint?  So much so that there is no place on the island to buy a wetsuit...so it's off to Nassau we go.  Most of the trip will be spent sailing in approximately 15 ft of water and s/b stunningly beautiful.

Sue in a Bahamian sari (100% cotton, of course!)

We'll keep you posted as to our wanderings whenever possible.  We have lost the wi-fi access we had in the states whereby we could use our Sprint "hot spot"to connect to the internet.  We now have to go searching for free wi-fi on land (this post was typed in Bimini while sitting on the bench where you see Al sitting below; a rather odd place to find wi-fi but delightful nonetheless), so we may not be able to post to the blogspot as often as we would like.  In the meantime, now, more than ever, we truly do wish you could be here with us.

Our new open air "office" offering wi-fi (also known as Bimini's answer to Starbuck's)

Fair Winds from the Crew of Wind Dancer
Sue, Al, Sophie & Chelsea

FINALLY, A GOOD WEATHER WINDOW!

Monday, February 6

Just a quick update (no pics today).  We have been anticipating being able to leave for The Bahamas almost every day for the last several days but the weather pattern has been very unusual (according to the experts) and forecasts keep changing.  It now appears as if we will be able to leave tomorrow.  (The trip will be an overnight sail taking approximately 24 hours total, with arrival planned for mid-day at Bimini on Wednesday.)  We will be traveling in the company of three other boats (new friends Jim & Renate on s/v Emerald Seas, Rod & Eveline on s/v Manatee, and one other couple [whom we have not yet met] on s/v Orion).  Emerald Seas and Manatee have both made the crossing to The Bahamas before so we're delighted to be in their company.

Our friend Jon Siewers on s/v JonNe drove up from Key West on Saturday for a visit with us.  His wife Renne couldn't join him; she's been out of town with her hospitalized daughter recently but the prognosis for her daughter's recovery appears to be good, so we're glad about that.  Jon & Renne had initially planned on making the crossing with us but boat maintenance problems have necessitated their staying in Florida for awhile.  Hopefully, they'll be able to leave soon.  We'll look forward to hooking up with them later in the islands.

Cross your fingers for us for the crossing, folks.  We are SO looking forward to getting to The Bahamas and seeing that exquisite water.  We'll include lots of photos in the blog once we're there.

Thanks again for following us.  We'll keep you posted with any new developments.

Fair Winds from the Crew of Wind Dancer
Sue, Al,  Sophie & Chelsea

WE'RE IN BOOT KEY HARBOR AND ONE WEEK AWAY FROM THE BAHAMAS (HOPEFULLY)

Saturday, January 28

Late again in posting to our blog, right?  But this time we have an excuse.  (Well, we always have an excuse, but this time it's a bona fide good one.)  We lost our email capability, both sending and receiving, on Jan. 23 and only got everything working again yesterday.  So please excuse our tardiness in keeping you up to speed with our progress.  We have added photos this time (yea, Al!) but we haven't quite yet figured out how to caption them (work for another day).

The end of another gorgeous day

That being said, we are getting closer and closer to The Bahamas!  Wahoo!!  We left Fort Myers Beach last Monday, Jan. 23, and had a gorgeous overnight sail to Boot Key Harbor in the Florida Keys.  The wind was 10-15 knots, the largest wave we saw was less than a foot high, and the trip could not have been more perfect (this being a far cry from the leg from Pensacola to Ft. Myers Beach).

And the water only gets better from here on out.  

 We arrived at Boot Key Harbor in Marathon on Tuesday afternoon and anchored just outside, along with several other boats.  Boot Key Harbor Marina is an amazing place.  It has 286 mooring balls and the protocol is to sign up for one after you arrive.  Four days later, we are still anchored but have moved Wind Dancer into the mooring area, which is calmer than where we were initially, and we think our name will reach the top of the list for a mooring either today or tomorrow.  Update:  we got our mooring!  Yea!!!  In any case,  including the anchored boats, there are well over 300 boats here, most of which are sailboats.  Never have we seen so many masts in one place!  Many of the people here live aboard year 'round while others, such as ourselves, are transient cruisers who are generally planning trips either to The Bahamas or points south.

Dinghying in to Boot Key Harbor Marina

 One neat feature here is that the marina has a sign-up board where cruisers post where they are going...and when.  We have met another couple who is also headed to the Exumas and we'll probably sail with them when we leave here.  Right now, that timeline appears to be at the end of this week, at the earliest.  For our non-sailing friends:  When crossing the Gulf Stream, you have to avoid going whenever there is (or has recently been) a north wind, since the Stream carries a substantial current running north.  A north wind going against that current sets up awful seas that would make the crossing to The Bahamas a truly dangerous undertaking.  Our first possible "weather window" in which to leave therefore appears to be Thursday.  We have enlisted the services of Chris Parker, a weather forecaster of almost godlike renown for sailors in the Caribbean.  He not only gives you a daily forecast for the area in which you are sailing but will also (for a very reasonable fee) give personalized travel itineraries.  You tell him where you want to sail to and he tells you what day is best to leave and what weather conditions to anticipate along the way (wind, wave height, etc.).  He gives you the exact waypoints along the route to your destination as well.   It's a great service to be able to take advantage of when sailing in unfamiliar territory and we are delighted to have found him.

The view from the galley port (window to you land lubbers)

Other than the above, no real news.  Oh, yes!  We found a used spinnaker in excellent condition that fits our boat (at a wonderful price!) so we're ready for light winds whenever they show themselves.  Hopefully we'll be able to get a photo of Wind Dancer flying her spinnaker one of these days and will post it on the blog.  (The folks that sold us the spinnaker had posted the listing on the board at Boot Key Harbor.  When they found out that we didn't have a car, they brought the spinnaker to the marina for us and afterward they even took us to Home Depot to pick up a couple of things.  How nice!  Thank you, Dan & Linda!  The boating community is truly unlike anything we have ever experienced.  Everyone is so incredibly helpful.  And since you already share a major interest with everyone you meet (boats!), conversations are easily begun, leading to easy friendships.

Speaking of friendships, we have been invited to join some other folks on their boat this afternoon, so we're getting ready to head out.

"Is that land I see?"  Glory be, it is!

Thanks once again for following us.  We'll post again as soon as something cool happens.  In the meantime,

Fair Winds from the Crew of Wind Dancer
Sue, Al, Sophie & Chelsea

Several photos follow (we'll get better at this, folks)

Chelsea recovering after a hard day of dolphin watching!  (It's exhausting work.)

Sophie checking out the neighbors (she thinks every boat has a cat on it...and she loves cats!)

Two little sailors begging for a dinghy ride

Home sweet home

Another view of our living/dining room

Our favorite place to kick back and have a glass of wine at the end of the day.  Wish you were here!

HOW TIME FLIES....

Tuesday, January 17

Holy cow, I hadn't realized how long it has been since we last posted to our blog!  Thanks go to all of you who wrote to us (primarily to ascertain whether or not we were still alive).  Yes, all is currently well...but we had a rough go of it for awhile.  During the really rough trip over to Fort Myers Beach from Pensacola coming across the Gulf, we took on a lot of water over the bow and, unbeknownst to us, we had a leak on the forward port deck at the chainplate, which allowed water to enter the boat...right into the bottom of the mattress.  The black mold continued to expand until one day we realized how sick I (Sue) had become.  Al had started showing symptoms first, with what he thought was a cold & sore throat.  Sue, being leery of catching Al's cold, opted to sleep on the settee in the saloon area and was semi-ok there.  However, once she decided that Al was probably no longer contagious, she hopped back into bed with him, only to find that she could barely swallow the next morning.  Still thinking that it was a cold (or possibly breathing the air from the "red tide" that had recently inundated the Fort Myers area), she persevered, only to begin having huge coughing attacks and a bacterial infection that developed in her lymph glands in her throat.  When we FINALLY got smart and lifted up the mattress, it was amazing to see the mold that had been growing underneath us while we slept.  We got the mattress off the boat and we got Sue off the boat (along with a dose of antibiotics), driving her to the Florida Keys to a little motel where she stayed for three days, taking cortisone and breathing much better air.  Today she is on the mend (the mattress is toast), Al has cleaned the interior of the boat of mold, and he is now in the process of re-caulking the teak decking to seal off any leaks (a really difficult and messy business that takes a lot of practice to do well...but he is fast becoming a pro at it and the newly caulked area looks wonderful!)

In any case, the above is only one of many reasons we have continued staying in the Fort Myers area.  We have enjoyed being able to spend some time with Al's older brother, Jim, and his love, Phyllis.  Also,  Al's younger brother, Glenn, and his wife, LeeAnn, arrived yesterday from Erie to spend several months down here in their new home, getting away from dreary Erie's wintry days, so it will be great fun getting to spend some time with them as well.  Jack & Tatiana on Pashka (who we "buddy boated" with from Pensacola) have today left us and are heading to the Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson (a day's sail west from Key West, FL).  Our understanding is that it is gorgeous there and the snorkeling is phenomenal.  We hope to get there one day.  In the meantime, Al's feverishly working on caulking and sanding the deck (which he secretly loves doing).  We want to get it done before we do any additional sailing where we might once again encounter less than optimal weather.  The current plan (and we have found that any of our plans are only good for one day at a time) is to leave Fort Myers either at the end of this week or the beginning of next and to sail down to Marathon in the Florida Keys, staying briefly at Boot Key Harbor, which has a huge mooring field and is loaded with other cruising sailors such as ourselves.  We then plan on sailing to The Bahamas where Sue's son, Mark, his wife, Citlali, and their one-year-old little one, Roman, will be joining us in late February.  Due to Roman's recent spurt of activity (we understand he is crawling like a demon and is close to walking), Mark & Citlali have opted to find a place on land to stay (once we can tell them where to start looking!) and day sail with us rather than stay aboard full time.  We therefore want to get to The Bahamas as soon as possible so that we can get the lay of the land, at least to the point of figuring out where we might best be able to hook up with them on a daily basis.  Right now, having never been to The Bahamas, it doesn't appear to be an easy task.  We don't even know what island to send them to!  Ah, well.  These things have a way of working themselves out and we think we'll all have a ball.

Once again, thanks to all of you who have inquired as to whether or not we were still alive and kicking; we really appreciate your following our progress (such as it's been lately).  We'll try to be better at keeping you up to date in future postings.  Until then,

Fair Winds from the Crew of Wind Dancer
Sue, Al, Sophie & Chelsea

THE SHAKEDOWN CRUISE FROM HELL

December 17, 2011

Where to begin...

Since we last posted our progress, much has happened.  We spent a really nice, relatively uneventful week in Pensacola with Jack & Tatiana and friends, during which time we were referred to a guy who does great work on inflatables.  He fixed the leak on our wonderful (but old and leaky) dinghy that Al had been battling for over two years and, for the first time, we had a great, seaworthy, airtight dinghy.  Wahoo!  How nice!  And just in time for our trip down the Florida coast.  We left Pensacola on Friday, December 9, "buddy boating" with Jack & Tatiana on Pashka for what was to be a two-day, two-night trip across the tip of the Gulf of Mexico from Pensacola to Clearwater.  We checked with three weather services, all of which gave us a favorable weather window of a northwest wind (perfect, since we would be sailing southeast to Clearwater and would have the wind behind us, helping our progress) along with calm seas alternating between 1-2 feet and 3-4 feet and winds of 10-15 mph.  Again, perfect, right?  DON'T EVER, EVER BELIEVE THE WEATHER FORECAST!  Holy cow!  We left Pensacola with a north wind, expecting it to turn northwest.  Instead, it turned northeast (where it stayed), the wind speed increased to 20-25 mph and the waves increased to 6-8 ft.  After a long night at sea, things got worse.  The wind increased to 30 mph and the waves increased to 10-12 ft with the wind edging even more easterly, coming at us from the ENE.  The end result was that we were driven further and further south, away from the Florida coastline and into the Gulf.  On Day Two we lost our dinghy (which we had been towing, thinking that we would have a fairly calm sail).  We retrieved it (what a tough time that was) and reattached it, only to lose it again the following day.  Once again we retrieved it but had a much tougher time tying it to Wind Dancer since some of the holding points on the dinghy that we could attach lines to had ripped off.  Later that day, we lost her for the third (and last) time.  Unable to secure her to Wind Dancer, we had to continue sailing without her.  However, we're sure she'll make some Cubans happy when she washes up on the western tip of Cuba (which is where we were headed when we lost her).  In any case, losing her was a significant loss for us.

Continuing on.  The end result is that we had to sail virtually due south for two straight days and nights until the wind and waves eased up enough for us to set an easterly course.  By then we were due west of Fort Myers, where Al's brother lives, so off went Pashka and Wind Dancer toward Fort Myers.  We arrived there on Tuesday, Dec. 13, after another two days and nights, bringing our total time at sea to four days & nights.  God, did it feel good to arrive in port!  Everything on board was soggy and we were absolutely exhausted.  But we made it!  And what troopers Sophie & Chelsea turned out to be.  They stayed with us in the cockpit for virtually all of the trip, soaking wet and shivering, but determined to tough it out with us. What a joy these little creatures are.

As to why you haven't heard from us before now, while at sea we lost our standard lines of communication, including cell phones and email.  In fact, we were just able to get our email back online yesterday.  So thanks for bearing with us.  We're so sorry that so many of you were worried about us.  We're fine (just pooped but almost recovered) and are presently at a great marina by the name of Salty Sam's in Fort Myers where we think we'll hang out for at least a couple of weeks, including Christmas, before heading for the Dry Tortugas and Key West.  We found a used Achilles (top of the line) dinghy for a really good price (Merry Christmas, Sue & Al!) and, although she's small, we're delighted with her.  She's light enough that we can fold her up and bring her on board, lashing her down on deck when sailing in seas that we feel are too heavy for towing to be appropriate.  (We are not about to lose another dinghy to wind and waves!)  By being able to carry her topside, we can avoid the expense of having to add dinghy davits to Wind Dancer.  We think we're pretty well set for going forward at this point but are enjoying being able to spend some downtime with Jim & Phyllis here in Fort Myers Beach, as well as with Jack & Tatiana, and being able to take the time to clean up the boat (and us!  holy cow, the laundry!).

We truly do wish all of you were here with us.  If we don't talk with you before then, have a wonderful Christmas.  We'll try not to let so much time go by before our next post.  Thanks for hanging in with us!

Sue, Al, Sophie & Chelsea
The Crew of Wind Dancer

WE'RE IN PENSACOLA!

Friday, December 2

Well, we made it to Mobile Bay Tuesday p.m. and anchored just north of Dauphin Island (a chilly sail day...turning on the generator & the heaters that night felt really good).  The next morning, after a somewhat rolly night and five minutes after pulling up anchor and setting out for Pensacola, we had a major engine overheating problem and Al spent the next four hours replacing the impeller (that had basically disintegrated).  While he was doing this, the wind was blowing us south (toward the ICW) at a rate of approximately one knot/hour which turned out to be exactly what we needed to arrive at the ICW with perfect timing to continue on our way.  After starting the engine (which no longer smoked and sent alarm bells clanging....Thank you, Al!) and letting it warm up, off we went.  We stayed overnight at a great marina called Marina on the Wharf (we know a lot of this means nothing to you, kind reader, but it's a great log for us for the return trip to plan on where to overnight or, in some cases, not to).  The next morning, Thursday, we slept in, had a leisurely morning, and then set off for the short hop to Pensacola, arriving just before sundown and in time for docktails on Pashka with Jack & Tatiana and their friends Doug & Shirley, also owners of an Island Packet.  Nice folks!  The six of us had dinner ashore and turned in early for a great night's sleep.  Tatiana (a serious walker who at one time competed in the Olympics as a biathlete) has promised to take Sue on a "walk" around Pensacola (get ready, legs!).  An absolutely gorgeous day is forecast:  bountiful sunshine with a high in the upper 60s.  Nice!

We'll be in Pensacola for a few days (maybe as long as a week) tending to some minor engine work and having a tear in our jib mended.  Then Pashka will join Wind Dancer for the trip south, "buddy boating" (which will be nice for the longer offshore legs that we plan on doing).  We'll skirt along the Gulf Coast of Florida with several offshore hops, necessitated by the fact that many of Florida's bridges have fixed heights that are too low for our boat to pass under (stopping off at Fort Myers Beach to visit Jim [Al's brother] and Phyllis] and then head for the Dry Tortugas & Fort Jefferson (and great snorkeling in turquoise waters) before continuing on to Key West.

All for now.  We'll keep you posted.  Thanks once again for following us! (Al is promising to post pics today on our blog.  We'll see.)







All for now.  We'll keep you posted.