Pilgrimage

This summer we are planning a trip up to Cape Cod, on a quest to watch whales in their summer range. We are busy preparing Silence for the trip. Lot's of maintenance, checking safety gear, and spring cleaning...

Start your engines...

We went over last weekend and turned over the engine and generator and
all is running fine. Now it's time to get the boat ready!

The Season is Close

Yesterday we saw boats racing in the harbor, near AYC.

GFCI

When I went over to the boat on Sunday to check on things, I found
that the de-icer was not running, and there was some ice around the
boat. I checked the electrical panel, the breaker was still on, then
checked the outlet where it is plugged in and found that the the GFCI
mechanism had popped. I reset it and plugged it in again, and it
popped immediately. Out on deck, I pulled the de-icer out of the water
and found the problem: the cord had gotten into the fan blades and
been cut. Drat!

Luckily, there is a guy local to Annapolis that services Kasco
de-icers, so I called, and he was actually working in his shop on a
Sunday. I took the rig over to him to drop off, expecting that it
would be a week or so before I could get it back. When I arrived he
checked it out, and determined that everything was OK (sometimes after
cutting a cord, water can wick down into the de-icer housing, ruining
the unit), and he replaced the cord on the spot. I made a quick trip
back to the boat and re-installed the de-icer, turned it on, and all
is well again.

Checking...

I went over to the marina to check on the boat tonight. The de-icer has done it's job, and all is clear. It was warm today, but we return to cold weather tomorrow, according to the weather man. The slip next to me was empty for the last couple of months, but they have put a Bay workboat in there now. He's a little bit big for that slip, and sitting close to us. I adjusted our fenders to help keep us apart if it gets windy.

Ice

We had some very cold weather over the weekend, so I went over to the
boat on Monday to put the de-icer in the water. There was skim ice on
the creek as I flipped the switch to keep the water moving around the
boat.

Sails are Stowed

We took the sails off the furlers on Saturday. With very light wind it
was easy to flake the sails on deck and get them bagged. Now the long
wait for spring begins.

Volvo Ocean Race!

I have been following the Volvo Ocean Race. My hometown favorite is
Puma, but they did some damage to their boat this leg, so they have
fallen behind. Here is the link if you want to follow along:
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/

Winterizing

It's that time of year again, and Silence is gradually being put away for the winter. She has antifreeze in all of her freshwater systems now. The sails are still up, with still a small hope of one last sail, but it's probably not meant to be. We will likely pull the sails down this weekend.

Cruising Cats

After sailing a 40 foot cruising cat for a week, here are a few
thoughts: the cat didn't perform any better than our cruising
monohull. In 15 knots of breeze we saw 7-8 knots on a beam reach. This
cat pointed better than expected, probably due to the largish keels on
each hull. However, the keels brought the draft to 4.5 feet. The
really great thing about the boat was the privacy and space afforded
by two pontoons. Anchoring is trickier in a cat, when the anchor rode
gets taught, the cat tends to spin and the chain ends up under the
boat. Our solution was to keep the chain slack until the bridle is
hooked on and taking the load.

Ali in all, I prefer sailing a monohull, but for a cruise with friends
in the islands, the cat is a fine choice. It was fun learning how to
sail a new type of boat.

DC

We made it. On the way to our car now...

Delayed in Miami

We are still in Miami, our 5:30 flight has been delayed for mechanical
problems. The airline is being cagey about the prognosis.

Snorkeling

Our best snorkeling sites were No Name Cay and Sandy Cay. We saw every
kind of reef fish that I have ever heard of. We also saw a 6 foot
Nurse shark and a ray. Lots of coral, and clear water. My favorite was
the Parrot Fish.

Back in the U.S.

We just arrived back in Miami. We will be home later tonight...

Hopetown Today

After a week on the boat, we are back in Hopetown harbor. We will be
turning in the boat tomorrow, and then fly out of Marsh Harbour on
Monday. It's been a great week of sailing and snorkeling and visiting
with friends. We covered all the distance from Green Turtle Cay in the
north to Little Harbour in the south. We are relaxing this afternoon
at Dick and Libby's place, and we plan to all have dinner together
tonight. See you all soon.

Nippers!

Today we rented a boat and went through Man-O-War Cay, then on the
Guana Cay where we had lunch at Nipper's. (Power boats are fast!)
We had Conchy Burgers and fries, and a very potent frozen Nipper's
Juice. Then we swam off the beach, then raced a thunderstorm home. We
got wet from the storm, then did some snorkeling off Porgies Rock,
near Hopetown. There is a wrecked truck on the bottom which attracts
more fish than I have ever seen on a single dive before. Tomorrow we
will go back to Marsh Harbour and will pick up our Moorings charter
boat for the week. I don't know if I will have any internet access
after that, so this just might be our last entry for a bit...

Conch

Yesterday we went to lunch (by boat, of course) at the Sea Spray
resort, down near the south end of the island. We at fried conch for
the first time. The taste is very similar to calimari, very tasty.
Later we motored up to the north end to see if we could find some
conch near the beach. We didn't have any success with the conch, but
we did find the skeleton of a sea biscuit which was in good shape, so
we collected it. We also stopped by the Hopetown museum to see some of
the local history. We were a little rushed to get to lunch, so I hope
to get back and look at some of their books on the local Bahamian
sailing craft.Today we plan to take a boat up to Johnny's Cay for some
snorkeling.

Lighthouse

Today we took the dinghy to the other side of the harbor to the
Hopetown Lighthouse. The view from the top was excellent! This
lighthouse is one of the last that still uses kerosene for
illumination, and is hand-wound using a descending weight attached to
a clock like mechanism. It's nice to see old, simple technology still
working and doing something useful. This afternoon we are relaxing,
and we plan to have several of Dick and Libby's friends over for
dinner. Tomorrow, maybe a little more snorkeling...

Bicycling

Today we rented bikes for $10 (which might be more than these bikes
were worth!), and pedaled our way to the south end of the island.
There we swam at Tahiti Beach, and waded in tidal pools where we saw
urchins, a 6 pointed starfish, several small conch, and an enormous
hermit crab. We skirted thunderstorms on the way back, but found
enough time for ice cream at the Snack Shack. Tonight, we are off to
dinner with some of Dick and Libby's friends at a local watering hole.

Snorkeling and Bingo

Yesterday we went out to a reef next to Man-o-War Cay, and saw coral,
lot's of fish, including yellowtail and maybe baby baracuda, and lot's
of others that we couldn't identify. In the evening we went to Captain
Jack's for Bingo night. Suzan won the first round and made $50, then I
won the next two rounds at about $150 each! After picking up the check
we still cleared a couple of hundred dollars... Today we are going to
work on Dick's balky outboard, take a walk, and then see what we feel
like doing next...