We Finally Made it Out of FL

WARNING! We have been waiting out a weather window with too high of winds to go play so here I have sat on the computer writing our update that has turned into a book. Really you don’t have to read this and you don’t have to feel bad about not reading it. It really is just long due to the amount of time I had on my hands, and not at all because it’s so interesting!

We finally made it out of Florida! It was touch and go there for a while. We found out Otto (our autopilot) needed two new batteries and a new compass. It was actually quite amazing he worked at all when we went to Bimini! Once installed, we discovered he still did not want to do his job. We took his brains into the shop, his brains were fine. What now… after many phone calls, trying this, trying that he was fixed and we could prepare to leave, return the rental car, hoist and secure the dinghy and stop at the public marina after hours for water. I say after hours since we were not needing gas and our boat is 40’ the guys at the marina had requested we wait until they were closed to get our needed water.

Please picture this with me if you will… we have been working on this boat non-stop for 4 months, we have sweated, we have bled, we have thrown our backs out, we have barely been able to get out of our berth on occasion, we have spent too much money, we have questioned our ability to succeed and learn to work together as a team, we have been out of the marina twice, and we had friends come who we did not get to the Bahamas. In other words it has not been easy and we have had times of doubt. So here we are, Otto is working, we are heading out of our cozy little anchorage where we have spent the past 5 days praying for Otto’s return and a weather window.

Its 6:15pm, the ICW is perfectly calm, the lights are spectacular and the temperature is perfect. We are headed to the first bridge which is scheduled to open at 6:30. Carey is not speeding down the ICW this time as he had done in the past, and we are both feeling quite relaxed. We pass under the open bridge to the gas dock where we will top off our water tank. Carey docks SongBird perfectly while I keep us from kissing the pilings with fenders. It’s all perfect, the instructions are clear and we are feeling like a team of old salts (finally!). We leave the fuel dock and start howling… we are so excited that we can’t contain ourselves. We are finally off, we are alone and stress free. We love it, we know it’s been worth it and we finally have a sense that we are truly on our way this time!!

We pass through the next two bridges; Carey is relaxing while I’m at the helm… yes it's true, he's finally relaxed! This is what we have been waiting for, this is what we have been working so hard for, and this is why at this moment we are rejoicing. We take a moment to thank God for getting us here, for His grace and safety, and we ponder just how truly blessed we are.

We are heading south now where we will anchor off Biscayne Bay for the night. The trip down is uneventful in terms of problems, but the sight is spectacular. The moon, the clouds, the sea, the lights, the picture turns surreal and I want to reach out and touch it or pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming.

We set anchor around 11pm, ready for a good night’s rest. Who were we kidding! We can’t sleep, the water is slapping like crazy (it’s a little rough), and the anchor alarm goes off, either we are dragging the anchor or we did not set our drag distance wide enough. Fortunately, it’s the later and the alarm is reset. We once again settle down, rocking and rolling in a manner that would put a baby to sleep... so what are we waiting for? We are under the flight path for the Miami International Airport! The dagger boards are banging now and we wonder if we will ever get any sleep tonight.

After a restless night of banging, clanging, slapping and rollin’ we head off early for Nixon’s Harbor at Bimini. Our plan is to cross the Gulf Stream while it is rather flat. We are unable to sail so we are left to motor dead to weather all the way across. Once we have crossed the stream the winds had changed to the south so we put out the screecher… and we’re off! We are doing 5 knots in 8 knots of wind! The weather is warmer here and we are enjoying the ride. We each take turns taking a much needed nap. We see a lot of Portuguese Man of War jellyfish. These are the most interesting creatures. According to Wikipedia: it is not a single animal, but rather a colony of four kinds of highly modified individuals, specialized polyps and medusoids. There is a high degree of specialization of each zooid which is structurally similar to other solitary animals; however the zooids are all attached to each other and physiologically integrated rather than living independently. Such specialized zooids usually lack the structures associated with other functions and are therefore dependent for survival on the others to do what the particular zooid cannot do. They are in clusters in the water and look like odd shaped bubbles.

We arrive at Nixon’s Harbor around 3 in the afternoon. We anchor, I fix dinner, clean up and by 6:30 I can no longer function and have to go to bed. I sleep 12 hours. Carey has a fitful nights rest and wonders if he will ever not worry about everything. He says I only woke up enough to tell him the anchor alarm was going off but I have no memory of this. We are trying to get use to all of the noises the boat makes, trying to determine what each of the sounds mean, what is of concern and what is not.

We head out Sunday morning to Chub Cay. We are not sure that we can cross the banks in one day and we are not convinced that we want to sail all night. The wind is perfect so we are able to sail all day and not use our engines. We don’t see much in the way of wild life, one lone dolphin with his dorsal fin half missing and three Mylar birthday balloons (Carey is sure one of them we saw twice). We anchor a few miles off our course for the night. The wind has picked up in the early evening and we are now rockin’ and rollin’ all over the place or at least it feels that way.

After another night of fitful rest we are headed for Chub Cay. We plan on anchoring off of the beach at the marine entrance. We arrive around two in the afternoon and set the anchor. We are getting more and more efficient at everything we do. We lower the dinghy and head into the marina to check things out.

Someone has put a lot of money into this place but it is only half finished and no one is working. As a matter of fact the place feels deserted. We tie up at the dinghy dock and wander over to the “Shoppe”. The cruising guide said we could purchase a phone here or phone cards. We need to call ahead to Nassau. The girl who works at the “Shoppe” is sitting outside because it’s too dark and stuffy inside. She informs us that the power is off until 5pm. We take a look around at all the empty shelves and few remaining items that look as though they have been sitting in the same place for years. We buy 2 cold sodas, we had been on the water for 4 days and a grape and orange soda looked great to us!!!! This is not encouraging!! We don’t drink grape and orange colored soda so why are we now?! What does the ocean do to you to make you do such things! We can’t answer the question, but we keep a lookout for any other odd behaviors.

We head back to SongBird eat and are off to bed after all the evening checks are done. The wind is picking up and we decide tomorrow we will move the boat in further behind a sea wall where we will be more protected.

A wild night commences and Carey is up and down all night. I can’t help him; he is just making sure everything is OK. By now we have learned to raise the dagger boards up as far as we can, so of course they are much quieter. We are not always the brightest folks!

From the loud noises and sounds I venture to guess that the waves are crashing over the boat and water is flooding in! Well, of course it isn’t but if it ever does I have no idea how I will know! The water is coming up over the swim steps and the waves are slapping the fiberglass hull, the noise is incredible. You get a sense from the sound of things that you are in a bathtub with all the water sloshing out, we again find it hard to sleep. I am starting to wonder if this cruising thing is mostly about what you can do living with sleep deprivation. The weather is rather cyclic; so you sail like crazy, the wind gets wild so you have to wait out the weather... but… you can’t sleep at night due to all the racket… we don’t go anywhere during the day because winds at 20 knots are not appealing to us in the dinghy. So we hang out, work on small projects if we can stand up or take naps and read. Actually, you should be able to tell what I do by the length of this update!! Like I said you don’t have to read this I just didn’t have anything else to do!

Tuesday night a catamaran from the marina joins us anchoring out. Oh, did I mention our SSB is no longer working? We can’t get weather and are feeling a bit frustrated, we hope to get online tomorrow. We try hailing our new neighbors for some kind of report. No response.

Just before dark a mono-hull is on its way in. The winds are 20 knots and gusting. The mono-hull, a centerboard boat, is obviously having trouble as she seriously rocks back and forth. I start to wonder if she will fall over and if we will be launching a rescue. I am also thinking if I was on that boat I would be chumming over the side and am thankful for the design of a catamaran. Her sails had been down as she motored towards us… the next thing we see they are trying to raise their foresail. They must be having engine trouble. They pull up trying to anchor out with us and the other cat but they can’t get their anchor to hold and they are violently rocking. Their engine sputters and spits and you can sense their frustration. They give up and head into the marina.

Wednesday the winds are still blowing the wrong direction for us to leave, but we can now launch the dinghy, get gas at $5.20 a gallon (we only needed 6 gallons), try and get online and look for a much needed shower. We head down to the docks to find the owners of the troubled mono-hull. Tom and Susan are from Massachusetts, and are into their second year of cruising. We get the skinny on their woes and all decide to have dinner together at the marina restaurant… with their famous coconut fish. We meet at the restaurant when another couple show up. They are off the catamaran docked across from Tom and Susan. These folks are from California… and get this, which if you are from CA and have been north on 101 will know what I am talking about. They own the Paul Bunyan and Babe Gift Shop in Klamath. His family has owned it since 1942 and the distinctive thing is the huge wood Paul Bunyan statue outside the shop. I have seen this statue since I was a kid every time we went camping, fishing or water skiing. It is a small world! We all enjoy a great meal together as we learn more about where to go and what to see, how to get there and how not to get there. Cruisers are a friendly lot, quick to be friends and quick to help.

The folks from CA left today as they are headed back to Florida, the winds are perfect for them. Tom and Susan are headed to Nassau and are waiting out the weather with us. The winds are predicted to die down tonight and be perfect for us to leave around 4:30 tomorrow morning.

Carey recently discovered a new issue with Otto during his routine pre-check but we think he was able to fix it. If not we will just hand steer our next 37 miles. We are off again and all is well.

Thanks for the emails and if we don’t get back to you please know we love hearing from you and would love to be able to respond to every one, all of the time. But our online time is random, too short and very slow. So we make sure we get done what we have to first and try and catch up personally next.

Love to all, Carey and Lisa