The Motion of the Ocean

The Motion of the Ocean
Today is Wednesday January the 20th and we are crossing from Royal Isand, Eleuthera to the northern chain of the Exumas as I write. The captain is to call me if he see dolphins or catches a fish. We made our escape from Marsh Harbour on Monday and had a raucous sail to Lynyard Cay averaging 6-7 knots...not bad for Celebrian considering she is full of 800 pounds of water and all our provisions. Lynyard Cay is often used as a staging area for the trip to Eleuthera. By the time the day was through there were almost a dozen boats anchored along the shore and most of those boats left the next day at the crack of dawn with us; however by the time you have sailed the 60 miles we are often out of sight of most of the other boats. Usually the Atlantic Ocean has a good roll but we had a very calm day and we were not bothered by the motion of the ocean. We were just able to keep our main sail filled which gave us a lift along with Mr. Yan working below decks. Ten hours later we anchored outside of Royal Island for the night. We didn't bother going all the way to the protective harbour because it was forecast to be a calm night so we anchored just after we sailed through the cut. It was a pleasant evening with bright stars and a beautiful crescent moon. Both the admiral and the captain were reading their books with their eyes closed before 9:00pm.
Up again at 6am this morning and off to the Exumas. It is another lovely day and we are in deep ocean water for about 3 hours hoping to catch our first fish of the season....a nice skip jack or a small mahi mahi would be welcome. We heard someone say on the radio yesterday that something had taken their whole line and lure so we are glad that we didn't have that happen. We aren't very good fisher people but we play the part and the captain picks up a new lure each season. We tend to troll only in deep water because the liklihood of catching a barracuda is much greater on the banks. Not that we haven't caught a barracuda in deeper water but they are hard to release and we don't want to kill them needlessly. The larger barracuda have a strong liklihood of carrying a ciguatera toxin in their flesh. The poison is produced by microscopic algae and it is passed up the food chain when carnivorous fish consume reef eating fish. Ciguatera poisoning is very dangerous and there is no antidote so it is important to identify your fish and not eat a msytery catch.
When we leave the deep ocean today we will be crossing what are called the Yellow Banks and we will need to be ever watchful for coral heads. Even Noah (it all), our chart plotter doesn't plot a course over the banks but says that you must use VPR, visual piloting rules and not rely on your instruments. I am sure that there are some boats that would drive right over a coral head if their chart plotter had a line over it!?! Using one's eyes is a very important part of cruising in The Bahamas as the colour of the water tells you everything. The picture of me steering is an example of visual piloting while steering with my foot while the captain was indisposed. Generally one of us is on the cabin top being the look out when we are watching for coral heads.
Our plans for tonight are to anchor in the lee of Highborne Cay with the hopes of hailing First Edition on the VHF radio. We need to be somewhere for protection from the south west Friday so we will have to decide where to go from here and where we will meet up with Lynn and Peter. As it has turned out it will be a little while before we see them as they have gone further south to Georgetown and are accompanying another boat to Long Island. Lynn says that they will be returning to the Exumas to have Christmas with us and enjoy some cruising time together in the not too distant future. In the meantime we will meander our way south in the Exuma chain and perhaps find a spot for Rob to do his varnishing? We may choose to return to Pipe Creek where he had done the varnishing the first year we were south. I need a spot where I can safely get off the boat so that I don't end up with cabin fever while he is merrily varnishing.
Our first evening in the Exumas was equisite. We arrived in time to anchor close to the reef and go snorkelling. It was our first dip in the ocean and it was a balmy 23 degrees celcius (about 76 degrees farenheit) much warmer than the water in the Abacos. We had our first dinner in the cockpit and there was absolutely no wind, not seen very often in the trades. Today we also saw our first dolphins of the season...two swam over for a quick look at us as we sailed through the coral heads. It is good to be back in the Exumas.
Today, January the 21st we motor sailed to Norman's Cay, once under the unfriendly control of drug lord Carlos Lehder. In fact there is a wreck of an airplane in the anchorage from the drug dealing days. Now much of the island is privately owned and there is a tiny fly in resort. We chose to come here because the anchoragw has all around protection and we are expecting some strong south westerlies tomorrow.
The winds were not nearly as strong as predicted and we were able to get off the boat for a snorkel over to the plane wreck. It is becoming quite the reef as corals are growing all over the plane. It is in shallow water just off the channel so it is great for surface snorkellers like myself. The following day we took Goldberry with Mr. Johnston (3 HP outboard) and were able to go out in the ocean and all along the island to the northern anchorage. The northern anchorage is for keel draft boats as the water in places is very skinny(shallow) and even at high tide Celebrian with her 5 foot 4 inch draft would not be able to get through. We explored for a couple of hours and had a great outing.
Rob's birthday was Friday January 22nd and I baked him some raisin oatmeal cookies in lieu of a cake. The picture shows him with his cookie and its little plastic sailboat. The admiral also gave him a nice pair of quick dry blue shorts for when he wears clothes?!?!
Yesterday, Saturday January 23rd we motor sailed about 20 miles in the ocean to Bell Island. We took the opportunity to troll and lost a complete lure to something large that chomped it or broke the line right off. Once in the Exumas Cays Land and Sea Park we were no longer allowed to fish. The park stretches about 22 miles from north to south and approximately 4 miles on either side of the cays. The area is a no take zone, no fishing, conching,shelling, or lobstering; nothing living or dead may be taken from the park. The park seems to be working because we have seen more fish here than anywhere in The Bahamas. I have also seen my only lobster here in the park. Yesterday we went snorkelling off of the boat and found a beautiful coral garden all along the anchorage. There were lots of fish as well as a turtle along the soft corals. We also saw the largest sting ray I have ever seen ...he was at least five feet or more from wing tip to wing tip and maybe more. I am grateful that rays are not aggressive. They certainly are prehistoric looking and just like sharks they haven't evolved much in millions of years.
Speaking of the motion of the ocean, the Bell Island anchorage has not provided us with as much protection from the easterlies as we had hoped. We rocked and rolled all night and unfortunately are continuing to do so this morning. We are hoping that as the wind moves more southerly the roll will settle down. We try to ignore it by keeping busy but needless to say that is not easy to do. Picture moving about your house and having to hang on to a railing everywhere you go because the floor is rocking back and forth. Nonetheless we are safe and that is the important thing. So I am going to brace myself in the galley and make some muffins while the captain is installing some pin rails in my spice lockers. Pin rails are small teak railingss that can keep things from toppling over on a shelf also known as a fiddle. See the next blog entry for more on the motion of the ocean.
Some of the pictures in this blog entry are....ocean sunrise, my fish face to lure the fish onto our line, toe steering through the coral heads, the captain and admiral's first night in the Exumas and Rob's birthday cookie.

Soon to be Cruising

It is Sunday afternoon in Marsh Harbour and the wind is howling . The new plumbing for the intake valve for the water maker is done and the captain is very pleased. He has spent the day under the pullman berth and in the head doing plumbing. Last year we ran into problems getting seawater into the water maker system because our intake valve was rising above the water when we were out in much wave. When we are motor sailing is when we want to run the water maker so we knew that the intake needed to be changed...thus the new plumbing and the new placement of the valve. We will get to try out the new system tomorrow on our way to Lynyard Cay.

The picture of the dog is Oreo. She is the queen of the potcakes on Green Turtle Cay and all this she does while getting around on three legs. I walked with her on the beach last weekend and I couldn't keep up to her.

The pictures taken in the cockpit show our new BBQ. So far we are really pleased and we even cooked tortilla pizzas the other night and they were great. Peter and Lynn will be impressed with Celebrian's new jewellery!?

The weather has finally warmed up so that we are now able to shower in the cockpit as demonstrated by the captain. The wind is blowing 25-30 knots today but is expected to slowly go down tomorrow so we should be able to make our escape from Marsh. I am ready to leave the rake and scrape capital of Abaco....the evening entertainment one gets to listen to when one is trying to go to sleep. If it hadn't been so windy we might have considered joining the party; however the reason we are often anchored here is because we are in such a protected harbour.

We are ready to go cruising....clean and clear water, dolphins, quiet bays, snorkelling, swimming and physio exercises in the sunshine.... and oh yes....naked varnishing....what more could you ask for?

On the Waves Again

Today is the third day after our launch and the salon still looks like a bomb went off. The captain loves the process of getting Celebrian ready for another sailing season; however the admiral is not as enthalled with living in clutter and chaos. That being said I do understand that once he gets his tools out it doesn't much make sense to put them away so I take a deep breath and try and clean and organize around everything. Those of you who boat do understand the premise that in order to get at anything you have to move other things....thus the clutter and chaos. I, on the other hand am trying to organize the clutter and am doing inventory and cleaning lockers in preparation for provisioning. Rob has finished getting the batteries charged and is presently installing our new, albeit slightly dented BBQ. It is quite the luxury for Celebrian to have a marine stainless steel BBQ after 22 years with a table top one. Only my captain could keep a table top Bar-B going that long!?Last evening our dock mates, Brad and Karen on Moskoki and Scott and Mary Lynne on Zingarro, both couples from Ontario invited us over for a game of Mexican Dominoes. I had never played dominoes but this game was a lot of fun and boat sized. Both of these couples spend the winter in the Abacos at Treasure Cay. They enjoy golfing and use their boats more as cottages. As you know Rob and I enjoy getting away from it all, seeing new places and are happiest far from the madding crowd. That being said we never turn down a pot luck or happy hour!The weather is going to be cool all week but the winds are to settle down by mid week. We are planning on heading through the Whale and on to Marsh Harbour on Wednesday. Marsh Harbour is the third largest city in The Bahamas after Nassau and Freeport; however it only has a population of five thousand but it is the place to provision and pick up what you need. Once in the Exumas most of the settlements are less than a hundred people until you get to Georgetown with a population of around one thousand. We have just decided that we are going to leave the dock at high tide this afternoon and anchor off of New Plymouth for the night. That way if the weather is decent tomorrow we have the option of leaving for Marsh Harbour. Abaco Yacht Services is in Black Sound and we can only get in and out of the harbour at high tide. All sailing and anchoring decisions have to be based on both the weather and the tide levels. So...we have a couple of hours to get sea worthy enough to sail away.

Today is January 15th and we are anchored in Marsh Harbour. We spent the Monday evening anchored off of New Plymouth in Green Turtle Cay all by ourselves and left the next morning for Marsh Harbour. The Whale Cay passage had large ocean swells but was not a difficult sail. We stopped at Man O War Cay to drop off Celebrian's summer cover at the sail maker's. The cover had stayed on all this season but had suffered some damage. We had planned on staying the night anchored off of Man O War; however the wind picked up while we were in the settlement and we decided that a pitch poling evening was not what we wanted and left for the shelter of Marsh. The harbour which usually is quite full was not busy when we arrived; however we are expecting a cold front this weekend with possible gale force winds so boats are gradually coming in. Marsh Harbour is not one of my favourite places as it is often busy and loud and you can't swim; however for provisioning it is the only place to go. We have spent the last two days doing major provisioning. Picture loading your kitchen with enough food for the next three months and filling every nook and cranny with supplies. Then covering all the cupboards and drawers with pillows and covers and using the kitchen as your livingroom and then you will get some idea of what provisioning is like. It is not like we can't get food in the Exumas; however there is not a lot to choose from and the prices are even more outrageous than in the Abacos. So....we waddle out of the Abacos laden with dry goods, canned goods, as much fresh food as we can stuff in Celebrian's small fridge and as much meat as we can put in our one cubic foot freezer. It would be nice if we could supplement our food with fresh fish but we haven't proven to be the best fisher people so thank heavens for pasta!? The captain has managed to put five cases of 24 beer and four cases of 24 orange pineapple in the bilge....our boat cellar and the bathtub are filled with wine and water...the two other necessities of cruising.
You will remember from an earlier blog entry that we have had a broken foot pump in our galley. This has necessitated us living on jug water while the little gizmo that the captain stuck together with epoxy has had time to cure. Today the captain installed the little spring gizmo and so far so good. Now finally we were going to have our water system up and running but when the captain turned on the water pump we had no whirring noises. Obviously the water god just does not want us to have a water system. However my captain is always prepared and stowed away far in the nether reaches of the quarter berth was a spare pump. They sure don't make those pumps to last as Rob had replaced that water pump before we left Bayfield. Imagine if we had had to order the pump from the U.S. and wait for it to arrive in Marsh Harbour? Sometimes living on a boat can seem a little claustrophobic and especially when one is living in a sea of tools and spare parts but I continually remind myself that those tools and spare parts are what keeps us afloat.

Before we leave Marsh Harbour Rob has to fix our battery starter on our propane stove as well as move the water intake for our water maker. Once those jobs are done we will be in good shape to leave and as it turns out the weather may let us leave Monday. At the moment our plans will be to head south to Lynyard Cay to stage for our ocean crossing to Royal Island, Eleuthera. From there it is a day sail to the Exumas where we will meet up with First Edition.

Fixing Things in Exotic Places

Today we awoke to no hydro at the dock we are tied up to. This is due likely to the high winds we are experiencing in this cold front. Now ordinarily this would not create panic; however we are at present relying on our microwave for cooking. The captain left the valve open on our propane tank last spring and the propane evaporated over the summer and ran out in the middle of cooking dinner last evening. The nearest propane dealer is a day trip by boat and through an ocean passage that in high winds is not passable. So.....we will use hydro while we are at the dock and then once we leave we will have to rely on Harry Honda Junior who runs on gasoline to run our microwave. Gratefully our dock neighbours gave us some gas to get Harry Jr. running and hot coffee saved the day. Gratefully the power has come back on. The captain, now that he has had his hot coffee is busy fixing things. For those of you who don't know the definition of cruising....cruising is fixing things in exotic places. We are not sure of what to tackle first...the battery holder for the propane oven...maybe not high on the list since we don't have any propane...or the water pump mechanism that allows us to foot pump water in the galley....the galley slave would appreciate not having to use jugs of water for too many more days. Are you getting the picture that cruising is not all pina coladas and sunshine? In fact today the high temperature is going to be low 60s and very little sunshine but afterall it is winter in The Bahamas. That is also why we will be heading south to the Exumas as soon as we can. We are hoping to leave Green Turtle by Tuesday or Wednesday and head to Marsh Harbour for provisions....least of which will be filling two tanks of propane and then once we get a weather window head south to Eleuthera and from there on to the Exumas where it is warmer. Lynn and Peter on First Edition are now in the Exumas having crossed from Miami with a stop in Bimini and Nassau. We are so looking forward to seeing them again especially since we were at one time fearful that my shoulder would not let us travel this year. I am still hopeful that once we are cruising and the boat jobs are fewer I will have some time to heal.

It may be cool here but there are no snowmen?!

Travel Blues...Boatyard Joys

Does anyone really enjoy flying anymore? The flight in our 8 passenger Yellow Air Taxi was fine albeit a little cool and we had the whole plane to ourselves....two pilots and us; however Spirit managed to demolish one of our solar lights, bend the handle of our frying pan and dent our new stainless steel BBQ lid. Rob has a theory that the baggage handlers get angry when the bag is heavy and then toss it with added vigour. Oh well....we are here safe and sound.
Florida and the Bahamas have been having erratic temperatures lately. We arrived on a rather cool day as you can see from the picture of the admiral in the cockpit having a warm bowl of soup. The next two days working in the boatyard were pleasant temperatures; however today we are having rain and expecting a cold front this afternoon. Yesterday we launched and are now floating at the dock. The sails are on but the dinghy is still on deck and there are plenty of inside jobs to keep the captain busy during the front. Winds expected are in the 20 to 30 knot range so we are happy to be tied up at Abaco Yacht Services.

Yes Sir...A BBQ and Cereal???!!!

With two days left to finish getting packed we are busy weighing our suitcases and moving things around from bag to bag to keep the weight under the magic 50 pounds. Rob is responsible for the one way suitcase loads which are being packed in the basement. These suitcases were purchased in the Bayfield rummage sale for a dollar a piece. Once in the boatyard they will be donated to the guys who work in the yard. There is quite an eclectic mixture of things in these bags. Everything from motor oil, extension cords, a stainless steel BBQ in parts,marine toilet pump and of course cereal and crackers. Rob has once again bolted a water maker motor to the suitcase. We can only hope that the airport security people see that it is not an incendiary device;however with heightened security we are a little more nervous. I have been filling our two duffel bags upstairs with yet again another eclectic mixture of items....medications for our medical kit, lock and lock containers, Christmas presents, DVD movies, engine filters, masking tape, and of course more cereal, crackers and the must have pita chips!? We envy those who travel by car; however one still has to get through Customs.
The weather is making us a little nervous; however the long range forecast is for a little sunshine by Tuesday. We have had a snowsquall warning for the past three days with various road closures. It is any wonder that Canadians yearn to go south in the winter. The Ontario Shuttle Service is picking us up at 4:30am Tuesday in order to get us to the Detroit airport a little earlier than usual in lieu of the TSA security procedures. We are over nighting in Fort Lauderdale and leaving early the next day on our 8 passenger Cessna Yellow Air Taxi to Treasure Cay. From Treaure Cay it is a taxi ride to the ferry dock and a 15 minute ferry ride to Green Turtle Cay and Abaco Yacht Services.
Keep your fingers crossed for us that all goes well and the next blog entry should be from Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos.

Happy New Year

After celebrating a luncheon Happy New Year with my mom, Rob and I headed out to the cottage for a walk. The lake has about one quarter of a mile of ice so winter is definitely upon us. We had planned to join our cottage neighbours Doug and Jane for New Year's eve. Doug and Jane have a lovely insulated cottage with an oil furnace along with a wood burning fireplace. We had a very nice evening and enjoyed lots of nibblies good wine and beer in painted label bottles. As you can see from the picture Rob REALLY was enjoying both the company and the beer! We even made it past sailor's midnight(nine o'clock)! In fact we got home just in time to toast in 2010.
Good health and happiness to all who follow our sailing adventure.
Here is the first day of 2010's view out our bedroom window. We both agree that it will be great to get back to some heat and sunshine in The Bahamas.

Merry Christmas

Christmas day began with Santa playing a cruel joke on us....a furnace that would not start and this is after leaving him rum and eggnog. Luckily we have a gas fireplace so we huddled by the warmth to open our gifts. Rob called our local gas man and one of the joys of living in a small community is that even on Christmas day one can get service. So by early afternoon we had our furnace outfitted with a new blower and a new appreciation for central heating and travel in The Bahamas.
Despite the way the day started Santa did end up spoiling us once again. Rob's picture shows him with Peter's whale pictures from last year's trip to the Dominican Republic. The whale that we saw was near Big Sand, a remote island between the Turks and Caicos and the DR. It was so exciting to see the humpbacks and I would return there just to see the whales again.
We joined our friends Brian and Gayle for a wonderful meal to end the day. The day had started out cool but had ended with the warmth of friendship.
Now we look forward to a January Christmas and Hannukah celebration with Lynn and Peter on First Edition.

Winter Comes to Bayfield

We decided to cook our Christmas turkey last weekend and enjoyed a lovely meal with Christine's mom and our friends Gayle and Brian. Christine pulled out all the stops and cooked up a gourmet meal.
Winter has come to Bayfield and the river is becoming quite frozen along with some large ice hummocks along the lake front. It is always a miracle to me that in just a few months we are swimming in this water. We do love the seasons in Ontario but we are also grateful to be spending some of the coldest part of the year in The Bahamas.

Sea Biscuit or Snowball?

We have chosen the sea biscuit thanks to the wonders of cortisone and are heading south on January 5th. We are taking Spirit Air to Fort Lauderdale on the 5th, overnighting in Fort Lauderdale and then flying out on the Cessna Yellow Air Taxi on the morning of the 6th. This way we can get to the boat yard in decent time. We will have to remove Celebrian's cover, put everything away, get a little food and water on board and just make room to lay our heads down. If all goes well we hope to be able to launch later Friday afternoon and spend the weekend at the dock getting sails on etc. Those of you that boat know how much work it takes to get a boat ready to sail.
The cortisone is giving Christine some relief in her shoulder; however she still feels frustrated with the lack of full range of motion and the remaining pain. At the same time any relief seemed to be a blessing and a signal that we should try and go south. The sport medicine doctor's only concern was repetitive overhead actions and carrying anything over 10 pounds. The physiotherapist feels that she will heal much better in the warm weather environmnent doing her exercises on the boat and in the water. Living on the boat requires lots of physical work but we are hopeful that with moderation and care she will be able to manage. We won't be doing any over night passages or trips to the Dominican Republic this year; however there is always next sailing season. We are just grateful that we are able to go and look forward to seeing Lynn and Peter and sailing with First Edition for another winter.

Chrissymas Open House and Huronview Christmas Tea

We hosted our annual open house on Sunday December 6th. An open house has been a Chrissy tradition for many years and this year because we are staying for Christmas we put up our tree. The tree is very special as it represents a history of many places visited. It also has a very special ornament on it for this year....a beautiful sand dollar with Santa on it that First Edition gave Celebrian last Christmas. Our friends received shell ornaments lovingly collected...sand dollars, sea biscuits and bonnets.
We recently enjoyed a Christmas Tea at Huronview with my mom and her best friend Jean. There is never a shortage of food and treats there and the decorations are wonderful as you can see from the pictures of Santa and the tree.

Better Sailing Days Ahead

We are hoping to leave for The Bahamas in early January. We have been delayed leaving because Christine has had to wait to see a sport's medicine doctor at the Fowler Kennedy Clinic in London about her shoulder. She has had a sore shoulder since the summer and has had all of the tests and drugs but still no definitive diagnosis. The doctor in London has ordered a second ultrasound to be done at the clinic. Her feeling is that Christine may have rotator cuff tendonitis even though the first ultrasound did not indicate any problems. The ultrasound is on the 10th of this month with the follow up doctor's appointment on the 14th. The doctor spoke of an injection of cortisone at the time of the second appointment. Our hope is that with some pain relief and a diagnosis with a program of dos and don'ts, she will be able to go sailing. Living on Celebrian requires a little more effort than a holiday on a cruise ship so we have to make sure that she can function without causing further tendon damage. We will have a less adventuresome sail this winter but at least we will have a holiday. There are better sailing days ahead.
In the meantime while we wait we have kept ourselves busy with condo projects (painting), building book shelves and cottage close up for the winter.
The Christmas cactus is blooming so it is definitely time to get into the Christmas spirit. Even though we were hoping to be south for Christmas with our dear friends Lynn and Peter on First Edition we will be happy to share the holiday time with our friends and family in Ontario.