Cooler Weather -Thanks to Earl

Hurricane Earl,  the monster storm that caused damage to several Caribbean islands, brushed by the Turks and Caicos causing big wave action, and menaced the US East Coast all week, brought a little wind and cooler weather to our area.  Before it fizzled, it made land fall in Nova Scotia, giving several cities a pounding of wind and rain.

The resort town of Ocean City, Maryland, located on the Atlantic coast and about 100 miles from here, braced for a hit from Earl.  The area experienced turbulent waves and wind, but fortunately received no major damage.

We're in Holiday Hill Marina on the Rhode River several miles south of Annapolis on the Chesapeake Bay. 
As this serene view indicates, we're in a lovely, tranquil cove. The Smithsonian Institute prohibits development on the entire south side of the Rhode River, thus the marina is secluded and quiet.  While a big storm can do damage here or anywhere, we do have nice protection from the waves caused by wind and Bay boaters, plus no muscle boats or jet skis are allowed (thanks to the Smithsonian).

We're getting into the rhythm of marina living.  Being secured in a slip results in an easier life than being on a mooring ball or at anchor.  Here we just step off the boat and walk up the docks (and, thankfully, to our pickup)   -no need to launch the dingy, start the motor, head for the dingy dock, secure the dingy, and then complete whatever activity was planned, which might be something simple and or it might be laundry day, so the dingy is full of clothes.  Then, of course,  back on the dingy to return to the big boat.  But, because we're in a slip and not anchored with our bow in the wind, we're not enjoying the breeze blowing in our hatches.  And slip life offers far less privacy than living at anchor, where you experience the feeling of having your own, private sunset.  Slip life is easier, but not nearly as rewarding. The Bay boasts hundreds of lovely anchorages and we'll be visiting a few of those this fall.

Right now, we're enjoying this beautiful weather and keeping track of the current tropical storms.

Notes and Pics from the Captain

Lapidus - Close to time to depart for passage from Turks and Caicos to Annapolis


With no chartplotter from the second day on, we navigated with paper charts and our two handheld VHF's.  We came all the way in like this without any trouble. We came into the Chesapeake at 3 in the morning and no moon. It sure beats dead reckoning.

On the third morning we were motoring and there was a loud growling sound. I slowed the engine and checked everything, but found nothing wrong. I started motoring again and within 15 to 20 minutes same sound. I shut the engine off for the next two and a half days and watched the windex on top of the mast spin around and around. After two and a half days I started the engine and ran it at 1500 rpms for a while and then up to 2200, with no problems and no more unusual noises. We ran the engine sparingly to be sure we had enough diesel to enter the marina, which we did, but not much extra. 

Six different pods of dolphins joined us during our voyage.
They came to play, and we were glad to see them.



I was only able to understand Chris Parker two days while we were in the middle of our voyage, but it was a big help. He gave us a couple of good waypoints that helped us out on some eddies and gave us some wind part of a day. The eddies lasted until we got to the gulfstream. We basically sailed north on longitude 72 and then curved in west to Cape Hatteras, then into the Chesapeake.

It was really hot out there. There were two or three days where we did not see a ship, plane or a bird. Again, we were always glad when a pod of dolphins decided to hang out with us for a while.  Unusal cloud formations also added interest.  One cloud with a hole in the middle?
 

South Side Marina

The new bar and restaurant has been started and will be a welcome addition to the south side of Provo.

Annapolis Arrival

Larry and Robert left the Turks & Caicos Sunday afternoon, August 1, and pulled into a slip in Holiday Hill Marina Wednesday afternoon, August 11.  The forecast was for a sailing wind, though moderate; instead, there was not enough wind and they were becalmed for several days, which added a couple of days to the length of the trip.

While the weather was too uneventful, they did have challenges.  The Furuno Chart Plotter and Radar decided to take a vacation starting the second morning.  No data was on the screen.  Though Larry was able to get some old waypoints back, none of the charts would come up, nor was anything visible on the radar.  They had all the needed paper charts to chart their route, so that's what they did.  Taking regular Lat and Long readings with our handheld Standard Horizon and keeping a good log kept them occupied and on their route.

Also, on a calm day early in the trip, the engine made an unusual noise, though it continued to run.  After the second time it made the noise, Larry thought it might be the cutlass bearing and decided to not run it, not wanting to cause more serious damage.  After a few days of averaging little more than two knots, they again turned on the engine, but ran it only at low RPM's and only ran it when there was no wind. It made no more noises and they were able to use it to come into the marina.

Kenya and I had a fast, fun road trip.  We left OKC Sunday afternoon, made a detour to Ponca City, then stopped in Memphis for the night and arrived in Wilmington, NC Monday night, after 1,400 miles.  Though not exactly on the logical road to Annapolis, Wilmington is a lovely coastal city and we wanted to check it out; we're so glad we did.  Then Wednesday morning, we drove the 390 miles to Annapolis and met up with Larry!

I'm loving being back on the boat, trying to find a location for all the extras I brought on board, mostly clothes I bought because I did not take much with me when I left.  We're getting the boat in order, which will take a while.  We'll take the Furuno Chart Plotter to the dealer to have the software reloaded, and hope that's all that needs to be done.  Also, we have the engine to take care off.

Larry plans to write more info about the trip.  Plus, we'll be sharing what's happening here and what plans we make.

Underway to Annapolis

Larry and his crew member Robert began their passage Sunday afternoon at high tide.  The sandy-bottom shallow route from Southside Marina to Sapodilla Bay is only possible at high tide and takes about two hours.  From the Bay, they followed the Sand Bore Channel still needing as much water under them as possible, as much for random coral heads as for depth.

Out of the Channel late in the afternoon, they turned north and will be underway until they reach Annapolis.  We don't have a satellite phone, so I won't talk to Larry until he has a phone antenna somewhere on the east coast, probably in the Chesapeake.  We do have a Single Side Bank, so he can talk to Chris Parker (weather forecaster) as well as make other connections if needed.

Time to Move - Ourselves & Lapidus

Time for an update: I'm still in Oklahoma, but Larry has flown back to the Turks and Caicos and is preparing the boat for a move to the Chesapeake, specifically Annapolis! In June, Larry flew back to take down all the sails and canvass, since hurricane season had begun and we weren't sure when we would be continuing our cruising.  So, now, he's putting them all back up, along with the usual preparations for an offshore trip. 

While we had planned to spend some time in  Oklahoma (and Texas) to visit family and friends this summer,  we left the boat in the Turks and Caicos and flew to Oklahoma earlier than planned due to my Mom's health.  She's had a tough summer, but is doing pretty well at this time.

We plan to be in the Annapolis area for a while.  Flying to Oklahoma is a lot easier from the East Coast than from the Caribbean.  Plus, we will easily be able to be contacted when the need arises.  Cruising the Caribbean is still a priority, just moved to the future for now.

Larry and Robert (his very qualified crew) plan to leave August 1, weather permitting.  To find crew, we used an organization that specializes in helping captains find crew and crew find captains-  www. sailopo.com.  Robert wanted to make the trip because he is interested in purchasing a Valiant.  Larry's plan is to take the shortest route with the best weather and with no planned stops.  I'm sure I'll be missing a great passage, but at the time we decided to do this, I did not want to be 'unreachable' for at least ten or more days.

Kenya is flying to OKC from LA to join me in a sure-to-be-fun mother-daughter road trip in our pickup, which we will want in Annapolis.

At this time, the weather forecast looks great for Larry and Robert to leave Provo, Turks and Caidos on Sunday, August 1.  I'll keep you updated. 

Georgetown to Provo, Turks and Caicos

Held every April, the 57th Family Island Regatta brings much excitement to the  Georgetown area.  Locally built sloops, representing each of the major islands, race competitively and fiercely for the coveted title Best in the Bahamas.  It's a week of parties and festivities.  Food and drink shacks are hastily built on the government docks to handle the influx of people. 

The week before the races, ships arrive in the harbor laden with the participating sloops. These canoe type sloops carry a tall mast and a long boom that sits low in the boat and several feet past the stern. Classes A and B sail only a traditionally made main sail.  Class C carries a head sail as well as a main, both traditionally made.  No light-weight sail cloth adorns these boats.  These boats can go really fast, 20-25 knots for the C class boats.

The end of race week seemed a perfect time for leaving Georgetown, and we had a pretty doable weather window. We left on Sunday, April 25 with plans to stop in Provo and then on to Luperon, Dominican Republic if the weather held.  Doug and Marlene on Solar Eclipse are returning to Florida to take care of necessary engine repairs.  We plan to meet up with them next year in the Eastern Caribbean.  Harry and Linda on the catamaran Kuhala also left that morning but planned to stop in Conception and to make other stops on the way to Provo and then Luperon.  They had the best plan because our forecast did not hold, the wind clocked several times, and the current slowed us down.

Larry gives more detail:
With a nice brisk wind, we sailed north to Cape Santa Maria, Long Island.  As we sailed out of the protection of Long Island, the seas increased and the ride was a little rough.

We sailed east bewteen Conception and Rum to the southeast side of Little San Salvador, but still underneath the island, then slightly S.S.E.  The current slowed us to 3 or 4 knots. After not making very much progress, somewhere around the middle and east of Rum, we tacked ESE and later SW.

We should have gone on south by Rum, because we slowed the same going east. At the southeast corner of San Salvador we turned south, still very slow, toward the bottom of Rum or just before we tacked east.  And the wind was 20 to 24 true from San Salvador. I hailed a ship about our taking a different route so we could get out of the current and he said there's not one. We were going into the waves and it was NO FUN. We tacked and headed to west of Samana and even though we still had a lot of wind and slow going it was a much smoother ride. This was Monday morning. The wind went down later to 15 to 18. We passed Samana; then 32 kts hit us in a wind change from north or west, maybe northwest, with just a little rain. The good thing was we picked up from 2 and 3 kts to 7+ kts. About an hour later the wind had subsided to between 12 and 14.  We talked to another ship about that time and he said they had experienced 42 kts true, but we never had high wind again.

We had a nice sail across the top of Acklins and Plana Cays then S.E. to Mayaguana.

Tuesday afternoon, we anchored just inside the cut in Abraham's Bay, Mayaguana. We left at 11:30 p.m. that night in very light wind of 5kts but it picked up to 10 or 12 after daylight. Wednesday morning around 10:00 a.m. we entered the Sandbore Channel and, using the waypoints from the Wavyline chart, sailed the rumline with a rising tide and no coral head problems. We anchored in Sapodillo Bay; Thursday morning at high tide, we moved to Southside Marina, a great marina with a great staff. 

We plan to leave the boat in the marina in Provo while we return to Oklahoma for a while.  When we return, we'll check out the beaches and other sights.  And we'll post pictures and stories about the beautiful Turks and Caicos.

Enjoying George Town

Last season, George Town was our first destination.  After finally getting a good weather window to cross the Gulf Stream, we left Fort Lauderdale for an overnight passage to Nassau, where we checked in and spent the night, and then another overnight passage to George Town. We slowed our speed so that we had daylight to read the water and follow the waypoints through the cut and into the harbor. The varying depth of the water requires several direction changes. We arrived Sunday morning and our daughter Kenya and friends Pam and Shari arrived in Georgetown late Sunday afternoon.  We spent the next week exploring and discovering this beautiful area.  With its many crescent shaped white sand beaches surrounded by magical waters, gin clear to turquoise on the Harbor side to cobalt on the Sound side, this is an extraordinary place.  

While the beauty of the area is without question, George Town dominates as a Bahamas cruising favorite for many reasons.  Most cruisers anchor off Stocking Island, a small island several miles long that helps define the mile-wide Elizabeth Harbor, with Great Exuma Island and the town George Town on the other side of the Harbor.  The Kid Cove is another anchorage option located just outside George Town.  In all, the large, spacious Harbor can, and often does, accommodate 300+ boats at one time. Cruisers come for the winter or just visit a while.  

We like the beaches, the hikes up to the Monument, and socializing with other cruisers.  Of course, we’re always involved in boat projects, maintenance, restocking, planning.  And then there’s reading and DVD time.                               We are currently anchored just off Volleyball Beach, near Chat and Chill and the Conch Salad Stand.

Our new Spectra water maker makes living aboard much easier.  We began to notice that our tank level was going down faster that we thought we were using water.  When you have to fill water jugs to have water, you have a pretty good idea about your water consumption.  We had no extra water in the bilge and we checked and rechecked every hose and connection.  Larry discovered the water was going out a thru hull because of a bad solinoid on the water maker.  We just received a new one yesterday and should have it on by tomorrow.

Our wind generator also quit, even though it had been upgraded with a new kit last summer. After completing several troubleshooting tests, Larry was able to order replacement parts at no costs, but installing the new kit and parts will be time consuming and not easy while at anchor.

Daily, on the Cruisers's Net, boaters request information, advice, help, tools, etc.  And, usually immediately, someone comes back with a reply.  We all benefit from this great network. 

A hike up the trail to the Monument offers a grand view as well as a close up view of the osprey next.