Junkanoo

One great advantage of being held up by the weather is that we get to know some areas better by being around for awhile. Also we meet some great folks both local and other cruisers. 

In the latter category is Tom traveling on a large power boat with his grandson Tim. Tom saw us pitching in an alarming way in the seas which were rolling right into the dock at Marsh Harbor. We were quite used to the motion and found it no trouble. We heard someone calling out from the dock above and looked up to see an older gentleman peering down at us asking if we'de like to come over and cook in his galley where things were more stable. We declined the generous offer, but later visited them aboard their yacht, and learned about their journey circumnavigating the eastern half of the USA. From North Carolina they had traveled up the east coast, through the Erie Canal to the Great Lakes, down the rivers to the Gulf of Mexico, thence around Florida, through the keys, and were presently on a side trip out to the Bahamas before finishing their trip up to NC. 

We also saw another Dana come sailing into Marsh Harbor and got to know Chris and Eden from Canada aboard "Rag Doll". Eden has since had to fly home to continue work and Chris has been joined by Chas, a retired geologist/cave explorer. We will be meeting up with Rag Doll a little further south and may travel together down to Eluthera. 

We had the privilege last night of being able to attend a traditional Bahamian festival called Junkanoo. This festival is usually done on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, but Marsh Harbor has one in mid February. This festival dates back to the 16th or 17th century when the British loyalists would give their slaves a day off to visit family. They would celebrate by dressing in costumes and parading and dancing to musical rhythms produced on goat skin drums and cow bells. Over the centuries this festival has expanded into quite an extravaganza with ornate costumes and villages competing for prizes. The rhythms produced with goat skin covered 50gallon drums and all sorts of containers, cow bells, whistles, etc is intricate and amazing, and if you can listen without finding yourself swaying to the beat, then you probably have no pulse. I will post pics of some of the costumes and musicians, but, unfortunately, can't post the video that we shot. 

We're heading south today for snorkeling at Sandy Cay, then on to Little Harbor, then across to Eluthera. We'll probably have no wifi access for quite some time. 

I hope all who read this are well and that your journey aboard the big blue boat is progressing well. 

Keep in touch. 

The waterfront at Marsh Harbor taken from town. 

A Genetic Time-Capsule

One of the things we were looking forward to trying to see while in the Anacos were the Wild Abacos Spanish Colonial horses. We had heard that there numbers had been reduced from around 200 to only 5. We are sad to learn that there now remains only one mare. Check out this website for more info and a video about the remaining mare Nunki. 

arkwild.org

Checking in

 Here is the array of herbs starts in For Pierce we assembled to add a fresh flavor to our cuisine on the trip.  I couldn't find cilantro so I started some from seed (thanks to Jetty).  The long petalled one is new to me- culantro, supposed to have a stronger flavor of cilantro.  We will see how they fair.

During and after the Gulf Stream crossing until now my poor cilantro seedlings have been dumped out at least 8 times.  Dean brought a plant holder he had made while at home to hold two of them.  That's what we have had each year.  You can see they multiplied : (       We rented a car for one day while in Fort Lauderdale to get some errands done and explore some since weather was keeping us there for a couple extra days.  There I found a boat specialty wood shop that made me a second one of some sort of white plastic board that holds up to UV exposure.  The trick is to find a secure place to attach them.  Hmm.  I'll update you on what we did.

Paradise Regained

We are talking "earthly paradise" here, and every experience I've had of that comes along with disclaimers like "except for such and such". At the moment, the temperature is balmy and the waters are crystalline turquoise, except it is frosted with white wind-blown foam, and on deck it is difficult to breath when facing into the wind. 

With a weather front a day and a half away, we completed our night crossing of the Gulf Stream from Ft. Lauderdale to the West End of Grand Bahamas Island. The crossing went well, a bit "pitchy" as expected from the moderate headwinds. Sirius arrived off Indian Rock at first light allowing a visual approach and passage through the cut and onto the banks. Quite a change from the mile deep water, to be sailing along with the bottom so close it looks as if you could reach down and touch it. This is partly due to the amazing clarity of the water and partly to the fact that you just about can reach down and touch it. It was five feet deep at times passing onto the banks (Sirius draws four feet) so any fat fish laying on the bottom was in danger of becoming flat fish. Hmmm, the origin of halibut??

On the banks yesterday, we had a beautiful close-hauled sail to Great Sale Cay where we battened down for the front arriving that night. When a cold front comes through, the usual southeast wind  clocks around to south, then west, then northwest where it gets pretty strong depending on the pressure gradient. Finally it goes to northeast and eventually lightens and returns to southeast. Our chosen anchorage (not many choices available) is open to the south in favor of good protection from the stronger westerly and northerly winds following. We had no very current data indicating how strong the southerlies would be, so that was a matter of some concern. We set a GPS anchor drag alarm which will sound a signal in the event it moves more than a preset distance from the start point, in this case 100 ft. Four other sailboats were anchored in the bay, everyone wisely spread out so that any possible anchor dragging activities in the night would not involve tangling with another boat. As you would imagine, tangling up two anchors could really complicate the situation. 

It's now morning and all boats seem to be relatively in the same positions as last night. The south wind started rather suddenly at 11pm at 20-25kts and with a deluge of rain and lightening, not too bad, but with no land intervening, it caused an uncomfortable chop. Our anchor drag alarm sounded three times in the night with each major change in wind direction. Each time it reset with no required action, thankfully, as the prospect of going out and moving and resetting anchor was not at all appealing. 

Watching the wind speed indicator while listening to the pitch of the wind in the rigging suggests that it would be possible to make a chart in which the musical note being produced corresponds to a certain wind speed. C = 25kts, D = 30kts, F = Uh Oh. In any case, being below decks is like being in a guitar while the wind strums the strings. Time to dance. 

We've no desire to leave here today, sleep (to make up for last night), eat, read, ponder the imponderable. Tomorrow should be a good downwind run with the remaining north wind to Allens-Pensacola Cay then the next day to Marsh Harbor where we will check in with customs and "officially" arrive in the Bahamas. 

We won't be able to post until arrival at Marsh Harbor. 

OK, maybe the only selfie we'll post

Ducks behind the boat at Ft Lauderdale

Night on the river at Ft Lauderdale

Photos along the river:

A few of the "modest" homes along the water. I guess they had taken down their "vote for Mitt" signs:

Anchored in "Lake" Sylvia awaiting favorable weather for crossing. 

Bahamian waters at last!  Gotta put on the Bob Marley album. 

Setting Out

BToday we had the best send off ever from Harbortown Marina in Fort Pierce.  After waiting here for 6 weeks Sirius was ready to charge into our journey to the Bahamas for 10+ weeks. Decks scrubbed, dingy assembled, engine & hoist mounted, provisions loaded and new home port letters applied- 'Willow Alaska". 

Blue skies, a hefty wind on our stern, We made 28 miles in 4 hours down the ICW  to Peck Lake running the engine under 2,000 rpms with the jib. After getting thoroughly anchored, we ran the dingy over to a sand bar separating us from the wide open ocean. 

This beach is part of a wildlife refuge. I'll attach pics later as this is my first mobile post. (Don't want to loose all this thumb work. ; )

An Interlude

Christmas and New Years back home in Alaska. It's "supposed" to be cold and snowy for Christmas, everyone knows that. Warmed by holiday traditions and closeness to family and friends, we enjoyed our northern interlude. Enroute to rejoin Sirius, we enjoyed a week visiting Nina's mom and aunt Annie in Arcadia, Fl. While there, we were privileged by spending a day at her churches' distribution of food to needy local folks. On an average day, about 400 folks are served; pretty sobering. 

We have been back at the boat for almost a week now, provisioning and preparing Sirius for the months ahead; applying her new registration numbers and home port, testing out the dinghy and new outboard motor, topping up diesel, gas, and water. Nina even went up the mast to install a new halyard. Said she'd rather have me tending the line than vice versa. Then there are the seemingly endless bags of groceries to find storage space for. 

In this photo aboard Sirius, about half the stuff has already been stowed. The rest has to go somewhere!  As always, everything did eventually fit (or squash) in somewhere. We are floating a bit low on the waterline. In the Bahamas, lots of things are unavailable, or expensive when they can be found. We do try to shop some in the local economy though as many of the "out island" Bahamians have very little income and should benefit some from sharing their beautiful home with cruisers. 

Sirius is tied up at the very edge of the marina where the mangroves grow to the waters edge. This location is great as we see lots of wildlife. A family of otters swims and plays around the area, and manatees frequently sun themselves at the surface. Nina saw a mom with two young ones yesterday. 

Small alligators are seen occasionally, though we have seen none. Pelicans, cormorants, and blue herons are plentiful. Then there are the fish, about ten inches long, that jump and splash, and even slap the edge of the boat. We think that they are being chased by something larger??? 

We expect to cast off this Tuesday. A cold front is passing thru with it's northerly winds which will be fair for heading south to Fort Lauderdale. By Friday, the breeze should be more southerly for a crossing to the West End of Grand Bahamas Island. We must start well south of our destination on the other side of the Gulf Stream as a boat going about 5 knots crossing a current of up to 4 knots is kinda' like swimming across a river. The general rule for crossing is to avoid any northerly wind since the north flowing current effectively compresses the south running waves making them very steep and close together. This is very uncomfortable at best and quite dangerous at worst. Having a boat that was designed and built to pretty much take what comes along, allows us to go with a smaller weather "window" than some other boats. It has not been unusual to meet folks who have been waiting weeks to a month to cross. We have always been fortunate to be able to go with no more than a day or two wait. 

It's a "fridged" 44 degrees this am (thanks to previously mentioned cold front), but should be sunny and 66 degrees today, tolerable. 

Foggy Foggy Night

It's been a busy time heading ever southward. We had an uncommonly good offshore passage from Southport, NC to Fernandina Beach, Florida. Completely missed both South Carolina and Georgia. Both of those states have some beautiful coastal areas, but we had fallen well behind our pace required to get Sirius to Florida in time to return home for the holidays. The winds for the passage from NC to Florida ranged between NE to NW from 10 - 20 kts. Most of the trip was on a broad reach (nice) or directly downwind (not so nice, as this takes more attention to the helm to prevent an accidental gybe of the mainsail). Our autotiller ("Artie') (named for a love able, but cantankerous old lead dog we once had) is not too reliable on a downwind heading. Following seas ranged from 2 to 6 feet and Sirius tracked well on this heading without excessive rolling. The last day we had thick fog and really appreciated having radar. 

The fog continued for another day even after we were in inside waters in Florida. We left Fernandina slowly and with radar and GPS and only got in the clear after crossing the St Johns River. The St Johns is a major shipping channel and we had the eerie event of passing between two massive ships in the fog with fog horns blaring all around. They looked like huge islands in the river on radar. 

Since then, it's been five days of motoring south in the "ditch" as the ICW is affectionately called. Even so, the winds have held from the north and the jib adds a lot to both speed and fuel economy. 

Yesterday we arrived at Fort Pierce where we will be leaving Sirius for the next month while we return home for the holidays.  Nina's mom joined us yesterday and stayed aboard last night.

(She welcomed us to Florida by beating us at cards)

The journey down the coast has always been regarded by us as the "job" of getting the boat into position where the real islands trip begins. I am, however, always taken by surprise by the interesting and beautiful country of the eastern inner banks. A few areas are touristy and marred by condo developments, etc, but mostly you pass through unspoiled natural coastal areas where the people unselfconsciously go about living their lives. 

The tentative plan on returning to Sirius in mid January is to head across to the Abacos then down to Eluthera, Cat Island, and, perhaps San Salvadore where Christopher Columbus is thought to have first landed. We will then cross to the Exumas and head back north through the Land and Sea Park which we love for its protected reef Eco systems. 

As always, though, the forces of wind and sea and tide will have the last word. 

The ways of man are passing strange,

He buys his freedom and he counts the change,

Then he lets the wind his days arrange, 

And he calls the tide his master. 

Anyone know where those lyrics come from without Google?