Author: BettyChurch

It always happens. You pull into a boatyard for repairs/upgrades and they tell you a week. Guaranteed it will take two. If they say two weeks it will take four. So our one week stay in Deltaville became two. The good news is that we have beautiful new helm chairs on the fly bridge (testing them out as I write this), reconnected with friends from last year and met new friends. That’s what happens at boatyards. Everyone is checking out the other boats, you get to talking and next thing you know you’re meeting for drinks and dinner. It’s a fun time but it’s always exciting to get back underway.

We are now heading south from Deltaville down the ICW planning to be in Beauford, NC in four days where we will wait for favorable weather for an offshore run to Wilmington.

That was Saturday. We had a suspected problem with our stabilizers that developed into a full scale problem mid day Saturday. Normally this wouldn’t be a huge issue as the boat is extremely stable. However we intend to do much of the run south to Ft Lauderdale offshore and it can get rocky. Since Isabella and I both suffer from sea sickness this is something that needed to be addressed.

So we are currently in Chesapeake VA at Atlantic Yacht Basin. They have a boatyard here staffed with incredibly wonderful people. Today has been dedicated to fixing the port stabilizer and hopefully we will have a happy ending to the day. Meanwhile a hurricane has developed in the Gulf which will send some weather our way so we’re going to sit tight until probably Saturday to continue southward.

The interesting thing about being tied up here is that we get a boat parade at 5 to 10 minutes after every hour. Just north on the ICW is the Great Bridge Lock followed by the Battlefield Blvd Bridge. The bridge only opens for pleasure craft on the hour and the lock schedule is timed to operate in time with the bridge. So everyone has to stop either north of the lock or south of the bridge to travel this little piece of the ICW. We are tied up facing south on the side of the ditch so EVERYTHING has to pass us. Lots of boats heading south and a few heading north that must be lost.

Well it’s been a long four months at National Harbor but we are finally underway on our trek south dodging debris on the Potomac.

Some thoughts about National Harbor. It’s not a bad marina and quieter than you would think. The restaurants are pricey and service is spotty. We did find a couple very good restaurants during our time there. Bond 45 is very nice. John Edward is the manager and always made sure we had a stellar experience. Hint: tell them it’s date night when you make your reservation. Another noteworthy restaurant is Voltaggia at the MGM.

We bought season tickets for the Potomac Water Taxi that goes between Georgetown, The Wharf, Alexandria and National Harbor. When it worked it was great but they seem to have a loose definition of the word schedule. Many times they would either cancel a return trip (once you were on board) or just close for a few days.

We met some wonderful boating friends this summer and had a number of impromptu “drinks and nibbles”. It was great fun checking out each others’ boats. Large, small, sail or power, everyone has great ideas on storage and how to manage life aboard. I freely stole from everyone!

To all our friends and golfing buddies at SGCC we’ll miss you! Over the past eight years I’ve learned to play golf from the best. We even picked up a few wine and cigar friends along the way. We’ll be back to visit, play a round and have a sip with you.

Our plan is to head to Ft Lauderdale for the last of our boat maintenance/improvements before crossing over to the Bahamas December 1st. We’ll spend seven months working our way through the islands to get south of Grenada before June 1st and the hurricane season. Looking forward to turquoise water and all that brings with it.

I’ll go back to posting updates each week, more often if something exciting happens. If you’d like to visit please give us a call or email and we’ll try to work out arrival and departure locations and times.

Next stop is Norview Marina in Deltaville, VA for chair installation and a rebuild of the windlass. Until then, fair winds and safe travels.

We arrived back at National Harbor May 5th and have been playing catch up ever since. Gary’s working a couple days a week just to keep busy and we’re doing minor repairs and updates.

Things we learned during our winter in the islands:

First, we need additional freezer space as fresh vegetables and fruit are hard to come by on the small islands. We also have acquired a bread maker for the same reason. You can get white bread most anywhere but anything else is a rarity.

Second, Gary is much more extroverted than I am (surprise). After a few days anchored out he starts to get restless. So next winter we’ll be more proactive about meeting people. Perhaps we’ll start randomly inviting people from neighboring boats back for a byob happy hour.

Third, a forward looking radar would be really handy because the coral heads pop up out of nowhere in the mid and southern Bahamas. We kissed one heading into Nassau (scraped off the barnacles, nothing more) but it was in the designated channel and we thought erroneously that we had enough depth.

So the plan is to leave here on September 15th, put in at Deltaville for a week for some updates (two new chairs on the flybridge YEA) and then start working south to Wilmington NC. We’ll be there for a week or two and then look to be in Jekyll Island until November 1st when we can head to Ft Lauderdale for the big maintenance item- sandblasting and repainting the hull. While it’s out of the water that forward looking radar will be installed as well.

Looking to be in the Bahamas by December 1st this year. We’ll pick up where we left off at Nassau and head south from there. So if anyone wants to plan a warm winter vacation let us know and we’ll plan a meet up somewhere. We have dive and snorkel equipment aboard and I’m looking at a kayak for something different to do.

There won’t be any more updates until we get underway in the fall.

Here’s a couple photos from the fireworks last night at the Springfield Golf and Country Club. Happy 4th to everyone!

 

 

We’re in Wilmington NC for a few days. Here are some random photos from the last few days up the ICW.

Well we got to Jekyll Island but there was no room at the marina so we anchored out overnight just off the channel. There was a storm coming in and we rode it out “on the hook” as they say. We have a really good, strong anchor and have gotten fairly proficient at setting it so we weren’t unduly concerned even tho we were getting wind gusts in the 40k-50k range. We anchored early in the day, watched the tidal changes and knew we had enough water. There were a couple other boats anchored with us one being a smaller trawler next to us.

Once the storm hit and we were getting the winds, we noticed that the boat next to us (now in front of us) had broken loose and was drifting directly for our boat sideways to our bow. It was raining so hard you could barely see but we hit our horn a few times and got their attention. At that point all we could do was watch as the captain scrambled to gain control of his boat and move it to a safer location and reset the anchor. It was a tense 10-15 minutes and he missed our boat by only a few feet, a couple times.

So it was a nice moment the next morning when we pulled into the Jekyll Island Marina for a few nights to let the weather calm.

We’ve also caught up with  friends on Last Mistake that will be traveling offshore with us tomorrow up to Hilton Head. Fingers crossed for a pleasant, calm day!

Several people have asked why we prefer to run offshore rather than coming up the ICW.

The best way to explain it is that the ICW is like taking the local train versus the high speed rail (offshore). It’s scenic but it’s slow and crowded, especially on the weekends. Sometimes the weather dictates the local route as the only option tho unless Isabella and I want to be really sick.

Another issue is that although the channel is supposed to be dredged to 10 feet in depth at low tide we’ve run into problems the last two days with shoaling and less than 5 feet of depth. As our draft is 5.5 ft this presents a problem. We are picking our way thru and paying close attention to the tides. We’ve still managed to bump the bottom a few times.

During a particularly dicey section we came upon a boat about our size grounded in the mud waiting for a tow boat. In addition to our garmin maps we also have something called “active captain” on the ipad that allows comments from other boats that have traversed this way, saving us a few times.

We’re going to go as far as Jekyll Island and stop for a couple days for a window to go back offshore. There are sections of the Georgia ICW we just won’t even attempt with this boat.

This entry is overdue and I have no excuse except depression over leaving the Bahamas. It was a wonderful trip and we look forward to heading back that way in the fall….

March 31st we overnighted on Paradise Island on Nassau before heading north. Casino, restaurants and shops galore. Lots of really big boats too. Reminded me of a mini Las Vegas.

The next day saw us headed to Chubb Cay. A large pod of dolphins visited with us, surfing the bow wave for about ten minutes. They were beautiful to watch and we’ve never had so many visit at one time before.

We anchored just south of Chubb on Hog Cay. The water was the most pristine we’ve seen yet. You could clearly see the fish and a ray on the bottom through 15 feet of water. Needless to say we swam and snorkled a lot both that day and the next before moving to the Chubb Cay Marina. High winds dictated we dock for a couple nights.

With a break in the weather Wednesday we headed for Bimini to again dock for two nights and wait for the wind to calm enough to allow a smooth passage across the gulf stream back to Florida.

Both Chubb Cay and Bimini had lots of fishing boats and being spring break, lots of families. The marinas have hotel rooms and pools for the non-fishermen of the families but that is about it. Each only had one restaurant and nothing in the way of towns or things to do not boat oriented except for the small casino on Bimini. Never the less it was fun and we had friends onboard so we were constantly on the lookout for rum punch!

Now we’ve been in Ft Lauderdale at Gillen Diesel for the past week undergoing routine maintenance and a few cosmetic fixes. We’re leaving today to anchor out and catch the fuel barge first thing tomorrow before heading north.

 

 

Living on a boat has taught us the value of paying attention to the weather. Some days we remember that lesson better than others. Or is it that we just need a little reinforcement once in awhile?

We subscribe to a weather service where a meterologist sends us an email once or twice a day with weather forcasts for our area for the next few days. It includes wind speed and direction as well as precipitation and overall storm activity.

Based on that we choose either a marina, if it’s going to really be bad, or a particular anchorage that will protect us from prevailing winds.

But predicting the weather has to be a little like predicting what your spouse will be doing at a particular time without talking to them. Most of the time you’ll get it right but once in awhile they make a left when you thought they’d turn right.

After leaving Spanish Wells we stopped at Booby Cay overnight. It was lovely and we were the only boat there. During the night, however, the wind kicked up and we awoke to the boat rocking like a hammock in a 20mph wind.

There was a storm coming and the prediction was for the chance of 50k+ winds so off to Palm Cay Marina in Nassau! Nice marina, good docks, friendly staff and the best grocery store yet. Tied the boat up nice and tight and waited. And waited. And waited.

Not only did we not get the heavy winds, we didn’t even get any rain to wash the salt off the boat! So Wednesday afternoon we bought water and cleaned the boat. Yes, in the Bahamas they usually charge for water at the marinas just like gas. We have a watermaker on board that works well but you really don’t want to use it in a marina because the water quality is so bad.

Oh well. It was better than when we were in Marsh Harbor and got banged up at the docks.

We’re now anchored off Rose Island which is a really pretty anchorage. Lots of boats and activity. Gary rigged up a diver flag that I can tow behind me when snorkeling so I don’t get run over. It’s been a nice time and we’ve really enjoyed this first try at boating life.

We’re off to Hurricane Hole Marina in Nassau to pick up friends and start the journey back to the states and the DC area.

As I write this we’re underway leaving Spanish Wells on Eluthera. Spanish Wells is a beautiful little spot and if you’ve never been there should put it on your list. The locals are super friendly, plenty of shops a few good restaurants and of course crystal clear water and pink sand beaches.

We anchored outside the harbor and dinked into town. As is becoming our MO, we rented a golf cart the first day and rode all over the island picking out places to see and things to do. We could get most everywhere with the dinghy so life was good.

The beaches here are just so pretty. I was able to jump in the water and swim every day so I’m happy!

At lunch one day this little fellow swam up almost on shore. Seems he and a friend had their own personal little harbor that they hang around in. I think he was looking for a handout. Either that or a plump tourist.

 

We’re headed to Booby Island about 27 miles away for an overnight. We have a couple different anchorages picked out closer to Nassau and when the wind decides what it really wants to do we’ll pick one of them and hole up for a few days.

Oh and I lied about the dolphins. We saw a pod on the way from Abaco to Eluthera. Apparently they stick more to the deep water here as opposed to the US where they are everywhere. Who knew?

We saw dolphins almost every day on the coast of the US as well as on the ICW. Since we crossed over to the Bahamas we haven’t seen one. What we have seen regularly are turtles.

We have been anchored off Lynyard Cay for the last couple days just relaxing and puttering (puttering would be cleaning and doing minor repairs). About noon happened to look out and saw two good sized turtles feeding in the weeds. Gary was quick with the camera and managed to get a couple really good shots.

The weather has calmed down although the temperatures are still cool. Tomorrow we’ll cross over to Eleuthera and the central Bahamas for the rest of our trip. Hopefully the water will be warm enough to get back to swimming and snorkeling. The next big stop after that is Naussau where we’ll be joined by a couple friends for the trip back: Berrie Islands to Bimini and on to Florida.