Oh, Bollocks!

January 30, 2019 / FloatsOurBoat / Leave a comment

After our quiet night anchored out on the Bank, we had a lovely downwind sail the rest of the way to Great Harbour Cay. Sanitas flew her spinnaker, and Leef Nu sailed wing-on-wing.

I guess you could say we finally experienced the “fair winds and following seas” that everyone has been wishing us. We were slightly concerned about the approach to Great Harbour because all the charts warn that the channel markers are missing, and show water depths as low as 5 feet. So as our three boats and a fourth unknown boat converged on the island, we ALL sort of slowed down and hoped someone else would go first. But the new boat, C’est La Sea, hailed us on the radio and said that they draft 8 feet (!) and asked if we’d mind testing the waters for them. Well that made Sanitas’ 5.5 foot draft seem shallow, so they shamed us into heading in. We timed it well, and had about 1.6 feet of extra water due to the tides, so we were all fine, and anchored just off Rat Cay for the night.

After snorkeling the wreck of a DC3 airplane just outside the anchorage, we all dinghied ashore to explore the small town of Bullocks Harbour. Not much to it but a few brightly colored houses and some pretty flowering gardens and one actual hill to give us a bit of exercise. We sat outside on a grassy bluff overlooking the harbor and had a lunch of pork chops and peas and rice at Coolie Mae’s Sunset Restaurant. (I took this picture with my phone inside my Ugo waterproof purse. Not the best quality picture, but a fun experiment to see if it would actually work)

Everything runs on island time, and there is no such thing as fast food. So lunch can take the better part of the afternoon. After taking our orders, the waitress returned and asked, “For the people who ordered the pork chops, do you want the good news, or the bad news?” I chirped up “The bad news!” And I guess I stumped her. She couldn’t think of any bad news, just told us that the pork chops would be served grilled with barbecue sauce. I think that’s going to be my new motto for this cruising season, “There IS no bad news” 😀

The next morning, we raised anchor at 7am and sailed around the north side of Great Harbour Cay and then 31 nm south to Devil’s Cay. It’s been fun traveling with Elixir and Leef Nu. Their crews are both from Ontario and their backgrounds involve sailboat racing on the Great Lakes. So they always prefer to sail rather than motor, and they challenge us to do the same, even when wind condition isn’t optimal. We essentially raced around the top of Great Harbour, constantly trimming the sails, and pointing as high into the wind as our various boats and sails would allow. Sanitas’ cutter rig gave us an advantage, and we were able to point at about 38 degrees to the wind, keeping ahead of the longer and faster Leef Nu who had to repeatedly tack. Good fun!

Great Stirrup Cay and Little Stirrup Cay, just off the north tip of Great Harbour, are private islands owned by the cruise ship lines. For some reason, they think you need zip lines and a water slide park to get the full Bahamas Island experience. For the record, I disagree. As we sailed by a Royal Norwegian Cruise ship, close enough to watch the movie they were showing on the deck and the count the little people running around the track, I was disappointed that not one person waved to us (or threw us an omelette or some bacon from the buffet). Sanitas was trying her best to give them a show, flying all three sails and heeled over prettily, sailing about 6 knots. I thought of a good way to show our displeasure. I radioed back to Leef Nu and went for the nuclear option; escalating directly to double-dog-daring them to moon the cruise ship as they sailed past. A few minutes later, we got the happy news of “Mission Accomplished!”

This is what a massive cruise ship looks like from 0.2 nautical miles away.

Our pleasant sail was made even more enjoyable when a pod of about a dozen dolphins, including babies, joined us and swam along side. Capt. Mike and I took turns going to the bow to wave at them and squeak at them while they circled around and around to accompany us as long as possible. These social and intelligent creatures are magical, and I feel blessed every time they choose to keep us company.

We made such good time, that we were anchors down west of Little Gaulding Cay by 2:30 pm. Plenty of time to put Bug in the water and go explore some of the pristine white sand beaches that surround the stunning anchorage.

When You’re Tired of Key West, You’re Tired of Life

October 11, 2018October 11, 2018 / FloatsOurBoat / 2 Comments

We almost skipped Key West on our way home to St Petersburg from the Bahamas. But we had a line on a new dinghy outboard, and our two buddy boats were anchored there, and…well… Key West is a lot of fun!

We arrived just in time for the Minimal Regatta. Teams build their own boats out of a short list of ingredients:

1. One sheet of 4′ x 8′ x 1/4″ plywood
2. Two 2″x 4″ 8′
3. One pound of fasteners
4. One roll of 2″ x 60 yard duct tape
5. No caulking or adhesives – Epoxy paint is permitted
6. Painting of boats is optional
7. Oars/Paddles must be made out of these materials

Teams dress up in costumes and cheer their paddlers on. Some slice through the water like dolphins, some drag slowly, others sink all together. Prizes are awarded for best costumes, themes, best paint job….The crowd, fueled by adult beverages, has a great time regardless.

Celia and Todd from SV Eileen live in Key West. They’re “fresh water conch” which means they’ve live there over 7 years. (You’re not a full-fledged conch unless you were born there!) The last time we saw them, in Boot Key Harbor, they wrote me out a detailed guide to everything fun to do in Key West. So, we stayed an entire week and checked as many things off the list as possible.

Culture :

The Customs House Museum – has an excellent exhibit on the history of Key West (did you know, it was once the biggest city in a Florida?) and Guy Harvey’s Old Man and the Sea illustrations.

Lighthouse Museum – Tells the story of the men and women who kept the lights shining and kept the ship’s off the rocks for hundreds of years. Also has photos and history of all the other lighthouses on the Florida reef that we’ve been sailing past for a week. Cool to finally learn about them.

Tropic Cinema – Amazing Art Deco Theater (and great place to escape the heat) with full bar and homemade popcorn and art movies. We saw a wonderful movie about “Notorious RBG”

Exercise:

Yoga Sanctuary – This lovely and peaceful studio is a fabulous place to practice. I made it there three times, and always felt welcome although I hadn’t been to my mat in ages and felt a bit rusty.

Swimming: So remember… it’s June. In Key West. Which means it’s darn hot. Every day, I left the boat with a bag of everything I’d need for the day. Including a swimsuit. And every afternoon, we sought out a pool. Some, like Dante’s are completely open to the public. Others just might have been intended for hotel guests only. But, as long as we bought a couple of drinks from the bar, no one ever complained!

Eating and Drinking:

I have to admit…we did a lot more of this than we did exercising. Key West is a bargain hunter’s delight at happy hour time. Even at the historic waterfront district, you can find cheap drinks and delicious eats. Heck, at the White Tarpon you can not only get oysters for $1 each, you can get a whole rotisserie chicken for $6. Why would a thrifty cruiser ever heat up the galley with deals like that? And the happy hour at Mary Ellen’s, just off Duval St, starts at 11:30 and offers gluten free pizza!

Once again, we made good use of Todd and Celia’s Key West knowledge and noshed our way across the island, sampling tapas at Santiago’s Bodega, tacos at Mellow Cafe, breakfast at Harpoon Harry’s, shrimp at the Half Shell Raw Bar, and oysters at Alonzo’s. And we became regulars at the Sunset Tiki Bar, where Todd used to work. We introduced ourselves as sailing friends of Toddo’s and were immediately welcomed with open arms. And with the best margaritas I’d tasted since Colorado! Most evenings found us on a bar stool at the Tiki Bar appreciating the gorgeous Key West Sunsets.

Our last day in Key West was spent celebrating Pride. I love the fact that so many different types of people – Navy enlisted men, members of the LGBTQ community, sailors, artists, tourists, and families – all get along in Key West. We had a great time joining the festivities at the Pride Parade where everyone we met was happy, welcoming and ….. Proud!

Back in the Real World

October 1, 2018 / FloatsOurBoat / Leave a comment

Our first days back in Florida were a bit of a let down. Here we were back “home” in the US after almost four months, but we were still far from friends and family. The endless rain brought by Alberto that left us trapped on the boat didn’t help either. And we suddenly had a mold problem. All the rain and humidity of the past few weeks triggered a full blown mold bloom on every wooden surface inside Sanitas. Since it smelled a bit funny and drove our allergies crazy, the first couple of days in Boot Key Harbor were spent moving every thing we owned from one part of the boat to another, and dousing all wooden surfaces with vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. Fun!

We also watched on social media as all of our friends back In Colorado celebrated Memorial Day at the Bolder Boulder 10k without us, and as my fellow Skirt Sports ambassadors had a wonderful and inspiring time at the annual retreat. So we consoled ourselves… with food! We’d devolved into eating cold soup right out of the can on our Gulf Stream crossing. Plus, after the cost of groceries and eating out in The Bahamas, Florida seemed dirt cheap. And varied! So we made good use of the free cruiser bikes at the marina to make long, luxurious shopping trips to Publix, hit the early bird steakhouse special, the Mexican restaurant, and several visits to the Overseas Pub.

Suddenly… everything changed. The storm passed and the sun came out, and all of the friends we met during the last cruising season started passing through Boot Key Harbor on their way back to wherever they planned to spend hurricane season! Suddenly, our social calendar was full. And we had more excuses to eat out. We spent one fun evening with Todd and Celia of SV Eileen, sharing pizza, seared tuna, and a bottle of wine in the cockpit at sunset. We met Pat and Melana of Tapati for happy hour at Keys Fisheries – the same place we sat and discussed our plans for the cruising season back in February. We met Robert and Rhonda of Eagle Too for the first time since the Georgetown Regatta. And we helped Colin and Dawn Marie of Wavelength prepare for their summer season in Cuba and Guatemala; trading currency, guidebooks, music, movies, and gluten free food back and forth between our boats. Pretty amazing when you think about it that we knew no one when we bought a boat and moved to Florida in the fall of 2017, and here we were less than a year later finding so many friends in port! I guess that’s the proof of a successful cruising season, right?

After we finally escaped from the pirates…

September 30, 2018September 30, 2018 / FloatsOurBoat / 2 Comments

I wish I had a good excuse like getting captured by pirates for why I haven’t written a blog post in so long.

Do you want to know what really happened? We came back home. To land. In the good old US of A. And life on land is very distracting. There’s cars and road trips. Restaurants and happy hours. Friends and concerts. Family and card games. And somehow the cruising life on little old Sanitas seems very far away, and blogging doesn’t seem very important.

But now …. we’re back in the boatyard in Florida, working on boat projects and getting ready to set out on our second season of cruising. Hip Hip Hooray! I’m going to post a few quick updates to catch you up on “What I did on my summer vacation” and then it’s back life in the boatyard. (And making you very happy that you are reading this blog from someplace with heat and/or air conditioning, running water, and flush toilets. Ahhhh…..)

Waiting for a Weather Window in Nassua

May 31, 2018 / FloatsOurBoat / Leave a comment

From Highbourne Cay, we scrutinized the weather reports and entertained all options for what to do with our last few days in the Bahamas. We considered returning south, even as far as Georgetown, to avoid the possibility of a menacing tropical depression brewing off the coast of Costa Rica. The next day, that same storm appeared headed straight for the Exumas, so we researched anchorages in the Berry Islands. Realizing there are few options for a deep draft boat, and that we’d end up much farther north than our goal for crossing back to the Florida Keys, we talked to fellow cruisers about the charms of Bimini. And after all that, we did what pretty much everyone else does, and sailed a full day to the island of New Providence and the city of Nassau to hide out from yet another week of strong winds and unpredictable squalls.

Two thirds of the population of the 700 islands of the Bahamas live on this one island. And pretty much everyone goes to college here at some point, or works here, or has family here. Which means a cruiser can find needed boat parts or provisions, but that it’s also crowded! And also feels slightly seedy with the only threat of crime we’d experienced so far on our trip.

We set a course for the Palm Cay marina on the southeast side of the island. We’d met Demario, the dock master, at Highbourne during the Poker Run, and he’d invited us to come visit his marina and he offered us a discount. Well, heck yeah! Admiring the sunset over bacon cheeseburgers at the restaurant our first evening, it was clear that we’d chosen a great place to be “stuck” waiting out the next blow.

This place has everything a cruiser needs: laundry, showers, cafe, restaurant, fuel, and of course a protected harbor and safe slips. In fact, I’d often forget how hard the wind was actually blowing until I’d follow the boardwalk around the corner past the marina office, and experience the full force of the wind in the face, almost blowing me over! It felt very safe with security at the gate to the community, and an actual chain prohibiting access to the harbor overnight.

And at a very reasonable rate of $2.00 per foot, Palm Cay boasted unusual amenities. We had use of a courtesy car for free for two-hour blocks. Plenty of time to travel to the marine supply store (where we bought a new macerator pump for the galley sink),or the grocery store (where we resupplied with fresh produce and even gluten free English muffins), or to get a haircut (I was weeks overdue for a trim),or just to go out for lunch when we got a little bit stir crazy after several days of rain. I’m pretty sure we got our money’s worth out of that free car!

For $15 per person, we bought a membership to the Palm Cay Beach Club for the duration of our stay. Talk about fake it till you make it! When breaks in the wind and the rain allowed, we definitely pretended we were yachties instead of cruisers for a change.

Palm Cay has a fairly common dock cat, and a much less common marina manatee. One morning, as I was attempting to navigate the huge step from the boat to the dock at low tide, I thought, “I don’t remember that big grey rock living under our pier.” “Mmmmm……Mike! Come quick! There’s a manatee under our boat!” We watched her drift from piling to piling, nibbling on the vegetation that grows there, wishing we could convince her to eat the vegetation growing on Sanitas’ hull instead. I named her Blue for the streaks of blue hull paint visible on her back, and we watched her brunch her way across the harbor for quite some time.