Sailing, Shopping, and Socializing – Ahh Summer!

Lone Star anchored at Flat Hammock, near Fishers Island, New York in late August.

It appears our social calendar was as full as our project schedule this summer. Anita often took time for a brisk morning walk around nearby UCONN campus, sometimes with friends, always admiring the view! Tom preferred to obtain his exercise in the college pool and commute to and from on his bicycle.Avery Point Lighthouse on UCONN property.View of SYC from UCONN.

We first met British friends Steve and Helen Lawrence 32 years ago in Barbados after we each had crossed the Atlantic in our respective sail boats. Since then they have completed a circumnavigation. We were so happy to see them cruise into our harbor in their latest boat named Miles. Here they are after a tour of the Nautilus submarine museum in Groton, CT. We were so lucky to have use of a car this summer. Trips to Defender marine supply store, hardware stores, laundry and grocery stores whenever we needed to go were invaluable. We were prepared to use Uber all summer. Tom’s generous sister and her husband offered us the use of their van. Thank you, dear sister!! The car was also a big help when we decided to move into a better priced storage unit and downsize our belongings a bit more. We were also able to visit our son a few times and help them out with a garage insulation project. We were grateful son, Alex and fiancé, Jenna came to more than a few Friday night picnics at Shennecossett Yacht Club.

Tom’s next Project was installing a new lithium iron phosphate battery bank. He was so happy when he moved the old AGM’s off the boat!So sad that I don’t have any pictures of the beautiful blue inner cells, but here is the finished project. We still have a separate engine starting battery for now. So far we are very happy with the new lithium battery bank. It delivers a steady voltage consistently. We’ve even used the microwave and a heat gun with no voltage drop as our old batteries did.At the end of August Tom’s Dad and friend, Ilse came for a short couple night visit. We sailed to Flat Hammock and anchored for lunch and a walk on shore. What a beautiful day. So glad they made the trip!Our next event was to attend a 100 year celebration at the Montville, CT power generation station that Tom worked at from 1979 to 1987. Great time visiting, reminiscing, and touring the current facility. The food was fabulous as well. We decided to do the majority of our provisioning for the Bahamas right here. This was facilitated by the van we borrowed. This time we stocked up on some dried fruits: apples, peaches, and strawberries. Repacked in vacuum sealed bags for longer storage.Tom is always researching new marine products. We’ve been looking for some specific emergency equipment. Things we want to have on hand, but hope to never need. The first was an emergency rudder or perhaps a tiller arm. What he found is a very compact sea anchor: a Fiorentino Shark Drogue. It is deployed on a bridle off the stern and can be used to steer the boat by bringing it close in on one side or the other. The boat will turn to port if you drag it close to the port side of the boat. It doubles as a reliable sea anchor when the seas are rough by adding a weight to the thimble at the tail end; and once again dragging it behind the boat on a bridle.The item stores compactly in itself and is smaller in size than a basketball 🏀. Very well engineered product made of high quality materials. We purchased one and will practice using it as it is so easy to deploy. The YouTube videos for this product were fun to watch and informative.

Next up will be our second piece of needed emergency equipment: a life raft.

Please click the links (blue underscored words) in our blogs to learn more about the places we’ve been and the friends, organizations and products we support and love!

Cruising in the Abaco’s

Cover photo: sunrise in Marsh Harbor.

We tried to leave Spanish Wells, following Pegu Club out of the harbor one afternoon. We had the main sail up and the anchor bridle off. When Anita turned on the key and pushed the button to start the engine nothing happened. Tom tried too, still nothing. We thought about sailing off anchor, but decided to drop the sail and trouble shoot the problem instead. This happened around 2PM. Tom had spent the day rigging the steering lines for the WindPilot self-steering out in the hot sun. Then he had to dive in the airless engine room. We took apart the engine control panel in the enclosed cockpit as well. Buffing wires and rerouting a few made it work, but the real problem is a couple broken prongs inside a wiring harness. No spare on board so we connected the wires directly and will complete the repair once back in the states this summer.

The next morning we left before sunrise at 6:00 AM to sail from Spanish Wells, Eleuthera 65 nautical miles to the northern Bahamas island group known as the Abaco’s. We had light winds, but were able to sail most of the way, only turning on the engine in the late afternoon. We crossed paths with this container ship…and Pegu Club who left from Egg Island at sunrise. Their towed dinghy is hiding behind a wave.We both anchored in the Lee of Lynard Cay shortly after entering Great Abaco Sound via Little Harbor Cut. It was an easy off the wind 11.5 hour sail and the WindPilot self-steering wind vane quietly and competently accomplished all the offshore steering! Yeah, another successful project completed!

The next day we sailed 20 miles northward to Marsh Harbor on Great Abaco. This is one of the larger settlements on Great Abaco. We visited both a large hardware and grocery store, both the biggest we’ve seen all winter with the exception of Nassau. Then back aboard to enjoy the sunset.The next day, we stayed aboard and celebrated Kimberly’s Birthday by grilling steaks and hamburgers on the grill accompanied with parsley potatoes and carrots and brownies and chocolate malted milkshakes for dessert. So happy to have sailed so much with Kimberly and Jeff this winter. We wish them well on their return trip to CT. The next day they headed west, while we headed east for a nostalgic return to Hopetown on Elbow Cay. We cruised here nearly thirty years ago. We had a great walk to On Da Beach restaurant and enjoyed a relaxing and delicious lunch. Thanks for the tip Marcia!We had to wait out some nasty weather at anchor near Eagle Rock…Enjoyed more pretty sunsets …Explored the still operating kerosene historic lighthouse and the amazing view from the top…And a two mile walk on the beach, love the sound of crashing waves on a beach…

We enjoyed our six days in Hopetown. Then we motored to Man of War Cay about six miles away. It was low tide when we left. Easy to see how shallow the water was; 4-6 feet deep for a mile or so. Interesting that the water color in this part of the Bahamas is a deeper green, some people call it emerald green, rather than the bright turquoise in the Exumas. This is looking straight down into six feet of water with a sandy bottom while sailing…

After one rocking night with south winds; we decided to move back to Marsh Harbor for our final stock up before heading to sea, and north toward New England for the summer. There are other cruisers getting ready for their crossings as well. Always fun to compare plans and swap sea stories. On our walk to Maxwells, a large grocery store, we spotted a cruiser on a folding bicycle with a Burley Travoy trailer holding two ten pound propane tanks. Tom stopped him by asking a question so we were able to see what we purchased online last month. He said, it’s the best purchase he ever made! We’re looking forward to getting ours!

On Wednesday afternoon, May 8; we decided to get the boat ready for sea as we had a weather window to go offshore. We rigged safety lines on deck, disassembled the dinghy, secured a lot of loose items, bought fuel and water. We left at first light on Thursday, and listened to Chris Parker on SSB for a weather update as we sailed out of Marsh Harbor. We also checked a few apps we use to predict weather. Unfortunately, our weather window had diminished. We chose to abort this attempt rather than sail into a gale near Beaufort, NC nearly 500 miles away. We anchored on the south side of Great Guana and enjoyed another new beautiful Bahama anchorage. The next day we had a leisurely sail to Green Turtle Cay. Tom dove over the side to check the anchor as this is a grassy anchorage; labeled poor holding. He also scrubbed and inspected the bottom of the boat. The next day we went ashore to walk around this historical loyalist settlement. It is very neat and clean. It had the best new dinghy dock we’ve ever seen!How’s this for a front yard tree?After a couple days anchored here we moved into quiet Bluff Cay cove on Green Turtle Cay. We were the only boat in this small nearly enclosed harbor. The only sound here is the twitter of birds. The view includes sea turtles and beautiful houses hidden in the trees. One morning some locals were out for their morning swim and stopped to say hello.

We continue to enjoy sailing in the Bahamas as we prepare our boat and ourselves for the voyage back to Connecticut (CT) for the summer months. Yes, we plan to sail south again to avoid a cold winter and we love to sail year round. Looking forward to connecting with family and friends in CT.

Nassau and Eleuthera

We were a bit skeptical about sailing to Nassau after hearing that 80% of the Bahamians live there and the crime rate is high. However, we were pleasantly surprised at how friendly all the local people we engaged in conversations were. The majority of the Bahamian people are very kind and friendly. It is, more importantly, an international airport hub from NY and the reason we decided to go there.

The day after Alex and Jenna left we bagged all the laundry and took the dinghy to Junkanoo beach. We hauled our 10 foot Porta-Bote way up beyond the high tide mark and locked it to a railing where local merchants hawk their wares later in the day. It’s also where the taxis hang out waiting to give tourists a tour. The mile long walk to a very large laundry facility was up a long gradual hill. Tom commented that this laundry was well thought out for its purpose. It had great ventilation, large aisles, and hundreds of machines, all in working order! We enjoyed a much easier walk back although the bags were still heavy. That afternoon we moved the boat a mile east to be closer to the big grocery store we walked to and from. Once again loaded down with too much to carry. We seriously need to find a cart with big wheels! We walked more than five miles today and carried a fair bit; our arms and necks are weary.

Has anyone heard of cruisers midnight? Many cruisers adopt the clock of the sun, like farmers we rise and rest early. Consequently, 9PM seems like midnight. By moving a mile east, we had escaped the throbbing musical entertainment at Junkanoo beach which ends at 1:30AM, half-way into our sleep cycle. Now we were anchored in front of Atlantis Park to the north. They had an easy listening live band that started playing in the early afternoon. Around cruisers midnight, that was drowned out by a dance club on the south side of the river and, you guessed it the noise blared until 1:30 AM. Who needs sleep?

The next morning we hoisted the anchor at 7AM and left Nassau. We sailed close to the wind for 11 hours; hand steering for the first 4 as we were too close to the wind for the electric auto pilot. We were so relieved to get out of the rocky seas by entering Alabaster Bay. Unfortunately, we were greeted by all too familiar loud Bahamian head banging music complete with a lot of foul language this time. Thankfully the entertainment ended at 9:30 PM. Ah, finally a good night sleep!

The next day Pegu Club sailed into the harbor from Rock Sound. We gathered on Lone Star for a fun game of cards and cruise planning as we are both heading north.

We enjoyed a two hour walk the next afternoon with Jeff and Kimberly. We wandered across the island and around the remains of a World War II military base and to this beautiful pink sand beach.Then back to this view of our snug and beautiful harbor. We shared a slow-cooker beef stew and biscuit dinner followed by fresh brownies (thanks to K&J) and a good sailing spy movie: “Riddle of the Sands”, on Lone Star.

The next day we sailed in company with Pegu Club from Alabaster Bay to Royal Island Harbor at the north end of Eleuthera. It was real nice to get a first hand report about the conditions in Current Cut from Kimberly via VHF radio. It was much easier than we anticipated! She even took pictures of us right after we came through the cut.We stayed aboard our boats, visiting each other occasionally, in the nearly enclosed private island harbor of Royal Island for four days. South winds above 20 knots were prevalent throughout this time. Luckily, only the last day had rain squalls. The south winds would have been great for continuing on to the Abacos except for the accompanying waves. The early morning when the wind was at its peak Anita got up several times to check our position. At 4AM we had 3 boats in front of us, at 5 we had only 2. One had dragged their anchor and ended up well behind us. No idea how it didn’t hit us, but very thankful! There was no one on board that boat or 2 others anchored nearby. We did meet the owner two days later, just as we were hauling our anchor to head to Spanish Wells for a few days. He asked us,”Who moved my boat?” We told him the wind and a dragging anchor. He and his family were staying with a friend on a nearby island for the storm. He was very lucky he sustained no damage.

Spanish Wells is a lovely, well decorated, colorful and clean town. On Easter Sunday we walked the beautiful north beach for miles.

A couple days later we spotted these dolphin as we entered the harbor.How’s this for a front lawn?Tom is enjoying the challenge of installing the used WindPilot self-steering. He disassembled and cleaned everything before installing. Rigging lines and tuning to ensure it will steer in any weather. Haven’t attached the wind or water blades yet.We mentioned wanting a cart to Kimberly and she suggested the folding versatile Burley bicycle trailer/hand cart. Tom found one on eBay and we won the bid! It will be in CT waiting for us. We have decided to go back to SYC this summer. We plan to arrive in June. Anita’s current project is restocking the freezer with homemade meals for the upcoming passage.

Next up: heading north to the Abacos.

Sailing Exumas with Friends and Family

On Tuesday, March 12 Jeff and Kimberly on Pegu Club sailed into Georgetown harbor and anchored nearby us at Sand Dollar beach. They brought some groceries for us from Florida, such good friends! Yes, they’ve been carrying our stuff for 2 months! Who does that? They didn’t even succumb to eating the dark chocolate bars. Such will power! We are always happy to see them and spend time together. Dinner, ice cream, card games, route planning, and rainy hikes across the island; making memories and having a blast!

Boats anchored at Sand Dollar beach.The east side of Stocking Island at Sand Dollar.

Found a good view of our boat hiding under a tree while waiting for the light rain to stop.

Three days later Dad and Ilse were due to arrive from New Hampshire. We motored Lone Star from Sand Dollar beach to Georgetown’s Kidd’s Cove in the early morning hours to get water, do some hand laundry on board, grocery shop in town, and then pick up our guests at the airport. After the first wet water run in the dinghy, Tom agreed we should move again to a more secure harbor; Goat Cay. A wet dinghy ride is not the way to welcome our respected elders aboard our humble floating home for a 12 day vacation.

Tom hitched a ride to the airport and arranged the return taxi. Before our guests knew it, Lloyd the friendly Bahamian taxi driver was loading their luggage into the taxi for them. Here they are arriving on Lone Star via dinghy:

They arrived on the boat around 2 PM on Friday, March 15. We provided big drinks and lunch right away. They had a rest, then we toured the boat and they unpacked. After a good nights rest, Tom & Anita left them alone on board to enjoy the gorgeous view at Goat Cay. We completed the last of the provisioning by hitch hiking to Island Meats, a small grocery about 4 miles away. The locals are so friendly and happy to share their ride, we learn a bit more about the area each time too! Our last ride this day was from a man at the Exuma Foundation. They provide guided tours of the Exuma’s and organize volunteers for a variety of projects to help those in need, like rebuild a house.

This is what we came home to, Dad and Ilse lounging on the stern soaking up the view and the sun:

We offered options: a swim/snorkel in this beautiful bay or a sail to another harbor. Dad really wanted to go for a short sail. After lunch we hoisted the anchor and sailed north until the channel narrows then tacked back and forth south to anchor at Chat ‘n Chill beach a couple hours later.

On Sunday, we all dinghied ashore for Beach Church and even joined the choir. The gathering afterward with coffee and baked goods was fun too. we did a small boat project: adding markers to our main anchor line that Dad just delivered to us. Seeing the anchor was most of the way up we motored around the corner from the very busy anchorage to quieter Sand Dollar beach. Dad worked really hard lowering, raising, and once again lowering the anchor with his big toe! We didn’t like the first spot we’d chosen; too far from the beach.We anchored near Pegu Club and were all soon in the water snorkeling to the nearby reefs and beach.Dad, the chemist, commented about the extra fine sand in the Bahamas. Tom’s answer: here soft limestone is pounded by the sea to make fine sand. In New England, hard granite is pulverized by the ocean waves to make gravel and courser sand.

Jeff & Kimberly came over for a visit at sundown and we played a game of hearts with them. Lots of laughs! After another leisurely day at Sand Dollar we moved Lone Star across to Kidd’s Cove to top up the water tanks that we had abandoned on windy Friday. Dad, Ilse and I took a short walk around a small part of town. Then picked up a few groceries at Exuma Market.

On Tuesday, we enjoyed a five hour, 35 mile, down wind sail north to Lee Stocking Island in the Exumas. Pegu Club led the way. We enjoyed a Hearts rematch that evening.

The next day we all hiked ashore to stretch our legs. We found a good view of our boat and had extra people around to take our picture.The island is now deserted, but was home to a marine research center until 2015. We saw an abandoned air strip and a ghost town. A short trail led to a beautiful view of the beaches on the east side of the island.We returned to Lone Star and discovered a nearby sail boat aground on the shallow sands. Tom motored over to lend a hand to this unknown cruiser by first attempting to heel the boat over with a halyard; that didn’t work. Then he relocated their anchor into deeper water. As the tide rose they were able to winch themselves free. We watched from the deck.Swimming here was a definite challenge as there was a current to contend with. Streaming a life jacket on a rope behind the boat was a necessary precaution. Dad still enjoyed his daily swim.

Kimberly joined us in the evening for a card game – Oh Heck this time, quite fun!Dad and Ilse enjoying a beautiful sunset!

On Friday morning a guy on a neighboring boat stopped by asking for our email address. He took the following picture of Lone Star this morning and told us the pot of gold must be on board. We’re still looking, ha!On Friday, March 22, we waved farewell to our friends on Pegu Club as they continued sailing north and we returned to Georgetown. We timed the weather well. We enjoyed another easy downwind run, this one taking six hours to go the 35 miles. We anchored at Honeymoon beach for protection in the upcoming southeasterly blow. Seeing there was no possibility of card games with our friends on Pegu Club we turned to movie watching for evening entertainment. Watching Red October in stereo while the boat is rocking was a highlight. The last three nights we laughed watching Odd Couple first season episodes before bed time.

Swimming in Honeymoon beach was easy and fun. Although once the tide was too low and our guests complained of a stinging sensation in the grass near shore. Thankfully, the sting washed away when they swam back to the boat. A favorite pass time for our guests was playing games: cribbage, barricade, hearts, and UNO.We couldn’t pry them away from the Barricade board this evening to see this pretty sunset, so I showed them the pictures.Sunday was too windy for a dinghy ride and it threatened to rain all day, but held off until over night.On Monday, we moved the boat to a reef near Honeymoon beach in hopes of spotting more fish on their last full day in the Bahamas. Guess we didn’t anchor close enough. There was a current running, making it a challenge to swim. Then it turned cloudy making it very hard to direct them to the reef. They gave up without finding it. They saw only sand!

We motored over to Kidd’s Cove that evening so we would be a short dinghy ride to shore the next morning for their taxi to the airport. We had a real nice visit and believe they had a nice vacation too!Spring has begun and cruisers are beginning to head north now that weather patterns are settling a bit. Time for us to head north as well to see more of the Bahamas.

Long Island Bahamas

We spent two weeks anchored in Thompson Bay Long Island, moving from the North end near cruisers beach to the town anchorage every 3-4 days. This is a large and beautiful bay. Amazing that there were less than 20 boats there at any given time we were there. We joined in a couple of the cruiser organized events: a beach potluck and a dinghy drift as well as a few happy hours at Sou’ Side and Tiny’s. Shared a delicious pizza at Tiny’s!

One day we joined two other cruising couples to drive a rented van around the north end of the island. The bar at Broken Bridge was closed for construction. What a beautiful spot, and they are building a truly nice meeting place. There is a fast flowing current under the actual broken bridge.

Pictured above Ted (Boatel 1) Elaine (Sea Ya), Tom, and Mark (Sea Ya).

This shallow cave was over the edge of the ledge and a long way down at the monument to Columbus and the aboriginal people.

Diane from Boatel 1 and Mark from Sea Ya at the monument to the original inhabitants and Columbus who landed here.

We looked for a local lunch restaurant, but found most were closed on Monday. So we went to the Cape Santa Maria Beach Resort for lunch. Good food and a beautiful beach and view of the west side of the island.

We found this unique art shop and the owner reopened the shop so we could all have a look.

Her husband makes beautiful objects d’art out of thousands of seashells and she is very talented with basketry. You’ll have to zoom in to see the tiny shells this beautiful artwork is made of.

We ventured to Long Island to rendezvous with cruising friends we haven’t seen since they left SYC in Groton, CT eleven years ago. However, after enjoying the Ragged Islands and Jimento’s for an extra week, they elected to sail to Georgetown to avoid several days of strong winds. We heard there were lots of dragging anchors in that over-populated anchorage during this storm. We stayed safe and were well protected on Long Island. There were 17 boats in the harbor with lots of swinging room and none dragged anchor.

We decided to use the last day of east winds to sail downwind back to Georgetown. We sailed in company with Sea Ya and Allie May. This was a fabulous sail for us sailing flat at 7-9 knots. We were able to rendezvous with former SYC members Mark & Michele on the new to them, sailing vessel Reach.

Fun evening at the Peace & Plenty restaurant where we also met up with Chuck Wright another former SYC member. Great time reminiscing and planning future cruising locations.Friday, Tom filled our water tanks. We also purchased some groceries and Anita was able to get her hair cut. Saturday, Tom purchased and siphoned 10 gallons of diesel from jerry cans into the main tank. Then we moved the boat to a different cove on Great Exuma near a couple of very small cays or islands and two resorts.

Tom has completed the installation of the electric windlass and has spliced the new anchor chain to the anchor line. We just need to check that it can all be stored in the anchor locker and get the new Rocna anchor unwrapped and shackled to the chain.We are looking forward to having our first guest aboard. Sandy, a sailing friend from home will arrive tomorrow bringing our mail and a few essentials in her carry on luggage. It will be fun to sail, swim and play tourist along side her!

2018 Stats and Sailing

Caption: a picturesque no wind day on Long Island in the Bahamas.

We began our cruise south on September 22, 2018. Our stats for the year from then onward include:

11 nights at sea

81 nights at anchor

9 nights at a dock

1800 nautical miles traveled

5 states in the U.S. / 2 countries

We continued our stay in Elizabeth Harbor Great Exuma as it has many anchorages and interesting places to explore. We moved around every 3-4 days and we still didn’t stay in all of them. We stayed in Kidd’s Cove the most as access to the shops and WiFi at the BTC office in Georgetown is easiest from there. Next would be Volleyball beach where most activities take place. Here, we often chose to anchor in the inlet on the side of the beach. The music from Chat n’ Chill was not quite as loud there. However, the Bahamian taxi boats have one speed, real fast through this anchorage. Hence the boats at anchor will bounce or roll in daylight hours. Honeymoon Bay, Goat Cay, and Sand Dollar beach were very picturesque and oh so quiet! Many boats anchor at these quieter spots. No matter where we went it was never crowded like Block Island or Watch Hill on a summer weekend. A weekly census of boats was reported on the morning net. I think 120 was the most I heard scattered throughout Elizabeth Harbor. We hear, in years past there have been over 400 boats here at once.

We took several breaks from projects to enjoy various activities and walks on the beach.

The Electric anchor windlass project has proven to be more challenging than expected. The motor below decks is in such a tight space that Tom needed to cut away a non-structural bulkhead to make room for it and to have access to install it.

As the deck part was finished and bolted down, covering the holes in the deck; we decided we could sail on to the next island. We enjoyed the past thirty four days in the Georgetown area and look forward to exploring more of the Bahamas 🇧🇸; though we will probably return here as it is a great spot to get good free water and so much more! Water costs 30 cents a gallon in Long Island and 50 cents a gallon in the Abacos. We hope to add a water maker some day.

On Thursday, January 10 we set sail for Long Island, 35 miles away. As soon as the sails were set two engine alarms sounded: water temperature and alternator. We quickly shut it down and continued sailing. Tom discovered the alternator belt was missing. It was under the engine and had broken. We had a spare belt, so Tom dug out tools and opened up the engine room and proceeded to get very dirty while Anita hand steered through reefs and islands. By the time the engine was fixed we were out in deeper water with a straighter and longer course.

Yeah, time to post a watch, engage the auto pilot and make lunch! Our down wind sail in relatively calm seas all day was really nice. So pleasant, Tom was reluctant to turn on the engine to motor the last mile to the anchorage even though we were slowing down due to lighter winds when sunset was an hour away. Thompson Bay approach does not have any coral reefs and multiple anchorages are well labeled on the chart; so no concerns about seeing through the water late in the day. We were the 13th boat to anchor in the north end of the harbor. The next day we took a walk across the narrow part of Long Island, on a mostly coral road; to the eastern shore and walked the beach before joining other cruisers for happy hour at Sou’Side bar.

We finally used up our ration of ice cream that we had purchased in the states. After defrosting the freezer, it was time to breakout the ice cream maker and start making gelato. Mint chocolate chip first than vanilla using coconut milk and Irish Creme flavoring; so perhaps it’s more like coconut cream.

Anita is also starting to bake: berry scones and French bread, and whole wheat bread so far.

Yes, we are living and working on our boat in exotic harbors! Our sonic wind instrument on top of the mast is no longer discoverable by the network. It is more challenging to sail without this instrument that provides wind direction and speed. However, we will add some ribbons to the shrouds and continue to sail the old fashioned way. Tom climbed the mast stairs and/or was winched up while in the bosuns chair. He was not able to remove the device as he couldn’t get high enough to get a two handed grip on it to unscrew it. We will need a different style of mast climber or a rigger’s help in the near future. Sadly, they no longer make this model. Although the manufacturer may be able to repair it. We’ve ordered the older style with the spinning cups and will wait for that to arrive before continuing with this repair project.

Every once in a while we check the weather app to see what we’re missing where family is located:

We need to add Bangor, Germany, China, and the U.K. to the list of where family is 😉.

Life is good in the Bahamas!

How about where you are?

Ocracoke and Oriental, NC

Picture: Fishing vessels in Oriental, where stories of Blackbeard abound

Disclaimer for our non-sailing readers: sorry for the technical jargon in this one. Some of our sailing friends will appreciate the details of the challenges we’ve experienced and how we overcome them.

The fifty-mile excursion from Wanchese, NC (on Roanoke Island) to Ocracoke, NC was uncomfortable yet necessary. The latter because there are few choices of protected anchorages in the broad and shallow Pamlico Sound. We left at first light with a little help from the dock master. The west wind had us pinned to the dock. Our normal backing down with an aft tie spring wasn’t working. Tom asked the dock master to move our one remaining dock line on the starboard stern cleat to the last cleat on the dock and we were able to back into the open space beside the dock and finally head out on our own.

After motoring about 10 miles down the eastern channel of Roanoke, we were able to set full sail and head southwest. We have a small camber spar jib that is self-tacking; so, there is little need for us to be out in the weather tending it. We chose to leave with a windy forecast (West 15-20MPH diminishing to 10MPH as the day progresses) as we didn’t think we could make the 50-mile passage under motor alone in daylight hours. Well, forecasts are not always right, it stayed windy! Furthermore, as it had been windy for some time the waves although not big (1-3 feet) were confused. This made for a very bouncy, corkscrew kind of ride. Like riding a bronco, I imagine. Picture things falling in the cabin and a lot of rocking and rolling in all directions. The windshield was soon covered in salt and difficult to see through. Solution: steer by instruments: chart plotter, compass, speed and depth readings. The sea finally calmed for the last hour as we meandered through the approach channels to Ocracoke. The trip took nine hours and we certainly didn’t eat very well: gingerbread muffins, peanut butter bread and snacks. Too rough to make a sandwich or heat soup!

Ocracoke has a small secure harbor with an active ferry at the curvy entrance. Yes, we met the ferry right at the entrance and waited outside the channel in 5 feet of water for them to pass. Then we motored to the far end of the harbor and anchored near a couple other sail boats. It took a few hours for our brains to realize the boat was no longer rocking. Is that muscle memory? It is a strange and somewhat unsettling sensation.

We checked the distance (36 miles) and forecast (favorable winds and sunny) to our next destination: Oriental, NC; and decided to forego exploring the local wild horses and vicinity in favor of returning to the ICW and our trek south. Temperatures have moderated recently and we are seeing highs in the mid 60’s and lows in the low 50’s. Yet, New England is experiencing snow and freezing temperatures already.

Saturday, November 17th we motor sailed in light winds across the remainder of Pamlico Sound and into the Neuse River. Meal preparation and cleanup not a problem. Much better day!

Oriental is a very small harbor with limited anchoring. So glad we found a spot to anchor inside the breakwater! The two free slips at the public dock were occupied. The marina docks are mostly empty at this time of year, but we had just spent four days at a dock in Wanchese.

The next morning Pegu Club motored into the harbor and began setting their anchor right next to us when I noticed a spot had opened on the public dock. They quickly hoisted the anchor and moved to the free dock. We always enjoy spending time with Jeff and Kimberly on Pegu Club. They also started their cruise from Shennecossett Yacht Club. We chatted animatedly as we walked together to the local Marine consignment and Piggly Wiggly grocery store. Later they came over for dinner, games and popcorn. This is the cruising lifestyle we truly enjoy! The below picture was taken by us as we returned to Lone Star at sunset.

Return to Roanoke Island, NC

Picture: Arrival at OBX Marina in Wanchese on Roanoke Island, N.C. The travel lift on the right is where we hauled the boat.

We finally grabbed a two-day weather window to sail south from Elizabeth City, NC! We enjoyed some fine sailing across Albemarle Sound for most of the day.

In 1989, when sailing Sundsvalla north from the Caribbean, we anchored in a popular harbor near Manteo on Roanoke Island in mid-summer. We thoroughly enjoyed the long-running outdoor theater featuring, “The Lost Colony”. This is the story of British colonists that arrived on Roanoke in July 1585 and no trace of them was found in 1590. Read more here.

What a difference Manteo is today! The channel to the eastern side of the island is extremely shallow and narrow. The only other boats we saw were small power boats. Manteo bay is filled in by storm tossed sands and dredge spoils. The locals say that they have a lot of horizontal water but not a lot of vertical water. We were lucky to find a deep enough spot (5 feet) to anchor for one night. It was so far from land we did not try to take the dinghy to shore. The western channel has a long low bridge that we cannot get under with our 55′ mast.

On Monday, November 11th we motored to Wanchese at the south end of the island by meandering down a slightly deeper channel. We decided to pay for a side tie at a dock at OBX (Outer Banks) Marina as nasty weather was predicted. Good choice! This small bay is used by many commercial fisherman. No one anchors here as they would block the docks. Although this marina does not offer WiFi, our cell phones have good service and work as a personal hotspot. We are grateful for unlimited data! We’ve actually only found WiFi on a few occasions on our travels so far. In Wanchese, we’ve enjoyed some walks to nowhere and warm showers. Thankfully, we have plenty of provisions for now so, no need to venture out in the cold, sometimes rainy and often windy weather.

On Wednesday, we woke to a 6:00 AM alarm to get a quick hot oatmeal breakfast and leave the dock to head for the lift well at nearby Bayliss Boatyard. Our short haul revealed only propeller damage and the new prop was ready to install. Phew that’s a relief!

The motor back to OBX was not long enough to test the new propeller in any meaningful way. That will have to wait for out next outing. We paid the Marina to stay here for two more days due to strong winds and heavy rain. We’ll keep working on projects and perhaps I’ll do a bit of baking to stock the freezer and warm our bellies and the cabin. Should I bake brownies or gingerbread with raisins?

Entering the ICW

We left Hampton, VA on November 4th in very light winds. Motoring across Hampton Roads on a Sunday was incredibly quiet. Just a few other pleasure boats about, one large container ship, and a couple small tug & barge combinations.

It was such an easy passage that we decided to carry on past Hospital Point; the beginning of the Intracoastal Waterway, referred to as ICW. We were surprised we made such good time and were soon directed into the Dismal Swamp Deep Creek lock just before 2:30.

There were 4 other boats in the lock with us. The lock master was real nice and provided lots of information about the canal and options of places to stay.

We stopped for the night directly after the Deep Creek bridge around 4PM. It now gets dark around 5PM, since the time change today!

This bulkhead tie-up was our first non-anchoring or sailing night since leaving home. We do not often dock as our vessel is a trimaran and too wide (22′ 6″) for most slips. We vastly prefer the freedom and peace of mind of being at anchor versus tied to a dock. However, the canal was quite still and narrow. There is certainly no room to swing at anchor. Street noise was loud, but not bothersome and subsided before bedtime. Tom made a quick run to a local Food Lion for fresh food as this was a very good supply stop and a short walk away.

The next morning, we started at 7:00AM to continue motoring through the Dismal Swamp. We wanted to catch the Mill Creek Lock for the 11:00 AM opening. This part of the man-made canal is straight and often runs right beside a highway. When the road curves away it is so quiet and the only sound is nature. The overhanging trees although contributing to this beauty are also a hazard to navigation when they fall in the canal or when a mast rubs against a low hanging branch and it rains pinecones, leaves and nuts all over the deck. We heard a few bumps from sunken debris as well, truly not a good feeling. The weather was warm and overcast with occasional drizzle or a brief downpour. We were very thankful for our enclosed cockpit. We caught up with two other sail boats around 10:30AM; it was perplexing as they often slowed or stopped. Finally discovered via VHF that they were not sure of the height of the fixed bridge ahead. Six boats arrived at the lock almost a half-hour late. Luckily, the lock master still let us through the lock and the bridge. The lead boat was a catamaran, they were directly ahead of us in the lock when eight feet of water was rushing out of the lock. They managed to get a mooring line jammed under a cleat and had to cut it. Scary to see the boat scrape along the lock wall and suddenly drop three feet. Lessons learned: handle your lines continuously and have a knife handy.

Very shortly after the lock, we heard another thunk under the boat. Anita quickly put the engine in neutral and saw a large submerged log under and moving with Lone Star. We hooked it. After a half minute of drifting Tom suggested trying the engine. It made a loud noise and stalled. We then drifted to the side of the canal and the trees rained down on us. We shouted to the boats following us to pass us as we were disabled. The last boat, Jade East was very kind and threw us a floating line to tow our bow to the center of the canal while we dealt with the 30′ tree. Tom managed to tow it to the side of the canal with our dinghy once it was free. Thankfully the engine did start after that and we were able to get on our way once again. We noted that our speed was slower at the same RPM and the steering was off center, but still responsive. There were no leaks inside the boat and no vibration of the propeller so we continued on with Jade East following. We decided to anchor before the Elizabeth City opening bridge due to the South winds predicted; more protected on the North side of the peninsula. Glad those two motoring days of hand steering in close quarters are over!

A look in the water with the GoPro the next morning revealed blackness; the fresh river water is the color of iced tea due to the tannin from the trees and roots. Tom would need to dive over the side to check if we have any damage from the submerged log. He used his wetsuit and dive tank so it took a while to setup. In the meantime, Anita continued to sweep the debris off the deck. You guessed it! Tom couldn’t see under the brown water either. He felt around and removed small twigs and debris from the rudder and discovered the tips of all three propeller blades were missing. Tom did not feel any dings or dents in the hull or rudder and we are not taking on water anywhere, yeah! The rudder is now back to normal.

We moved through the Elizabeth City opening bridge and anchored off Pelican Marina. We looked at the sea walls that offer free dockage and didn’t like the current wind conditions that would push the boat against the dock.

Pelican has a dinghy dock and let us do laundry and take showers. We also walked to town and had a very delicious lunch at Hoppin’ Johnz; smoked meats with southern barbecue flavors.

We have ordered a new propeller and some spare parts and they will be delivered to a Marina on Roanoke Island about 50 miles south of here. We are scheduled for a short haul next Wednesday morning. We continue to work on our project list. Tom finished the installation of the ham radio and has listened to the waterway and weather nets, but has not transmitted yet. He also installed the EPIRB bracket, the radar reflector, and tidied up some loose wires.

We plan to sail about 40 miles south to Manteo on Roanoke Island tomorrow. Yes, sail! Across Albemarle Sound, a nice stretch of open water.