Off To The Bahamas April 13

FINALLY...the weather window of 2-3 favorable days to stage for and cross the Gulf Stream arrived.  Any wind from the north really riles up the Gulf Stream seas, and it takes a day or two after north winds to let the seas subside.  We departed Fort Pierce and ran down the ICW to Palm Beach, anchoring in Lake Worth behind the barrier island just south of the inlet.  There was enough dredge activity and dredge pipe in the area to almost walk across; it would have been roomier than the open water in which to navigate!  I very carefully accessed the path to the anchorage, so that if we departed during the dark it would be easy to safely follow the chartplotter's "bread crumb" path back out to the inlet.

About 0330 the next morning Kay awoke, and asked if we were ready to go.  Always the "morning person", I, of course, acceded to her request, and before she was awake enough to consult her clock, the engines were starting!  The anchor was up, and by 0400 we were underway.  By 0425 we had cleared the Lake Worth jetties and sea buoy, and were underway across the Atlantic and the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.  I had hoped to leave early enough to travel directly to Port Lucaya, rather than having to spend a night in West End to clear customs and immigration, and then travel to Port Lucaya the next day.  The sun rose beautifully over the Atlantic before 0700, but Kay was already back asleep!

It was a glorious, beautiful, and perfect day for a crossing, and my accurate navigational plotting to account for the northward flow of the Gulf Stream current placed us on a perfect course for entry into the Northwest Providence Channel and arrival at Port Lucaya.  We passed West End, Freeport, and entered Bell Channel about 1530.  We docked at the Customs and Immigration dock, satisfied the bureaucracy as to the submission of adequate repetitive duplicative (or "triplicative"?) paperwork and cash.  With my immigration papers, cruising permit, and fishing license in hand, we then proceeded around the harbor to our dock at the Grand Bahama Yacht Club.  It's not what it may have been at one time or was imagined to be, but at least the docks are substantial. 

Sailors Centuries Ago Saw Clouds Before Land

Approaching Port Lucaya

Grand Bahama Yacht Club

Docked in Port Lucaya

Sprint has a Global Roaming Plan that allows us (for free) to roam onto Bahamas Telephone Co.'s system with free data (at 2G), free texting, and 0.20/minute for voice phone within the Bahamas or back to the U.S.  We walked a couple of miles to the BTC office for Port Lucaya to purchase a SIM card and (faster) pre-paid data plan for Kay's I-pad.  Alas, they were out of about 80% of the phones that they had on display in the store, and were out of SIM cards!  However, the store in downtown Freeport had SIM cards, and so we caught a bus (alias a minivan) and for $ 1.25 each, they transported us to the Freeport store, where we procured the SIM card.  Return was the same $ 1.25 each.  Needless to say, with this and a half-dozen other stories I will not relate, we are "adjusting" (with some resistance from the 'type A" personality of our duo) to "island time".

Ready to Move On! April 1

We have had a delightful (at least most of it) time in Fort Pierce this winter, but we've been more than ready to move on since at least mid-March.  We were delayed in Corpus Christi waiting on visits to a new physician, etc., but finally returned to Fort Pierce mid-February.  It seems we had missed about the worst winter weather experienced in that area in years, and we were warmly welcomed as the better weather arrived with us!  After some time enjoying the area, including its superb Farmers' Markets and visits with good friends in nearby Vero Beach and Stuart, we passed up the one marginally adequate weather window for travel south to attend the Kadey Krogen Open House where we saw many interesting boats and good friends.  Well, that decision led to almost another full month of delayed departure.

This has been a bizarre winter in Florida.  It hasn't been as severe ashore as some other winters, but the frequency of cold fronts has been much greater, averaging every 2-3 days instead of the more typical 5-6 day interval.  There are usually a few light-wind days between fronts, but this year those have been occupied by severe thunderstorms across central and south Florida.  We met many new friends at the marina, gave advice regarding the "removal" of an osprey that delighted in spending time (and relieving itself) on the mast of the boat upwind of some friends across the pier, and installed a wind vane/anemometer and DirecTV on the boat, honed weather forecasting skills, and WAITED...

Ft. Pierce, FL October 27

     We left Bald Head Island (Southport, NC) and ran offshore overnight all the way down to Fernandina Beach, FL.  It was a little sloppy and with higher seas than forecast offshore, particularly off Savannah, but at that point we were about 50 miles out.  Seas were aft of the beam, so it really wasn't an unpleasant ride.  We spent a couple of nights in Fernandina Beach, then headed down the ICW toward our destination of Ft. Pierce.  Another couple of nights in St. Augustine provided sightseeing, and then we moved on with one-night stops at or anchored near New Smyrna Beach and Melbourne.  We met some new friends, owners of a Kadey-Krogen 39, in New Smyrna Beach, and then arrived at our berth for the next few months in Ft. Pierce early in the afternoon.  BUT, the low temperature in Ft. Pierce was higher than the high temperature in Solomons, MD!  I promptly toured the town by bicycle, and located a barbershop to relieve me of significant overgrowth. 
     The water in this marina is amazingly clear, and schools of catfish (unfortunately, the salt-water, non-edible kind of catfish) abound.  We have met a number of new friends who winter here, and also renewed friendships with previous acquaintances.  We have had a car at times, and attended the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, one of the premier shows in the world.  It has five venues, and we didn't even scratch the surface of what was there to be seen, but we did spend a fair amount of time in the equipment and electronics tents (but not on the 200-foot super-yachts).  We will shortly take a break from cruising and return to Texas to visit family for the holidays.

Old Friend--Fernandina

Ft. Pierce



Ft. Pierce



Marina Denizens



New Ft. Pierce Friend--Winston
 

Headed South October 19

      After the lunar eclipse, vividly visible from the remote and dark-sky area of Deltaville, we finally caught a day with acceptable weather and traveled north to Solomons, MD in preparation for the annual Kadey-Krogen Rendezvous.  While there, we not only continued to experience weather from the low pressure area stalled just offshore, but had the threat of Hurricane Joaquin.   In the end, the threat mitigated and a wonderful Rendezvous was enjoyed by approximately 100 attendees and 40 boats.  There was, however, a very noticeable cold front, and so we know it is time to be headed south.
     We left Solomons and headed for Florida, spending thus far nights in Deltaville, Chesapeake, Coinjock, Slade Creek, and Morehead City.  Lauryl Anne has been traveling with us some of those days, and it has been a great experience to get to know David and Tricia better.  At Morehead City we were able to visit and have dinner with the Poags--friends who previously lived in Corpus Christi--and had a wonderful opportunity to catch up on old times.  We thought we would be trapped there several days by a potent cold front, but awoke to find we could squeeze in one more travel day, so we hopped offshore and made it down to Southport, NC where we are comfortably docked at Bald Head Island Marina.  The major force of the wind and the much colder temperatures that had held off for a day behind the passage of the original front came through last night, and so we will stay here a day or two before traveling again.  The annual migration of yachts down the ICW is in full swing, and, once again, no dredging has occurred since our last transit.

Kadey Krogen Rendezvous

Kadey Krogen Rendezvous

Bald Head Island

Old Baldy

Old Baldy
 

Deltaville...still? August--September

     We spent some time on the boat as various small projects were tackled.  One that required some improvisation by the boatyard folks was redesigning and reinstalling the name boards on top of the pilothouse roof.  These also contain the navigation lights for port and starboard, and the original design leaves the possibility of water intrusion as time and wear occur.  A number of boats have lamented similar problems, but I decided to tackle a redesign, and the DBY technicians did a great job of devising a solution.  With that, and several routine maintenance items well in hand, Kay and I returned to Texas to visit kids and grandkids, and do various projects at home and in Houston.  We also kept the grandkids for a weekend while their parents escaped to take in a Baylor football game in Waco.
     On September 22, we drove to Houston, and the following day flew, via a long layover in Atlanta, to Richmond.  Everything ran on schedule, all bags arrived with us, and we were soon picking up a number of items at Sam's Club en route to the boat.  The following morning we made a major grocery store run, and then returned the rental car.  The plan was to depart on the next day, but a low pressure area stalled off the East Coast is providing lots of wind and rain.  Since the strong winds are predominantly from the north and northeast (our direction of travel), the fetch of the waves all the way down Chesapeake Bay would make for a very uncomfortable ride.  We, along with a lot of other boaters, many of whom are already headed south, have elected to wait for calmer seas.  I have used the time for several projects, including changing oil and transmission fluids.  When better travel conditions arrive in a few days, we will head for Solomons, MD and the annual Krogen Cruisers Rendezvous.  It is obviously no longer summertime in the Chesapeake!

Washington, DC to Urbanna to Deltaville, August 12--16

After a delightful week with Stacy and Jordan visiting aboard in our nation's capital, they hopped into a cab at 0430 in the rain to fly home to hot Houston.  We had anticipated leaving, but heavy rain was forecasted, so we elected to wait another day to depart back to the Chesapeake.  We had favorable current for most of our ride down the Potomac, and anchored at nearly the last anchorage on the Virginia side in The Glebe.  It was a peaceful, serene, and isolated anchorage, complete with a bald eagle and a local man who rode by to visit with his grandson who was visiting him from Sugar Land! 

The following morning we traveled to Deltaville for one night, and then up the Rappahannock River to Urbanna, a quaint small town we had not previously visited.  We enjoyed Friday and Saturday nights there (the town closes up except for the latter part of the week), with good restaurants, a pharmacy with a lunch counter complete with milkshakes, and an interesting general store and other shops.  On Sunday afternoon we returned to the Jackson Creek side of Deltaville where the boat spent the 2013-2014 winter, and we will spend some time and have some minor maintenance issues attended.  We may even travel home before venturing north into Maryland. 

Mount Vernon

St. Clements Island

Urbanna Courthouse 1748

Lee Home, Urbanna 1750

Deltaville, VA to Washington, DC August 1 -- August 11

Though we have been to many large and historic cities on our boat, we had not been to our nation's capital aboard Texas Ranger.  We traveled from Deltaville into the Potomac River, and anchored in Canoe Neck Creek off of St. Clement's Bay on the Maryland shore.  It was a beautiful, pastoral setting and a quiet stop.  The next day we traveled upriver past Quantico to anchor across the river from Mt. Vernon.  The following morning we traveled in the dinghy to the Mr. Vernon dock, and toured George Washington's estate.  After returning to the boat, we continued on to Alexandria.  This old historic town survived the Civil War without destruction because it was occupied the entire war by Union forces, and we enjoyed touring the pre-Revolutionary War streets and houses.  Of course, the river past Alexandria is the approach/departure flight plan for Reagan National Airport, so jets went overhead almost constantly.

After a couple of days, we continued the short distance to Washington, DC, and docked at the Capital Yacht Club.  Though there is ongoing major reconstruction of the DC waterfront, and temporary quarters of the club are perfectly fine, and the docks are brand new.  The members and staff were all gracious hosts, and it was an excellent setting for a visit from our granddaughter and her aunt, our eldest daughter who lived and worked in DC for over five years before returning to Houston.  She was the official "tour guide" to introduce the granddaughter to DC and its many monuments, memorials, museums, buildings, and other attractions.  Of course, with a five-year-old, we couldn't see everything, but the scope of what we were able to see was impressive!   In addition, she rode almost all forms of modern transportation during her stay, and learned about navigating airports, subways, and bus routes.  I'm sure that some day when she returns with her parents and brother, she will view herself as the expert tour guide.  We also had a great visit with Kay's cousin and family who live here.  And not to have quiet airspace, government helicopters frequently fly (at very low altitude) right along the harbor channel where we are docked en route to their destination near the Ellipse.  The northern flight path to Reagan is a bit farther off, but not beyond hearing!

Large and Small

Tourists

The Ladies

About to Tour my Aunt's Former Workplace

Seeking my Roots

Star of the Zoo?

The REAL Star of the Zoo