Good Friends and Bad Weather

February 7, 2016

We have been docked at Harbour View Marina in Marsh Harbour for a little over 2 weeks.

Our stay has been relatively uneventful, but can be summarized by Good Friends and Bad Weather.

First the bad weather.  January and continuing into February has been relatively cold and stormy. Some blame it on El Nino but, in my experience, January is always a tough month.  We have been having fronts come through almost every 3-5 days as opposed to the more 'normal' pattern of 7-10 days.  Each front ushers in a round of rain and strong clocking wind.  Although we are relatively well protected here, a West to Northwest wind can still build up a chop in the harbour that makes it a bit uncomfortable on the boat.

However, many comments over the years about how it is 'Too cold to go to Abaco early in the year - stay in the Keys until March or later" sparked my curiosity.  Although it is definitely not 'swimming weather', we have typically found the temperatures here to be quite comfortable.  Over the years, we have experienced our coldest weather in South Florida and the Florida Keys.  These events are memorable, because we break out our little propane heater (The Little Buddy) to help stave off the chill.   This is our only source of heat unless we are docked with shore power.

The Little Buddy heater

So I kept a record of temperatures in Marathon and where we were located in the northern Bahamas. In January, the Bahamas averaged 2 degrees warmer at almost 70 degrees,  Not exactly a scientific study, but it kind of bears out our experience.

Now on to friends.  The biggest reason that we stay as long as we do in Marsh Harbour is the great Bahamian friends that we developed through Grace Baptist Church.  They are like family to us!

In addition to great times of worship and bible study at the church.  Shawn and Jackie Robins joined us for a Chicken Roti  dinner (one of my specialties) on the boat, and Shawn joined us for a great car trip 'down north' to Fox Town and Crown Haven at the far northern tip of mainland Abaco. And we have also renewed friendships with many others from the church too numerous to mention!

Pastor Shawn at last year's Family Day

Elder Jackie at last year's Family Day

It is always hard to leave Marsh Harbour because of these friends, but tentatively we plan to leave late this week and head to Eleuthera.


Tom
Docked at Harbour View Marina
Marsh Harbour, Abaco

Loyalists in New Plymouth

January 17, 2016

One of the unique aspects of the Abacos is its Loyalist heritage.  New Plymouth, the settlement near where we are moored, is a very well preserved authentic Loyalist town.

What exactly is a 'Loyalist' you ask?  Well a Loyalist is an individual that remained loyal to King George during the American Revolutionary War, or as it is often called in the Commonwealth, 'The War of Rebellion'.  Notice the founding date of New Plymouth and its proximity to 1776 and the following war.

There are actually two 'lines' of Loyalists, one of African slave heritage and the other better known one of European planter heritage.

During the war, the British offered sanctuary to slaves if they could escape and flee to British controlled territory - New York City was a prominent area.  This was not a move borne out of abolitionist sentiment (the British at this time still supported slavery in their colonies), but rather a tactic to deprive the rebels of slave labor.  Towards the end of the war, the Brits held true to their offer and numerous ships bearing former slaves left New York and transported the people to various locations, including Nova Scotia and the Bahamas.

 A book that gives great insight into the entire slave experience and the slaves that went to Nova Scotia is http://www.amazon.ca/The-Book-Of-Negroes-Novel/dp/1443408980.  In brief, they were not well treated in Nova Scotia.

At least one of the ships departing New York traveled to the Abacos, landing in what is now Treasure Cay right across the Abaco 'Sea' from Green Turtle.  Those individuals formed a town near there and became the first Abaco settlers.

The other line of Loyalists, were British in heritage and largely planters from Virginia and the Carolinas.  The history, as written here, speaks of harassment. confiscation of property, and even fear of imprisonment or death as traitors to the rebel cause.  These were the people that fled the States and founded New Plymouth.

Their original goals were to recreate the plantation economy that they left in America, but the sparse rocky soil of the Bahamas did not support that end.  Some left, but those that remained, turned to the sea for their livelihood: wrecking (salvaging ships that ran aground on the numerous reefs of the Bahamas), boat building, fishing, sponging, and yes a bit of smuggling as opportunity presented itself (munitions during the Civil War, alcohol during Prohibition). A great historical fiction book that gives insight into the Loyalist experience is http://www.amazon.com/Wind-Carolinas-Robert-Wilder/dp/1877838098


New Plymouth stands as a monument to these hardy families.  The family names (Lowe, Roberts, Albury, Sawyer, and others) continue to echo through these islands.

Looking down from the 'hill' over the village and cemetery.

The Cemetery
New Plymouth has strong ties to Key West (how do you think they came to be named 'Conchs').
After a hurricane, a group from Key West came to help restore the cemetery.

Loyalist Memorial Garden

Statue depicting the first Landing of the Loyalists

Quaint - almost New England architecture

  

Narrow streets laid out long before cars and trucks

Inner harbour near the 'Wrecking Tree', where the wreckers brought in their spoils

Green Turtle Ferries - essential for travel to the mainland (Abaco)

Primary School

Our market here - Run by Scott and Martha Lowe - children of Sid Lowe the founder

Bahamian business combination - liquor store and cafe - good Chicken Souse!

You have to plan your business here - telephone office open only on Thursdays, same as the bank

Our home here, a mooring from the one and only Donny Sawyer!

After the cold front passing through here today, we hope to leave the middle of next week and travel to Marsh Harbour to visit with our friends/family at Grace Baptist Church.

Tom

Moored Black Sound

Green Turtle Cay,

Abaco, Bahamas

Laid back 'n low key - Down in Abaco

January 9, 2016

Laid back 'n low key...

Down in Abaco

        Alan Jackson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp9XJnY5RPk

Well we finally arrived in Abaco, Bahamas - Green Turtle Cay specifically.

We departed Marco Island on December 28 and arrived early this morning January 9th.  We covered almost 400 miles in 5 travel days.  Since we travel about 1/10th  highway speed, this was equivalent to a 4000 mile car-trip.

Most of the trip was in somewhat adverse conditions: wind speed and or direction or rain.

Our last leg departed Old Bahama Bay early Friday morning to go through the Indian Cay Channel on a favorable tide and then 49 miles up to Great Sale Cay, where we anchored at around 4:30 PM for dinner and some rest.

We departed Great Sale at around 9:00 PM that same day in pitch black - no moon and heavy cloud cover.  It really doesn't make much of a difference in your navigation, but it is always a bit spooky.  Both the day and night passage featured wind on the nose (motoring only) which was expected.  The strength of the wind on the second leg, however, was  much more than forecast and unexpectedly, we got rained on!  For the most part the squalls did not feature high winds, but the rain was torrential.

The timing of our departure was to maximize our travel before the wind picked up (only partially successful)  and to hit the channel into Black Sound at Green Turtle at high tide.  After slowing down a bit to try to let the rain subside before reaching Green Turtle we entered Black Sound after 56 miles at about 45 minutes after high.  Unfortunately, no mooring was available there so we exited and picked up one in nearby White Sound.

We are currently moored off of the lovely Green Turtle Club; note: we are not staying at the resort

We hope to move to Black Sound when a mooring becomes available to better enjoy the unique Loyalist settlement of New Plymouth.

Today has featured some much needed rest and drying out of clothes and equipment.

Tomorrow we will start enjoying Abaco!

Tom
Moored White Sound
Green Turtle Cay, Abaco

Crossing to the Bahamas

January 1, 2016

We are in the Bahamas at Old Bahama Bay, West End, Grand Bahama!  This is the only 'resort' marina that we stay at and we plan to spend about a week here enjoying the amenities and waiting for better weather.

The beach at Old Bahama Bay

Nice pool - a little cool this time of year

Our 'crossing' began in Marco Island on the west coast of Florida 4 days ago.  Usually you try to 'stage' closer to the crossing area, but weather and Christmas kept us in Marco.  When it looked like a crossing 'window' would open up late this week, we had to cover a lot of ground, almost 300 nautical miles in 4 days, to take advantage of the opportunity.

Additionally the weather was not ideal for traveling from Marco to the east coast of Florida;  we had the wind towards our bow for most of the trip to Miami, not the best for a sailboat.

Our first leg on 12/28 was from Marco Island to Little Shark River way down on the west coast of Florida in the Everglades.  We had to get a 'first-light' start to cover the 65 mile trip in the short late-December days.  Unfortunately this was also the time of a low tide in Marco, but with careful navigation we avoided going aground as we exited the river and Capri Pass.  Because of our draft, we have to go the 'long way' out around Cape Romano shoals to get to Little Shark.  The first leg to the West was a close-hauled motor sail, but after clearing the shoals, the wind was dead on our bow, so we needed to motor into the wind to arrive before dark.

The second leg on 12/29 was 52 miles across Florida Bay to Marathon which features am incredible number of crab pots - any of which could foul a rudder or propeller.  This turned into one of the best pure sails we have had in a long time.  It is more challenging to avoid the crab pots under sail, but greatly reduces the risk of fouling the propeller.

We stayed over a day in Marathon to catch our breath and plan our crossing.  The weather kept our plans in flux.  Plan A was to jump out in the Gulf Steam at Marathon and sail directly to West End; East-Southeast winds would have made the first part of this trip difficult so this plan was abandoned.

Plan B was to motor sail up the better protected Hawk Channel to Rodriguez on 12/31, anchor at Rodriguez for the night and jump out into the stream to West End the next day.  The threat of an approaching cold front on Saturday which would bring North winds and nasty conditions made us abandon this plan.

We considered abandoning crossing now and going to Miami to wait for another window (Plan C), but entering Biscayne Bay on New Years Eve was not appealing.  Regular Coast Guard broadcasts spoke of a special speed limit in the Bay and the need to obey law enforcement (a special condition in Miami?).

So Plan D was hatched underway, to continue up the Hawk Channel and jump out into to West End near Miami.  We arrived in West End on New Year's Day at around 9:00 AM after a 27 hour, 175 mile trip.

The crossing weather was not ideal, but a reasonably comfortable motor-sail.  Memorable moments included an interception by an unlit Coast Guard vessel,  Leaving Miami or the Bahamas at night seems to attract Coast Guard attention.  A fast approach by an unlit, unannounced boat is always exciting, but it seems we are getting used to it.

Joyce was on watch around midnight to see multiple fireworks displays along the south Florida coast. She also wanted it noted that she was on watch to see sunrise, something that she rarely sees -she is not an early riser :-).

The cold front is now approaching and our plan is to stay here for around a week, resting up from the trip, enjoying the resort amenities, and waiting for better weather to continue over to Abaco.

Tom
Docked Old Bahama Bay
West End, Grand Bahama

Underway to the Bahamas Quick Update

December 31, 2015

Left Marathon this morning.

Currently underway up the Hawk Channel towards Miami.

Underway decision today to keep going across the stream to West End, Grand Bahama overnight rather than wait until tomorrow; Should arrive there around 1400 1/1.

Periodic position updates here on the blog.

Happy New Year!!!

Marco Island

December 22, 2015

We have been docked at Rose Marina in Marco Island for a little over three weeks - longer than we usually stay here. The length of our stay was based on a few personal matters that we needed to deal with and some strong weather.

We arrived in early December expecting to stay for at least a few weeks and got a great deal on dockage for a month making the length of our stay flexible.

Typically Marco is a quick stop for us where we get provisions, fuel, etc. and continue on our way.   It is easy to run out of things to do within walking distance of the marina in this upscale community, so we splurged on a rental car for most of our stay.  It has really made this a fun stop!

We caught a few movies - most importantly (to me anyway), 'Mockingjay - Part 2'.

Go Katniss Everdeen!

The burrowing owls are still living near the marina in the middle of all these big houses They are so cute!:

Picture from 2013

Peek-a-boo - Grass is higher this year

What'chu talkin' 'bout, Willis?

We went to two Collier County museums - most interesting was the 'Pioneer Museum' (Roberts Ranch) in Immokolee  http://www.colliermuseums.com/locations/immokalee_pioneer_museum. This is a well preserved cattle ranch dating back well over 100 years ago.  Many people do not realize the importance of the cattle industry in Florida, both in the past and today.  Drive up through the center of the state and you will be amazed by all the cattle.

Main Museum - Formerly the church on the ranch

Bunk House - available without charge to cattleman driving herds through the area.

Florida cattle

We went to a high school basketball game (boys and girls) between Marco Island Academy and Everglades City.  Neither team had great records, but were evenly matched.  Everglades City won hard fought games in both the boys and girls contests.  Everglades has about 160 students in total in grades K-12, so they are a very small school.  They had no cheerleaders (compared to Marco's 15), but the girl's team formed a great cheer section for the boys game - they were a blast to watch - they had so much fun.  We rooted for the 'country kids' from Everglades City where we have visited for over 25 years.

Both games were very physical with a lot of  'floor-rash'

We also decided to make a trip north to Orlando for the 'Florida Sunshine Classic' women's basket ball tournament where the Miami Hurricanes were playing.  In the first game on Saturday the 23rd-ranked Hurricanes faced 4th-ranked Baylor.  It was a great game with the lead going back and forth for most of the game; unfortunately Baylor's superior height prevailed in the fourth quarter as they won 88-81.  Miami played great and we were very proud of them!

Coach Meier leading her team to a near upset over 4th-ranked Baylor

On Sunday, Miami faced Indiana in a tough match, winning 89 -75.  In the beginning of the game we were afraid that the Baylor game the night before had taken too much out of Miami (it was Indiana's first game of the tournament) but the gritty Hurricane's prevailed!

While in Orlando, we went to see Wakiwa Springs (https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Wekiwa-Springs) - one of the many natural springs in Florida.  In all the years we have been coming to Florida, we have never seen a spring - most are in northern Florida.  I didn't know quite what to expect, but the outflow from the spring was impressive!  Near the spring, you could see big 'boils' of water coming to the surface;  if you look closely to the following picture, you may be able to see them in the foreground.

The constant 72 degree crystal-clear water makes great Florida swimming in the Summer - not when we were there :-)

We hope to leave Marco right after Christmas and make our way quickly to the Bahamas (Abaco).


Tom
Docked Rose Marina
Marco Island, FL

Christmas 2015

December 8, 2015

We are at Marco Island and have just put up our Christmas decorations.

Our Christmas Wreath (no room for a tree)

When we moved on to the boat, we selected a group of Christmas decorations that met three criteria: they were memorable or significant to us personally;  they were small;  they were relatively sturdy. Well, all our decorations have survived to see their fifth Christmas on boat, in spite of a 'bath' courtesy of a leaking water heater.

Christmas on boat always changes and always stays the same....

It always changes because we have been in four different places for Christmases past and we don't really know where we will be this year.  Year 1 was a delightful time at Everglades Community Church in Everglades City.  Year 2 was in isolated Shroud Cay in northern Exuma.  Year 3 was in Bimini where we attended a tree-lighting ceremony that featured great speakers and singers that focused on the real meaning of the season and ended with a Junkanoo 'Rush-out'.  Year 4 was in Marsh Harbour in Abaco with our family at Grace Baptist Church.  This year we would like to be back in Marsh Harbour for Christmas, but the weather will make that call.

It always stays the same because of our focus on the true meaning of Christmas (and our precious collection of decorations that bring back so many memories).

'Sled-bear'

'Jingle-bear'

A handmade ornament that always reminds us of a certain Christmas with family

A 25+ year old music box ornament that still plays (sort-of)

One of our favorite non-traditonal Christmas carols is "Let It Be Christmas" by Alan Jackson.  We think it should be a 'classic'.  Listen on the following YouTube video  (not responsible for the ad that may precede the video - you can skip it after a few seconds):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4YBHZ5Y7ZI

Have a blessed Christmas!

Tom & Joyce
Docked Rose Marina
Marco Island, FL