The Berry Islands

December 14

We motored the entire night, against the wind and the current. Not much traffic, except for the odd freighter or cruise ship. I spent the entire night in the cockpit, sleeping and feeling the windy breeze. For some reason, I was extremely exhausted from my three hour shift at the helm... our routine was a little off, due to the late departure time. In the morning we started to notice the Berry Islands. We were headed for Devil's Cay... which is more in the central Berry Islands. The Berry's are a series of small islands mostly uninhabited between Grand Bahama Island and New Providence Island, where the capital of Nassau is located. We anchored Joana in 18 ft of water, near White Cay. Surrounded by white sandy beaches, deep Blue holes and waves crashing along the rocks, this was one of the most scenic anchorages I had ever experienced. I'm happy we stopped over to the Berry Islands. Our dinghy was never launched at this anchorage, supposedly it only touches the ocean on very rare occasions... looking forward to that moment. You will notice in the picture, some of the other vessels tucked in further West from where we we anchored. We endured a rough night with the wind and surge... we called this spot the 'Rock and Roll Surge Spot'... instead of having a bobbing motion from front to back, we were rocking from side to side. Felt like we were out at sea for the entire night.

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Starry Starry Night

December 12 & 13
Our last two days spent in Freeport were dedicated to Miss Scarlett B. and her catamaran. We went into town to gather some items to help organize and take stains off of the ex-chartering boat. It was wonderful to see her huge smile at the end of the day, when she started to see results from all our hard work. We also got some free entertainment... Andrew was going snorkeling in order to remove all the barnacles from his bottom hull. He was trying to soften all the shells that were growing on his propeller blades, so he used Ty-D-Bol... a bathroom cleaner to take the growth off. I hope it works! Sunday we just lounged around the boat, killing time and saying our goodbyes to all the friends we made at Bradford Marine. It was somewhat sad to leave Scarlett behind with her Catamaran, she was extremely thankful for all the scrubbing and repairs we did. Spoke with Andrew the super friendly Bahamian… who gave me some very interesting advice about life… I really appreciated his take on things. At 8:00pm we called Freeport Harbour Control and asked to leave the port, we had to wait for 25 minutes. At 8:30 pm we casted our lines from the safe harbor and departed with a light breeze from the East South East. We motored throughout the night, the wind on our nose while watching the lights on Grand Bahama Island fading away in the distance. Some of the cruise ships we could see in the distance were also very well lit, they appeared to be making their way across the Gulf Stream towards the USA. Instead of watching television... we watched hundreds of shooting stars must have been a special meteor shower, the stars appeared to be falling from the sky. It was a breathtaking experience.

Scrubbing and Washing the Cat

December 11
Our neighbour, Scarlett has been driving us around into Freeport and Port Lucaya on a regular basis, so today we decided to do a small act of kindness. Assist her in getting the Catamaran all cleaned and free of monkey glue! It wasn't an easy job, scrapping bits and pieces of gorilla glue off the fiberglass decks. Wade assisted in refrigeration and electrical issues... It was a perfect windy day to work outside, the sun was hiding behind all the fluffy clouds. We discovered that this product called "On & Off" works wonders for stains left on fiberglass, and a bottle of 100% acetone removes any glue residue. We volunteered our time to tidy the boat and make it ready to go on the boating market. Anyone looking for a 48" Catamaran... with 5 cabins/heads??? It was a full days of work aboard "Anticia". We are all in need of some well deserved rest!

Port Lucaya

December 10

I was able to be a hair dresser for the morning! Diane wanted me to put highlights in her hair... so I slipped on the rubber gloves and mixed all the toxic products. It's not easy... after having washed and rinsed, we looked at the results. "not bad." Then I found the perfect WiFi spot, alongside a limestone wall. Scarlett, offered to take us into Port Lucaya for the afternoon. It was nice to see all the shops. Everything is very discounted due to the state of the economy. We were searching for the entrance to Bell Channel, and in doing so we noticed a large Spotted Eagle Ray... it was just gliding in the water with such finesse. Then we meandered our way onto a private beach...catching some rays, and contemplating a swim in the pool. On our walk back, we came across a limo taxi, he took us directly back to the boat. Living the famous life here in the Bahamas. At dusk, we went for a tour of Scarlett's 48' Catamaran Privileg http://www.bradfordmarinebahamasbrokerage.com/bahamas-brokerage-48-Privilege-catamaran.html I wish I had the money and the people to buy this cruising yacht. We might be doing some work on it, tomorrow.

Vajoliroja

December 9

We woke up and noticed that a large motor yacht had entered the canal last night. Name of vessel... Vajoliroja! It was suspicious, since we've been noticing many yachts registered in Bikini, Marshall Islands. Diane was very curious and google'd the vessels name and found out that it's Captain Jack Sparrow also known as Johnny Depp's private yacht. How exciting? The boat's name originates from combining the first two letters of each family member's name. His partner, Vanessa Paradis, and kids Lily-Rose and Jack. VaJoLiRoJa! I took pictures... only noticed the crew, no hollywood movie stars in Freeport, Bahamas. The boat is very special! We played Yahtzee & Scrabble in the cockpit to entertain ourselves during the afternoon. Sipping on refreshing lemonade and invited Scarlett aboard. We went for a ride to the Bahamian Brewery, the beer is called Sands. Then we ordered domino's pizza... direct to the boat for dinner! Who would have known they could do such a thing? Watched some downloaded episodes of Two and Half Men and Mercy. Sunday looks like the day we will journey over to the Berry islands.

Island Tour

December 8
Remember how I mentioned about Scarlett, the Irish lady who owns a Catamaran in Bradford Marine? Well, she came up to the boat and offered to bring us into town to show us Port Lucaya. Twelve noon we jumped in her car and began our Grand Bahamas Island tour, with an Irish tour guide. It was brilliant to see all the pastel colored building, again! The police department was painted light blue and the bus stops were bright pink. Scarlett was an excellent guide with excellent local knowledge, considering she’s only been on the island since June. We ate a traditional Bahamian lunch: conch fritters, rice, and peas. Conch is such a delicacy!! I can’t wait to start snorkeling and diving to find our own Conch shells. Port Lucaya is very dependent on tourism, yet still stunning. Scarlett took us to a City Market to purchase some fresh fruits, meats and dairy products. I was shocked at the sheer size and volume of items found in the grocery store, here in the Bahamas. After dropping our produce off on the boat, we went for a second ride towards the West End of the Island to notice the diversity. They have an abundance of small and tale Pine Trees, some of which have been damaged from hurricanes and others that are still thriving. The West End is a genuine depiction of the Bahamian way of life. I’m happy we toured the Island. Guests came aboard for dinner! Always fun to make conversations with other sailors.

Repairs

December 7
Today the winds were light and favorable for us to relocate to the Berrie Islands or to Port Lucaya, but instead we chose to stay right where we are. In any matter, Joana needed some attention today. 1st item on the list was the aft head, which broke earlier this morning. Thank god I wasn’t on the throne when that occurred. I’ve been well trained to run to shore and only use the head incase of emergency! So, I guess the day started on a shitty note especially with the head having to be taken apart. Then came the 2nd item on the list, which was the jib furling line. It broke during the night and we had to replace it with something stronger and longer. Last, but not least the switch for the cockpit mood lighting was not turning off. Wade had to replace the switch due to corrosion. It was an interesting day… all the repairs were done! We have a functioning head. Phewf!

Bahamas

December 6
Twelve consecutive hours of very well earned rest, it was nice to sleep after that crazy sailing journey. I woke up in a boat surrounded by turquoise blue waters in the Bahamas. Quickly looked out the port hole to check if I was dreaming, but I wasn’t. French toast for breakfast, and quickly got down to working on desalting Joana. You would not believe the amount of salt that has accumulated everywhere around the boat. Wade hooked up the hose and I noticed that they didn’t have a meter attached to monitor the amount of H20 we consume… however; they charge us a flat fee each day for the use of water. My shoes, jacket, clothes, glasses and even my gloves were covered in salt. Finally fixed the sail grommet for one of the reefing lines, you’ll notice Mr. Alarie working very hard in the picture. The steering fluid pump is still not cured yet… it needed to be re-aligned once again. Since everyone had recovered from being on the water, we went for a walk around Bradford Marine’s boatyard… met a few folks along the way. Scarlett from Ireland who owns a 1992 Catamaran over 40 feet & she’s working really hard to fix it up. We dropped some chocolates off to Thurbur, the dock masters who assisted us in our arrival yesterday. Discovered the internet hot spot near the captain’s lounge… I’m sure I’ll be spending most of my time updating the blog from here. Then we met Kevin one of the wonderful security guards who provided us with local knowledge of Port Lucaya and some of the amenities around here. I don’t think we will be re-locating to Bell Channel, the prices are so much more expensive over there. The weather is hot, the winds are loco, and the people are enjoyable.

Tug O' War

December 5
The winds continued to increase from 25 knots to 35, 40, 45 and a few times it gusted up to 5o knots. It was looking like a blistery storm. Wade decided that we were going to slow down our boat speed by heaving to. Picked up some speed to do the turn, and then drifted for almost 2 full hours. We waited until the winds diminished to 35-40 knots until we continued the crossing. Just from studying the explorer charts, I knew that it would be physically impossible for us to enter Bell Channel into Port Lucaya. So, instead we quickly changed our course towards Freeport, Grand Bahamas Island. We needed to call the Harbour Controller on channel 14 for permission to enter the harbour. The VHF radio wasn't working at all on the US frequency... so we had to pull out the owners manual to find out how to change it to International. This tiny little button on the radio says (UIC) meaning USA/International/Canada button. Switched it to Int'l and then received a response from the harbour controller for permission to enter into Freeport. We wanted to clear customs and then wait for the winds to die off until going to Lucaya. That didn't quite work out...
We took down the sails, started to enter into Freeport and then had no idea where to dock. We spotted a local waving to us and trying to give us hand signals/directions. Approached close enough to get clear instructions and then proceeded to a boatyard called Bradford Marine! On shore two individuals were ready to receive our lines. That sounds all fine and dandy, right? Well... it was still blowing 35 knots of wind inside the basin. We got the bow line thrown to them... and shortly after the midships line. The two guys were pulling and tying the lines... for almost 30 minutes until they finally had us alongside the dock. It was like a big tug of war with Joana. I was beyond the point of exhaustion. We waited for the customs and immigration officers to come aboard and stamp our passports. That went very smooth! Many of the managers and dock masters came to welcome us to Bradford Marine... it was difficult to keep up with all their names. After entering into one of the Islands of the BAHAMAS, we showered in fresh water... consumed some food and then went for an afternoon nap. We all lived to tell the tale about our Gulf Stream crossing! Finally livin' on island time... also known as paradise. Stay tooned for many more adventures to come...
natalie
-out

Sitting Waiting Wishing for Wind

December 4
Early in the morning, we studied the weather on NOAA and PassageWeather.com to see if it would be suitable to leave later this evening for a crossing to Grand Bahama Island. The winds were predicting 15-20 knots from the South East (beginning around 9pm, possibly later.) Wade made the decision that we would leave later tonight… attempting to stay at dock as long as we possibly could. Wade went to ask the dock master for permission to stay at our slip until 5pm. He said “that’s not a problem”. It was a full day of preparations to get S/V Joana ready for the ocean again. We went to Publix, the common grocery store here in Florida to purchase more fresh produce and frozen items. Extra little items needed from West Marine, since they don’t have any in the out islands and then the rental car needed to be returned. Still many other things needed to be secured until we were ready to hit the high seas. Once all the required work was done, we rested and waited for the tide to come up, the sun to set and the winds to start blowing. At 5:15pm we casted our lines off from the dock, waved our goodbyes and prepared for the unknown. The sunset was very spectacular, just as we left Dania Canal. However, the “no-see-ums” were fierce all throughout the Mangrove. Thank god for bug spray!! We hoisted the main sail just before exiting the Port Everglades area. Lots of constant commercial traffic in this port, we must have seen two or three coast guard vessels, two cargo ships, three tug boats, two cruise ships and maybe a few power yachts/ sailboats all transiting in or out of the port. After having passed all the chaotic traffic... we ate dinner in the cockpit and decided on watch schedules. I was scheduled for 2am to 5am! Headed to the forward berth to rest and pray for a good sail across the Gulf Stream. Let's just say that around midnight... I had my head elevated on the starboard side of the boat and my feet pushed up against the port side of the v-berth. A little awkward! Went up to begin my night watch and noticed that the wind was quickly picking up, the seas were building and we were hand steering the boat. (It was too hard on the autopilot.) At this point in the crossing we were approximately half-way at 45 Nautical Miles under our belt. I got a few good salt water splashes from head to toe. Constant reminders of the unpredictability of the ocean. The ride was rather realistic, wild and somewhat crazy! Throughout the passage Diane was consumed by seasickness and nausea, while Wade was at the helm and possibly contemplating his decisions. I couldn't leave the cockpit in case I was needed for something, but the presence of the ocean was still very apparent. Every once in a while, a huge rogue wave would dump buckets of water into the cockpit! There is something about being on the open water that makes you feel so small and vulnerable, yet very much alive!!

Welcome To The Swamp

December 3
I went to the marina to grab a bagel for breakfast, and that's where we chatted with our catamaran neighbours, Bob and Tina from Denver, Colorado are also headed to the Bahamas for Christmas. They are tied up here in Ft. Lauderdale until their water filter/maker is all repaired. Talking about the holidays... this lounge is festively decorated with lights, wreathes and poinsettias. Wade was checking the weather this morning on the internet and then announced to me that we were going to the Florida Everglades for an airboat ride. I took a quick shower, went back to the boat to grab my camera... and headed for a long car ride towards Billie's Swamp Safari. I wasn't very thrilled about the potential to see snakes and alligators. Either way, we went for a smooth airboat ride... into the Swamp! Spotted a few alligators, birds, and fish. Then we proceeded to an indoor theater to watch a snake show. Doesn't sound very much exciting... but it was rather educational and visual. Hans was our host from Venezuela, he was extremely knowledgeable about snakes. The entire day was filled with new information. Our last ride was on the Swamp Buggy Eco-Tour... that was identical to Jurassic Park (the movie). When we came back to the boat... I was ready to crash. T'was a really full day in the Everglades.

Up!

December 1
I'm very thankful that I'm not afraid of heights! Today, I had to go up the furled jib to repair one of the jib sheets which had started to unravel. I had to burn the ends and do some whipping, it took me a little while to adjust to the Bosun's chair. We ate lunch! Then I was sent up the mast to do some sanding of sharp aluminum edges. Once I was hoisted 75 feet up in the air... I realized that it wasn't sharp, it was all bent. Came back down to gather more tools, and a pashmina scarf to wrap around my waist for back support. This time I got to the top of the mast and the tools were too large to help in re-bending the metal. It was crazy!! Thank god we had mini radio's to communicate with the ground crew... otherwise it would have been tough to yell down below. I did three trips up and down the mast, until the problem was all fixed. During my maintenance on the mast, I had a small audience watching from all around the marina. Let me just say, that going up a mast is nothing like going rock climbing. The AT(air traffic controller) device was very useful for the controlled decent down the mast! Hopefully, I'm not scheduled to do anymore maintenance up there for a long while. Another project: the hard bimini is interfering with the boom sheet at times. We went to Home Depot to find a homemade solution... PVC hose for the plumbing section. I'm sure that it will help from any chaffing that might occur. It's still nice and hot... a cold front is supposed to arrive tonight, and perhaps early tomorrow. Freeport is on hold until further notice.

Venice of America

November 30
The hydraulic guy came aboard to look at the steering system, for an assessment of the needed repairs. The pump had to be removed and taken into a specialist. In Fort Lauderdale, the weather is incredible = scorching hot! Diane and I de-salted the foul weather gear with fresh water. Diane sewed another fender cover and then we scheduled a pick-up from the rental car agency at 2pm. They rented us a Nissan Versa, a very lightweight car... compared to Ms. Frizzle [my solid Volvo back at home.] We went to a store called Sailorman... well stocked with old items. We found a 2008 yachtsman guide to the Bahamas for $10, better than the 1996 one! Then we went to a gigantic West Marine store... I found some really good finds. Foul weather pants, shirts and flip flops... many things were on sale. We also went to the grocery store named Publix! Then we had an ongoing fight with the "no-see-ums", also known as Sand flies which are such a nuisance. Especially next to the large mangrove. Spotted a few night crawlers... cockroaches, while watching our episode of House. I hate them very much, but I only see them in the evening... we've been dusting boric acid around the boat to kill them off. Hope it starts to work. Beside the few bugs, the weather is spectacular and the marina staff are friendly folks!

Twelve Years Ago

November 29
Another uneventful night watch... the only thing I encountered during my three hour shift was a tug boat pulling a barge. Since the moon was lighting up the water, from a distance it looked like the barge had military tanks on it... however I discovered that it was probably large tractor trucks. I got up at 9am and was briefed on all the commotion that occurred earlier this morning... a plane crashed and the coast guard were searching for survivors. I could see the orange zodiacs bouncing around near the coastline. Reminded me of my days working for the Guard back in Canada, how much I miss cruising at 40 knots. It was almost 10am and we were beginning to enter the channel into Ft. Lauderdale. It was like one BIG deja vu.
April 30, 1997... Aboard sailing vessel Ballotin, we crossed the Gulf Stream from Bimini Island, in the Bahamas over to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. We stayed at the Royale Palm Yacht Basin Marina... in the Dania Canal. Only 12 years later, I'm returning to the same port! I noticed some nice and improved cruise ships... docked in Port Everglades. We pulled into the the Dania Canal and noticed the depths starting to drop quickly. We tried contacting the Royale Palm Yacht Basin and then spotted a marina named Harbour Towne Marina... shouted to the dock master and pulled into their fuel dock. This might be our home for the next week... until the steering fluid pump and sail grommets are all fixed. The facilities are excellent... free breakfast, WiFi, showers and laundry! Later in the afternoon we went for a short walk to visit the marina I had stayed over a decade ago. I remembered it like it was yesterday. We had endured a tornado rip... and rented a gray car. Still can't believe I'm in the state of Florida.

Joana Times Two

November 28
Big breakfast! Organized the boat for another overnight sailing hop to the area of West Palm Beach, Lake Worth area. As I mentioned before, we met another sailing vessel from Canada named JOANA, registered in Quebec. Marie and Cathy sailed on the Picton Castle Ship for many years and now they owned a mini steel ship of their own. They had many questions for Wade about everything! We invited them aboard for a tour of the home built masterpiece... they really enjoyed some of the design features. Handed them a boat card and by 11am we asked if they could assist us in our departure. The crew from Joana gave us a little push, and off we went. I drove the boat out of the canal and noticed one of the casino cruise boats calling us on ch. 16. They wanted to insure that we knew they were leaving the dock, too. All was fine... we were making good speed and we passed them. Once we got on the Atlantic, the winds were light and we decided to pull out the jib and not even bother with the main sail. The sun was burning hot... I had to go below to put my shorts on. The sail was beautiful... generating lots of solar energy, but not much wind power. Wade noticed that the steering fluid pump is leaking every 5 minutes... and the company is located in Ft. Lauderdale. The plans have changed... pushing further south to the Port Everglades area... instead of Lake Worth. Our expected arrival should be near 12pm on Sunday. My shift is between midnight and 3am!!