S/V 'Faith'

[s/v Faith]

Sunday, 21 October 2007

  We motored over to the Old Bahama Bay marina shortly after sunrise, and after buying some fuel and checking the forecast we decided to head for Mangrove Cay.



There are a couple of ways to get there from West End, the way we choose was the 'short cut' up Indian Channel.  We had heard that there are very few aids to navigation in the Bahamas, and we are finding that to be accurate.  The Indian Cay channel is a very narrow, shallow channel that cuts about 15 miles off of the trip into the Grand Bahama Bank.  It was once marked by a series of posts, but it seems like once they fell down no one has bothered to replace them.  Faith draws a little less then 4', and while the channel is reported to be 4'6",we saw depths right around 4' for much the transit.  It was tense, and one of those times when you just have to trust the GPS, even if you don't want to.  We had bearings, but the channel is so narrow, it is easy to get slightly off track.  We made it through with no problems.  Our goal, Mangrove Cay, turned out to be very aptly described.  Poor Peter had his legs crossed as we circled the island looking for a break in the tangle of mangroves where he could step ashore to go.  Fortunately we found a small slab of concrete on the NE corner right at the waters edge.  There were once many military missile tracking stations spread through the islands, I suspect the concrete had once had something to do with them.

  While we were ashore, Rose had guests.  There are these little yellow breasted finches that are very curious and have little fear of people.  One landed on the combing next to her, and she put out her finger and it climbed on!  We have received several visits from these little birds.  They have even been so bold as to fly below a couple of times.  Peter is less then impressed with this.

(I was suposed to crop this, the bird is near the stern cleat)

  There was a salty looking steel boat in the anchorage when I arrived.  I dingied over and talked to the owner, Nic.  He came from England, bought the boat in Annapolis, and has been cruising for about 5 months in the Abacos and Exumas and was getting ready to cross back to the US.  He told me the boat had actually been built in the former Soviet Union.  It looked like a tough little pocket cruiser.  I talked to him for a while, and gave him a SailFar sticker and asked him to log on and talk about his adventures.  Hopefully we will hear from him soon.

Monday, 22 October 2007

  We awoke early and headed to Great Sail Cay.  It is an uninhabited island with a large basin in the middle that looks to be the perfect anchorage on the chart.  We sailed into it, but decided to look elsewhere as the basin was lined with mangroves.  There is a beautiful beach on the West bank, which worked well to shelter us from the SE winds.  Peter and I explored while Rose straightened out the boat and read.  It was so nice that our attempt to leave did not get us far.....

Tuesday, 23 October 2007

Ahoy from Great Sail Cay!

  I am sitting here typing up some notes knowing that I can not post them any time soon.  Right now I am thinking of the letter of recommendation I was hoping to write for a friend who is going off to the Coast Guard academy.  I had put it off thinking I would have lots of time waiting for a weather window while in Lake Worth... well, as you know I did not.  I guess procrastination got me again (Sorry Capt. Jack).

  Today was more of a 'rest day' then anything.  We sailed from one anchorage to another, covering a grand total of about 2 miles today.  The highpoint of the day was at 11:38 when we watched the launch of space shuttle Discovery.  We are too far out to get any FM radio stations, not even the stations out of Nassau or Freeport reach us here.  We were listening to a conservative talk station out of Miami, and the carried the launch live.  It was about 30 seconds after they counted down to zero that we saw the plume of smoke.  The second treat NASA has graced us with this trip.

  Peter and I are really getting into this beach thing.  I like to look at the flotsam, while Peter is mostly looking for interesting things to eat, or pee on.  He was walking out onto some sharp rocks this afternoon and I was thinking they must hurt his paws.. and that he has surely lost his mind to go out there (something I am quite sure he thinks of me often).  After I watched him for a minute I saw that he was 'hunting' the crabs.  While I am looking at the cast off plastics Peter has immediately kicked into survival mode.  Should the going ever really get tough my money is on the dog.... Well, the dog and the plastics that wash up on the beach cause they are not going anywhere soon....


 
26 October, 2007

  Allens-Pensacola Cay.

We have been here for 2 days now, the winds have howled and we are glad to be in a protected anchorage.  We had it to ourselves until about an hour ago. A family of 9 on a chartered catamaran came in.   Peter and I went over in the dingy to say hi, and learned they were headed for the Dominican Republic and were just passing through. I told them about the path Peter and I had found over the top of the Cay to the Ocean side that lead to  'sign beach'.  There were signs there cruisers have left hanging from trees all over.  We made our own, and added one for the 'Ragged Point Yacht Club' to sign. 



We also made one for Jim Taulbee*.




  I wish I were a better photographer, some of the signs are really creative.


Most of them are made from floatsom found on the beach... I guess you could call it 'tree-cycling'  ;D



  I have thought about Jim many times since I started this trip.  He was a man who was a member of the Ragged Point Yacht Club before Rose and I got to Gottchalks Marina back at Camp Lejeune.  He was murdered a couple of months before we got there, and even thought I never met him I feel like I did.  He was a friend to all in the marina not just in the way that people speak nicely of the dead, but on a much deeper level.  He was etting his boat ready to go cruizing when he was killed, although he seems to have spent as much time helping others work on thier boats as his own.  There is more that I wanted to write but am not sure what to say other then he has been remembered on our journey.
Monday 29 October, 07

  We sailed to Crab cay this afternoon.  With the wind blowing 25 and gusts to 35 it was not much fun close hauled all the way.  I am going nuts for news, especially with the storm approaching.  We have been listening to one of th eonly stations we can hear, 850 am out of FL.  They say things like 'tropical storm in the area' their news is really poor... but at least it is conservative talk radio so it is entertaining.  I can get a signal on the cell phone now, but can not get any calls to go through... so I will try the internet even though I know that BTC will probably charge me an arm and a leg if I can. I want to make sure everyone knows we are ok.  Here goes nothing....

Oh well... "Roaming is not available on this network"

Friday 2 november 2007

Sitting here in White Sound, Green Turtle Cay eating Conch Fritters at the restrauant at the top of the hill, I believe we survived hurricane Noel.  By the Grace of G O D, the 'anchor held' and we made it through a long and sleepless night.  We were at 'Crab Cay' near Spanish Cay.  I will update more later when I can get to a connection but wanted to pass along the updates we had been typing all along and let everyone know we are alive and well.


*Upon inspection, somehow I managed to miss getting a picture of Jim's sign...

[s/v Faith]

Ok, back on th boat with a very weak signal from someone's house (thank you who ever you are).  ;D


  We are very tired, the last couple days waiting for the storm have been long.  The lack of information was one of the most frustrating things.  The radio station I mentioned that we listened to for the shuttle launch is the strongest on the dial, but we tend to lose it when it is overcast.  There are 2 Bahamas stations, one on FM 93 something... don';t remember since we have not got is since we left west end.  THen there is 810 AM, which plays the worst music, and while it claims to have a 10k signal, it barely comes though.  The VHF broadcasts would fade in and out, but also degrade with the weather.  We had no real way of knowing anything beyond that there was a tropical depression and it was strengthening and headed our way.

  THe 'Cruisers net' the guides talk about is apparently either a summer thing, or farther south because we have not heard anything.  I was able to contact Spanish Cay marina from the anchorage to ask them to call my dad and let him know we are alive... since it has been 2 weeks since we left West End and were able to contact anyone.

  We left Allens-Pensacola Cay in an attempt to make Spanish Cay.  Spanish Cay has protection, but more importantly it has high ground so we could get off the boat if it looked too bad.  We spent a day beating into 30k winds and ended up at Crab Cay.. (the one near Spanish, not near Manjack).  I had no good info, but know from experience that I wanted shelter from the North and North East.  THe anchorage we choose had good protection from the East, but the North was only separated by a 20' spit of land.  It was enough.

  The center of the storm passed just to our East, we got the worst it had to offer.  I heard on the last broadcast before it passed us that it had strengthened to a Hurricane, and had sustained winds over 80 MPH.  THe night was alot like I imagine being in a washing machine must be.  The crew did very well, Rose was as cool as a cucumber.  ;D  Peter mostly slept, but got a little aggravated by the lightening... not as bad as he usually does.  I am very proud of my crew. 

  We put the Manson anchor out to the NE (usually with the highest winds) the Fortress FX-16 to the NW, and the 'lunch hook' out to the South.  THe Manson took the brunt of the storm and stayed put.  I do not believe the lunch hook ever took any strain, and the FX-16 was only in the wind from about 3am on (we got underway at about 9am).  There was no damage to any gear, and the crew is doing well but tired.

  We left the anchorage and sailed to Spanish Cay hoping to get water and get word out that we are ok.  THey had no power, which meant no water (RO) and had no ETA on getting their generator fixed.... so we sailed on to Green Turtle.

[CapnK]

Awesome.:) Great pictures, too.  ;D Got the package you sent, thanks much!

Do you continue to be impressed with the Ariel design? (Yes, I know you are... :D)

Looks like you painted your sign with outboard anti-fouling spray - LOL!

Last, the CrewDogs said to tell Peter "Ruff ruff, grr, ruff grrr, {whine}, grr BARK".***







***(which I think means something like "We are doing our best to keep the cats unaware of your absence. Have a great cruise, and pee on some stuff for us!")

[AdriftAtSea]

Glad to hear that you made it through Noel okay.  Beautiful post and photos. :D

[C. Worthy Shipp]

Hey Craig - Sorry I missed your call yesterday, but thanks for the heads up on you and your crew being okay. I called your Mother to let her know you guys are okay. She said she needs to hear from you since the Coast Guard wants to talk to you about your Masters license. Apparently, she has other things that need your attention as well. Sorry to use sailfar for personal business but it seems the only way right now to contact you. Should I be using e-mail instead?
Great reading your account of your adventures........I'm still sailing with you vicariously. Keep posting....words and pictures.......I read and look at them all the time.
Stay safe, with the winds from your back. Love, Dad

[CapnK]

Dad Amos - ;)

If using the sailFar forum contributes to easier communication with Craig and Rose while they are cruising, go for it, we're glad to be of help. :)

[Frank]

Glad to hear you's are OK. My thoughts were with you with news of the storm.Keep posting...great notes and pics !

[psyche]

Glad to hear you and the crew weathered Noel. Great pictures.  I was adding a coat of varnish to my hand rails this morning and coud feel Psyche tugging at her dock lines. I do not know if any of you knew or knew of Dr. David M. Parker who was an extraordinary sailor, voyager and author ("Ocean Voyaging). He also invented a very simple but quite good windvane that ou can make yourself or have made locally. He died a week ago. I purchased his Columbia 8.7 and added some of his suggestions when I redesigned and refitted the interior and exterior. I can still hear his voice echoing, "Git er right. Git Her Done. Get er Gone." As we travel with Craig , Rose, Peter and Connie vicariously with plans to head out in the future. I remind us all time is not replenishable and to remember what the pardey's also said, "Go small, go now." May be I am writing this because it is the passing of my friend Dave and realizing I am not getting any younger. Mark twain also said at the end of life's voyage  when the last anchor is set it will not be the trips taken that will bother us but the  ports not cruised and the sails left unfurled that will bother us. Obviously I took liberty with what Mark Twain said but the meaning is the same. Craig, I am pleased to hear you are still pleased with your Manson Anchor. I am still considering selling my 35#  CQR and purchasing a 35# Manson so your post supports that decision. I have another Triton anchored near the dock while he prepares his boat for future cruising. It seems I am becoming an Alberg anchorage with 3 there now. I may be made a SSCA cruising station for passing cruisers. Are any of you going to the SSCA Gam in Melbourne next weekend? If so maybe we can hook up. It would be a great opportunity to meet posters on SailFar. Dan

[Frank]

Add this to the 'simplicity' preaching. Albert Einstein had many quotes on the value of simplicity.This one illustrates how imortant he felt it was....."the levels of intelligence are smart, intelligent, brilliant, genius, simple".....he loved sailing too ;)

[Captain Smollett]

Craig and Rose (and Peter),

Sure glad to hear from you.  You guys sure were in our thoughts and prayers when I saw the sat images of Noel right over the Islands.

Ya'll take care down there.  Hope the cruising is nothing but fun in da sun, now that the 'cane season should be behind you.

[Bubba the Pirate]

Nice pictures!   I'm glad to hear you and your crew 'weathered' the storm OK.   

Fair Winds,

TrT

[C. Worthy Shipp]

CapnK - Thanks for your post on my using Sailfar to get in touch with Craig. With Noel passing Ill try to use voice and e-mail in the future. Sailfar is wonderful.......I can read and see what's going on with Craig and read what all the great cruising people have to say. Thanks, again.
Bob Amos (AKA - C. Worthy Shipp)

[Faith 1st Mate]

Craig typing here... Poor Rose just typed out a long post, and had the computer battery run out before she hit post.  She made the error of proofreading it, which I clearly do not foten do..  ;D

  Wehad a nice sail yesterday we tacked out across to the mainland, and then back up into Black Sound at Green Turtle.

  We are at the 'Other side' marina tied up to the dingy dock.. Sometimes it is good to be a SailFar boat!  We came over here to stay a couple days and to see the 'Guy Fawks' day celibration.  It was a good time.

  Here is a link to the event on the Abaco message board.

Dancing with 'Guy Fawks'



  We are enjoying the great bread, and taking our time to see the town here.  The folks we have met have been great!  Our dockmate is a lady named Sybil who single hands a Tartan 31 and has been here for about 5 years.  She spent some time with us this am going over some charts, and I was supprosed to learn that we don't have the charts for Eluthria or Cat Island... that we had planned to see.  Hopefully we will run into someone headed back we can get them from.   Another friend 'Tim' lives aboard a houseboat 6 months a year.  We also met 'Kevin the Bahamian Rock Star'.... everyone here at Green Turtle now knows Peter, people I don;t seem to recall meeting walk up and know his name... is it something else.   ;D

  Let me see if I can get some pictures uploaded.....

Ok, here are a couple of the anchorage we pulled into for the storm.
We had been beating into 25k to get there, but it laid down that evening we ducked in.



Looking NE;



Looking West;



Here is our Faithful watchstander.





 

[dsnyder]

Craig/Rose/Peter,
     What can I say, except "You're the (collective) man!" 
     Sailing the Caribbean as many of us in the RPYC have always dreamed of...weathering a hurricane...  G od has truly blessed you.  What's more, you're smart enough to appreciate it.

     Is there anything you need?  Anything I can send?  Sorry, I ate that ham; so can't return it for your holiday feast.

     The New River Christmas flotilla is coming up on December 2d.  I'll try to send a couple pictures.

Until then, stay safe.
Don

[s/v Faith]

Hey Don,

  I really appreciate the kind words.  I have been reading the RPYC emails and it sounds like great things have been going on.  Really glad to hear it.  Look forward to hearing all about the 'Turkey Trot', and Christmas Party.

  We walked to the South Side of the island, and enjoyed a beautiful beach.  The small Island in the background is 'No Name Cay'.



Peter takes a swim;



Peter really loves the beach, even if we are a bit too slow for him sometimes.



  I was re-reading the note Frank sent me, and saw where he had recommended some great snorkeling at MunJack Cay, so we will probably head back slightly north tomorrow and investigate it.  ;D

  Then our plans are to head somewhat south, probably cross the 'Whale' either tomorrow evening or the next day.  We should have internet connection again once we get to Marsh Harbor in a few days or so.

  I posted a link to this in the links section, but wanted to mention it here too.  The abacomessageboard.com is an excellent discussion forum where we have gotten much help and advice.  Some really great people and definitely worth a read if you plan to visit soon.

[CapnK]

Looks horrible, like no fun at all. I feel your pain.

So cold here, that the CrewDogs have been sleeping belowdecks for the last several nights. Yeppers, that time of year again... I'm sure y'all *really* miss it. ;D

[s/v Faith]

Ahoy for Munjack Cay.            11 November, 07

  To the reader it may not seem like it, but I think about these posts a great deal while I am going about my day.  I think of things I want to make a point of sharing, and then somehow they fall by the wayside when I get back to the computer.  Today Peter and I were walking along a beach on the ocean side of the Cay, and I had all kinds of profound and insightful things I wanted to write.... But alas, they are still on the beach.

  Today is the 3 month anniversary of our departure.  We have traveled over 100 nautical miles, although it still feels like we are just getting started.  The crew and boat are holding up well, actually the boat continues to undergo the continual process of upgrade and repair.  Little things like a woreing modification that allows us to power the VHF radio without running the other instruments make it easier to monitor what is going on without bankrupting our energy budget.

  I am very glad that I re-read the letter Frank so generously took the time to write for us before we left.  One of the recommendations he made was that we stop here.  Manjack Cay has been wonderful.  There is only one house, on another part of the island and we have the place pretty much to ourselves other then the dive boat from Green Turtle that comes over from time to time.  I was also reminded that Frank's Flicka 'Jubilee' is on the hard over at Abaco Yacht services.  I had intended on stopping over there on our way out of Black sound to look in on her, but we got to talking and the tide was nearly out when we left.  We lightly touched the bottom on the way out so it was a good thing we did not linger any longer.

  We left the 'Other Shore' marina on Friday, and it was hard to get away.  I can easily see how people some here and just forget to leave.  We made friends from the first day we were there, and the town of New Plymouth has most of what you need.  The dockmaster there (for the last 26 years) is a guy named Kevin.  He is the 'Bahamas only rock star'.  He plays with a band named the 'Gully Roosters' as well as DJ'ing for most of the local goings-on.  He was the DJ and MC for the Guy Fawks night and did a great job. Here is a picture of this local celebrity with the SailFar.net sticker that now is proudly displayed at the marina 'Office'.



  We were going to go for a dive trip with Brendal of Brendals Dive center, but the budget was a little tight.  It turns out that his dive/snorkel trips wind up here at Manjack, and we have enjoyed all be the dive part of the trip.  One of the highlights is a picnic on the beach but we got a taste of that today when our friends Sybil and Tim from Other Shores sailed over and brought us some of Brendal's Fish stew.... It was wonderful. 

  We saw a lot of wildlife here, and really enjoyed the clear water and beautiful beaches.  Peter has figured out that the harry wooden things have some sort of food in them... we have seen hundreds of coconuts in the last month, but today he must have smelled something different because he has really taken an interest in them.... He does not seek to have any idea what to do about it.  Yet.



  We have been fishing, but have not really taken it seriously.  We trolled a Clark Spoon over here from Green Turtle, but it was our oldest rusty one.... We fished, but the Vienna sausage on the hook was of little interest to the fish until about 2am the morning after we arrived and then it was plucked from the hook after a little line was pulled off the reel....must have been really hungry.

  We watched a sea turtle as it swam by the boat this afternoon but the really neat stuff has been on the beach.  We have seen lots of hermit crabs, sometimes we will see a shell and be surprised when we pick it up and find something is living in it...

  There are a couple of big rays that are used to being fed by the people on the dive boat.  They come up to you in shallow water and try to 'fly' up to your feet.  Apparently they will take food offered from between your toes... I did not know of this and was caught off guard the first time I was approached.  This picture was taken from the dingy when Rose came ashore with the camera.


The star fish are everywhere.  I first thought they were just starfish husks, but when you turn them over you see small suction cups on the underside that retract when you take them out of the water.



No starfish were harmed in the making of this post.



We will probably get underway tomorrow, we had actually  planned to sail to Guana Cay this morning, but the winds were up and we heard that the 'Whale' is up with 7' breaking seas.  We will see what it looks like tomorrow.  We are probably going to go back to White sound to top up our tanks, they have Reverse Osmosis water (very clean, and tastes good without the Brita).  We figured we have used about 15 gallons in the last week.  Not too bad for a crew of 3, with very little additional drinking sources (we don't drink soda, and aside from my one glass of wine in the evening everything we drink is out of the thanks.).  We might also have to stop in New Plymouth to get some more of the fresh baked bread.

 

[BobW]

It is hard to believe it has been three months since your departure.  Wow, time sure has a way of flying!

I have to tell you, we are living your adventure through your posts.  Never mind those insights left on the beach.  Your posts are excellent.

Thank you.

[s/v Faith]

Thank you for the kind words Bob.

  We set out to sail south to Guana Cay yesterday..... we got as far as the anchorage off of New Plymouth.  We spent the night there, the wind was blowing this moring so we put a double reef in the main and set off for the 'Whale'.  The passage through Whale Cay is known for breaking waves that crash together and splash skyword so that they resemble a the spout produced by a whales blowspout.  We could see the splashing from about a mile away, but had talked to some guys on a big 4600 Moorings catamaran who said they had come through yesterday afternoon and it was not so bad.

  As we got closer we saw a wall of black clouds dropping rain and the wind picked up quite a bit.  We turned and came back into Black sound just in time as the skys opened.  The day is gray and windy still, we will probably just stay here tonight and see what tomorrow brings.

  There are quite a few more boats now, we had the place to ourselves before.  We had to pick up a mooring ($7 a night) as the places we had planned to anchor were all wither taken or tto close to boats on moorings.  Not a big deal, and there is patchy wifi here.... hope I can get this posted.

Will update more later.

[Ariel Spirit]

Will,

Capt Jack here holding down the fort back at "home"(although you seem incredibly at home where you are now).  As i read your posts and am reminded of many of the cruising books i have read i think wow, this is really amazing.  And then i question why in the world am i going to the coast guard academy again?  I look forward to more posts as i ponder this question. ;D