Some thoughts from a Bahamas Trip

[C-164]

Howdy Do guys,
I've just returned from a three month trip to the Bahamas. It was all dat and a bag of chips (or in my case, a tube of pringles). The water was beautiful just as advertised and the Bahamians are a very nice people. A great place to stretch your legs for a first cruise.
Thanks to everyone who shared their trips and advise. I especially remember Franks famous remark about using THEE biggest anchor you can handle, and a post from Lynx saying how the cruising was pretty easy. I found that both were true.
First of all, leave preconceived notions at home. Ya gotta make the trip yourselves and experience it through your own eyes. The first thing that struck me was how wrong my preconceived notions were. I crossed from Angelfish Creek and arrived off Bimini right after sunset. Thankfully, I remembered someone had posted that if you arrive after sunset, it's possible to anchor off the beach and not bother with the inlet in the dark. Good advise. I had a preconceived notion that Bimini harbor would be like Manhatten; crowded, busy, no room to turn or anchor, airplanes landing and all kinds of craziness. In the morning when I rounded the point and entered the harbor, I was blown away at how beautiful it was. I wasn't ready for how beautiful it really was because I don't remember a post where someone said "exercise caution upon entering Bimini, it might knock you out". Same goes for Nassau Harbor. I expected a dirty, pain in the a** place. Wasn't like that at all in my eyes. Matter of fact it was fine and dandy, much nicer than I expected. I've learned that preconceived notions are a bad idea on a cruise.
Secondly, I traveled solo and many was the time I wished I had someone to share the magic moments with.
Third, there is more than one way to skin a cat. It's amazing how many things you can improvise when necessary. When I first bought my boat and was fixing it up with a Bahamas trip in mind, I thought there was only one right way to do everything. There are many ways, just make sure it's good and strong!
Not being sure that this wouldn't be my only trip to the Islands, I blasted through trying to cover as much ground as I could. In the beginning of the trip my motto was " another day - another harbor". A few times I wondered why I was rushing around because every island started looking like the next one. "De all look de same" I said, scratching my head.
I did spend alot of time walking the settlements and meeting local people. Also, listening to ZNS, the national radio station was a good way to get a feel for the Bahamian society. It's a great little country with good people.
Another thought concerns the difference between cruising the Bahamas versus cruising in Florida. My feeling is that there were basically 3 rules to follow while cruising in the Bahamas. Respect the environment; respect the people and respect other boaters. And of course, respect the weather forcast. There are few pain in the a** water police there and a zillion other rules we have here in Florida. You are free to do alot of things there that you can't do here. I've got to note one funny difference is the matter of wakes. The Bahamians don't follow the 'no wake zone' rules so even American cruisers will zoom by very close to your anchored boat. "When in Rome...".
Another thing, I got along fine rowing my inflateable the entire trip, even in strong winds. With 2 people onboard, I would have needed a small motor.

Improvements for next time:
I wasn't able to heave-to properly.
I'd like a windvane along with my tillerpilot.
A "yachtboy" radio for weather reports. Past the Exumas I depended on other boaters for a forecast.
A chartplotting GPS would be nice, although my handheld along with the chartkits was sufficient.
A cruising spinnaker would be nice for downwind work. I used the mainsail "surge and roll"  or "roll and surge" method. Burned out two tiller pilots.
A drogue to enter a nasty cut during a rage could come in handy. While I was in Georgetown during rage conditions one boat was stuck outside all night. I couldn't help but remember a book by Capt. Voss. His big thing was how easy and safe it is to cross a dangerous bar with a drogue. "The venturesome voyages of Captain Voss." I wondered what I would do in that situation as a singlehander. If I can't heave-to properly, I can't rest. If indeed one could enter safely with a drogue that would be the greatest thing since sliced bread.
One final thought is how quickly I forgot those lousy times; the passages from heck and the anchorages from heck, that had me wondering WTF did I buy a boat for. AND HOW MANY GREAT MEMORIES I GAINED FROM THIS TRIP.

Aye,
Barry

[s/v Faith]

Barry,

  Great to hear from you, running into you in Nassau was a highlight for Rose and I.  We took away many of the same things as you, especally like;

My feeling is that there were basically 3 rules to follow while cruising in the Bahamas. Respect the environment; respect the people and respect other boaters. And of course, respect the weather forcast.

  I think a BIG part of the reason for your positive experience is probably summed up in that sentence.

  Welcome to SailFar, Your first Grog is on me....  ;D

[C-164]

Thanks Craig,

We know we're hooked when we forget the hard times.
I just loved those passages when I set the sails and set the tiller pilot and watched the water go by.

Aye,
Barry

Shroud Cay, Exumas

[Lynx]

Yes, we do.

I planed it so that I did not have to go through any rage conditions but I would not want to even with a drogue as the foam could get quite bad and with that no stearage and no prop thrust. Best to waite it out.

[CapnK]

A Grog from me too, Barry! Glad to both have you aboard here, and to have your perspectives.

What is this drogue technique you mantion, I don't think I've heard of it before as such? Sounds like it might be one of those "test once and then file away for future reference" ideas that might come in handy, especially in a rough situation...

Last, I agree - there's magic about, when you can sit back on a passage and let the boat do her thing... :)

[David_Old_Jersey]

Cool Trip  8)

Me Jealous? Yup!

Yeah, I think own attitude impacts majorly on the experiance you have in anything............and IME in the 3rd world / poorer countries....neither looking or acting like the stereotypical rich Westerner goes a long way with the locals (they often see enuf of the Stereotype in real life, as well as on TV!)......they already know that you are richer than the average working local - IME just impolite to rub it in by actions.......and showing consideration and respect and a touch of knowing self deprecating humour about "your own kind" often goes down well  ;D

I would figure that being seen on a smaller boat in comparison to many others is a good way to start in announcing that you are not their stereotype........

[C-164]

Capt. K:   This is the book where the author explains about using a drouge to cross a dangerous bar in a small boat. It's also a good read of an adventure trip.

"The Venturesome voyages of Captain Voss" - AKA - "40,000 Miles in a Canoe"
by John Claus Voss


Here's a link to the appendix of that book with alot of good info on small boat storm tactics.
http://www.geocities.com/nelstomlinson/books/voss.appendix.html?20085

Barry

[CapnK]

Thanks, Barry!

He has some good info in that appendix! Will have to get the book...

The way I read it, he basically used the drogue to avoid broaching in the following waves of the inlet by streaming it aft. Makes sense!

Thanks again, and Grog to ya! :)

[Captain Smollett]

"The Venturesome voyages of Captain Voss" - AKA - "40,000 Miles in a Canoe"
by John Claus Voss

And just as a reminder, this book was HEAVILY used as source/reference material for the Pardey's Storm Tactics Handbook.

[C-164]

I'm wondering if any Sailfar members will be in the Bahamas in December. I'd like to meet up and say 'hey". I'll be leaving approx December 1st when my passport and new jib arrive. It will be my second trip there. No real itinerary other than to do alot of sailing, BS with the locals and catch as many Rake N Scrape bands as possible, revisit some old places and see some new sights.
Surprisingly on my last trip there weren't many smaller boats although I did run into a few and it was very cool.
If you plan to be there please contact me.

Barry

[Chattcatdaddy]

Sounds like a fun adventure. How long you plan on being in the Bahamas? Be sure to return here when you get back and tell us all about your trip, so those of us that can`t go just yet can live thru your adventures.

[s/v Faith]

Barry,

  Glad to hear you are headed back.  Look forward to hearing all about it.

Where are you planning to head to this time?

[Frank]

I'll be bumming around Green Turtle - Manjack erea from mid nov until late march. Back home for Christmas/new years. If you're passing through...look me up. Have fun.

[C-164]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm a little time limited to maybe 6 weeks and if everything is cool at home I can stretch it out longer. ;D
Funny thing about the islands "de all look the same" and 'de all nice' so I want to concentrate on my sailing skills. Nice thing about the Bahamas is that most passages are daylight hops of between 10-50 miles.
If anyone can relate to this, for some reason, most of my passages on my last trip, for lack of a better phrase, 'turned to s**t'. In other words most passages would start out great, i'd be making good time and then the last third or half of a passage would end up taking 3 times as long. I would lose the groove and couldn't get it back. I want to work on this and maybe the new jib and some mainsail alterations will help.
Craig - Tentatively my plan is:
Bimini - top of Berries - up Abaco bight - make a right and down around Abaco - cross to Spanish Wells - down Eleuthera on the bank side to see the glass wall - cut across to the Exumas and down to Georgetown - up Exuma bank side to the Decca Channel - west to Green Cay - across to Andros - up to Morgans Bluff - back to Bimini.
Man plans and god laughs, but I may be able to catch Frank on the way around.

[Lynx]

The is real shallow around sandy point.  A North to North West Wind and push the water out and makes for a very low Tide. I wish I had went to the island and then through.

[Auspicious]

If anyone can relate to this, for some reason, most of my passages on my last trip, for lack of a better phrase, 'turned to s**t'. In other words most passages would start out great, i'd be making good time and then the last third or half of a passage would end up taking 3 times as long. I would lose the groove and couldn't get it back.

It can be a real challenge to self-diagnose sail trim issues in yourself. For myself, I tend to lose track of backstay tension so if the wind speed changes significantly (especially down) I start to lose speed.

When boat speed drops I try to shake off mental inertia and start again - calculate or estimate true wind speed, set a target boat speed, set backstay, trim jib, adjust jib halyard tension, trim main (and halyard and outhaul), adjust course, let the boat settle for several minutes, tweak. YMMV.

Best is someone else - on your boat or buddy-boating - to collaborate.

[C-164]

Thanks for the advise, Auspicious. I'm having a new jib built now and some alterations on the mainsail which will help. Now all i'll have to do is learn how to trim them.  ;D 
Turns out that the old jib couldn't be sheeted correctly as it's sheeting angle didn't fit my jib tracks and I didn't realize that!!  I'm also redoing my crappy running rigging setup for this trip and the boat should be setup properly now.
It's funny how much money we have to spend on all the other "stuff" of boat ownership aside from the main important things like the sails. >:(

[Auspicious]

Most sailmakers will happily go on a check sail with you when you get a new sail. I had a Quantum guy out with me on a 19F day in January a couple of years ago! I learned a lot from that day. Most sailmakers really do know their business and can teach you a lot in just a little time.

Ask and thou shalt receive. *grin*

[CharlieJ]

On that new jib-have it built with a reef point in it at about the storm jib size.
You'll probably have to fight the sailmaker to get him to do it but it's worth it on a small boat. One less sail to carry and easy to use.

Most sailmakers are more used to building racing sails rather than cruising sails. Ours is also triple stitched, which I also had to fight for.

[ThistleCap]

Charlie?s dead-on with the reefing jib.  We had a huge performance gap between our jib and storm jib.  When we were over-pressed with the jib, the storm jib would leave us floundering.  Unlike furling headsails, reefing headsails retain their shape and driving power when you need it most---driving through growing seas.  Having reef points put in the jib has been one of the greatest additions to our sail inventory.