S/V 'Faith'

[bayracer]

This time of year in the islands, when the winds would moderate to under 30 knots, we would say that its calmed down enough to go.  ;D As you wonder further down towards PR next month, the  winds were called Christmas winds causing me to really pick and poke through the regions which could take at least a week before being able to make a day or so progress. Be carefull as the northeasters are stiff.

[M/V Sea U Lookin]

Craig, Rose and Peter:

I am sitting here in NEw Bern NC and wish I and my family with were you and yours.  Lord your posts bring a tear to the eye and dreams to the heart.

Nikki and I along with Joce and Cap'n Jack speak of you and think of you and pray for you often, wishing you were here or we were there.

Times have changed in the last three months. Cap'n Jack is looking toward the mail bag for posting of access to USCG...lord knows she would rather be right next to you with Ariel Hull #3...which I am glad to report has had another installation of fixings...

Full interior refurbishment, done by no other than the Cap'n of the vessel...with oversight by the money bags and owner...Cap'n Bly...

Please keep us posted...by the way I have called the cell a couple times and left messages...but knew that was futile...I will try to keep up with these postings now that I "know how"...

NOTE to all others...please do not hate me b/c I am a M/V owner - live aboard we (family of four) own both style of boats and strive to be students of the sea...as I am sure we all can appreciate.

Semper Fi
Bob
Commodore of the RPYC and proud to be a friend of the Amos crew!

[s/v Faith]

Bob,

For the second time in this page of this thread thank you for the kind words Bob... (different Bob).  Wow, soon the entirity of the Ragged Point Yacht Club will be SailFar members!  I really look forward to seeing some pictures of all the work you two have done on Ariel Spirit.... I am sure she is looking great!  I know the Ariel mafia (aka the Men in Black) over at pearsonariel.org will love to see the pictures too. 

Capt. Jack,

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?

There HAS to be SOMEONE in the Coast Guard who knows port from starboard... and if you can control a pack of scared dogs in a tippy dingy on a dark and stormy night then there is nothing the USCG will toss your way that you can not handle... they are idiots if they delay in sending you an invitation.

  Rose and I were just talking today about what a great group of friends we have back at Lejeune... we really wish you guys were all here to join us.  Speaking of here... I guess I should say where HERE is....  ;D



Ahoy from Great Guana Cay!                                         17 November, 2007

We stayed in Marsh harbor for 2 days, which was about one more then we needed.  It is not that it is a bad place, there is a nice anchorage that is well protected and has good holding with a nice dingy dock (with steps for Peter).  There are quite a few stores, and a 'big' town (Abacos 'big' at about 5000 people) has lots of services.

  It is just that we have (very quickly) become spoiled.  We like to have quite anchorage, with either a small cove with a few people or a deserted beach all to ourselves.... Marsh Harbor just did not meet either of those.  We did so a little shopping (bread, cheese, and Oreos... just the staples of life).  I also was able to by the third Explorer Chart book, the one I thought I had bought but somehow missed.  The prices are a bit high as I mentioned before.  The Oreos were $5.95, and the chart book was over $80 and was not the updated one... but we had to have both of them so what are you going to do?   ;)

  We finally got on the 'Cruisers Net'.  It is an ongoing 'round table' discussion of news, weather, and goings on that has been taking place on the VHF radio on channel 68 for some time here.  We had heard about it, and have tuned in at 0815 nearly every day hoping to hear something of it.  We could hear some of the boats replying to it from Green Turtle, and heard some of the news on it while we were crossing 'the Whale'.  We heard it from Marsh Harbor, but it was not as clear as we had hoped.  I think the boat who is hosting it is either pretty far out there, or does not have a very good radio.  We will see what tomorrow brings.  I have done pretty well in the 'trivia' contest though.. the two days we could hear the question.  The questions were; Where on the ship might a 'telltale compass' be found? and Who was the Capt. of the 'Queen Ann's revenge'? 

Our sail over here to Guana Cay (settlement harbor, also know as 'kid Cove') was a nice one.  The wind was blowing at about 12knots, and we had an easy reach all the way here sailing loose at about 4 knots.  It was only about 12 miles from Marsh Harbor, back up the way we came.... We just took our time since we had all day to get here.

It was a good day to show up, as the little town here had a spaghetti dinner fund raiser for it's small schoolhouse.  We had Conch spaghetti (it was great!) and then Rose did the cake walk and won one of her favorite cakes!  It was a pineapple upside-down cake.  It was a big one, so she gave all but a corner of it to a family we met while eating dinner.  The people a very friendly here, and the pace is much more laid back then Marsh Harbor.... Much more our speed.

I am tired now, so I will get off of here and hope to get this posted.  We have a connection, but I continue to have problems with the computer (better that then the motor) so I don't know if it will go.. but if you are reading this then it worked. 

Blessings all,

[psyche]

Craig, Rose and Peter,
I enjoyed reading your post and look forward to reading the one's to follow. The information in your posts will be beneficial for the rest of us who follow in your wake. Any information you have about navigating areas would be helpful. While at the SSCA Gam in Melbourne I was made a cruising station for the SSCA. so all of you are welcome to lay over at my place on the Ogeechee when you are cruising the ICW. Dan

[s/v Faith]

Guana Cay is shaping up to be one of our favorite places so far.  Between the spaghetti fund raiser last night, and the Pig roast at Nippers today, we are really enjoying this place.  But I am getting ahead of myself.

  The trip over from Marsh Harbor was a pretty easy sail.  There was really not much navigation to be done, after you got out of the harbor it was pretty much a straight shot.  We did sail around the harbor before we left, so we could see if there might have been a better place to have dropped the hook.  I love to sail around an anchorage as long as it is not too crowded.  There were probably 30 boats at anchor there, and twice we had someone pop their head up from their companionway and wave as we ghosted by.  Right outside the harbor there was a big black and grey motor vessel named 'Plan b'.  We had seen her anchored off of the whale, were she looked to me to be aground.  She has a small fleet of tenders, all in the same military like paint scheme right down to the pair of jet ski's.  Here is a picture of Peter checking her out;



The only thing in between Marsh Harbor and Guana Cay is Foot's Cay.  I took a picture since it looks like so many of the smaller cay's you pass in the course of the day.  Someone in a kayak would have a field day here exploring them all.



There is not much here in Settlement harbor, the traffic is a far cry from the fast cars on narrow streets of Marsh harbor.  We did see one golf cart yesterday with no muffler.  It sounded like it was going really fast, even though it was only going less then 10mph.  It is nice walking Peter without worrying about the traffic so much, in busier areas the traffic moves like island traffic else where in the world... fast and reckless.

We sailed right along the lee of the cay for about an hour before we made it to settlement harbor.



We had expected to sail on to Bakers bay, but settlement harbor looked inviting so we sailed on in and dropped the hook.



We are anchored pretty close in.  At low tide we are just brushing the bottom with our keel.  Once again it is good to be a SailFar boat.  Even the catamarans don't seem to want to come in as close.  We have been using our anchor snubber attachment at the waterline, and taking advantage of the short scope holding of our anchor to have swing circles of less then 2 boat lengths.  It makes for nice short dingy rides to shore.



Nippers is something of a tradition here among Abacos cruisers.  They have a  beautiful location, and great food.  They are so popular they used to have an active discussion forum, but it has fallen by the wayside.


Our friend Dennis, the source of much help and information as we got ready, repeated several times that we 'had to go to Nippers' for the pig roast on Sunday.  He was right, it was fun and the food was Great!  We did blow our weekly eating out budget as the Pig roast buffet was $20 a plate, but it was great food.  Peter Agreed.



We ate, (and ate, and ate...) hung around the pool and Peter and I went for a walk along the beach.



It has been a nice day, mid 70's with a light breeze.  I hope I can get this (and all the pictures) to upload....  hours later I am still working on it.....  The sad part is that I am using a legitimate WiFi connection.  I paid money for this to OII.Net, a small ISP that operates pay WiFi sites around the Abacos....

It is now almost 11pm, and I can not seem to get any more pictures to load so I am going to try to post this....  maybe I can get teh pictures in later.

[Zen]

greatgreat great!

[AdriftAtSea]

Good to hear from you.  Great photos. :D  Wish I was there.

[K3v1n]

Looks like great fun, your making me jealous as the cold weather begins its ugly decent round these parts.


Thanks for the story and pic's

Fairwinds,
-Kevin

[s/v Faith]

21 November 2007

  Still at Settlement Harbor, Guana Cay.

Today we went to the beach on the North side of the island and I went Snorkeling... all day long.  It was wonderful.  I understand 'Fodors' travel lists this beach as one of it's top for snorkeling evey year, and I can see why.  The surf was a little rough, but it was a lot of fun.  Rose damaged her ears while she was taking dive classes back at Camp Lejeune, so she had to stay on the beach  :-[  But she said she enjoyed it anyway.  It is a beautiful beach;



  Peter and I were playing in the sand, he would bounce and jump like he was a puppy again... he really LOVES it here.



  We had Conch fritters at Nippers and now Rose is making Red Beans and Rice for the pot luck at Grabbers.... we will be leaving in a few minutes.

  As I posted in Lynx's thread, he came into the anchorage today, so there is another SailFar member here... wish you could all join us!   ;D ;D ;D

[Frank]

That too cool...meeting up there. Now if only Connie sailed in  ;D  HAVE FUN !!

[s/v Faith]

Ahoy from Man-O-War!                     23 November, 2007

  The last couple of days have been good ones. We are anchored in the middle of a very crowded mooring field here at Man-O-war.  The day after Thanksgiving did not find us waiting in line and get a great deal at the local box store..... not too many of those out here.   

  Guana Cay was a great place to eat... and eat we did.  The last post I mentioned the spaghetti fund raiser and the pig roast at Nippers.  Well, we had lots of fun on that beach, and went back to it for more swimming and snorkeling.  Of course it would be rude to pass through Nippers without eating some conch fritters....   Duty and all that....  Then we went to another restaurant for dinner.  We had heard that 'Grabbers' was hosting a covered dish dinner.  Rose cooked up some red beans and rice and we went and enjoyed meeting several of the other people from other boats as well as some of the locals.  Seems like quite a few who live here had once just stopped in for a visit on boats... and never left.  We can sure see the draw.

  Thanksgiving day was a really good one.  We were up at sunrise when we sailed from Settlement Harbor to Fisherman's harbor. 

(Settlement Sunrise)


We picked up a mooring ball in front of 'Dive Guana' and Rose dropped me off on their dock for their half day dive.  I had not been too keen on spending the money, but Rose finally talked me into it.  I am glad she did.  It was a great time, we went out to the reef near Fowl Cay and had a great couple of dives.  I really enjoyed it, and took a disposable under water camera. 



I will post the results here when I get it developed.  I sure hope it worked, after I returned from the dive I noticed that it said it was only waterproof to 10'.  It did not seem to have any water in it, even after almost 2 hours as deep as 60'.

  The internet connection was not too great, but we were able to get on with Skype to make a couple of scratchy calls home.  It was nice, even if it was short and hard to understand.  We have been in the Bahamas over a month, and I have yet to use a regular phone.  Later in the afternoon we met James from Lynx at Grabbers for their Thanksgiving feast.  The Turkey and Yams were great, as was the Lobster bisque... a new favorite thanksgiving side.  ")



  We sat with the crew of 'Innovations' and really enjoyed the company.  Steve, her captain offered us the use of his mooring here at Man-O-War, but when we came in this afternoon it was occupied.  We talked, and played the Bahamian 'Ring game' into the evening and then dingied back to the boat.



  This morning we got underway, again at sunrise, and had a nice broad reach on winds of less then 10knots.  We were the only sailboat we saw all day who was content to sail in such light air.  We stopped at Fowl Cay where we set the hook and Peter and I dingied ashore and I snorkeled.  We dropped the sails and came into the narrow passage at Man-O-War around 5.  All the books say to just grab a mooring here, but at $15 a night we would rather anchor.  That may seem strange, but we are no longer getting my active duty pay, and there are some problems with my retirement retainer... so we are on a budget now.  The days of spending big bucks at marinas for a week at a wack are gone but I think we are going to be fine since we pretty much prefer the anchor any way.  We will be reporting more on expenses, since I had intended to do that anyway.

It is 25 November, and Faith has been lying at anchor behind Matt Lowe's Cay since yesterday afternoon.  We got up early at Man-O-War and dingied into town.  We had a nice walk along the waterfront, Rose enjoyed it in spite of Peter pulling her out of the dingy just as we came ashore (he was eager to greet the ducks.. he is fascinated by the ducks).  We bought some groceries and then arranged a meeting with Sarah Lyola, who bakes fresh bread and then drives around town to deliver it.  As I have said before the fresh cooked bread is one of the highlights of shopping here, and we were able to also find her with some of her hot fresh rolls... yum!

  We talked to the marina about using their facilities, but they said the mooring balls were $17 a day, and did not include use of the facilities.  We went down to look at the mooring that our friends on Innovations had offered us, it looked like a nice place but there was no place to get Peter ashore... This was more of a concern now as the dingy motor is not pumping water and I have to plan my shore trips around rowing an inflatable... anyone who has experience with this can attest, not much fun.



  We sailed out of Man-O-War intending to visit Hopetown, but they were hosting a soap box derby for the children, and we listened to several people unable to got a berth or a mooring in the crowded harbor so we took a pass.  The impeller we need for the dingy motor is most likely in Marsh Harbor (if to be found) but neither Rose nor I had thought much of the crowded harbor other then for shopping.  So a quick check of the chart found Matt Lowes Cay, which is near marsh Harbor but has no development (yet, it is being developed for houses).    Rose caught a fish (Barracuda) on the way over, it was small and you can not eat tropical Barracuda anyway so it went back in.




Today has been a long hard day.  Well, first I finished Eric Hiscocks 'Come Aboard' and then after taking Peter ashore we ate the last of the rolls, I drank my coffee, and I started into Bill Bryson's 'A Walk in The Woods'.  I am nearly finished with it already, and have enjoyed it all the more for the fact that I started it when I started grad school and laid it down in favor of more pressing, reading only now to pick it back up.  As you can see, Peter was deeply stressed;



We did have one other boat join us here.  There is about a mile of good anchorage to be had here, but that did not stop some folks on a chartered cat from setting up shop about 50' away from us.  They were not too loud, but it did keep Rose and I from our showers till it was good and dark out.



  We hope to go to Marsh Harbor tomorrow morning to check on a new impeller for the motor, and if we are able to we might head over to Hope Town in the afternoon.

Once again, ahoy from marsh Harbor.  We had a nice reach over here the wind was blowing at around 20k, so we were at or over hull speed all the way.  : )  I need to go ashore now, and will try to upload all of this in the internet café when I get there. 



 

 

[AdriftAtSea]

The crew doggy looks tired.  Good post... Look forward to the underwater photos if they come out.

[C. Worthy Shipp]

Craig - When you get a chance give me a call........no big thing.......just want to talk to you about an idea I have. Dad 

[dsnyder]

Nice Hat!!!!!!!  We miss you guys!  Happy Holidays wherever you may be.

[Lynx]

I passed Faith as they was sailing out of Hope Town when I was comming in. The said that they was heading to Eleuthera Island. Thay looked good.

Have fun.

[AdriftAtSea]

Lynx-

Thanks for the update on s/v Faith. :D

[s/v Faith]

Ahoy from Hope Town,                     28 November 2007

  Marsh Harbor was good to us; we got all we needed other then the impeller for the dingy motor.    We were able to do laundry and get Peter's ears looked at by a vet (again).  He has continued to have some trouble and it was good to check in with a vet and get restocked with a medication for him.  We also got some shopping done, and stocked up for the next stages of our trip which will take us into increasingly remote areas.



  Our new friend Mike on Island Flyer stopped by the boat last night and spent an hour or so going over the charts with us.  He has spent several years going to 'points south' of the Abacos and it was a big help, especially for Rose.  There is a kind of wall just south of the Abacos beyond which 'there be dragons'.  It seems this way anyway, as most everyone we speak to has a litany of reasons not to go beyond the Abacos.  Mike said many boats come with intentions to go farther south, but either lose their nerve or are talked out of it. He told us that little harbor, where we intend to make the crossing from is also known as 'chicken harbor' since so many get there and turn back for the Abacos.  We have talked to quite a few people who have said they were going to go, but had stopped here 'for a short break' and ended up buying property and moving ashore.  I can see the draw.



    Hope Town has been fun.  We found a great little library and book exchange and I wound up getting more books then Rose (for a change).  We met Dominick there; he has a cottage here and volunteers to open the library.  He let Peter in to sit with us while we looked and talked.  We walked over the hill to the beach. 



  We ran into our friend from Green Turtle, Sybil (s/v Scallop) .  It is really a small world here, as she was visiting a friend who we had met earlier in the day... Brad on 'Mothra'  who is also a good friend of Mike who we had talked to in Marsh Harbor the day before...who had pointed us to a friends mooring we could use for free for the night : : )  Through another set of happy chance meetings we met another Mike, (Chicago Mike).  He came over to talk about the boat... he has an Ariel also  (#90, named Whisper) and was getting ready to launch it.  The second layer of coincidence*  comes in that Rose had spoken to a friend of Mikes who was going to introduce us later.  He also had an old dingy motor which will now serve as a backup so we won't have to worry about the impeller hunt.  ; )





   November 30, 2007
We went to Capt. Jacks restaurant for breakfast the met Bruce and Lewey, who Craig had met the night before.  After we ate and talked for a short time, we dinged over to say goodbye to Sybil and Brad.  We then went and looked at the Lighthouse.  It is a neat one, with the original kerosene fired lamp.



It is neat to sit in the harbor and watch the light sweep over. It is over 100 steps, and we took Peter up part of the way with us.



It had a gorgeous view of the harbor and FAITH was the smallest cruising boat there.



She looked so small compared to some of the others.





Anyway, after we looked around for a while, we then set our next set of coordinates and set sail.  We were met by Mike in his dinghy, he said goodbye and he hoped to see us again, then we saw James on Lynx at the Lighthouse Marina.  We waved goodbye to him.  We were met by the crew of a catamaran named Horizon, who we had met previously.  A lot of people to say bye to, but it was fun and we can see why people stay.  Hope Town is a pretty and friendly town. 



  We left the mooring in Hope Town under sail just as we had picked it up.  Well, kind of.... The light wind had been just enough to allow us to ghost into HopeTown under sail.  We received a few nods of approval and a couple of strange looks as we sailed back and forth across the crowed harbor looking for a mooring.  It would have been reckless in less then ideal conditions, but worked out well and was a good introduction to the beautiful harbor.  We picked our mooring, and sailed up to it and luffed the main... and missed it by a couple feet so I had to start the motor for a couple seconds to reach it. 



We had a "happy sail", Rose says a happy sail is one that is not to windy.   The fishing went well but not as much for us as for the barracuda.  We had a strike, but reeled in only the head of whatever we had hooked.



It was another beautiful day and evening.  We are now anchored at Lynyard Cay, which has a nice beach for Peter Dog.  Tomorrow we are talking about taking a quick look at Little Harbor and then around 2 p.m. going out and heading for Eleuthera.     

2 December 2007

Ahoy from Spanish Wells, Eleuthera !

  The crossing went well, we left Lynyard Cay at around 3 yesterday afternoon after a walk on the beach and a morning of snorkeling. 


 
The wind started off at 10-15k just a point or two off the port quarter, almost a run. Normally this would have been ideal, but the swells had built from this direction for a couple days so we had a quartering sea which would cause the sails to fill and spill.  The wind and the swells built as we sailed out of sight of land, and it was a longer night then it might have been... but not as bad as it might have been had we waited a day.  The cold front that was to have stalled over the northern Abacos apparently made it's way south without delay as we got hit by strong winds and rain as we rested at Royal Island this afternoon.  The ~ 60 mile passage took us just over 18 hours from weighing anchor to setting it again.  Three and a third knots while towing the dingy.

  Royal Island is described as a secluded harbor with an uninhabited island were cruisers can rest after the passage.  It is a nice harbor, but very much inhabited.  A developer has bought it and is building houses very close together.  We put Peter ashore and were met by a security guard that insisted that the entire island is now off limits.  We had hoped to rest the night there, but decided to press on to Spanish Wells so as not to have a problem getting Peter ashore.  The cold front had come in, and pushed up short square waves that reminded me of the Pamlico Sound.  It was a long slow motor directly into the wind and waves but I am glad we did it.  Spanish Wells is a beautiful town, and we decided to treat ourselves to a night in a marina to get good showers and clean the boat.  This is one of the only places where the water is not metered, as the town's name would suggest there is an underground aquifer here with good sweet water.

our updates may be fewer for a while, the internet is not as available here in the outter islands.

Blessings to all,

[AdriftAtSea]

Thanks for the update... :D

[Ariel Spirit]

Hey guys...just thought i'd give you an update on happenings back here in north carolina...

There's the annual christmas party/meeting this Friday, where i fully intend to bring yall up as a point of new business...and it is at Capt. Rattie's in New Bern, we got the whole second floor so as to not create another spread out gournmet cafe night...it is a definite boat trash hang out.

I heard from Mona the other day, lightnin' is getting his masters license and he is home...for now of course...she says they would love to hear from yall via email if you have time.

The Fifer family is all well, you would hardly even recognize Ariel spirit down below, all freshly painted and shiney...and we are simply anxiously awaiting a reply from the coast guard academy...very anxiously awaiting.

Yank on Peter's tail for me, as i am sure he has not received the appropriate harrassment for months now  ;)...I wish i could go snorkeling every day as i pleased too... ;D

Keep a weather eye on the horizon

Capt. Jack

[s/v Faith]

Ahoy from Governors Harbor, Eleuthera                    8 December 2007

  Faith is anchored in the harbor, we have just eaten dinner and had our sunshowers, and I thought I might try the WiFi here... It is working so I thought I would make a quick post to let everyone know we are still alive.  I did not think I would be able to get online until tomorrow so I have to download the pictures but will work on a proper update and get it posted in a bit.