"Iggy" the Iguana

So, as you all have read, Allan's Cay is the home of giant iguanas. These pre-historic beasts are about 3 feet long and love hanging out on the beach in the sun. Trudie, Ian and I decided to dinghy to the opposite side of the island to escape a stiff breeze and get some water/beach time. T spread her towel on the beach to catch some rays, Ian was snorkeling and I was wading in the water, and walking the beach. Well, out of the brush comes "Iggy" a three foot reptile who wanted to share his favorite beach. The iguana, boldly strutted to HIS favorite spot (which happened to be exactly where T was laying) and got to about 5' from T and stared at her. T was less than thrilled, but appeared willing to share the beach with HIM. (A day before, T would have retreated to the dinghy) Eventually, T and Iggy bonded and both became comfortable with each other, realizing they had something in common.....sunbathing. As time passed, Iggy must have become very relaxed....for suddenly he stood up , stiffened, started "straining", cocked his right rear leg and his eyes closed half-way (literally).....I shouted "oh my god" as he took a big old _ _ _ _ right there next to T. She screamed, "OOOOO.....YUCK !!!!" Ian and I started laughing so hard we could hardly speak. Iggy took a couple of steps, laid down, spread-eagle and promptly fell asleep in the sun. Typical male........(some things haven't changed in 200 million years of evolution !)

We left Allan's yesterday just before noon, and had a quick sail (< 10 nms) to Norman's Cay. When we entered, we were the only boat in the anchorage....kind of disconcerting, "did we fail to get the memo ?" But we were quickly joined by a couple of other boats...including a grey beard. (I will explain "grey beards" in another post). We have not yet left the boat this morning as we have been busy having coffee and french toast (laced with Black Strap Rum) for breakfast. There is a beach bar called Mc Duff's on the island which we intend to check out and will probably do some New Year's celebrating there....

Ian has charted a seaplane to pick him up tomorrow. So, we will spend the next couple of days here as a front is predicted to roll through Fri late afternoon through Sat AM; so, we want to stay here in this "all weather" harbor. We will then decide where we go next depending on our water supply and weather.

So, THE CREW wishes you all a very Happy New Year's from the tropics.

THE EX-PATS

Arrived Norman's Cay

Just a quick note to let you all know that we sailed south to Norman's Cay today.
We had a great sail, and are now anchored; all without incident. But, we have so
much to blog about....but that will have to wait till tomorrow......

Its "sundowner" time.....so the blog will be postponed....do we have our priorities right or what ?

Allan's Cay continues....

We are still at Allan's Cay for another day. We had an action packed day yesterday. Right after a delicious breakfast made by Trudie's Galley; we re-anchored the boat further away from a rocky lee shore when other boats left the anchorage (which was pretty crowded when we arrived). This took a couple of attempts to position Persephone in deep water, away from other boats, and away from the rocky shore. After the anchoring drill, Ian was in the water swimming around the anchorage, literally. Ian snorkeled over our anchor and said it was not set correctly, so instead of trying to re-anchor I decided to set the anchor by hand. So, I pulled out my SCUBA tank and equipment and dove on the anchor. I was able to set it by hand relatively easily....sure beat moving the boat again and re-anchoring.

We all got into the dinghy (with our snorkeling gear) and went to the beach to visit the lizards (iguanas). They have been trained by people feeding them, so as soon as a dinghy approaches, they waddle onto the beach.....about 50+ of them looking for handouts. We were wading in the water, while Trudie practiced her snorkeling. When we returned to the dinghy, it was surrounded on three sides by lizards.....

We returned to Persephone for lunch and then back into the dinghy for more exploring of the small islands around Allan's looking for potential lobster hangouts. The dinghy looks like it was floating on air because the water at 15+ deep it is so clear.....you can see every detail on the bottom as if the water wasn't there at all....beautiful and a great turquoise color.

Back at the boat, it was time for "sundowners" and showers. (Ian took his 3rd swim of the day around the anchorage ....a LARGE mustard color motoryacht entered the anchorage, we T and I held our breaths hoping he wouldn't get run over (it was pretty close).....can you imagine the paperwork we would have to go through !!! Dinner from Trudie's Galley was great as usual; chicken quesadillas always a crew favorite. Afterwards, we all sat on the cabin top, with after dinner drinks, enjoying the warm breeze which had come up to 15-20 knts. There was a nearly full moon and we were able to see the bottom under Persephone in just the moonlight....yes the water is really that clear. The wind was warm, but caused an uncomfortable roll in the anchorage. P-Girl is rolling and bouncing pretty good. Even though, we have decided to stay here for another day of beaching, and snorkeling. We will probably leave here for Norman's Cay tomorrow.

Lots of pix to post when we are able. T and Ian say "hi" to all......gotta hit the beach !

Off to see the lizard.....

"We're off to see the lizards, the wonderful lizards of Allan's !" We left Nassau yesterday with Ian aboard and had a great day moving south to Allan's Cay. We took a dog leg around the "dreaded" (not my word, but the description in one of our cruising guides) Yellow Banks. This is any area of shallow water with patch reefs, and coral heads just below the surface. You must cross this area when the sun is high in the sky so that you can see through the water for dangers. The water is so clear, we could see starfish on the bottom in 16+ feet. The wind was up and down, so we had an opportunity to get in some sailing.

We arrived at Allan's just after 2pm and worked our way in applying the "anchor by Braille" method; as the anchorage has many shallow areas. This consists of working around the anchorage, occasionally touching bottom, backing away and trying another approach. We found a spot and dropped the hook. Unfortunately, we had a wind shift and low tide caused us to begin bouncing off the bottom softly. I didn't want any problems, so we just shifted our spot 50 yards west and re-set the hook; without incident.

T made spaghetti and meat sauce for dinner and we sat in the cockpit as a rain squall went through; all under the Christmas lites. We were all beat, so it was lites out (including the XMAS ones) around 9 pm.

Today we are going to see the lizards. Allan's Cay is one of the few remaining islands which is home to giant iguanas. These prehistoric lizards are about 3' long and very unattractive (read: UGLY) We will post pix when we have "real" internet access instead of "only" ham radio. Think of the Geico gecko on steroids and brown in color.... The rest of the day will be taken up by beaching, snorkeling and dinghy exploring (and of course a couple of "coldies")

Mike, you gotta start making reservations to get down here again before the winter is over....bought a Bob spear for hunting lobster....will let you know how the hunt goes.....

THE IGUANA CREW

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!

Hello all from the sunny Bahamas.....

We are still in Nassau celebrating Christmas and waiting on our friend Ian to arrive. Ian will be joining us tomorrow and will be staying through New Year's Day. T and I are both very excited about Ian coming. So, tomorrow afternoon, we will ride out to the airport and pick him up.....just about cocktail time. PERFECT !!

We have made good use of our time here in Nassau. T has done a lot of re-provisioning, and I have caught up on some basic maintenance. The water here is MUCH saltier than the water in New England.....so it is a constant battle of keeping the salt build up off the boat.

Yesterday, we went to the "fish market" for our Christmas Eve dinner. Well, the "fish market" consists of a beat up pick up truck parked just outside the marina. We climbed up on the back of the truck and looked in the large coolers for the perfect dinner. Yes, the fish were "still of the hoof" so to speak. We picked out the perfect grouper, and the mon asked "how d' ya like it ?" Filleted, perfect. So, our dinner to be was tossed onto a piece of plywood, the flys shooed away, and the knife briskly stirred in a bucket of water and the filleting began. Ten seconds later, we had two large pieces of the freshest fish imaginable. We bartered the "right" price and home (boat ?) we went with our dinner. It was SUPER !!

I made breakfast this morning......french toast with cinnamon, fresh ground nutmeg and oh, yes....a "bit" of Black Strap Rum.......Think I over did the rum a bit......T said it burned her throat......I think it was the cinnamon, mon.

We are hanging today, straightening out the boat for Ian's arrival and doing the beer shopping. Yes, all the stores (including grocery stores and liquor stores are open today). It is a beautiful day wx wise, warm, sunny and a light breeze......not a Christmas feeling at all. It is very different here......Christmas is really not a big deal. There are a few subtle decorations about, but none of the commercialism that you see in the states. Most of the stores and restaurants may have a simple wreath, or a small tree....but that's it. And what is really noticeable is the lack of lights.....no colored lights at all. So, we have been enjoying the string of lights I put up in the cockpit 2 weeks ago.

Finally, we have to say that THE CREW misses our friends and family up north. Although we are on our sailing adventure, you have all been in our thoughts during this season.......

So, to all of you from THE CREW, a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. I hope that you all can fulfill your dreams, whatever they may be, the way we have been able to this year. Lastly, "Kinvara" come on....get back to sailing.....you will love it here !!

D + T

Arrived Nassau !!

Had a great sail from Chub Cay to Nassau.....FINALLY !!  We left Chub Cay around 8:30 am yesterday morning for the 36 mile jump over to Nassau.  We put up both sails as soon as we cleared the harbor and took them down at the enterance to Nassau harbor, not once turning on the engine.  AND, we did a passage in daylight.....a real treat for us lately (as the last 2 trips were overnighters).  Very nice to see where you are going for a change.  We arrived at Nassau Harbor at around 2:30 pm (made pretty good time) and anchored just across the harbor from Atlantis on Paradise Island.  WOW, what an operation......you can see the pink building from 15+ miles at sea.  (Antlantis is the second largest employer in the Bahamas behind only the Bahamian government).   If we get a chance, we may go over and check it out, especially the aquarium which is supposed to the spectacular....

We went into our marina this morning to get some boat maintenance done, and check out Nassau.  What a shock from being isolated to being right in the middle of a noisy city.  You walk out of the marina right onto a major downtown street.....WITH CARS and TRUCK traffic.  We haven't seen/heard  that since Florida.  CULTURE SHOCK !!!!

Let me explain "boat maintenance".......  Well,  THE CAPTAIN decided last week to cut a 2' piece of chain to secure the outboard engine to the dinghy to prevent theft.   I had an extra piece of chain aboard, so out came the hacksaw and up to the bow I went where a nice breeze was blowing.....didn't want to get over-heated, you know.   But, not being stupid, I took a large bucket with me to catch the filings. (I was smiling and very proud of myself.....for the bucket idea....old dave was really using his head on this one!!)  The chain project went well and took only about 10 minutes.....great, time for a cold one.    One thing your fearless captain forgot to figure was the breeze.....yup, the filing blew onto the white deck  in a 5' radiius.  About two days later, (in the salt air/water)  the little filing rusted leaving rust spots which looked like huge freckles all over the foredeck.....an absolute unsightly mess !!!!  Holy S&%+@!!!!   Rust stains everywhere......Nice job, Captain "DH" Sawblade. 

So, there I am today, muric acid in hand, cleaning the foredeck for a couple of hours trying to remove  the rust stains.  ( And of course, Captain Reflex lost his balance, and stepped in the acid...burning the bottom of his feet.....some of the skin on the bottom of my feet  is still left)  Got most of the rust spots,  but Captain Acid will be back at work trying to get some more tomorrow.  This could be a very lengthy boat maintenance project requiring at least a case of cold beer to rehydrate me after my toil.

See, it really can be hell in paradise.....all in the shadow of Paradise Island......go figure !  Captain Tenderfoot

Pictures

We got some very limited connectivity last night here at Chub Cay;  Christmas came early !!  We will be leaving for Nassau first thing in the AM.  So, we will probably be out of regular communication until Wednesday when we dock at a marina in Nassau.  Meanwhile, we will be anchored out in Nassau harbor.  Will keep you all updated, but in the meanwhile  here are pictures we promised:

Trudie raising the Bahamian courtesy flag on Persephone (we are required to fly our US flag on the stern and the flag of the country we are visiting on the starboard mast spreader):

Here is the enterance buoy to the Berry Island Club....remember red, right returning....

This is the world famous Berry Island Club....reservations are recommended:

And, finally, after the excitment of the Berry Island Club, Trudie relaxes with a beer (which we had to bring) at the unfinished/abandoned bar at Chub Cay Marina  love the islands, mon!

We are in the populated areas of the Bahamas....50 miles from Florida, 35 miles from the capitol, Nassau...can only wonder what the "out" islands will be like.  More to follow from THE CREW !

Enjoying the weather !!

Enjoying the weather, NOT !! We are riding out our first gale in the Bahamas. We really made the right decision to duck into a well protected marina. The wind is topping out at appx 35kts; so the boat is listing in the slip. Seas outside the marina are running 12-16 feet !! This blow is considerably worse than what we weathered in the remnants of Ida in Charleston (except for the rain).

Yesterday, Trudie and I took a walk across the marina to check out the ocean. The waves were crashing against the shore and the spray was shooting over the trees which are sea pines appx 50 feet tall. The spray was easily clearing the roofs of the two story homes set back from the beach. (This isn't some DP exaggeration, we have the pix to prove it !!) We needed to wear our foul wx jackets to ward off the spray 100 yards from the beach.

So, what would you expect THE CREW to do ?? You got it...we headed for the tiki bar at the pool. As we mentioned, the bar is not completed so we brought own ! The bar stools were all set up looking for "customers". We had a couple of coldies watching the surf pound on the beach....very impressive.

Hanging out, doing some boat projects and basically goofing off today.

(("Kinvara" if you are following along, circle Chub Cay Marina as a good hole to hide in on your way to Nassau; no TV, internet, public phones or cell service, but the security of the marina basin is more than worth it.))

Speaking of a lack of modern communication, I can't emphasize enough the importance of our ham radio equipment for the cruising sailor. This has been our ONLY link to the outside world; it is enabling us to get weather forecasts and safety info, emails, and of course posting to the blog to keep friends and family informed of our whereabouts. Can't imagine sailing without it....guess the only alternative would be a satellite phone....but that is VERY expensive and well beyond our budget. So, here we are relying on 1930s technology. But, you know what...it works great !!
THE CREW

Lots to Drink About......

Good morning from the Berry Islands, Bahamas !!

This is being sent via ham (amateur)radio as we have no other device for communication as you will read.

We want to update everyone on what's been happening aboard Persephone for the past couple of days....As we posted, we left Lucaya at around 5pm on Tuesday evening for a night sail south. We had been advised by the "weather guru" that the wx was going to turn nasty later in the week. The Berry Islands are low lying, very shallow with a minimum of all wx harbors. Simply we didn't want to get caught in a less than ideal anchorage; although beautiful. So, we decided to head for the Berry Island Club on Frazier's Hog Cay which is said to be a place to ride out bad weather.

The Berry Island Club is billed as a "full service marina" with a well marked approach channel, docks and secure moorings at $15/nite; including WiFi, laundry, telephone, restaurant (reservations suggested) and a dinghy landing. We jumped on the idea of picking up a mooring and using the marina facilities to wait out the wx. We tried phoning the marina to make a reservation....the phone wasn't working.... no problem, must just be an island thing.

We arrived on Weds morning and started working our way up the 1.5 miles along the east side of the island to the marina. Our first clue that all was not ideal was one of the green entry buoys was up on the beach....(yup, we will keep the beach on the left....but buoys are usually floating....dah !) After that, we didn't see another buoy. OK, so we worked our way up the unmarked channel reading the water colors...staying in the deep blue, and away from the light green. Perfect.

We arrive at the marina, not a single boat was at the docks which on a second look were dilapidated. We turned into the mooring field (only 3 mooring balls), and picked up a mooring a man on shore was point toward. As we looked around we saw several other mooring balls washed up on the beach, and one entangled under the dock with broken lines still attached..... (that's a bit unusual)

We set up the dinghy and went to the docks to check in. We had to climb up some less than well secure, flimsy ladder to the dock (so much for a dinghy landing). Two large barking dogs chained to a tree greeted our arrival. I asked about the security of our mooring. "No problem with your mooring mon....it's chained to a sunken truck...that truck is going nowhere mon....ha ha ha".

Can I get the WiFi code to log onto the internet...."sorry mon...hasn't worked in a long time, mon" "How about the phone", I asked ? "No phone, mon..we use the internet" (Skype?) OK.... By this time we were in the office, "restaurant" and bar combination. I suddenly realized why reservation were needed....to make sure the "cook" was on duty. How are the conch fritters, I asked....."no mon....conch hasn't been delivered in days...." We went back to Persephone, and went to the beach for the day (which was really nice)

On Thursday morning we again listened to the wx, and the guru said the approaching front was one of the worst in years (literally) with 30+knt gales and squalls to 50kts+ I decided to check out the mooring a little closer....yup there is the truck on the bottom, and a very light chain was connected to it....."Trudie, I have a bad feeling about this place...." "Let's get otta here...NOW !" Great idea, she replied.

We decided take a short hop next door to Chub Cay Marina. This is billed as a "full service marina" including a pool, and island store for groceries. Sounds great....but more expensive than a mooring....

We arrived yesterday just before noon. The docks are state of the art, floating docks in a man-made lagoon... very wx protected. "Can I get the WiFi login code ?"..."sorry mon, internet hasn't worked in a long time..." "OK, how about a pay phone so I can use my new Bahamian phone card ?" "No, mon....been otta order long time now..." "OK"....as I sighed. The pool is a two level pool where you sit looking out over the beach and ocean.....when sitting at the pool, you can't tell where the pool stops and ocean starts....gorgeous ! The pool has a tiki bar in the middle with swim up stools. But it is all abandoned and unused, so we had it to ourselves. In fact, we are the only boaters we have seen in the entire facility....there are several sportfishers here, but no one around. So, we spent the afternoon, at the beach, with hi end beach chairs, and at the pool all by ourselves. Apparently, reservations are needed at the restaurant....for the same reasons as the restaurant at Frazier's Hog.

So, here we sit, in hi winds, with approaching squalls, safe, sound, alone, at a beautiful facility, unconnected and very happy. We are just learning the island ways....what I have described is inconsequential to the beauty of the water, beaches, and the big smiles of people who tell you nothing works. They're not the ones with high blood pressure! Maybe they DO have the right philosophy.......

(Will be uploading pix when we have internet access....can't do pix easily via ham radio)

Island Time

Hey all....

Just a quick note to say we have NO COMMUNICATION. All is fine aboard, and we are safe in Chub Cay Marina; waiting out ugly weather. The phones at the last two places have not been working or vandalized (including the pay phone here). We have NO Verizon cell service. In addition, we have NO INTERNET. "WiFi not working mon for a long time now" Our ONLY communication is ham radio.

We will post a blog with all of the detail tomorrow AM. THE EX-PATS

It's five am.....

It has been a very busy nite aboard Persephone. There is a great deal of commercial ship traffic between Freeport (which is next to Lucaya) and Nassau. Five cruise ships, multiple tankers, and freighters have passed us; some pretty close. So we have been kept busy watching the radar, identifying light patterns to determine which way the ships were going and checking the AIS (an electronic gadget which tells the distance from us to commercial ships and their range, bearing and how close they will come to us).

On the bright side, you couldn't ask for a nicer evening on the water. T-shirts and shorts, soft warm breeze and pretty flat seas make for a very enjoyable passage. We have about 30 miles left to go.....

You can always check our location at www.shiptrak.org and type in my call letters: N1ELQ.

Our current position is 25 39.943 N 077 42.120 W at 5am....

On the move again.......

Can you believe it ? We are on the move again !!

We spoke to our weather router this morning and he was still predicting snotty weather for later in the week; so we decided to leave tonite for the Berry Islands.

First things first, Lucaya was nice....the people could not have been nicer or more helpful. We would definitely recommend using Lucaya as a point of entry into the Bahamas. (Although, the "officials" that did our paperwork granted Persephone one year to remain in the Bahamas, but THE CREW was given only 100 days !! Go figure....that is just the way it is in the islands !!) The main attraction in Lucaya is the Market Place. Sort of an assortment of tourist-type duty free shops catering to the cruise ships which frequent Freeport. We saw lots of "condo commandos" today complete with matching belts and shoes. Just made you proud to be from the states !! So, 36 hours was enough for us in Lucaya.

Again, we are doing a night passage...guess we don't sail during the daytime anymore. We didn't want to get stuck for days in Lucaya waiting for weather to continue our trek south, so that also factored into our decision to leave tonite. In addition, if we left in the morning we would arrive at our destination in the evening...or after dark; not good in the islands.

Tonite is even nicer than our passage on Sunday nite. The weather is almost identical, but the sea is table top flat. There is very little wind, so we are again motorsailing. We are bypassing most of the Berry Islands tonight as we don't want to get caught out if the weather is as nasty as predicted. The Berry's are sparsely populated, and there are very few deep, protected anchorages. Most of the anchorages are just tucking up behind a cay out of the prevailing easterly winds. However, it is no place to be in a gale or heavy squalls. So we have opted to go to the bottom of the Berry's to Frazier's Hog Cay. (Gotta love the name) We can snug up to the island, perhaps get a mooring and have relative protection. Frazier's Hog is just short of 100 miles south of Lucaya, so we won't be arriving till around noon tomorrow.....perfect time to "read the water" going up the channel next to the island. (The charts of the Bahamas are sketchy at best, lacking the detail that we are used to in the states....so you have to learn to read the depth of the water by its color.....it is all on the job training...a passing grade is not hitting a reef, or coral head. You can guess a failing grade :(

So, I have to go take a look around....I'm looking at the radar as I'm typing and all is clear 6 miles around us.....but it never hurts to take a look-see (or is that sea ??) Later...........

On the Move.....

Hi all........

We hve decided to leave Lucaya tonite and head for the Berry Islands in advance of a potent cold front which may bring gales to the area.  We will be leaving around 5 pm to get out to sea before dark.  Will update post via ham radio while at sea.    THE CREW

Arrival

Well, we got into Lucaya just before 9am. The water at the approach went from 500+ feet deep to appx 10 feet deep in about a 150 yards !! (Just a bit disconcerting...) The water color and clarity is post card pretty. In 20' of water you can clearly see the bottom and fish swimming around....

We got tied up promptly and had to take a water taxi to Customs and Immigration. Another boat ("Stolen Moments") arrived just before us, so we all went together. Craig kept humming the Crosby Stills tune "Immigration Man" (Half way through the song the lyrics change from Immigration Man" to "Irritation Man"...will you let me in ??) As in the song, we we spent 4 hours waiting to get cleared in (which included going to lunch to wait for a second person). A couple of Kaliks (Bahamian Beer) eased the process.

We got back to the boat, got her squared away, and Trudie went to the pool to get cooled off and work on her tan and I gave Persephone a bath. I got as much spray on me as the boat 'cause it was so hot.

We are hanging at the dock tonite, and crashing early. We haven't yet figured out when or where we are going next ! We'll let you all know.

THE Ex-Pat CREW

Arriving....

We are off Lucaya with about 4+ miles to go. We should be arriving at the channel entrance in less than an hour. Easy, uneventful passage. We both were able to get some sleep, and are rested. Simply, couldn't have been a better passage.....(except we could have used a bit more wind). All is well aboard...and looking forward to our arrival in port.

26 26.93 N X 078 41.25 W at 7:20

Beautiful night

We just had a change of watch here on Persephone. I hit the bunk at midnight, and just got up at 3am for the remainder of the night. Trudie had a busy watch "dodging" commercial ships traversing between Bahamas and Florida. The electronics on-board are a real help in identifying the ship, its speed and direction...they even tell us how close the ship will pass us. So, Trudie altered our course to stay out of the way. (I have what is known as the "tonnage rule".....if it is bigger than us, keep otta the way...even though we are a sailboat !

The stars are incredibly bright without the moon, and there have been a great number of shooting stars. It is very warm, with flat seas making for a great motorsail; although I would like a bit more wind so we could shut down the engine. Oh well, can't have everything.

Back to my "watch"....(not like there is much going on here :) )

Underway

This is being sent by ham radio. We are underway from Lake Worth to Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island. It is a beautiful nite with warm temps and lots of stars (but, no moon). We could use a little more wind to help push us along. Right now we are motorsailing as there is not enough wind to keep us moving. All OK aboard... Trudie is sleeping, and I have to get back to my watch. More to follow.

24 Hours and counting.....

The last 24 hours has been a whirlwind.  Completing our lists, finishing shopping/provisioning, 2 trips to the pharmacy, water, fuel, weather checks.......wow !!.....our heads are spinning......

The Christmas festivities started last night in Vero Beach Marina.  There was a parade of boats decorated in holiday lights, illuminated santas and of course tacky reindeer complete with blaring music.... The parade ended next to Persephone:

To add to the festivity, there were about 15 kayaks (all decorated with lites) paddling around the anchorage singing Christmas carols at each boat.   We joined in by putting up lites in the cockpit and blowing our horn as each boat passed.  It was great fun and got us in the holiday spirit !!                                                       

I was up at 6:45 this morning to listen to the weather forecast, and speak with our weather router.  We wanted to head over to the Bahamas in the middle of next week.  The weather guru said no way....a major front is forecast to cross the Bahamas from Tues until later in the week making a crossing unwise.  He said go and go NOW, he gave a window of Sunday night into Monday morning.  So, we immediately started to prepare the boat to get underway today down the remaining 60 miles of the ICW.                                     

What does this all mean ??  We will exit the ICW via the Lake Worth Inlet late tomorrow afternoon and do a night sail across to Grand Bahama Island arriving on Monday morning.  We will be going to Lucaya to clear customs etc and wait for the front to roll through.  Once we are in the Bahamas our cell phones will NOT work.  You will only be able to contact us via email and then only if we have access to the internet which may be spotty in the outer islands.                                                                                              

So wish us luck, and follow along on ShipTrak as we cross tomorrow nite  (D +T soon to be X-patriots)                       

                                                   

Test

This is a test for posting via amateur radio email system. 

Countdown Underway.....

Guess I'm still in space center mode with the "countdown" stuff.....anyway......

Persephone and THE CREW are still in Vero Beach, FL working on our checklist.  We have been very
busy with provisioning and waiting for spare parts to arrive.  For example, we have loaded 25 pounds of boneless chicken, 15 lbs of hamburg, 20+ boxes of pasta, and tons of can goods.  We are lucky the  boat still floats !  Trudie has spent hours with the Food Saver (vacuum sealer) making dinner sized portions for freezing.  In addition, sugar, flour, rice etc are all sealed in the Food Saver to prevent moisture, and bugs (yes we are in the sub-tropics).  The last of our spare parts should arrive tomorrow (half a dozen fuel and oil filters, a spare starter motor, spare solonoid for starter etc).  Engine parts are difficult to obtain in the out islands of the Bahamas and we don't want to depend on a mail boat which may or may not arrive at a remote island once a week....never mind the lack of ability to order parts from the US and duties to inport them.  So, we are trying to be pro-active and self-sufficient.

We have joined a weather routing service to obtain specifie weather forecasts for the trip across to the Bahamas and for wx info while we are there.  Weather forecasts are spotty at best, and there is no weather  radio in the Bahamas.  So, we must rely on old fashion short wave radio broadcasts (now called marine SSB) and the weather service which we can speak with each morning; again by short wave.  Sort of like being thrown back into the 1930s. 

If all proceeds as planned, we should be able to leave Vero on Saturday and make a 2 day "inside" run down to Lake Worth were will stage out of for the Bahamas.  We will wait in Lake Worth for a weather window, which may be as soon as Monday-Tuesday next week.  We will leave Lake Worth in the early evening so that we will arrive in the morning at Lucaya, on Grand Bahama Island.

We will keep you all updated on the weather window.....   THE CREW

Lots to talk about....

As you all know, we have had the third crew member Mike aboard all week. It’s been a blast and we miss him now that he has gone back north. We have alternated playing tourist, mechanics and boat movers all week.     
Boat movers:   In this past week we have moved the boat approximately 250 miles down the Florida coast (Mile Marker 715 to 951). The last two days of the trip was nearly dead straight down the canal system. It was so straight, I had to tap the compass a couple of times to see it was still working. It also rained very hard….the kind of rain if you look up, you could drown!! The bimini kept us dry and the 18 packs of Corona eased the effects of the rain. (Yes, Corona is sold in 18 packs down south).
    
Boat Mechanics:   Mike and I got lots of “stuff” done on Persephone…oil and filter change, bilge cleaning, fixed an oil leak on the genset. ..etc, etc. The biggest project was the replacement of all of the ship batteries. There are five large batteries (70+ lbs each) which provide power for the lights, electronics and all of our electrical needs. The batteries were 5 years old, and I knew they were on their way out…..but being cheap, I wanted to get the last electron out of them !! And I did.  Last week, we had a complete electrical failure, including alarms and equipment shutdowns. Yep, the batteries died….I didn’t even bother to try CPR….DONE DEAL. We were at Cape Marina in Cape Canaveral which is a large “do it yourself” type marina. We ordered new batteries and they had them at the boat in hours. Mike and I spent the afternoon installing all 5 and it has made a huge difference. Lights, the computer, stereo and refrig can all be going without fear of running the batteries into the ground. NICE.
    
Tourists:   On Wednesday, we rented a car (well, it was a Chrysler 300 land yacht…sort of a “gangsta-mobile”) and rolled to the Kennedy Space Center for the day. KSC is a study in really really big and really really small. The rocket and capsule which took John Glenn into orbit is amazingly small. ( I think you can buy fireworks rockets at the local pyro store which are bigger than the redstone rocket ! And the Mercury Capsule….well see for yourself. It is amazing that a guy in a spacesuit could fit in this thing !!

The Apollo moon capsule is not much bigger….it is about the size of a Volkswagon bug with 3 stretchers for seats….you need a shoehorn to pry the guys in. But the guys themselves were small. The space suit of G. Cernan (last man to walk on the moon) was on display, so I had Trudie stand next to it….. T is 5’ 5” tall…..

 The Saturn V rocket is absolutely HUGE. It dwarfs the other rockets, including the rockets attached to the space shuttle. To give some perspective…..here are Trudie and Mike standing under the solid rocket boosters and external tank of the shuttle….get what I mean by BIG !

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We were a bit disappointed by the lack of hands on exhibits and real science. I wanted to be convinced that we really landed on the moon. Looking at the equipment, it is amazing it got off the ground, never mind landing on the moon !! Persephone has more sophisticated electronics !!  This is the Apollo 14 capsule that carried the "astronuts" to the moon:

We are currently at Vero Beach for the week. We are getting ready for the next phase…provisioning for 3+ months and preparing for the crossing to the Bahamas. Bahamas or bust by Christmas !!