As you might know both our laptops died over the winter and trying to produce a blog on a cell phone, well it was certainly challenge. I will work to do better. In the mean time catch up on the recent happenings.

As we prepared to depart Hope Town Abacos there was a couple of tasks to take care of. #1 was to raise a wall on the house of a friend is building in Hope Town. It will not be large but the view as seen below is going to be spectacular as you can see from the below.

The view that John and Carol will have is going to be off the charts.

As we departed from Hope Town we were watching a weather window for the following week. We had never visited Green Turtle so that was our first stop…did I mention there was ice cream involved? Along the way I was watching the weather….constantly

After a few days in Green Turtle we moved on..along the way we watched the weather. We were planning the longest passage of our “career” so things needed to be right. We have a professional weather router/guy we talk to on the HAM radio twice daily when we are making preps for a long passage. No matter the exact day we departed the first 12 hours, basically until we reached the latitude of Cape Canaveral was going to be the roughest part of the entire 500 mile trip. We decided there for to stop at Great Sale Cay for the night. This allowed us to get a good nights sleep, travel the rest of the way across the Bahama Banks, get into the Gulf Stream and be approaching Cape Canaveral before night fall.

As expected we had a boisterous day but the seas did lay down nicely the further north we went. By sunset and approaching Cape Canaveral things were well in hand.

By morning of our second day underway the seas had laid down the winds had practically ceased.

We had a peaceful passage along the coast of north Florida and Georgia. The goal on this route is to sat in the Gulf Stream as long as possible. The additional boost the Gulf Stream current gives us is an extra 2-3 knts. Those miles really ad up on a passage such as this.

On the morning of the third day at sea we approached the South Carolina coast and entered Winyah Bay, about 60 miles north of Charleston. Our mentors Greg & Marie always encouraged us to stick to Class “A” inlets (big ship come and go) because we can always enter in the dark or when conditions get bad. This passage went perfect to plan and we arrived in settled cognition’s and in the light of day and too top things off, we had a flood current which carried us right in.

Out final destination for the trip was Georgetown SC which is about 12 miles up Winyah Bay. We had never been here before and looked forward to a new town and of course had to clear customs.

I had this little app running on my phone during the whole trip. I thought it was really cool that you can actually see when we entered and departed the Gulf Stream. The really fun part is if you look right at the end if the graph you can see our speed pop back up as we rode the flood tide in and up Winyah Bay.

After a couple of days at the Georgetown we continued up Winyah Bay to the mouth of the Waccamaw River. Our 25 miles trip brought us to Bull Creek off the Waccamaw which is one of our favorite anchorages.

We love to watch the turtles fight for the choicest spots on the logs to sun themselves. This last guy was a monster. Must have been 18 inches across. I sure bet he has a story or two!

This is our reward for a couple of long days…the tree buds are just coming out in the warm spring sun.

We eventually made it into Osprey Marina in Myrtle Beach where we will spend the next month, and of course there is ice cream!

Be Safe and promise to write more!

After departing Half Moon we visited Rock Sound Eluthera. Sorry I did not take many pictures but I did get one of a public phone booth.. yes they still have them here!

We departed Rock Sound for Spanish Wells. We have never brought Magnolia here but have taken the ferry here from Nassau and Harbor Island.

Entering the harbor at Spanish Wells.

This is a new car being delivered to the island. The family that runs this ferry appear Amish or mininite  and have been known to break out in hymn as they make their way.

This is the fast ferry arriving from Harbor Island and returning to Nassau

This is my Valentines present for Annette…it’s a love knot! She is really the family knot tyer but does let me tie a bowline now and then.

I was dressed to the 9s for Valentines. Long pants, first since my cousins wedding last fall!

Friends we met in Hope Town were making their first trip beyond the Abacos. It was lovely to share Valentines Dinner with them and two other couples.

This girl is are favorite though…she makes the best chocolate shake in the Bahamas!

Rather than becoming obese in Spanish Wells we departed to the Abacos a 65 mile ocean passage. We had a rolly passage but the real fun was entering the inlet at Little Harbor with breaking waves. Ever ride a 44 foot, 15 ton surfboard…trust me you do want to!

After a good night’s sleep we continued to Hope Town where our friends on Kindred  Spirit  and Cutting Class welcomed us with open arms and lovely evening. PICTURES COURTESY KINDRED SPIRIT.

We will be here in the Abacos watching for a weather window and for the South Carolina to warm up a little before we head back across the Gulf Stream. Vessel and crew are happy and well.

Remember how I was saying how the Cruiser Community just solves problem? Magnolia was the benefactor of that problem solving yesterday. I outboard dies completely unexpectedly on Cat Island so when we arrived Rock Sound getting the engine back online was priority #1. After getting Magnolia settled in went about changing filters and spark plugs and to my surprise that did not solve the problem. As I was preparing to pack up and go into, research mode Myron & Dina of SV Hold Fast pulled up and without moments hesitation Myron went to work. Dina kindly gave me a dingy lift to town for fresh gas while Myron pulled the carburetor apart. By the time we returned with the fuel the engine was back together. A couple of pulls on the starter and we were back in business. It is days like these we are so grateful to be part of this community…it really thrives on being able to pay it forward. BTW, this afternoon we will be making a bracket for a third boat out of some high pressure fiberglass plate that I keep in spares…it’s going to be a good day!

After a couple day visit at Cat Island we sailed out of Fernandez on our way up to Eluthera. It is a 70 trip which requires heroic efforts to complete in 1 day. The compromise is making a stop at Little San Salvador Island, known as Half Moon Cay by Carnival Cruisers everywhere.

The island is privately owned so we are not allowed to go ashore while there is a cruise ship here. Makes sense that you would not want cruise boat people hanging with us scanky sailboat cruisers. 🙂 The down side of this anchorage is it is rolly as all get out so as soon as I finish this post it will be shower and bed for this captain.

I forgot, topped up the outboard tank out of my Jug yesterday and just as I was about to pick up guests on the beach to bring back to Magnolia
the outboard died and had to row back out. Was not able to get restarted so obviously that will be priority #1 when we arrive in Rock Sound. Hoping some fresh gas, a couple filters and a couple of spark plugs will resolve.

Now off for that shower, it’s going to be a full day tommorow. PS Another door to door sail today. What is the MPG on 1 qt of Fuel for 45 mile? Love it

It may look like us but it’s not, it’s Kelly Nicole a sisters ship to Magnolia. Paul and Debra left from Rochester NY the yer before us and followed there progress closely to learn what we could. We finally me them face to face last year in Eluthera and finally this year got to hang out share some laughs. They though are continuing down the Thorny Patch through the Mona passage and onto the Caribbean. They’re crazy!!! 🙂

We are always excited to visit a new place but with that newness certainly  ones some anxiety. Never fully know where everything is, how good the holding in the anchorage is. This was our first visit to Long Island and it was also one of the islands most impacted by hurricaine Joaquin. We brought a number of construction supplies, household goods and also school supplies but until we arrived we did not really know how else we were going to be of use.

The great thing in this community of cruisers is if there’s a problem someone always steps up and it gets solved. It does not matter if it’s hurricane relief of a boat cat that is sick it gets fixed. (the cat thing is true) In this case it was organizing work party’s where they are most needed. First day we spent cleaning up the church rectory for the Anglican Church in Clareancetwon.

The “group” works hard but also enjoys a cold beer. In this case it was on the way back to the harbor at Bling Bling Bar and Carly Wash. This stuff can not be made up!

When not working ashore there is always something to to aboard Magnolia, like polishing the brass.

A couple days later we were called back into action to clean up the yard and boats of the local youth sailing club. It was really hot in the sun that day so missed the picture until the group got a cold beer later.

The crews of Kelly-Nicole and Magnum rented a car for a day of touring the island. First stop was the Blue Hole where Free Diving competitions take place. People hold there breath and dive as deep as they can. The Blue Hole itself is lime 600 feet. I think people dive down about 200 crazy !

It became even crazier when Paul found the Memorial to all the people that dies here diving!

As we drove down to the south end of the island Annette read aloud how the road ends abruptly. We all kinds of chuckled until we got to the end and really did have to get on the breaks. There were lime no signs or indications the road was going to end…it just doesn’t and very abruptly too!

We had Kelly-Nicole over one evening and when I offered Paul a Scotch and Cigar well we were able to fully endorse our Man Cards!

We truly enjoyed our stay in Long Island, helping where we could and spending time with friends. It was nice to be there, next atop, Cat Island.

Magnolia arrived Long Island just in time to prepare for our next weather front, happens to be the same one that is dropping a couple feet of snow on DC this weekend….I guess we can leave the city but not escape the storm!

Since a storm was coming to DC we thought we should head out and buy all the toilet paper bread and milk we could carry.  Thankfully our friends Paul & Debra from Kelly Nicole were along. See Paul & Debra lived in Rochester and Buffalo so storm stories with them were only met with humorous mocking!!

Since the world was coming to an end we decided a bit of touring around Long Island was in order. We rented a Ford Escape and headed south to Clareancetwon where the guide stated “the road abruptly ends.”

This was a complete understatement!  I mean, one second cruising along and the the end, no sign no nothing…just the end. No fatalities though Paul needed to “freshen up” once I got the truck stopped!

We stopped at a famous blue hole where people free dive holding their breaths. Crazy! The hole there is at least 650 feet deep. Annette and Paul wanted to snorkel it but with overall clouds and a water motion suggesting they could be sucked down and flushed out! Later reviewing the plan and the outcome with the locals they maid them promise never to think about swimming there again, too dangerous….oh.

I forgot to include the picture of Paul any the Memorial to all the people who have dies swimming in the hole…actually free divers but makes for a better story….

Well I am still writing on my cell phone so I need to go before my thumbs cramp up…be safe and buy a snow shovel. Vessel and Crew are well!

Well the anemometer tells the whole story. We have had everything from 0 to 55. I have to say 55 on a boat is one hell of a ride! For my friend in the mid-atlantic, remember that derecho that came through in 2012? Well we had one come through here. It was crazy!. Thankfully boats have been slow in getting south so the harbor not nearly congested as usual. None the less many boats dragged anchor and crashed into each other. Magnolia lost her anchor and thankfully we were able to get out into deep water without colliding with anyone. Annette did a great job at the helm. Once in deep water and away from the crowds I dropped the spare anchor. Things settled down till about 3am when the interior of Magnolia was lit up by a arriving cargo ship as it passed real close by. We got underway first thing in the morning returning to our anchorage. It was not long in the dinghy that I spotted the chain and with friends help anchor and chain was reattached to Magnolia. It was a heck of a night but our mentors prepared us well and where mistakes were made we got lucky.

Since the death of my laptop blogs have been slow. I am writing this one on my cell phone. Will work on the process. I will try and write more often than recent. Be safe!

Blog had some challenges, I know even more than usual…see my laptop died of a unfortunate “smoke release.” Anyone who knows well having one computer between and Annette and I well that’s a “challenge.” In addition too that, my camera went missing aboard for a week. Knew it was aboard but it took a while for it to reveal itself! We have things together as they are till we return to the states so making it all work. More importantly Magnolia has been 100% operational so that’s what is really important I keep forgetting but we installed a water maker last summer and have been making our own fresh water from the salt water around us!

Anyway, after getting checked in to Bahamas Customs and Immigration we caught our breath at Hope Town, Abacos. In addition we wanted to catch back up with SV Cutting Class and MV Kindred Spirit. Sadly Cutting Class was slowed by weather but Kindred Spirit was just a day or two behind. Soon it was time for Magnolia to get underway and head for the Exumas if we were ever going to make it to Long Island!

The trip down to the Exumas includes a 50 mile passage across the “Northeast Providence Channel” We have found this to the “biggest water” traverse anywhere as well as one of the busiest from a shipping stand point.The current track is the thick green one. You will see about half way across we need to maneuver to give out selves a little more room from an approaching freighter.

We arrived the west side of Current Cut just before dusk to anchored there for the night. As the name suggests there is a LOT of current through there and thankfully the optimum time to go through was just after the dawn on the next day! 

After a goof night sleep and successfully transiting Current Cut we made the short hop across the banks to “Middle Ground” coral fields. It is not too hard to transit but you do need to keep an eye for a stray coral head that may or may not be deep enough to really mess up your boat!

After a night anchorage at one of our favorites “Hawksbill Cay” we traversed on to Black Point Exumas. This is one of the “big towns” in the Exumas so we will stay here for Christmas.

We will try and get back on Blog Schedule next week! Be Safe, have a terrific holiday and a safe weekend!

As you might recall Magnolia planned and did depart Fort Pierce, FL  Wednesday for Abacos, Bahamas.  As it turned out, only three things went as planned….

The forecast was for a lovely south wind which was perfect for this passage, by the way we did get our 10-12,  I just underestimated how much we would need…the thought was we could sail across the Gulf Stream and right up on the banks of Bahamas. Well it was I who underestimated the amount of wind required to drive Magnolia south and east across a 2 knot current. All the back seat sailors can hold opinions…my responsibility. After giving up 4 miles to the north, I gave in and fired up the engine…

As the track below shows, you can clearly see where the Gulf Stream starts and ends!

About 1600 the first of the widely scattered squalls to 30 knots arrived..widely scattered obviously means different things to different people…we would say “widely scattered moments of 15-20 knots followed by several more constant gusts to 40, Magnolia has ever been washed cleaner than by the amount of rain we received. A friends boat, Sagwa from Quebec Canada can be seen below.

Pictures just cannot capture the shear energy of the ocean waves.

Things settled once we got up on the banks and over towards Sale Cay, and the moon came out right on schedule at midnight, just could not see much of it till about 02:00 on Thursday morning. We we pressed on across the banks over night passing Coopers Town, Little Abaco Island about dawn on Thursday.

As Magnolia progressed down Great Abaco Island the next hurdle was the “Whale.”

The depth on the inside is too shallow for Magnolia to make it behind Whale Cut so we are forced to make a quick jaunt out into the ocean and back in on the other side of the cut. Because of the tides, currents and northern exposure this can be a treacherous cut if the conditions are not ideal. Remember those south winds? Well they made of ideal conditions and thankfully, after the night before..the Whale was a cake walk!

After clearing the Whale Magnolia proceeded on to Marsh Harbor where we anchored over night and rested up.  First thing on Friday we cleared Customs and Immigration. We took the opportunity to run the water maker and produced about 30 gallons of fresh water to top up our tank before taking a mooring ball in Hope Town.

After a relaxing afternoon and between rain showers we hopped in the dinghy and headed for Wine Down SipSip for a flat bread.

Nothing says Hope Town like a flat bread!

Magnolia did take quit a beating and have a couple minor repairs to take care of but hopefully head for the Exumas later next week. Be Safe, Vessel and Crew are well on this end.

While the many might be taking advantage of the great shopping bargains, Magnolia’s window (weather) shopping is not looking too good right now. We are trying to get across the Gulf Stream and into the Bahamas. We will pass customs at Marsh Harbor, Abacos which is about 200 miles from Vero Beach FL, about 30 hours.

Below are the current conditions offshore. Not looking to inviting with 12 foot seas and winds 21 knots steady and to add insult to injury the wrong direction.

The next “sail window” (Tuesday 1 December) looks a little more inviting with seas down to a more manageable 6-8 and winds down to 15 still in the wrong direction.  

Candidate sail window #3 is looking like the least bad window…yea, we gave up on an ideal window for the foreseeable future! This one (Wednesday 2 December) puts more in the 4-6 foot range and winds down to about 8-10 knots still in the wrong direction so its going to be a motoring slog to weather. Stay tuned, we will see how this shopping extravaganza works out! 

While we are waiting for our window to open up we have been getting a jump on the holiday celebrations. It’s a bit complicated but there are three (now 4) boats from the

Shennecossett Yacht Club in Groton CT. We initially met met the whole gang our freshmen year of cruising and cross paths whenever we can. Since part of the contingent planned to be away for Thanksgiving so there was an early celebration in which we were included. Fun times! Thanks again to Kindred Spirit, Cutting Class and of course San Cles’

Our friends Bert & Prue just had Exuberant painted so we were quite nervous to come along side. Who wants to put the first mar on a beautiful new paint job…certainly not us!

Vero Beach always has a big Thanksgiving party. The CLODS (Cruisers Living On Dirt) donate the Turkeys and Hams and the Active Cruisers bring the sides. All total there are over 170 people seated. Below is our table out on the veranda along with the dinghy parking lot, no valet service.

11/28/2015 09:30 – Weather Update – as you can see the forecast for Wednesday continues to improves so, so far so good. Lets see if it holds. I sure is nice planning into a improving forecast.

Again, happy Thanksgiving! Be Safe A**2