Carriacou and Grenada

Carriacou is an Island of Grenada. We had hustled there, thinking we were escaping 30 to 40 knot winds and 8-10 foot waves. We snugged in, safely anchored, but thewinds never materialized. Four days at Carriacou brought only one stormy afternoon. We toured with a local, who drove us all around this mountainous island to see local boatbuilders and fabulous views of nearby islands.

 When the wind failed to materialized, we journeyed on to Granada, where we were to return the boat. During the stay, we anchored at Prickly Bay, on the far side of the island, protected from the Atlantic waves. St. George, on Grenada offered lots of touring opportunities. We signed up for an official tour, with guide, Michael and spent the day visiting a chocolate factory, a nutmeg sorting and shipping company, a high, cold, mountain park, with monkeys, a beautiful waterfall, with a local diver, a rum factory in operation since the 1700s, and eating a wonderful local meal on a cliff, overlooking the Atlantic. Well worth the expense.

 Michael , our guide explaining what a calabash is and a nutmeg sorter at work.

 The rum factory offered specialty rums, so we bought their chocolate rum, and later that night drank a toast to our Windward Islands trip.

Nights were beautiful at our Prickley Bay Anchorage

The end of our cruise was approaching and we motor sailed on over to the marina at St. George, capital of Grenada. On the way, we stopped to watch the yachts racing during the Grenada week sailboat races. Our final day, we toured Fort George, overlooking the bay and wandered through the town. The final night we motored back across by dinghy to enjoy a wonderful meal on the water.

Union Island to Carriacou

We motor sailed to Union Islands, passing some tempting, quiet anchorages in secluded bays. Union Town was a busy place, with some needed provisions and a chance to visit Happy Island, a tiny island with three trees and one bar. Customers arrive by dingy for the sunset and early evening hours. The owner offers beer and rum drinks from a blender, but blender drinks are only available when the sun shines on his solar panels. There was quite a crowd there for the sunset.

Bequia and the Tobago Keys

We left St. Lucia on a brisk breeze, headed for Bequia. Farewell to beautiful St. Lucia.

 Bequia  was charming, full of excellent restaurants, and an easy place to visit, with boats circling to volunteer some of the moorages. Bequia was also a busy place, with lots of amenities, floating fuel stations, water and ice, boats, fresh fruits, whatever you needed, they could provide by boat. In addition, Bequia was a stop for many cruise ships. There will not be enough time for the places where we'd love to linger. After only a day, we traveled on to the Tobagos, a National Park area in the Grenadines, dedicated to sea turtles and snorkeling. We found plenty of both and lots of other sailing visitors besides. On the way to the Tobago Keys, we had some of the loveliest sailing of the cruise... and the most reckless, when Rick, acting as navigator chose to sail over the top of a known underwater volcano, which although quiet most days, was known to have erupted within the past few years and was in a designated no go zone.  He did not mention that to the three admirals, who would have insisted on avoiding that shortcut.

 The anchorage was crowded, but we chose to go with one of the many boat boys who roam the area, connecting visitors with mooring balls, anchorages, and especially with the beach BBQ, held every night. The cruising guides said when bargaining, to make sure you stayed below $50 per person on the BBQ, so we did. And were glad we chose to do so. The mooring ball was perfect, close to a pretty beach and hiking spot and the BBQ was just on the other side of the island, with the biggest lobsters and best food we had on our trip. We watched as they unloaded the live lobsters by boat.

The sunrise the following day was spectacular from our anchorage.

 As was our view of the anchoage from the top of the hill later in the day.

The view toward the shore from our boat wasn't half bad either.

Made It to the Windward Islands

OK. So we didn't actually sail to the Windwards. And we aren't on Wind Dancer, but we are sailing in the Windwwards. On January 20, 2018, Rich and Mary Jim Martin, Luke and Jan Sand, and Rick and Cookie Brown, arrived on St. Lucia and took possession of a 44 foot Sunsail Jeaneau charter yacht, out of Rodney Bay.In Rodney Bay, we caught up with old friend, Ron Marchman, once from Boca Chica, who has been down in the Caribbean for 5 or 6 years now. We spent a day provisioning and then getting  underway for the southern end of the island. St. Lucia is a lush, volcanic island, mountainous, and while we were there windy and subject to sudden, misty showers.

Our first anchorage was between The Pitons, in a national park site, which was in full sunshine as we arrived.

We did some land tours there, visiting a volcano, full of bubbling mud, so close to the road that it is called the Drive In Volcano. We also went to a National Heritage site with lovely views of the Pitons. Touring is pretty easy, almost anyone with a car is willing to become a tour guide. There are official guided tours too, but we enjoyed our cheaper tour arranged by one of the park guides, who also ferried us over to Soufrierre from the Pitons anchorage for free.

The Dataw Cup Must Go On October 2017

Continuing the Dataw Cup Race, despite having no marina, the Yacht Club decided to use the Beaufort River as its race course. We had an excellent crew with Luke, Jan, Scott, and Cheryl. Not much wind accompanied the racers. With a light breeze behind us, we unfurled our brand new spinnaker in Navy Blue and Gold. We got down to the buoy and rounded it alright, but by then the breeze had died. The tide had changed and was pushing us backward as fast as we could go forward close hauled. Surely we passed the same spot on shore a half dozed times. Painfully the boats inched back up river. At last a little breeze sprang up and we pulled ahead, ever so slowly. Just as we got to the bridge, we overtook the last boat and crossed the finish line with first place honors, only to find that our PHRF put us in 4th place behind all three cat boats, who loved the light air. At least we claim crossing the line first. That's always a good feeling.

September 2017 Another Blow

After 40 years with no hurricane impact to the South Carolina area, and 13 years since Wilma destroyed the Marina in Key West, Florida. So the chances that we would be affected by hurricanes 2 years in a row, seem small. Last year, Mathew destroyed our marina, this September, Irma impacted our Key West marina. In early September, Irma marched across the Atlantic. For many days, it appeared that Dataw would sit in the eye as it rolled ashore. A category 3 with fifteen foot tides was predicted. With Dataw's marina gone, we had taken refuge in a friends Hilton Head Island slip for the summer. We drove frantically back from a trip to Illinois and arranged to have the boat placed on the hard at Dataw. The travel lift had survived, although the dock in front of it had not. As we motored from Hilton Head to Dataw, we reflected on the chances of losing both home and boat. Whatever happened, we were certain of one thing. Nothing could change the great fun our experiences on Wind Dancer had brought us, or robbed us of the wonderful friends we had met because of her.

At the last minute, Irma swerved west plowing through the Florida Keys, the eye passing less than 50 miles from Boca Chica. And again, the second year in a row, a hurricane impacted our lives in a terrible way. Many of our good friends who wintered in Key West left their boats there every year. The marina survived the blow, but many boats were heavily damaged and too many friends decided the time had come to move on to other lives, beyond boating. The damage was not repaired and the electricity was not restored to the marina for 8 months, which made it impossible for Wind Dancer to return for the 2018 winter. In so many ways, this was the end of our way of life in Key West. Over half of the group that we counted as family will not be returning for the 2019 winter. We will return, but life will be very different in the future, no more Key West Race Week, a loss of irreplaceable friends....it was not a good year for Wind Dancer and crew.

It Isn't Wind Dancer, But It is Definately Cruising August 20, 2017

This year, in August, while visiting our son, James and his family, we added a cruising adventure to the trip. We had always wanted to visit the San Juan Islands in the Puget Sound. August is absolutely the worst time for sailing in the sound, but you can do a wonderful motor sail and see it all. Our grandson, Justin, and son, James, accompanied us on the first three days of the trip. We started at Anacortes and were treated to seals quarreling over a salmon for lunch .

 It was a foggy start to the trip as we left Anacortes Island for the San Juan's. James and Justin kept a lookout of the bow of our chartered Beneteau.

Like Dylan, grandson, Justin, enjoyed being Captain and did a great job steering the boat.

Our first stop was Rosario Resort on Orcas Island. At Rosario, you can visit the old Moran estate, swim in the resort pool, eat in their restaurants, hike and kayak. Rosario was a nice stop. Our next port of call was Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Lots of charming homes, restaurants and museums in Friday Harbor, plus the Seattle Ferry stops there. James and Justin caught the last ferry out to return home after 3 days on the boat. We hated to see them leave, but at Friday Harbor, they boarded a ferry for a return trip home to Seattle.

We traveled on to the other side of  the island to Roche Harbor. Roche Harbor was originally a Salish Native American community. In later years it was the site of a booming business in Limestone. Massive kilns are still visible as are the scarred cliff like quarries. Some of the original churches, stores and residences still survive. Currently the harbor is undergoing a new boom as a residential and resort area.

 

Lots to do in Roche  Harbor. In addition to fabulous food in multiple restaurants, stores, sunset flag ceremonies, and music, there is lots of woodland hiking and a nearby 20 acre sculpture park, with exhibits in meadows, on ponds and shorelines and in the woods. The park is well worth a visit. As the conclusion to the San Juan visit, we moved on over to an adjacent harbor to anchor in view of an old British garrison there. Lots of history and interesting buildings, in this state park, which have remained pretty intact. The last owner of the land never disturbed the garrison, planting orchards and grazing animals around the garrison buildings.

On to Reid Harbor on Stuart Island Park. This island is as far northeast as you can sail in the US and is accessible only by boat. The island offers docks, floating docks, and a linear mooring system, which was new to us. Small looking in the picture, the structure offers room for about 10,  30 to 40 foot boats, on each side of the line. From there, it is a short dinghy ride in sheltered water to a park with excellent hikes on craggy cliffs overlooking the two primary island harbors. The journey there from the British garrison also offered our only opportunity to actually sail in the San Juans. Gentle 6 knot breezes pushed us slowly toward the island.

Our final day took us back to Orcas Island past beautiful marine scenery.The Washington State ferries crossed our path in several places as did other boats, and even a few sea kayaks. The trip left us wanting another cruising visit to the area.

Short Visit to Isle of Hope

In July, our grandson, Dylan came to visit for a couple of weeks. Having him here was a lot of fun for us and meant we really used the pool and the Dataw facilities more than usual. We spent a lot of time swimming and playing in the pool with him. In addition, at the end of his visit, Dylan was scheduled to visit his other grandparents on Skidaway Island in Georgia. we opted to transport him there by way of Wind Dancer. The cruise through the intercoastal marshes of South Carolina brought views of birds and dolphins and lovely scenery. Dylan acted as our lookout for markers, and had a chance to steer the boat and sleep aboard.

 

 

Isle of Hope Marina is located on the waterfront in the beautiful old section of the town with its stunning live oaks and genteel homes. The marina offers free use of a car fro errands and bicycles for exploring. we made use of the bicycles, which had seen better days. The salt air and exposure to the elements made the bicycles minimally acceptable.

Enjoyable dinners with Dylan's other grandparents, the Weitzells added to the experience.

All Hail Sea Tow

Motor sailing in very little wind, we were still humming along at 10 knots in the Gulf Stream, about 15 miles northeast of Fort Lauderdale around noon on the 5th of June. The plan was to put into Lake Worth for a good night's sleep about 5 pm and new house batteries the following day. Our batteries had started to fail. Each day wind and sun pumped us up, but by morning we were struggling at 60% capacity. As we were sitting in the sunshine discussing lunch, the engine went silent. No warning, just silence on the water. Our eyes locked. We sat looking at each other as if maybe it would magically start up again. Our speed slowed and slowed.

For the next three hours, Rick valiantly changed filter and  hand pumped fuel. The engine would start, cough, and die. Cookie worked the erratic whispy winds which moved from SE to NW in the general direction of Fort Lauderdale.. At one point, we were sailing backwards, pointed south, but floating north at 2 knots. In the meantime, weather had moved onto the Florida coast. We could see storms full of lightning moving across the distant coast to the north and the south of us. A major system was moving into the area. Finally at 3:00, about 13 miles from Lauderdale, we called Sea Tow. Can they even hear us out here? The answer is yes, and within an hour, following our AIS signal, they found us, and we are moving at 10.5 knots once again. This time attached to Sea Tow. Marinas were closed or wouldn't answer, oh except for the one that wanted $300 for us to tie up  overnight at their fuel dock! Sea Tow took us to the Las Olas Mooring field and returned the next day to tow us across the river to the City Marina in the driving rain. The rain stayed with us for most of the week, dumping 11 inches in one day alone.

Part II Friends to count on make life so much easier. John and Laura LaPoint passed on the name of a reliable mechanic. This turned into the perfect storm of engine failure. The immediate cause was the failure of the fuel pump. As it turned out this failure was fortuitous because hidden out of sight was a more insidious failure. Volvo Penta engines in 2003 were made with cast iron manifolds, and ours had deteriorated. Continued use and our entire engine would have needed replacing. As it was, we incurred a chain reaction. Somewhere along the line we either picked up bad fuel or had  our fuel deteriorate. the boat is used often enough that we never worried about it before. A huge growth first clogged one fuel filter, then the next, then the fuel pump burned out trying to cope. When it was all over, we replaced almost every external element of the engine because if you are already spending a dozen boat units and tearing apart the engine, you might as well do it all. Oh yes, and new batteries too. , and the installation of new house batteries. Ours were deteriorating fast. Each day, the wind and sun charges us up, but by morning, we were down to 60% capacity. We sat at the City Marina for almost a week. The mechanic was excellent. He knew all the secret warehouses with used and refurbished parts. He advised us on what to get new and found lightly used parts for the rest. He spent most of a week with us and saved us thousands with his low hourly rate and the used parts.Rick helped and watched and learned a lot. By the time the mechanic left, he was part of the family. We knew his life story....he was very chatty. We hugged and said goodbye at the end.

We also enjoyed our favorite restaurants in Lauderdale and shared meals with an old Friend from high school, Gay Holliday and with John and Laura LaPoint. Finally after 9 days, on June 15th, we departed Fort Lauderdale and completed an exhausting, but safe 48 hour sail to Dataw, a completely unexpected finish to our 2018 Bahamian adventure.

Homeward Bound through the Bahamas

Time to meander home again. We headed north and west, stopping at Shroud Cay, Nassau, and Bird Cay before moving across the bank to our jumping off point at Gun Cay. On our journey to Nassau, we followed Atlantica through the Yellow Bank. Probably wont do that again. Most water levels were at 9 feet and we had multiple incidents of moving slowly around visible coral heads whose depth we couldn't ascertain. Cookie standing on the bow looking intently at the water, Rick confirming depths over the radio with the lead boat. Much easier to go south just a few miles on the charted path between the banks with deeper water and only one marked coral head....which we never saw.

In Nassau we stayed long enough for a farewell to the Bahamas group dinner and the purchase of a new engine for the dinghy. Ours has never run well and during this trip we trailed behind our fellow travelers on every expedition.

The trip over the bank meant shallow water, but with only sand beneath us, it wasn't a worry. Gun Cay anchorage had poor holding and we hand to move out to deeper water to stay firm.On June 5th, we left the Bahamas to jump onto the Gulf Stream and head north to Dataw.

The End of May at Sampson Cay and Black Point Settlement

On May 30th, we sailed in wonderful 13 knot winds to Sampson Cay for an overnight anchor. The island is beautiful, but the marina there is closed and the island private.  We had a lovely sunset to watch from our boats. Emerald City made a beautiful picture against the clouds.

Wednesday the 31st, we sailed and motored to Black Point Settlement for a fabulous lunch at Lorraines Restaurant. Jose had called ahead to request a Bahamian lunch for 10. Lorraine did not disappoint. Everything was perfect and we all pigged out. We also indulged in a walk through town, or at least along the road and the shops as we passed.

 Wind Dancer on a motor sail to Black Point Settlement

The wonderful meal at Lorraine's.

Cambridge Cay Revisited

It is difficult to choose a favorite stop in the Bahamas. Cambridge Cay in the Exuma Park has a wonderful mooring field and good diving within dinghy distance at the Sea Aquarium. Be sure to bring lots of frozen peas to the Sea Aquarium. The fish, especially the zebra striped Sargent Majors swarm around within inches to feed on the bright green peas. Also be sure to go only at slack tide.There is always a new adventure there. This time, Jose and Char rescued a snorkeler who was being carried out to sea after the strong current resumed.
There was also excitement in the mooring field at dusk. Atlantica chose to anchor rather than stay on a mooring ball. When two large boats anchored uncomfortably close, she lifted anchor and moved 100 feet further away. Just after dark, Jose, who was showering, heard Char shouting on deck. One of the boats had dragged anchor and was drifting down on top of them at a rapidly increasing speed. So Jose, leaped from the shower, and running naked on deck and grabbing fenders to put between Atlantica and the swiftly approaching intruder, he sought to prevent disaster. He softened the blow, and damage was minimal, but the day did not end well for either boat. The other boat, which was a rental, retreated to a mooring ball in shame, its proverbial tail between its legs.

 Snorkeling with a new full face mask.

There are always new beaches to discover and new silliness to try.

Big Major and Staniel Cay

The sailing caravan next headed to the Big Major/Staniel Cay area in order to pick up two special passengers for Emerald City. Rich and Mary Jim"s daughter and son-in-law were arriving for a five day Bahamian cruise. We repeated fun activities, diving in Thunderball Cave, with its magnificent colors and exotic fish, and feeding the pigs at Big Major. This year, we added shark petting. Almost tame nurse sharks and manta rays circle the docks at Staniel Cay, drawn by the fish cleaning from the successful fishermen who frequent the Cay.

Sadly, Wind Dancer reports that Big Major has changed from a great hidden spot for adventurers to a parking lot for Megayacht cruisers in town for a quick Exuma experience. The anchorage was full of giant yachts, replete with inflateable slides, jetskis, and buzzing little center consoles, which ferried people in and out of the pig feeding area and Thunderball cave. The private boats were in the minority. In addition, and I don't blame them, after several pigs died the past year and were found to have sand in their stomachs, the owner built a feeding trough. So now, although the pigs are just as cute and they still swim, people are encourage to put the food in the trough for them. It's better, but it sure isn't the same. You can do that at a farm.






The Staniel Cay Yacht Club is still a fun place for lunch.