Picture This ...

Picture this …..

Two small boats being tossed about in a huge, dark sea on 8-foot rolling waves, with the wind on our nose (for non-sailors, read “yuck!”). We’re all alone at 2:00 a.m., when suddenly out of the darkness appears “Disney Dream” – a carnivalesque cruise boat bedecked in all manner of coloured lights. Her captain radios us about our location and intentions, and then proceeds on his way at about 25 knots (we’re making 5.2 knots at this point – bucking waves that are splashing up to the dodger – the front window in the cockpit). Dream-like it certainly was …. some would say more nightmarish, but not us!

We saw no other vessel except our buddy boat all night, as the waves progressively lay down. We ate, slept, took turns keeping watch, and eventually I saw a dim light in the East – the sun was rising! As I watched and took pictures, the sky, still filled with stars became lighter blue, then pink, as the sun slowly made its way over the horizon. This peaceful, beautiful moment in the night turning to day helped me remember why I love sailing so much (pics below).

So, as I write this post, we’re enroute to Chub Cay, where we hope to hole up for a few days while the next cold front with predicted gale-force winds passes. Right now, the sea is calm and a beautiful shade of turquoise, the wind is blowing a light 8.6 knots, the sun is shining in a blue, blue sky, and we’re sailing on the jib – ah-h-h.

The pics are of our departure from Port Lucaya last night at midnight, the sunrise this morning, our buddy boat under sail, and the Chub Key Marina where we will spend the next couple of nights during the storm.

Hi, Marilyn here ...

Well, tonight's the night - we're planning to leave at midnight for a 15-hour trip to the Berry Islands - heading progressively South toward our destination in the Exumas.  It looks like we've got a decent weather window for a couple of days, and then gale-force winds are predicted by Tuesday. It's blowing hard enough now that the boat is rocking in our protected harbour - but it's predicted to fall off by evening to SSW 10-15 knots - not too bad for sailing, close hauled on a starbord tack (for the non-sailors, a reasonable sail). This is our last long crossing, 80mi, with our last 20 mi “on the bank” in the light. That means clear turquoise water 12-16’ deep.

Yesterday was spent in preparing the boat for departure, including scrubbing out the bilge - a disgusting job which we shared (a-w-w-w). We also planned our route for tonight's sail with our buddy boat.

Then we had a lovely dinner on board Sea Change with our sailing partners, Therese and Denis. We're really getting to like each other, and they say their English is improving dramatically (though I'm not sure I can say the same for my French!).

So today we're just hanging out and finishing preparations to leave, including cooking chili to have in a thermos for enroute sustenance. Our weather here is as nasty for the Bahamas as yours is for Canada - cloudy, rainy, sometimes downright chilly - but no need for boots and coats - yet.

A few pics from yesterday's activities - including the sparkling bilge!!

Marilyn writing ...

After lolling around on Sea Change and in the dinghy during a beautiful, sunny day yesterday, we had a rude awakening this morning! The almost 4-foot tide had risen and somehow, with a wind shift, we were blown under the dock and the side of the boat was trapped, so that we found ourselves heeling at a 30 degree angle (see pics below). The angle of the towels is kind of neat :).

Once the tide started to recede, Jeff managed to lever us out with a plank of wood (my captain comes through, again ..) and all is now right with the world. Except that the wind shift brought a huge temperature drop, and we're wearing socks for the first time in a month (poor us!).

So we're still hanging out in Port Lucaya - but waiting around for a weather window in the Bahamas feels better than in Florida. It is, after all, where we want to be. Jeff is slowly recuperating, and we'll probably set sail again on Sunday/Monday, depending on the wind.

The first two pics below are additional ones from the Junkanoo on January 1st (that's Denis, not Jeff) - the "Bahama Mama" makes me feel better about the next pic! There's a shot of sunrise yesterday, and the rest are pics from our dock event this morning. Enjoy ...

Hi - Marilyn again ... another day in paradise :)

Well - the Bahamians certainly seem to have cornered the market on how to celebrate the New Year - what a blast! Last night we attended a Junkanoo (like Carnival on other islands) - the pics below say it all. For $10.00 a ticket we had seats on the curb beside the parade - great photo-op!

We're now awaiting another weather window to cross to the Berry Islands - about 53 miles. It's a 10-hour crossing, with a little current - but nothing like the Gulf Stream. So we may be off in a couple of days, when the winds and waves settle a bit. Meanwhile, you can check our location here - https://share.delorme.com/JeffSolway. More later ...

A Long Night’s Journey into the Day

HAPPY, HEALTHY NEW YEAR TO ALL - WE MADE IT ON TIME TO CELEBRATE IN THE BAHAMAS!! But it was definitely a long night – 20 hours in total. After delaying our departure the day before due to very high winds and waves, we determined to leave on Monday at 4:00 p.m. However at 11:00 a.m., when I consulted with the local weather “expert”, he said, “This is your window – go now!!” So go we did – by 12:00 noon, we slipped our lines and were off – in flat calm with 5 knot winds. Boy – did that change fast … by the time we reached the Gulf Stream, the winds were gusting to 25 knots, and we were tearing along at 7.3 knots at our peak (for the non-sailors – that’s about as fast as we’ve ever gone in this boat). There were 5-6 foot rolling waves – fortunately on our quarter (near the stern), so it was an exciting and comfortable sail (for the sailors, a beam reach and later a close reach all the way). Not nearly as terrifying as the Gulf Stream had been made out to be. There was a current, and the wind was North (not recommended) – but we beat the cold front that just came in – so it’s all good. If we had missed that window, the prediction was that we wouldn’t be able to leave for two weeks! Jeff did an amazing job with preparing and captaining Sea Change - thanks forever, oh Captain, my Captain.

So we sailed through the rest of Monday and Monday night, arriving at Port Lucaya, Bahamas (near Freeport) just at first light. After a somewhat bureaucratic check-in with customs and immigration yesterday, we crashed for several hours, and then greeted the New Year – Bahamian style J.

Below are pics of our departure from Florida, with our buddy boat, Dame Des Mer, our arrival in the Bahamas, and a fabulous New Years Eve party where we danced until midnight  – enjoy, and have a truly wonderful start to 2014!