Grand Times in the Cays

MEGAN AND JEREMY JOIN MYSTIQUE

On Monday before Thanksgiving Megan and Jeremy flew to Staniel Cay from Nassau mid-afternoon. This was Megan's first time aboard Mystique and Jeremy's first time on a sailboat, so we decided to stay in the marina at a dock Monday night. The wind was still very strong when we left Sampson that morning but a front with rain came through as we were motoring the 5 miles down to Staniel, with beautiful conditions following the front and for the rest of the week that M&J were aboard (whew!).

The first night was peaceful and M&J reported getting a good night sleep aboard Mystique. The next morning we had breakfast at the Staniel Cay Club then motored up a beautiful cut between Big Major and Little Major Islands and anchored near the "aquarium" snorkeling spot that Jan and I had enjoyed previously. That afternoon we hopped in the dinghy and stopped at a beautiful beach so Jeremy could try his hand at snorkeling from shore. Although we sensed some fear and trepidation he took to it like a fish takes to water, so to speak. We enjoyed a wonderful meal aboard and a quiet night.

Wednesday we dinghied over to the 'aquarium' site for a snorkel off the dink. This was the first time Jeremy had ever seen fish and coral through a diving mask and he was (and we were) amazed at the colors and shapes of the coral and the color and variety of fish. After drying off we weighed anchor and actually SAILED north up to Warderick Wells (Exuma Park HQ). Meg and Jeremy were a great help with the winches and hauling lines and we got to enjoy moving the boat without the engine - a surprisingly rare treat.

After dropping anchor the dink was lowered again and we spent the afternoon beach combing and snorkeling. Another wonderful meal was enjoyed in the cockpit as we watched another spectacular sunset. We keep looking for the "green flash" which is supposed to happen just after the sun disappears at these latitudes. We haven't seen it yet, but keep upping our rum rations in the afternoon in the attempt. I'm sure this green flash phenomenon has some correlation to quantities of alcohol consumed! Another blissfully quiet night was enjoyed aboard.

The next day was Thanksgiving and we can't remember a time when we weren't celebrating the holiday with family and friends in Colorado. But we did celebrate with family in the Exumas! The highest point on Warderick Wells is called Boo Boo Hill and we hiked up the hill in the morning. From the 50' summit (high for the Exumas) you can see all the surrounding islands and the light sand to white to aqua to turquoise to emerald green to deep blue in the waters surrounding you. It is a tradition to leave your boat's name on a piece of driftwood on Boo Boo hill. We had no driftwood so we wrote "Mystique" in the sand and took a picture.

While previously at Sampson Cay we had heard about their Thanksgiving feast so we motor-sailed back to Sampson and did some more snorkeling before heading in to the club for dinner. What great food these people serve. It was another all you can eat buffet with ham and turkey and all the fixins, plus a variety of desserts. No, we did not lack for Thanksgiving dinner and it was such a treat to enjoy it with Megan and Jeremy.

Their plane back to Nassau and New York left the next morning and we made it down to Staniel Cay with plenty of time to spare because we were up early and weighed anchor at dawn. The small planes that make up many of the flights between islands seem to carry about 6 - 8 people. Not a lot of room for luggage, and when you board the plane as M&J did with a 6'6", 240 lb pilot and three equally large locals you have to wonder if the plane will make it off the runway! We had plenty of time to contemplate that as takeoff was about an hour after we were told. Whereas M&J landed on Staniel in 25kt crosswinds for a scary touchdown, this morning was quiet and beautiful and the plane did make if off the runway. Meg reported they flew low over all the islands we had visited and it was spectacular to see them from the air.

Jan and I left Staniel after breakfast and had a little cry alone on the boat. The joy of having Meg and Jeremy aboard, the wonderful times we spent together, and the pride of knowing your daughter is happy and successful all hit us at once. Then we opened the chart and a kind thank-you note they had written dropped out. How blessed Jan and I felt at that moment!

DOWN TO GEORGE TOWN

OK, way too many words, so I'll make this section short. George Town is our final destination on this leg of Mystique's journey. We're leaving the boat here for the winter while we return to Colorado for ski season. On the next morning's single sideband shortwave weather broadcast by Chris Parker we heard that the wind would be 10-15kt SE that day (Saturday) but increasing to 25kt the next day. The trip down to George Town, Great Exuma Is. involves heading out into the deep waters of the sound as the banks just get too shallow for sailboats. So rather than linger in the middle islands another 3 days for another break in the weather we decided to take our lumps and motor directly into the wind the 42 miles down to George Town.

This trip went well, albeit with the boat bashing into 2-3' waves, and we were in George Town's Elizabeth Harbor by 3:00. We've been settling in, taking the dink into town for errands and sight seeing, and getting to know our neighbors at anchor on Stocking Island. We're a one-minute dinghy ride to one beach bar "Chat 'n Chill" and a small resort that has a bar and restaurant. Very nice. We're finishing up on odd jobs and "mechanical opportunities" but mostly relaxing and enjoying our final days aboard Mystique. We'll have the boat all packed away and locked up by Saturday so we'll spend the night ashore at a small motel before catching our 8:20am flight Sunday morning.

We're heading to Bradenton to spend a few days with my parents before returning to the fresh powder and much colder temps of Colorado.

The Internet connection here is slow so I can't download too many pics now, but will let you know when they're up on Flickr later. Thanks for listening and sharing our journey with us.

On Islan' Time

Greetings from Sampson Cay, Exumas!

High winds continued, and except for a few days of lighter winds, have picked up again with another giant cold front (that's 75 degrees down here;-) ) passing over us last night. Every morning at 6:30 we listen to the master of Bahamas weather, Chris Parker, on Single Side Band (like ham radio for sailors) 4045kh upper side band. He comes in loud and clear and gives the overview and day by day forecast for the northern, central and southern Bahamas for the next six days. So we don't need Internet access to get the weather - we receive Chris wherever we are.

Anyway, Chris says he can't remember such a steady march of cold fronts and strong north winds, now lasting since we arrived in Florida on October 21. Just our luck! But we've made the best of the weather and since arriving in the Exumas have been able to sit and relax in quiet water, getting in to "Island Time".

After our last post we spent 4 more nights at the Exuma Park exploring the island's trails and educational information about flora and fauna, geology, reefs and history. We also volunteered for a day and helped the warden effect some repairs on the main dock. Got to use power tools!! We found out later that the volunteer day saved us one night's mooring cost - $20. We also took the dink and snorkeled on some fantastic reefs. At the suggestion of Swabby Jim, we bought a waterproof fish identifier card so we can identify all the beautiful fish we're seeing, including crawfish (Bahamian lobster without claws), thousands of sergeant majors, foureye butterflyfish, yellowtail damselfish, grouper, yellowtail snapper, juv, yellow jack, blue chromis, queen angelfish and nurse shark!

STRANGE HAPPENINGS. On the 17th we were enjoying libations in the cockpit when we spotted a float plane coming right at us for a landing. After landing he circled around to a mooring ball, stopped the engine and jumped out on a pontoon as the plane came to a rest at the ball. He picked up the ball and we assumed he was going to moore the plane. But the next thing we knew he was starting the engine and taking off over our heads. Was this a drug pickup or dropoff? What was this guy doing? Later that evening just before dusk a US Coast Guard helicopter flew low over our heads and disappeared below the ridge of the island on the sea-side (Exuma Sound), apparently landing or making a low pass of the beaches. We asked the warden the next day about these events but he had no ideas. Strange happenings out here in da eye-lands.

On the 19th it was time to recharge our batteries as we'd been parked for so long without running the engine. We have a nifty diesel generator on board which we can fire up whenever we need to charge the batteries. It sips 1/4 the diesel that the engine takes (about 1/4 gal per hour) and is quiet compared to the main engine. We can compensate for two days operating just on batteries by running the generator for 2 hours. j

ANOTHER MECHANICAL OPPORTUNITY (you can skip this part if you're not into boat mechanics) About 5 minutes after starting the generator it shut itself down. This is typically due to overheating due to lack of circulating sea water through the heat exchanger (like the radiator on your car). And as we've learned all to often this is usaully caused by worn out rubber pump impellers (you've seen past postings discussing these vital parts). So I tore the sound shield off the generator and inspected the sea water impeller. It was in great shape as I'd just replaced it this spring. The cover plate seemed a bit loose, however, so I put it back on and tightened it down. A loose cover plate can cause air to leak into the pump and break the necessary vacuum.

This completed I fire up the generator again with great confidence. Another 5 minutes, it shuts down again. I open the end plate of the heat exchanger expecting to find old impeller blades like I found on the engine. It was clear. I disconnected the output hose leading from the heat exchanger and turned the generator over -- gushing sea water. So the problem turned out to be on the "fresh water" side of the cooling system. There's another pump with another impeller which was in bad shape (see pic). So I installed a new impeller and again, with great confidence, fired up the engine.

Another 5 minutes, another shutdown. Fortunately, we still had good Internet access so I called the generator manufacturer using Skype. I was told it had to be a blockage in the fresh water circulation. So I took apart some fittings where the coolant enters the engine and, Voila!, several rubber impeller pieces were clogging up a "T" fitting. Dug those pieces out and put the whole thing back together. Again with great confidence I fired up the generator and listed to her hum for the next two hours. Ahh - how little it takes to make one completely satisfied and fulfilled out here! But it took up almost the whole day to fix just this one problem. Jan read another book and offered assistance and sage advice when needed.

OFF THE MOORING HEADED SOUTH. On Thursday the 2oth we dropped our mooring and headed down the chain in amazingly calm conditions. We stopped at Bell Island and snorkeled the wall off O'Brien's Cay. It's called the Sea Aquarium - and for a good reason. ItThis has to be the most spectacular reef we've ever seen diving. As soon as we slid off the dinghy into the water, hundreds of sergeant major fish were swimming with us, passing very close and filling up the vision from our masks with fish only inches away. The coral dropped from near the surface all the way down to 25' deep so there was a great 3D wonderland spread out before us. South of Bell Island there was a tricky tight passage down to Pipe Cay and Compass Cay where we bumped bottom twice. Fortunately it was mostly sand and no harm was done. We anchored in an isolated spot for the night.

On Friday, another beautiful mild day, we took the dink into a small marina on Compass Cay. Instantly we were surrounded by nurse sharks and other fish - obviously trained to expect food handouts. We wanted to stop here because we'd read wonderful things about the Bahamian guy who has fixed up and run this marina and resort for the last15 years. He's very ecologically conscious and offers recycling. We've learned that this is a rare thing here in the Exumas. He also has set up an elementary school in Black Point, his home island, with computers so children could learn how to use them. There was a cute little store and a gathering spot for cruisers to share pot-luck dinners (as soon as there are more cruisers down here). We walked across the island to a picture-perfect crescent white sand beach where we snorkeled on more reefs. We were the only people on this whole stretch of beach. We enjoyed lunch after swimming at this little gazebo.

You can see some detritus from the beach hanging here with my fist for size comparison. This neoprene rope is used by fishermen around the world because it's cheap and it floats. The problem for us sailors is that strands of line or netting can get caught in our propellers, bringing an engine to a sometimes catastrophically sudden halt. We've known others who've been stranded at sea in a storm with no steerage and with an engine yanked off it's motor mounts. Nasty stuff which floats just below the water surface so it's very hard to see in advance.

Now we're anchored off Sampson Cay in a tight cove which is protecting us from yet another cold front with its 20-25kt winds (30mph). More reading, relaxing and catching up with the blog. Last night we took advantage of the nearby restaurant by taking the dinghy in for supper. We were the only people eating so we had a great time conversing with Anishka, a gal from Nassau who has worked at this upscale resort for two years. She told us a lot about Bahamian cooking and spices used. And also how they prepare the resort for hurricanes.

We be cruzin' now

It was so great to wake up at anchor off an almost deserted island Thursday morning. The weather had moderated from the day before although it remained humid and squally for the next few days. We lounged around in the morning and cleaned up the boat.

We set out for Allen's Cay, home of prehistoric iguanas who have inhabited the island forever. Each island's iguanas have different DNA which means they're pretty much unique to that island. When we anchored for lunch and took "Fun Fun", our dinghy, ashore there were about 40 iguanas who came out on the beach to greet us and look for a handout. They would come right up to you and then hang back when they didn't get a scrap of food from you (see pics). They're kind of scary and have been know to bite, so we were very careful.

The water colors, coral, beaches and small islands strung along this Exuma chain reminded us of the Abacos last spring, but these islands are less populated and there are many more small islands, most of which make great anchorages or snorkeling stops. We finally felt like we were actually cruising and relaxing into that lifestyle.

That night we anchored at Norman's Cay, home of an infamous drug running operation in the '60s and '70s. Now it's inhabited by two people and one runs a famous beach bar called McDuffs. We took "Fun Fun" out to a snorkeling spot and then went into McDuffs for drinks and dinner. We were the only guests and sat at the bar and heard many interesting stories from the owner who had grown up on the island before going to Canada for his education and settling in Nassau with his "well to do and privileged family" (read drugs?). His girlfriend lives in St. Louis and works two weeks on there, then flies to the island to spend two weeks with Stephan. Then back to St. Louis. We dinghied back to the boat in the moonlight and light breeze for a great night sleep.

The next morning we went to weigh the anchor and the windlass did not work. Reminded us of last spring in the Abacos where we (read Andy) had to manually haul the anchor and chain for several days. Fortunately we only had 17 miles to go, so we stopped the engine and I went to investigate, and once again get familiar with, the anchor locker. It's a triagular shaped compartment in the bow where the chain and rode from our two anchors is stored and wherein lives the infamous windlass (electric motor). I found 3 broken wire terminals and connectors so proceeded to spend the next hour fixing these. We have no idea what brushed against these wires to cause them to break, but the old terminals and connectors were very weak because they live in a constantly wet and salty environment up there. If you ever want to test anything for corrosion resistance, just put it in an anchor locker!

Fortunately the fixes worked and we proceeded on our merry way down to Shroud Cay, our first stop in the 44 mile-long chain of islands that constitute the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, part of the Bahamas National Trust which manages 25 national parks throughout the Bahamas, covering 700,000 acres of land and sea (www.thebahamasnationaltrust.org). The Exuma Cays park is about as pristine as a setting like this can get. The islands are very sparsely inhabited. There is absolutely nothing that can be put into or taken from the park, including no fishing. The ecology has been thus protected for over 40 years, so the reefs are beautiful and there are thousands of fish on every reef.

At Shroud Cay we dinghied through a mangrove flats to the other side of the island and climbed up to Camp Driftwood, a spot where sailors have left trash momentos found washed up on the beach. From the top of this hill you could see the whole island, and Mystique at anchor on the other side. There is also a fresh water well on the island where people have replentished their boat's water supply for almost a century. We didn't try it.

Saturday we sailed in light winds down the banks 17 miles to Warderick Wells cay, where the park headquarters is. On the way down we were just relaxing in the cockpit when I noticed something floating about a quarter mile away. It turned out to be a small skiff in very bad condition with an old outboard motor that had gotten away from a fishing boat about 40 miles south of us, and was just drifting north in the breeze. We called the park ranger on the VHF and asked if anyone was looking for a missing skiff. He said yes, and could we please take it in tow and bring it with us to the park HQ. So we zipped over, tied it to the stern rail of Mystique and towed it with us the rest of the way.

The ranger is a great guy from Louisana who has been here for seven years. He and his wife manage the park with assistance from a revolving group of members of the Bahamian Guard force which also keeps a boat here. The police protection is primarily for drug runner control and poaching fishermen. The park is now such a rich fishing ground that it's tough to keep the locals away. The rest of the Bahamas, as in the rest of the world, are so over-fished that the fishing industry has a rough time making fishing financially viable.

This morning (Sunday 11/16) we took a mooring ball instead of anchoring because a strong cold front as brought 20kt winds and is supposted to last until Thursday. We're in a well-protected cove safe from the N - NE winds blowing outside. This afternoon we've been relaxing, making a few Skype phone calls, updating software, downloading pictures to Flickr (see link at left) and reading. Oh, and catching up with our blog!

We are still amazed at the lack of other cruising boats. Apparently the cruising high-season doesn't start down here until after Christmas and New Years. So we've got these islands pretty much to ourselves. However, several nights there have been other boats with which to share a little rum and many tall tales of high seas adventure. We dinghy over to introduce ourselves or they to us and instant friendships are formed.

This next week has no agenda!!! We're going to go with the wind and tide and see some more islands before we meet up with Megan and Jeremy next Monday. Wish you were with us!!

Exumas at Last!

Our last post had us waiting out Hurricane Paloma in Nassau. This post finds us in the Exuma Land and Sea Park headquarters on Wardwick Wells cay and it's beautiful.

As we were 'stuck' in Nassau now awaiting Jim's flight on Wednesday we did the mandatory tourist thing and went across the bridge to Paradise Island where the Atlantis Resort is. It's a huge pink monstrosity out in the middle of these flat islands. You can see it for miles before you see land as you sail toward New Providence Island. It's lavish and creatively designed around a large (& empty) casino (Jan won $10 and treated us to lunch) and an extremely large seawater aquarium. We could have docked in their marina for a mere $250 per day along side the 150' mega yachts like we saw at the Ft. Lauderdale boat show. We asked several of the workers about the lack of people and they all said, and newspaper accounts supported this, that the economy was having a devastating effect on their business. Several days later, Atlantis announced the layoff of 800 workers. Bummer for the economy down here.

The next day we took the local bus to Cable Beach where Megan and Jeremy will be staying before boarding Mystique the Monday before Thanksgiving. Another set of large resorts and another big casino. We find it curious that Bahamians are not allowed to gamble. That night we cleaned up and went to dinner at Sailor's Choice just down the street - very authentic Bahamian food - we enjoyed grilled and curried/coconut grouper.

Wednesday morning, Nov 12, Swabby Jim flew home and we stopped to load up on diesel before heading SW over the banks to the Exumas. We had heard from another boat that Brown's boatyard was the place to go, with diesel at $3.80/gal (vs. the usual $4.75-5.75). You know how you should pay attention to your first impressions about a place? This fuel dock was run down and dirty. And we later learned that the fuel was also. We took 30 gal. aboard, about half a tank since our last fill-up in Ft. Lauderdale. As we crossed the banks straight into the 15-20kt winds and very large choppy seas, the diesel filter began to fill with water and dirt from Brown's. It ain't easy sticking your head deep into the engine compartment when both it and the outside temperature are hot and the boat is lurching and pitching and sunscreen soaked sweat is dripping into your eyes! But I had to check the "Raycor" fuel filter/water separator about every half hour and in all drained about two-three cups of dirty water during that long day of bashing upwind. From now on we'll check a sample of fuel in a glass jar first, and use a "Bahama Filter" as the fuel is being pumped aboard. You'll appreciate that we took no photos of this particular crossing!

At several points we debated turning around and running downwind back to Nassau, but the prospect of sitting for more days awaiting good weather wasn't exciting. It looked as though we could make the closest point in the Exumas, Ship Channel Cay, just at sundown - so we pressed on knowing that the closer we got to the islands the calmer the seas would become. We found that to be the case and the last hour was the easiest. We dropped anchor in a protected area just off the beach just as it was getting dark and the full moon appeared, and slept very well that night! How wonderful it felt to finally be in the Exumas!!

Hurricane Paloma - the strategic game

When we awoke in Bimini the next morning the morning weather report via Single Side Band (SSB) radio and the internet was that a hurricane was developing south of Cuba called Paloma. GREAT! This was the last thing we wanted to hear.

So we had a pow-wow and decided since the forecasters didn't really know what would develop, or how long it would last, we would head across the Great Bahama Banks toward Nassau, anchor for the night out on the eastern edge of the banks in the mild NE breezes, and listen the next morning for the forecast update to see whether:
a) We would head back to Bimini because the hurricane was headed our way (with the option to head back to Florida if it got bad)
b) Stay on the banks for a second night if the forecast was too iffy
c) Sail onward to Nassau the following day because the hurricane would go further east, or
d) Sail the next day down the Tongue of the Ocean (a deep channel that runs south from Nassau) and the next night and land right in the heart of the Exumas because the hurricane was no threat at all.

We left Bimini at sunup Thursday and motor-sailed all day in beautiful light conditions across the 15' depths of the banks. It's very eerie to see the bottom so clearly all day and not hit anything. And, as in the Abacos this Spring, we were also amazed to travel for 50+ miles and see so little evidence of sea life. Just a lot of white sand with a few grassy areas.

Thursday night we pulled up north of the NW Channel Light at the eastern end of the bank and found a sandy spot with 11' depth to drop anchor about an hour before sunset. This is a very unusual experience because there was NO sight of land anywhere - just water 360 degrees around us. We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset But the shallow waters and light winds kept the waves low and we had a wonderful night to sleep except for a few hours when the wind picked up and we bounced around a bit.


The next morning we listed to the Bahamas weather forecaster, Chris Parker, on 4045mh on the SSB radio. Swabby Jim took copious notes about the hurricane's path. Paloma was forecasted to head right over George Town, Great Exuma -- our planned destination where Jim had booked a flight out to the states this coming Tuesday. So scratch plan d! But because it was not headed toward Nassau we decided that would be a good place to go that day and hole up at a marina pending further developments.

We motorsailed closehauled into an easterly wind all day, arriving in Nassau harbor around 3:30. A marina which had been recommended by several people had plenty of space so we took a slip at a dock at Nassau Yacht Haven. We have been very surprised at the lack of other cruisers on our route this year. We assume it is because we are ahead of the southerly flow of cruisers coming down from the Chesapeake and north, and because of the economy. We hoped that would leave us some bargaining room on slip rates but we haven't found that to be the case.

One piece of advice from the guidebooks which we've taken to heart: In case of an approaching storm, head for the most populated harbor you can find because there will always be plenty of services and things to do. Also having an airport will mean that crew can come and go.

You'd be proud of us (or disappointed). This marina is home to the famous Poop Deck bar, but after three days here we have yet to step into the place! We've toured all over Nassau by foot, participated in free rum and vodka tastings at local duty-free shops (the latter with free hors deoeuvres), bought fresh lobster right off the fishing boat and enjoyed them for dinner just as there were fireworks going off over Paradise Island, home of the dominating Atlantis Resort.

We attended a Methodist church this morning and happened to be in town to watch the Day of Rememberance ceremony with bands, parades, ALL the local dignitaries including the Prime Minister and cabinet and representatives from the Red Cross, Boy Scouts and about every other organization with a uniform. The most impressive uniforms were those traditional British startched white outfits with the pith helmets. The day is set aside, as is our Veteran's Day, to commemorate those who have given their lives in the service of their country.

Now Paloma is forecasted to quiet down and stay around Cuba as it runs out of steam. So it looks like we could have made it to the Exumas after all before Jim's departure on Wednesday. However, with just two days left and a rainy forecast for tomorrow, he won't see the Exumas with us after all this! We've decided it would be pointless to head the 30 miles across to the Exumas in wet weather only to have to turn around and return to Nassau for his departure. Swabby Jim has been a great crew. When he's not out swabbing the decks, he's serenading us with his guitar and songs!

Tomorrow we'll walk over the very tall bridge to Paradise Island and tour around the Atlantis Resort. Can't complain too much about another day in a very interesting and warm location.

Don't forget to look at more of our pictures on our Flickr photo album (link to left).

Oh! 'Til I go down to Bimini

Hello from Alice Town, Bimini, Bahamas from the crew of Mystique.

After many days of hard labor in Ft. Lauderdale at the wonderful Casa del Sol, we saw a break in the weather that might allow us to head across the Stream. Theoretically we would wait until the wind blew from any direction but north so we wouldn't have to buck the previously mentioned waves stacking up like elephants in the Gulf Stream. But even the locals said they couldn't remember so many days of northerly winds, and the forecast was for more of the same for the next week. But there was a moderation in the forecast from the typical 15-20kt northerly wind to a milder 10-15 knot wind with waves in the Stream of only 4-6 feet.

With all of our "critical" repair jobs done and at least 10 trips to the grocery store to load up the boat with supplies, we headed down the ICW under three bridges to the Ft. Lauderdale inlet. On the way we passed the boat show area again where all the maga-yachts were also trying to exit out to the Atlantic. So we joined a parade of 15+ yachts worth probably $45M, (not counting Mystique). We jumped down to Miami (motor sailing "outside" in the Atlantic) and then headed to the south of Key Biscayne where there is a perfect little harbor, "No Name Harbor", to anchor in with a bar/restaurant at one end. We wanted to get far south so crossing the north-bound Stream would be easier.

We headed out at first light this morning and crossed the the shallow banks out to the Atlantic. Our course to Bimini was 90 degrees magnetic but we had to steer 110 to counter the effects of the Stream. We were expecting very rough conditions because of the NW wind blowing 10-15kts. We raised the sails early on for speed, and to steady the boat in anticipation of choppy seas. We did encounter 10-12' waves once we entered the Gulf Stream, but Mystique handled them very well. There was a 9-second period between waves and we rode the waves way up, then way down. At the crests we could see out to a far horizon and an occasional freighter. In the troughs we could only see our immediate wave and the sky.

It took us seven hours to go the 50 nautical miles today, averaging 7kts (about 8 mph). We lost an hour because the Bahamas are in a different time zone. So we got into Alice Town harbor around 3:00. We were advised we could tie up to a dock while Jan took all our passports and documentation to the Customs Office. After she returned we hoisted our Bahamian cruising flag on the starboard side of the mast. Alice Town is a pretty low-key, laid back kind of place where there didn't seem to be much going on. On our walk around town the main activity seemed to be road repair of the asphalt road with dirt shoulders. The high season is apparently summer!

Tonight, Jim offered to fix us dinner aboard and we readily agreed. He started messing about in the galley and after a while I smelled an aroma that reminded me of childhood. Turns out, Jim had brought a can of SPAM with him for a surprise. He had told us many times of the wonders of SPAM for cruising meals, and he proceeded to provide proof with his potatoes au gratin a la SPAM. Delicious!




Tonight it's very quiet in the harbor and about 70 degrees with clear skies. Feels pretty good to be back cruising again after all the preparation! Tomorrow we'll head out over the shallow Bahama Banks 70 miles toward Nassau. The shallow waters keep the waves low and the sailing should be magnificent. From the eastern edge of the bank we'll either anchor in open (shallow) water for the night, or proceed on an overnight sail down the deep "Tongue of the Ocean" and then cross the banks to the Exumas the following day (Friday).

Having a great time! And thinking of all the snow falling in Colorado;-)

Northerly Winds Force Mechanical Repairs

What a week! We have spent six days and nights in Fort Lauderdale at a dock at Casa del Sol condominiums, the place where we spend two weeks outfitting our new boat right after purchasing her in April '06. Back then we learned that our "work" day stopped at 4:30 for cocktails and snacks on the patio by the pool, no matter how urgent the work to be done. Some of the friends we met then are here now and the same rule has applied: no work after 4:30!

Jim Powell flew in last Wednesday and we met him as we pulled Mystique into our slip on a beautiful, sunny, warm day (as they all have been). We had a few "mechanical opportunities" to attend to the next few days before the boat would be ready to cross the Gulf Stream for the Bahamas. The winds had been blowing out of the north at 15-20 mph since we got to Jupiter which prevented us from contemplating a crossing anyway.

When north winds meet the northbound Gulf Stream head-on flowing at 3-4 mph, the waves get stacked high and very close together and make for very rough and bouncy conditions. It's been described as a parade of elephants in a circus, or like putting a toy boat in a washing machine.

So I took every advantage of having an engineer aboard with tons of experience on his own boat, Chez Freddy, cruising full-time on her for two years from the US to Trinidad and back. Jim has been a fabulous helper and teacher for us. Because we were "stuck" in Ft. Lauderdale with a world of yachting stores and supplies nearby, we have been tackling a long list of to-do items, including but not limited to:
- repairing the forward (guest) head
- cleaning old broken pump impeller pieces out of the engine heat exchanger (see picture)
- fixing the shower drain sump pump using plan A, then B, then back to A to save $$ which still didn't work, to plan C.
- replacing the grounding zincs in the diesel engine and the electric generator
- fixing the water flow problem from fresh water tank #2
- repairing a broken drawer latch
- replacing a frayed reefing line on the mainsail
- rigging a lashing board to the side rail so that spare diesel, dinghy gas and water containers can be safely secured
- fixing the problem of a bent motor mount on the dinghy outboard caused by an attendant at the Charleston City Marina last spring
- finding out where the water goes from the new shower faucet in the forward head (into the bilge, not into the shower sump mentioned above!)
- blowing out the mud packed into water tank vents over the summer by bees
- finding spare pump parts and engine parts for the "tool room" inventory

So while the weather kept us in port, we've taken full advantage of these days to get the boat in fine shape for the upcoming cruise. Not that we've worked full time. We continue to enjoy cocktail "hour", have great food, enjoy meeting new friends and have also spent an afternoon at the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show - probably the largest collection of super-yachts ever in one place. We went aboard one boat for sale that we could have had to call our own for $12M. Not including crew. We also enjoyed a great Halloween party here at the Casa. Jim went as a pirate with a cut-off airlines eye mask and a handkerchief, Jan went as a ghost using one of our sheets and I went as a Colorado skier wearing my ski mask, gloves and Gore-Tex jacket. Jim also brought his guitar and fantastic voice and repertoire so he's been entertaining the cocktail and after-dinner crowd here with his singing.

Sunday was another beautiful day and we took advantage of the need to untie our dock lines to change docks to orient Jim to actually moving the boat. We motored down the ICW through the maze of pleasure boaters and boat show boats, awaited 6 bridge openings, and actually hoisted and adjusted sails in the large basin at the entrance to Port Everglades which is the main ship channel from the Atlantic.

Now all the critical to-do's have been done and the weather has quited down so we're heading down to Miami tomorrow in preparation for a crossing Wednesday. Sailboats travel at around 7-8 mph and the Gulf Stream 3-4. So the Stream is a significant factor when vectoring a crossing to the Bahamas. We really cannot make for a point in the Bahamas which is south of our starting point in Florida because of the strong northerly current. Even to go straight east we must point the boat south east to counter the current. To make our Bahamas landfall just south of Bimini we therefore must leave Florida around Miami, where we're headed tomorrow.

Although we've enjoyed our time here at Casa del Sol and have crossed many things off our to-do list, we're excited to get to the Exumas and real cruising! We'll try to keep you posted as we go, but will be limited in our internet access in the remote anchorages.

Best Wishes,
Steve, Jan and Jim

Finally Cruising

Well, it's been a very busy week since we arrived in Jupiter last Tuesday. We cheated and stayed in a motel the first five nights, and rented a van so we could transport all the boat's belongings from the A/C storage unit back to the boat. The weather has been pretty good - in the low-mid '80s and only occasional showers. Mystique has been at a dock all summer and was in surprisingly good shape. We found no mold or mildew and the tow rail around the edge of the deck had been varnished, so she looked sharp.

So we spent the six days cleaning, fixing stuff on the "to do" list (see the new faucet/showerhead in the forward guest head?), grocery shopping for 6 weeks, and loading all that stuff from storage (including 3 huge sails, all the cushions and foam mattresses, electronics such as VHF radios, single sideband, etc., dinghy, cruising guides and books, sheets and blankets. It seemed like 100 trips back and forth, each time hoisting a new load on to the foredeck and then down into the cabin. Being able to turn on the air conditioner while plugged into shore power really helped, and certainly contrasted with the snow and cold back in Frisco!

We learned that the process of moving everything off the boat last spring and then back on this fall takes a lot of time and effort. We'll probably not do it again!

We moved aboard on Sunday and spent Sunday and Monday nights in our own bed. Today was "lift off", scheduled for 10am. But last-minute errands took longer than expected. Then as we were casting off the mooring lines and backing out of the slip I revved up the engine in reverse and noticed quite a disturbing vibration coming from the prop/drive shaft. At the same time a guy happened by to help with the lines. He turned out to be the diver hired by the guy who looked after the boat for us this summer to clean the bottom and keep the barnacles at bay. He informed us that he had not cleaned the boat for over a month (in spite of being told it was done last week) and the vibration was probably caused by too many barnacles.

He kindly offered to dive on the boat right then and did in fact clean a lot of crud off our propeller. Less than an hour later (12:00) we cast off again, this time with no vibration and good power. We think it must have been divine providence that guided Matt to our aid just when we needed it - so a big shout out to Matt (and the divine).

Once on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), we proceeded to have a great day cruising south. We anchored at the north end of Lake Worth (Palm Springs area) and dinghied ashore for a walk to the nearby West Marine store for a couple of last-minute items. That took about an hour. So counting all the delays, we only made it to Palm Beach today instead of 20 miles further. But the weather is nice and we're enjoying a quiet evening at anchor. Thanks to our wifi booster antenna, I'm able to post this blog from our boat using some kind soul's unsecured internet connection.

Tonight is supposed to be a record low temperature (50 degrees), but that's nothing compared to a year ago when we were fighting frost on the deck in the morning! The sky has been cloudless for two days because it's so dry with the large cold front. But the forecast into the weekend is for strong north winds which will prevent us from crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. It's such a relief to be "on the road again" after almost a week of preparations.

We will meet our Frisco buddy, Jim Powell, tomorrow in Ft. Lauderdale - a 43 mile treck at 7 MPH. We'll mosey on down to the Miami area and await winds from anywhere but the north.

It's an early start tomorrow, so I'm off to bed. Hi from Jan who's into her new book Three Cups of Tea, and from our cat Samantha who's settled in quite comfortably.

Fall '08 Return to Mystique

We left Mystique all summer in the water at a dock in Jupiter, FL under the care of a local "boat guy". We're now ready to leave Frisco for the boat. Jan flies to Philadelphia Thursday 10/16 for a girls' weekend with friends from her early days in respiratory therapy in Denver. Then we both fly to West Palm Beach next Tuesday.

We'll spend a few days at a motel while we get the boat cleaned up and move ALL our stuff from the air conditioned storage unit back on to the boat (if we can remember where we left the combination to the lock!). We'll work on Mystique's ToDo list before leaving Jupiter and moving the boat down to Ft. Lauderdale where our Frisco sailing friend Jim Powell will join us 10/29. Then we three will await favorable weather to cross the Gulf Stream and head for the Exumas, SE of Nassau. Jim will fly home November 13, from George Town, Exuma.


View Larger Map

Jan and I will sail Mystique back up to Nassau where Megan and Jeremy will join us for some island hopping Thanksgiving week. Then Jan and I will sail back down this beautiful chain of islands to George Town where we'll leave the boat on a mooring and fly home December 7 for the holidays and ski season.

We'll try to keep you posted as we go, but WiFi hotspots may be hard to come by.

Spring '08 Trip Map

Here's a Google Map of our Spring '08 trip to the Bahamas. Click on the link to "Larger Map" if you want to see more info. Leave a comment if you have any questions, and we'll clarify. :)


View Larger Map

It's never just the one thing...

Posted from 26deg 35.5'N, 77deg 00.5'W, Man-O-War Cay, The Bahamas

Another guest post by Andy, remaining as Head Bilge-Cleaner and Chief of Anchor Hauling until Wednesday.

We stayed at Green Turtle Cay for an extra night, because we were enjoying the little island and the Island Roots Heritage Festival so much. I got some photos and even a video of Steve and Jan dancing to a Calypso band, so I'll make sure those get on the internet ASAP.

The passage from Green Turtle Cay (pronounced "key", by the way, you lubber) to Great Guana Cay necessitates going outside the barrier islands for a short jaunt, but the two passages in and out of the Sea of Abaco can be treacherous if the wind and current are opposing. We were a little nervous about banging in to some serious wave action since it was blowing about 25 knots, but the passage was uneventful and ended up being a very nice sail.

You may have noticed that I added a title for myself-- "Chief of Anchor Hauling". Well, for some reason, our windlass has stopped working. We noticed this on Saturday morning, and it fell to me to hand-over-hand the 80 feet of 3/4 inch chain and 60lb Bruce anchor. Generally, this isn't all that big a problem-- especially when lowering the anchor: you motor over the spot where you want to drop it, and gradually back down as you release the chain. Same, really, with weighing the anchor-- motor over the top of the thing, and hold in position as Andy hauls up the hook. Both of these require the motor. And Andy.

So, yesterday, as we were taking down our sails and getting ready to head in to Great Guana Cay, our motor quit. Andy threatened to quit, too, but was persuaded to hang around for a few more days. Where was I going to go, anyway? My flight isn't until Wednesday. (And, incidentally, the dinghy has a slow leak. Seriously. We can't get the patch to hold.)

Anyway, we conclude the problem lies with the water impeller, which cools the motor and requires a several hour repair-- and it's getting dark. So, now it's blowing 25 knots, and we have no motor or anchor windlass. Fortunately, we're resourceful and seamanlike people, so we don't need no stinking motor. We'll sail in to a crowded anchorage, full of very expensive boats and judging eyes, point Mystique head-to-wind, and coast right up to the perfect spot, where we'll drop our anchor and take down the sails, drifting back to the ideal spot for the night while the other boats cheer and toast us with champagne. Or whatever it is that rich people toast with. The consequences of messing this up are a bit severe, as you might imagine if you can imagine a boat without steerage drifting back through a field of anchored boats like a pinball.

All that makes a nice story, but, I must say we pulled it off admirably. Or, at least tolerably well. We didn't hit anything, is what I mean, and I figure that's sort of the goal of this whole thing. Don't hit stuff, and we didn't.

At least, not until about an hour ago, when we touched gently with the sandbar guarding the entrance to the harbor where we're currently swinging idly from a mooring. Which is nice, because my back is sore. And if you're going to hit something, sand is a good option.

In other big news, the wind is expected to clock to the South tonight and die to "light and variable" from the steady 25 we've been seeing, which is good and bad in a sailboat, depending on if you are going somewhere, or you're there already. Since we're here, and the motor works again thanks to a swap of the impeller, I'll call it good news.

My G 'n T is calling--

Andy

PS!! Check out the new post with the map!

Gulf Stream Crossing and Lazing around da Islands, mon.

Greetings from Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, The Bahamas!

This is a guest post by Andy, who has been recruited as head bilge-cleaner and electronics fiddler for a couple more days.

I joined the boat in Palm Beach, which is like West Palm Beach, but all the property and cars have an extra zero on the end of the price tag. We set out for our trip across at 6:00 am on Monday morning in a building southeasterly breeze. As we came through the inlet, we met a strong SE swell that was breaking green water over the bow, but as we got out of the tidal current, the seas settled down, and we set the autopilot at 115 degrees to reach West End, at a heading of 85 degrees. A four knot current is serious business!

We had an uneventful but generally uncomfortable crossing, but the broad reach made for a quick trip, so that we arrived in the Bahamas after about 7 hours. We cleared customs and spent a sleepless rolling night at anchor just north of West End. So far, I was starting to question the wisdom of joining up! The next morning didn't do much to quell my fears (or my stomach), as we headed out for another 60 mile trip to the Sea of Abaco, which is between the Bahamas out-islands and Great Abaco Island. The first 15 miles were a northerly beat in to 6-10 foot seas and 25 knots, which is sort of like being on a tilt-a-whirl for 2 hours. One that stops periodically to throw you off your seat.

As we made the right turn on to the shallow banks that make up the Bahamian islands, the waves calmed down, and we set a full genoa and reefed main for a 7.5-8 knot reach to our anchorage for Tuesday night-- Great Sale Cay-- which was quiet and peaceful. The water here is clear and shallow, and its surreal to see the earth glide noiselessly under your keel for hours at a time. We didn't touch a sheet for 5 hours of sailing, and just enjoyed listening to the water flow around the hull and fade in to our wake. To those of us on the boat who *aren't* retired, it felt like the more miles we put between ourselves and the States, the more simple everything became.

From Great Sale, we headed up to Spanish Cay yesterday, via a few stops for hiking and snorkeling. Last night, we anchored in 7 feet off of New Providence, a small town on Green Turtle Cay. They're having the Roots Festival here, which you might think is a Reggae thing, but you'd think wrong. "Roots" here refers to the British history, and the island is decked out in the Union Jack!

I'm out of battery, but check the flickr page for pictures soon!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandjcornwell/sets/72157604445971208/

We're having a great time-- check for us on Skype and say hello!

Andy

Poised

4.26.08 Jupiter, Fl - at dock

We made it into Jupiter a day early (Thursday) which was a good thing because our todo list of things to do before heading to the Bahamas had grown to two single spaced pages. We've been living on the boat at the marina where our friend Bob Bruce keeps his boat at Johnathan's Landing in Jupiter. We've been able to run lots of errands, including West Marine (3 trips), Albertson's, the liquor store, the hardware store, the car parts store (oil for oil change), the dive shop (new goggles & snorkels), etc., etc.

We've forgotten to take any new pics here, so I just have a few from the 800 mile ICW voyage to post. The picture above is at a typical anchorage, with an ICW marker in the background. As you can see, the weather has been spectacular with lows in the 60's and highs around 80. Those windows surrounding the cockpit which were so valued up north are now too hot, so they're no longer there.

The pic to the right shows the wide expanses of water we've passed, again with a typical ICW marker. You steer the boat between the markers or find yourself aground in just a few feet of water on either side of the "ditch". So you have to pay attention. But Otto helps immensely with keeping you in the channel. You can see our dinghy raised on the davits on the stern. This day we forgot to replace a plug after inflating her, so she has a flat on starboard aft end! The outboard rides on the dinghy so all we have to do to get to shore from an anchorage is lower the dinghy and pull the starter cord twice.

This is a picture of our chart navigation screen. The GPS plots the position and direction of the boat (green, at bottom) and shows where you will be in 10 minutes (green dashed line). Here we're crossing the North - South Carolina boarder (and celebrating!). The red line is the route of the Intracoastal Waterway. This flat screen is up in the cockpit so we can view it while cruising. It is linked to the laptop down on the chart table which is actually running the software and contains all the charts.



Andy flies in tomorrow (Sunday) and Monday looks like a great day to cross the Gulf Stream and transit the 60 miles to Great Bahama Island. We are looking for winds from the south which will flow the same direction as the Stream. Winds from the north whip up a nasty chop going against the 3-4 kt northbound current, so we don't want that. Nor do we want big seas left over from a big storm somewhere in the Atlantic. But Monday looks good at this point, so we'll hope to find a wifi spot in the Abacos from which to post another update. We're both anxious and excited to make our first real ocean crossing in Mystique!

Beautiful Weather, Great Progress

Tue 4/22 Titusville, FL (Cape Canaveral in sight)

Since our last post, the weather has taken a GREAT turn for the better. Whereas at the beginning of our trip we were huddled under full cover of our cockpit bimini with all windows up to protect us from the cold and high winds, we now are enjoying 60 degree nights and 80 degree days, with light winds and cloudless skies. How wonderful! And the boat (and our bodies) continue to work on a high level, so life is very good.

We've made great progress since Charleston and are now a day ahead of schedule, able to relax and catch up with downloading pics and posting to the blog. I've added a couple of sample pics here, but as usual, you can view the rest on our Flickr site (see link in previous post).

The next stop after Charleston was Beaufort, SC (beu-furt) where we anchored and went ashore by dinghy to walk around the quaint town. They have completely re-done the waterfront into a wonderful 2-block long park, with the greatest pirate ship playground ever. A dad and his two young kids were in full imagination mode, yelling commands and "aarrrrggggg"s intersperced. But it was still cold and windy.

The next day we weighed anchor with the outgoing tide and rode down to, and past, Hilton Head Is with all it's beautiful waterfront mansions. We anchored the next night at Isle of Hope, just SE of Savannah. No running aground in the ICW like we did last spring, and no 5-day stop for engine repairs like last spring either;-)))). Then down the ICW again to a quiet and peaceful anchorage at Back River, GA which was out in the middle of the marsh and MILES from civilization. We could hear an occasional "whoosh" around the boat as dolphins rose for air. What a wonderful sound to wake up to!

At 7am on Thr 4/17 we took advantage of slack tide to exit the ICW to the Atlantic. There were 10kt winds from the NW most of the day and we got the sails up and set the autopilot for South. 10 hours later we pulled into Fernandina Beach, the northernmost town on the FL coast. We docked, fueled, pumped out the holding tanks and filled the water tanks. Oh, and did a grocery store run. It's so great to find $10 1.5L wine at the grocery stores here! It felt good to get everything ship-shape.

We're averaging .8 gal per hour, or 7 mi/gal on diesel, which costs $4.15 to $4.30/gal! We cruise comfortably at 2,000 rpm at 7mph, or faster when needed at 2,500 rpm at 8mph. That's a slow way to travel 800 miles, but it's also very relaxing when the weather is so nice.

Having "Otto", our new autopilot, with us on this trip has made a world of difference in our comfort level. Last year we hand-steered all 1,000 miles northward, having to concentrate much of the time to stay within the 30-40' wide channel that is the ICW. Now Otto does all the work, and all we have to do is either set a "track" for him to follow on the chartplotter (he shows you the cross-track error or how far off track you are which is usually within 15' of the track), or manually guide him using either 1 or 10 degree turn buttons. The screen shows a course arrow ahead of the boat which shows you which direction the boat is going according to the GPS, whether you're in cross currents or not. So the whole steering process is so much easier with Otto aboard. Otto also has a remote assistant, Remo, which is a wireless remote that we can use to control the steering of the boat from wherever we are aboard.

From Fernandina Beach we went 'outside' again for another beautiful day on the Atlantic to St. Augustine where we anchored and explored this historic and beautiful city. Then on to another remote quiet anchorage, then to the marina at New Smyrna Beach where we got a ride from a fellow cruiser to Wal-Mart for a few things, then on to our current anchorage at Titusville. We can see the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center across the channel from here. It's HUGE! But we decided not to take the day and do the tour so we can get to Jupiter on Thursday, a day earlier than scheduled.

Nuts!

We're in Titusville, FL where we have great internet access. So I just spent the last two hours writhing of our adventures and uploading pictures, and the whole thing just went "poof". We need to get moving now (11:30), so I'll have to re-create the blog post at some future stop. Sorry! But we're having a great trip, with us and the boat in good health, and gorgeous 80 degree cloudless days. We'll be in Jupiter Thursday, a day ahead of schedule.

We did post new pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandjcornwell/sets/ if you want to take a look at what we've been up to.

Some warmth and some cold - yet again.

Tonight, April 14, finds us in Beaufort, SC. (Beaufort NC is pronounced BOW-fort. in SC they pronounce it Beu-fort). Everything is going wonderfully!! Yea. Since Surf City we've meandered down the ICW through a really wonderful cedar swamp called the Waccamaw River. It's south of Myrtle Beach and instead of golf courses (there are supposed to be over 120 of them in the Myrtle Beach area), the Waccamaw river is really wild. We loved it last spring and so too this time. We anchored in a beautiful cove with another boat - and awoke to some fog, so took off again. By the time we were out into the main channel, we couldn't see ANYTHING! So thank heavens for the GPS, radar and a very slow speed we wound through this swamp in the fog - very eerie and mysterious. It was short lasting and finally the sun came out and we were reminded how wonderful that can be.

We spent 2 nights in Charleston - love that city! We were invited to attend the symphony with the daughter and her boy friend of C-15 friends from Denver - the Harveys. Yes, everyone, Joyce has a good one in Wayne!

We had to leave Charleston in the dark at 5:30 this morning to make a bridge opening on our way to Beaufort. A little cool today. Tomorrow we will head to Savannah - over 370 miles in 6 days! We are really loving Mystique - and, yes, Samantha is also having a wonderful time!

No time to post more pics, sorry. WiFi is spotty and slow most places, or we're just having too much FUN!!


c

Southport, NC: Success! 113 miles in 1st two days.

Wow, it feels good to be on the 'road' again!

We launched Mystique on Friday and celebrated Steve's XX'th birthday at the Grocery restaurant in Beaufort.

The weekend was spent cleaning the boat outside and in, and putting stuff away, including all the groceries for the trip.
You can see from the pics what a mess it was. To view all the trip pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandjcornwell/sets/72157604445971208/

On Monday we got the new batteries installed and checked out all the other systems- refrigerator, fresh water, heads, engine, generator, navigation chart-plotter, the new autopilot installed last fall, etc. Everything worked!!!

Tuesday, we set off the cruised 63 miles, which is a lot at 6 - 7 mph. We landed in Surf City (yes, really) where there was a fish house right next door. So we bought a sack of clams and a sack of shrimp and had a feast on the boat after walking over to the Atlantic and strolling the beach. This pic of Jan was taken at the fish house:






Today we made it through a cold, drizzly morning and broke into our first warmth as we cruised down the Cape Fear River near Wilmington to Southport. It felt great to warm up and enjoy an evening walking around the town and eating seafood with a couple we met on the boat next door. Here's a pic of Mystique parked between two gas-guzzlers:





So we're off again tomorrow with another good weather day forecast. We should be in SC soon! We plan on picking Andy up in Jupiter, FL on April 27, then heading over to the Bahamas in tandem with long-time cruising friend, Bob Bruce.

'Till next time, hope you're all well.

Here we go again! Spring 08 trip to Bahamas

Hello everyone. After a busy winter in Frisco including having Andy, Megan & Jeremy home for the holidays and a complete kitchen remodel which consumed January and February, we're heading back to Mystique!

We put her on the hard just north of Beaufort, NC last fall. We'll fly back this Thursday, launch the boat on Friday, get her rigged over the weekend, install new batteries on Monday, then begin the trek south.
Our destination is Abaco Island in the northern Bahamas via Jupiter, FL. Our cruising plan is to take the ICW back south. Weather and crew permitting, we may head offshore around Charleston and head directly for Florida. Want to join us in Charleston for an overnight or two, followed by stops in St. Augustine and points south???

In Jupiter, Andy will join us and we'll sail across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas in tandem with our longtime friend Bob Bruce on his IP40. After several weeks of wandering and exploring, we'll return to Jupiter and leave Mystique in Bob's marina. We'll fly to NYC for Megan's graduation with a master's degree from Columbia and Jeremy's performance in a play before returning to Frisco May 22.

Stay tuned & we'll keep you posted...