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was a real concern.
STEVE SMITH MOBILE RIGGING June 3, 2014. June 2, 2014. anniedike. It wasn’t ten minutes after we hung up with Steve that we had the engine cranked and warming. We were pulling our dock line off of the mooring ball to head over to the SMMR, Inc. shop on Salt Creek so Steve could have a look at our busted Jenny swivel. We could tell Steve was real sharp over the phone.SEPTEMBER 2016
September 28, 2016. September 28, 2016. anniedike. “If we snap one of those battens, I don’t have a spare,” Yannick tells the crew after we put in the third reef. Thankfully the storm off the tip of Florida was intense but very brief, lasting a grand total of NOTORIOUS NORMAN’S CAY Lehder eventually constructed a 3,300-foot (1,000 m) long runway for his fleet of smuggling aircraft. To protect the island, he planted armed guards and attack dogs all along the beaches and runway, as well as radar to identify and fend off any pilot foolish enough to try andland there.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S PAPERWORK Let’s Talk About This Captain’s Paperwork. My, my, the paperwork for this thing! It was almost as hard to complete as the Captain’s License exam. Okay, not really. That exam was no freaking joke. But the paperwork was a bit of a hurdle to overcome too. Applicant Annie, mailing off her paperwork September 13, 2017. NEW ANCHOR: SARCA EXCEL NO. 4 (37-LBS) New Anchor: Sarca Excel No. 4 (37-lbs) – Research and Selection. Ask 10 sailboat owners what is the best anchor and you will get 20 opinions. One, because we are opinionated (because this is important stuff!) and two, because—as is the case with almost everything in boating, it’s a compromise—it’s hard to say which single anchoris
HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Then a noise trickled in through the dorade and she thought she heard banter; “ Shh ” a muffled voice said, “we’re not supposed to be here at night.”. Then through the lee boards, shoes and pant legs caught her sight. Worried Plaintiff’s Rest was, the clatterers had come aboard to steal like a vixen. CREW – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Captain – Phillip Plaintiff’s Rest is aptly captained by the one and only Phillip. A true sailor, Phillip comes from a long line of avid boaters and spent a good number of his childhood days out o LEAVING PALAFOX MARINA … MAYBE FOREVER Leaving Palafox Marina . Maybe Forever. I can’t tell you how many times Phillip and I have left Palafox Marina, whether it was headed out to our favorite anchorage, Ft. McRee, or just for a day sail, or sometimes to shoot all the way out into the Gulf and head south to the Keys, Cuba, the Bahamas, or beyond. There was always a sense of BV19: HOW TO RIG A WHISKER POLE How We Rig the Whisker Pole On Our Boat. 1. Check the integrity and functionality of the pole and its pull line (the line that runs the length of the pole and is used to open the mouth of the pole from afar). Look to make sure there are no major chafe points in the line, or areas where the line looks like it MARCH 2013 – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL It was a great sail and a great day that told Phillip and I that sailing was going to be, had to be, a big part of our future. We didn’t end up getting that boat. It was a bit out of our price range and while probably worth the money (that was a quality vessel), it wouldn’t have left us much cash in the kitty to sail on, and thatwas a real concern.
STEVE SMITH MOBILE RIGGING June 3, 2014. June 2, 2014. anniedike. It wasn’t ten minutes after we hung up with Steve that we had the engine cranked and warming. We were pulling our dock line off of the mooring ball to head over to the SMMR, Inc. shop on Salt Creek so Steve could have a look at our busted Jenny swivel. We could tell Steve was real sharp over the phone.SEPTEMBER 2016
September 28, 2016. September 28, 2016. anniedike. “If we snap one of those battens, I don’t have a spare,” Yannick tells the crew after we put in the third reef. Thankfully the storm off the tip of Florida was intense but very brief, lasting a grand total of NOTORIOUS NORMAN’S CAY Lehder eventually constructed a 3,300-foot (1,000 m) long runway for his fleet of smuggling aircraft. To protect the island, he planted armed guards and attack dogs all along the beaches and runway, as well as radar to identify and fend off any pilot foolish enough to try andland there.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S PAPERWORK Let’s Talk About This Captain’s Paperwork. My, my, the paperwork for this thing! It was almost as hard to complete as the Captain’s License exam. Okay, not really. That exam was no freaking joke. But the paperwork was a bit of a hurdle to overcome too. Applicant Annie, mailing off her paperwork September 13, 2017. NEW ANCHOR: SARCA EXCEL NO. 4 (37-LBS) New Anchor: Sarca Excel No. 4 (37-lbs) – Research and Selection. Ask 10 sailboat owners what is the best anchor and you will get 20 opinions. One, because we are opinionated (because this is important stuff!) and two, because—as is the case with almost everything in boating, it’s a compromise—it’s hard to say which single anchoris
CREW – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Annie and Phillip, my wife Debbie and I sail our Ericson “Easy” in the same places you do so I’m sure we’ll run into you guys. We are at Island Cove and have logged a little over 1000 nautical miles a year since buying her in March three years ago. JUNE 2020 – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL June 27, 2020 anniedike. It’s funny, seeing it now—in black and white in hindsight—I’ll admit the answer seems so clear and easy, but it sure wasn’t then. I guess when it’s you out there, only two days into what was supposed to be an incredibly exciting adventure, an awesome offshore accomplishment, and you have sails and promisingGET ON BOARD
Curious about cruising? Come aboard! At HaveWindWillTravel.com, we are creating cruisers, one dreamer at a time by sharing our story through books, blogs and videos, touring other boats and our Gifts of Cruising that we previously gave through Patreon. If you love sailing videos, we produced five seasons on YouTube documenting our initial cruising days, our three-month stint in the shipyardOUR JOURNEY
Our Journey. Six years now Phillip and I have been sailing and sharing here at HaveWind, and—now, with our first Atlantic Circle complete—we’re often asked where all we have traveled by sailboat. Well, this should explain it! A six-year HaveWind animated-footage timeline as well as a BOAT – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Boat. A 35-foot Hinterhoeller Niagara built in 1985, Plaintiff’s Rest is a classic sailing vessel fit to satisfy any sailor’s thirst for blue water. She is moderately heavy (don’t worry, unlike women of the human variety, she takes that as a compliment) so she pointswell and holds a
PLAINTIFF’S REST OVERHAUL Plaintiff’s Rest Overhaul – The Short List. May 5, 2021 anniedike. Time. It’s slipping. No, it’s skittering, skyrocketing away. Whatever new warp speed we have found ourselves in—be it a product of COVID, today’s information-overload era, the rapidity of global change, or just age (I’m almost forty)—it has told Phillip and Ione
JANUARY 2020
Just you wait. The real-live footage of my phobia is hilarious. After Phillip and I finally found our flanges while replacing our raw water impeller, got the engine put back together, and found me a suitable shower shoe, albeit it non-Croc, it was time for us to shove off and leave Great Harbour Cay for the first time in six months. Our baby girl had weathered exceptionally well there, even asCAPTAIN’S QUIZ!
A. the last vessel in the tow. B. the last vessel in the tow and it is carrying a crew. C. manned, regardless of its position in the tow. D. None of the above are correct. I can’t wait to see how you guys did. While much of this stuff has been intuitive, and I’m thankful for my time on the water which taught me these things via so-called STRANDED NAKED IN THE BAHAMAS?? July 3rd is the famous Stranded Naked, Cheeseburger in Paradise party (although I’ve been advised we do wear clothes — bummer!). I will help crew the July 4th Green Turtle race and the July 6th Treasure Cay to Guana Cay race then fly from Marsh Harbour back to Ft. Lauderdale.Red = cab.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S EXAM So, the “Captain-in-a-Box” package I purchased from Mariner’s Learning System consists of five study books (both hard copy and digital), which cover each topic on the exam with a practice exam at the end of each (hard copy and digital, so two practice tests for HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Time. It’s slipping. No, it’s skittering, skyrocketing away. Whatever new warp speed we have found ourselves in—be it a product of COVID, today’s information-overload era, the rapidity of global change, or just age (I’m almost forty)—it has told Phillip and I one thing: If the world can change entirely tomorrow, it matters more than ever how you spend today. LEAVING PALAFOX MARINA … MAYBE FOREVER I can’t tell you how many times Phillip and I have left Palafox Marina, whether it was headed out to our favorite anchorage, Ft. McRee, or just for a day sail, or sometimes to shoot all the way out into the Gulf and head south to the Keys, Cuba, the Bahamas, orbeyond.
CREW – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Captain – Phillip Plaintiff’s Rest is aptly captained by the one and only Phillip. A true sailor, Phillip comes from a long line of avid boaters and spent a good number of his childhood days out o MARCH 2013 – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL It was a great sail and a great day that told Phillip and I that sailing was going to be, had to be, a big part of our future. We didn’t end up getting that boat. It was a bit out of our price range and while probably worth the money (that was a quality vessel), it wouldn’t have left us much cash in the kitty to sail on, and thatwas a real concern.
BV19: HOW TO RIG A WHISKER POLE Once we had the whisker pole working, we then started to toodle around with it on the boat and found that while a whisker pole can be very useful in light winds where it’s not quite enough to keep the headsail full or not the right angle for you to fly the spinnaker, what we learned during many of our downwind sails during our time in the Bahamas, was that it can also be useful when there isSEPTEMBER 2016
BIG NEWS at the end of the video, too. Next week we’ll be announcing our 3rd GIFT OF CRUISING on the YouTube channel, and my Trans-At movie will also be available for rent on YouTube then as well, Oct. 7th. NOTORIOUS NORMAN’S CAY Lehder eventually constructed a 3,300-foot (1,000 m) long runway for his fleet of smuggling aircraft. To protect the island, he planted armed guards and attack dogs all along the beaches and runway, as well as radar to identify and fend off any pilot foolish enough to try andland there.
STEVE SMITH MOBILE RIGGING Except he had a swivel shackle in it! Hallelujah! Steve – likely sensing my budding excitement – to us the shackle he had found was the Unit 2, and ours was the Unit 1, so there was a chance itwouldn’t fit.
NEW ANCHOR: SARCA EXCEL NO. 4 (37-LBS) Ask 10 sailboat owners what is the best anchor and you will get 20 opinions. One, because we are opinionated (because this is important stuff!) and two, because—as is the case with almost everything in boating, it’s a compromise—it’s hard to say which single anchoris
OUR HURRICANE HOLE FOR 2019: GREAT HARBOUR CAY, BERRY What we had heard from our dock neighbor friend about Great Harbour Cay sounded ideal. He said the place had natural 360-degree protection, with tall limestone accumulation creating a protected nook for the marina in the center with a single, narrow inlet cut through the limestone that was a big deterrent to surge and swell. HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Time. It’s slipping. No, it’s skittering, skyrocketing away. Whatever new warp speed we have found ourselves in—be it a product of COVID, today’s information-overload era, the rapidity of global change, or just age (I’m almost forty)—it has told Phillip and I one thing: If the world can change entirely tomorrow, it matters more than ever how you spend today. LEAVING PALAFOX MARINA … MAYBE FOREVER I can’t tell you how many times Phillip and I have left Palafox Marina, whether it was headed out to our favorite anchorage, Ft. McRee, or just for a day sail, or sometimes to shoot all the way out into the Gulf and head south to the Keys, Cuba, the Bahamas, orbeyond.
CREW – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Captain – Phillip Plaintiff’s Rest is aptly captained by the one and only Phillip. A true sailor, Phillip comes from a long line of avid boaters and spent a good number of his childhood days out o MARCH 2013 – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL It was a great sail and a great day that told Phillip and I that sailing was going to be, had to be, a big part of our future. We didn’t end up getting that boat. It was a bit out of our price range and while probably worth the money (that was a quality vessel), it wouldn’t have left us much cash in the kitty to sail on, and thatwas a real concern.
BV19: HOW TO RIG A WHISKER POLE Once we had the whisker pole working, we then started to toodle around with it on the boat and found that while a whisker pole can be very useful in light winds where it’s not quite enough to keep the headsail full or not the right angle for you to fly the spinnaker, what we learned during many of our downwind sails during our time in the Bahamas, was that it can also be useful when there isSEPTEMBER 2016
BIG NEWS at the end of the video, too. Next week we’ll be announcing our 3rd GIFT OF CRUISING on the YouTube channel, and my Trans-At movie will also be available for rent on YouTube then as well, Oct. 7th. NOTORIOUS NORMAN’S CAY Lehder eventually constructed a 3,300-foot (1,000 m) long runway for his fleet of smuggling aircraft. To protect the island, he planted armed guards and attack dogs all along the beaches and runway, as well as radar to identify and fend off any pilot foolish enough to try andland there.
STEVE SMITH MOBILE RIGGING Except he had a swivel shackle in it! Hallelujah! Steve – likely sensing my budding excitement – to us the shackle he had found was the Unit 2, and ours was the Unit 1, so there was a chance itwouldn’t fit.
NEW ANCHOR: SARCA EXCEL NO. 4 (37-LBS) Ask 10 sailboat owners what is the best anchor and you will get 20 opinions. One, because we are opinionated (because this is important stuff!) and two, because—as is the case with almost everything in boating, it’s a compromise—it’s hard to say which single anchoris
OUR HURRICANE HOLE FOR 2019: GREAT HARBOUR CAY, BERRY What we had heard from our dock neighbor friend about Great Harbour Cay sounded ideal. He said the place had natural 360-degree protection, with tall limestone accumulation creating a protected nook for the marina in the center with a single, narrow inlet cut through the limestone that was a big deterrent to surge and swell.OUR JOURNEY
Although it was my 39th I honestly still feel 23. Happy recent birthday to this sailor! 🎂 🥳 It was super cool to spend it with my amazing brother, John, and his partner MyL in Chicago (who was the conspiratorial force behind this surprise cake and candles).GET ON BOARD
Curious about cruising? Come aboard! At HaveWindWillTravel.com, we are creating cruisers, one dreamer at a time by sharing our story through books, blogs and videos, touring other boats and our Gifts of Cruising that we previously gave through Patreon. If you love sailing videos, we produced five seasons on YouTube documenting our initial cruising days, our three-month stint in the shipyard PLAINTIFF’S REST OVERHAUL Drinking Water. Aboard our Niagara 35, we carry 80 gallons of water (40 gallons under each saloon settee) that we treat as grey water for cleaning, bathing, washing, etc. Phillip and I always purchased filtered water for our drinking water, which were typically housed in 12-15 one-gallon jugs that we stashed and stowed in various placesaround the boat.
BOAT – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL A 35-foot Hinterhoeller Niagara built in 1985, Plaintiff’s Rest is a classic sailing vessel fit to satisfy any sailor’s thirst for blue water. She is moderately heavy (don’t worry, unlike women of ENGINE CRANK FAIL! (AN ORDEAL OR The last time I heard Dag Nabbit being used I swear it was about a crazy rabbit. Hope all is well with you and yours. Take care Annie. ATTACHING SOLAR PANELS TO BIMINI Velcrow for the solar panels was going to work just fine. So, we got up with our regular canvas guy — Tony with Coastal Canvas — and started laying out the panels and determining the attachment points. Recall we did have the issue with the Eisenglass window pane over the helmsman’s head that we had to work around: LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S EXAM So, the “Captain-in-a-Box” package I purchased from Mariner’s Learning System consists of five study books (both hard copy and digital), which cover each topic on the exam with a practice exam at the end of each (hard copy and digital, so two practice tests for LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S PAPERWORK You can also access the Pay.Gov payment center through the National Maritime Center here; it just takes a little more navigating to get to the Captain’s License page.. I got confused, however (who me? nooooo ), when I got to the actual payment page as to whether I was paying for an “officer endorsement” or “rating endorsement” and whether I needed to pay my “exam fee” or ifCAPTAIN’S QUIZ!
Tow lights, fog horns, distress signals OH MY! As many of you know, I am currently studying for my Captain’s License and *man* is some of this stuff mind-boggling. I chose to do the STRANDED NAKED IN THE BAHAMAS?? It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it. As you know, I had been piddling around on the aerial silks for a few months by then and when I mentioned our upcoming trip to my instructor, the completely unattractive and untalented, Garrett (this one’s for you ladies): HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Then a noise trickled in through the dorade and she thought she heard banter; “ Shh ” a muffled voice said, “we’re not supposed to be here at night.”. Then through the lee boards, shoes and pant legs caught her sight. Worried Plaintiff’s Rest was, the clatterers had come aboard to steal like a vixen. CREW – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Captain – Phillip Plaintiff’s Rest is aptly captained by the one and only Phillip. A true sailor, Phillip comes from a long line of avid boaters and spent a good number of his childhood days out o PLAINTIFF’S REST OVERHAUL Plaintiff’s Rest Overhaul – The Short List. May 5, 2021 anniedike. Time. It’s slipping. No, it’s skittering, skyrocketing away. Whatever new warp speed we have found ourselves in—be it a product of COVID, today’s information-overload era, the rapidity of global change, or just age (I’m almost forty)—it has told Phillip and Ione
LEAVING PALAFOX MARINA … MAYBE FOREVER Leaving Palafox Marina . Maybe Forever. I can’t tell you how many times Phillip and I have left Palafox Marina, whether it was headed out to our favorite anchorage, Ft. McRee, or just for a day sail, or sometimes to shoot all the way out into the Gulf and head south to the Keys, Cuba, the Bahamas, or beyond. There was always a sense of BV19: HOW TO RIG A WHISKER POLE How We Rig the Whisker Pole On Our Boat. 1. Check the integrity and functionality of the pole and its pull line (the line that runs the length of the pole and is used to open the mouth of the pole from afar). Look to make sure there are no major chafe points in the line, or areas where the line looks like it MARCH 2013 – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL It was a great sail and a great day that told Phillip and I that sailing was going to be, had to be, a big part of our future. We didn’t end up getting that boat. It was a bit out of our price range and while probably worth the money (that was a quality vessel), it wouldn’t have left us much cash in the kitty to sail on, and thatwas a real concern.
NOTORIOUS NORMAN’S CAY Lehder eventually constructed a 3,300-foot (1,000 m) long runway for his fleet of smuggling aircraft. To protect the island, he planted armed guards and attack dogs all along the beaches and runway, as well as radar to identify and fend off any pilot foolish enough to try andland there.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S EXAM We’ll get there. First, let’s talk about this Captain’s Exam. Had I known exactly what it was going to be like going in, I would have approached my studies in a completely different manner. And, it was partially on a stroke of wild luck in the last two days before the exam that I took the steps that actually enabled me to pass.SEPTEMBER 2016
September 28, 2016. September 28, 2016. anniedike. “If we snap one of those battens, I don’t have a spare,” Yannick tells the crew after we put in the third reef. Thankfully the storm off the tip of Florida was intense but very brief, lasting a grand total of STEVE SMITH MOBILE RIGGING June 3, 2014. June 2, 2014. anniedike. It wasn’t ten minutes after we hung up with Steve that we had the engine cranked and warming. We were pulling our dock line off of the mooring ball to head over to the SMMR, Inc. shop on Salt Creek so Steve could have a look at our busted Jenny swivel. We could tell Steve was real sharp over the phone. HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Then a noise trickled in through the dorade and she thought she heard banter; “ Shh ” a muffled voice said, “we’re not supposed to be here at night.”. Then through the lee boards, shoes and pant legs caught her sight. Worried Plaintiff’s Rest was, the clatterers had come aboard to steal like a vixen. CREW – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Captain – Phillip Plaintiff’s Rest is aptly captained by the one and only Phillip. A true sailor, Phillip comes from a long line of avid boaters and spent a good number of his childhood days out o PLAINTIFF’S REST OVERHAUL Plaintiff’s Rest Overhaul – The Short List. May 5, 2021 anniedike. Time. It’s slipping. No, it’s skittering, skyrocketing away. Whatever new warp speed we have found ourselves in—be it a product of COVID, today’s information-overload era, the rapidity of global change, or just age (I’m almost forty)—it has told Phillip and Ione
LEAVING PALAFOX MARINA … MAYBE FOREVER Leaving Palafox Marina . Maybe Forever. I can’t tell you how many times Phillip and I have left Palafox Marina, whether it was headed out to our favorite anchorage, Ft. McRee, or just for a day sail, or sometimes to shoot all the way out into the Gulf and head south to the Keys, Cuba, the Bahamas, or beyond. There was always a sense of BV19: HOW TO RIG A WHISKER POLE How We Rig the Whisker Pole On Our Boat. 1. Check the integrity and functionality of the pole and its pull line (the line that runs the length of the pole and is used to open the mouth of the pole from afar). Look to make sure there are no major chafe points in the line, or areas where the line looks like it MARCH 2013 – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL It was a great sail and a great day that told Phillip and I that sailing was going to be, had to be, a big part of our future. We didn’t end up getting that boat. It was a bit out of our price range and while probably worth the money (that was a quality vessel), it wouldn’t have left us much cash in the kitty to sail on, and thatwas a real concern.
NOTORIOUS NORMAN’S CAY Lehder eventually constructed a 3,300-foot (1,000 m) long runway for his fleet of smuggling aircraft. To protect the island, he planted armed guards and attack dogs all along the beaches and runway, as well as radar to identify and fend off any pilot foolish enough to try andland there.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S EXAM We’ll get there. First, let’s talk about this Captain’s Exam. Had I known exactly what it was going to be like going in, I would have approached my studies in a completely different manner. And, it was partially on a stroke of wild luck in the last two days before the exam that I took the steps that actually enabled me to pass.SEPTEMBER 2016
September 28, 2016. September 28, 2016. anniedike. “If we snap one of those battens, I don’t have a spare,” Yannick tells the crew after we put in the third reef. Thankfully the storm off the tip of Florida was intense but very brief, lasting a grand total of STEVE SMITH MOBILE RIGGING June 3, 2014. June 2, 2014. anniedike. It wasn’t ten minutes after we hung up with Steve that we had the engine cranked and warming. We were pulling our dock line off of the mooring ball to head over to the SMMR, Inc. shop on Salt Creek so Steve could have a look at our busted Jenny swivel. We could tell Steve was real sharp over the phone. CREW – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Annie and Phillip, my wife Debbie and I sail our Ericson “Easy” in the same places you do so I’m sure we’ll run into you guys. We are at Island Cove and have logged a little over 1000 nautical miles a year since buying her in March three years ago.GET ON BOARD
Curious about cruising? Come aboard! At HaveWindWillTravel.com, we are creating cruisers, one dreamer at a time by sharing our story through books, blogs and videos, touring other boats and our Gifts of Cruising that we previously gave through Patreon. If you love sailing videos, we produced five seasons on YouTube documenting our initial cruising days, our three-month stint in the shipyard BOAT – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Boat. A 35-foot Hinterhoeller Niagara built in 1985, Plaintiff’s Rest is a classic sailing vessel fit to satisfy any sailor’s thirst for blue water. She is moderately heavy (don’t worry, unlike women of the human variety, she takes that as a compliment) so she pointswell and holds a
ROT NOT! ARTICLE IN SAIL MAGAZINE Thanks Frank. I had honestly forgot that one was coming out in June (I wrote it over a year ago), but I was so excited to see it. Phillip brought home the issue saying there was a surprise for me in it, and I thought it might be a mention in someone else’s article. ENGINE CRANK FAIL! (AN ORDEAL OR Engine Crank FAIL! (An Ordeal or an Adventure?) March 17, 2021 anniedike. Got a question for you. How many times have you started a story with: “Remember that time I did everything right?”. Not many, I would assume. The best stories, mine at least, typically start with: “Oh man, remember that time I screwed everything up?” . ATTACHING SOLAR PANELS TO BIMINI With the Velcro outlines in place, we were ready to slap some panels on the bimini! While the decision to stitch the Velcro onto the bimini was an easy one (it’s canvas, that’s a no-brainer), how, exactly, to attach the Velcro to the panels was another story. Although the panels we bought (the Renogy monocrystalline) are technicallyAUTO-PILOT FAILURE
This crew member, in particular, is a little crazy. Dancing at the helm is the absolute best way to hold a hand-steering shift. We weren’t even sure, yet, whether the auto-pilot could be repaired in the Azores and Yannick was rightfully leery of docking his 46-footcatamaran.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S EXAM So, the “Captain-in-a-Box” package I purchased from Mariner’s Learning System consists of five study books (both hard copy and digital), which cover each topic on the exam with a practice exam at the end of each (hard copy and digital, so two practice tests for STRANDED NAKED IN THE BAHAMAS?? July 3rd is the famous Stranded Naked, Cheeseburger in Paradise party (although I’ve been advised we do wear clothes — bummer!). I will help crew the July 4th Green Turtle race and the July 6th Treasure Cay to Guana Cay race then fly from Marsh Harbour back to Ft. Lauderdale.Red = cab.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S PAPERWORK Let’s Talk About This Captain’s Paperwork. My, my, the paperwork for this thing! It was almost as hard to complete as the Captain’s License exam. Okay, not really. That exam was no freaking joke. But the paperwork was a bit of a hurdle to overcome too. Applicant Annie, mailing off her paperwork September 13, 2017. HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Then a noise trickled in through the dorade and she thought she heard banter; “ Shh ” a muffled voice said, “we’re not supposed to be here at night.”. Then through the lee boards, shoes and pant legs caught her sight. Worried Plaintiff’s Rest was, the clatterers had come aboard to steal like a vixen. CREW – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Captain – Phillip Plaintiff’s Rest is aptly captained by the one and only Phillip. A true sailor, Phillip comes from a long line of avid boaters and spent a good number of his childhood days out o PLAINTIFF’S REST OVERHAUL Plaintiff’s Rest Overhaul – The Short List. May 5, 2021 anniedike. Time. It’s slipping. No, it’s skittering, skyrocketing away. Whatever new warp speed we have found ourselves in—be it a product of COVID, today’s information-overload era, the rapidity of global change, or just age (I’m almost forty)—it has told Phillip and Ione
LEAVING PALAFOX MARINA … MAYBE FOREVER Leaving Palafox Marina . Maybe Forever. I can’t tell you how many times Phillip and I have left Palafox Marina, whether it was headed out to our favorite anchorage, Ft. McRee, or just for a day sail, or sometimes to shoot all the way out into the Gulf and head south to the Keys, Cuba, the Bahamas, or beyond. There was always a sense of BV19: HOW TO RIG A WHISKER POLE How We Rig the Whisker Pole On Our Boat. 1. Check the integrity and functionality of the pole and its pull line (the line that runs the length of the pole and is used to open the mouth of the pole from afar). Look to make sure there are no major chafe points in the line, or areas where the line looks like it MARCH 2013 – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL It was a great sail and a great day that told Phillip and I that sailing was going to be, had to be, a big part of our future. We didn’t end up getting that boat. It was a bit out of our price range and while probably worth the money (that was a quality vessel), it wouldn’t have left us much cash in the kitty to sail on, and thatwas a real concern.
NOTORIOUS NORMAN’S CAY Lehder eventually constructed a 3,300-foot (1,000 m) long runway for his fleet of smuggling aircraft. To protect the island, he planted armed guards and attack dogs all along the beaches and runway, as well as radar to identify and fend off any pilot foolish enough to try andland there.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S EXAM We’ll get there. First, let’s talk about this Captain’s Exam. Had I known exactly what it was going to be like going in, I would have approached my studies in a completely different manner. And, it was partially on a stroke of wild luck in the last two days before the exam that I took the steps that actually enabled me to pass.SEPTEMBER 2016
September 28, 2016. September 28, 2016. anniedike. “If we snap one of those battens, I don’t have a spare,” Yannick tells the crew after we put in the third reef. Thankfully the storm off the tip of Florida was intense but very brief, lasting a grand total of STEVE SMITH MOBILE RIGGING June 3, 2014. June 2, 2014. anniedike. It wasn’t ten minutes after we hung up with Steve that we had the engine cranked and warming. We were pulling our dock line off of the mooring ball to head over to the SMMR, Inc. shop on Salt Creek so Steve could have a look at our busted Jenny swivel. We could tell Steve was real sharp over the phone. HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Then a noise trickled in through the dorade and she thought she heard banter; “ Shh ” a muffled voice said, “we’re not supposed to be here at night.”. Then through the lee boards, shoes and pant legs caught her sight. Worried Plaintiff’s Rest was, the clatterers had come aboard to steal like a vixen. CREW – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Captain – Phillip Plaintiff’s Rest is aptly captained by the one and only Phillip. A true sailor, Phillip comes from a long line of avid boaters and spent a good number of his childhood days out o PLAINTIFF’S REST OVERHAUL Plaintiff’s Rest Overhaul – The Short List. May 5, 2021 anniedike. Time. It’s slipping. No, it’s skittering, skyrocketing away. Whatever new warp speed we have found ourselves in—be it a product of COVID, today’s information-overload era, the rapidity of global change, or just age (I’m almost forty)—it has told Phillip and Ione
LEAVING PALAFOX MARINA … MAYBE FOREVER Leaving Palafox Marina . Maybe Forever. I can’t tell you how many times Phillip and I have left Palafox Marina, whether it was headed out to our favorite anchorage, Ft. McRee, or just for a day sail, or sometimes to shoot all the way out into the Gulf and head south to the Keys, Cuba, the Bahamas, or beyond. There was always a sense of BV19: HOW TO RIG A WHISKER POLE How We Rig the Whisker Pole On Our Boat. 1. Check the integrity and functionality of the pole and its pull line (the line that runs the length of the pole and is used to open the mouth of the pole from afar). Look to make sure there are no major chafe points in the line, or areas where the line looks like it MARCH 2013 – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL It was a great sail and a great day that told Phillip and I that sailing was going to be, had to be, a big part of our future. We didn’t end up getting that boat. It was a bit out of our price range and while probably worth the money (that was a quality vessel), it wouldn’t have left us much cash in the kitty to sail on, and thatwas a real concern.
NOTORIOUS NORMAN’S CAY Lehder eventually constructed a 3,300-foot (1,000 m) long runway for his fleet of smuggling aircraft. To protect the island, he planted armed guards and attack dogs all along the beaches and runway, as well as radar to identify and fend off any pilot foolish enough to try andland there.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S EXAM We’ll get there. First, let’s talk about this Captain’s Exam. Had I known exactly what it was going to be like going in, I would have approached my studies in a completely different manner. And, it was partially on a stroke of wild luck in the last two days before the exam that I took the steps that actually enabled me to pass.SEPTEMBER 2016
September 28, 2016. September 28, 2016. anniedike. “If we snap one of those battens, I don’t have a spare,” Yannick tells the crew after we put in the third reef. Thankfully the storm off the tip of Florida was intense but very brief, lasting a grand total of STEVE SMITH MOBILE RIGGING June 3, 2014. June 2, 2014. anniedike. It wasn’t ten minutes after we hung up with Steve that we had the engine cranked and warming. We were pulling our dock line off of the mooring ball to head over to the SMMR, Inc. shop on Salt Creek so Steve could have a look at our busted Jenny swivel. We could tell Steve was real sharp over the phone. CREW – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Annie and Phillip, my wife Debbie and I sail our Ericson “Easy” in the same places you do so I’m sure we’ll run into you guys. We are at Island Cove and have logged a little over 1000 nautical miles a year since buying her in March three years ago.GET ON BOARD
Curious about cruising? Come aboard! At HaveWindWillTravel.com, we are creating cruisers, one dreamer at a time by sharing our story through books, blogs and videos, touring other boats and our Gifts of Cruising that we previously gave through Patreon. If you love sailing videos, we produced five seasons on YouTube documenting our initial cruising days, our three-month stint in the shipyard BOAT – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Boat. A 35-foot Hinterhoeller Niagara built in 1985, Plaintiff’s Rest is a classic sailing vessel fit to satisfy any sailor’s thirst for blue water. She is moderately heavy (don’t worry, unlike women of the human variety, she takes that as a compliment) so she pointswell and holds a
ROT NOT! ARTICLE IN SAIL MAGAZINE Thanks Frank. I had honestly forgot that one was coming out in June (I wrote it over a year ago), but I was so excited to see it. Phillip brought home the issue saying there was a surprise for me in it, and I thought it might be a mention in someone else’s article. ENGINE CRANK FAIL! (AN ORDEAL OR Engine Crank FAIL! (An Ordeal or an Adventure?) March 17, 2021 anniedike. Got a question for you. How many times have you started a story with: “Remember that time I did everything right?”. Not many, I would assume. The best stories, mine at least, typically start with: “Oh man, remember that time I screwed everything up?” . ATTACHING SOLAR PANELS TO BIMINI With the Velcro outlines in place, we were ready to slap some panels on the bimini! While the decision to stitch the Velcro onto the bimini was an easy one (it’s canvas, that’s a no-brainer), how, exactly, to attach the Velcro to the panels was another story. Although the panels we bought (the Renogy monocrystalline) are technicallyAUTO-PILOT FAILURE
This crew member, in particular, is a little crazy. Dancing at the helm is the absolute best way to hold a hand-steering shift. We weren’t even sure, yet, whether the auto-pilot could be repaired in the Azores and Yannick was rightfully leery of docking his 46-footcatamaran.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S EXAM So, the “Captain-in-a-Box” package I purchased from Mariner’s Learning System consists of five study books (both hard copy and digital), which cover each topic on the exam with a practice exam at the end of each (hard copy and digital, so two practice tests for STRANDED NAKED IN THE BAHAMAS?? July 3rd is the famous Stranded Naked, Cheeseburger in Paradise party (although I’ve been advised we do wear clothes — bummer!). I will help crew the July 4th Green Turtle race and the July 6th Treasure Cay to Guana Cay race then fly from Marsh Harbour back to Ft. Lauderdale.Red = cab.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S PAPERWORK Let’s Talk About This Captain’s Paperwork. My, my, the paperwork for this thing! It was almost as hard to complete as the Captain’s License exam. Okay, not really. That exam was no freaking joke. But the paperwork was a bit of a hurdle to overcome too. Applicant Annie, mailing off her paperwork September 13, 2017. HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Time. It’s slipping. No, it’s skittering, skyrocketing away. Whatever new warp speed we have found ourselves in—be it a product of COVID, today’s information-overload era, the rapidity of global change, or just age (I’m almost forty)—it has told Phillip and I one thing: If the world can change entirely tomorrow, it matters more than ever how you spend today. PLAINTIFF’S REST OVERHAUL Time. It’s slipping. No, it’s skittering, skyrocketing away. Whatever new warp speed we have found ourselves in—be it a product of COVID, today’s information-overload era, the rapidity of global change, or just age (I’m almost forty)—it has told Phillip and I one thing: If the world can change entirely tomorrow, it matters more than ever how you spend today. LEAVING PALAFOX MARINA … MAYBE FOREVER I can’t tell you how many times Phillip and I have left Palafox Marina, whether it was headed out to our favorite anchorage, Ft. McRee, or just for a day sail, or sometimes to shoot all the way out into the Gulf and head south to the Keys, Cuba, the Bahamas, orbeyond.
BV19: HOW TO RIG A WHISKER POLE Once we had the whisker pole working, we then started to toodle around with it on the boat and found that while a whisker pole can be very useful in light winds where it’s not quite enough to keep the headsail full or not the right angle for you to fly the spinnaker, what we learned during many of our downwind sails during our time in the Bahamas, was that it can also be useful when there is NOTORIOUS NORMAN’S CAY Lehder eventually constructed a 3,300-foot (1,000 m) long runway for his fleet of smuggling aircraft. To protect the island, he planted armed guards and attack dogs all along the beaches and runway, as well as radar to identify and fend off any pilot foolish enough to try andland there.
MARCH 2013 – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL It was a great sail and a great day that told Phillip and I that sailing was going to be, had to be, a big part of our future. We didn’t end up getting that boat. It was a bit out of our price range and while probably worth the money (that was a quality vessel), it wouldn’t have left us much cash in the kitty to sail on, and thatwas a real concern.
STEVE SMITH MOBILE RIGGING Except he had a swivel shackle in it! Hallelujah! Steve – likely sensing my budding excitement – to us the shackle he had found was the Unit 2, and ours was the Unit 1, so there was a chance itwouldn’t fit.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S EXAM So, the “Captain-in-a-Box” package I purchased from Mariner’s Learning System consists of five study books (both hard copy and digital), which cover each topic on the exam with a practice exam at the end of each (hard copy and digital, so two practice tests forSEPTEMBER 2016
BIG NEWS at the end of the video, too. Next week we’ll be announcing our 3rd GIFT OF CRUISING on the YouTube channel, and my Trans-At movie will also be available for rent on YouTube then as well, Oct. 7th. LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S PAPERWORK You can also access the Pay.Gov payment center through the National Maritime Center here; it just takes a little more navigating to get to the Captain’s License page.. I got confused, however (who me? nooooo ), when I got to the actual payment page as to whether I was paying for an “officer endorsement” or “rating endorsement” and whether I needed to pay my “exam fee” or if HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Time. It’s slipping. No, it’s skittering, skyrocketing away. Whatever new warp speed we have found ourselves in—be it a product of COVID, today’s information-overload era, the rapidity of global change, or just age (I’m almost forty)—it has told Phillip and I one thing: If the world can change entirely tomorrow, it matters more than ever how you spend today. PLAINTIFF’S REST OVERHAUL Time. It’s slipping. No, it’s skittering, skyrocketing away. Whatever new warp speed we have found ourselves in—be it a product of COVID, today’s information-overload era, the rapidity of global change, or just age (I’m almost forty)—it has told Phillip and I one thing: If the world can change entirely tomorrow, it matters more than ever how you spend today. LEAVING PALAFOX MARINA … MAYBE FOREVER I can’t tell you how many times Phillip and I have left Palafox Marina, whether it was headed out to our favorite anchorage, Ft. McRee, or just for a day sail, or sometimes to shoot all the way out into the Gulf and head south to the Keys, Cuba, the Bahamas, orbeyond.
BV19: HOW TO RIG A WHISKER POLE Once we had the whisker pole working, we then started to toodle around with it on the boat and found that while a whisker pole can be very useful in light winds where it’s not quite enough to keep the headsail full or not the right angle for you to fly the spinnaker, what we learned during many of our downwind sails during our time in the Bahamas, was that it can also be useful when there is NOTORIOUS NORMAN’S CAY Lehder eventually constructed a 3,300-foot (1,000 m) long runway for his fleet of smuggling aircraft. To protect the island, he planted armed guards and attack dogs all along the beaches and runway, as well as radar to identify and fend off any pilot foolish enough to try andland there.
MARCH 2013 – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL It was a great sail and a great day that told Phillip and I that sailing was going to be, had to be, a big part of our future. We didn’t end up getting that boat. It was a bit out of our price range and while probably worth the money (that was a quality vessel), it wouldn’t have left us much cash in the kitty to sail on, and thatwas a real concern.
STEVE SMITH MOBILE RIGGING Except he had a swivel shackle in it! Hallelujah! Steve – likely sensing my budding excitement – to us the shackle he had found was the Unit 2, and ours was the Unit 1, so there was a chance itwouldn’t fit.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S EXAM So, the “Captain-in-a-Box” package I purchased from Mariner’s Learning System consists of five study books (both hard copy and digital), which cover each topic on the exam with a practice exam at the end of each (hard copy and digital, so two practice tests forSEPTEMBER 2016
BIG NEWS at the end of the video, too. Next week we’ll be announcing our 3rd GIFT OF CRUISING on the YouTube channel, and my Trans-At movie will also be available for rent on YouTube then as well, Oct. 7th. LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S PAPERWORK You can also access the Pay.Gov payment center through the National Maritime Center here; it just takes a little more navigating to get to the Captain’s License page.. I got confused, however (who me? nooooo ), when I got to the actual payment page as to whether I was paying for an “officer endorsement” or “rating endorsement” and whether I needed to pay my “exam fee” or if BOOKS – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Time. It’s slipping. No, it’s skittering, skyrocketing away. Whatever new warp speed we have found ourselves in—be it a product of COVID, today’s information-overload era, the rapidity of global change, or just age (I’m almost forty)—it has told Phillip and I one thing: If the world can change entirely tomorrow, it matters more than ever how you spend today. CREW – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Annie and Phillip, my wife Debbie and I sail our Ericson “Easy” in the same places you do so I’m sure we’ll run into you guys. We are at Island Cove and have logged a little over 1000 nautical miles a year since buying her in March three years ago.OUR JOURNEY
Time. It’s slipping. No, it’s skittering, skyrocketing away. Whatever new warp speed we have found ourselves in—be it a product of COVID, today’s information-overload era, the rapidity of global change, or just age (I’m almost forty)—it has told Phillip and I one thing: If the world can change entirely tomorrow, it matters more than ever how you spend today.GET ON BOARD
Curious about cruising? Come aboard! At HaveWindWillTravel.com, we are creating cruisers, one dreamer at a time by sharing our story through books, blogs and videos, touring other boats and our Gifts of Cruising that we previously gave through Patreon. If you love sailing videos, we produced five seasons on YouTube documenting our initial cruising days, our three-month stint in the shipyard BOAT – HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL A 35-foot Hinterhoeller Niagara built in 1985, Plaintiff’s Rest is a classic sailing vessel fit to satisfy any sailor’s thirst for blue water. She is moderately heavy (don’t worry, unlike women of HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Plaintiff’s Rest, holding on bravely in a mob of wind and boats. We simply do not know. Phillip and I can only hope everything holds on just long enough as the winds continue to howl in the upper 20s and 30s throughout the entire day. ATTACHING SOLAR PANELS TO BIMINI Velcrow for the solar panels was going to work just fine. So, we got up with our regular canvas guy — Tony with Coastal Canvas — and started laying out the panels and determining the attachment points. Recall we did have the issue with the Eisenglass window pane over the helmsman’s head that we had to work around: STRANDED NAKED IN THE BAHAMAS?? It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it. As you know, I had been piddling around on the aerial silks for a few months by then and when I mentioned our upcoming trip to my instructor, the completely unattractive and untalented, Garrett (this one’s for you ladies): LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S PAPERWORK You can also access the Pay.Gov payment center through the National Maritime Center here; it just takes a little more navigating to get to the Captain’s License page.. I got confused, however (who me? nooooo ), when I got to the actual payment page as to whether I was paying for an “officer endorsement” or “rating endorsement” and whether I needed to pay my “exam fee” or if LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS CAPTAIN’S EXAM So, the “Captain-in-a-Box” package I purchased from Mariner’s Learning System consists of five study books (both hard copy and digital), which cover each topic on the exam with a practice exam at the end of each (hard copy and digital, so two practice tests for HAVE WIND WILL TRAVEL Curious about cruising? Come aboard.Skip to content
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OUR ANNAPOLIS TOP TEN Posted on October 23, 2019by
anniedike
Whew! We had to give it a week to let the dust settle (and our lungs settle). The day after Phillip and I got back from Annapolis, my chest turned into a raging, burning battlefield. I can’t imagine there is anything left in my head and lungs to hack up, but it somehow miraculously keeps coming. Phillip and I both got monstrously sick after we returned from Annapolis. Did anyone else get walloped with the cold/flu last week? Man, it makes me appreciate my health! The good news is we are on the mend this week (with at least one lung each still in tact), and I’m eager to share some of the awesome highlights from our first trip ever to the Annapolis Sailboat Show! While the entire week was jam-packed with events, talks, boats, and beers, ten very fun memories seemed to bubble to mind when Phillip and I reflected back on our week in Annapolis. From #10 down to #1, herethey are!
10. SEEING BOB WITH HIS BITCHIN AWARD (THE SAILING INDUSTRY DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD, A HANDSOME BAROMETER FROM WEEMS & PLATH) While I was going to say “getting a bitchin hug” was number ten on this list, Bob’s goofy, happy face when he showed me his award was even better than his massive bear hug. The moment after he let me out of his grip, Bob tugged me into his booth and started telling me about the award he had been given just that morning. “Only Gary Jobson, Alastair Cook, Peter Harken, and Olaf Harken have got this award in the past,” Bob told me. “I guess the world went crazy this morning and decided to put me up there with the lot of them.” Ever the humble one. But, Bob was so cute holding his award (a stunning Weems & Plath barometer engraved with his name) up high and pasting on a goofy smile to pose with it. I was proud to snap the photo and be able to share the moment with him. His genuine humility and excitement from it were infectious. Well done, Bob! No one deserves it more! And, seeing Bob and Jody at the boat shows always brings a smile (and a hug!).*
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9. WATCHING THE SHOW FLOOD OUT This was not so much a highlight as a shock. On Friday while Phillip and I were walking around the show, we watched as many of the entrances and exits from the show began to fill with flood waters, making it difficult to navigate our way out and back to the Calvert House on State Circle where we were staying. (That is also where a portion of Cruiser’s University was held.) On Saturday morning, we were told that the combination of seasonal high tides, a full moon, and Tropical Storm Melissa, which stalled off the eastern seaboard, caused flooding throughout downtown Annapolis, leading city officials to close Spa Creek Bridge and Compromise Street, among otherstreets.
While walking around the boat show on Saturday, we began to see water creep up to a foot or more around many of the booths. Flooding forced visitors to trudge through water when making their way to boats and between booths. Unfortunately, we saw an older gentleman trip on a pallet and fall into the water near one booth. As attorneys with our red liability flags definitely up at that point, Phillip and I were sure they were going to cancel the show any minute to avoid injury. It was sad to see some vendors suffer damage to their goods, although the running joke was that Gil and the other foul weather vendors were killing it selling boots and waiters left and right. Bob Bitchin even caught a video of a guy paddling through the show. It waswild!
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Studies show between 1957 and 1963, Annapolis averaged roughly four floods each year. That jumped to nearly 40 floods each year between 2007 and 2013, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. You can read more about these stats and the flooding during the boat show here.
8. KNOWING NO MATTER HOW MANY FANCY NEW BOATS WE STEPPED ON, OURS ISSTILL THE BEST!
It’s true! In our minds anyway. Every new boat we toured made me appreciate the simplicity, capability, and comfort of our 1985 Niagara 35. The perfect boat for me and Phillip. Perfect because we made it that way, and perfect because it has only the bare necessities and only the necessary luxuries, and nothing more. No matter your boat preference, I found it hard to swallow several myths like these which were touted as truth at the show: NEW BOAT MYTHS (DO NOT FALL FOR THESE!): * Newer means better. * Catamarans are always more spacious, more comfortable, and faster. * No heeling means no seasickness. * Two helms and a wider cockpit make for smoother, drier sailing. * Handholds and fiddles can be sacrificed for a pretty interior. * Natural ventilation can be sacrificed for AC. * The more AC, gen-power, and thru-hulls the better. * In-mast furling mains are a good idea. Call me a purist, but I thought 59-North ’s Swan 59, _Ice Bear_, was the most capable offshore boat I stepped on at the boat show. The minute I saw a boat that had a dumbwaiter from the galley below up through a hole in the deck to the cockpit, I knew I had stepped into some alternate universe where boats are designed more to entertain than perform.*
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That’s not to say all of those shiny fiberglass beauties wouldn’t be fun to travel and live on, I just bet an older, 35-footer would out-perform many of them in an offshore sail. Hands down. And, that was a good feeling to have while tip-toeing around on many million-dollar boats: a complete lack of envy or desire knowing the best boat for us is already ours. _Plaintiff’s_ _Rest, you rock!_*
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7. HONOR, COURAGE, COMMITMENT: TOURING AND JOGGING THE UNITED STATESNAVAL ACADEMY
Phillip had his eyes set on the United States Naval Academy from the moment we booked the trip. While I believe the Marines don’t like to say it out loud, they technically are a branch of the Navy, so, as a Marine himself, Phillip was really excited to see the campus and learn more about the history and traditions. The USNA offers tours on the hour every hour, from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. weekdays for only $12.00 and it was well worth it. Even without a military background myself, I was still very impressed with the rich history of the buildings and the many monuments inside that are testaments to great battles and achievements of the Navy and its many sailors.*
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The Statute of Tecumseh, which faces
Bancroft Hall, the dormitory for 4,400 midshipmen attending the USNA was a highlight. Tecumseh has become not only the “God of 2.0” — the passing grade point average at the academy — but also the idol to whom loyal midshipmen give prayers and sacrificial offerings of pennies. Midshipmen offer a left-handed salute in tribute to Tecumseh, and they toss pennies his way for good luck in exams and athletic contests. We also learned about USNA Heisman trophy winner Joe Bellino and Roger Staubach and saw many of the impressive athletic records held by USNA students dating all the way back to the early 1900’s in a dizzying array of sports from wrestling to swimming to football to soccer to diving to lacrosse to golf to tennis. The USNA students spend approximately two hours each day in rigorous physical activity, which is why they feed them 3,500-4,000 calories a day in the MessHall.
Two things about the USNA stuck out for me: 1) the tradition of capping the Herndon Mount; and 2) our morning jog around the campus on Andy’s recommendation. The Herndon Mount tradition marks the end of “plebe year.” All freshmen entering the USNA must spend the summer before their first school year at the academy in rigorous training where they wear the traditional sailor whites (think the Cracker Jack guy) complete with a white dixie cup hat. At the end of their plebe year, the plebes must work together to rush Herndon Mount (a monument on campus, that is greased to the nines for the occasion), scale the statute, and replace the dixie cup hat on top with an upper classman’s hat. Seeing the images of the plebes working together to build a human pyramid to accomplish this was really something. (We won’t mention the fact that it’s a pile of ripped, sweaty men – that had nothing to do with it for me …nothing at all : )
And, my second favorite memory of the academy was the bright early morning jog Phillip and I took around the campus on Friday morning of the show. We had just met Andy Schell from 59-North (more on him below) the previous day and had mentioned our tour of the USNA. If you know Andy, you know he’s a pretty fit dude (and he knows we pride physical fitness, too). I mean, health and time are really the only commodities worth protecting and stockpiling. So, Andy recommended Phillip and I jog the USNA campus in the early morning, right at sunrise. While I figured it would be refreshing, I did not think it would be so transformative. These was just something about running with all of the other young Navy students who were out that morning in the crisp fall air as the sun rose above the Chesapeake Bay that made Phillip and I feel strong, young, and connected to something bigger than us. I imagine many USNA midshipmen feel that way often when they work together to accomplish something momentous, be it an offshore sail, a football game, a swim meet, or a capping of Herndon Mount! Our hearts pounding and our lungs filled with cool, crisp air that stunning morning, I think Phillip and I got just a tiny sliver of what the team spirit of the Navy must feel like. The Naval Academy definitely rubbed off on us.*
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6. GETTING FRONT “ROW” SEATS FOR OUR BEST MEAL OF THE TRIP And, let me say first of all picking a top meal was exceedingly difficult in a place where everything starts with fresh, Chesapeake Bay crab. I think ate a total of four crab-themed omelets in the course of three days, then there were the lobster rolls at Mason’s , the breakfast bowl at Iron Rooster , the hot Nashville cornmeal fried-oyster sandwich (that Phillip devoured) at Miss Shirley’s Cafe , the Senator breakfast at Chick and Ruth’s Delly . Lord, stop me now. I’m gaining weight just thinking about it again. The food in Annapolis was jaw-dropping, and I don’t regret a single bite.*
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But, our favorite meal of the trip—as it almost always is every time we travel, the one that has that special _je ne said quoi_—was the one we had aboard a friend’s boat who was anchored up in Spa Creek for the Boat Show. I’ve mentioned Russell Frazer on this blog several times before. He is a long-time delivery captain and he and his wife, Lynn, are exceptionally capable and knowledgeable sailors who Phillip and I have had the pleasure of knowing for several years now through the blog. Russell and Lynn gave us some great advice on how to rig our whisker pole and about swapping to a composting head,
both of which I have written up here on the blog. So, when we learned Russell and Lynn were going to be aboard their boat, a gorgeous Kelly Peterson 42 _s/v Blue Highway_ in Spa Creek for the boat show, we knew we we definitely wanted to meet up. What we did not know is that Russell and Lynn were going to invite us for a fantastic Moroccan lamb dish (Lamb Tagine) and Key Lime Pie aboard their boat (the cockpit is always the best seat for dinner), complete with a chauffeured row from the dinghy dock on the end of Market Street in downtown Annapolis. That meal was such a treat! Thanks again, Russell and Lynn, for the invite and superb job hosting! 5. MEETING LONG-TIME, ONLINE FRIENDS FOR THE FIRST TIMEFACE-TO-FACE
ANDY AND MIA WITH 59-NORTH That’s right. All these years emailing and chatting with Andy and Mia from 59-North online, following their offshore travels, and listening to Andy’s exceptional podcasts , _On the Wind_ and _How I Think About Sailing,_ and Phillip and I had never before met the two in person. Meeting Andy and Mia was something Phillip and I had been looking forward to for months before the show as we really admire Andy and Mia, both for the adventure and offshore education they offer and the mutual passion for offshore sailing that we all share. Andy’s serious side, his philosophical nature, and his respect for all aspects of boat-building, maintenance, and handling, in particular, speak deeply to Phillip, and I know Phillip was eager for the chance to shake Andy’s hand and thank him for the incredible knowledge he continues to share with sailors all over the world. For me, meeting Mia was a real treat as I have admired her tenacity and courage in jumping on a boat with Andy to sail the world (much like I did with Phillip) and for pursuing her Yachtmasters license while showing the world you don’t need formal training (or testosterone) to be a good sailor, and more importantly, a good captain. You just need a level head, good instincts, and listening skills. Mia was also much more bubbly and giddy in person than I would have expected, and she brought out my inner girl, which was really fun! Proof: Girls rock. They just do!ROB AND LIZ MILLER
Remember when I was on Patreon, using the crowd funds to give several lucky winners the Gift of Cruising? Well, Rob and Liz Miller were our 3rd Gift of Cruising winners, and I partnered with Andy Shell of 59-North Sailing to send Rob Miller on a 10-day cruise along the Leeward Islands from the BVIs to Grenada and back. Rob and Liz have been long-time followers at HaveWind and have followed mine and Philip’s travels from the beginning, finding inspiration in our content to fuel their own cruising dreams. Rob has been working on renovating a beautiful Slocum 42 boat and rig it out so he and Liz can shove off on their own cruise through the islands next year! Having emailed and spoke with Rob and Liz for years, it was wonderful to finally put faces to names (and big bear hug arms around them) when we got to meet in person at the boat show! Ironically, we had so much fun chatting we forgot to snap any photos of the four of us, but Rob and Liz joined us on the sail on the _Woodwind_ that Andy and Mia hosted and we had a fantastic time! I took this photo of Liz and Brian Trautman – what a great one! :)
Rob, Liz, it was such a treat to finally get the opportunity to give you two a hug and share a drink (or five!). We can’t wait to see where your own cruising dreams take you. Phillip and I hope the next time we meet up it will be out on the water on our boats! 4. GETTING A VIP TOP-DOWN RIDE TO WEEMS & PLATH FOR A PERSONAL TOUR That’s what happens when you travel with Pam Wall. That lady can open some doors, I tell you! Weems & Plath sponsors Pam Wall on her talks and boat show presentations, so she is always eager to share word of their fantastic products and encourage many boat show attendees to stop by their shop in Annapolis for the “dent & bent” sale they host every year during the boat show. Pam wanted to take Phillip and I by so she called the Weems office and asked for a ride and what would you know: a convertible pulls up to take us there inhigh style!
We got a personal tour of the facility by Drew and learned a ton about what they are doing with OGM lights. These
things burn for 50k+ hours and can be seen for miles. They are phenomenal safety devices with technology in the LED field improvingevery year!
I also picked up their Road Rules and Light Rulessliding
rulers which are great nav aids to keep in the cockpit to make sense of all of the different light combinations you can see on passing ships at night, as well as buoys and markers and rules of the road. They were half-off at the sale! I was also impressed with theirCrewWatcher
product: a bluetooth device the crew member on watch can wear around his or her neck. In case they go overboard, it sounds an alarm on a phone on the boat with GPS coordinates to easily find and retrieve the man overboard. What a (literal) life-saver! 3. SAILING ON _WOODWIND_ WITH 59-NORTH , DELOS , AND SAILING TOTEM!
We didn’t even know _Delos_ was coming to the show until a few weeks before the event. While Andy and Mia had been planning to host an informative, fun presentation on Friday night as a “happy hour” event with a talk, we were totally down with them deciding to cancel that when they learned _Delos_ was coming so they could host an afternoon sail and joint YouTube sailing panel discussion instead. What a treat! Andy and Mia hosted a large party on the schooner Andy used to crew on in the Chesapeake Bay, the elegant _s/v Woodwind_, and invited Brian and Brady from _Delos_, along with Behan and Jamie from _Sailing Totem_ aboard for two wonderful hours out on the water with a stunning view of the boat show in our wake. While I had met Brian earlier in the week (do NOT miss #1 on this list ; ), this was my first time meeting Brady, and they were both beyond chill, just great guys who love to sail and have a good time. It was a real honor getting to hang out with them, as well as Andy and Mia and Behan and Jamie. The boat show was my first time meeting Behan as well, with Pam earlier in the week during Cruiser’s University, and she is an incredibly sweet, knowledgeable sailor. Phillip and I both felt like we were having mini star-struck moments all week, and our sail on the _Woodwind_ was the explosive finale!*
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2. SPEAKING WITH PAM WALL This just warmed my heart. Hearing Pam step up time and again to share her story, her sailing background, how she met Andy Wall, how they built the most beautiful Freya and sailed around the world with their two darling kids, Jamie and Samantha. I never get tired of hearing it; which is great, because Pam never gets tired of telling it! Bless her sweet, salty soul! Pam is committed to helping any person with the dream to go cruising to shove off tomorrow and make it happen. She is an abundant wealth of information (frankly, it shocks me how much she can remember with all of the world-travels and adventures she has packed into one lifetime) but also a humble, kind, caring friend. I will cherish forever the day I met her (and took her to lunch!). We are bonded for life, and I cannot thank her enough for allowing me the honor of standing on the stage with her and sharing what little, but important, lessons I have learned the last six years sailing with Phillip. Speaking with you, Pam, was a real honor.*
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1. GETTING RECOGNIZED RIGHT IN FRONT OF DELOS! : D This was probably the coolest thing that has ever happened to me in my “HaveWind” career (if you can call it that – I just call it one helluva good time!). So, we all know Brian Trautman from Delos, right? He’s like a mega-celebrity in the world of sailing. (And boy you should have seen the lines that formed around him and Brady day in and day out at the show! Yet, they were always so humble and patient; they shook every hand and smiled for every photo – thousands of them!) Like many of you would be, I was super star-struck when I saw Brian for the first time. It was when Phillip and I were touring Andy and Mia’s _Ice Bear_, and Brian just happened to be aboard. Phillip and I both spotted him but he was talking to another gentleman at the time and we didn’t want to barge in, so we both waited (I was in the galley talking to a very interesting _Ice Bear _crew member and Phillip was in the saloon). As soon as the man Brian was talking to seemed to be wrapping up and getting ready to head topside, I started to mozy toward Brian so I could meet him and shake his hand (and gush like a little girl). But, suddenly, they guy he had been talking to turned around and shouted “_ANNIE DIKE?!_ The _Annie Dike_?!” Right in front of Brian, the Captain of _s/v Delos_ … this guy has an Annie fit? What would you do? I tossed my hair over my shoulder, giggled and said “Why yes, yes it’s me!” while hugging the man and giving Brian a hilarious _this happens all the time_ look. I couldn’t have asked for better timing. Thank you fan dude, wherever you are, for giving me that Delos-worthy _ahhhh _moment. I felt just a bit famous! Phillip said Brian looked like he recognized me without the spotting; I’ll take his word for it. But, after I finished with fan-man, I got to give Brian a big hug and meet him, too. That was probably our favorite moment of the trip! Star-struck! _Was I holding on to him too tight? Maybe just a little! : )__Wouldn’t you?_
What a wonderful time we had in Annapolis. It was so much fun meeting both our “sail-ebrities” and feeling like some ourselves when folks would stop Phillip and I with a “Is that HaveWind?” look on their face and tell us how we inspired them. Phillip and I were humbled time and again and had a great time meeting so many diverse and entertaining sailors. We all have a story, and we all have dreams ahead. Life is about living and sharing them, and Annapolis really solidified that for us. We hope you’ve enjoyed the recap. We’ll return with some more Exumas wonders next time! Stay tuned! Posted in Uncategorized| Tagged
59-north , annapolisboat show ,
bob bitchin ,
cruiser’s university, Pam Wall
cruising consultant
| 9
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NOTORIOUS NORMAN’S CAY – HOME OF ILL-FATED LEGENDS AND THE FYREFESTIVAL FRAUD
Posted on October 2, 2019by anniedike
You can’t blame the notorious for coming here. I mean, look atthe place.
Norman’s Cay in the Exumas is nothing short of stunning. It’s that unparalleled pairing of enticing tan sand, shimmering jewel-blue water, kissing a deep blue sky. So many of the islands throughout the Bahamas, and particularly in the Exumas look like this. Yet, Norman’s has some impressive but ominous history. I’ll have to consult with my lawyers, but I think I can rightfully say this: The island was once owned by PabloEscobar.
NORMAN’S RULE BY DRUG GIANTS, PABLO ESCOBAR AND CARLOS LEHDER Unfortunately, in Florida, we are all too familiar with the Escobar name. But, you cannot deny his craft and cunning as a pure business man. Escobar saw, seized, and subjugated an opportunity that made incomprehensible millions. But, a man cannot run an empire like that alone. In the last 1970’s and early 80’s Norman’s Cay was primarily operated by Carlos Lehder, a fellow member of the Medellín cartel, as a transshipment base for smuggling cocaine from Columbia into the U.S. Lehder hooked up with business partner George Jung during a stint in prison where he learned Jung had been smuggling marijuana into the U.S. via plane. Lehder, however, convinced Jung it was in his and the cartel’s best interest to begin smuggling cocaine via plane instead. At the time, Lehder was one of Escobar’s right-hand men. Lehder eventually constructed a 3,300-foot (1,000 m) long runway for his fleet of smuggling aircraft. To protect the island, he planted armed guards and attack dogs all along the beaches and runway, as well as radar to identify and fend off any pilot foolish enough to try and land there. The island was a strategic point for Colombian drug flights to refuel and rest before proceeding to the United States. And, as a drug hub, the island, not surprisingly, became a location for some serious partying. With Lehder allegedly pulling in over $300 million a year off the operation, some partying stands to reason. Norman’s Cay was described as a “ … playground. I have a vivid picture of being picked up in a Land Rover with the top down and naked women driving to come and welcome me from my airplane,” one of Lehder’s men was quoted saying. The remnants of Lehder’s party palace on Norman’s Cay “And there we partied. And it was … drugs, sex, no police… you made the rules… and it was fun.” _I’ll bet._ That’s probably the reason Norman’s Cay was chosen as the location for thefated Fyre Festival
—the
greatest party that never happened. THE FYRE FESTIVAL FRAUD Did any of you hear about this or watch the documentary? The Fyre Festival was touted as the most luxurious, wild island party to ever occur, with intoxicating promo videos, models running all over the island titillating viewers, with promises of the best music talent in the industry performing at an island-wide nonstop music fest for days. Go on, watch the trailer. See what they promised: Without spoiling the movie, I can at least say an all-out magnificent party did NOT happen, but the tale behind the hype and fall-out is mesmerizing. Thousands of people bought tickets, costing thousands of dollars each. Millions of people followed, commented, and shared. It was an insanely successful … promotion. Here is the official trailer for the official Netflix documentary – definitelywatch it:
Interestingly, much of the Fyre Festival’s collapse centered around the marketing team’s forbidden statement that the island was once owned by Pablo Escobar. Apparently that name ignites certain feelings (and legal ramifications). Ironically, it turned out in trying to capitalize on the legend of Escobar, Lehder, Jung, and the like, the Fyre Festival suffered the same fate: eventual demise. After an impressive five-year run dominating Norman’s Cay exclusively for the cartel’s cocaine trade, the Bahamian authorities began to crack down in 1982, allegedly in response to pressure from the United States, and Lehder was eventually arrested in Columbia in 1987. His property was confiscated. He stood trial in the U.S. and was convicted on all counts in 1988. A fitting fate for a drug dealer. But, in another nod to their notorious past, Hollywood decided to commemorate their epic venture through Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz in the 2001 movie, _Blow_, which was based on the cocaine escapades of Jung, Lehder, and Escobar. While Norman’s Cay is now a wonderful addition to the Exumas, offering idyllic strolls on the beach, and fantastic rum drinks, island food, and waterview cottages for rent at the long-standing MacDuff’s Cottages and Restaurant , there is one icon on the island that stands out among others: the (alleged) drug plane that sunk in the shallows of Norman’s Cay’s cut. While much speculation circles this plane, surmising it must have crashed because it was weighed down by too many kilos of cocaine, or because the pilot and crew were blitzed out of their minds, I found this seemingly honest account from the mouth of Jack Reed, Carlos Lehder’s first pilot and resident on Norman’s Cay during the late 1970’s. This paraphrased excerpt comes from the book ‘Buccaneer: The Provocative Odyssey of Jack Reed, Adventurer, Drug Smuggler, and Pilot Extraordinaire’by Jack
Reed & Maycay Beeler and was posted at https://www.outislandlifebahamas.com/2017/03/the-plane-wreck-of-normans-cay/. THE ICONIC SUNKEN PLANE During Lehder’s reign over Norman’s Cay, an old C-46 World War II aircraft appeared piloted by one “British Andy.” As a large twin-engine transport plane utilized to carry troops and cargo, Andy thought it would serve as a good transport in Lehder’s fleet. While Lehder did not end up buying the plane, Andy left it there as a memento anyway.*
Legend had it, British Andy had a drinking problem (not surprising), and had been known to take along a six-pack for company on many of his flights (a bit surprising). Being on a short vacation seemed like a reasonable excuse for starting his favorite pastime first thing in the morning, even a morning he decided to drop by the airport, being a bit tipsy, to “fire-up the old sled and shoot some touch and goes” which is pilot language for practice take-offs and landings. An unsuspecting Columbian lad joined Andy on his venture and off theywent.
As Andy made his approach for the first landing, he miscalculated the beginning of the runway and touched down short. Realizing his error at the last moment, he gave the old girl full throttle to execute a go-around. To his great dismay, he clipped an earthen berm, tearing the left landing gear loose from its housing, leaving it dangling from the aircraft by cables and hoses. The plane then dipped low enough for the propeller on the left engine to strike the runway – bending it – and rendering it useless. With the right engine roaring and straining to keep the plane airborne, a bit of altitude was gained, but it was only enough to clear the runway and make a slow settling arc to the left. The plane ran out of flying speed and altitude about a block offshore of the marina in front of the hotel and belly-flopped to a splashing spectacular halt in shallow water, leaving roughly half of it submerged. Many allegedly witnessed this fiasco. A boat at the marina made a quick trip to the site of the crash and rescued the two survivors, neither of whom had a scratch. Lehder furnished transportation for the embarrassed pilot back to the states, but the plane has sat in this location for decades, deteriorating, and being slightly repositioned by passing hurricanes. Here are the Fyre models snorkeling around the plane. _I’m sure I looked just like that when we dove it._ _Even in my platypus suit. _ OUR VISIT TO NORMAN’S CAY After spending a fabulous, indulgent night at Highbourne Cay,
wining and dining ourselves silly at Xuma’s restaurant, Phillip and I weighed anchor the following morning and sailed over to Norman’s Cay. We were excited to spend the day exploring the island, snorkeling the famous sunken plane, and ending the full-day adventure with a filling meal and drinks at MacDuff’s restaurant. And that is exactly what we did! Norman’s Cay, despite its ominous history, still offered a beautiful, bright sunny day on exquisite beaches followed by a fun, atmosphere at MacDuff’s and a chance to fill our bellies with a fresh catch.*
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While there were no sightings of Lehder’s ghost, we did spot a massive barracuda (easily four feet long) who lives in the sunken plane and eyes you menacingly if you swim too close. Come to think of it, his eyes kind of reminded me of Lehder … All of these wonderful islands, with their legends and local treasures await! We hope many of you are already planning your trip to the Exumas this coming year! Help rebuild the Bahamas through tourism. Next
up, we will take you to our most stunning stop in the Exumas, and our favorite destination during our entire Bahamas voyage last year: Warderick Wells Cay. Stay tuned!*
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References:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/business/cay.html https://www.britannica.com/place/Normans-Cay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blow_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman%27s_Cay https://www.coastalliving.com/lifestyle/fyre-festival-normans-cay Some great photos of the cartel remnants in Norman’s Cay – http://abnf.co/BAH-Norman%27s%20Cay%20Island.htm Posted in Uncategorized| 2 Comments
OUR FIRST TASTE OF THE EXUMAS: LIVING LARGE AT HIGHBOURNE CAY Posted on September 21, 2019by anniedike
While I feel very lucky Phillip and I cruised the Abacos last year when they were still intact, I feel even more lucky that in “blog time” I am now able to share the wonderful islands that still remain. I don’t mind saying it again—remember: The best way to help the Bahamas rebuild,
is to continue to visit the islands that were spared. And, why would you not? When this awaits! This was mine and Phillip’s first introduction to the Exuuuummmaaas: Highbourne Cay! If you recall our stop into Morgan’s Bluff on the north tip of Andros was an unexpected, but highly-rewarding, detour. We had been getting our teeth kicked in sailing into some rough winds coming out of the Northwest Providence Channel that were unexpectedly more south_east_ than south, the exact direction we would have to sail if we wanted to go directly to the Exumas from Bimini (which had been our original plan). But, go where the weather takes you, right? And Andros really wowed us, even with just a short overnight stay. As I mentioned previously, we are definitely planning to spend more time there this coming season and fully explore all that the Andros Barrier Reef has to offer! Our goal this past season, however, was to GET TO THE EXUMAS. Phillip and I had not cruised them yet, and we had heard from so many other cruisers how enchanting and unique they are. So, we said “See you later, Andros!” It was Exumas or bust.*
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And, wouldn’t you know it. Those winds that were bashing us around the day before laid down and shifted more to the south, allowing us to sail … for a bit … until they completely died. You know there are only three kinds of wind,
don’t you? What are you gonna do? We spent a wonderful day motoring across the Tongue of the Ocean, however, with the trolling line out, mind you. Thinking surely we would catch another nice whopping fish (now, when it was calm and we had nothing else to really do). But, no, the seas have quite the sense of humor. I’m starting to think there are only three types of fish, too: 1) the monsters that bite at the worst time; 2) the even bigger catches that would impress all your friends that never bite at all (or take your lure if they do); and 3) the little ones you catch often but they’re too small to keep. Would you agree? Phillip and I definitely would have loved to have another guy like this to have bitten when we were crossing the deep blue! But, fish. What are you gonna do? You’re going to eat wine and cheese instead! That’s what you’re going to do. We have plenty of that on-board, and a nice easy passage made for a nice wine, cheese, and book session. I believe I was reading _Where the Crawdads Sing _at that time. Could not put it down. Any of you read that one? Or let me know what your other favorite read has been recently. I absolutely devour books when we’re on passage. It’s my favorite time to read! : ) We eased into sunset and around the east tip of Nassau, where we really had to watch the AIS traffic. When we spent those threetorturous months
in the Pensacola Shipyard with Brandon at Perdido Sailor back in 2016, we installed AIS on the boat. Man, life on the hard. Those are some hard-earned, well-worth-it memories! Although we only receive AIS transmissions, we do not transmit, Phillip and I have found it to be a fantastic addition to the boat. I love (love, love!) that when it’s completely dark out, cloudy, with no moon or stars to light the horizon on a night passage, that at least AIS is looking out and showing me where the boats are. It is also immensely comforting to have AIS tell me how big the other ships are, which way they are going, and what our CPA (closest point of approach) is. Phillip and I will never regret the decision to install AIS. Also, this may sound silly to admit, but it is rather entertaining at night. Phillip and I hold two-hour shifts on and off and sometimes those two hours can tick by rather slowly. It’s kind of fun to click on AIS and see who else is out there, what is their ship name, how big is it, and even hale them on the radio if you need to communicate a safe passing. I was sure glad we had it, too, on my shift that night, as this is what Nassau looked like when we rounded the bend. A web of ships! We had set our sights on Highbourne Cay, one of the most northern of the Exumas and a good “dive in” point for the Exumas as they have a little marina there with fuel and a few sparse provisions. It would be the last marina we would see in the Exumas for a while, so we planned to drop the hook on the lee side of Highbourne Cay and spend a fun day exploring Highbourne and the surrounding islands. And the Exumas immediately began welcoming us with a glistening, dazzling show! As we started to near Highbourne Cay, the dark, deep water of the Tongue of the Ocean began to shallow and transform into this crystalline blue. It was absolutely stunning. Hard to believe our boat was swishing and swaying though such a breathtaking jeweledsurface.
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Phillip and I both couldn’t stop staring and taking pictures. Well, okay _I_ was the one taking the pictures. It’s tough being the ship’s historian. Someone’s gotta take all the selfies to prove we were there! : ) The folks at the Highbourne Cay Marina were super helpful and friendly and got us all topped up for our planned passages further down into the Exumas. We arrived fairly early in the morning with an open day ahead, which Phillip naturally filled with wonderful plans to dinghy a bit to the north up to South Allan’s Island and Iguana Beach. That man is the best trip planner; he always picks something fun, interesting, active, and usually delicious. I am one lucky gal I will tell you that. On the way up, we found a beautiful little reef to snorkel and threw out our trusty Mantus dinghy anchor. That thing is such an asset on the dinghy. Very well-designed, super functional, and—once dug in—mighty strong. The anchorage there at South Allan’s was stunning. Staying the night on the hook in there would feel like you have the world toyourself.
Well, you and the lizards! There were plenty of them on IguanaBeach.
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Are iguanas lizards? Maybe not. Hopefully I didn’t offend them in my squeaky “I want a lizard selfie” run to the beach! : ) There is a lizard back there, I promise. I don’t like to get too close to things that can leap and claw my eyes out. Dinghying back to our boat is when I took this famous shot of our stern. The water in the Exumas was definitely of another caliber. For dinner that night we decided to dinghy ashore and eat at the Xuma restaurant the guys at the marina had told us about, which from a quick stroll-by earlier that day, looked fabulous. So, Phillip and I made the absolute perfect decision to blow our load there that night and splurge on an insanely-indulgent fine-dining dinner at Highbourne Cay. Besides, we _had _to celebrate and cheers our first stop in the Exumas. It took years of planning, hard work, saving, and some rather grueling boat projects to get our boat this far. It was worth every cent, every calorie. Some meals just are. Next up, we’ll take you to Norman’s Cay with its sunken drug plane and the famous MacDuff’s Restaurant. Cheers!
Posted in Uncategorized| Tagged
bahamas | 4 Comments THE BEST DORIAN RELIEF: GO VISIT THE SPARED BAHAMIAN ISLANDS! Posted on September 10, 2019by anniedike
I’ve been struggling to write this, or write or post anything actually, here at HaveWind in the tragic aftermath of Dorian. I can only imagine what it is like right now, boots on the ground, with fresh water and supplies running low, people injured and unable to get medical help, not to mention the heartbreaking decimation of so many beautiful houses, marinas, and restaurants. Although _Plaintiff’s Rest_ was mercifully spared, how can I post photos of us smiling, out on the boat, saying, look at us: “Just another great day sailing” when so many others have lost so much? I just can’t. To be honest, other than sharing relief effort links and donating and contributing ourselves, I didn’t know what else to say. Hence the recent silence and the last photo I posted anywhere: But, thankfully, this is why I have Phillip. My idea guy. Thisis what he said:
“TELL THEM THE BEST THING THEY CAN DO TO HELP THE BAHAMAS RECOVER AND REBUILD IS TO CONTINUE VISITING THE ISLANDS THAT WERE SPARED.” _Brilliant_. You can see why I love that man. I realized how insightful he was and how right. Phillip was _so_ right. Many of the Bahamians who lived and worked in the Abacos are going to start migrating down to Andros, Nassau, the Berries, Eleuthera, and the Exumas and surrounding islands in hopes of rebuilding and finding work. And, the economy in the Bahamas is supported almost entirely by tourism. If we don’t continue traveling to the Bahamian Islands that were spared and continue to contribute to their tourist economy there, they will likely not be able to survive. While the loss of the beautiful Abacos, which—up until Dorian—Phillip and I had been planning on cruising again this coming season, is a tragedy, there remains so many places south of the Abacos that are equally breathtaking and that need our support. This was a message we recently received from the Association of Bahamas Marinas: Immediate relief efforts are imperative now to save lives and get people healthy and safe, and thankfully many people now are sharing various resources to help do that. Although it is exceedingly sad to know there are humans on the earth that prey on people trying to help in a time of tragedy like this, it is simply true, so please research relief organizations before donating. Also, many try to go straight to the hurricane site right after the storm to bring supplies, but that can put them in a terribly dangerous situation fraught with the potential for injury, disease, and crime. Donations to the organizations that are providing supplies to Bahamians in need or helping them evacuate is crucial _right now_. But, I agree with Phillip that—_long-term_—to help save the Bahamian economy, tourism must come back. If you had ever just fancied the idea to visit the Bahamas, PLEASE MAKE IT A PRIORITY TO VISIT THE SPARED ISLANDS IN THE COMING YEARS AS THEY WILL NEED OUR TOURIST DOLLARS TO SURVIVE AND REBUILD. With that in mind, I wanted to share with you all some previews of the other wondrous places south of the Abacos that Phillip and I visited the last time we were in the Bahamas, that were thankfully spared from Dorian and that we look forward to sharing in more detail with you in upcoming blog posts (full of fun travel stories) because I feel we have to continue focusing on that, too: the excitement and wonder of travel. Hurricanes are horrible, but they cannot be stopped or controlled. How we choose to spend our time, despite them, however, is something we are all able to control. Our collective decision to continue to bring tourism to the Bahamas can help bring the Abacos back. My good friend Pam Wall, whom I will be speaking with at Cruiser’s Universityat the
upcoming Annapolis Boat Show (please sign up if you want to attend our “Old Salts, New Systems” talk and haven’t already! : ) initially inspired Phillip and I to travel to the Abacos back in 2015. Thankfully, we did in 2017-2018 and got to enjoy those wonderful islands before they were decimated. But, I will now join the chant Pam said so energetically to us to hopefully inspire you all this coming cruising season to:GO TO THE BAHAMAS!
Andros, Nassau, the Berries, Eleuthera, and the Exumas and surrounding islands still have so much to offer and they desperately need your support. Tourism is their lifeblood. Keep it pumping! Here are some of the breathtaking sights, scenes, bites, and drinks that await. Phillip and I hope to see some of you there!ANDROS
I wrote extensively about Andros last time,
showcasing all of the wonderful tucked-away treats that often skipped-over island offered up for us. I’m so glad it was spared as we have plans to go back and stay in Fresh Water Creek and dive and spear-fish the great Andros Barrier Reef. The cost for cruising there (water and food) is much better as it is a bigger island, able to obtain and preserve more food and supplies.*
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Here are some resources for things to do and see in Andros: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/the-bahamas/out-islands/andros http://www.bahamas-travel.info/islands/andros.htmlTHE BERRY ISLANDS
If you recall Phillip and I sailed there previously on our way home from the Abacos and met the wildly-memorable Steve and Pat who inspired my “People with Gusto”
article in SAIL Magazine. The Berries offered Phillip and I some of the best spearfishing we have done in the Bahamas, and some of thebluest waters.
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They also have a world-class big fishing tournament. Learn more about all the wonderful things you can do and see in the Berries here: https://www.bahamas.com/islands/berry-islandsNASSAU
Phillip and wandered through the jaw-dropping Atlantis resort the last time we flew through Nassau and, for those of you who love the lavish, indulgent, resort-feel vacation, Nassau is an absolute dream. Five-star dining, incredible shopping, and all still with the mind-boggling green-blue beaches that you can only find in the Bahamas. We learned last time from our cab driver that Tiger Woods has his own golf course there, and restaurant that you can eat at.*
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Here are some more resources for all of the amazing things you can doin Nassau:
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/travel-guide/a9261279/nassau-bahamas-travel-guide/ https://www.nassauparadiseisland.com I also really liked what these fellow travel bloggers had to say about Nassau: https://finduslost.com/the-complete-nassau-bahamas-travel-guide/ELEUTHERA
Phillip and I stayed for a while in Harbour Island, in Eleuthera, hunkering down as a blow passed through, and we really loved the community, the restaurants, and … for us … the kite-surfing! I wrote a fun blog post previously about our passage through the Devil’s Backbone into Harbour Islandand
all of the fun things Harbour Island had to offer, from the pink sand beach on the North (where you can ride horses on the beach!), to the snorkeling, shelling, eat at Sip-Sip on the Atlantic Coast, and somuch more!
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Here are some more resources for Eleuthera. Phillip and I barely scraped the surface exploring Harbour Island. Next time we plan to rent a car and drive around to experience the entire island: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/travel-dining/a14754507/just-back-from-eleuthera-bahamas/ https://www.lonelyplanet.com/the-bahamas/out-islands/eleutheraCAT ISLAND
Phillip and I have not personally been so I don’t have any personal photos to share, but I will tell you one of the reasons I knew I wanted to travel the Exumas and surrounding islands the next time we came to the Bahamas was because of a photo I saw that a friend postedof Cat Island!
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Here are some resources for things to do at Cat Island: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g147427-Cat_Island_Out_Islands_Bahamas-Vacations.html https://www.bahamas.com/islands/cat-island A fellow travel blogger also put together this nice travel guide forCat
Island: https://www.outislandlifebahamas.com/2018/08/a-mini-travel-guide-to-cat-island/THE EXUMAS
Thankfully, Phillip were able to make a quick jaunt over, from Andros, to the Exumas the last time we were there. While we did not get to spend too much time exploring the Exumas (our plan is to do more this coming season), from what we saw we were spellbound. They really are telling you the truth when they say you’ve never seen beauty like the Exumas. We cannot wait to share more about these places we traveled to in the Exumas:HIGBOURNE CAY
With its picturesque marina, fun, fascinating snorkeling, and wonderfully-decadent Xuma’s Restaurant:
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Here is more information on what Highbourne Cay has to offer: https://highbournecaybahamas.com They even offer a snorkeling and diving guide for the island: https://highbournecaybahamas.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WTD_Highbourne.pdfNORMAN’S CAY
With its famous MacDuff’s Restaurantand sunken plane!
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More info on Norman’s Cay: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman%27s_Cay http://bahamascruisersguide.com/Exumas/Exumas/NormansC.htmlWARDERICK WELLS CAY
This was mine and Phillip’s favorite destination out of our entire trip to the Bahamas this last spring. Warderick Wells is a protected land and sea park so there is no fishing on the reefs, which means they are exquisite and so well-preserved! There’s also a friendly neighborhood nurse shark that visits every new boat that comes into the anchorage, as well as a fabulous walking trail with blow holes and a signing tree. I cannot wait to tell you more about this fabulous island, and the hilarious docking (or I guess you could call it balling … yeah you can make a comment about that ; ) balling debacle we had there! Good stories lie ahead my friends!*
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Here is some more information about the beauty and preserved sites Warderick Wells has to offer: http://www.bahamascruisersguide.com/page75/page19/page19.html > Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park (Warderick Wells)>
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g147432-i7577-k605722-Warderick_Wells-Staniel_Cay_Out_Islands_Bahamas.html And, these are only three of the dozens of islands that make up the Exumas, each with something unique and magical to share. And, everyone who lives on those islands is hoping and praying for tourists just like you to come visit and keep bringing your support and important cruising dollars to their struggling economy. Why hesitate? So much beauty and awe awaits! We hope his can help encourage some followers to set their sights on the amazing islands that still remain. Our thoughts are with those in the Abacos working hard now to get safe, healthy, and out of there if need be. Dorian was such a devastating monster. But, the Bahamas will and can rebuild. With our help. Andros, Nassau, the Berries, Eleuthera, and the exquisite Exumas still await. Our message to offer the best Dorian relief is: GO VISIT THE SPARED BAHAMAS! Posted in Uncategorized| Tagged
andros , bahamas
, eleuthera
, exumas
, nassau
, tourism
| 4 Comments
ONE OF THE BAHAMAS’ BEST KEPT SECRETS: ANDROS Posted on August 23, 2019by anniedike
Phillip and I had no plans to stop in Andros on our last voyage through the Bahamas. Although we do have a good friend who told us (when we were planning our first trip to the Bahamas in 2017) that it is a great spot for kitesurfing, we got caught up like most do in our excitement to see the _Exuuumas_! When most people write and post about the remote, untouched beauty of the Bahamas, they’re usually referring to the Exumas and surrounding islands. Places like CatIsland:
Staniel Cay with its famous James Bond Thunderball Grotto: Or Little Exuma with its Tropic of Cancer Beach: Many Bahamas cruisers told us while the Abacos are fun and stunning in their own right, there is just something pristinely breathtaking about the Exumas. So, when we left Bimini headed toward New Providence Channel all headings were pointing east, to the Exumas. But, as you know from our last blog and my scariest moment of the trip,
the weather forced us on a slight detour. And, as is usually the case, Phillip and I were thrilled we took the detour because it revealed to us yet another new, exciting destination in the Bahamas:Andros.
Although our mere single-night stay this last time proved to us Andros is a rare gem, with experiences and stories all its own, after researching further we have since learned Andros is one of the most cost-effective and well-stocked islands in the Bahamas. Because it is so large, produce and water are often in much greater supply than the smaller islands. As many of you may know, water can cost as much as $1.00/gallon in certain areas of the Bahamas. With as much water as Phillip and I need to drink while sweating and dehydrating daily in the Bahamas and use for showering and rinsing the boat, the price for water in the Bahamas can start to creep into the budget. We also learned Andros is home to one of the best and largest barrier reefs in the Bahamas, the Andros Barrier Reef, which Phillip and I plan to dive and snorkel in the future. _Ahhhh … it’s so comforting to see healthy reefs!_ The spearfishing would also be good on the east shore of Andros as it drops right into the Tongue of the Ocean. Catching fresh fish to cook on the boat every night is not only delicious, it’s also not bad on the wallet either. All told, Phillip and I are planning to check out Fresh Water Creek and spend more time in Andros the next time we sail by. We know it’s worth another stop for more discovery because we got a personal, local peek into the island this last time when Phillip scored three-hour driving tour guided by a long-time Andros local and the Harbor Master, a wonderful woman named Kenedra (whose name I can only hope I’m spelling correctly) and her bubbly daughter,Diamond!
We dropped the hook in Morgan’s Bluff rather early in the morning, hours before dinner time (and you remember what was for dinner thatnight! : ).
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With the whole afternoon on our hands, Phillip and I decided to venture ashore to take a poke around and see what life is like atMorgan’s Bluff.
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I’ll admit it is just a beautiful little beach with a tiny little rum bar, but that sounds like heaven to me! And, it was. The beach there on the north end of Andros was nothing short ofstunning.
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And, an ice cold Kalik and rum drink after the beat-down and fish battle we’d just been through was quite the reward. After talking with a local at the bar, we inquired about a potential tour of the island and he personally set us up with the Harbour Master, Kenedra, who offered to take us around the island herself personally that afternoon by car. This was such a surprise andwonderful treat.
Kenedra first took us to the huge rocky bluff on the northern tip of Andros. It really is a steep ways up with a harsh rocky shorebelow.
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Legend has it, the cruel and infamous buccaneer Henry Morgan (you guessed it … _THE_ Captain Morgan) had a hideout in a cave at this most northwestern tip of Andros. He and his crew allegedly hid their booty, both gold and rum (that’s worth hiding!), in the cave because the bluff the cave is located under was a notoriously dangerous spot for ships. Since most other sailors and pirates avoided this area because of its treacherous shore, Captain Morgan thought it was the best place in the world for his treasure.*
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Kenendra snapped mine and Phillip’s photo in front of the sign commemorating the Captain Morgan legend on Andros. She told us, though, by the end of his career, legend says Captain Morgan was known not for his keen pirating abilities, but for his excessive drinking and weight gain. Blame it on the rum … Kenedra drove us all over the island, stopping frequently to catch up with fellow Andros residents. (This is very common in the Bahamas.) Locals usually do not pass each other on the roads without honking and waving, at the very least, and often not without stopping and talking for a bit. It never ceases to amaze me how connected they are, compared to people in the States who can go for days, weeks (months even!), without talking to any people in their neighborhood. The sense of community there is truly heart-warming. After the Bluff and Captain Morgan’s famous cave (and specifically in response to her daughter, Diamond’s, insistent urging) Kenedra also took us to a quirky little hotel, the PinevilleMotel , where
the owner has a petting zoo with an eclectic mix of animals, ranging from goats, to peacocks, to rabbits.*
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I wanted to pet (keep) them all! Thankfully, Phillip put the kibosh on it (or that would make for quite an interesting sail on _Plaintiff’s Rest_ the next day! Phillip and I also posed for another cameo photo on the Pineville Motel’s Disco Stage._Yeah baby!_
Kenedra also took us to an exquisite little bungalow resort on the island, the Andros Island Beach Resort,
and introduced us to the owner who runs the rental units (adorable little cottages right on the beach) and the restaurant.*
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Phillip and I were really surprised to see such amazing accomodations here, that would cost upwards of $500/night on the east coast of Florida going for a mere $200/night in the Bahamas. Another reasonit pays to travel.
Diamond was cracking me up at this point. Over the course of the three hours she went from shy and unengaged to bubbly and inquisitive. Diamond and I became good little buddies by the end of it. She wanted to braid my hair. I should have let her! Our last stop on the tour was the “Blue Hole.” While we have since learned there are many of these in the Bahamas, the one in Andros carries all the way out to the ocean.*
The hole formed when a portion of the limestone island caved in, leaving a stunning blue water hole in the middle of the island fauna that is filled with cold, rainwater. But, if you dive the hole, you will start to lower down into water with more salinity and you can eventually cave dive your way out of the hole into the Tongue of the Ocean on the east coast of Andros.*
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How cool is that? It was cool enough for Phillip to jump in! I only hesitated (as you all know I love to jump from cliffs) knowing if I got soaked I’d have to drench Kenedra’s car with my wet soppy clothes and wild pile of hair. Stinking hair … there are so many times I wish I was bald and more “quick-dry” like Phillip. The highlight of the Andros tour, however, was not a destination, but it was a big deal. It was a dilly! While we were chatting and driving around in the car, Diamond, happily jumping into our conversation the further we drove, suddenly blurted out “Have you guys tried a dilly yet?” I wasn’t sure how to answer that. I didn’t even know what a dilly was. _Is it a food? Is it a dance? A local handshake? _I could confidently say to Diamond, “No, I have not tried a dilly yet.” With a gleam in her eye, her mom Kenedra (without saying a word) drove several roads leaning forward and looking up and out the windshield to the left and right, finally pulled off near a particular tree. No sooner than she put it in park, Diamond busted out of the car and started sprinting toward a very tall, bushy tree and began whacking at the upper branches with a long stick. Phillip and I exchanged a fun “_What’s the dilly-yo?”_glance as Kenedra followed her daughter and startedwhacking too.
Unfortunately, just as soon as it became clear to us they were trying to knock some type of fruit off of the tree for us to try, Kenedra said: “I tink dey all been picked ooh-vuh.” But Diamond would not give up. She kept scrambling, kept whacking, until we finally heard a muffled voice from within the cavern of the fauna. “I got one!” Diamond cried as she came running out, her spoils in hand: a perfectly ripe dilly fruit. Kenedra and Diamond eyed us as we eyed the fruit. Diamond cracked it in half with her hands (a dilly is roughly the consistently of a firm kiwi on the outside, an almost ripe peach on the inside). The two halves were a bright, blazingorange.
Definitely a fruit I had never seen before. The word guava came to mind, but then I remembered those are green on the outside, pink on the inside. This dilly was totally different. But, the taste wasvery similar.
_Mmmm guava_ … I thought as the super sweet interior slipped down my throat. Phillip and I ate both of our halves right there on the side of the road in Andros, getting all sticky-fingered without even caring, and we still note it as one our favorite “bites” of theentire trip.
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I think it was the combination of the surprise and newness Andros offered, the generosity of our hosts, and Diamond’s enthusiasm to share something of her local community with new friends. All of it came together to culminate in the perfect sweet treat. As we said goodbye to Kenedra and Diamond and dinghied back to our boat, Phillip and I agreed that’s what Andros felt like to us: the perfect sweet treat. New, unexpected, and rewarding. Andros, we will definitely be back. Next up, we’ll weigh anchor from (Captain) Morgan’s Bluff and make our way to our first island in the Exumas! Man, so much work and effort has gone into bringing the boat to this point. I still get thrills now just remembering and writing about it. Stay tuned! Posted in Uncategorized| Tagged
bahamas | 2 Comments FISH OFF THE HOOK – MY SCARIEST MOMENT OF THE TRIP Posted on August 3, 2019by anniedike
Do you see it in the photo? That fish is off the hook! Literally! Looking back, I still can’t believe Phillip and I actually got that one into the cockpit, but the pics are proof: WEDID!
Ahoy followers! After that stretchy sidebar,
it’s now time to get back to our Bahamas saga. When we last left our hapless crew, Phillip and I (well, actually _I_) had just accomplished my best de-docking ever leaving Bimini (and, don’t worry, there will be plenty more not-so-great dockings after). We were heading out early in the morning after a five-day hunker-down (that’s a military term I think) in Bimini when we had some steady east winds upwards of 18 kts on us for several days. While it did make for some great kiting inBimini
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after five days, most of the boats on our pier were ready to toss the lines and get going. The winds were predicted to be a light ESE, that Philip and I were hoping would turn more south than east. (And, I hope you’ll notice my clever “hope” foreshadowing here. As is often the case when we try to predict the wind, we are wrong. I would call it bad foreblowing as opposed to foreshadowing but I wouldn’t want to entice toooo many foul jokes : ). The winds were nice enough to start. We were hauling away from Bimini toward our entrance into the Great Bahamas Bank with plans to make an overnight passage to either the west harbor on Nassau or—if things were going well on the passage—all the way to the Exumas, which was our ultimate goal this first leg of the trip. Always good to have planned “outs” and “plan Bs” at the ready. It was a brisk romp in about 18kts of breeze (not what we expected, so much for the foreblowing) but it was comfortable making our way toward the Great Bahamas Bank. Phillip and I are still very pleased with our decision to trade out our whopping 135% genoa for our 90% offshore working jib when we’re cruising island to island (or country to country) and know we’ll be doing a good bit of offshore cruising. Unlike “Genny,” our little “Wendy” (aptly named by one of my HaveWind followers) is super sporty and rarely gets overpowered. It was really a fun day sailing all the way into the Great Bahamas Bank andbeyond.
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While I didn’t expect it, after spending only five days and four nights on the dock in Bimini, I had already missed offshore voyaging. That may sound a little silly having just crossed the Gulf Stream to get to Bimini, I’m serious! When you actually get going and find yourself weighing anchor (or tossing the lines) and getting the boat moving—to an entirely new location—every 3-4 days, 5 days starts to seem just one to many. The moment you’re back offshore, moving again, you realize how much you missed it. And, it didn’t hurt that the stars over the Bahamas Bank that night were just decadent. A white smattering of them, like salt on the sky. And, I remember seeing several shooting stars that evening (and making several wishes). That I cannot share! (It’s a StarPact.)
The next morning, I had the sunrise shift, which is totally fine with me. I love the shift where the sky transitions from night to day. It’s amazing to watch it change seemingly slowly at first and then so quickly. It still stuns me sometimes—when Phillip and I are in work mode, doing all of our busy marketing and lawyer work on land, where we don’t see near as many sunrises and sunsets as when we’re on the boat cruising—that this still happens out there. Out there, every morning (when it is clear), the sky turns from this velvety purple, to mind-boggling magenta, to a warm welcoming pinkish-yellow. Every day. Whether you see it or not. It’s not like wondering whether a tree that falls in the forest makes a sound. No. I’m confident every single sunrise is beautiful, exquisite, whether seen or not. But, that serene “Ahhh … life is wonderful” Annie-moment didn’t last long as we were coming towards the entry into the Northwest Providence Channel and the Tongue of the Ocean. In reality, it is a rather wide entrance. But, when a barge is coming through at the very same time, it is a rather narrow entrance. Phillip had only been asleep about 40 minutes when I was debating waking him again. Not that we try to be prideful, in not _needing_to wake the other crew member (known on our boat as the “other captain” : ) up—well, Phillip might be … a tad … he still is a Marine, or helpful, in letting the other person sleep more when we know they aretired.
No. On _Plaintiff’s Rest_we try to always follow the standing “When to Wake the Captain Rule”
which I have written on before. That rule is: It’s time to wake the Captain when you’ve thought: _Maybe I should wake the Captain_. Standing rule. Applies all the time. And, with a 600-foot barge coming toward the NW Providence Channel inlet the exact same time I was with a CPA (closest point of approach on our AIS) narrowing from 0.8 of a mile to 0.6 down to 0.3 in about 20 minutes, I knew it was time to wake my “other captain.” While Phillip was not thrilled with his 40-minute-only nap, he is always very diligent in getting up and getting alert quickly when there is a potential issue. Although this one was a little embarrassing in that by the time we passed the barge just before the entrance, it was clear 0.4 nm apart is a perfectly safe distance in the daytime with everyone motoring along in calm seas. The entrance to the channel suddenly felt monstrously wide leaving me plenty of room, which _might_have left me a little embarrassed for having woke Phillip. But, I was not. This is the very reason for the rule. It alleviates the need to feel embarrassed or ashamed. (And I like it that way.) But that little “adventure” was just the start of our harrowing day which turned out to be MY scariest moment of the entire trip. I have written about Phillip’s before. It was our “AutoTurn-Notto
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dilemma before we left for the Bahamas (which, granted, was before we left for our trip) but that was Phillip’s answer when he was asked: “What was your scariest moment of the trip?” That was his. This was mine. As we started to make our way into the Tongue of the Ocean, things got a little bumpy. The predicted “light” ESE winds were 18+ kts right on the nose. While Phillip and I had been hoping they would turn south sooner as predicted, they had not. And, ironically, although they had been blowing like stink dead out of the east for days, we would have welcomed an east wind now as it would have been more on our beam, rather than the nose. But, nope. We had those two kinds of winds that often occur together: winds of the wrong speed and in the wrong direction. “My favorite!” said no sailor ever. While we were … _somewhat_ comfortable … it was a bit of a bash-around bumpy ride, and the thought of continuing in that fashion for another 6-7 hours to Nassau or (worse) another 18-24 to the Exumas was … not very appealing. After some discussion, thought, and chart-checking, Phillip and I decided to pull into Andros. We had never been there before, but a good friend of ours from back in Pensacola (Captain Jack if you’re listening – here’s your “shout-out!”) had highly recommended it as a more untouched part of the Bahamas and a great spot for kitesurfing. Two things we love to find the most while traveling: tranquility and kite access. So, we decided to head for a new anchorage to us, a place we had not originally intended to go during this trip to the Bahamas, but NOT “going with the weather” was a lesson we had learned in thepast.
The wind and seas were telling us to get out of this mess, so that is exactly what we chose to do. Morgan’s Bluff looked like a safe little harbor that would offer us awesome protection from the ESE and S winds for the evening while this stuff blew over. It seemed, from the info in the charts, there was not much to do ashore, but we didn’t care. Phillip and I can make a lot of fun out of “not much” if we need to, and that’s only if we need. We are perfectly content to sip sundowners in the cockpit, cook aboard, and watch the sun go down. So, it was Morgan’s Bluff or bust! But, that also meant coming into a new, narrow entrance in some kicked-up seas with winds on the nose knocking the boat all around. Good times. While the B&G chartplotter showed a nice little curve of an inlet with plenty of depth and very clear markers for it, that map was for FantasyLand! In reality, there were no markers in sight. Although this is common in many places in the Bahamas (they simply don’t have the government funding, or the need, to maintain navigation markers as rigorously as we do in the states), it’s often not a big deal because the Explorer Charts are soooo accurate. If I haven’t stressed that point strongly enough, I’ll happily do it again: If you’re planning to go to the Bahamas, get and study the Explorer Charts before you go and use them while you navigate! www.explorercharts.com.
Phillip was at the helm while I was religiously trying to match the lats and lons on the Explorer Charts to what was showing on the B&G as we made our way into Morgan’s Bluff in Andros. Maybe for some of you this is easy (following lats and lons on a diagonal). Annie proved to be not so good at it. To my credit, I asked Phillip to let me helm this time on the way in while _he _navigated (since I did such a piss-poor job of it when we made our way into Bimini)
but he said he was “in the zone.” I would have loved to have been in his zone, because I was totally screwing up my zone. I don’t know how else to explain it other than a brain fart. For some reason I was watching and monitoring the lats just fine, counting each degree as one, but stupidly my brain decided to attribute ten degrees to every one on the lons so I had us coming in almost dead from the north straight toward Morgan’s Bluff as opposed to making a wide curve to the east and coming in inside the inlet. This is the actual, natural channel you _should_ take into Morgan’s Bluff. This is the haphazard path I had us on which was littered with little “x’s” on the chart to mark rocks. : O Once I realized my mistake I could see we were weaving through some rocks along our path toward the harbor with no seemingly safe space to turn around, so there was just nothing we could do but hope the rocks were deep enough not to cause any problems. That was one of the worst gut-wrenching moments I’ve had on our boat, feeling the boat rise and fall with the waves and thinking I might be the cause of our keel striking a rock. It literally made me feel sick, and I hope I never have that feeling again (although I’m sure I will). The only other time I’ve felt physically ill because of something that might happen to the boat was when Hurricane Nate was seemingly making its way to Pensacola in 2017. Yuck. I will also go ahead and admit here I didn’t disclose the full gravity of our situation to Phillip at that time for two reasons: 1) I knew we couldn’t change or improve it at that point so why worry him further, I thought; and 2) I became too distracted anyway when right as we were bashing through the hairiest part, we got aFISH ON!!!
Isn’t that when it always happens? Phillip and I had been trolling the entire time since we left Pensacola, all the way around the Florida Keys, across the Gulf Stream, and once again when we got into the Tongue of the Ocean, and that entire time fish after fish had bitten off our lure. Phillip and I joked often—when people, in person or on Facebook asked whether we’d caught any fish on the trip: “Of we’ve done plenty of fishing,” we’d say. “We just haven’t done any catching.” And, it’s true. We lost lure after lure to those feisty fish in the Gulf. I had to laugh thinking all those hours we spent when we were sailing over _to_the Bahamas, in calm seas just watching the fishing line hoping for a bite, reeling it in time and again “just to check” we’d say, and throwing it back out. Any of those times would have been the perfect time to snag a big fish. But, no, Neptune has to throw one our way when we’re beating and bashing along, off of the safe path (thanks Annie), making our way into a new, unknown harbor. That’s the perfect time to be hauling in a fish! So, haul we did! I took the helm and Phillip started pulling slowly and steadily winding our hand reel in. I will say I was grateful for the excitement of the fish in that moment to dissipate some of my boat nerves. In that sense the fish was a blessing. But, boy was he a monster?! Here’s one quick little video of him popping outof the water.
The first time I saw him zip to the outside of the boat, breach the surface and sink back down, I knew he was big. Phillip could tell by how hard he was having to pull—using his entire body to arch back to get some length in the line so he could then fold the hand reel over to get another 10 inches on the guy. It was a slow and steady fight but Phillip finally brought him close enough where I could try to gaff him, which can be very hard to do with a fighting monster three feet below you, on a bobbing, swaying boat. But I finally got him right under the gills and by some wicked twist of fate it was at that very moment the hook came out of his mouth, which meant my gaff was the _only_thing standing between us and the biggest fish we’ve ever seen behind _Plaintiff’s Rest. _I was terrified he was going to kick and flail and fight his way off—and, believe me, he tried—but I kept turning the hook in hopes it would hold—and, thankfully, it DID! When I hauled that bloody beast over the lifesling (leaving a nasty bloody trail on it but I didn’t give a you-know-what) and flopped him into the cockpit floor, Phillip let out a “Holy crap, that guy is huge!” And he was. That was the biggest fish we have caught to date on _Plaintiff’s Rest_. He was as long as my leg! And, that’s not a tall fish tale. We have proof! That photo, however, was the second picture I made Phillip take because I wanted to capture the full length of that guy before I hacked him up and, in trying to do so the first time, the fish flipped off my gaff right when Phillip clicked the camera. So, we captured afish in mid-air!
It was such a wild, heart-pumping moment pulling that guy in while bashing our way into Andros, scary but fun, frightening but exhilarating. Cruising often feels like that. All the times between the leisure, lavish cocktails-and-bikini days. How did my friend Pat define cruising? Oh yeah: Serene, tropical days interspersed with moments of sheer terror. Yeah, that about sums it up. Oh, that and the fish! I made a bloodbath of our cockpit cleaning that big boy up. But look at that filet. It’s bigger than my thigh! (And I’ve got some meaty thighs!) As Phillip and I often do when we catch a fish that big, we cut up equally-sized (to the best of our ability) filets and bag some for the fridge, but more for the freezer so we can enjoy fresh fish at any time during our travels. The Mahi we cooked up that night, was probably some of the best fish we had during our entire trip to the Bahamas. (I’m sure the sheer terror of the moment combined with the monstrous fight getting him into the boat, followed by the hour-long cleaning of the fish, then the boat had some impact on the flavor, but it was a well-earned reward). And, I kid you not, that fish fed Phillip and I, two filets each (at least, sometimes 2-3), six dinners over during our Bahamas trip. It had to be 8-9 pounds of edible fish. That guy was such a blessing! A long-awaited one, and certainly a wildly ill-timed one, but a blessing all the same!Thank you Neptune!!
Next up, we’ll share one of our favorite new places in the Bahamas. A spot Phillip and I never thought we would stop at this trip but one we cannot wait to go back to explore further: the beautiful, untouched, but well-resourced, Andros. Stay tuned! Posted in Uncategorized| Tagged
bahamas , fishing
, fishing on a sailboat, offshore
| 2 Comments
STRETCHING THE LOVE WITH SPANDEX THERAPY Posted on July 24, 2019by anniedike
It’s like stretchy therapy for your heart and soul. Because life happens. We all struggle. Laughter helps. But, spandex heals. Hello HaveWinders! I wanted to take a quick detour from our Bahamas tales to share some exciting news and one helluva inspiring story. If Spandex Therapy is anything, it’s about sharing people’s stories. But it is also my latest business venture! This lovely (and very funny) gal here, Rachel, and I recently launched our Spandex Therapy website and swag at a Pensacolapaddle board event!
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When my friend, Rachel, first came to me with the idea, my face probably looked a lot like yours did when you read the title of this blog. “What is Spandex Therapy?” you’re probably wandering. The funny thing is, YOU are probably a huge fan of what we call “spandex therapy” already, you just didn’t know it. Spandex Therapy is about inspiring and connecting people who get their bodies moving to keep their minds balanced and buoyant. We share their stories because they empower us in the face of our own struggles, because everyone has a story. Whatever you’re struggling with—whether it’s huge (the loss of a loved one or some other deep heartbreak or sorrow) or just the minor stresses of life that make us feel small, angry, stressed, disappointed, like a failure—it helps to step outside, move your feet, connect with nature and other people, and let the stress you’re dealing with start to pour out of you (like sweat!). Spandex Therapy offers content and gear that inspires people to laugh a little, love a lot, and go work IT out. It’s not exercise. It’s therapy … at yourown pace.
You see? That’s some pretty empowering stuff. That’s why when Rachel asked me to be her business partner in launching this awesome platform, I said yes! She sealed the deal with a unicorn ring. I’m a sucker for unicorns. And, look at me. Donning spandex right there! I mean, I practically live in spandex!*
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You all have seen me in so many different photos at HaveWind getting my sweat on in spandex (often not from working out, just from working on the boat) but that counts as therapy, too. Whatever you do outside to stay active and improve yourself and your life, it counts. One of the reasons I immediately fell in love with Rachel’s Spandex Therapy concept was because it screamed of my ownexperience.
I wrote a good deal in my book _ Keys to the Kingdom _about the years I spent in a bad marriage, practicing law to the point of busting an artery. I was heavy. I was drinking too much. I was hardly active. And, I knew I needed a change. While I did not know cruising the world on a sailboat would BE the change, I knew sitting in an office 8-10 hours every day working in front of a computer doing a job that made my blood pressure soar was not healthy for me. A huge impetus for my own life transition was a desire to GET OUTSIDE and GET ACTIVE. I wanted to travel, to try new things (which included sailing and kitesurfing and eventually aerial silks!). All of those activities are therapeutic for me. They keep me balanced, happy, and whole.*
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That is the reason I joined Rachel in her admirable cause, and because she is an exceptionally inspiring person. You see, like me, Rachel also has a life-transition story. While every other person I have met who understands Spandex Therapy has an equally empowering story, Rachel’s does stand out. Four years ago, Rachel was not the person you see today: running 5Ks, doing open bike rides, marathons,triathlons, etc.
She weighed over 200 pounds and was a smoker. She had just gone through a wicked divorce from a man who was suffering extensively at the hands of his own demons, and trying to raise their young son alone as a single, working mother. Her life was then thrown into a tailspin when her father’s son was rendered a paraplegic in a motorcycle accident. He hit rock bottom, as did she. But, instead of crumpling, Rachel put on her sneakers instead. She found strength (as so many do) in the supportive Spandex community. She also got to witness first-hand the healing power spandex had on her ex-husband as he began racing in his wheelchair. He is now much healthier, physically and mentally, and an avid wheelchair athlete. He is an entirely different person, as is she. Rachel went from doing 5Ks to 10Ks to a half-marathon, to a full, to finally a very dark year she spent training for Ironman, where she ran the last 16 miles in the pouring rain, but she freakingdid it!
Rachel finished! She did a 70-point-freaking-3! She didn’t find out until several weeks later, however, that Ironman did not agree. When the official times were posted, Rachel saw a big “DNF” next to her name, which meant she “Did Not Finish.” She missed the 17-hour limit by one minute. Onemeasly minute …
But, you know why that didn’t have any impact on her? Because Rachel’s got one helluva sense of humor, which I think is necessary to get us all through this crazy ride that is life. “DNF is better than DNS” she says with a smile. “Didn’t Never Start!” _That gal_… Despite the Ironman disappointment, Rachel is still an avid racer, runner, biker, etc. “I just have to TriHarder,” she says. Ha! Because “triathlons make me wet.” You’ll see a lot of fun taglines like these on our Spandex Swag, which I’ll be sporting often because: Folks like Rachel and so many of her Spandex Therapy tribe members, as well my many other idols whom I’ve written about before—Pam Wall,
my featured _People With Gusto_ (Pat and Steve),
my inspiring silky friend Nikki Beck—whose
stories of happiness despite heartbreak, courage in the face of what would seem to be catastrophe, always inspire and humble me. They remind me that whatever little stress or struggle I’m going through likely pales in comparison to someone else’s. By sharing our stories we all empower each other to grow, laugh, and heal. That’s what Spandex Therapy is about and I’m proud to be a part of the team. Feel free to check out our platforms: www.spandextherapy.com www.facebook.com/spandextherapy/ www.instagram.com/spandextherapy/ And follow the journey. Our whole goal is to: Posted in Uncategorized| 1 Comment
MY BEST DE-DOCKING YET! Posted on July 11, 2019by
anniedike
Man am I proud to tell this story. You all know what a stupidly frightening part of cruising docking has been for me. I’veshared many times
on this platform my worst fears in cruising. Number one has tobe hurricanes
—the
sickening feeling that everything we’ve worked so hard for could be wiped out with one callous sweep of Mother Nature’s hand (although I could never blame her with the unforgivable way humans have absolutely ravaged this earth). Number two, however, used to be docking. And, I do hope you noticed the phrase “used to be” there. While I still think Phillip and I have a perfectly admirable healthy fear of docking, after this last voyage to the Bahamas, I think I finally knocked docking down a rung or two where it now resides under heavy weather sailing and running aground. Number five is running out of booze. Always has. Always will be. Ahoy crew! When I last left you here on the blog, Phillip and I had just experienced our best and worst days on the trip in Bimini, Bahamas. Well, I have to admit this docking day would probably rank up there as well, at least in one of the top five best days of our trip for sure. It was when we de-docked after staying five days in Bimini. (And, I’ll admit I’m not even sure de-dock is a true word, but it’s an acclaimed one here at HaveWind, respected, revered, and used often!) Phillip and I knew, when we arrived in Bimini, that it was going to be a while before we could leave. The GRIBS were telling us it was going to blow a hard east, southeast, upwards of 18, 20, even 25+ mph for days. As leaving Bimini to travel anywhere else in the Bahamas would be a no-fun bash to windward, all five boats on our finger pier decided to stay in Bimini for a week to let the winds die down. And, this was no setback by any means. Bimini is a fun, funky place with several little restaurants and bars, good grocery stores (I mean, good for the Bahamas). If an island gets a boat in every week with fresh produce, you feel like you’re in heaven. There was also a stunning bluewater shore on the north side of Alice Town.*
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I would also be remiss if I did not mention Joe’s Conch Shack in Bimini. The fun “friendly” place, the sign says with a huge conch pasted on some even huger boobs. _Yes, very friendly_. But, honestly, they were. We had the honor of meeting Joe, himself, who told us his tale of how he got into the conch salad business, the many years he spent making conch salad roadside as well as table-side at fancy events, and all of the “running around” he did. “I’ve got twelve wives and fifteen kids,” Joe said. “I did my running around.” Ha haaaaa. Love that guy. And, watching him dice an onion into pieces smaller than my pinkie nails without even looking at it will blow your mind. I’ll be he’s cut somewhere north of a milliononions in his life.
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While it was howling, Phillip and I were grateful for the time it afforded us to really explore Bimini and immerse ourselves in the island culture. And, thankfully, when it blows, we know we also have another fantastic activity option: kitesurfing. I will say, that is one of the best things about being a kite-surfing-cruiser. Usually sailors like to sail in winds of 10-15, often downwind in the direction they want to travel, but we all know it’s not very often those two things happen: wind in the right speed and the right direction. So, for many cruisers, days of winds of 20+ that would be on the nose, force them to stay hunkered down in their boats with little to do on the water. This is one circumstance where being able to kite-surf truly gives Phillip and I an exceptional alternative. When the wind is too rough to sail, it often lends us the perfect conditions to tear it the *_bleep_* up on the kite! And, we do get a lot of looks from folks in the marina, biding time in their cockpits, wishing the wind would die down, watching us walk back and forth with all of our kite gear and, if they can see us on the water, watching us zip and slide while riding the kite—often with a face of envy. I will not lie in saying Phillip and I kind of like that face. It reminds us how much the work and investment we put into learning how to kite and acquiring the gear to be able to take it with us on the boat so we can kite while cruising was 100% worth it. In Bimini, we were lucky to have an awesome dock neighbor, Justin, docked right next to us at BlueWater Marina who turned out to be a professional photographer with some high-end equipment. He and his sweet girlfriend, Rosie, spent a couple of very fun afternoons capturing photos of me and Phillip kitesurfing, offering us some of the best pictures Phillip and I have ever seen of ourselves kitesurfing, and we were super grateful. And, it seemed a fun way for them to pass the time on the dock while the wind was hammering us in Bimini. Many thanks to Justin and Rosie for these amazingkitesurfing photos!
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But, when many cruisers are waiting for the winds to settle down so they can make the jump to the next location, they often all seize the same weather window to leave. When the forecast finally showed a lighter south wind day, all five boats on our finger pier decided to leave the following morning—some headed east toward Nassau and beyond, others headed west across the Gulf Stream back to the states. The next day we were all gathered and walking the dock early, ready to help toss lines and make sure each boat got off safely. I love that comradery and generosity among cruisers. The first boat off the dock was a Catalina 42 on the farthest dock out near the channel. The winds were blowing a light ESE not expected to have much effect on the boats so we were all anticipating fairly easy shove-offs. That was the idea anyway … NOTE: No boats were substantially harmed in this de-docking or theremake.
The Catalina came off the dock no problem. With five hands on the dock helping to ease the boat out, everything was going very smoothly. The captain then began to back the boat up a bit further and turn his stern to his left (the north) so he could then shift to forward and navigate his way out between the two finger piers. As he was backing up, however, the wind and current was clearly impacting him more than he anticipated. The captain and his mate were waving and saying goodbyes not quite aware of how quickly his port side was nearing the dock. Then we heard him shout, “The wind’s got me!” when he realized how far his boat had drifted toward the finger piers and pilings he had just escaped. Everyone on the dock immediately began running either to the stern of their own boat to fend off or to the end of a finger pier and we all began pushing on the Catalina anywhere we could—the toe rail, stanchion posts, the stern. It was like a human assembly line working the boat off the dock at each contact point. And, despite a few light bumps, our team of five was soon able to get the boat moving safely back in the middle of the aisle between thefinger piers.
_Whew!_ we all breathed collectively. Next up to leave was the Benneteau to the right (south) of _Plaintiff’s Rest_. This was the boat owned by Justin and his lovely girlfriend, Rosie, who had taken our kitesurfing photos. Phillip and I and the rest of our de-docking team were up on the dock and ready to help them with their lines. Thankfully, again, everything went smoothly as Justin exited the slip. He started backing up and turning his stern to the north to navigate his way out. I remember someone saying, “Alright, this one’s got it.” To which I responded: “It’s not over yet!” I didn’t mean to jinx them but, unfortunately, just as the Catalina captain had done, as Justin and Rosie were farewelling and saying goodbyes, Justin’s Benneteau was drifting perilously close to the dock. When Justin realized how close he was, we all could see the whites of his eyes as the folks on the dock ran through the same drill we had just been through, fending the Benneteau off at every stern, finger pier, and piling we could reach and—again—it took a five-man team to keep the bumps light and get the boat moving safelyagain.
Having watched both of those boats de-dock, I knew I was in for it. Phillip and I had decided at the beginning of this trip that we were going to split helm duties 50-50. It didn’t matter the conditions or if the various entrances, anchorages, or docks seemed trickier than others, if it was “your day to helm” it was simply your day to helm. Sailor up and grab the wheel. Well, today was my day. After we saw the first two boats bump their way out of the marina, Phillip asked me if I wanted to let him take the boat off the dock that day and I said no. I had to man up. This was our deal. And, I did feel much more confident in my de-docking skills at that point. I mean, I haven’t side-skidded into a tiny slip with cross winds and current … _yet_, but I had done my fair share of some backing up and maneuvering—even in tiny spaces where the docking was not super easy. Marathon, FL was one example where I had to make several circles before I could get turned the way I wanted to and docked on the fuel dock, and I felt in control and calm the entire time. Primarily, I was now much better at using thrust, forward, reverse, and the rudder to move the boat the way I intended. There was no getting out of it. It was my day. But, I did have one condition: “I want that beefy guy on the dock helping when we leave,” I told Phillip. That beefy guy is Scott. He and Heather from www.cheapasstravelers.com on _s/v Amun-Ra_, a beautiful 37-foot Endeavour, cruise with their incredibly well-mannered dog, Jetson. They were a lot of fun to hang out with on the dock while we were in Bimini and they’re both cockpit-fitness gurus, which Phillip and I can appreciate. Cruising is a lot easier and way more fun if you’re fit, and they both definitely are. But, with the number of boats left on the dock dwindling and Scott having shouldered the brunt of the boat-shoving that morning, I definitely wanted to leave while he was still there. So Phillip and I checked the fluids, cranked, and readied the boat to leave while we still had some strong hands on deck for help. I didn’t _want_ to need the help, but I darn sure wanted it _there_ if I did happen to need it. Thankfully, the docking debacles of the previous two boats that had just left had taught me a lot. They are both able captains and were just surprised by the swift force of the current in the marina. I definitely had the benefit of hindsight and experience. The lesson was: back way the heck up before shifting to forward and throttling my ass off to get out of there. That was my plan anyway. And, it was one that would have served me far better had I done that during my most memorable (and emotional) de-docking: my first one, where I almost ripped one of our shrouds off and suffered a teary come-apart afterward. If you haven’t seen that awesomely-raw footage, please feel free to view it, the first video in the article, here. _You’re
welcome. _
I was not going to make that mistake again. Nuh-uh. No way. Not Captain Annie. I kicked it in reverse and the 2-3 folks left on the dock helped our boat off and tossed Phillip the last of the lines. I kept backing up, backing up, and backing up, until I could see the whites of Phillip’s eyes worried I had gone too far. I could tell he was trying not to say anything, but he finally caved. “Don’t go back too far,” he said. But, I have to tell you I relished in thismoment.
There have been many times where Phillip was at the helm, and I was at the bow, feeling unsure of the boat’s movement, what hold the conditions may have on it, or whether Phillip had the control I desperately hoped he did. And the reason I did not know any of that is because I was _not_ at the helm. Holding the helm tells you everything you need to know about how the boat is responding. In that moment I knew. I knew I needed to go a bit further back and I could feel the minute I put it in forward, the boat was going to start lunging back toward the piers on my port side. It’s hard to explain, but I could just … _feel it_. “Just a bit more,” I told Phillip. “I see it,” referring to the boats and piers I was coming perilously close to behind me. When I felt I had got as close as I safely could to the finger piers behind me on starboard, I then threw her in forward and gunned the shit out of that thing. Brandon would have called me a “throttle jockey” and boy was I one that day! I’ve never throttled that thing so hard! I revved her up, threw the wheel over hard to starboard, and rocketed out of that marina without hitting a thing. Scott, Heather, if you’re reading this: while I’m so glad I didn’t need you on the dock that day, I’m so grateful you were there. This one goes out to all the cruisers who have run to help a struggling boat while docking or de-docking, because you know that is going to be you someday and you will want every hand on deck possible to wrestle your boat to safety. It was a pretty cool feeling that day to be the first boat that didn’t bump on the way out (thanks mostly to experience and hindsight, that always helps) and to be the only female among the boats that had left from our pier so far that day to do it. Rosie the Riveter would be proud. Phillip sure was too, grinning from ear to ear as we pulled out into the channel in Bimini, unscathed. _Whew!_ Another de-docking behind us. And, Heather from CheapAssTravelers was conveniently walking around at the north tip of the island, where we kited, as we motored by, and she snapped a few pics of us heading out that day. Thank you Heather! Despite my small accomplishment in successfully de-docking, however, I cannot claim the Most Badass Female Award that day. Ironically, while I thought it was quite a big deal I had got off the dock without a scratch—with five hands helping and a two-member crew—we later learned another female that morning had de-docked entirely alone, while traveling single-handed, AND sailed her boat solo across the Gulf Stream back to the states. I mean … damn. It was such an honor to meet Jessie from Kate and Jessie On a Boat which was a very popular series in Bob Bitchin’s _Cruising Outpost _ magazine in 2017. Jessie is now married to a right and witty English chap named Luke, and the two of them had just completed their first Atlantic circle as their honeymoon which they concluded in Bimini. Yes, you read that right: first two-crew offshore ocean-crossing + honeymoon. I mean … _Yes, I had to keep saying that when I was around her. Jessie is just so stinkin’ impressive!_ While Luke had to ferry back to the states to check in, Jessie sailed herself ALONE across the Gulf Stream and into Miami. She cracked me up with her reasoning: “I’ve sailed across the Atlantic Ocean twice, and Luke was asleep half the time, so I’ve practically crossed the Atlantic alone. I’m sure I can do this.” That girl. This one goes out to you Jessie, and your incredible feat! You can follow Jessie and Luke’s continued adventures at www.instagram.com/jessiebrave and www.onaboat.net.
We’ve got more fun Bahamas stories and lessons to share here with you next time at HaveWind. Next up, we make our way across the Grand Bank and have one of our biggest scares and wildest moments (of course they happen at the same time) outside of Andros. Stay tuned! More photos from our time in Bimini – enjoy!*
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Posted in Uncategorized| Tagged
bahamas , bimini
, docking
, kitesurfing
| 6 Comments
OUR BEST DAY AND WORST DAY, BOTH IN BIMINI Posted on July 1, 2019by anniedike
It’s a small boat, right? I mean, I know it depends on whether you’re getting tossed around in some gnarly sea conditions. Then 35-feet is quite a small boat, way too _small_. You’d much rather be on a 900-foot cargo ship then. On the other hand, when you’re docking in wind or current and you’re barreling toward a slip that looks like the mere eye of a needle that you’re expected to actually fit your boat into, she’s quite a big boat then, 35-feet is way too _big _to fit in that tiny slot without hitting every piling and other boat on the way in. But, there’s also another time the boat seems a bit too small: when you’re in an argument with your one other crew member. I mentioned this moment in my Birthday Tribute:
37 reasons (to match my proud 37 years!) why this past voyage to the Bahamas was one of our best yet. It was the fight Phillip and I got into when we were navigating our way into Bimini. This was after a very (I hate to say it, but sometimes it just is – luck runs both ways) easy Gulf Stream crossing from Marathon, Phillip and I were making our way into the BIMINI entrance (as shown on the Explorer Charts – do not do the Bahamas without them) when things went sideways.*
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As I said before, nothing needs to be re-hashed, but it was one of the most heated moments Phillip and I have had on the boat. And, for us, those are exceedingly rare. Honestly, in the six years we’ve been sailing together, I can count the number of arguments Phillip and I have had, where we actually raised our voices on the boat, on one hand. And, that’s not meant to be boastful. I know many couples vary greatly from us and many have their own dynamic, their own way of communicating and showing their love and passion for one another, and for conveying their anger or disappointment. Many couples fight often (and often it’s lightheartedly although their words are still sharp). Spats are just a part of their discourse and that works for them. That does not work for Phillip and me. All evidence to the contrary, I am exceedingly anti-confrontational. I get nervous and shaky at the thought of having to argue with someone I love, which often results in me doing a piss-poor job of standing up for myself and persuasively stating my position. I know what you’re probably thinking. _But she was a lawyer_. I said “with someone I love.” When it’s opposing counsel on the other side, just another lawyer just doing his job, too, then look the heck out. I’m a tiger. But, that’s worlds away from having an argument with Phillip. With Phillip, I turn into a sniffly puddle of goo when I have to confront him. But I’m proud to say I did not this time. Bottom line was, I screwed up plotting the coordinates in real-time as we were coming in via the BIMINI waypoint on the Explorer Charts. By the time I realized my mistake, I had us closer to the breakers to the south of the entrance than either of us would haveliked.
And, let’s see what you guys can make of this. In my state of confused worry and fear, trying to convey to Phillip that I might have had him holding too much a southern line as he was sailing toward theentrance I said:
“You’ve gone too far east. You need to go north.” Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? What, really? That’s crazytalk??
Phillip’s face probably looked something like yours does now. “We’re going east,” he said deadpan. “East is the goal until we get into the channel.” Then I blundered and muttered and tried to show him coordinates on the chart _while he’s trying to hand-steer under sail into the entrance, _a very wise time to put charts in front of his face, don’t you think? Yeah, he didn’t think so either. Needless to say some harsh words came my way which I deserved but did not take well. But, Phillip and I know when to put a disagreement aside for a later date so we can (pardon my French) get shit done in the moment. Despite my goof, we made it into the channel just fine and were navigating perfectly north through the channel into Bimini. Now it was time to find our marina (we had decided to stay at Blue Water Marina, a nice
middle-ground choice between Brown and Big Game we thought), hale the dockmaster, locate our slip, and get docked. There would always be time to discuss our little tiff later. So, that’s what wedid.
Phillip did a great job docking the boat, with great help from a very friendly chap on the dock. The dockhands in the Bahamas are all so helpful and friendly! Then, later, after some steam had worn off, I mustered up some goo-prevention strength and found the courage to tell Phillip, without sniffles, that I was just trying to keep the boat off the breakers to the south and that he had hurt my feelings. And, he, rightfully explained how consumed he was in the moment and how my north-west mumbo-jumbo was, quite frankly, a disappointment. But, we talked it out, then we made up, joined hands and sang Kumbaya. I’m kidding. Although there is, and will always be, random song outbursts on _Plaintiff’s Rest_. Ironically, we learned later that the BIMINI entrance on the Explorer Charts suffers from continual shoaling on the south side of the North Bimini Entrance Point. So, my blunder probably kept us off of that unknown shoaling to the north. _Oh the irony!_ But, that is just another great example of the lack of any need to get flustered or high-and-mighty while cruising. Mistakes are just par for the course and sometimes they prove—with the benefit of hindsight—to not even be mistakes at all. Some turn out to be happy accidents that save your hide. Or hull, as the casemay be.
But, what was most ironic about having a fight make _that day_—our very first day in the Bahamas (which probably had Phillip and I both silently worried about how the rest of this voyage was going to go) one of our worst on the boat was that the _next day_ turned out to be our best day of the voyage. Cruising is funny that way in how quickly things can turn good or bad. I think that’s a huge part of what makes you feel so alive out there. Everything is so volatile. Whether or not things are going to go as planned (when you can even plan them), whether you’ll get into some unexpected weather, whether you’ll be able to safely find where you’re going, and whether that place will be a total dud or absolutely obliterate every expectation you had for it is always up in the air. Every outcome is waiting to be lived to see how it turns out. None of them can in any way be predicted. I’m hoping that makes sense to those of you reading who have not yet gone cruising and are just in the planning and plotting phases of it. Because, to me, the unexpectedness of it all, the IN-ability to plan your days and adventures is what makes it even better. Case in point: our best day in the Bahamas was the very next day in Bimini. Phillip—my Paddington Bear, the best travel buddy you can possibly have (sorry, he’s taken)—surprised me with a booked charter dive our very first full day in Bimini. “We’re going to dive the _Sapona_!” he said. I had no clue what a sapona was, but I didn’t care. I was going diving! “Awesome! My first sapona!” I squealed, which made Phillip chuckle. _He loves me ‘cause I’m blonde._ (Sorry, I’m taken, too.) Turns out, there’s only one _Sapona_, so this was my first _and last_, but I learned all about the _Sapona_on the boat ride out to our dive spot and was fascinated by its rich history. The _SS Sapona_, a cargo steamer, was part of a fleet of concrete ships built at the directive of Woodrow Wilson for use during World War I. After the War, it was sold to a Miami developer who used it initially as a casino, then later for oil storage. It was then sold to another developer in 1924 who used it to store alcohol during the Prohibition, but with plans to turn it into a floating nightclub thereafter. Unfortunately, the _Sapona_ ran aground near Bimini during a hurricane in 1926 and broke apart. Now, sitting in only 15 feet of water and having amassed an impressive fish and marine life population, it is a popular dive spot for professional charter dive boats and cruisers in the Bahamas. You can learn more about the fascinating _SS Sapona_ here.
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It was an incredible dive with lots of nooks and crannies for fish to hide. We saw a stingray bigger than a circle I can make with both arms, a nurse shark, my very first puffer fish (and his little puffer kid!). It was a baby puffer fish that I wanted to adopt but the dive guys vetoed it. The huge prop and anchor of the _Sapona_that are partially submerged were both mesmerizing and a little haunting at the same time. Anytime I see a man-made structure sunk underwater, I get a bit of a creepy feeling thinking the ghosts that went down with it are still there. Do underwater planes or boats ever give any of you that feeling? I have to brave up a little before I can swim my whole body into a sunken structure for that reason, thinking the ghost in there might grab me and never let me back up! What I didn’t know, however, until we completed the dive and I saw people scaling the side of the _Sapona_ and climbing on top was that people _jumped off_ this thing! It’s like rite of Bimini passage. I mean … What did I say on the back of my _Salt of aSailor
_book?
“I leapt off cliffs.” Or old, grounded cargo steamers, as the case may be. Phillip knew there was no way he was going to keep me from jumping off that boat. And, boy was it a rickety climb up to the top, a plaintiff’s lawyer’s dream! But, while we both made it, Phillip declined to scale his way to the tippity top like I did. I didn’t call him the p-word, but you know I was thinking it. Ha! Sorry. You can take the Tomboy out of the backwoods, but you can’t take the Tomboy out of the girl. I scrambled my way up to the upper most point and lunged high and wide out into the 40-foot drop. It was awesome! I hadn’t jumped from a height that high since college and it was invigorating. But, this “high” still was not the highest high of that day. I mean, Phillip and I had some pretty freaking amazing days in the Bahamas. It was very hard to select this one, but looking back after the trip, we both did. Do you want to know why? Because that day we swam with sharks! Not just one shark, or even just a handful of sharks, we swam with dozens of them! Right by us! All around us! And, this was nothing like the tank dive Phillip (again, another surprise, love that Paddington!) took me on in Tampa at the Florida Aquarium. Awesome video of that dive for you here. You’re welcome! These sharks weren’t in a tank. They didn’t swim with humans in their quarters every day. They were out there in the open water, allowed to do whatever the heck they wanted, which would include gnawing on humans. Granted, these sharks were somewhat “trained” in that this dive boat stopped often to take swimmers down with them and always fed them afterward. No comment on that practice. I’m just grateful it allowed Phillip and I a truly unforgettable encounter with one of the most majestic and important animals in our oceans. My biggest take-away from that aquarium dive with the sharks was not simply the accomplishment of braving up and swimming with them but the education and enlightenment as to the true nature of sharks, their docile temperament, the need for them in our oceans, and the unfortunate, very human-like tragedy of the greedy plunder with which we trap, maim and needlessly kill them. It is just sad and inexcusable. We are not the victim, nor the prey. Sharks are. So, when our dive boat made an unexpected stop after rounding all of us divers and snorkelers (and jumpers!) up from the _Sapona_at “Shark Alley” on the way back to Bimini—the waters around our boat teeming with big black, swirling creatures—and the captain asked any of us, jokingly, if we wanted to go for a swim, Phillip and I said “Absolutely!” and started donning our masks.*
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Yes, we _are_those crazy people who swim with sharks. All told there were about 15-20 reef sharks, ranging from five to maybe eight-feet long. Big, beautiful creatures that maneuvered around us with surprising ease. While they seemed a little curious, they didn’t seem at all hostile. They were just swimming, waiting on their reward of a fish feast afterward. Phillip and I were the only divers to dive down with the dive guide and stand on the bottom, still as a piling, while they circled around us. It was an incredible,unforgettable dive.
And, it was really fun to watch the boat crew feed the sharks afterward to see what they are capable of, but thankfully did not do while we were down there. The swirling mass of them, circling and sliding around and over one another to gracefully inhale each piece of fish thrown in. It was mesmerizing! Video Annie joked: “What? You don’t want to go for a swim?” And, speaking of Video Annie, I don’t have any footage to show you of the sharks because another great thing happened on that, the best day of our voyage: my GoPro broke. Yep. It went kaput. No pulse. No battery. It simply would not turn on after the _Sapona_jump. And, for a moment I was frantically trying to pull the battery out and put it back in to reboot it while the dive guide was getting us ready to go down with the sharks, and I was frustrated and irritated and cursing it. Then, something just clicked inside and I said, “f*ck it.” I have mentioned manytimes
on this
platform my dread of losing the power and feeling of a moment because I was more worried about filming it than living it. GoPro’s death that day relieved me of that worry on that fantastic day. With the ability to film no longer even an option, there was nothing to stop me from just jumping in, camera-free, and recording it all up here. (Yep, I’m sure you can imagine me tapping my temple. Right here, in the thinktank, my memory bank.) So, I could then, in my own time, put it into spellbinding words later for myself and for you all here. I believe in words. And
that was such a freeing feeling. I then knew I would never have to wrestle with that decision at any other point during our Bahamas voyage. GoPro simply wiped that worry away and silently told me: “Go. Just live it. Keep this just for you two.” So, that’s what we did. And, for that, we thank him. R.I.P. GoPro. Next up, we’ll share our fantastic experience kite-surfing in Bimini (complete with incredible footage and photos taken by a dock neighbor there at Blue Water Marina – thank you Justin!) and our exciting sail over to Andros where we caught our first monster fish of the trip! Stay tuned. Posted in Uncategorized| Tagged
bahamas , bimini
, cruising bahamas
, navigation
, sharks
| 10 Comments
96 HOURS ACROSS THE GULF Posted on June 21, 2019by anniedike
I’m trying to think back on each and every one of them. How can they have slipped by so quickly? Sure, I spent some sleeping (not many, though), but the rest were spent gloriously lounging in the cockpit watching the water go by, devouring books (devouring food!), and counting a billion stars. While you’re out there, and it’s sometimes a little rough and uncomfortable, you can catch yourself wishing the time away. But, once the voyage is behind you—that incredible experience is tucked away merely as a memory in your mind—you want every hour back. All 96 of them. Photos and video from our Gulf-crossing for you all below! Phillip and I have crossed the Gulf now, on a five-day, four-night non-stop run, three times on our boat. It is always a passage we plan well in advance for, watching weather windows religiously as well as re-checking and double-checking all of the systems on the boat before we leave, because the Gulf is no freaking joke. Having crossed the Atlantic twice now, Phillip and I always readily agree the Gulf is still one of the most gnarly bodies of water we have ever crossed. Although the Bay of Biscay is now right up there with it! But, the Gulf never fails to throw a challenge at us. It certainly did this time, right out of the gate. Now that I’ve shared the turmoil we were dealing with in the days before we left when Auto would turn notto,
you know it was a stressful time for us for sure, wondering whether we were going to be able to leave or not and—if we did—whether the systems would perform consistently. But, that’s a risk that is always present in offshore sailing. Once everything is working as best as it can, the chance of something going wrong is no reason _not_ to leave. Once our auto-pilot, Lord Nelson, was cleaned and calibrated and performing perfectly and our GPS was restored after a B&G update, our boat was once again back in high-caliber condition, ready to romp. While it was stressful dealing with these hiccups in the days before we left, Phillip and I were still grateful all the pieces came together right before a decent weather window opened up. And, I say ‘decent’ because the Gulf rarely offers five full straight days of perfect weather. You’re usually going to get into some kind of stuff (think 4-6 foot seas and winds of 20+) somewhere along the journey for some stretch of time. It’s often just deciding whether you want it on the front end or the back end. And, there’s often an equally good chance of wind shifting on to your nose, or dying altogether. The Gulf is like a variety show. You never know what it’s truly going to feel like until you get waaaay the heck out there and, by then, you’re already there. No turning back. Just sit down, buckle in, and endure theshow.
In the last weeks of April when we were planning to shove off, Phillip and I were looking at a stretch of nice winds in the Gulf. In the high teens and mid-twenties, mind you, but on the stern. Downwind sailing is my favorite kind of sailing. We were planning to let a front pass through Pensacola, bringing some rain and storms, then ride the back end of that out into the Gulf with some great north wind pushing us out. While we knew the seas would be a bit kicked up from the storm, on PassageWeather.com it looked like once we got about five or six hours off the coast, they would start to lay down. _Looked like …_ I’m not going to lie, our first day on passage was pretty intense. I’m confident we were bucking our way through steady 7-footers with the occasional 9 or 10-foot wave that would send us careening. I recall many times Phillip and I would be talking and we both would stop mid-sentence when we saw a monster building on the stern that blocked out the sun. Not a word would be spoken until we watched the mighty wave pick up our seemingly light-as-a-feather boat and shove her stern hard over, the bow lunging the opposite direction in response. Phillip and I would hold our breath as our horizon spun 90 degrees and Lord Nelson squealed out trying to get the boat back on course. I am grateful to say, even with some of the biggest following waves he’s steered in yet, Lord Nelson held every time. No matter how hard we were shoved and tossed, he would emit his mighty _whiiieeerrrrr_ and bring us back on course. When Phillip and I would regain our breath after these moments and continue where we’d left off, it always included a sentiment to Lord Nelson. He worked so hard below-decks during that passage, steering us all 96 hours across the Gulf. Thankfully those rough seas only lasted the first 24-or-so hours. Well into our second day, the Gulf laid down to 3-5 footers with following winds in the upper teens and Phillip and I were glad we left when we did (even with the bumpy start) because the winds pushed us comfortably the next two days and the boat practically sailed herself most of the way down to the Keys. We had to motor for 20-or-so hours the last stretch when the winds laid down but with all of the attention we had given Westie (our 30 hp Westerbeke diesel engine) this past summer,
we knew he was eager for the spotlight and ready to run as long as we needed him. And, he certainly did, without a hiccup. Honestly, the best part about our last voyage across the Gulf was the immense feeling of pride it gave Phillip and me in our capable, comfortable boat. The phrase “dialed in” I don’t even believe can do it justice. _Plaintiff’s Rest _was not just dialed in, she was performing the best we had ever seen her, while setting her own personal record (a speed of 10.2 kts surfing down a wave), _while_ crossing one of the toughest bodies of water_ in_ some of the biggest seas we’ve sailed her in. Through all of that, it was like she was telling us it was … easy. All of the work we had put into her—replacing the rigging, reinforcing the mast, the rudder, the keel, all of that engine work, digging out rot anywhere we saw it, and repairing everything we knew was an issue as soon as we could—had made her so incredibly capable and strong. And yet so simple and comfortable. While there were, of course, dolphins—which make us (me) squeal uncontrollably, still, every time—and there was phosphorescence at night, brilliant turquoise horizons, shooting stars, the joy of peeling off foul foulies, and all of the things that make offshore sailing so mind-altering for us (no fish though, those wily bastards!), I think the best part about this voyage, for me and Phillip, was the ease and comfort of it. Not because the sea state and winds made it easy or comfortable—they did not—but because theboat did.
The moon peeking through the clouds during our departure Moon on the bow With a brilliant sunrise emerging on the stern It felt like a sign of good luck for our voyage Headed out the Pensacola Pass Captain Phillip at the helm Captain Annie joins him – what’s better than one Captain on a boat? Starting to get tossed just a bit in the Gulf (this was one of the few times we were topside during the first 24 hours) This was one of the others. While video never does it justice, you can see we’re moving pretty good here, up and down and heeling side to side, while Phillip was re-securing the anchor. Dolphins on starboard! Never gets old Day two – still donning our foulies (which were quite foul by then, trust me) Great winds for night sailing, and we love watching ships on the AIS – it’s usually a very good night shift distraction and entertainment “Mornin’” says Offshore Annie Then: “Look what I found!” : ) Nothing better Phillip fishing … not catching (those wily bastards bit off several of our lures!) “It’s gonna be a sweet sound, coming down, on the night shift!” Phillip just finishing his as the sun rises over the stern. Say “Hello!” to … SKIN. Day three we were thrilled to doff the foulies! I see that smile! That’s Phillip’s offshore smile. : ) Our new Excel anchor taking in his first offshore voyage I love living in a bikini! Nuff said It’s my cruising uniform (sure makes lifeeasy not having to
think about what to wear … an to not have to brush my hair!) Our one glass of wine at sunset ration – makes it so worth it! We figured we were getting closer to land once we started to see the shrimp boats Last day on passage, we were feeling right and lazy! Thanks again for the coozie, Geckos! Ahhh … 96 hours of offshore sailing behind us, we had definitely earned a relaxing afternoon poolside in Marathon. Posted in Uncategorized| Tagged
Bahamas Bound ,
gulf crossing ,
offshore sailing
| 9 Comments
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