Walkabout has reached the Bahamas
Hello all. It has been a while since Walkabout has been roaming, so she spent the last two weeks getting from Annapolis to Nassau in the Bahamas. It has been a great trip, and is still just beginning.
Since last fall, Walkabout has had a lot of major surgery getting ready for this trip. She has a beautiful new hardtop, new canvas, a wind generator, a new windlass and new electronics. And that’s only the major items. The boatyard has spent countless hours making sure she was up to the journey. All great guys!!
Dave Goen flew up from Panama, where he has his boat, to do the trip with me. And my sister Pam joined us on the trip. Pam is a great cook, and an even better food preparer. She arrived with two coolers full of frozen food, to make sure we didn’t starve, even if we took a wrong turn and ended up in Europe.
We left Annapolis in company with Comocean and spent two great nights on the hook in the bay. The third day we fueled up in Cape Charles and crossed over the Bay Bridge tunnel, sailing through the night, around Hatteras, to Beaufort NC. Had we gone the inland route, it would have taken us four more days to do the 30 hour trip. It was a great shakedown for our ocean passage. The seas were so calm we motored through the night, enjoying a great lamb chop dinner in the cockpit. At dawn, we rounded Cape Hatteras and the winds picked up, the seas built and we had a great sail to the point outside Beaufort, Cape Lookout. By then it was very rough, and we were glad to round the point and head to shore.
Pam did well, admitting a bit of discomfort at the seas off the cape. It was very rough with a few 12 foot waves. So no one was comfortable for a couple of hours.
We spent two great days in Beaufort with Comocean and Kika, as well as some cruising friends passing through.
And on Friday, November 11, we headed off shore at noon. There is a sailors’ superstition that a voyage should never begin on a Friday. We rationalized it by saying it was a continuation of our journey. And just to make sure the gods were appeased we followed Susan Roof’s advice to make a counter clockwise circle before heading out.
We sailed until dusk, grilling pork chops on the back deck before the sun went down. By then, we had lost our wind and we motored until Saturday night. Now I was worried we wouldn’t have enough fuel to get to the Bahamas. Sunday the wind came up in the morning and we sailed the rest of the journey, pulling in to Nassau on Wednesday around noon. So we were five days at sea, in a glorious weather window, with great sailing and a great crew.
Contrary to popular opinion, it is not boring at sea. First of all, it takes three times as long to do anything as it takes on land. At some times, on a 30 degree heel, it took 15 minutes to get from the galley to the cockpit. It takes forever to prepare a meal. At least that’s my uneducated opinion, as I watched Pam struggle in the galley with sliding bowls, glasses flying, and still coming up with beautiful creations.
The sea life when it shows up is fun. Dolphins played in our bow wake, flying fish entertained, and ended up on the deck, a sea turtle ate Pam’s sandwich that she threw overboard, and then there is the fishing.
A good bit of discussion went into choosing the lure each day. In the end, neither the green machine nor the pink squid attracted anything other than sea grass. But it was fun watching the process.
And then of course there are the boat gremlins, that assure anything but a smooth passage. The batten (12 ft long) came out of the mainsail on the first day and had to be stowed. We ended up taping it to the hand rail in the galley. It still hasn’t been put back. We had water in the back cabin when we were on a port tack, which was most of the way. I had to bail to get to the head. We haven’t found that leak yet. The hardtop is learning how to play nice with the sheets and preventers, but that is taking a lot of trial and error. And we discovered after three days that the engine didn’t want to start. We had lots of time to diagnose it, with SSB emails going back and forth to John and the boatyard crew. But in the end, two miles outside Nassau harbor we got it started and got in safely. That has since been fixed.
The weather was beautiful the entire trip, with each day getting warmer. We started with a heater in the cockpit and ended in tshirts and shorts.
So we are now in Nassau, with one more item to get fixed before leaving. The lights at the top of the mast don’t work. The marina arranged for an electrician to come this morning, but it’s now 3:30 and we are still waiting. Island time I guess.
Our plans are to leave here as soon as possible and head down the banks, stopping at great islands along the way, until we come to the swimming pigs. Pam’s goal on this trip is to see the swimming pigs, and the least I can do is make sure she gets to feed them before going home. And she has to be home before Dec 1. Dave is leaving Dec 12, and I am flying home for Christmas on Dec 15. Hope to see a lot of you then.
As always, if these notes seem to fill your inbox, please let me know and I’ll remove you from the list. Otherwise, I’ll keep you posted on our journey south as email allows.
Also, even in paradise, it’s nice to hear from the folks at home. So please as time allows, let me know what’s happening in your world.
Fair winds to all
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