30 May 2021 | Sawmill Point Marina, Wilmington NC, USA
24 May 2021 | Wilmington Marine Center, USA
23 February 2021 | Cape Fear Yachts
20 December 2020 | Cape Fear Yachts
11 December 2020 | Cape Fear Yachts
09 September 2020 | Wilmington Port, USA
09 September 2020 | Wilmington Port, USA
05 February 2017 | Pte Miri Miri, Raiatea, French Polynesia
05 February 2017 | Raiatea Lagoon, French Polynesia
05 February 2017 | South end of Raiatea
01 February 2017 | Baie Vaiaeho, Raiatea, French Polynesia
01 February 2017 | Baie Vaiaeho, Raiatea, French Polynesia
31 January 2017 | West Side of Raiatea
31 January 2017 | West Side of Raiatea, French Polynesia
31 January 2017 | West side of Raiatea
30 January 2017 | Marina Apooiti, Raiatea, French Polynesia
30 January 2017 | Marina Apooiti, Raiatea, French Polynesia
28 January 2017 | Marina Apooiti, Raiatea, French Polynesia
27 January 2017 | Marina Apooiti, Raiatea, French Polynesia
The problem is that they are so beautiful
11 August 2016 | Tahaa West Pass
Bill, Photo credit Lara
We had set a line because it had been long enough since we had caught a fish that I had forgotten. Isobel asks every time we are underway if we can fish and I come up with some excuse… So, we sailed from Bora Bora and carefully picked a lure based on the latest lore on what works best… a blue one because it was a nice day and it was daytime. And, I thought it was one that dove deeper so we could catch a Tuna. And then we let out the line and went over the drill with Isobel if we should catch something. The sound that the reel would make and that she should call out “Fish On!!” if she heard the reel go off.
We had all but given up hope as the day of light air sailing with the code zero had turned into a motor into the wind as the wind direction was not as forecast (of Course). My mood was foul as I do not like to motor, being known to make fun of boats motoring rather than sailing… Like a trawler we set the auto-pilot and I set my chin.
Within about a mile of the West Tahaa Pass the reel went off and Isobel called “Fish On”… I was shocked into action. I should have had a belt to put the rod in, but because of my reluctance to fish, mine was buried in the sail locker. I tried to lodge the pole against my waist, then against the grab rail on the aft coach roof…
This was my first Tuna of this type and it was a fighter. Mahi Mahi don’t really do much… you just reel them in. This fish dove and ran and tried to run with the line and swim toward the boat to spit out the lure and then dive again… I started to be worried that we had caught too big a fish to land. I pledged to cut it loose if it were too big and Isobel demanded that we land it…
When it came to the surface finally it was like a silver flash… as though we had hooked a stainless steel dish… Then we saw it and, not having a gaff, I was able to use gloved hands to get it on board. We covered it quickly with a towel… removing the lure we realized that it had, during the fight, got the second hook of the lure caught in its gill… and had bled to death. No bashing or other brutal acts needed. Except the filleting….
Bora Bora for Lara's birthday
31 July 2016 | Bora Bora
Bill, Photo Credit Bill
Equanimity
The American Heritage Dictionary describes this as:
Calmness, composure. It comes from a latin word meaning “even-tempered.”
I think that cruisers are forced to learn equanimity. From the day you buy your boat a list will start, if not written down, it will be in you head… the list will grow. As you check things off, the list will grow. Some people never leave the dock as they think they will leave when the items on the list have been completed. The list is the project list. You can’t escape it. You can ignore it and it will be there. It can be lost because you didn’t back up the computer and it will still be there. You can get off the boat for a while and it will be there. You can work long days and stay up all night and it will be there. No matter how hard you work it will get longer. One cruiser said he thought the list grew at the same rate when they were off the boat as on the boat… and having left the boat, I tend to agree with him.
The question is can you live with your list and be equanimous? We have good friends who we have always admired because they seems so cool, calm and composed… always. Today we saw them frustrated and upset by a series of problems. It was almost a relief (even though we feel for their troubles) to see that even those who seem most composed can lose it.
My list… yes. Today I did nothing to reduce my project list and added only a couple things to it… Hey, it's Lara's birthday!
Fear is the key
30 July 2016 | Bora Bora in 2016, near Bloody Mary’s restaurant
Bill, Photo Crdit Lara
When I was a teen I read the Dune series by Frank Herbert and one of the chapters was about fear. I am pretty sure the title was “Fear is the Key.” The training the student was receiving was to acknowledge the fear and to let it flow through you.
Last night we had a great conversation with another cruiser about fears. And the discussion was around the same topic. We all have fears of the sea of different sorts: how deep the water is, storms, pirates, breakdowns, sinking, fire, reefs, etc…
Those who can be out cruising are those who are willing to go in the face of their fears, and let the fears wash over them and look beyond them. One guy said, “You will always have a fear of something, wherever you are, whatever you are doing… now, you can let it be about the sea, and you can go on.”
There is a saying, “Any cruiser who says they have not been aground is a liar.” (Anyone who has been on the ICW on the East Coast of the US has probably been aground many times!!) I think fear is in a similar category. It seems that there are lots of very tough cruisers who appear to not be afraid… in reality, I think there are some who are much more willing to tolerate fear and some who seem to seek out greater and greater challenges to test their metal.
To me the real heroes out sailing are those who did it years ago. Our friends on Tamure came to Bora Bora in 1972. In 1972 there were no GPS, no Sat Phones, no EPIRBs. They were careful, used a chart, a compass and a Sextant. I am sure they had fears, and they had a lot of courage. I have their photo taken in Bora Bora in 1972 as a reminder to go on, and except the fears.
Dear Ratty,
16 July 2016 | Tahaa, Frech Polynesia
Dear Ratty,
It has been some time since I last saw you and I wanted to write about you to remind you of one thing you said to me and to offer a correction of something else.
First, you will remember that time when our dear (and sometimes tedious) friend had those several incidents with a Motorcar? Let me assure you that since that time I have been forced to ride in similar contraptions and I can assure you that although some would say there have been advances, that they are still the most horrible contrivance ever conceived. They go faster, most make more noise, and appear to me to be more dangerous that anything that we could dream might come out of the woods.
Now, enough of that topic. Let us turn to boats. You were the first to expose me to boats, even before I could swim… do you remember that day when I first saw the river and your boat. You took me across the river and on the way fell into some kind of trance, saying over and over, “ there is nothing like messing around with boats, in them, on them, around them…” (now I am going from memory, yet I think I have it close enough… I laugh remembering that you were so taken by the though that you rammed your little boat into the shore and fell over backwards… Do you remember that day? If you do, I hope you might allow me to correct you.
I have now spent considerable time “messing around with my boat”, and I have come to the conclusion that, although messing around with boats is preferable to messing around with many other things, it is actually sailing boats that is much much better than messing around with them.
Yesterday, after messing around a bit, I was able to sail my boat for the afternoon under the most beautiful conditions. A warm day in the tropics, but not hot. 10 to 12 knots of wind on the beam. The ocean swell broken by the reef giving me flat water, yet a view of the reef and the sand shoal so beautiful it is hard to describe. A few clouds in the sky to define the blue and the island of Bora Bora in the distance with a cloud clinging to its peaks.
Do know that I miss your rowing boat, and I often miss having a rowing dinghy, and I guess one can’t have everything… Give a hearty greeting to my friends along the Riverbank.
Thoughts on the Thorny Path
10 July 2012 | Whitehouse Bay, St Kitts
Bill
Here, Isobel has lost her sense of humor on some long slog off the south coast of the Dominican Republic... We try to encourage her to "ride the bucking bronco", look at the clouds and see what you can see, sing "farmer in the dell" and make up new lyrics, etc... but at a certain point it is just not fun going to windward...
We are sitting here, in St Kitts, realizing that we are finally "east". For those of you who don't sail, the most rigorous point of sail is sailing up wind. In the tropics that means sailing east. Why rigorous? Mostly because you are sailing into the waves, as the waves travel (normally) in the same direction as the wind. Since you are sailing into them, you add your speed to the speed the waves are traveling... and that means that the boat is going up and down quickly with each wave... And when sailing into the wind, the boat is heeled (leaning) over. So, sailing to windward the boat is leaning over and going up and down a lot... not ideal for doing daily life!
This is why the route from Florida to the Eastern Caribbean is called the Thorny Path. There are two authors who have sold lots of books on "The thornless path"... Having come this route over the past few months and adheared to the advice of these two authors... we feel they are really praying on the hope and fear of cruisers. Hope that there is an easy way east and fear of an ocean passage. We think they are full of it!! The path is thorny, which ever way you do it.
We don't regret the places we have seen and people we have met... but, would we do it again? NO. I would say that, for those who have been to the Bahamas several times and feel like a little bigger stretch, go to Haiti. That is a great trip and takes you to a clearly new and wonderful caribbean country. When you are done, turn around and sail back to the Bahamas or Florida (or go to Cuba...)
If you want to sail to the Eastern Caribbean, sail offshore from no further south than NC. Obviously watch the weather... but you can be there in 10 days! On the way home, visit all the places we have, in reverse. Sailing down wind, and down current. How dreamy it would be to pole out a couple head sails... be able to read and cook and walk about... then choose a port based on what is there rather than thinking it is a place you can tolerate reaching.
Of course the one thing that is nice about how we have done the trip is that most places have not been busy or over crowded... on the other hand we miss having other cruisers around to socialize with, brainstorm with and explore with. And now we are almost as far east as we care to go... so at least now we can ease the sheets and sail in a little more comfort. And yet, we have to keep a "weather eye" as hurricane season is upon us and we need to be ready to bolt south when our weather says go.
Nap time
06 October 2008 | Owlshead Bay, Lake Champlain
The squall swept through at about 11 am, dropping hail the size of peas for a few minutes... Ten minutes later the sun was hitting the foliage on the New York side, highlighting the beginning of the color change. This is my favorite part of the foliage season, when a few trees are brilliant against the background of green. No one is on the lake today... well almost no one. We chased a burgundy hulled sail boat for a few minutes before opting to drop the anchor in Owlshead Bay and hang out for the day. After anchoring Lara headed for her berth to curl up with a book under a down comforter. I tidied up a few lines and chatted with some women passing in Kayaks. That is when the squall blew through. A 25 knot wind is not much for big Be Here Now. Lara didn't even notice. I rigged the anchor snubber just in case.
It was a lazy day; we haven't had much time hanging out on the boat this year. June the boat was in CT being worked on, July it rained, August we worked. September we sailed in Hurricane Ike, which was fun, and we didn't get much down time. Today we get to hang out here in the sun (yup, it's out now!) and read, putter and sleep until we meet a rigger at 2 pm... Well, probably nap time now...
Celestial Navigation vs harbor Navigation
11 May 2008 | Newport, RI
Bill
Photo is of Be Here Now II across the wharf from Little Dipper.
On the boat, on a mooring in Newport. Tired... Can't believe we can reach in the fridge and grab a cold beer! Lara is cooking up some Indian food! Indie is lying up in the cockpit. The wind generator whirs. We have spent the past two days learning Celestial Navigation from Tim Queeney at Ocean Navigator. Although neither of us feels that we are quite ready to cast off tomorrow and sail across the Pacific, we both feel we have the concepts and, with a little more practice, we will be able to navigate using the stars, moon and sun. As it turns out, Celestial navigation is not too complicated. It requires simple math and patience.
We also had lots of practice this weekend moving the boat around in tight spaces. Several times we were on and off Bowen's Wharf, each time turning the boat in between the wharf and the next one over... If felt like we were turning our 38' boat in about 40' of space... in reality, maybe we had 45 feet. The boat handles very well under power. We demonstrated several times that one can rotate the boat 180 degrees with out really moving. We both agree that we love the boat!!