01/11/2010, Bimini
One thing about weird happenings: they always come in threes. So, I had already almost taken out the rear of a catamaran. (Not to mention the entire port side of Journey)
I should explain my loss of control for our non-sailing friends. If the current is going the same direction as the boat, but at a faster speed than the boat, there is no control at the rudder. I got the same feeling you would skidding the car on an ice patch; you turn but nothing happens other than to continue in the original direction of travel.
So, that being said, let's see what fun was yet in store for us. We pulled around to the slip that we'd been assigned. The dock master was there to grab our lines and pull us back against the current so we would be facing into the wind for the coming blow. ( it's uncomfortable to have a 25-35 knot wind howling right into the cabin.)
Al needed to get to starboard to attach a bow line to a piling, so the dock master gave the boat a healthy shove off the dock. He slipped, kicked against the port upper lifeline AND IT PARTED. You need to know that we count on those lines to keep us onboard if we fall or loose balance as we go forward. We had just replaced them for this trip. We had done the crimping at West Marine with their BIG DOG crimper, so we could feel secure that they were done right. THIS ISN"T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! Can you tell I was upset about this? Al spent the last two days re-doing them all with the small hand crimper we bought "just in case". Now I feel better, since a comparison of the old crimps and the new, show a definite improvement.
We hunkered down for bed on Saturday night. The wind was howling, we were rocking even in the slip, and it was cold. We ran the propane heater for the first time on the trip. I felt I had just dropped off when Al hit my feet and said "UP! Now! We've lost a line!"
I leapt up and out of the cabin, saw Al was going forward. Journey was skewered to the right. The change in the boat's motion had woken him. The left line was on the boat, but trailing in the water instead of keeping us in place. I pulled us over to the pier with the spring line (thank goodness for those!) and leapt up onto the dock and forward to catch the line from Al. I secured it and went around the dock, checking ALL the lines, as Al was doing the same on the boat.
I came back onboard and we went below. My feet were frozen. I had been barefoot in a cold rain, and I was grateful for the heaters warmth. We slept well for the remainder of the night. Our third weird thing was a thing of the past.
| bahamas Cruise 09/10 |
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Comments [2]
01/11/2010, Rose Island and Bimini
| bahamas Cruise 09/10 |
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01/11/2010, Bimini
There was a cool component in the air the morning we left the Exumas. That was Sunday, January 3rd. Al and I bundled up in sweats and jeans against the chill. We have yet to take them off. We weighed anchor at 9AM, and sailed straight through to Rose Island, next to Paradise/Nassau Islands.
We sailed on into the night on the banks. It was quiet, no boat traffic, just the wind and us as we ghosted along towards our goal. I felt our way into the anchorage by instrument alone, it was pitch dark, and Al set the hook in what we hoped was sand. It set well and we collapsed into our bunks at midnight. We knew we would spend some time here; the wind was forecasted to be from the NW for 2-3 days. Rose island gives good protection from NW or N winds. What we didn't plan on was W wind for 3 days, but that's what we got. Lots of W wind, and Rose Island runs E-W, so we had little to no protection. Oh well.
Finally on Thursday AM we had our break to run to Bimini. We left Nassau harbor at 11AM and set our sails for a beat to Northwest channel some 50miles distant. This was the Tongue of the Ocean, some 4000 feet deep in places. We didn't worry about bumping our bottom here. We were flying along at 6.8-7.2 MPH. We rounded Northwest passage at 8.10PM. Full dark. Now we were onto the banks again. Depths here range from 16 feet to a skimpy 5.6 or so along this route. We draw 5 feet, so it's more important to stay on our route and not stray.
Al and I took the night in 2HR shifts. I wish I could capture what it is like to sail the banks at night. I tried, I really did, but the dark swallows up the filming and nothing comes out. It is the most incredible feeling on earth. Just you and the boat, nothing else exists on the planet. I truly felt like I was the center of the universe. After the moon rose, I could look down into the water and see the coral heads as they rushed past and under the hull. Fisherman were out on the banks, sitting still in the water, showing their white over red lights as we passed. I had my MP3 player cranked in my ears, and it was nirvana.
The banks lost their wind around 1:30, so down went the sails and we motored along. The water's surface was glass. Then the most perfect sunrise a person could ask for, and we could see Bimini in the distance, right where it was supposed to be That always amazes me, the fact that I can actually navigate TO things. Who would have thought?
We passed the wreck of the Saponah and into Bimini harbor. Here was another waiting spot. We need wind from any direction but N to cross the gulf stream. We're going to be here a while and we know it. We stopped first for fuel. After fueling, we left to take a slip at the marina. I felt we would ride better over a 4-7 day period in a slip, where we could actually LEAVE the boat, if we wanted. (We had been stuck on the boat since the third. It was now the Eighth.)
There was a large catamaran in front of us at the fuel dock. There was lots of room between his stern and our stem as we took on our fuel. He had in fact, helped us with our lines as we came in, since there was a ripping current flowing in the same direction as our travel. I had been revving in reverse for most of the channel and dock approach, just to slow us down.
As we left, I can only claim fatigue from the all-nighter. I left the dock and had NO STEERAGE! Reverse- no effect! Turn right to miss the cat, wishy-washy barely any response! I hollered to Al to fend, as I had NO CONTROL, and the cat owner came out to assist as well. Good thing, as Journey was sideways, heading for the cat's stern like a hour dourve weenie getting stuck by a cocktail fork. "I'm going to run into your boat now, and there's not a darned thing I can do about it." I remember saying about then to the boat owner, and how was I sounding that calm? Maybe because the die was cast, I knew there WAS nothing I could do- out of my control- this was now just a spectator sport for me. I still don't know how those two managed to fend off an entire BOAT, but they did, no harm, no foul. And when I went over later to apologize, we made new friends with the owners of the catamaran .
| bahamas Cruise 09/10 |
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01/10/2010, Exumas
| bahamas Cruise 09/10 |
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| bahamas Cruise 09/10 |
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| bahamas Cruise 09/10 |
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