Jazzy Lady's 2019/20 Cruising Adventure

(March 28th)


Three hours long.
Keep an eye on engine temperature
Listen for any irregularities in sound of engine
Keep a visual eye out for other nearby vessels in case of collision risks
Watch the AIS, set between a 5 and 10 mile radius, for vessels passing in the vicinity. It provides information on the name of each vessel within said radius (in case we need to call them on the radio), the speed it's travelling, the distance at which it's path will cross ours (1 mile, min is acceptable...less than that, we alter course) and the time at which it's path will cross ours. We do not have the transponder that allows other boats to see us so we need to be especially diligent in our lookout for other boats.
We usually have the use of our radar too (except that right now it's not functioning properly) which shows us any blips on our screen of any kind of obstruction whatsoever. For example, something large floating in the water or any land mass, etc. Obviously our charts are always showing us the major land features we're passing so the radar is a bit redundant but it is reassuring to have because you just never know. Sometimes there are random towers or fishing structures out in the middle of nowhere which are not on our charts. In the pitch black of night they are invisible to the naked eye.
We have officially left Bahamas waters and are anticipating, any time now, feeling the boost in speed from the Gulf Stream. It should increase our velocity by 3 to 5 knots!
I would have liked to make more frequent blog entries but life got in the way:) So I am trying to squeeze in a few more before 'Sail Bahamas 2020' comes to a conclusion. This will be one of my last, as our trip home will now be rushed. We left Bahamas 10 days earlier than planned and, instead of taking 6 or 7 weeks to get home we'll probably do it in 2 to 3 weeks. We are very disappointed that we'll miss taking our time through all of the spots that we whizzed past on our way down, saying 'oh, we'll stop through on our way home'. Story of our lives though, right? We've had a hell of a run and can no longer be oblivious to the devastation that is ravaging most of the world right now.
The morning we left Nassau (two days ago) our plan was to do just a couple more island hops north before leaving the country but, literally, the second we'd lifted anchor a National Defence Force vessel pulled up alongside us and said 'You can't leave, all private vessels must stay put under quarantine for 6 days' We had previously been given permission by the government to go ashore only for provisioning as long as we were making a concerted effort to leave the country in a timely manner. They let us go but said we could not stop anywhere else in Bahamas. So we put our departure plan on overdrive and quickly adopted Plan B. Instead of a 30 mile day we set out for a 60 mile day (and wished we'd started 2 hours earlier). We spent that night on the Macki Shoal, which is the same cool place we anchored way back in December on our second night in Bahamas: the spot where there's no land in sight but the depths are only 15 feet and it's a low traffic area so safe to spend the night. You can only do this if wind and swell are almost non-existant and It happened to be calm enough for us that day. We had one final swim and wash off the sugar scoop (stern) just before lifting anchor in the morning and now here we are, 4:30 am, 20 hours later. We are aiming to be on the move until Monday afternoon so that'll be 3 days and 3 nights before we touch down in, probably Charleston. We shouldn't need any provisions so we will check in to the country with our customs app and carry on with offshore day trips or intracoastal, depending on the weather.
Today was a tough one for me, physically. It started with Mark hoisting me up a shroud to re-hang our radar. If we're going all the way to the top we use the windless to hoist us but, because I was just going to the first spreader, Mark winched me up manually. It's hard winching a human adult up 20 feet so o was trying to help by wrapping my legs around and party hoisting myself up. Add to this a strong breeze and not much purchase around these wires I'm straddling. I was swinging around them like crazy. And rocking with the boat. All this to say, my inner thighs are purple with bruises from shimmying up the shrouds. Then disaster struck this afternoon. I suppose it might have been karma. Perhaps we were getting a bit greedy with our fishing wish list. After our two dream catches of Wahoo and Mahi yesterday we were next in pursuit of a tuna. (Fish is in freezer, I promise it won't go to waste!) We had hooked a Bar Jack and we're planning on releasing it. I held the bucket for Mark to put the fish in before removing g the lure from its mouth. The fish flopped about and one of the barbed hooks caught my thumb. After much rational deliberation, we gathered tools (gin, peroxide and an exacto knife). Mark cut my skin until the barb was revealed, then he ripped it out. Next to childbirth, my most harrowing moment in pain tolerance. We are being diligent with keeping it open and clean for a while before letting it close up. Miraculously, there was not much blood and I somehow managed to not pass out. Much credit to Mark who had a steady hand! It was spousal team work at its best!
A sure sign of the times, yesterday we passed EIGHT massive cruise ships languishing at anchor on the Maki Shoal, in the middle of nowhere, presumably because there is not room for every single cruise ship in the world to be docked at one time. Quite a sight to behold. I've just had a Carnival Cruise ship cross my bow 2 miles away with a brightly lit message on her hull visible from 5 miles away: 'Sail Soon'. I wonder how soon...
March 30th
It is just past midnight and we are snuggly anchored in Charleston Harbour....500 miles later. We were dreading three full days and nights in a row with no land in sight. Managed to make it 2 nights, just barely. Three full days and the kids were asleep before we anchored tonight so it'll be like Christmas morning tomorrow, having them wake up with shore in sight. Winds were definitely in our favour for the most part. Our max speed, at one point was 12.7 knots! Thank you Gulf Stream! It feels surreal to be in brown water, not turquoise and the smells are very different but we were greeted by dolphins here in the harbour tonight so there's still a piece of Bahamas with us. We will sleep WELL tonight!!!
Photo: we found two flying fish on our decks this morning