Rachel in Real Life

Jan. 24, 2011

We are still in Savannah. Hayden is in Mexico with One Van der Wal on a photoshoot for Dockwise Shipping. We expect him back in 2-3 days. Once he returns we will leave for the Caribbean on the next weather window. The trip should take 7-8 days. We are heading for St. Thomas.

Since I last made an entry we have spent a few more days exploring Beaufort SC. We actually made an offer on a beautiful piece of property on one of the tidal creeks with a beautiful view of the marshland and a rundown crica 1960's house. We didn't get it. It was in forclosure and we were one of at least 3 bidders. Oh well. It was another huge project so I am just as relieved not to take on another enormous job.

We haven't given up on the idea of buying in Beaufort but may have to leave it for awhile.

We have also made contact with my Mother's cousin Eugene Buttle who lives in Savannah with his wife Anne. He is a volunteer guide at the 8th Airforce Museum so we met up there and he gave us a fantastic tour. If you ever have an opportunity to visit this museum (Just off I-95 as it passes through Savannah) it is well worth a visit! It describes the events leading up to WWII and the creation of the 8th Airforce. It is filled with amazing artifacts including a B-17 bomber.

We finished off the day with Gene (Eugene) sharing dinner at a local café. We really enjoyed meeting him and hope to have a visit again before we leave.

While we were at the airport dropping Hayden off for his flight to Mexico I picked up a flyer about Cumberland Island, GA. It is Georgia's largest barrier Island at 18 miles long. It is also the ancestral home of the famous Carnegie family who built 5 impressive homes on the island (only 2 remain intact) at the turn of the century. They lived extravagant and idyllic lives on the island. There are still a few distant ancestors living on the island but it is now almost completely a National Park. There are also a large number of feral horses living on the island that were either released from the Carnegie estate when Lucy, the Matriarch, died (her request) or released there as part of a breeding project she started to breed a strain of hardy all-purpose horses to sell that were nicknamed 'Island Tackies" or something like that. Not sure what the breed was that she brought over to cross with her full blooded Tennessee Walkers and other fancy breeds.

Anyway, now the island supports approx. 130 of these horses that wander at will. They look a bit scruffy as you might imagine. There are also armadillos, raccoons, coyotes, deer, numerous birds, and the island is one of the many spots were loggerhead turtles come to nest each spring. Brian and I spent the entire day walking the beach and the paths through the marine forest. The trees, predominantly Live Oak, are sculpted by the prevailing winds and have resulted in the most amazing graceful canopy overhead. The undergrowth is all young palms which create a very tropical feel.

We shared the returning Ferry trip with a load of young Boy Scouts who had camped there over the weekend and had obviously thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It gave us fond memories of our boys at that age and the camping/outings with their troop.

Famished after a full day out of doors and walking, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant and demolished a heaping plate of Fajitas! I never thought we would finish it off but our appetites were bigger than our eyes in this case.

Let's see, what else..... Oh, I came down the dock to the boat the other day and disturbed an Otter who was swimming around the dock landing next to our boat. That was pretty cool.

Lost in Savannah

I know I haven't updated this blog in weeks. Perhaps you have all thought we are lost at sea. No, just lost in Savannah, GA.

After our week in Beaufort, NC, Brian and Hayden set sail for Savannah, GA to our friend's the Guggenheims who have a lovely home on the ICW complete with a deep water dock.

I begged off that trip opting instead to rent a car and drive the 2 hours to Wilmington, NC to visit with my sister Michal. As a public school special needs assistant, Michal would have holiday time off from work for a few weeks over Christmas/New Years. We had a wonderful visit and Brian and Hayden rented a car and drove up from Savannah for Christmas Eve & Day. They then went back to Savannah and Michal and I drove up to Maryland for a gathering with my family there. We stayed with my parents in Frederick, MD and my sister Sara and two of her children drove down from NJ. We all gathered together at my sister Becky's house in Damascus with her family for a yummy Christmas meal and gift exchange.

This was of course and unexpected change of plans but a good one. We had expected to be in the islands for Christmas, but in hindsight that might have been a bit lonely.

Well, now I am reunited with Brian and Hayden and we are still hanging on the Guggenheim's dock in Savannah. It is a beautiful spot. We wake to gorgeous sunrises and amazing bird life. Dolphins are occasionally spotted in the water.

Hayden has a week long job with Onne Van der Wal in Mexico towards the end of the month so we have decided to stay put until he gets back and then carry on South. In the meantime, we are exploring the area and have taken a particular interest in Beaufort, SC. It is a lovely place and we are seriously considering purchasing property there. Brian and I spent the day up in Beaufort yesterday at Hunting Island State Park. A spectacular beach and marine forest environment on one of the many barrier islands along the coast. (see attached photos).

So that is it for now. I do apologise for the lack of communication and do hope no one was seriously worried about our whereabouts.

I wish you all a wonderful New Year!

Writing this on my new droid phone so pretty tedious so will keep it short.
Brian and Hayden are sailing/motoring to savannah, ga today. I rented a cat and drove to Wilmington, nc to visit with my sister MICHAL. We will revisit our boating plan after christmas

We wish all of you a holiday of peace & love

The Bennetts

December 11th

We left Newport Shipyard on the 8th of Dec. at 8am. Loren Palmer came to the dock to see us off and then drove to Fort Adams, Castle Hill and finally Brenton Point to take photos and a video of us sailing out of Narragansett Bay. (He put the video on You Tube if you're interested to see EQUUS under sail.) Just about the time we were passing Castle Hill my phone rang. It was Loren DeVeau and she was crossing the Newport Bridge and could see us! These two Friends, the Lorens, are our emergency contact people so how fitting that both of them saw us off.

The Weather forecast was favorable for the next 3 days allowing us time to get as far as Beaufort, NC and out of the "deep freeze". We headed for Block Island as our course was to take us to the East of the Island and then begin the long sail South/ Southwest.

A pod of dolphin romped in our bow waves just off Block Island. A portent of good luck? That was at 2pm. By 3pm I was really seasick. Within the next couple of hours Hayden too was struck by the malady and Brian was not far behind. For the next 24 hours we all did our best to keep a bit of water down which was no mean feat. The Scopace sea sickness medicine we had just wasn't quite up to the job. The ocean was very lumpy and the winds were gusting up to 32 knots. Our only comfort was that "EQUUS" seemed to love the treatment and sailed along at an average of 8 knots. Unfortunately our auto pilot didn't like it so much and kept tripping out. It was, we believe, a bit over powered by the rough seas. That meant that Brian and Hayden had to take the helm the entire time and it was COLD out. It even snowed a bit that first night. I felt terrible not being able to do my share of the watches but there was no way I was going to steer in that ocean!

The following morning the winds were much the same but it was forecast to move around to a more westerly breeze which it finally did by late in the afternoon making the sailing a little less lumpy. By mid-day I made up my mind that I'd had enough of feeling ill and determined to get down and keep down a bit of sustenance. I managed a bite of banana and then a bit later, 2 spoonfuls of yogurt. I urged Brian and Hayden to do the same and by the evening we were all feeling markedly better. The second night passed without event and the following morning was beautiful and WARM! Well, warmer.

Brian spotted a couple of Pilot Whales about mid day. At about 4pm another pod of dolphin accompanied us for about 30 minutes. Hayden took some photos but they are so quick it is hard to get a good one. They were so wonderful to watch. Talk about pure joy! They speed through the water like missiles and then leap clear out. They were so close we could see them under the water and we tapped the sides of our boat to encourage them. More dolphin came from different directions and joined in the fun. How did they communicate that there was a dolphin carnival ride going on? Perhaps they heard our knocks on the boat and responded out of curiosity? Whatever brought them to us, what a beautiful way to end the day!

By this time we were offshore about 60 miles adjacent to Norfolk, VA. Later that evening as we neared Hatteras we heard a radio warning dispatched by a Naval Warship alerting anyone in the vicinity that they were doing exercises and firing live ammunition. They were very near our position. The request was to stay at least 3 miles away and we were pretty close to that. Brian radioed the Naval ship to give them our position. Of course knew exactly where we were and said if we maintained course we would be fine. Just a bit of excitement!

The clouds gathered over night and the Coast Guard began issuing a severe weather warning. Fortunately by early morning we were already on our last waypoint heading into Beaufort.

Pelicans followed us in and two dolphins greeted us as we dropped anchor. Phew! We made it!

The only real mishap was the nasty bang and cut Brian got right between the eyes when one of the bifold doors to the aft cabin came off it's hinge and whacked him. Nurse Rachel applied a couple of butterfly bandages and hopefully he won't need any stitches. He's rather excited about having a scar!

This was a very long and wordy installment and I will try to keep them shorter after this.

These are Loren's pics on facebook and video "Equus departs" on you tube. Check them out!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=82344&id=1651145744&l=b3eaffd888

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMuNhI9nugE

Dear Family and Friends,

We are in the final day of preparation for our sail South aboard "EQUUS" Brian, Hayden and I (Rachel) plan to leave first thing in the morning and head for Beaufort, NC. If we encounter any issues within the first several hours, or if the conditions are too rough we will stay over night on Block Island. The winds are forecast to diminish over the next 24-36 hours and it should be relatively smooth sailing for the next 3 days.

Once in Beaufort, we will await the next favourable weather window to make the passage to the US. Virgin Islands.

Our boat, "EQUUS" is a 50ft. Ketch. It was designed by Gary Mull and built in Taiwan by TaShing in 1983. She has a center cockpit, 3 cabins and 2 heads. Brian has completed a major refit this past year including replacing the old teak deck with fiberglass, stripping and repainting the bottom, repainting and re-rigging the masts, a new generator, new mainsail and sail covers and all new electronics and navigational instruments. We have a new dinghy, a re-packed and re-certified life raft and numerous other sundry repairs and equipment.

We are leaving New England later than we had hoped but not so late as to be the last to go. Here at the Newport Shipyard there are several yachts still making preparations. Word is that we should expect some very cold temps the first 2-3 days and then be into the warmer weather for the remainder of the trip. As we are opting for a coastal route (rather than a straight shot off-shore) we may actually be in the colder temps a bit longer but it is a trade off we think worth it. There isn't a clear weather window to make the entire trip and this way we may actually be able to see my Sister Michal in NC and a few friends in Savannah. Once we have gotten South of Virginia the pressure is off as it is the cold that we hope to avoid.

So, I am new to blogging and not completely sure how it works. I am told I can enter our coordinates and those who have an interest, can follow our progress.

I will send new entries as often as possible but don't be alarmed if several days go by without a new posting. I'm on vacation for heaven's sake!

Love to all,

Rachel

Rachel