Vicki - Showers, Thunderstorms, 31 deg C in Santa Marta, Colombia, South America
One of the prettiest spots we've visited so far was Camp Driftwood pictured above on Shroud Cay, Exumas, Bahamas two months ago. This is the joy of owning the type of vessel enabling us to go anywhere we wish and with the knowledge to do so gained over the years. As dedicated sailors, we did not realise at the time that there's very little difference in the type of craft one owns as all sailors need to know as much as possible about their environment and vessel no matter what shape or style it is. Switching over to the "Dark Side" by buying a power vessel has enabled us to see the advantages of both power and sail. As long as we're all out here enjoying the wind in our hair and salt on our skin, we are all on the same path. Just over a year has passed since we moved on board Vanish, our Marlow Voyager 76LR at Snead Island near Palmetto, Florida, USA. We set off for destinations unknown and when anyone asks us, "How's your trip going so far?" it is hard to answer without chatting for the next few hours so we thought you might enjoy a few statistics of our year in review. A BD (Blog Date) is included in case you wish to go back and read the blog post concerning the information and I have included some thoughts from Maynard (M) and myself (V).
Miles Travelled:
6,752 Miles
Fuel Used:
9,800 Gallons; 2,250 Gallons for the gensets, 7,550 Gallons for main engines
= 1.1 Gallons per Mile since purchasing Vanish
Genset Hours:
750 hours on each of the two gensets. @ 1.5 gallons/hour = 2,250 gallons
Engine Hours:
550 hours for each of the two engines. As a comparison we would use approximately 250 - 300 hours on the engine on our yacht Cruz Control during a typical 5 month 2,500 mile cruise.
Amount of Watermaker Water Generated:
562 hours run time making 32,770 gallons/125,000 litres .....um, we take lots of showers and like a clean boat.
Coldest Sea Temp:
14.1 deg C ( 57 deg F) at Cross Island, Maine (BD 14 Aug 2012)
Hottest Sea Temp:
32.4 deg C (90 deg F) in Gulf Stream off Florida (BD 20 Jun 2012)
Highest Wind Speed:
~80 knots at Scotland Beach, Chesapeake Bay (BD 30 Jun 2012). Highest sustained winds were during Hurricane Sandy for 3 days over 45 knots.
Highest Swell:
4 meters (13 feet) off Colombia at Cabo De La Vela (BD 20 May 2013)
Number of Hurricanes:
1: but it was a shocker, Hurricane Sandy in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas (BD 23 to 27 Oct 2012)
Scariest Moment:
M - Finding out the stern glands were leaking at 2 a.m. on a rough trip in the Mona Passage, Dominican Republic and realising that they had not been checked for a very long time. The fear was not from sinking, but knowing Vanish needed to be hauled somewhere........asap (BD 19 Apr 2013)
V- Chesapeake Bay derecho storm (BD 30 Jun 2012)
Highlight:
M - (a) Reaching safety from hurricanes in Colombia after the trauma of the haul out and crew quitting in Dominican Republic (BD 20 May 2013) and (b) Taking Vanish to Matinicus Island, Maine, USA to see the large numbers of migratory puffins (BD 28 July 2012)
V - (a) Hearing refugee Cuban Alex's story of his frightening trip to Florida and knowing that he'd lost everything except the symbol of hope we'd given him, the toy puffin (BD 9 Dec 2012 and 4 Nov 2012) and (b) Reaching exotic Colombia.
Biggest Repair:
Stern gland seals in the Dominican Republic (BD 13 May 2013)
Highest Latitude:
43 50'N Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada (BD 15 Aug 2012)
Lowest Latitude:
11 14'N Santa Marta, Colombia (BD 20 May 2013)
Number of Countries Visited:
6; USA, Canada, Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Dominican Republic and Colombia
Number of Officials Who Have Boarded Vanish:
32 (19 just in Dominican Republic)
Countries of Origin of Vanish Blog Readers:
60; Abu Dhabi, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Chile, Colombia, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kuwait, Lithuania, Malta, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom, US Virgin Islands, USA, Venezuela, Vietnam. ~27,000 Hits. We would particularly like to thank our dedicated long term readers.
Number of Seasick Tablets Taken:
1; Tied up in Ocean World Marina, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic due to bad surge and rubber band effect of our lines stretching and releasing (BD 29 Mar 2012)
Favourite Anchorages:
(a) Bahia de San Lorenzo in Samana Bay, Dominican Republic (BD 10 Apr 2013) coconut palm lined beach, caves, mountains, swimming, safe anchorage protection, whales in winter.
(b) Normans Cay, Exumas (BD 8 Mar 2013) Only during weather from west quadrant. Crystal clear warm waters.
(c) Roque Island, Maine , USA (BD 10 Aug 2012) Remote, often foggy, sandy beach, forest.
(d) Cape Lookout, North Carolina, USA (BD 1 Oct 2012) All round weather protection, good swimming, quiet, dolphins galore.
Best Marina:
Marina Chavon, Casa de Campo, La Romana, Dominican Republic (BD 19 Apr 2013) as it is spacious, quiet, safe, has inexpensive labour and haul out facilities if needed, good restaurants, Wifi and climate and lots to do. Not recommended during hurricane season.
Most Inexpensive IGY Marina:
Marina Santa Marta, Santa Marta, Colombia charges ~63 cents/foot as at May, 2013 (US Dollars)
Marina Time:
Vanish has spent just 44% of the past year in marinas but Maynard and I have spent 29%.
Best Moment:
Waking up each day.