Wyvern's Wanderings

Vessel Name: Wyvern
Vessel Make/Model: 1977 Irwin Ketch
Hailing Port: El Jobean, Florida
Crew: Charlie and Phyllis Atha
About: After living aboard our 42' Irwin for almost 10 years, we sold her and bought a home in El Jobean, Florida. Bought a storm damaged 1996 Hunter 45 and have been working on it for the past 3 years. THEN we sold the Hunter and purchased the Irwin back. Feels like home!
Extra: Both Charlie and Phyllis are USCG licensed captains and ASA sailing instructors.
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27 March 2019 | Nassau Harbor, New Providence, Bahamas
25 March 2019 | Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas
24 March 2019 | Norman's Cay, Exumas, Bahamas
23 March 2019 | Shroud Cay, Exuma Islands, Bahamas
22 March 2019 | Hawksbill Cay & Wardwick Wells, Exuma Islands, Bahamas
21 March 2019 | Emerald Rock, Wardwick Wells, Exuma Islands, Bahamas
20 March 2019 | Johnny Depp's Island, Exuma Cays, Bahamas
19 March 2019 | Staniel Cay, Exuma Islands, Bahamas
19 March 2019 | Staniel Cay, Exuma Islands, Bahamas
18 March 2019 | Staniel Cay, Exuma Islands, Bahamas
17 March 2019 | Staniel Cay, Exuma Islands, Bahamas
16 March 2019 | Blackpoint, Great Guana Cay, Exuma Islands, Bahama
15 March 2019 | Blackpoint, Great Guana Cay, Exuma Islands, Bahama
14 March 2019 | White Point, Great Guana Cay, Exumas, Bahamas
13 March 2019 | White Point, Great Guana Cay, Exumas, Bahamas
12 March 2019 | White Point, Great Guana Cay, Exumas, Bahamas
11 March 2019 | White Point, Great Guana Cay, Exumas, Bahamas
11 March 2019 | White Point, Great Guana Cay, Exumas, Bahamas
10 March 2019 | Isaac Bay, Great Guana Cay, Exumas, Bahamas
09 March 2019 | Blackpoint, Great Guana Cay, Exuma Islands, Bahama
Recent Blog Posts
27 March 2019 | Nassau Harbor, New Providence, Bahamas

Lazy

Okay, I was lazy last night and didn't send out the Wanderings. My cousin, Brenda, and her husband, Steve, left yesterday for home. After breakfast in the morning, we dinghied downtown Nassau. We went to the Straw Market, then walked around and visited a few other tourist shops. I stopped at the [...]

25 March 2019 | Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas

Sailing!

Charlie and Steve were up and had us headed toward Nassau by 7:00 this morning. They put up all three sails and turned off the engine. First time this season we have had the right winds to be able to sail without the engine with all three sails. For the first half of the trip across from Normans Cay, we were able to maintain 5 to 6 knots. But, naturally, you can't have too much of a good thing. The wind started dying about half way over. We were down to 3 knots at times and we really wanted to get there as early as possible, so the engine came back on and we motorsailed the rest of the way. The total distance today was 35 miles. We arrived at a bit after 2:00. On the way over, Charlie beat some conch that I had thawed and we had cracked conch for lunch. After we anchored in Nassau Harbor, Charlie took Steve and Brenda over to Atlantis. They were able to see the casino and the lobby and some of the grounds, but they are not too welcoming over there unless you buy a day pass for about $85.00 each to go into the aquarium and use their other facilities. On their way back, they took a short detour over to Potter's Cay. They didn't find a place to tie up the dinghy and go ashore, but they were not too impressed with the back sides of the shanty food shacks or the old conch boats and mailboats tied up to the docks. They said Atlantis was just too high class, but Potter's Cay was a bit too lower class. Dirty and a bit scary in their opinion. Potter's Cay is a locals working class area. Would be like going to the docks in New York I would imagine. Just a little too tough of a neighborhood. They made it back about 5:30. I was convinced to just make burgers for dinner, so that is what we had. The skies were much sunnier today and the wind today was a bit calmer and warmer. This evening is mostly clear. The wind is now cool to be out in, but if we stay in the cockpit or the boat, the temperature is comfortably warm. The picture is of Steve and Brenda in the cockpit looking at Atlantis and Nassau on the horizon.

24 March 2019 | Norman's Cay, Exumas, Bahamas

We had a bit of rolling and rocking last night. The skies were overcast. I did see the moon peek through a few times. And windy. I decided to have cereal for breakfast. Both, BOTH, of the quarts of milk we bought at Staniel were bad. Not out of date yet, but bad. I was a bit peeved. I ate a piece of cake Charlie had baked last night. The rest had French toast. After breakfast, Charlie took Steve and Brenda up the creek to the other side of the island. They couldn't see much in the water because the wind had it rippled too much. But, they did see several turtles. They stopped at one spot and walked the beach for a bit. Camp Driftwood is a definite stop. They climbed to the top to get a 360 degree view. When they made it back, Charlie fixed his famous grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. We weighed anchor and motored another 3-5 miles to Norman's Cay. We anchored just north of the old McDuff's place on the west side of the island. We snuggled up close enough to the island to get out of the wind chop and any swells. The wind is from the east and still blowing 15 to 20. Charlie, Steve and Brenda went ashore to a somewhat rocky beach to explore. I stayed aboard to catch up on the Wanderings. We are having chicken marsala for dinner. The skies were even more overcast today than yesterday. No peeking moon tonight. The wind is still blowing. We are sitting quiet and comfortable. The wind is cold though. As long as the wind is blocked, it is comfortable. Thank goodness for our enclosure! The picture shows Steve overlooking the interior of Shroud with part of the creek visible. If you look very closely, you can see our masts on the far side.

23 March 2019 | Shroud Cay, Exuma Islands, Bahamas

Lil' Bit of History Hike

The seas in the anchorage were a bit rolly last night. We had some wrap around swell come from the point just north of us. It went through spells where it was very quiet, then a rolling spell. After breakfast this morning, we packed the backpacks and ice chest with water, cold beer and snacks. The ice chest we left in the dinghy, because it would be too heavy to hike with. But, we had backpacks with water and snacks. We hiked up to the Russell Ruins, which is the ruins of small Loyalist cabins made out of rock and concrete. The concrete was made from baked and crushed conch shells and sand. Thes cabins are maybe 10 by 20 feet with two rooms. Low ceilings. The walls were rocks cemented together then skimmed with a layer of concrete. They were built on top of the hill, so all the conch shells had to be hauled up. Rocks are everywhere, so they probably just gathered them where it was convenient. We saw the old oven where they baked the shells and some rock walls which were pens or housing for animals. After looking at two of the cabins, we made our way back down the steep slope to the trail that goes across the island. A pretty good walk. We were glad it was sort of overcast. We walked on the rocks around the north point to a long beach with all kinds of flotsam and jetsam on the beach. Brenda found a makeshift bucket to carry here goodies back. Charlie found a plastic float that was too big for his backpack, so he carried the back pack and Steve carried the float. I had one Styrofoam float I carried back. We found a tree with some milk boxes and an old chair under it, so we could rest up before our hike back. Then we took a second break when we made it back across the island to the dinghy with the ice chest. The cold drinks were nice. When we made it back to the boat, we had a light lunch of crab salad. We were not too hungry since we had been snacking even though it was 2:00. We decided to go snorkeling after lunch. Steve, Brenda and I just went in from the Wyvern. Charlie wanted to check out a coral head that was further away, so he took the dinghy. Our coral head, wasn't too good. Had some pretty little fish, but most of the coral looked dead or damaged. Charlie said his coral head was prettier and he even saw a lobster. We left Hawksbill after the snorkeling and motored a whole 3-5 miles to Shroud Cay, anchoring on the north side of the spit at the mooring field. I fixed sautéed shrimp and stirfry for dinner. Then we taught Steve and Brenda how to play Scrabble. The wind did come up last night and blew 15 to 18 knots. We had just a little roll and rock, but not too much. Weather was overcast all day and night. I did see the moon peek through occasionally. Still warm unless you were out in the wind. The wind was cool. I had difficulty with my computer last night, thus the reason for the delayed Wanderings.

22 March 2019 | Hawksbill Cay & Wardwick Wells, Exuma Islands, Bahamas

Exuma Land and Sea Park

We have been in the Exuma Land and Sea Park since we the day after we left Staniel Cay But, today, Charlie took Steve and Brenda into shore to visit the headquarters. They paid for our anchoring last night, since we were right near the headquarters. That is a sore subject with us, but I have mentioned that before. They walked up to BooBoo Hill. The highest point on Wardwick Wells and placed their wooden plaque on the pile, designating who they were and that they were here. A tradition among cruisers that visit and their guests who may be aboard. Some of the plaques are very elaborate, routed or painted. Most are just boards with the information in permanent marker. BooBoo Hill offers a nice 360 degree view of the island and the waters around it. They had to wade the creek to get there and with the full moon, the tide was extra high. Up to Charlie's thigh. While they were gone, I put together marinara sauce and put it on the stove to simmer all day. I also got chili out of the freezer to have for lunch, and cracked some ice out of the ice cube trays. Just as I finished up and was going up to the cockpit to relax, they made it back to the boat. We weighed anchor, then put up the main sail and motorsailed toward Hawksbill Cay. Naturally, most of the distance, the wind was blowing from the north. Where we want to go. Charlie went a bit off course and we continued to motorsail until we had to turn into the anchorage. Charlie, Steve and Brenda dinghied in to shore to walk the long pretty white sandy beach that sort of encircles the anchorage. Charlie took a break, but Steve and Brenda walked the whole length. Nothing really on the beach that was interesting, but pretty and they got their exercise. I gathered and prepared all the other stuff for dinner. Spaghetti water, spaghetti, garlic bread and salads. We had spaghetti and meatballs and salads for dinner. With day light savings time, we don't quit playing and have dinner until about 7:00. That makes for a short evening since everyone (but me) is ready for bed at nine. The weather has not been so perfect last night or today. Though the velocity isn't too high, maybe 10 to 15 knots. A bit higher last night, the wind came from the west and northwest. Not great for the Emerald Rock anchorage. We hobbyhorsed all night. This morning the wind clocked a bit farther north holding us sideways to the swells, so we started rolling sideways. We sort of banged into the waves coming to Hawksbill Cay. When we first came into the anchorage, the waves were much calmer, but I believe after dark they have gotten a bit worse. I'm hoping for better later tonight and tomorrow.

21 March 2019 | Emerald Rock, Wardwick Wells, Exuma Islands, Bahamas

Johnny Depp's Island

Charlie made banana pancakes and sausage for breakfast. On our way out of the anchorage, we slowly drove by Johnny Depp's Island. We saw a couple of beaches with beach lounge chairs, little sailboats, gazebos and other toys. But, we didn't see Johnny. We did see what must have been the caretaker though. After re-anchoring at the south tip of Johnny's island, so we could dinghy over to the sunken plane, the sea aquarium, and O'Brien's Cay for a walk over to the windward beach. We just used the look bucket to look at the sunken airplane. The look bucket is just a bucket that Charlie cut the bottom out of and replaced the bottom with plexiglass. Works like a huge snorkel mask that is big enough for several people to see what is below the water. There were too many boats at the Sea Aquarium when we went past, so we decided to go on over to O'Brien's Cay. The tide was high and one lagoon that is normally dry or too shallow to dinghy into had plenty of water, so we dinghied into a beach. We walked the beach. Didn't find much, but saw some territory that I had never seen. I did find some tiny shells that were colorful. Brenda found several shells that she liked. When we got back to the dinghy, it was high and dry. Luckily not too far and we were able too dinghy back out. We then went into the deeper lagoon to another beach. We walked that beach, then across the island. Not a decent path. We hiked over rocks most of the way. Waves were crashing onto the rocky shore in a spectacular display of plumes. We finally made it to the beach. Again, we only found a few small shells to bring back. We did stop by the Sea Aquarium, but we forgot to bring the dinghy ladder and no one was eager to jump in because the current was so strong. So we fed the sergeant majors and yellow tail snappers some corn and watched them, then looked at the coral and fish through the look bucket. On our way back to the boat, we dinghied up closer to Johnny Depp's island and took a picture of one of the beaches, with possibly his house up on the little hill. See if you can see it in the picture. Back at the boat, we weighed anchor and motored on flat seas to Emerald Rock just south of the Exuma Land and Sea Park headquarters on Wardwick Wells. Once anchored, we decided to snorkel a couple of small coral heads. The conditions were perfect. No current, bright sunny sky and water extremely clear. We saw all kinds of colorful tropical fish. Some beautiful coral. I saw a huge crab and Charlie saw a Nassau Grouper. We snorkeled another coral head, and then we all admitted that we were tired and ready for the day to end. We came back to the boat. Everyone took a shower to get rid of the salty feel. We had pork chops with potatoes/squash/onion mix. Brenda is spoiling Charlie, because she has been doing the dishes every evening. Really, she has basically been doing all the dishes. Weather today was warm. The sun was intense and we had a very mild breeze. Just enough to keep us somewhat cool.

Super Moon

19 February 2019 | Nassau Harbor, New Providence, Bahamas
Partly cloudy, Warm and Windy
We went though half the day as normal, then the excitement began. Charlie decided he needed to take the carburetor out of the outboard motor. He tied the stern to the swim platform so it would be close to the back of the boat. We tie a rope to the harness on the outboard, run it through some rigging on the back end of the mizzen boom and then hook it to the mizzen halyard to pull it up. We were in the middle of this when the chop and the wakes got so bad, Charlie decided to abort until the seas calmed down. Probably about dark. But he left the stern tied to the swim platform. The wind was up today, probably 15 to 18 knots. The incoming tide was beginning to slack and the wind with the changing tide had the boats in the anchorage going every which way. A catamaran that we anchored beside was affected a bit differently than our monohull and we kept getting quite close to it. So, we started the engine and Charlie put the engine into reverse to back us away. You know what happened! Right. The stern line on the dinghy caught on the prop and nearly pulled the dinghy under the boat. The stern was pulled so low that water was pouring into the dinghy. Not really concerned that it would sink because it is nearly impossible to sink an inflatable, but the stern line was pinching the pontoon pretty badly. Charlie told me to cut the line and the dinghy floated free. Basically unharmed. We just scraped our new rubber paint off that one spot, but it is still staying inflated, so no hole. I pumped the water out and all was back to normal. Except now we had a rope wrapped around the prop. It really didn't inhibit using the engine, so Charlie put it back into reverse and backed away from the catamaran again. Since he was anchored here first, it is our responsibility to remedy the situation. Once far enough away for a bit, Charlie used the hooka rig. (A hooka is a dive regulator on a long hose either hooked to a compressor, or a dive tank. Ours is hooked to a dive tank.) This allowed him to stay under water long enough to get the rope undone. Now we really are back to normal, but still have the problem of the catamaran. Just before dark, we decided to motor away from the catamaran as far as we could still with the main anchor down, and drop a second anchor to hold us away from him. Yay, that worked. We are settled for the night. We were in the middle of dinner and our game of Scrabble when crunch. Another boat had slipped anchor and t-boned us, riding right up our anchor rodes. Henry, the gentleman on the boat was trying to hold the aft end of his boat away from our bow pulpit. We tried pushing them off, but the wind and now the outgoing tide was pushing them hard toward us. We could barely hold them off enough for our bow pulpit to stay out of their bimini over the aft cockpit. Laura, his wife, tried pulling in the anchor which seemed to have caught a little, but it slipped again allowing their bow to slide toward us also. They had fenders down, but they also had a sailboard tied to their lifelines and the fender didn't keep us far enough away to keep us from breaking the skeg off the board. So, I sat on deck and pushed with my legs to keep the boat away. Charlie suggested putting an anchor off the stern, upwind. Laura got out their extra anchor and fed the line out to Charlie, as Charlie in the dinghy took the anchor out. About this time the Defense Force sent out a boat to assist. It was decided that Laura should raise their anchor that was on the bow. Again, another problem. Their anchor was wrapped with one of our anchor lines. One of the DF guys got in the dinghy with Charlie and helped him get our anchor rode off their anchor. It was decided that the Defense Force boat would hip tow them off our lines. Charlie let out both rodes as far as they would go, hoping that would allow them to sink and the boat would slide off. Our second anchor did come off, but the other was wrapped somehow on their boat. We ended up cutting our line and letting it go with their boat and they were towed off. Tomorrow we will have to take the dinghy out and try to find it, then Charlie will dive for the rode so we can pull it up into the dinghy and take it back to our boat. Henry and Laura re-anchored. We are holding well on our secondary anchor, but still concerned about drifting into the catamaran when the tide changes again. Henry dinghied over and offered his second anchor, since they have a third. We took him up on his offer and he dinghied the anchor out on the side of the boat away from the catamaran. Charlie says we will be fine. Though, I'm not so sure about how the anchor thrown into the water from Henry's dinghy is secured. Charlie pulled in what slack he could, but really no stress has really been on it. Not the evening we imagined, but all in all everything worked out fine. No injuries and, we will have to check in the daylight, but I don't think there was any major injuries to either boat. I set our anchor alarm, just in case. But, that won't tell me if we are drifting toward the catamaran when the tide changes. Normally all boats swing basically the same way in the current and wind, so it is not normal for one anchored boat to stay clear of another boats swinging radius 360 degrees. But, we were having some weird results from the changing current and either the wind velocity or direction. I hope the explanation is coherent. Henry and Laura thanked us repeatedly for being so nice about the whole situation. But, for the grace of God, there goes I. Why berate them for something that could have happened to us just as easily. I thought we were going to miss the Super Snow Moon, because we had building clouds all day, but as you can see, the clouds broke up enough to see the moon several times. Still windy, and partly cloudy this evening.
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Wyvern's Photos - Main
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Created 12 December 2010
Our 1996 Hunter 45
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Created 12 December 2010