December 21, 2011

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

We were about 85% certain tomorrow would be our departure date.  Fred ran into town  on the dinghy to pick up some bananas and called me over the radio and asked if I was game to tackle plantains for dinner. (cooking them was another first for me again.).  He stopped to see Carol & Skip from “Rhapsody” while I stayed behind to tidy up and started securing things that tend to go airborne when traveling on a sail boat.  I also decided to try netting the starboard side of Casa Mare’ thinking I had it right this time...in my head anyway.  Laced it on the stanchion  and down it came, again.  OK, I thought, let me attack this again and again, up it went.  Still miscalculated .  I walked away.  Fred and I jumped on the dingy and headed to Rhapsody because they (cruisers)  thought it would be a good idea to hear the options.  We all gathered at the covered area near the marina, most people with charts in their hands.  Standing in front of us, charts in hand and a firm look of authority was Monty and Sara Lewis.  OK, I thought, guess he knows something I was certain I didn’t know, and that was good enough for me.  Charts, charts and charts…..and words had flown out of his mouth I never heard before about charts.  I glanced over at Fred to make sure he was paying attention.  I remember thinking...I sure do hope Fred is taking this in because I am clueless to maps for boating.  After the meeting I walked up to Monty and Sara and introduced myself.  I was excited to tell them this was my first time doing this cruise thing and Fred was going to teach me how to read a map.  Fred quickly corrected me and said, “they are not maps, Patti.  They are called charts”.  Come to find out, Sara & Monty Lewis  wrote the charts on sailing navigation.  OOPS!  My first thought was, we have got to follow them, after all, they are experts on charting .  “Explorer Charts”...I have seen them everywhere.  I asked where they were headed and when they were leaving.  I wondered if they had a GPS on their boat and chuckled to myself, probably so.    After the meeting it was clear some were leaving at night, others in the morning and some the day after.  Me?  I was sticking with Captain Fred’s plan.  Monty and Sara invited Fred and I aboard.  Fred purchased 2 up to date chart books and Monty gave him a smaller foldable map.  Sara jumped up and went hunting for her “blue bag”.  She gently placed out some creative art work, paper flowers she had made and asked me to pick one for myself.  I just couldn’t...they ware all beautiful!  I asked her to pick one out for me.  I knew if the choice was left up to me, I would be there for hours.  I seem to have a problem with choices once in awhile.  Fred and I were walking back from what I believe is the only bank on the island, RCB.  A guy was walking by us and as everyone does,, smiles and says hi.  Then he said, “How was the coconut?”  I quickly asked his name (forgot to ask when he demonstrated how to conquer a coconut).  Told him it was wonderful and he said his name...Matt.   Bimini is absolutely wonderful and a very happy community.  They don’t have much materialistically but they are the friendliest people I have ever met...all of them!  By the time we got back to the boat, the sun was on it’s way to setting and I immediately went back to the netting project to no avail.  I took it all down, again, all as in port and starboard sides!  I had not given up yet, I was just trying to have a concrete plan that worked.  Next step, Google, “How to attach a net on a boat stanchion for Dummies? “  There it was...for 100’ of rail we would need 135’ to fit correctly.  Also, a wire line on the bottom was pretty much the answer to getting it to the bottom with no toe rail.  I mentioned what I found to Fred and he said, “now we are getting into $$$”.  We needed more netting and expensive line for the bottom since we have no toe rail.  Don’t think for one minute I dismissed going to a marina to see if there was any someone had tossed.  “Recycling made that ok” I thought.

Everything was set, including the alarm.  I was excited about the next chapter of our adventure.

Fred’s plan...leave at daybreak. 

December 20, 2011

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Coffee, internet then work.  Who says there isn’t any work on a sailboat?  I am continuously finding something to do.  Although it was slightly breezy, I thought I would try my creativity get the netting up around Casa Mare, just in case Stasia took a tumble overboard.  I spent most of the day deciding how to do it and how to space it between the stanchions   Since there is no toe rail around Casa Mare’ Fred and I thought could tighten the bottom line after it was threaded so there wasn't a gap at the bottom between the stanchion poles.  Got it all across only to find we stretched is too much and there was no chance of stretching it to the bottom.  I used quite many tie-ons but knew I would eventually lace it with line.   Then there came the matter of piecing the netting together to reach to the gate to get off and on the boat.  I was pretty happy I possessed some sewing experience but oh, what a mess.  Soooo...I walked away because my head  doesn’t have quite the range of spinning a 360 which I am sure I was getting close to doing within seconds.  I spent the  rest of the evening trying to figure out a genius idea and came up with nothing.   We were short on netting.  Fred fixed a few things that needed attention like….raft had a slow leak and it also only has 2 chambers.  I had made it a point to stay on the  rigid side, just in case.  He fixed it, he thought, but there must be another somewhere so I am sure it will be like an Easter egg hunt looking for that leak.  Later that evening, we watched a movie and talked about leaving soon if the weather gave us that opportunity.  Bimini is an interesting little Island.

December 19, 2011

Monday December 19, 2011

After a long nearly sleepless night I was ready to get up and start the day.  Make the coffee, feed Stasia, who made it clear she should be at the top of the priority list and anxious to start the day.  We got some news about a fellow cruiser s/v “Sail Away” who grabbed a mooring ball at Frasier’s Hog and it broke loose late last night.  They went right into some rocks and they believe they may have lost their boat.  I am so glad every one is okay!

Time for Laundry!  I couldn’t believe myself to be so excited about that.  Fred went to shore to make sure they were open and radioed me to say lets do laundry.  Quickly sorting the clothes, we were off again and it wasn’t until we were walking to the laundry mat that it hit me.  I forgot the laundry soap, which I had made at home just for the trip.  So there I was, clothes in the machines and waiting for Fred to return with the most important ingredient “soap”.  I just left the laundry there and thought it would be a great opportunity to photograph Casa Mare’.  There he was, zooming back to Casa Mare’ in the dinghy.  We got the washers started and the lady from the laundry mat suggested we go explore and she would put them in the dryer for us.  The people from this little town are amazing.  They are so happy here.  They are barely making a living, children playing in the colorful narrow streets, each one making a point of greeting us as we approached them.  We found the cutest little restaurant called “Three Sisters” and stopped to have lunch. We were the only customers there.  Her son and daughter came in just as we were about to leave.  I pumped her for information like, what's the difference between a yellow coconut, a brown coconut and a green coconut.  She offered a name of someone to search out and promised me he would get us one.  Actually they were lying on the ground all over the place but who knew, would that mean a fine or grounds for jail if we picked one up?  I continued to pump and asked where the Plumeria came from.  She said if we came back tomorrow, she would bring us a start of her white one, but since we were on a sailboat, who knew where we would be.  She (Kim) asked her son something and minutes later, he returned with a 6” start from one down the street.  I was thrilled to receive it.  Lunch was good, I had chicken wings, and fries.  I asked her about plantains and she cooked my first plantain for me.  Kim said she likes them raw but most prefer fried.  I liked them both ways.  Another first for me in Bimini.  Fred had the fish sandwich and an order of fried conch.  He also had to help me finish mine as the servings were huge.  Continuing on, we went to a little hardware store and Fred purchased a machete  for $8.00!  What a bargain.  There were some coconut trees just up the narrow street.  A man was near the water doing something in a bucket.  There was an ice cream truck, which we often hear from the boat, complete with music to lure the children in so Fred came to the conclusion he was  a man of multiple jobs.   I asked him about coconuts.  He stopped cleaning the bucket of colorful lobster tails and offered to show us how to tackle a coconut.  He borrowed Fred’s brand new machete and just as he was ready to give it a whack, his cell phone rang.  There he was, cell phone in one hand and a machete in his other.  I wondered which was most dangerous while talking on a cell...driving or whacking a machete around.  He was pretty good at cracking it open though to reveal fresh coconut.  Yummie!  He not only gave us that one but climbed up to get us 3 green ones from the tree above.  He again showed us how to tackle a green one which, I learned, is an art.  The brown one was full of coconut meat and no milk.  The green one was full of milk but no meat yet.  So as I see it, you eat the brown ones and drink the green ones.  I didn’t know that.  He stuffed my backpack, handed Fred his new machete and we thanked him.  The coconut man was named Matt.  After we returned to retrieve our laundry we headed to the boat.  Fred said in a very low, calming voice …”our dinghy is gone”.  I stood there in disbelief, knowing there was no way I was going to keep those clean clothes dry if I had to walk or swim.  Looking far to the right, there it was, trapped in the corner of a bulkhead and a building.  Relief took over, nope...never get excited around Fred, he may have a heart attack or something.  I took a photo opportunity and watched him climb down into the dinghy but the motor would not start.  “Great” I thought.  I picked up all the laundry and came to his rescue.  I would have liked to think he couldn’t have done it without me but in fact, he could.  I held the dingy line while he cleaned the prop with some kind of seaweed tangled in there, jumped in and off we went.  Fred decided to raise it on the davits but he forgot to pull out the plug so he had to climb back in.  It was still unsecured and out of the water. The next thing I saw was one the bottom side of the dingy facing straight at me and 2 eyes, bigger than his mouth, hanging on for dear life.  I quickly gave him the shortest lecture I could muster up about not letting go and falling in the water.  He listened.  He got the dinghy straightened up and managed to get himself in an upright position and it was then I couldn’t compose myself. 

Yep, I laughed...hard!  He assured me he was fine the whole time but it sure didn’t look like he had it under control to me, till he got back on the  dinghy.   He proved himself that he was the master macho and even showed me his expertise with a machete and a coconut.  What a guy!  Nothing boring on Casa Mare’.

Not sure what tomorrow will bring but...today was full of excitement and firsts.  Life is fun with Fred!

December 18, 2011

Sunday December 18, 2011

I woke up to chatter from neighboring slips here at the Marina and I heard Fred’s voice in the mix.  Boat and weather opinions were being exchanged.  I could already tell the day was going to be beautiful from the blue skies and shining light streaming in from the hatches.  First on the agenda for me...a real shower.  I am talking about letting the warm “fresh” water spray over my entire body without turning it off and on and sitting on the toilet.  Actually, I was able to shampoo my hair twice and I didn’t even want to get out but this was enough luxury for the day.  I really loved the gift of a shower though!

Fred decided to move Casa Mare’ out to swing on the hook and swing we did.  At the marina, it was $30.00 a night, Water was 60 cents a gallon, $10.00 a day for internet access and I have no idea how much electricity was.  It was clearly more economical to swing on a hook just north of the marina.  The wind was strong and we had to set anchor, twice.  The first anchor set well but the winds carried Casa Mare’ on a collision course to merge with a neighboring sailboat.  They had two anchors set to prevent theirs from swinging with the current as well as with the wind.  The harmony of the vessels movements seemed to sync except the one we were moving towards.  Fred started the engine but by then our dinghy prop was over his anchor bow line.  Immediately a neighboring boat was speeding to the rescue in his brand new dinghy and helped us out.  At last...we were free and moved even further north, making us more vulnerable to the elements of wind and current but, nothing to collide with unless the anchor didn’t hold.  Anxious to go ashore, we explored the beaches to the west of the island.  I found my 1st conch and wanted to keep it.  I thought it may be the last one I ever see on a beach.  In Wrightsville beach, mine would be considered a find.  Not here!  Walking a little further they were everywhere, some prettier than mine and some larger, but mine was special.  It was my “first” find.  I picked up a few pieces of sea glass as well as a sponge, a few pieces of coral and a variety of shells to bring back and try to identify.  It was hard not to pick everything up and I had suddenly realized this was not the last beach I would be beach combing.  I collect sea fans and as luck would have it, there it was, waiting to be found.  I claimed it also.  We explored a really old cemetery which was covered with some type of thick mossy grass.  It reminded me of Bermuda grass but Mercy, thick means when walking on it my feet would sink down about 6 inches.   It felt wonderful to step into it. 

The evening was rocking and rolling.  I woke Fred up to tell him there was a strange noise coming from the bow and I thought we were dragging anchor. 

Fred jumped up and said, “the snubber came lose”.  Darn it all, I was the one who set the snubber.  We both ventured on deck with flashlights only to find the snubber was still secure.  A sigh of relief flew through my body.  It was hard to sleep after that.  Like a new house, all the creeks and bumps were something I had to get used to.  I lay there going over the day and during the mess with the first near collision, I could see the anchor at the bottom and right next to it was a huge Star Fish.  I knew this was not the time to shout to Fred with excitement of my discovery, but that darn thing looked to be about 8” and very well fed.  God reveals so many wonderful things to me, even in a crisis!  I thank God for all the gifts he has given me.

December 17, 2011

Saturday, December 17, 2011

I was awake before the alarm went off, one of the few times we set it because we are on island time now but we were so tired and wanted an early departure so it was necessary.  We were ready so there was nothing to do except start the coffee and bring up the anchor.  The weather was nice as we raised anchor at 4:33 am.  It was dark although I noticed how light the deck was.  Realizing that it wasn’t coming from the mast lights above , but a half moon.  Moon beams shone on the water as if tiny specks of lights were raising out of the ocean waiting to guide our way.  South East winds were 12.6 knots although we were actually moving at 6.2 knots.  By 5:03 AM we were officially in the ocean, passing the mile marker 1.  At 5:23 we made a turn at Fowey’s Rock and were moving through 3-4 foot waves.  Looking back over the stern I could see Miami lights in the far distance and a few blinking lights ahead on the port and starboard side of us.   I was so glad I put a patch on last night.  I didn’t get sick at all.  Coffee in hand, we watched the sunrise in the East, coming through the distance clouds.  It seemed to be lighting up our destination.  Too early for pictures when it was too dark and later land was too far to capture in the lens so I just sat back, let Fred do the navigations heading at 111 degrees and trusted that would take us to Bimini.  Once we saw land I opened my gift from Jim, Linda and Jennifer.  Thank you, all three of you!  I can’t wait to use it,  A beautiful colorful book on reef fish.  The water was sapphire blue then later turned to a lighter blue, to turquoise to a beautiful island green.  I could see the bottom so I ventures to the bow, scamming to bottom to catch a glimpse of anything.  I thought I saw birds, but upon closer observation, I realized they were coming out of the water and flying then just as fast as they appeared, the disappeared.  “Flying fish”  I yelled back to Fred, pointing at the same time so he wouldn’t miss it but it was too late.  I remember Fred telling me that the water was so clear you could see the anchor at 80 feet.  I could almost see the specks of sand and wondered just how deep it was beneath Casa Mare’.  He was right, it was like there was no water between me and the bottom of the ocean.  My body jerked as if someone had lassoed us to a screaming halt.  By the time I got back to the cockpit, Fred was already on the radio and I heard him say, “I hit ground” must have shoaled up.  The only other thing I heard him mumble is…”and it’s high tide too”  I knew what that meant.  No need to drop anchor and just secure things below because we were either going to port or starboard.  I didn’t panic...but wait…”high tide now” I asked myself?  That means this is as good as it gets and there was no waiting for more water to come in and raise the boat.  I started to ask him if he had tow boat us or sea tow but the engine grew louder and louder as he tried to dig himself through the area.  For a moment there I thought if I leaned real far on one side or the other, that would help but before I could ask what I could do, we were moving again.  Fred radioed to incoming cruisers to take the South entrance because this area is too shallow.  We pulled into Bimini Blue Water Resort and Marina.  Set a spring line and we were ready to check in.  As Fred was filling out the papers the dock master gave him for immigration etc, I jumped off the boat and down the marina to get a shot of Casa Mare’ in her slip.  I heard Fred call me and I answered be he had already spotted me.  “You can’t do that, get back on the boat, you are under quarantine, want to get me thrown in jail?”.   “Quarantine?” I thought.  Then he explained that until we check into customs and immigration we are not allowed to leave the boat.  I scurried back inside, got my passport and Stasia’s papers and off Fred went to do the immigration check in thing.  We found that they no longer take you for 6 months, we need to check in after 3 months again.  “New Boss” the officer said.  When in Rome, do as the Roman’s do I thought.  I just stayed quiet and waited until everything was legal as Stasia was trying to recover from her trip across...poor thing.  The vet told us cat’s don’t get seasick.  Don’t believe it.  During the early dark hours, Stasia emptied her breakfast between Fred’s feet, twice.  Poor thing hung her head in the cockpit combing locker as if it were her own personal puke bucket, most of the trip.  We did manage to throw the planner off but not a bite today.  Rhapsody, next to us in the marina, not only caught a big fish,  but also saw a pod of pilot whales.  They were just behind us about a half hour or so.

December 16, 2011

Friday, December 16, 2011

Last minute running around turned out to be quite an exercise day for us.  I got to take my first bus ride on a public bus in the US.  Interesting and they only charged a quarter!  Cheapest thing I have seen in years.  The bus took us n the opposite direction we thought it would but happened to drop us off at another Marine store which had most everything we needed, except the lights.  I walked in and had a wonderful sales man named Chris and Fred told him I needed a planer and a hand line for cruising to the islands so set me up!  Set me up he did, he wrapped all the line on the ring, tied swivels and hooks and lures on leader lines for me as well a spoons.  While watching him explain what each colorful thing was to catch what and tie the different fishing stuff to lines, I thought it would be a good idea to purchase something with pictures and descriptions of fish I caught since the only thing I can identify is a goldfish and flounder.  I have heard you shouldn’t eat blow fish for some reason so I am hoping they tell you that stuff in the book I got.  Of course, there are shells there also so I had to get something to identify the shells and...I knew a girl shouldn’t be out in the wild blue yonder without a map so I threw a nautical chart in the mix of things as if I knew where I would be like looking at a road map.  Yep, another thing to learn on this adventure...how to read  map with no roads on it.  $150.00 later I realized I don’t even like to eat fish, I just like to catch them and throw them back.  I asked Fred if I caught anything would he eat them?  He said yes.  I said “will you clean them also”?    He said yes and I knew we were set for food...for him anyway.  I said “Gee, I hope I catch a fish” and he replied, well...if you only catch one that will be a mighty expensive fish”.  Now I am on a mission...I need to catch and eat fish.  I still hesitate at the latter part of the mission but, I will try it anyway.  West Marine was only a few blocks away they said and pointed us in that direction.  We walked and walked and walked until more than 1/2 hour later we saw the West Marine sign.  I kept telling Fred, “Come on, this is good exercise”.  I could tell by the look on his face he would rather have paid top dollar for a taxi but he was a great sport about it.  Finished up the list and a bus stop was on the next corner.  I knew how we were getting back to the marina, and walking was out of the question.  We fueled up, squeezed every bit of water that would fit into the boat and the rest went into water jugs, 25 more gallons worth.  It was free here, one of the last places we go to find free water.  It’s 50 cents a gallon in the islands.  Not to worry, I will be washing dishes in sea water as well as bathing in it also, yep, just like a mermaid, as long as I don’t see any sharks around.  I will probably have Fred sit in the cockpit and watch the fish finder for any BIG things swimming towards the boat.  We made it to No Name Harbor just as the sun was setting, made a pass into the harbor and decided to swing on a hook just outside the entrance.  This would lead for an easier exit in the morning.  We ran into s/v “Rhapsody” Carol and Skip, who are planning to leave in the morning the same time we are, about 4:00 am.  I Called Mom & Dad, Jim, Linda & Jennifer, Marion and Janet as promised before we left.  I was reasonably sure they wouldn’t want me to call them at 4 AM so I spent most of the evening chatting, knowing it would be the last time in awhile we would chat, except for Skype and that’s only when and if we have internet.  My phone will be useless in the islands so It will be temporarily disconnected for the duration of the trip.  I had the option of doing that and still keeping my number when I get back.  Dinner was quick, kielbasa and sauerkraut.  Good thing to have when you know you will be on deck most of the next day...breezy, you may say.  We raised the dinghy onto the davits and are set to go.  Fred says it will take about 8 hours to get there so I decided to set off the SPOT every hour to track our progress over the open seas.  From then on, we plan to set it “only” when we drop the anchor.  I am so excited, I can’t sleep.  Fred is sleeping and I overheard him telling my Dad that he will get us started and let me sail on to Bimini while he goes back below to sleep.  Maybe I should put on the life line while he sleeps.  Sooooo...off we go!

December 15, 2011

Thursday December 15, 2011

Fred saw a possible window on Saturday and radioed other boats nearby and they saw the same thing.  Still waiting for the camera housing to arrive, we did some last minute things around Casa Mare’ threw together a quick list of things we needed before we left for Dinner Key and waited for an email from UPS saying the package was delivered at Office Depot.  Bread, fruit etc were things we knew would be expensive once we crossed.  Not that it was an emergency to get those items, I came prepared with a few recipes and ingredients as well as cans of different fruits, just in case.  As soon as we returned from shore, we were under way.   The sky looked threatening but we were ready for that and continued on with our plans.  Soon the sun burst out from behind the clouds, leaving the illusion of  shimmering diamonds over the white capped water ahead.  I couldn’t resist, grabbed a cushion and bungee chord and went to the bow, strapped the cushion on the mast, sat down on the deck and took it all in.  The breeze felt wonderful, the air was full of salt and occasionally I would feel the sea spray mist over my body.  I wondered how deep it was, I imagined 12 feet or less.  The sun was on it’s way down to the West.  Boaters coming in here and there but it felt like the world was mine.  A great time to connect with God and thank him for all the beautiful gifts he filled my eyes with on this day.  I looked up and there they were, a pair of dolphins playing in the waves as they approached us from ahead.  I quickly turned around and got Fred’s attention so he had the chance to experience our first dolphins on this trip, jumped up and went to the Port side of the bow.  They came within 2 feet of the boat, swam along side and we left them playing in our wake.  It was like a Bon Voyage.  My heart was at peace.  Coming into the harbor was amazing.  So many masts, looking like toothpicks in the horizon.  It was only when we got closer, we could see the boats.  I grabbed my camera, not wanting to miss a photo opt of our last civilized port before we hit the islands.  Getting closer, I got up to put my camera below and Fred said, stay there...set the anchor over the bow roller.  Huh?  I hadn’t a clue what he was talking about and didn’t dare ask, I just used my head, headed for the bow where the anchor came out of the anchor locker and looked for anything that looked like a roller, pulled back on the chain lined it up with the cradle of, what I guessed was, the roller.  The anchor snapped tight, dangling over the bow, thirsty to merge with the water below.  I waited for Fred to hit the windless, and release the anchor, making sure my toes were out of the way.  Nothing like dripping blood in an body of water that harbored sharks.  Down went the anchor.  “Tell me the colors as you see them on the anchor chain” he yelled from the stern.  Watching it creak through the rollers I yelled “Red, White, Blue”, (sounded patriotic to me) and the anchor stopped.  I felt it jerk Casa Mare’ setting into the bottom and Fred came up to hook on the snubber (I’m still not sure the exact purpose of a snubber was, I was just happy to find the roller) to the chain and cleat it off, returned to the stern and hit the windless for a few more seconds…”yellow, green” I yelled as he nodded, smiled and turned off the engine.  We were here, the last place to gas and water up. Before we headed for No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne and the Florida light on Cape Florida.  Our plan was to take a bus to West Marine tomorrow morning to pick up a transducer, a water can, planer for my fishing experience  and a few spreader and steaming light bulbs.  Saturday was going to be an exciting day.  Last day in the continental USA.  I could hear party music coming from shore, not unusual for a boating community.  It reminded me of a Saturday night, not Thursday.  I lay there, trying to think of a way not to act excited.  I found that impossible.  God had so much for me to see.  My eyes closed as I slipped into the night.