Conchs, Quilts & the Abacos

Conchs- the Rite of Passage

 Like sailors of old wearing a gold earring as a statement of rounding one of the world's Southern Horns, blowing a conch horn at sunset is declaring to the world (at least those that can hear you,) that you have Crossed the Gulf Stream.  Since David, Me & Alice Mae are true champions of the crossing, I was bound and determined to make my own conch horn and learn how to blow it.  Easier said than done.

   Getting a conch in these Bahamian waters is easy.  There are literally mounds of them.  But these conch shells all have holes punch into them in order to get the conch meat- I needed a no-hole shell.  The solution was to purchase a solid shell. 

   
      With my conch shell on board, we proceeded to hacksaw the tip in order to make a blow hole.  Here's where the tricky part comes in....
I thought you are supposed to count 3 rings in and then cut.  So we did.  For a sweaty, hard hour we sawed away.  (the hack saw was old, rusted and dull, the conch shell was shiny, new, and VERY solid.)   Then we realized, maybe it should have been  4 rings in before we cut. Damn.  So, more sweating more groaning, more cutting. 

 But success finally came.  (I think I needed a second drink to finish)  Getting a clean sound from a conch is a learned talent.  At least, I have to learn and I am not very talented.   So, here are my learning pictures.  Try to invision a bloated frog being slowly flattened- that's my first sounds.  But I'm getting better.  The frogs are getting smaller and quieter.  I can eventually hit the clean sound, but by the time I manage, I'm out of breath.  Like I said, I'm not too talented.

Quilting

While we were in Eleuthera, we spent some time in Spanish Wells.  A clean, tidy town with colorful concrete houses packed tightly up & down both sides of this narrow, rocky spot of land.  This is a strong fishing community of blond-haired Bahamians.  Their unique accent sounds almost Irish.   

While in this quaint village I met a wonderful older lady, Oliviad, an island quilter, born & raised on Spanish Wells. All 3 children are married and living right in Spanish Wells.  Amazing!  Oliviad invited me into her home to show me her work.  She said "It's just me & my sister now that quilt.  The other women are too old and no young people want to learn the craft".  She looked at me and said "It'll die out after we're gone." 

Waterways &Wildflowers - Winter 2010

So, just to prove her wrong, I am sending you some current pictures of my latest quilt.  I am also including a picture of the boat quilt I made last year.  Hand quilting is still alive and stitching aboard the Alice Mae.



using a template to mark my pattern on this latest quilt



Crossing to the Abacos

Tuesday, April 19

Eleuthera to the Abacos

8:25 

 Finally! dropped our mooring line, skimmed by Ridley Head Point, through the coral channel (thank you Alice Mae for your shallow draft!) and out into the wild blue of the Atlantic.  Hope we have fair winds and following seas. We have a 45 mi. crossing to do.  My stomach is in a knot.

11:00 

  32 mi to go to the waypoint for Little Harbour- the southernmost entry into the Abacos.  The day is beautiful.  We're motor-sailing, doing 6.6kts.  That's REALLY good for Alice Mae.  My stomach feels better.

Here are some pictures of Little Harbour and the "famous" Pete's Pub  and Art Gallery.  Pete advertises as being in the heart of downtown Little Harbour.  That's good since Pete's Pub is Little Harbour. 



not sure if that's David or the dock that is crooked.





  David paying up at the beach bar




walkway to the windward side

And just in case I haven't mentioned it before...............these Bahamian waters are truly clear and beautiful.  I found this starfish in the shallows where we were anchored.   Life is good.

Crossing to the Bahamas

The Gulf Crossing
Wed. March 24,
Boot Key Harbour
   5 weeks in the Fl. Keys isn't exactly a form of cruel & unusual punishment, but when the weather window finally came, we were hoisting sails and heading to the Bahamas.  We decided to work a long diagonal run of 129 miles through the Gulf Stream to our target of Bimini, the most western islands in the Bahamas.

Journal entry March 24

4:30 Sailing (moto sailing) at 85 dgs. trying to angle into the gulf stream. You have to work with the stream, it has it's own current of about 2 knots and can generate it's own wave action.  We're with a loose group of 7-8 boats.  Poor little AliceMae is probably the smallest and the slowest;  The day is calm, sunny & perfect for this big crossing.









7:00 getting into the gulf stream. doing 7.2 knots!
9:00 lots of stars
10:00 dark. lots of stars
11:00 still dark!
12:00 midnight on the gulf stream
12:15 moon rise.  A huge red blob on the horizen. Thought it was a cruise ship. Warned our travel buddies to watch their course headings.  Didn't want to run into that big thing.  Felt pretty foolish when the cruise ship rose slowly into the night sky.  Our moon.
3:00 following the lights of our buddy boat, Creola.


sunrise in the Gulf Stream

7:00 sailing wing to wing. skies lightening up. 9:15 Almost there.  Can see a tree-lined island on the horizen.
10:15 tied up at Alice Town, Bimini.












Our lunch spot

 Bimini: a skinny little strip of land with the Kings Hwy. on the east and Queens Hwy. on the west.  Both are narrow, one-lane roads about 400 ft. between.  Alice Town has easy customs.  Golf carts the most popular mode of transport.
Bought coconut bread, coconut rum and a
Bimini T-shirt.  Life is good.

Crossing the Great Bahama Bank
    The 2nd leg of this crossing is a 70 mile stretch of white sand shallows that funnel down into a narrow N.W. Channel cut through the bank.  Then another more 20 miles to the first islands, Chub Cay, in the  Berry chain.  Too far to sail in a day, but the Banks are big and empty so the usual procedure is......
 - get a 24 hr. calm weather window
  - sail all day
   - drop anchor in the middle of no-where (just stay well off the shipping lanes!)
    - try to sleep in the rolling waves 
     - get up at dawn
      - make coffee
        - head east again.


Sunset on the Bahama Banks

The Berry Island Chain
   These small islands form a cresent of white sand and scrub islands that border the eastern side of the Great Bahama Bank.  Total population of 760.  The main town, Bullocks Harbour, has a downtown that consists of 2 buildings, one the police station and next door, the all-in-one grocery/restaurant/bar.  But they do have beautiful white sand beaches and friendly people.

Sunday, March 27 Berry Islands



Marinas - Bahama style




our shower house- basic but clean

 Berry Island Club Marina
Sunday, a day of rest. We've been traveling hard since Wed. when we left Marathon. The overnight crossing was exciting.  Bimini was friendly. The Great Bahama Bank was VERY large and flat.  Anchoring in the middle of the bank was a unique experience. Realizing our chart plotter card didn't have "Bahamas" was an extreme bummer.  Snagging a mooring ball at Frazier Cay, a welcome relief.  Enjoying the sunshine and clear, clear waters makes the last four days seem well worth the efforts.
Al.ice Mae is in the Bahamas Mon!



conch shells by the pier



The northern end of the chain, Bullocks Harbour.

      

Bullocks Harbour Marina- 2 adult manatees came for their morning drink of fresh water. Such docile  creatures.  They would drink from the hose, sucking on it like a bottle.  The female had 2 new boat-propeller gashes on her back.

Monday, April 5

Little Harbour Cay,

Flo's Conch Bar & Moorings

   We're tucked behind a groupings of small islands, protected on all sides and just waiting for this storm to come rolling in.  Already we have more cloud cover and strong winds out of the South. Gusts of about 20 and whitecapping in our little cove.



Flo's Conch Bar  -  check out the "You Welcome" on the roof

  Flo's is obviously a laid back place. No one there yesterday but the chickens and the very vocal roosters.  One crows so much he's hoarse.  Must be some very satisfied chickens.  Chester (the one-man-do-it-all-owner) has loud speakers broadcasting VHFch.68 24/7. We can sit back and keep up with all the news and gossip from the boaters.  David tried to order bread.  Chester said "he might be baking tomorrow".  Guess I still need to get used to island time.  Imagine I'll be doing without bread.  Oh dear!

Sunday, Apr. 10 (I think:)

We left our Berry Islands, sailing southerly winds the 30 miles to Nassau.  A couple days of re-provisioning and we were ready to get away from the big city.  We're presently in Spanish Wells, north of Eleuthera.  A pretty, clean town of well-maintained homes. We rented a golf cart and perused the island yesterday.  Tomorrow, onward to new frontiers. 

  Next big run.....Abacos!

5 wks. in Boot Key

      We have been in Boot Key Harbor, in Marathon, Fl. longer than we expected.  But this is such a wonderful place to spend time, have fun and meet friendly people, you seem to loose track of the days. 

No problemo.  Here are a few pictures showing where we've been and just how we managed to

blow away 5 weeks while waiting for a weather window to the Bahamas.

Marathon City Marina

Boot Key Harbor  

 owned & operated by the city of Marathon. 
They are a great group of folks who maintain a clean, friendly, community-oriented marina with 225 mooring balls.  There's baseball, boche ball, yoga-under-the-tiki, mexican train dominos, craft meetings, weekly Meet 'n Greet dinners, and always, countless excuses for lunch-time gatherings, and sunset-toasting on the boats. 

     I can bike to the West Marine, The Stuffed Pig Resturant, Publix,  Daffy Dougs (the local bargain emporium), and The Salvation Army.  I am in the center of the universe!  Through the daily 9:00 a.m. Cruisers Net, I found a girl that had an extra spool of hand-quilting thread.  I gave her a bottle of wine. I believe we are both happy boaters.  Life is good in Boot Key Harbor.

Harbor Entrance

The western entrance to Boot Key - pass Panchos and Burdines where one can find fishing supplies, live bait, deisel, gas, ice, water, upstairs for Key Lime Pie,  beer, burgers & greasy fries.  In the afternoons, Burdines has a barrel filled with ice and $1.00 beer.  Do I even need to mention the assembly of suntanned, gray haired, barefooted men, sitting around this barrel??

The first year we came to Boot Key, this was a functioning bascule bridge.  The friendly, local bridgetender would welcome you into the harbor while he raised the span.

Sunsets
With a harbor full of masts and the sun resting on the old bridge,
every sunset is magical.  Conchs blow, taps play, drinks are raised,
cannons fire (this is pirate country), another day ends.

Lounge Lizards, Keys style
                                                  A few shots of the local wildlife here in the keys.

Departure Time

  After five weeks in Boot Key, it looks like this Wednesday, March 23, we should have calming southerly breezes and fair winds.  This is what we need to help push Alice Mae along the gulf stream.  We will leave Marathon in the afternoon, sail through the night, and arrive in Bimini Thursday mid-day. It's  a 130 miles crossing, a new adventure for us.  We plan to check into Alice Town, Bimini.  Isn't that just too cool!


Captain Dave at Auto Pilot


     Our general sail plan from there is to cross the Grand Bahama Bank (another long stretch of water), sail around the Berries, drop down to Andros (diving??), skirt around New Providence where big, commercial Nassau dominates, and spend some time in N. Eleuthera.  From there we can do another long, but workable run north to the Abacos.  Marilynn is flying into Marsh Harbor on May 1, (Oh boy, Oh boy!)

  

  David & I will play around in the Abacos for about a month total and then work our way back to Fl. and our home base by the end of May.   



Captain Rocket


 I am saying all this because I am thinking we will have minimal phone/internet once we arrive in the Banamas.  So, until next time, TTFN

Capt. Dave & Capt. Rocket
 on SV Alice Mae
 where Life is Good

The Adventure Begins!

     We're off on our 3rd sailing adventure on Alice Mae.  It is always an unnerving and intimidating time- getting everything ready.  We plan to be traveling 4 months (Feb.to June). There is much to do before we can cast off... haul out to scrape & paint, new props put on, sails hoisted (to clean out the mud dauber nests, yuck!),  boat electronics & gear to check over, dinghy motor inspection,  cart loads of items to buy, organize and stow. It's all soo much fun.  But the adventure begins, we are off and running, about 45 mi. a day and life is good.

     I try to keep a daily log as we travel on Alice Mae.  I'll give you passages from these entries.  Hope you enjoy a glimpse into how we manage to cruise on our 36' Endeavour Cat, Alice Mae.

Wed. Feb. 2
Fish Island Marina to Matanzas Inlet
MM 778 - MM 794
2:00 cast off by seester Marilynn and we are off on another grand adventure.  This is where I always think, "What the hell am I doing??"  But after a easy 3 hr. sail, we are the only ones at Matanzas Inlet.  Very quiet. Very calm. Very dark. Very cloudy. This is so very much fun!

Fri. Feb. 4
Rockhouse to Cocoa
MM 843 - MM 897

12:00 through the long and shallow Mosquito Lagoon and at Haulover Canal and the bascule bridge.  Major fog all the way down Mosquito.  We couldn't see to the next channel marker.  Thank ya jesus for charts and auto pilot!





Mon. Feb. 7
Vero Beach
MM 952
A very windy day, a good day to hang on a mooring and enjoy the sunshine.  David spent an hr. or so with his butt in the air and his head in the port side engine.  He changed th oil filter & 2 fuel filters.  Engine is running a lot better.  Later, he must have decided to take a celebratory swim when he dove off the stern to catch the untethered dinghy.  Landed with his butt in the air and his head down in the dinghy.  Do you see a trend here??  While all this excitement was going on, I was working Vero's free bus system. An easy run to Publix & fresh bread.  Life is good once again,

Wed. Feb. 9

Hobe Sound to Lantana

MM 1000 - MM 1031

7:35 One cup of coffee done and on our second.  Hobe Sound is a pretty stretch of water with a quiet, isolated feel to it.  But from here on down, we have bascule bridges to contend with. Some "on demand" but many in S. Fla. are on a timed schedule.  Lots of hurry ups and waits.  Easier said than done on a sail boat.

Todays journey-  31 mi and 11 bridges. The reward... Key Lime Pie at a local Lantana restaurant.

Tomorrows journey- 33mi and 16 bridges....geeeeeez

Mon. Feb. 14
Anchorage Marina, Key Largo to Plantation Marina, Tavernier Key
MM. 1134 - MM 1164



Gilberts - conch burgers & loud music

9:45 Only one day into the Keys and we're already getting lazy.  Hung out at the "doorway to the Keys" drinking 2 pots of coffee and trying to understand my blogspot.  The result:  I am wired AND frustrated. But, it's a sunny day and we're heading West into the Keys.  The gulf side is shallow with narrow, marked channels, narrow cuts and always crab traps to dodge.

12:00 noon. Pigeon Key to our port. Sunshine,blue-green water and gentle breezes.  Some Jimmy Buffett playing.  damn, life is good.

Tuesday, Feb. 15

Plantation to Sisters Creek, Marathon Fla.

MM 1164 - MM 1194

9:00 Making our final 40 mi. run to Boot Key Harbor in Marathon. Got the main up, motors going, wind at our backs, fleece on, 4' of water in the ICW channel (shallow!) dodging fish trap balls. One more day in paradise.

11:50 Under Channel 5 cut and out into the Atlantic side.  Still moto-sailing a little better than 6 knots.

3:15  Into Sisters Creek.  Ta Da!



Alice Mae tied up at Sisters Creek



4:00 tied up 3 pts. in the first little bend inside the arm of Sisters Creek.  We can hang here until a mooring ball comes free.  We are number 17 on the list.

I'll leave you with some parting pictures.  We are  now on a mooring.  My motto:  "the moored, the merrier!" Doing the daily chores typical of the Fla. Keys..... coffee drinking, dinghy riding, sunset drinking, life is definitely tough.



Captain Rocket



grocery run  (I'm sitting on the beer)

March 7

I know I'm bad.  We've been here 3 weeks just lazing around.  My, my how time flies when you're having fun.  We're now gearing up for the big, bad, scary bahama crossing.  Over the gulf stream into Bimini, then over the Great Bahama Banks to points unknown!  I don't think I will be having very much internet, phone access when I'm there.  Thanks to Lisa I managed to at least get this first blog up and running.  I'll see if I can do Blog #2 somewhere in the islands.

Alice & David