Work on Daruma continues

Back for 3 weeks and it seems as though we never left except for the memories and the new round of pictures.

I've been driving 20 hours a week to work in the panhandle since we returned and next week is another fair drive to Jacksonville to be onsite for 3 days, it'll give us a chance to look around at the marinas on the St John River as we seem to be up there all the time anyways and on the way home we can stop in Stuart to see if the Baynham's made it back yet.

Last weekend was spent hooking up the engines to and running them on fresh water until hot to flush out the salt water and this weekend I'll take a look at the engine zincs or anodes and probably have to replace them. I also went in West Marine and saw a Xantrec multi stage "smart" alternator regulator in the clearance bin. That night I checked it out online and saw it at another marine store, Jamestown Distributors, for somewhere around $260.00 so I went back and bought it for less than $200.00. I'm going to hook that to the new 80 amp alternator that we bought before our trip but found it didn't work and I've sent back for repair. The fake owl we put on the mast to scare dirty birds off only seemed to attract another owl and a hawk along with the dozens of birds so tomorrow I'm going to install some spike like things and red reflective tape on the top of the mast and on the top 2 spreaders to see if it works or not. They (the birds) are so messy and the boat has to be cleaned off daily so anything to deter them will be a blessing.

All I have for now. Pictures are Traci and I on the front deck, the proceedure to flush the engines and the new regulator.

This years Bahamas adventure is over but I have a feeling that other adventures are in store for this year, we'll see how it plays out.....

Back In Florida

We had a pretty good crossing of the Florida Straits and the Gulf Stream on Wednesday, not too rough, fair wind and dropped anchor at 4:30 p.m. in Biscayne Bay just outside No Name Harbor as it was full. Thursday we moved into the harbor then walked out of the park to the bus stop and rode the bus to the very last stop where we jumped on the Metromover to the Freedom Tower exit then walked across the Intracoastal bridge to Customs and Immigration. Friday we left and sailed the Hawk Channel to Long Key and and crossed under the Channel 5 bridge to Gulf side of the Keys and anchored for the night. Saturday we strictly sailed north till about 5 p.m when we pulled into a little bay we've anchored in a couple times at Cape Sable when I thought I had better listen to the weather again. It wasn't good. They were saying that the wind was going to increase to 15 to 25 knots from the SSE then switch to NE and increase to over 30 knots with seas 5 to 7 feet and rough with deteriorating conditions through Monday as a cold front passes through southern Florida. We decided to keep going and carried on until about 2 a.m. in continually worsening conditions and dropped the anchor on the north side of Panther Key as we couldn't see the channel markers to enter the marina and we have to wait for high tide anyway. As the wind swung through to NW and gusted to 36 knots plus, it got a little rough and you had to wonder what with the wind strength and change of direction along with the pounding waves if the little anchor that could was really going to and it did indeed. After daylight I turned the radio on again and heard some lady begging for help saying that they were in trouble and had 2 children on board just a few miles north of us. Later I heard the guy from the same boat tell the Coast Guard that he could smell gasoline and ask if they should jump in the water! Boat US responded and I heard him tell the CG that the boat was grounded and taking a beating and would have to stay in that position until better weather but the 4 occupants were safe. At the height of it, after the wind switched to NW, we pulled anchor and headed around the island and into the channel for the Marina and once inside the Mangroves it was a different world. A couple of fellows were camping on Panther Key and we could see their fire when we pulled in at 2 a.m. in the middle of the tempest. Come daylight we could see that they had no boat and we watched them pack everything up and stand in the wind and rain for a couple hours as the boat trying to pick them up abandoned them twice due to the weather. They didn't seem too distressed or ask us for help in any way and later as we were making our way up the canal to the marina they went past us finally in the boat but less all their gear. When we finally made it to the dock I could've got out and kissed this boat for being so tough and safe and not failing us when we needed her the most. I also gained a new-found respect for the expensive radar we installed in Grenada as during the night I noticed a few unmarked derilect steel posts in the Gulf which worried me till I found I was able to tune the radar and these and other markers showed up brilliantly as well as oncoming squalls from 12 miles which gave us time to avoid the worst of them. We're tied up and back in the real world with a few new items on the "wish list" for next year and work is calling..........

Cut and paste update

Monday, Feb. 27, 2012

I'm writing this in notepad so I can cut and paste first time we get internet.Traci and I are heading across the banks with a following wind and waves so the ride is pretty smooth, boring and way too quiet since the kids have all gone home. We said good-bye to them on Saturday :( and did the same with Paul and Shannon yesterday and then made our way to Chub Cay in some very rough water. Good thing about that is there is no other boat traffic. I'm going to try and touch on the cool stuff and then let some pictures tell the rest. When we get some decent internet, I'll throw a few videos on as well. It was a bad camera year as Brock bought this fancy underwater camera that could shoot in 3D and stuff like that and it took great pictures for about an hour then it conked out full of water. A couple years ago we gave Brandi a little camera in a housing and it also leaked water this year and went bust but I will post some underwater pics that turned out prior to the meltdowns. To summarize, Traci and I headed to Nassau and put in a month or so until Paul and Shannon arrived. We didn't get to spend much time with them due to some scheduling. Brandi and Brock arrived on the 9th of Feb. and we spend the night at the marina and took off the next day for Rose Island, Allens Cay then Norman's Cay followed over the next week then back to the marina to pick up Matt and Kara on the 16th. They jumped on the boat around 1:00 p.m. and we headed right to Norman's Cay, arriving in the dark. We spent a few days there so Kara could recover from motion sickness then carried on down to Staniel Cay and anchored beside the island that the wild pigs are on and they swim right out to meet your boat looking for scraps to eat. The next day we moved around to Staniel and saw Paul, Shannon and crew again and we anchored and went snorkelling in Thunderball Grotto which was in a James Bond movie some years ago. As soon as you enter the water you are surrounded by fish of all kinds, I assume they're fed regularily and they're not at all shy. The grotto itself is huge porous rock that is completely hollow and has entrances on all sides, some of them submerged, and is full of coral, fish of all kinds, thousands of colours and shafts of light that enter the chamber from different angles and is the most cool thing I've seen underwater that can't be plundered or pillaged. We anchored that night on the north side of Major Cay (one with the pigs) next to an opening to the deep water on the east side of the Banks and planned to take the deep route back to Norman's as Matt wanted to show us once again what a poor fisherman he is. Next morning brought a perfect wind and calm seas and for a couple hours we were thinking that we'd be back to Norman's in record time but Mother Nature noticed her error when we were just north of the land and sea park on Warderick wells and a little squall switched the wind around to the north, right on the nose, and kicked it up to 26 knots or so and there it remained. This took Kara from having an enjoyable day sailing to being sick and feeling rotten again so we headed back on the banks and sought shelter on the south side of Elbow Cay. That night after the kids had said goodnight I thought I'd just go down to the bottom step at the back and relieve myself and as stood there, in the light from the solar lights we have on each corner, I watched as a large fish came from under the boat tight to the hull I was on and turned around the step and went up the port side. I decided to go to the head instead and use the toilet. I called the kids to come out and watch as lots of 1 and 2 foot fish did this until we went to bed. I think the larger fish came in from the deep water to feed at night. The next few days were spent at Norman's and one evening I asked Matt and Brock if they wanted to try a night time snorkel to which they agreed. In the water were millions of little shrimp looking creatures and when you shut off the light and kicked your fins there was a column of light in front of you, also cool. Friday, the last day before the kids went home, we went to Atlantis, which is also cool, then that evening we headed to Domino's for pizza and since Dairy Queen is in the same building, well you know....That's about all I have for now until we get back to civilization and back to work.

Dave and Traci

Brandy is almost here! 1 more day!

Hi all: Finally got some internet while in Nassau at the marina as my daughter, Brandy, and her boyfriend, Brock, arrive tomorrow and 1 week later our daughter, Kara and her boyfriend, Matt, arrive and we have 9 or 10 days to catch some fish, lobster and a few rays before everyone heads back to work and snow and what not. Sorry I'm not using proper writing and installing paragraphs when I should be as it seems to put about 10 lines between each one but read on anyway. Pictures above are a great sunset from Rose Island, Paul and Shannon after they finally arrived and the first one is a great little O'Day sailboat against a ritzy looking property in Nassau harbour that sank one morning while the guy in the sailboat behind it just watched on and did nothing. It was a little rolly and the bow of the little boat was slamming back into the waves and must have knocked a hose off of a through hull fitting or something. As we made our way through the anchorage to the marina today I noticed it was afloat once again but probably a little smelly inside. Traci and I haven't been doing much, just hanging out at Rose Island enoying the sun while watching it rain in Nassau 7 miles away, a little snorkelling and some crazy eights and Paul and Shannon made it and anchored at Rose as well so we had dinner with them and their son Ben and his wife, Sam and a couple of their friends who are here visiting. We were having fun and chatting when it suddenly started to rain and we had to jump in the dingy and get to our own boat as the hatches and ports were all wide open. Our bed got soaked and had to be stripped and dried out and so for a few nights we had to use the sleeping bag as a bottom sheet. We've found that the 2 solar panels we added to the roof in combination with the other 6 that were all ready on the boat still don't give us enough power to run the fridge and freezer all day and we find that we have to run the little 2 stroke generator that we refer to as "old stinky" about 3 or 4 hours a day to run a charger and fill up the battery bank so it looks as though we're shopping for a wind generator when we return. I added a few more photos, the Coyaba crew in their dingy coming over for a visit, the fresh lobster tail Traci and i ate last night and the Liberty Clipper sailing vessel against a stormy backround. Bye for now and will update as soon as we can.

Dave and Traci

In the Bahamas

Jan. 21, 2012
We crossed the Straits of Florida and the Gulf Stream on the 11th from Long Key Bight, we left at 5:30 a.m. and dropped the anchor at 6:00 p.m. in the dark due to overcast thunder type storms. The winds started out at 15 to 20 knots and strengthened as the day wore on to a point where with the Genoa out full and 1 reef in the main we saw 37 knots of wind but as we were within site of our goal for the day we let it ride and travelled at double digits over the ground. We anchored inside the banks at a place called Riding Rocks in 20 feet of water and had Mini Wheats for supper as the admiral was a little sea sick. The next morning we slept a little late then I went forward to start preparing to leave by taking the bridal off of the anchor chain, this is a device that Paul Baynham gave us made of stainless steel, 2 ropes, and 2 shackles and it has a slot cut in the stainless plate that fits over the 3/8" chain and the ropes attach to the front of each hull spread far apart. The chain is then let out till the ropes are tight and there is some chain hanging behind it. This does a few things, first it puts the stress on the ropes which are quieter than a chain, the weight puts the pull on the chain deeper and more direct for the anchor so it digs in lieu of lifting out and the width of the load helps keep the boat from swinging to and fro. At any rate as I removed the ropes and the plate dropped off the chain, one of the shackles came off and the important half of the bridle sank to the bottom. Due to the tempest of the previous night and day the water was so turbid that visibility was only about 3 feet at best and try as we might for the next day and a half we could not locate it.
The next night was spent in complete solitude in the middle of the banks, not a light, boat or land of any sort in sight and well anchored in 10 feet of water. We spent the next night in the shelter of Chub Cay and the next day we had a stiff wind that made for a quick sail into Nassau although a little rolly. We were sailing along at 10.4 knots while eating cereal for breakfast. The only trouble was a smoking port engine which turned out to be a pile of seaweed wound tightly around the prop that I removed in Chub Cay. We arrived in Nassau on Sunday, the 15th and pulled into the marina at 3:30 p.m. to check in.
I'm on a crappy internet connection that we are "borrowing" while at anchor in Nassau harbor so I'll write more and post some pictures from Starbucks tomorrow.

Tomorrow the Gulf Stream

o In the morning, we go and with the help of the Gulf Stream and a South East wind we should do the 90 or so miles and be snug in 10 feet of water on the Bahamas bank sometime in the evening. Worked for 3 days more or less on the engine and it turns out the plugged filter you see in the top pic and accumulation of soot due to me taking it easy on the engine caused the exhaust to plug at the mixing elbow where water is fed into the exhaust to cool it down. Got it chiseled out today and it's purring like a kitten again, I just have to let it roar like a lion once in awhile to generate some heat and keep it cleaner. Will update again when we can but will have no communication before Friday or most likely Saturday when we can get to Starbucks in Nassau and use their wireless.

Dave & Traci

En Route to the Bahamas (sort of)

Jan, 8.

We left Port of the Islands Marina on Friday the 6th and had to hang around in the canal to the Gulf until 11:30 a.m. as that was high tide. We had almost zero wind so we had both engines running easy and later in the afternoon the newer one started belching black soot into the water then slowed down and eventually quit and that was it, no restarting. The only thing I didn't check was fuel related filters etc so I took them off, I attached a pic. A little gross and unbelievable, surprised it ran at all. I changed both filters on that engine and it still won't start despite bleeding everything. I removed the lines, injectors and had a look in the lift pump and everything looks great so tomorrow I think I'll check the solenoid that shuts the fuel off as the engine is trying to start on 1 cylinder only and fuel at that one is not a normal looking volume and little to none on the other two. Our window to cross the Gulf Stream is Monday, Tuesday then crappy wind direction on Wednesday so I hope for the best tomorrow. I have to look at the pics as I post and come back to describe them as I forget what we took. We saw a lot of stuff on the way down the Gulf like the dolphins who greeted us early the first day and everyday thus far, bald eagles, trumpet fish, jelly fish, 2 hammer head shark pups, sting ray, large shark and regular looking fish. 2nd picture is Traci at the front of the boat maybe praying or just enjoying the view. 3rd pic is our new floor partially done, 4th pic is where you lock the sail sheets (ropes) and where we found the 4th picture which is little gecko type lizard eggs that we took to hatching out, just short of sitting on them. I have other pics and a video but I've reached the picture limit so they'll have to wait until tomorrow night. We made it to Long Key and plan on going under A1A at channel 5 bridge when we have 2 engines. Talk tomorrow,

Dave and Traci