Nearly there

We are half a day from Cape Hatteras, from there a hundred miles to Chesapeake Bay, and then a final hundred and thirty miles up Chesapeake Bay to Annapolis and Pier 7 on South River, the marina where we will be docking. All and all just over three hundred miles to go. Depending on conditions ahead, we will be arriving either Saturday or Sunday. We won't let our guard down until we are safely tied up.

When we departed from Cape Town, we were hoping to arrive in Annapolis by the fifteenth of June, eight weeks and eight thousand miles later. We've spent a week at the various stops we made, and thus covered the eight thousand miles in seven weeks. It took patience, trust and sail changes whenever required. On a good day we may change sails five times, at other times we keep the same sail up for a week or more. Just staying consistent and keep on doing our best.

Our motto was that if there is enough wind to keep the sail up, we will sail it. At times we were doing four knots, and at other times eight knots. The eight knot were more than the four knot spells, and our average is well above six knots. What also assisted greatly is having top quality sails, and the folding props also made a huge difference over such a long distance. Fixed props slows you down, creates vibration and noise, and wear and tare on the sail drives.

The excitement to be on land again for a while is quietly building. It will take some time getting used to. I am used to being awake during the early hours of the morning, and sleep a bit during the day. We are six time zones away from home, and will suffer a bit of jet lag as well. Coming from warm weather and back to a positively cold South Africa will also require some getting used to. And then of course having lots of people around, lots of activities, feeling a bit like an outsider observing all the madness around. But most of all, unspeakable happiness for having our loved ones around us again. That is what we are looking forward to most The rest we adapt to, as we adapt to a life at sea. Hopefully we will have to cellphone signal from tomorrow onwards.

Take care, eat healthy, exercise a bit and stay warm.

Paul









Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Fort Lauderdale

Friday night the glittering lights of Miami coasted up on us as we worked our way up to Fort Lauderdale. The Gulf Stream is a magical carpet ride when you curve in with the wind. It took us exactly seven days sailing from St.Thomas and at ten am we passed 17th Street Bridge towards Bahia Mar Marina, Fort Lauderdale. We were allocated a berth right at the gate of B Dock. We were assisted by the dock master who also had our access cards and other information leaflet available.

We had lots to do, and little time to do it in. Firstly, hailed a taxi and reported to the Immigration authorities to check in. After a few hick ups we got stamped in and hailed our taxi driver to take us back to the boat. It was about noon and back at the boat thought we'd get a burger and beer at the moment nearest spot. There is an upper pool deck with a bar and grill that serves the Bahia Mar Marina and Hotel. We did get refreshments, but thought we'd find another place, and a bit cooler. Ten minutes later we crossed the road and found exactly what we were looking for. Sat down, had a mean burger, fries and a beer, and had a great view on the Hall of Fame beach.

After lunch we made our way back to the boat to get a few things and taxied to West Marine, just fifteen minutes away. We were looking for a few spares and also the correct shore power connector. This is the biggest West Marine in the world, and an amazing array of boating goods on display. Back to the boat to wire the shore power plug, and fit the new water strainer. The plumbing for the water strainer was incompatible and we had to get back to West Marine. The strainer was for an air conditioner, and great conditions to run one being a bit hot and humid. We were busy sweating with the strainer into the night, but at nine pm we were up and running. We could fill our water tanks as well, and lovely to cool down and freshen up with a shower. We had a solid sleep, the boat all tied down and not moving. After many days at sea, a good night's sleep is guaranteed.

Sunday morning Don and Jane did their laundry. We were planning to stay until Wednesday. A technician was coming to look at our watermaker. Looking at the weather forecast I suggested we depart on Monday morning, and set a time for nine o'clock. It suited everyone perfectly, and Don and Jane went to the supermarket to get some last provisions for the few days left to Annapolis. I took a Lyft into town to get a local simcard, and picked up a bowl at Chipotle, a popular Mexican food place to share with Thomas back at the boat.

We had good wifi at the marina, but a local simcard is essential for me. $77 unlimited data for a month anywhere in the US valid for a month. I have a lot to catch up on emails, social media, research etc. The best is to be able to chat and do video calls with my two besties, my wife and my daughter. Being away from home for two months at a time and with limited communications is a challenge on it's own.

We had my close friend Michelle Ropiza seeing us off on Monday morning with some fresh almond croissants and some other lovely gifts. Wonderful as always to touch base with her. Busiest and best catamaran broker in the world.

At nine thirty and Monday morning we started the engines and made our way back to 17th Street Bridge, and just in time to request a ten o'clock opening. Exiting Port Everglade was a bit choppy, but once we were in deeper water, conditions settled. We raised our main, unfurled the genoa, and pointed our bows north, following the Gulf Stream. Ten knots of wind on the beam, and current up to four knots, we were sailing fast towards our next waypoint. The Gulf Stream runs north, and around hundred miles east of Jacksonville it makes a forty five degree turn to northeast. We are following the current up to Cape Hatteras from where we will head up for Chesapeake Bay. The wind has been in our favor and turning with the current. Yesterday we made five sail changes to optimize conditions. A few hours ago the gennaker went up, and we are two days away from Chesapeake.

Hope you also had a great weekend. Catch up again soon.

Paul






Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Fort Lauderdale just up ahead

Last night was lots of fun. First we sailed onto the Bahama Banks, then back into the Old Bahama Channel, and then back on to the banks. We had fairly good winds, and as it shifted we made the most of it. Current was sometimes straight against us, then across us. We first sailed west a bit, then north, then west again until we found good current and positioning ourselves for the Gulf Stream current. First gennaker, then main and genoa, back to the gennaker, and finally main and genoa. It all worked out perfectly for us, and currently we are just under a hundred miles from Fort Lauderdale. We have got good current, and soon we will be in the Gulf Stream. Very light winds today, but the current is helping us a lot, and we expect to arrive at Fort Lauderdale tomorrow morning. We will be sailing pass Miami early hours of the morning.

We keep the boat neat and tidy, and this morning just a wipe here and a shine there to look spic and span when we arrive at Bahia Mar Yacht Club. I did a bit of laundry, shaved, and look and feel ten years younger.

For lunch Jane spoiled us with crunchy Asian gourmet Japanese style Panko crumbed fried chicken, jasmine rice with green peas, and a lovely salad. We have real top quality Italian olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dribble on the salad. Madagascar black pepper and Himalayan pink salt, suffice to say, we had a scrumptious meal. She has been spoiling us a lot on our journey thus far, and good food makes for happy crew. We love eating well when we sail, great for morale.

We obviously operate around the clock on ocean crossings, and have to be ready at any time for any eventuality. Anticipating the whims of the weather and the sea is part of what we do. We don't sail as fast as we possibly can, instead we conserve the boat, and choose to sail conservatively. It does not mean that we sail slow, at all. It just means that we prefer less sail perfectly set. It takes a lot of pressure off the rigging. When we arrive at Fort Lauderdale tomorrow morning, we would have covered 6950nm in 45 days, averaging 6.4kts, and only 200hrs of motoring. Most of the motoring was the first few days out of Cape Town. We are thoroughly pleased with our progress thus far. Our motto was to sail whenever there was enough wind to hold the sails in shape. At times we were doing 4kts, and at other times 10kts. It worked out well for us.

We will be spending a few days in Fort Lauderdale, and then just under a thousand miles to Annapolis. With assistance from the Gulf Stream and good weather, we could cover it in five days. Our original goal was to arrive in Annapolis on June 15th, and it looks like we may be spot on.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. I may share a bit what sailors do when they get to land for a few days.

Paul

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Bahama Blues

Wonderful to be sailing over the shallows of the Bahama Banks again. The azure blue waters is truly something to behold. On the bottom the shadow of our boat is clearly visible as we glide over the white sand and grass patches here and there. Depth around where we are is ten meters. Coming from sailing five thousand meter deep waters for weeks, you can understand my fascination. Fortunately the area is well charted and we can navigate safely. Some areas are covered with coral heads, and small patches of sand above the water called cays. Obviously some are quite big and populated.

Earlier this morning we sailed pass Cayo Lobos, a small patch of land with a spectacular old disfunctional lighthouse standing proud against the elements. Do yourself a favor and Google it, and imagine being the lighthouse keeper there.

As usual when we cross over the Bahama Banks, we hooked a barracuda busy patrolling its territory. Beautiful fish, with big teeth, and although edible, could also be very poisonous. The easiest and safest way to get the hook out is to cover its eyes with a wet rag. That seems to pacify the fish. Thomas pulled the fish in, and I set about removing the hook with a pair of pliers. It's a bit of a mission, and you want to do it as quickly as possible. Working in such close proximity to the crocodile like teeth is a bit nerve wracking, but the secret is to focus on the the job at hand. You don't want to do it tentatively, it could result in a nasty injury. After a short struggle the fish was returned to the ocean.

We are flying our gennaker and busy working our way off the banks back into the Old Bahamas Channel. This is partly due to the wind direction, and the prospect of positive current I have our favor. Our ETA at Fort Lauderdale is Saturday morning. We have booked a berth at the Bahia Mar Yacht Club and we plan to spend a few days there, probably departing on Wednesday for Annapolis. The Bahia Mar is a top class facility, and we are looking much forward to our visit there.

Hope you are having a great day and looking forward to the weekend ahead.

Will keep you posted.

Paul

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Thunder and lightning

Last night was quite spectacular with lightning flashing mostly closer to land, and we could hear a bit of rumbling every now and then. On the top of our mast we have a solid aluminum rod, and at the bottom of our shrouds dedicated holes that we can bolt two thick copper cables that will drag in the water. In theory this is a lightning conductor system should we suffer a direct hit. When a yacht is struck by lightning, it normally runs through and destroy all the electronic devices on board. The lightning was firstly far away, and only flashing in the clouds.

I was once sailing the Pacific and we had five huge thunderstorms surrounding us. It was quite eerie watching the night skies light up, and feeling the thunder rumbling right through the boat. We obviously follow the tracks of the cumulus nimbus clouds, and work our way around them if we can. The clouds we had were not cumulus nimbus clouds, just the cooler air from the ocean meeting the rising hot air from the land.

We dropped the gennaker at about six last night, and maintained a fair speed with just the genoa. At midnight Thomas and myself raised the gennaker again as the wind was very light, too light for the genoa. At three am I had to wake Thomas again to drop the gennaker. The wind was steadily building and better to be safe than sorry. We had just dropped the gennaker when the stronger winds reached us. Nothing hectic, but at the limit of what we would fly the gennaker in. Since then we have been sailing with the genoa, and making fair progress.

A few hours ago we had quite some rain that cooled the air a bit, and also washed any salt residue from the yacht.

We will be arriving in Fort Lauderdale sometime this weekend, and looking much forward to some time on land. Slowly but surely we are the miles are ticking away.

Hope things on your side is also quite relaxed.

Paul

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

The Bahamas

On our starboard, about four miles away, the lighthouse of Great Inagua is clearly visible. If you zoom in on the chart, you will notice a big salt lake, Lake Rosa. Quite a few of disused salt lakes with channels that were dug leading to the sea. Earlier years this was a salt mine, and a few of the old structures are still visible.

On our port side, the eastern tip of Cuba is fifty miles away, and not visible from where we are during the day. Tonight we might see some of the lights of Cuba looming in the distance. Our good weather is holding well as expected and mostly blowing around fifteen knots from the east, and running between seven and eight knots. Last night, and for tonight, we lower the gennaker and furl out the genoa. We loose quite a bit of speed, but also no risk of blowing the gennaker out. We are not in a race, and are making satisfactory progress. This morning at two Thomas and myself raised the gennaker again as I was on watch and could drop the gennaker in a flash if required.

I have been to Cuba before, waiting out some headwinds. It was a fascinating experience, seeing all these old nineteen fifty model cars. Lots of horsecarts with a poop bag tied under their tail. The pace of life in general is also very slow, and people are eeking out a living. Another spectacular failure for socialism. They are also very proud people, and I found them endearing.

In two days or so we will be rounding the Bahama banks, slip into the Gulf Stream, and aim our bows for Fort Lauderdale. We expect to arrive there over the weekend, and looking much forward to a few days on land. Mainly for internet, which makes it easier to stay in touch with our loved ones, friends, business partners, and social media. In the not too distant future we will hopefully have Star-Link up and running, and we will have fast internet available on boats anywhere in the world. It will certainly change many of us live and make a living.

Don and Jane became the proud grandparents of a girl in the early hours of the morning. Big congratulations to them. They have been at sea for a long time, and missing their children, and life on land, dearly. In their seventies, I have highest respect for their tenacity and perseverance. Life at sea is challenging at times, both physically and mentally. The rewards are endless though. You get a chance to get ultra close to nature, and learn to appreciate both the small and big things in life.

Wishing you fab day, and will touch base again tomorrow.

Paul

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Visitors from space

This morning on my two to six watch, we had two sooty terns catching a ride with us. The nearly half moon was high in the sky, and the two birds and myself were sitting and looking around. I was serenading them with some ukulele tunes, and they in turned amused me with their company. Just before sunrise they set off on their endless pursuit for food again. They left a few droppings behind for us, which took us about five minutes to clean up.

We are halfway past the Dominican Republic and twenty miles from the closest point. The wind and current is very much in our favor and we are leisurely cruising at seven knots, surfing down the swell at ten knots. This time tomorrow we will have Cuba on our port side and Great Inagua Island, Bahamas on our starboard side. We are ahead of schedule and expect to arrive at Fort Lauderdale on Friday or Saturday.

At about noon today we had another little visitor, this time a swallow. The swallow found a comfortable perch a meter away from me, and we sat looking at each other for a while. I asked the little bird where it was from. They travel massive distances when they migrate, and sometimes get blown off course. How they navigate remains a wonder and a mystery, finding the exact same nest from the season before. I told the birdie that land is just twenty miles away and pointed in that direction. After lingering a little while longer, the swallow took to the skies again, and hopefully found land.

On our side, all is good. Following winds and seas. We expect the wind to increase slightly a bit later, but we will sail the winds as they blow.

Trust all is good on your side too.

Paul



Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.