No 6: B.O.A.T.

 

West End, - Grand Bahama.

In the sailing/boating world, the word BOAT is an acronym for ‘Bring Out Another Thousand’. Well Mel and I have certainly felt this way since we have been back on Passages, these past two sailing seasons – 2023 and 2024. AND it never seems to stop!

The last time I wrote a blog entry, we were on a mooring ball, in Manatee Pocket, Stuart, waiting for a weather window to cross over the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. I am now writing this blog entry in a quiet, lovely marina in West End, in the Bahamas. HOWEVER, everything did NOT go according to plan.

While we were waiting in Manatee Pocket for a weather window to cross over to the Bahamas, Mel was checking all the electronics making sure everything was working when he tried the AIS. The AIS is short for Automatic Identification System. It basically enables other boats, large and small who have an AIS to see us and for us to see them.  Our AIS also had another useful system, the anchor watch. Whenever we put the anchor down, we would mark where it was, set a perimeter and, if the anchor dragged, an alarm would go off and we could then take the necessary action. The anchor had only dragged on a few occasions since Mel put in the AIS 10 years ago.

Well, the AIS was NOT working, it was basically dead. It had been fine in Fort Pierce but obviously it had been dying a slow death. It is an important piece of electronic equipment to have on a boat, as was made aware when we were crossing over the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas – more later.

Thankfully, the person who Mel had been dealing with at a large boat electronic company was efficient and could get a new AIS to us by Tuesday of the following week, at a fee of course. Thankfully, as well, Mel had been looking into possibly getting a new AIS, in the future, so he knew what was available. He thought we had spent SO MUCH on Passages already that he would wait maybe next season to buy a new one. He was also aware that it was important for the AIS to have the anchor watch functionality. There are anchor watch apps for tablets and phones, however they are not as reliable as an anchor watch on an AIS.

Back to Manatee Pocket and another boat, Sante – Xavier and Annette – we met them in Fort Pierce City Marina. They had never sailed to the Bahamas and had only just bought their boat so were keen to tag along with us.

When living on a boat, one of the first things you do after waking and making your first pot of coffee or tea in the mornings, is to check the weather. We had been checking the weather and thought that Wednesday would be a good day to cross to the Bahamas. We used the computer programme, PredictWind, we have for passage planning. This compares the various weather models that are available. We check the wind direction and speed/knots and the wave height and frequency. Everything looked good to leave the coast of the USA for the Bahamas by Wednesday afternoon, 4 – 5.00pm and our estimated time of arrival at West End was 9 – 10.00am the following morning. We had decided to sail to West End and check into the country and the marina there for a few days, as we saw that there was some wild weather coming from the west from late Thursday afternoon/ evening. This sailing window would not give us enough time to sail across the Little Bahama Bank to a safe anchorage, protected from the westerlies that would be blowing hard. What we have learnt since crossing is that we did not give ourselves enough time to reach our destination as the swing in the weather turned much faster than we anticipated. It was an ABSOLUTELY AWFUL sail!!! Passages handled the sail well, but I did NOT! She was surfing down 3 metre waves at 8.4 knots and the wind was gusting at 36 knots. There were a few other issues we had noticed with Passages that we had overlooked, in trying desperately to put in the various new upgrades and equipment. Let’s put it mildly that we were given a very hard wakeup call of our complacency and eagerness to get going.

On writing this entry, 4 -5 days after the sail, I am still shell shocked and a bit nervous about our next sail. We have been reading the weather incorrectly and not allowing the seas to die down and flatten or as I have already mentioned, anticipated the speed at which the weather can clock round from a southerly to a westerly and northerly direction.

To add to this all was the Gulf Stream which can push you further north than what you intend to be. We felt awful for Xavier and Annette on Sante, who were relying on us to give them a bit of guidance. HOWEVER, to be fair, the decision to leave the States and cross over to the Abaco’s, Bahamas, was a combined effort.

After this sail, our plans for the rest of the sailing season may change.

While crossing, we were so grateful to have the AIS, as a boat contacted us to say that we were on a collision course with them. They couldn’t see our navigational lights and we couldn’t see them on our new AIS, which is now connected to our main chart plotter. We put on our anchor light, and they did the same and it was only when they crossed, in front of us, did they show up on our AIS. Phew! We think they did NOT have their transmit function of the AIS on, as with some AIS’s you can been seen by others and they can see you, or you can turn off your AIS and only see others. We have done this when we have been in areas that have had issues with opportunistic boats, near Trinidad and sailing out from Guatemala, near Honduras.

So here we are in the Old Bahama Bay Marina in West End, Abaco’s, waiting for a decent weather window, which doesn’t look soon. We thought our days in a marina, were over, however…… Since being here, we have been for long walks along the lovely sandy beaches, the marina has a swimming pool and the use of free bikes. We’ve cycled into the small settlement to get some bread and a few ‘fresh’ vegetables. Mel has been working on some more boat projects and I have been making new covers for our fenders. The next project I’ll be attempting is a bag for the ropes.  We’ve seen so many huge luxurious boats with crew, come and go. At the time of writing this, there is a beautiful eggshell blue boat next to us on the opposite side of the dock. It’s four times as long as Passages and the highest point of the boat, is higher than our 54-foot mast. The crew are very friendly which is quite unusual.

The owners of the boat have since arrived and, well, it’s interesting to see how the other half live. On
the shared boardwalk, there are gym mats, weights from 2 kgs to over 20 kgs all neatly displayed and an exercise bench. The crew have taken the owner and guests out on their speed boat, for a fishing trip. Who knows what the ladies are doing.

We have also hired a car to go into Freeport and to Port Lucaya Marketplace with the couple on Sante, Xavier and Annette and their adorable dog, Jollie. It was sad to see that business is not booming as many shops and stores are closed. In fact, the whole marina at Port Lucaya is literally falling to pieces as there were many signs say, ‘Do Not walk on the board walk’.

So that’s it for now. Here is hoping that the next time there is a blog entry, we have moved on and are enjoying a bit of sailing and anchoring in the many beautiful cays in the Abaco’s.

Until next time…. Take care, Keep well.

Best wishes, always

Mel and Caryn

 👉B.O.A.T. Bahamas April 2024

BTW, our location is being updated almost daily – and sometimes in real-time. This information can be found on the left side of the blog “Recent Locations”

No 5: One Day more

Manatee Pocket overlooking the mooring ball field.

 One of my favourite musicals, show, movie, CD is Les Miserable. I don’t know how many times I have seen the show, movie or played my CD, I just love the music. Well since last time I wrote, I have been singing the song from Les Miserable – ‘One Day More’.

One day more for the engine to be finished, one day more for the wind vane to be completely finished, one day more for the never ending boxes that were first stored in the aft cabin and then migrated up into the cockpit, to be emptied and taken off the boat, one day more staying in the Fort Pierce City Marina, one more day swinging on the mooring ball in Manatee Pocket, Stuart watching and waiting for a good weather window to cross over the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.

 This is what has been happening since I last wrote. We eventually left Riverside Marina on Wednesday 13 March, with the main shaft of the Wind vane securely attached and in the correct position. We can honestly say that we were extremely happy to be leaving Riverside Marina. Let’s just put it down to one of life’s experiences that we hope and pray not to repeat again. It felt so good being back in Fort Pierce

Riverside Marina.

City marina in amongst our new friends we had met while staying there. This time we were planning on only staying there for a week, so we were tied up on L247 in amongst the multi million dollars motorboats. WOW – full houses on water. Our aim for being back in Fort Pierce City marina was to have the engine serviced. The next day, Thursday, after arriving back at the marina, Pierce and Eli arrived to work on the engine. These two young guys were so polite and enthusiastic to be working on an engine. They were thorough and eager to let Mel know if there was anything out of the ordinary that needed to be addressed. By Thursday lunch time the engine was in a few pieces as Pierce and Eli took the heat exchanger and raw water pump away to attend to and said that they should be back to finish the work on Monday of the following week.

In the meantime, we hired a car to do another huge shop and to buy the never-ending list of spare parts. We also filled up our gas/propane tanks for the oven. Let’s just say that it wasn’t as easy as we would have liked as there was a slight issue with our new gas tank which led to us having to drive in circles, literally, getting a new gas tank from West Marine, as the faulty one was still under warranty and the only West Marine that had another gas tank was where we had been, literally an hour before. Anyway, by that evening, we returned to the boat after 9.00pm with two full gas tanks and enough canned/tinned food to last us for 4 - 6 months.

Mel continued to work on the windvane and the new autopilot, while I continued to clean, sort out the food stuff and do the odd bit of sewing. There is always another cover to be made.

On the sewing front, I have completed the main sewing projects I intended completing before we leave the States. The new hatch covers and mosquito nets, plus a cover for the windvane and adjustments to the pedestal cover. For the next few sewing projects, there is no rush to complete – rope bags, and new fender covers.

Monday arrived and Pierce phoned to say that he would only be able to come back to our boat the following day. That was fine as he knew we were only leaving either Wednesday or Thursday.

By Wednesday evening, 20 March – almost exactly 2 months since arriving back on the boat, we felt that Passages was ready to sail into the sea. Yes, there are the odd things that still need to be addressed but these were living issues. For example, the lighting in the main saloon/living area and galley/kitchen has never been great. We bought some new lighting to be put up. This can wait until we are somewhere else, we have lived with this situation for over 10 years.

We said our “Good Bye’s” to the wonderful people we had meet during our two months stay at the marina. It was rather sad. However, it was time for us to get going, even if it was back south, down to Manatee Pocket in Stuart where we had stayed for quite a while last year, 2023 and where Passages had spent two months (November/December 2023 and part of January 2024) having her chain plates replaced.

So here we are, swinging on a mooring ball in Manatee Pocket waiting for a decent weather window. At

The full moon setting over Manatee Pocket.

the time of writing this, the window for us to cross is Tuesday, however the weather forecast is changing rapidly, which might mean another few days more to wait. In the meantime, there is always something to do – reading, sewing, cleaning. Mel and I have found since we have been here on the mooring ball, we have felt quite tired. It is understandable as since March 2023, since leaving Guatemala, we have been working on Passages, preparing her to leave for the next big adventure. (I am apprehensive as it’s a HUGE step going out into the North Atlantic for so many days).

BTW – last year Manatee Pocket did not have mooring balls but as I mentioned in two blog posts last year, many lovely anchorages are now becoming mooring ball fields run by the local council for a fee of course. This is, we think and have heard, to prevent live-aboards and rust buckets from taking up the space. With the price of houses here in the States, many people can only afford to live on a boat – see blog entries No 9 and No 10 from 2023.

We are enjoying our Starlink although with the cloudy days we are experiencing, we are monitoring how much power we are using.

While we are here in Manatee Pocket, Mel is arranging for a new mount to be made for the Starlink antenna.

So, I continue to sing ‘One day more.’. on the mooring ball as we wait.

Until next time…. Take care, Keep well.

Best wishes, always

Mel and Caryn

👉One day more 

No 4: Still the same – Delay, delay, delay.

 

Passages and it's a Boat Time (red tug).

Delay, delay, delay……. Without sounding too much like the 45^th and past President of the USA, it’s delay, delay, delay for us. I will elaborate further, but firstly referring to Mr. Trump; since we have been in Fort Pierce, he has been in town a few times.

The main federal court where he is under investigation for having classified documents, is here in Fort

Pierce. When we hear lots of sirens, and a helicopter or two flying overhead, we can assume that Mr. Trump is in town. In fact, the other day, Mel was out and about when he was forced to take a detour as he was reluctant to have to walk through a rather large group of Trump supporters who were outside the courthouse.

Anyway, back to us. Not much to report other than we were hoping to be on our way to the Bahamas by now, but we have hit a few snags.

After trying his best to put the windvane up by himself, Mel has realised that he needs help. We have asked Colin at Mack Yacht Services, where Passages had her chain plates done, to assist, but unfortunately, he is unable to accommodate us, so we have had to come up with another plan. We were hoping to leave for the Bahamas by Wednesday 6 March, however, when Mel checked over the engine, he wasn’t happy with a few things, so we have delayed our departure from Fort Pierce, until the engine has been sorted. We also found a boatyard here in Fort Pierce that would be willing to assist Mel with the windvane. So, we left Fort Pierce City Marina for the Riverside Boatyard. Let’s just say, at the time of writing this, we are unsure of whether we have made the correct decision but remain hopeful that everything will work out. It is a very ‘interesting’ place to say the least, as there are many different colourful characters around. I often think when sitting in the cockpit and observe the different characters, ‘What is their story?’.

 

Unpacking our new dinghy.

 We are planning on returning to Fort Peirce City Marina on Wednesday 13 March, where the engine will be serviced and hopefully by the weekend, we can start ‘staging’, the appropriate term for preparing for a voyage by watching the weather and waiting for a good/great weather window to sail to the Bahamas. In the meantime, we have been finishing off projects and have taken possession of our new dinghy and life raft. I have been cleaning and polishing the boat, while Mel finishes all the electrical and mechanical things that need to be done. We have marked our new anchor chain with red and yellow spray paint, in increments of 5 and 10 metres.

There have been times when we feel we will never get going, as there always seems to be something else not working or needs fixing. This is the life of living on a sailboat… there is always something to be done. We do feel confident, that once the engine is looked over and serviced, with or without the windvane, Passages is ready to head out into the great blue yonder.

An aspect of staying at the Marina, are the wonderful people one meets. Across from us, in our newish pen, were a wonderful couple from Wareham, MA, in their lovely tugboat called Boat Time, Susan and Dan. Across the way, was another couple in an Island Packet 485 (much bigger and newer than Passages) Ed and Anga, on their boat called Sweet Dream. Every Wednesday evening, we still go across to B Dock, where we first were to have Docktails and we see Sheila and David from the Full Monty, Scott and JoAnne on Folly Sq’d.

Last week Saturday, there was a ‘whipping parade’ through the streets of Fort Pierce. It was to celebrate

Our new life raft.

and acknowledge the cattle drives and the people involved in them. Apparently, Fort Pierce was a central meeting place for the cattle ranchers to bring their cattle into town.

This past Wednesday, Mel happened to be going passed the Sunrise Theatre, where he was offered two free tickets to see Tim Elton. He is a performer from the U.K. who sings Elton John songs. He was very good, and we had an enjoyable evening.

We hope that the next time we post a blog entry, we will be in the Abacos, Bahamas, enjoying the wonderful clear blue waters. Fingers crossed.

Until next time…. Take care, Keep well.

 Best wishes, always

Mel and Caryn

 

P.S. Our intention is to upload something to our blog every two weeks. We are busy sorting out Starlink, so hopefully this will assist us in downloading the all-important weather forecasts but also to put in our current position and blog entries. Fingers crossed.

Film clip to follow when we have faster Wi-Fi 😉

No 3: Still in Fort Pierce – two steps forward, one step back.

Passages in her new home in Fort Pierce Marina.

 

We are still in Fort Pierce….. working on the boat. There are many times when we are on the boat that boat life takes on its own schedule. We plan our day hoping to achieve a few things, but at the end of the day, we feel slightly dejected when we haven’t achieved a tenth of what we intended. For example: Mel has been putting in a new toilet in our main head/bathroom. It has an electric flush. On the boat, the current toilets have a manual pump for flushing. It is a pain. Anyway, it took us over three hours to run an electrical wire just over a metre from one part of the toilet area, under the main floorboards to where the new electric toilet pump needed to be placed. Mel often looks like a contortionist as he dives down into the different areas under the boat’s floorboards.

I have been busy trying to make new covers for our hatches. ‘Trying’ is the operative word. My goodness, I have watched so many YouTube clips, plus felt as if I have done more unpicking than sewing. I have decided to do it my way and forget about how others of made theirs.

The highlights have been going to the local theatre – Sunrise Theatre and watching two performances: one by a Michael Jackson impersonator. The show was called the ‘Man in the Mirror.’  It was incredibly good; and the other to see ‘Floyd Nation,’ a take on Pink Floyd, which was equally as good, but I think Mel enjoyed it more than I did.

Like most Saturday mornings, we went to the farmers market, which is adjacent to the marina. We also hired a car to two days as we needed to go back to Stuart to collect a few bits and pieces. We have done a few HUGE shops, so I am now feeling a bit more prepared as the grocery cupboards are full.

I have put together a slide show of what we have been up too. Nothing too exciting! We have extended our time in Fort Pierce City Marina by a week. The marina asked us to move from Dock B50 to M220 on Sunday, however we moved on Saturday as the weather was very mild. Thankfully, we moved when we did, as the weather turned and became very windy and wild on Sunday.

👉Fort Pierce February 2024 

I hope whatever you are doing, you are enjoying yourself, surrounded by those who you love and care about.

Until next time…. Take care, Keep well.

Best wishes, always

Mel and Caryn

No 2: Fort Pierce - Cleaning, cleaning, sorting and more cleaning.

 

Unpacking the trailer.

I have often said that I clean more on the boat than I do at home in Perth. The boat is smaller, but boy can it get dusty. I am a bit of a clean freak – Mel says I suffer from CDO – OCD in alphabetical order.

 Well, as planned on Tuesday 23rd January, we packed Passages, putting everything back into her. What a mess! The people who worked on Passages doing the chain plates, did an amazing job cleaning her, but naturally I wanted to clean her myself and pack everything away in the correct places.

The new hot water cylinder arrived after lunch time on Tuesday so thankfully that was put in place. So, we planned to leave Stuart, on Wednesday morning at high tide – which was at approximately 10.00am and motor north to Fort Pierce along the boring ICW.

Putting the hot
 water cylinder

We left Manatee Pocket, Stuart just after 10.30am and arrived in Fort Pierce after 2.30pm but due to the awful current, we could not go into our designated slip, so we spent the next hour and half alongside the first dock. Even trying to tie up against this dock was tricky as the current slammed us against the dock. Thank goodness for fenders! What didn’t help was the wind as it was pushing us up against the dock.

By 4.30pm, we were tied up all secure in our designated slip and our ‘home’ for the next month while we sort Passages out.

 Thursday morning the cleaning and sorting started, and it has literally taken me a whole week to clean and sort her out. It also gives me the opportunity to update our inventory and rethink whether we need certain things on the boat.  Passages has many hidden storage spaces – for example, behind the seating in the saloon/sitting/living area, there are shelves, but below these shelves are added storage spaces. It is vital to have an inventory of everything on the boat as it makes life so much easier when looking for things. Many people living on boats have a story of an item they stored, thought they would remember where they had placed it and ended up having to purchase another one of the ‘missing’ item. A few months down the track while sorting something out, they have found the missing item.

In between cleaning and sorting, Mel and I have used our bikes and cycled to Aldi, which is about 2.5

The new Navpod.

kms in one direction and Publix (a big supermarket chain) about 3 kms in the other direction. Mel has been busy sorting out the Radar and our new Navpod, plus preparing to work on a few other huge projects. There is always another tool or fuse, or connector needed. Thankfully, ACE hardware store is a 5 mins walk from the boat and West Marine is opposite, Aldi.

We have also met our neighbours in the slip next to us, Sheila and David, on the Full Monty from Canada. They have a lovely little dog on board their boat, called Precious.

We haven’t done anything exciting, just working on the various projects on the boat. Oh yes, we did attend the ‘get together’ on the dock, a regular event on Wednesday evenings when most of the residents at the marina meet up for a chat and a drink.

On Friday evening, 2 February, there was Friday Fest along the main waterfront road in Fort Pierce. It was very similar to the Saturday morning Farmer Market, but this time a few more food stalls. Sheila and David joined us for the Friday Fest.

Well, that is about all for now. As I am writing this, the weather is awful. Grey rainy skies with the wind howling. Hope you are enjoying whatever you are doing?

Until next time…. Take care, Keep well.

Best wishes, always

Mel and Caryn

Putting up our new sails.

Making some Beetroot chutney
and red onion marmalade