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| Date |
Day |
Miles |
Hrs. |
Speed |
Arrival
Port |
Comments |
Departed |
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Road Harbour, Tortola, BVI |
Took delivery of L. Moon at Catamaran Charters in
Village Cay. Our hired skipper, John, arrived and promptly
went out partying.
He slept pretty hard
the
next day and we weren't sure he would be up for the voyage, but
seems to be recovering. |
7/31/98 |
| 7/31/98 |
Fri |
25.0 |
4.7 |
5.3 |
Crown Bay, St. Thomas, USVI |
Hurricane Alex is coming and the charter
base is prepping all of their boats to hide them. Decided we could
outrun her so we left Katreena behind to complete boat papers and
John and I headed for St. Thomas. Upon arrival we picked up the
cargo Deb shipped down and loaded it aboard. Katreena, Doug and
Deb arrived safely and we're off. |
7/31/98 |
| 8/1/98 |
Sat |
82.0 |
14.8 |
5.6 |
Salinas, Puerto Rico |
Long overnight sail to get as far from
Alex as possible. Flew the new spinnaker and got up to 12.5 knots
at one point. Arrived in Salinas the next morning. Cheap anchor
that came with the boat didn't hold so I purchased a new bigfella
at a local marine store. Were greeted by a manatee while we tried
to anchor. Lots of cruising boats in the big bay, which is surrounded
by quaint local restaurants. We met one old cruising gal who gave
us a lift to the local supermarket for provisions. |
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| 8/2/98 |
Sun |
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Using extra rope I bought in Crown
Bay, we tucked L. Moon into the mangroves and laced her down with
everything we had, in prep for Alex. Took the dinghy for a stroll
down a mangrove creek. Really pretty and jungle-like. Had to pole
our way through some tough parts. |
8/3/98 |
| 8/3/98 |
Mon |
69.5 |
10.7 |
6.4 |
Boqueron, Puerto Rico |
Alex didn't come this way so we've
untangled ourselves and headed on. Boqueron is a local holiday
spot. Lots of cheap restaurants and t-shirt shops. Autopilot went
out at tail end of last leg so I'm in search of a solution before
we set out for a long double-overnight passage. |
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| 8/4/98 |
Tue |
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Tracked down a taxi driver named Raoul
who took us to Mayaguez for Customs and Immigration clearance.
Stopped at a Burger King for lunch and shopped at a WalMart. PR
is clearly USA. Found a local shop where I was able to buy a used
autopilot motor, which I installed with success. |
8/5/98 |
| 8/5/98 |
Wed |
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At Sea |
Set sail a crack of dawn. Weather pleasant
and seas reasonably calm. Hot, though. Refrigeration pump went
out before nightfall and freezer coldplate blew, so no more cold
beverages or ice. Katreena ain't havin' no fun. Saw the sunset
out to sea, no land in sight. |
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| 8/6/98 |
Thu |
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At Sea |
Long, hot sail. Sunrise and sunset,
no landfalls. Trying to entertain ourselves but the days are too
long to be fully successful. |
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| 8/7/98 |
Fri |
392 |
53.5 |
7.3 |
Sapodilla
Bay, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos |
Landfall
at last. Can see the Caicos well off though they're pretty low-lying.
Finally tucked into a
nice bay, went ashore to clear C&I. Headed into town for lunch,
which we had at Turtle Cove on a pretty north bay. |
8/8/98 |
| 8/8/98 |
Sat |
63.2 |
10.1 |
6.2 |
Abraham Bay, Mayaguana, Bahamas |
Left
early for a long passage to the nearest Bahama island. Abraham
Bay is loaded with coral heads so
we entered and anchored carefully. Went ashore in search of C&I.
It shallow up so much by the dock that we walked the dinghy in
the rest of the way. There was a shack but no people. This is no
tourist island. We're the only boat in sight. Local by the name
of Bosie greeted us at the dock in a new pickup truck. Took us
to his bar in town, a much-too-fancy establishment, Thunderbolt,
that reaked of drug money. We found a local lady that made a nice
chicken dinner that we ate at Thunderbolt. Followed it with drinking
and dancing. We were overdue. |
8/9/98 |
| 8/9/98 |
Sun |
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By
prearrangement, I came into town early to meet Bosie who said
he'd arrange for C&I. I waited
at the church for services to end, after which he introduced me
to a woman who cleared us in. Also, I was able to buy half a bag
of ice to get us to the next port. Upon exiting, it was John's
turn at the helm. He promptly drove L. Moon over a coral head and
punched a hole in the port keel. We pumped out the bilge every
30 minutes using the handpump. |
8/9/98 |
| 8/10/98 |
Mon |
132 |
21.8 |
6.1 |
Rum Cay, Bahamas |
Another overnight sail but was worth
it. Rum Cay is a pleasant little island with a new marina built
and operated by a young couple and another American friend. The
latter is a gourmet chef and we had one of the finest meals of
our lives out in the middle of nowhere. Doug and Deb adopted a
cute pup from their new litter and named her Marina. While dining,
our dinghy got trapped under the dock by a tide change. Releasing
it resulted in a broken tiller, to add to stuff-that-don't-work.
The good news is that they had some underwater epoxy and we were
able to stop up our leaking keel. Also, we now have fuel and ice.
Life is good. |
8/11/98 |
| 8/11/98 |
Tue |
55.3 |
9.5 |
5.8 |
Georgetown, Great Exuma, Bahamas |
Weather has been fabulous. Another
long but pleasant sail. Saw a boat ablaze off Long Island and approached
it but saw nobody. Possibly an intentional burn. Found a nice anchoring
spot in Georgetown and had a great buffet dinner at the Two Turtles
Inn. |
8/12/98 |
| 8/12/98 |
Wed |
17.3 |
2.8 |
6.2 |
Black Cay, Great Exuma, Bahamas |
Short daysail to a quiet cove. Another
nice evening in paradise. Got some swimming and relaxing in. |
8/13/98 |
| 8/13/98 |
Thu |
47.0 |
7.9 |
6.0 |
Staniel Cay, Exumas, Bahamas |
Hustled throught the Dothan Cut. Currents
through the Exumas are strong so you have to make a run at them
to be safe. Grabbed a mooring off Staniel Cay, pretty little island.
Snorkeled the famous Thunderball Cave and had a great dinner at
the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. |
8/14/98 |
| 8/14/98 |
Fri |
47.9 |
7.5 |
6.4 |
Allen's Cay, Exumas, Bahamas |
Sailed up the Exumas to a great little
eco-island group, the Allen's Cays. Noted for large black iguanas,
and there were a bunch. They come right up to you in search of
grub, so watch those fingers. |
8/15/98 |
| 8/15/98 |
Sat |
34.1 |
5.8 |
5.9 |
Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas |
Tricky crossing the Yellow Bank due
to coral heads. Kept a watch up front all the way and missed them
all. Tucked into a slip (our first since departing) at Nassau Yacht
Haven and had lunch at the Poop Deck. Doug and Deb moved to a small
hotel where we had pizza for dinner. |
8/16/98 |
| 8/16/98 |
Sun |
64.5 |
10.0 |
6.5 |
Northwest Channel, Bahamas |
The next morning Katreena, Doug and
Deb hopped a flight back to Florida. John, Marina and I continued
on. Seas were a bit choppy but I dropped the dinghy and got a great
shot of L. Moon under full spinnaker. We anchored south of a missing
light in the bank, hopefully well away from ship traffic. |
8/17/98 |
| 8/17/98 |
Mon |
49.4 |
7.8 |
6.4 |
Honeymoon Bay, Gun Cay, Bahamas |
Found the missing light the next day;
had been struck by a vessel. Honeymoon Bay was crowded so we anchored
at the mouth. This became our undoing as current and wind caused
us to reverse on our anchor. So Marina and I stood watch through
the night until the boat finally swung around. |
8/18/98 |
| 8/18/98 |
Tue |
55.7 |
8.5 |
6.6 |
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida |
Great weather for a Gulf Stream crossing.
Went smoothly and quickly. Hooked to a mooring under the Las Olas
Bridge where Doug met us and swept Marina away before the puppy
police could nab her. Paid off John and settled
down for a nice night's sleep. |
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