We're Marking Time In New York City

This Is My Kind Of Transport - The Club Launch At NYAC Pelham Brings Us Ashore In Fine Style

With unexpected repairs and maintenance to complete, we're kinda stuck in New York City.

Do You have this In A Size Large ?

However it's not a bad place to spend some time - we're berthed against a floating pontoon in the river at the New York Athletic Club Yacht Club, in Pelham. Our friends Paul & Eileen Osmolskis have arranged visitor access to the NYAC for us, and we've been able to participate in the social life here at the club, including crewing for Paul in a club race last weekend.

Manhattan is only 30 minutes away by train, where we emerge into the stunning hall at Grand Central Station, check our credit cards and head off into retail wonder land.

We're expecting our nephew and friend Brendan Pollard to arrive on Tuesday, staying with us for six days, so we'll no doubt see a lot more of the big apple.

September is the busiest month for tropical storms on the east coast, and so far we've been lucky on this part of the coast, though the storm season still has two months to run. However summer is waning, trees are starting to change colour and we can feel autumn in the air.  In fact we've broken out what little warm clothing we have, stored away the shorts and T-shirts, and have even taken to wearing socks. Quite a shock to the system.

From The Mast, Moored Boats In The River At NYAC Pelham

Back In The USA , Its Springtime Cruising

Arrival At Sunset, Chesapeake Bay

778 nautical miles later, we arrive in Norfolk, Virginia, after a very quick (3.5 days) transit from Great Sail Cay in the Bahamas. For the sailors reading this, that is an average of 9.26 knots. Of course we had 3 to 4 knots of lift from the Gulf Stream current for some of the passage, but we were pleased with our sailing speeds never the less. Cleaning the hull underwater, before we departed, also helped quite a lot.  The passage was completed with about 80% of the distance under sail, so not too much motoring.

Approaching The Sea Buoy Off The Chesapeake Bay Entrance

The warm weather had followed us north, so we sailed into harbor in shorts and not much else. After anchoring overnight we moved into a commercial marina berth the next morning, to allow for the necessary inspection by Customs & Border Protection

The clearance process here was simple and friendly, unlike the fairly shabby treatment we had received in Charleston the previous year. Next day we visited the Customs offices to obtain our 12 month Cruising Permit, and with that last piece of paper in place we could relax - we'd officially arrived.

In our approach, our first time here, we passed the enormous US Navy ship yard complex that stretches out along both sides of the river - a spectacular statement about US military expenditure - there were more ships here in just one river than in the entire Royal Australian Navy.

Heading North, The Bahamas To Chesapeake Bay, USA

Smooth Sailing In The Bahamas

Crystal Blues will depart from Great Sail Cay, in the Abacos, Bahamas, early tomorrow morning. Right now we're sailing WNW across the top of Little Abaco Island, in brisk (25 knot) south easterly winds. Its a sleigh ride, smooth and quick with just a tiny staysail set and we're over 6.0 knots of boat speed.

The passage to the Chesapeake should take just over 4 days, subject to winds and the ever present Gulf Stream current. We'll clear in to the USA in Norfolk, and then head up to Reedville in Virginia for a break.

Cuban Cruising - Sunsets & Thunderstorms

Cayo Largo Marina Sunset

Thunderstorm Formation

From the marina at Cayo Largo these thunderheads do look lovely. We were two days out from Cienfuegos and spent a couple of days in the small marina at Cayo Largo, before moving on westward again.

Our plans to explore the reefs and cayos changed rapidly when strong winds were forecast, so we changed tactics and course, heading instead to Havana after rounding Cape San Antonio at the extreme western tip of Cuba.

Around the cape, now heading north east, next afternoon the weather became decidedly dodgy, with thunderstorms forming right in front of us. These are things we like to avoid, as the accelerated winds and lightning they contain can be quite dangerous.

One in particular gave us grief for many hours - first came the the incredible cloud formation, followed by heavy rain nearby. We altered course, further offshore, monitoring the storm's movement on our radar as we traveled.

Then a fantastic waterspout formed, snaking across the ocean surface and sucking water furiously up into the clouds.

Waterspout On Starboard - We Last Saw One Of These In The South China Sea

This was not something we wanted over the top of us, so the radar tracking took on extra importance. Below is the basic radar image of the storm - note that the green rings on screen are each set 2 nautical miles apart, so the storm on our starboard side is only a mile or so away - that water spout was close.

Often we want a more informed view on screen, specially at night, so the radar image can be over-layed onto the electronic chart display, giving us a more detailed view of the navigation environment. In the image below the radar information is displaying in pink, whilst the vessel, it's track, course and heading can be seen on screen. These display systems are now common on many cruising boats - we all benefit from the improved safety information and situation awareness. And it helps to keep those nasty waterspouts away.

Departing George Town, Bound For Cuba

Exumas Racing Sloop

After almost a week in George Town Harbor we are ready to move on, with fuel and provisions loaded and our hearts looking forward to the next destination - the south coast of Cuba.

We arrived here in the middle of the George Town Cruising Regatta and learned to live with the constant VHF radio chatter generated by more than 250 cruising sailboats in the one harbor. The harbor could probably cater for many more - it's long, generally shallow and provides great holding and protection for anchored yachts.

The annual regatta here has a little something for everyone, from big boat racing to Bocce tournaments, beach volleyball, poker and even cruiser golf played on the local salt flats.  And yes, the local rum was a major attraction.

The local sailors also get involved, competing in traditional 16 foot sloops that feature heavy sliding boards to carry the windward crew and impossibly large main sails and booms.

To the north of us, the Atlantic Ocean is whipping up a major storm that is expected to send large swells down here later this week, so we're heading south before we're boxed in again. A series of cold fronts moving down off the US coast have complicated the local weather forecasting, and no one is relying on anything more than two or three days out. Subject to weather, we expect to arrive in Santiago De Cuba on Friday morning, March 16, truly ready for the local music, food and yet more rum.

George Town Arrival

Yesterday afternoon we arrived in George Town, Exuma Islands, after a seven hour passage from Black Point Harbour.  Atlantic ocean storms to the north of us, while delivering snow and heavy weather in the UK and USA, are sending large long period swells down to this part of the world.  Moving on or off the shallow Bahamas banks requires a little care and planning, selecting a reef pass that is preferably wide and deep. The Admiral snapped this swell as we moved through the Conch Cay Cut into Exuma Harbour yesterday.

Low Flying In Skinny Water

Crystal Blues At Tilloo Cay Anchorage - Unusually Deep At 3.5 Meters

Welcome to the beauty of the Bahamas, where we are (finally) enjoying some warm weather and quiet days.  For blue water sailors, relaxing here requires some serious attitude adjustment - everywhere is just so damn shallow!

Skimming across the flats in 3 to 4 meters of water is exciting, feeling just like low flying. However it is stressful to someone who for years has had the shallow depth alarm set at 5 meters - heck the alarm would be sounding continuously here! Many harbors we simply cannot approach, our 2.1 meter depth being way over the available water depth.

At Grand Cay, where we cleared customs and immigration, we eased our way through the entrance channel with 10cm under the keel, to find an anchorage that was just over 3 meters deep. So we often anchor outside the harbors and the dinghy gets a real workout - we traveled 5 miles each way in the dink to visit beautiful Hope Town on Elbow Cay, which is surrounded by 1.0 to 1.5 meter sand banks.

Hope Town Harbor, Elbow Cay, Bahamas

Hope Town Light House

In Hope Town we toured the magnificent lighthouse, the last in the world still operating with an oil burning lamp and a clockwork rotational mechanism. With strong community support it is maintained in working condition, and is open to tourists six days a week.

One great positive - turtles are making a come back here, now protected by government legislation. We see them every day, and two days back saw nine in one small lagoon.

Over the past two weeks we've used the periods of nice weather (very few) to catch up on maintenance - cleaning the hull being the big job. Whilst the images may look sunny, it really isn't warm here in winter, most days between 20 and 25 degrees C. And the sea is cold - wet suits are essential.

Cold fronts regularly move off the US east coast, wind directions clock 360 degrees in as little as 36 hours. Frequent moves are called for to stay sheltered as the winds change direction.

Hope Town was our last "town" visit in the Abaco Islands - tomorrow we're heading south 50 nautical miles to the northern end of Eleuthera Island. A growing group of boats is swinging at anchor here at Lydyard Cay, ready to make the ocean jump to Eleuthera tomorrow.

Hull Cleaning At Tilloo Cay

20 Knots For 20 Hours, With 20 Tons

Crystal Blues displaces just under 20 metric tons, and I always wondered how our new Rocna 33kg anchor behaved - in soft mud I know it buries deep, but in hard sand with grass just how deep does it bury? The shallow waters here in the Bahamas let me see the answer a few days ago - after 20 hours with 20 knots of wind blowing here at Tilloo Cay.

The answer it seems is not very deep, but we've never dragged, even in sustained winds over 30 knots, gusting to 40 knots. The bottom here is really tough, and once you get the point buried it seems to hold well. In this image the load on the flukes is asymmetric, evidence (I think) of the anchor rotating in the sand as the wind veered through 45 degrees, though I'd welcome comments from others on this.

At Last, Bahamas Sunshine ...

New Plymouth Town, Green Turtle Cay

Crystal Blues finally escaped the freezing conditions and weather bombs of the US East Coast, clearing from Palm Beach and heading east across the Gulf Stream to the shallow banks that make up most of the Bahamas Island group. In 8 hours we were across the stream and moved on to the banks, and 8 hours later we were at Great Sale Cay, anchored in 3 meters of water for a peaceful evening.

The Admiral In The Loyalist Sculpture Garden

We cleared customs and immigration at Grand Cay, and sheltered there for a few days, before heading East and South around the top of the Abacos island chain.

Three days ago we anchored at Green Turtle Cay and settled for a while, enjoying the (finally) calm weather and the friendly village atmosphere in New Plymouth town.

This is a community that dates back to the 1780's, when British loyalists departed the United States after the war of independence and resettled here. The English language is different here, and the folks are proud of their heritage.

The waters are clear, and there is a decent tourism industry based around visiting boats and resorts. The famous Green Turtle Club provides marina, restaurant and bar services, competing with the nearby Bluff House to woo visiting boats and crews.

Perfectly positioned on the sea of Abaco, between the outer reef and Great Abaco Island, this is one of a string of barrier islands that really make you think about staying forever.

Of course this is winter, the low season, and the marinas are generally fairly empty, though there are plenty of cruising boats around, principally from the USA with a few from Canada. Winter weather brings a series of northerly and north easterly blows to this region, each of which seems to last four or five days. This morning, with another 35 knot blow on the way, we departed Green Turtle and moved further south to Great Guana Cay, where we will shelter for the next five days.

Yes, You Can Lock The Dinghy To The Canon On The Public Wharf

A New Year Begins, New Destinations Await

You know you're getting older when your favorite local radio station is called The Real Oldies. Whatever happened to K-Rock, Planet Rock, or KIISS and the like?  They all drifted into pop sameness, or repetitive rapping, is what happened..... and I stopped listening.

Here in Florida we had a great Christmas, listening to The Real Oldies on the rental car radio, pulling together the supplies and parts we needed and then celebrating with friends at Hobe Sound, north of Palm Beach.

George & Nancy Marvin, OCC Port Officers for the region, kindly invited us to share Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Luncheon with them - a fine group of cruisers were there, so spirits were high and endless dreams and lies circulated the table.

George & Nancy also kindly acted as a delivery point for our many parcels in the weeks before and after Christmas. Once those goodies were in hand we settled down to a sequence of repairs and service jobs onboard Crystal Blues.

The toughest project was replacing the heater hoses that snake their way through the boat from the engine to the hot water service. The old hose had been installed 12 years ago and was starting to crack - we'd found and repaired two leaks in the past 6 months.

So out it came, which took a day, and then the new silicone rubber hose went in, which took a couple of days - there is about 70 feet of hose in the circuit.  For good measure we flushed and cleaned the cooling circuit in the engine, and replaced the coolant in the system.

Both the Northern Lights genset and the Cummins main engine were due for injector servicing, so we gave both engines a treat and installed new (actually re-built) injectors. Both machines are running silky smooth now, aided by the recent valve lash adjustment - you really can tell the difference.

The Cummins was also rewarded with a new Walker AirSep Filter system, the original item having passed it's use-by date - 12 years was a good run. All in all the boat did real well in the Christmas gift department.

As to those radio stations, we also spent a day installing a new FM radio antenna connection - then scrolled right past the local spanish and rock / pop channels to settle on Legends Radio, a local jazz oriented station. Bliss.

Hopefully we'll be well ahead on the service and maintenance items when we leave here, and can spend time relaxing in the Bahamas soon. The cold weather that is impacting us should pass in a couple of days, and we're hoping for a clear weather window early next week for passage to the Bahamas.

New Walker AirSep Filter System Installed

 

Freezing In Florida

Welcome to Florida, where it's so cold that it's raining Iguanas - see the story here.

We stopped our voyage south at Palm Beach in central Florida, entering the harbor at Lake Worth inlet and anchoring off the friendly Palm Beach Sailing Club. Over Christmas and New Year the weather was mild, warm and sunny, so we set about completing a series of maintenance and service jobs, preparing for our crossing to the Bahamas. Immediately after New Year the scene changed, with north Florida receiving (almost unheard of) snowfalls and freezing temperatures.

Last night we had a minimum of 3degC. here, and tonight it will be 4degC. Florida temperatures in the winter normally average between 18 and 21 degC. Our friends all the way up the East coast are experiencing sub-zero temperatures and snow falls, while Chesapeake Bay is closed to shipping and harbors are freezing over even in the Carolinas. The weather guru's are calling it a "bomb cyclone", and it appears to be strengthening at it runs north up the coast. In reality we only caught the southern edge of this astounding weather event.

Of course we had just finished packing and stowing all our warm clothing, winter duvets and blankets - who needs those in Florida, right? Right. Yesterday we broke out the winter clothing and bedding again. With luck we'll escape to warmer weather in the Bahamas within a few days.

Jack Bullock Sent This - His Boat In Charleston, South Carolina, Early Today. I Don't Feel So Bad Now ....

It's Florida, It Must Be Warm ....

The Intra-Coastal Waterway At Titusville

Bascule Bridges Open At Port Canaveral

Chasing the sun, chasing the sun, still chasing the sun...

Rather than face the shallow depths and low bridges of the Intra-Coastal Waterway (ICW), we went to sea again at St. Augustine and struck south for Port Canaveral, seeking warmer weather again. This time we succeeded.

 After an easy overnight passage we entered though an opening (bascule) bridge and the Port Canaveral Lock, to find ourselves back on the ICW. Great, now we have never more than 1.5 meters under the keel, usually less than 1 meter, for hours on end. We eased through the Canaveral Barge Canal heading due west, with a 1/2 meter under us crossing the Banana River, then turned north on the true ICW.  We waited at the NASA causeway bridge for over an hour to respect the peak hour traffic and then moved the final 5 nautical miles north to Titusville, home to various odd sun worshipers, retirees, cruising sailors and astronauts.

Admiral Ley Enjoyed The Birdlife In The Waterways

Just off Titusville we anchored with half a meter under the keel, just off the ICW channel. Really not a lot of water to play with here, for a boat with a 2.1 meter draft, though the tidal rise and fall is only 10cm on each cycle. Finally it was warmer - we no longer needed four layers of clothing, just two would suffice.  We enjoyed breakfast in the cockpit, for the first time in months.  The birdlife was fantastic. Life was returning to normal.

This afternoon, just two nights later, we came out to sea again by the same route, and we're headed further south for West Palm Beach (Lake Worth Inlet), about 100 nautical miles south.

Beautiful Weather, Beautiful Birds

South To St Augustine, Florida

Atlantic Sunrise, Off The Carolina Coast

Too Small & Too Bloody - Mackerel Tuna

With winter rapidly setting in, we escaped southward last week, sailing offshore down the Atlantic coast in warm weather bound for St. Augustine, Florida. Light winds from astern were not helpful, so the Cummins engine worked hard once again, as we pushed south and west, staying close to the coast to avoid the north-setting Gulf Stream current.

I wasn't surprised to find the Admiral on deck early one morning, with a fish hanging off a lure ... but really, did she have to start fishing before breakfast? Unfortunately the first three fish that came in were low-value Mackerel Tuna, and they were all released. With this state of affairs the Admiral gave up in disgust - she wanted Mahi Mahi or Wahoo, or Spanish Mackerel. Dream on.

So the fishing tackle was stowed once again and relaxed cruising resumed. We arrived at the St. Augustine bar right on time, in the middle of a rising tide with a following wind. The entrance was therefore drama free and Crystal Blues found herself safely moored on a City Marina mooring ball well before it was time for drinks. Perfect!

Christmas Lights In St. Augustine

This town, reported as the oldest city in America, was once a Spanish outpost. Now, with Christmas approaching, it kinda feels like a Disney outpost. Trolley / tram rides clog the streets, carrying droves of serious tourists from sight to sight, from Ghost Tour to Spanish Fort, restaurant to restaurant. This is not at all what we expected. But the decorative lights are really nice, and the spirit of the place does eventually get to you. Music is everywhere! St. Augustine has an incredibly vibrant live music scene - we've enjoyed great bars and restaurants with excellent live entertainment and usually no cover charge.

Checking The Injection Elbow

However it hasn't been all glittering lights and music. Our beloved Cummins 4BT engine was due for a major 4,000 hour service, so this past week we've tackled everything that can be checked and refreshed on the unit. The standard lube oil and filters, fuel filters etc were ticked off early, before we moved on to the gearbox lube oil and filter, then flushing and cleaning the gear oil cooler and the engine heat exchanger. Then we inspected and checked the turbo, serviced the Walker AirSep filter system, serviced the syphon break, checked the exhaust injection elbow, replaced the drive belt and replaced the belt tensioner.

The Salt water pump was checked (all blades Ok after 500 hours) and the coolant was tested with a Fleetguard coolant test kit, then adjusted to the correct chemical mix using a measured concentrate. For good measure we finished off with valve lash adjustment today.

OK, I'm slow, but it has taken almost six days to work through the job, in between shopping trips and the essential cruising social activities. The weather here has now turned to winter again, with a series of small cold fronts moving in. Predicted 2 degrees Centigrade overnight tomorrow evening. So we'll probably move aft and turn our attention to the Northern Lights generator - its now ready for service.

Valve Lash (Tappet) Adjustment On The Cummins 4BT

Southbound For Winter Sunshine

With the thermometer dropping to Zero degrees centigrade in Reedville, Virginia, one evening, we really needed to head south for the sunshine. Local friends spoke of early season snow in New York and they didn't need to remind us that the creek we were in often freezes over in winter - time to move.

A Chilly Arrival In Hampton Roads

So ten days ago we fare-welled our gracious hosts in Reedville, Walter Keith & Mary Frazer, and sailed south down Chesapeake Bay towards the Atlantic Ocean. That was possibly the coldest daytime sail I've ever made, though we did manage to cover 60 nautical miles in the shortened winter daylight, anchoring overnight in Hampton to allow the weather offshore to swing in our favour.

The next afternoon we sailed out of Hampton Roads, around Cape Henry at nightfall and proceeded southward toward Cape Hatteras in 25 knot winds and boisterous seas. A useful counter current helped us along, staying inshore to avoid the Gulf Stream, and by lunch the next day we had rounded the cape and were positively zooming south west towards Beaufort, North Carolina.

So much for our carefully calculated voyage plans - it looked like it would have to be a night time approach into Beaufort....  Sure enough, midnight found us motoring toward the shipping channel while trying to decide on an anchoring point - for such a large port, this place has very few credible anchoring locations. We did find a safe place just west of the entry channel and caught some sleep before motoring into a welcome marina berth at 7:00am the next morning.  Beaufort will be our provisioning port as we prepare for the next few months offshore in the Bahamas and Cuba, and we're hoping it will be quite a bit warmer.

Land Cruising, Chevrolet Truck Style

For us Aussies, cruising in the USA is all about the timing - timing to avoid tropical storms and timing to work within the limited 6 month visa that most of us have.  In our case, our visa "window" started when we arrived in Puerto Rico back in May, so we have to leave the country before November. The result is that Crystal Blues is resting securely on her own in Reedville, Virginia, while we have headed off on a cross country land cruise with a flight back to Australia thrown in for good measure - there is no rest for the wicked. We'll be camping in the back of the truck for the next 10 days, have tent, air mattress, camp stove and pepper spray for the bears. What could possibly go wrong!

We drove out of the northern neck of Virginia just three weeks ago, heading west into the Blue Ridge Mountains. By nightfall that first day we had gained a lot of altitude and adopted a new weather paradigm - fog, cold and torrential rain. We woke next morning to a flooded tent, with our air bed almost floating inside the tent. Ok, so we were still learning how to setup the camping rig.

After drying out (we found a coin laundry at the next town) we traveled about 450 miles southward on the Blue Ridge Parkway over 5 days, reaching the Smokey Mountains, camping each night in Park Service camp sites, mesmerised by the staggering colors of fall in this part of the world. Then, crossing into the Carolinas, we climbed and climbed to the highest point in the eastern USA, before entering western Georgia as we continued south through spectacular country.

Avoiding Hurricane Maria, Working On Electrics

Back in Reedville, Virginia, we secured ourselves to the dock just two days before Hurricane Maria was scheduled to touch the coast south of here. Fortunately she lost some of her "oomph" and stayed well to the south, so we only saw winds of 20 knots or so and little rain.

While Maria blew herself out we decided it was time for a little electrical therapy. Mastervolt had replaced a three year old inverter for us, under warranty, when it started to show signs of not starting our AC refrigeration system. Excellent support from them, as usual. The new unit was delivered to us back in Rockland, Maine, and this was our first chance to swap the old unit out for the new. While working in that (difficult to access) part of the boat I also wanted to replace some of our battery interconnect cables - we had a good supply of size 4/0 (107sq.mm.) tinned wire and all the necessary lugs, so we spent an afternoon making up interconnect cables to measured lengths.

It took us two days to swap the inverters over, upgrade the battery interconnects and also to replace a bilge pump sensor switch. That was just long enough for hurricane Maria to bounce off the coast and head away from us.

Right now we're preparing for the boat to stay here while we head off on our road trip, so we're checking all the bilge systems, shutting down and preserving the watermaker, servicing essential equipment etc. In case another hurricane sneaks in we've doubled up on all the dock lines and removed both the furling headsails and stowed them below.

We've been warmly welcomed back into the local community, the weather has also remained warm (at least in the daytime) and the social life has been great. Importantly, we're getting a good share of "dog time", walking the neighbours dog and even graced with a visit from our favorite sailing dog, the lovely Flaco, who as you'll see below is very interested in all things "boat". 

Three Boys Looking - Image By Chris Burry

Heat, Biting Flies, No Wind ..... We're Lovin' It!

The Admiral Escaping The Flies & Heat

Welcome to Chesapeake Bay in the summer time. Heat, biting flies, no wind. But there are no lobster traps and very few rocky reefs, much to our delight. We had traveled overnight from New York down the coast, then up the Delaware River and through the C&D Canal, to enter the Chesapeake and pause for two nights in Annapolis..

Go Aussie !

A local told me that there are at least two rocks in Chesapeake Bay, but everyone has forgotten just exactly where they are. The bay is over 150 nautical miles long from north to south, and little more than 20nm at it's widest. A haven for yachting and boating in general, it is typically quite shallow with a deep water channel running up the middle of the estuary.

The world 505 sailing championships are running here at the moment. This morning, before we departed Annapolis, we had breakfast in the cockpit watching all 90 of these compact but high performance racing yachts breeze past us. The crews were from the USA, Canada, France, Great Britain, Poland and Australia, among many other nations.

Day Tripper Eats Insects, Then Departs.

As the Aussie boats sailed past we gave them a big welcome cheer, waving our large jar of Vegemite. What would the neighbours think?

After breakfast we headed south, working our way through the racing fleet and then motoring all day - no wind, but plenty of biting flies to kill. The deck is patched red with blood splotches. Just days back, cruising from Greenport to Port Jefferson, we had a beautiful Golden Finch on board. It stayed with us all day, ranging around the boat and carefully devouring every single insect on the boat. We really needed that bird with us today...

As I write we're approaching the mouth of the Patuxent River, where we'll spend the night anchored in Solomons harbor, just across the river from the Naval Air Station (remember Tom Cruise in Top Gun ? That's the place). The naval aviators aren't flying today, no super loud noises as we approach, so we'll look for them in the local bar when we arrive.

505 Sailboats Ready To Race In Annapolis