We were planning on staying a little longer in the Ragged Islands, but a weather window came up to head north to George Town on the Exuma's Islands. Being low on groceries, needing more propane, short on gasoline for the dinghy, and needing to get some hardware, we decided to leave and take advantage of the weather.
 |
| At anchorage in the cut between Little Ragged and Ragged Island. Charm on far left. |
We had a few days of strong winds, so pretty much just stayed on the boat.
 |
| Saw a max of around 28 knots, while waiting out a 3 day blow |
We spent a nice couple of days at Double Breasted Cay. Met some nice folks.
Rita on "Como No", took some time to teach me Bahamian Weaving. You use silver palm fronds to weave. I just made a small item to learn from, but will try bigger projects later.
Still at Allans / Pensacola Cay. Nice weather. Still surrounded by sharks. Have been working on identification, and 95% sure they are bull sharks. Not ones to go swimming with. Sharks in the Bahamas are not uncommon, but usually you are out of the water by 4:00 each day, as usually the sharks come around during twilight hours. You can generally plan on mid day being shark free. Unfortunately, we think that people have been feeding the sharks, or cleaning their fish catch from the boats and these have become used to boats having food. They circle the boat all day long. We have had from two to five swimming circles around us since we have arrived, with no visible break.
We left Vero Beach, and headed further south on the ICW down to North Palm Beach, where we could wait on a good weather window to cross to the Bahamas, and also get our pre departure Covid tests, required for entry. Pretty normal ICW motor trip - although we did get a little time motor-sailing.
 |
| Osprey with fish |
 |
| Motor-sailing with jib |
 |
| Swiss chalet style seems out of place in Florida |
 |
| One of the many bridges that we had to have open for us |
 |
| Some fancier homes the further south we go |
 |
| Probably only a 3 bed 2 bath :) |
We left Cheasapeake City, and headed to the Sassafras River. Anchored in Back Creek, near the Harmon House Plantation.
 |
| Motoring to Sassafras River |
We had a great sail from Coney Island, NY down to Cape May New Jersey, - only issue was we were too fast. We left at 2:00 in the afternoon, and sailed the entire way down with a very smooth ride, with only about 2' seas. Winds 14 to 18 knots, so full main and jib the entire way.
Not much of a moon, but lots of stars out. Got into Cape May at 5:30 a.m. in the morning, as we averaged 7.5 knots which was faster than we had planned on. Dropped the anchor, around 6:30 a.m.
Notice SOG at 10.3 knots surfing down wave. WOO HOO
We always try to time our boat moves for favorable winds and seas. Lets face it, we have the time - so no need to move the boat when it is not a good time. A common sailor saying is: The most dangerous item on a boat is a schedule.
As we were heading southwest, with following seas and wind, having a pleasant sail, we saw this guy northeast. You can get some decent seas in Long Island Sound, especially when heading against them. This catamaran we passed must have been on a schedule.
We got our first Covid shot at a CVS in Newport RI. and after waiting the 4 weeks it was time to get the 2nd shot. Since we had gone with Moderna on the first shot we needed to find a spot where they offered the 2nd. Port Washington Rite Aide was the spot so we planned the walk up to the store and then planned on the second day being a "recovery" day. The first shot didn't have a huge impact other than Kris not being able to move her arm for two to three days but we had heard the second shot had more issues.
So today we have laid around the boat with all the side affects that were predicted, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fevers, and nausea. Hopefully tomorrow gets us back to normal because these side effects suck.
Common Side Effects
After Annapolis, we made a short jump to Rock Hall, MD, where we stayed for 3 days. 2 days were cloudy and rainy, but we got to use our raincatcher, which worked well. We got around 50 gallons of water in the tank. About 1/2" of rainfall.
On the last day, the sun came out enough, we walked to town. We found a used marine store, and got a bag for our dinghy seat, that will help to keep the dinghy organized. Used and slightly faded and worn, but only $16.
|
The cruising
lifestyle sounds so appealing when you hear people talk. Warm weather, sandy beaches, no work. There is the other side as well though,
and some things you don’t really think about. Of course
there is the boat work, constant maintenance living in a salt water
environment, but there are a couple of things you forget to mention when
talking about cruising – Like how to get on and off the boat !!! |
|
 |
On our boat,
currently tied up to the dock there is a 42” long step, which is a 12” step
or step down depending if getting on or off.
(Hint: stepping down is easier)
Every morning we head off to the showers on land. We wear flip flops as we shower in them to
prevent any stray foot diseases. Try it out,
can you put on flip flops, and make a 42” “jump” up 12”? Sure, you can, now do it over water that is
cold and salty while fully dressed.
|
|
Knock on wood, so far, no mishaps. | |
We had planned on taking a trip in September to make sure the boat had survived the summer and it also gave a good excuse to be at the boat. We left Boise Friday around noon on the 4th and headed east, well south and then east. The trip coincided with the start of Labor Day weekend and we saw the affect of that between Ogden Utah and Evanston Wyoming. The amount of traffic and how slow everyone moved was a worry but after Evanston things thinned and we made good time. It was a nice day/evening for a drive
