For the fourth or fifth time I find myself telling Nicole, there is no ICW to the Bahamas, honey. We have made it to Vero Beach and the next real stop is Lake Worth where we plan to jump across to The Bahamas. Nicole is beginning to express regular concern about “going outside” as anything off the coast is called. You can’t blame her; we have had some snotty weather in the past 1700 miles and she (like her mother, does get sea sick). Boyd seems completely immune to bad weather and Paul has seemed to “get over it” and have fewer issues with the roughness so it’s mostly just Nicole and I that “toss the cookies”.

As we have continued down the ICW on our way to Florida Nicole has said the words the rest of us are just thinking, what about “the crossing”. I’m pretty sure everyone is at least a little nervous about it, we sometimes mention “the crossing” but not that we are nervous about it. The Gulf Stream is notoriously rough and is prone to big, angry type waves. None of us, not even Boyd are looking forward to that, but no one else says it.

We do know that if the winds are from the North the waves are worse so we plan to avoid leaving with North winds if at all possible. We do know that the further South we go the more likely we are to be able to use the current rather than fight it. Sometimes the Gulf Stream current is as much as 4-5 knots and when the boat you are in does 6-7 knots it’s a bad idea to try to fight that much current.

Many cruisers go as far a Miami attempting to ride the current over to the Bahamas rather than cross it at a perpendicular angle. At the moment our plan is to go as far south as Lake Worth and angle across coming in around West End. We need to clear in through customs and West End would work as a spot to come into and also as a spot to clear in through as well. It is rather pricy to stay there and I have heard that if the weather is bad there isn’t much protection; I guess we’ll see. Until we do the rest of will have to just think about it while Nicole is the only one saying it out loud.

Along with the cooking and cleaning and other boat chores a new and increasingly important task has presented itself. Mending, now mending has historically been a task done as a practical way to continue utilizing clothes and other fabric items which would otherwise be rendered useless due to wear. As a child my mother showed me how to sew and let me use her needles and thread to create Barbie clothes and blankets and such. As I got older I learned how to sew buttons and use a sewing machine. Finally in high school I took the obligatory home economics class and made myself a half way decent skirt.

Today, in addition to other boat chores I find myself needing to recall the lessons of my youth because today I’ll be mending. Currently Nicole has two pairs of pants that have developed holes in them, a sweatshirt with a failed zipper and a rain jacket that has a small rip on the front pocket. Paul has a rain jacket I’m replacing a zipper in and a sweatshirt that also has a faulty zipper to contend with. Boyd wears everything with rips so I’m getting off easy on that front but for me there is a sweatshirt with a ripped open pocket and some minor sundries.

I also have to create a cover for the grill and one for the anchor windlass. When all of that is done there are covers for the hatches and a project I am working on to create custom screens which needs to be completed before we get into a “buggy” spot.

I guess all of that play sewing when I was younger was good practice because now I’m better able to mend clothes and create custom curtains, pillows, covers and such for the boat as needed. It does make me think about the days of old when this was a part of everyday chores for the women folk, as with them then my days seem consumed with practical useful but time consuming chores. Better stop typing and go get out the sewing machine

After the shuttle went off we headed again down the ICW to hang with our friends boat S/V Ishmael. They were behind us when we went outside but passed us when we waited for the shuttle launch. We caught up with them at Vero Beach, Florida. As we came into the Vero Beach Municipal Marina to grab a mooring and catch up with our friends, much to our surprise and delight we found that the majority of the Jekyll Island Harbor kids boat population had migrated. In addition to S/V Ishmael we found that S/V Gromit and S/V Shiver had also arrived.

Our kids had soundly lamented leaving all of these friends at Jekyll Island and were absolutely ecstatic to see so many of these familiar boats in one anchorage. Commence the land games, boat movies and shared dinners. The parents, I must admit were equally happy to see each other and to share time, meals and even boat repairs.

In addition to these friends we made a few new ones including meeting another boater with a Vagabond nearly identical (okay it’s in better shape than ours) to ours. We also reconnected with S/V Melodeon who we met the first time in Oriental NC and S/V Lighten Up from Maine who we met the first time in the Hamilton Marine store in Portland Maine while we were both shopping for new life jackets, small world I guess. In addition there were 4 other boats hailing from Maine and one from Alaska. It was tons of fun.

For a municipal marina this is a great place to go. Nice facilities and a public bus, free no less, that picks up right in front of the marina. We planned to only stay a day or two but ended up doing due to some last minute shopping, added to the day or two of rainy weather plus the kids begging 1-2 turned into 5 days in the end. Can’t say I regret it for a moment. We had to be someplace and when I paid the bill of $75 Nicole pointed out that we have spent that for one night before at the dock, so it was quite the deal.

We decided to go outside again. In addition to the bridge I wrote about in the post “10 Miles Without an Accident” there were six more bridges the next day. With all the wind and a tide range of between 6 and 8 feet there were many complex issues to deal with at each one. Bridge height, horizontal clearance, water depth, and extreme current all combined throughout day to make it quite challenging. As a final test the marina that we chose to stay at for the night was just at the last bridge of the day and when we called for rates and to make sure they had space the friendly lady that answered the phone was kind enough to inform us that the entrance of the marina sometimes had a “bit of current” but after we’d passed the first marker “it would drop off”.

In the end the marina entrance turned out to be the most difficult spot of the day due to an unfortunate combination of factors. First, there was an obscene amount of current rather then a “bit”. Second there were 3 Border Control powerboats who decided that they could “sneak” into the channel before us if they just used enough horsepower and butt into line. Lastly the entrance was narrow and with tide at a full flow out shallow as well. With the need to slow in order to avoid running over the Border Patrol boats we were impacted even more by the current.

One of the important things that I’m learning on this trip is that in order to have control of the boat you must have water moving across the rudder, so slowing isn’t always desirable as it might seem as it makes boat control more difficult. Once we made it in and negotiated a 180 turn in the marina so we could tie up starboard side to as the marina requested I could see that Boyd was pale.

This is the guy that I’d vote for to ride out a gale (and technically we already have). He asked, “Did you feel that hump of water?”. Apparently there was so much current in the entrance to the channel and it was at an angle because it was running out and then under the bridge (in a spot that the bridge was only about 10-20 ft high off the water) that it created the same effect you see in river rapids with a huge hump in the center of the entrance. The boat had actually shimmied sideways – all 44 thousand pounds of her- as though to be dragged back out of the channel and under the bridge. Had we lost engines at that moment that’s exactly what would have happened. It would have been unrecoverable. Only Boyd’s steady hand and refusal to panic kept us from becoming victim of these factors.

When checking into the marina the other cruisers, who unbeknownst to us had been watching us coming in the channel acknowledged the difficulty of the entry (due to the timing with tide and current and other boats entering) and noted their collective approval. Impressing all of them was definitely not an easy feat considering their combined experience level. Actually considering the conditions I’m surprised they didn’t stand up and hold up cards with 10’s on them.

After two days of fighting the current, tide, timing, bridge heights and such it’s no surprise we decided to go outside. Boyd didn’t want to mess with another hundred miles of ICW to make it to Cape Canaveral so we jumped from St. Augustine directly to Cape Canaveral.

It was a rather uneventful transit with the only real complications being that Nicole and I were seasick. Nothing too surprising there, we have gotten better but when the waves come across the boat from either side we find it’s hard to keep lunch down.

Twenty hours from St Augustine to Cape Canaveral and not a single bridge. Nothing could please Boyd more… wait, we sailed.. it was the perfect trip for him!

Have you ever been to an industrial site and seen the signs that say “103 days no accidents. Safety first.”? I feel like we should make a sign for the boat that says “10 miles no accidents”.

We transited from Jekyll Island to an anchorage just beyond Jekyll Island where we anchored for the night. It was really too dark to get anywhere further the first day off the dock. The next day, day before yesterday, we went a total of about 25 miles down to Fernandina Beach and grabbed a mooring. We were in by lunchtime. Yesterday we stayed put just because it was windy as heck and well, we wanted to. Today we started out to do a whopping 40 miles but got stopped at the first bridge.

We had noted that the guidebook we use stated that “unofficially” this set of bridges was considered among the “lowest” of the fixed 65′ bridges. Since it’s currently a full moon and a “spring tide” we are having high highs and low lows (for instance the regular low tide-called mean low tide- is nearly two feet higher than the current low tide). What this means is that if you normally have 65′ of clearance at a bridge when you have a “spring” high tide it’s only going to be around 63′ of clearance, since we require a minimum of 63’6″ this would be bad. Consequences to taking a boat with a 63’6″ mast under a 63′ bridge could include substantial damage to the mast and perhaps even dismasting not to mention damage to the bridge. Not good! So we timed our passage to go under the bridge during a lower portion of the tide. Unfortunately it was harder getting started than we anticipated due to the continued extreme wind so when we actually arrived at the bridge the tide was already higher than we’d aimed for.

We edged up to the bridge to consult the “tide board” a board, often (but not always) installed so that boaters coming up to the bridge can tell the actual height of the bridge above the water at that exact time. This set of bridges, of course, had no visible tide board so we edged a little closer. Through the bascule train bridge and into the miniscule void between it and the flue area that is the channel the boat must pass through to get under the bridge. Half way up the flue in the area just before you would actually pass under the bridge and plastered to the right hand side was the wayward tide board.

Of course this flue is only about 65 ft wide and the tide board is only visible (okay only readable) once you are beside it. So in we go, with a knot of current pushing us toward the bridge of unknown height at 6 knots and into the flue, which is acting like a sluice with the tide. Finally we can read the tide board and it says, you guessed it, 63 ½. Boyd made the decision on the spot that he didn’t want to risk it and decided to turn the boat around. In the 65 ft wide sluice, with a knot of current, and the wind behind us.

A few tense moments ensued while the entire crew of Passages took up posts at the bow and stern of the boat as Boyd turned in the center of the channel and without touching a single side board, either mast, or the bottom took us back out. It was truly an amazing feat to get a 47′ boat going 6 knots to turn 180 degrees in a 65 ft wide channel with a knot of current and substantial wind. If I had a video guys, I’d post it – you would be so impressed, I know I was!

Out we went back past the Bascule bridge and anchored for about 3 hours until the tide dropped to a lower level which made the height to the bottom of the bridge a more acceptable number. As we hurried toward the bridge eager to make up for lost time Paul (our current lookout) called back that there was a boat flashing a light at us from the other side of the bridge.

Wouldn’t you know it now that we’d waited the 3 hours for the tide the DOT was doing a repair to the light on the bridge and had a bucket truck perched up on top of the bridge with the bucket hung over the edge and suspended down into the air space we’d just waited not so patiently for.

Now you are beginning to get the picture. Today we made a total of about 8 nm. So in the last 3 days since left Jekyll Island I think we may have averaged 10 miles a day… BUT WITH NO ACCIDENTS.

Now that we have left Jekyll Island and are underway again there are some marked changes in the crews activity. No longer can the kids jump off the boat onto the dock and find someone to play with. No longer do they have the option to withdraw from family life and select someone closer to their own age or likings. Now they are forced… to participate in family life.

So today I decided that they could do dishes and make desert, more specifically cake. Paul read the directions and Nicole procured the ingredients. In the mixing process they fell quickly into the familiar roll of little sister “pest” and big brother “antagonist” with Nicole trying to find any way to lick the batter off the spoon, counter and even the bowl. Paul on the other hand was trying to preserve the integrity of the cake or perhaps just thwart Nicole’s efforts to eat batter. In the end they were laughing so hard I had to grab the camera and share.

As you can see in the photo in an attempt to keep Nicole occupied Paul has “painted” her elbow with batter. Knowing that she would do anything for at taste of cake batter and also being a firm believer that no one can efficiently lick their elbow he dabbed some batter on her elbow and she effectively “chased her tail” for then next 10 or so minutes. It was quite the event.

New water out the portholes, finally. Well our month at Jekyll Island Georgia is over. Never, would we have thought that we would be at the same marina for that long. Especially Jekyll Island, it’s really not that big of an island! We originally stopped for only one day but then when the weather was excessively cold we stayed a second day and then a third.

By the time the weather let up it was close to 2 weeks and once we’d paid for that we were able to stay the rest of the month for free. During the month we worked on projects on the boat inside at first when it was cold and then outside when it got warm enough. Finally we were facing committing to paying more money to spend longer and we made the break.

With the time we spent there we were able to prepare the boat better for our time in the Bahamas, visit with friends make new friends as well as order things like spare parts to carry with us for the rest of our trip.

With regret we said goodbye to all our friends at Jekyll Island and promised to try to meet up with them again some other time and place. Then we motored off into the ICW. Yesterday after a relatively short trip down the ICW we moored at Fernandina Beach Florida. I’m pleased to announce if folks, the water we now see is Floridian water. The gift shops all have Florida t-shirts in them and yesterday we ate ice cream out in front of a shop, because… wait for it, it was warm enough to want ice cream AND warm enough to eat it outside.

Today it’s another day all together, but I’m busy reveling in yesterday so please don’t bother me with the fact that today the temperature is about 45, a full 20 degrees colder (durn cold fronts!!).

Okay, so perhaps there are those of you out there that are concerned. Wondering where in the world is the sailboat Passages?! Surely the Internet isn’t so terrible that they can’t have posted anything in nearly a month. Okay here come the confession (in case you didn’t read the title) Lazy, Slothful and Happy… well at least the first 2 describe the issue. We have been sitting here at the marina in Jekyll Island Georgia for nearly a month (really- I barely believe it myself!!!) and we have internet and we still haven’t posted. Here’s my short list of reasons why:

• Initially Boyd had a computer meltdown
• Waiting on new computer to arrive
• Freezing and too cold to type
• Poor wi-fi signal strength and too cold to sit out on deck to get signal
• Increased wi-fi signal with booster antenna but now too lazy
• Okay maybe Lazy and Slothful are the bottom line

The truth is all of the above and maybe a little extra on the last one. We did have major computer problems, and it did take a week or more to resolve that. Then it was really unbelievably cold by Georgia standards, for about another week. We did have very poor Internet signal strength and I have been just plain lazy, and enjoying it. Let me give you a rough outline of what the days are like. I know before I came on this trip I was incredibly curious about just exactly what “cruisers” did all day every day. Perhaps you aren’t in which case feel free to go directly to the photos section.

First I have to confess that we started out getting up early (around 6am) just like at home every day. Rain or shine whether it was a travel day or not I would roll out of bed and start bumping around making coffee and getting things situated for the day. Since arriving on the dock at Jekyll Island (and about the week previous) we started “slipping”. Oh, I still wake up at 5 or 6 am but now I get up, pee, and go back to bed. I’m up between 7:30 and 8:00 now.

In fact if you were to check there’s been the odd morning that I didn’t’ wake up – the second time- until after 8:30. This would never have happened at home, first because the kids had to be on the bus before that and second because I have to get going for work most days, and if I don’t have to then Boyd does and he needs coffee and his clothes and his lunch packed and the list goes on.

So here it is

• 7:30-8:30 Wake up and get up
• 8:30 Start coffee and breakfast
• 9:00-9:30 Finish breakfast and start home schooling
• 9:30 Home schooling and clean up from breakfast
• 12:00 Lunch
• 12:30 Clean up from Lunch continue home schooling
• 2:00-2:30 Finish home schooling
• 2:30 Usually free time for everyone until dinner kids play while I:
• Sewing projects
• Cleaning the boat
• Varnishing
• Laundry
• Showers
• Read a book
• Study charts for next day/week trip
• Prep for home schooling next day
• Walk or bike ride
• Provisioning – Shop
• Food prep
• Chatting with neighboring boats
• Cleaning the boat – more than you think needs cleaning!!
• Odd work related things, email and phone messages

This list could go on forever but you get the idea

• 5:30-6:00 Start dinner prep
• 6:30-7:00 Dinner
• 7:30-8:00 Clean up from dinner
• 8:00-9:00 Free time, usually a game, book or some computer time
• 9:00-9:30 Start Nicole to bed
• 9:30-10:00 Get Nicole to sleep and check email talk about plan for tomorrow sometimes watch a movie (1-2 times a week)

Get up and do it all again in the AM

There is some variation to this, sometimes we are fixing something that broke, finding a part or provisioning for more than just the normal groceries like two weeks ago when we had to find transportation to a scuba shop and purchase fins and masks for snorkeling in the Bahamas.

Many times we are eating with other boats or they are eating with us which is lovely but does require extra effort to clean up the boat and cook larger portions for more people. Since being at the dock I don’t’ think a week has gone by that we haven’t had dinner on another boat or had some family over to our boat or had a potluck or cookout on land at least 2-3 times a week. This is the best time! At the dock now there are people from England, Canada, and all over the US. It’s a completely fun way to find out more about cruising, the people who are cruising. It’s something that doesn’t happen so often at home and I’ve found that the sense of community that comes with eating together is something worth the effort every time.

So even though it must truly seem like there’s just a lot of laziness and slothfulness going on it’s really a fair amount of practical necessities and quite a bit of fun. Once we leave Jekyll Island I’ll try hard to get back to posting more regularly.

All of yesterday we prepared to leave the dock. We arrived at Jekyll Island exactly a week ago. At the time we were only planning on staying here 1 or perhaps 2 days. We did however find lots of other friendly cruisers with lots of kids. Our kids had a plethora of other kids to choose from and our kids as well as the other kids asked us to stay longer. In the end we decided to stay a week. A big cheer went up amongst the general population and there was happiness on our boat.

A big reason we decided to come here and in fact stay was to receive packages. It’s pretty difficult to order parts and procure supplies without a mailing address. I’m happy to say we have been rather successful at that but with all of our initial round of supplies received and our week coming to an end we started to wind it up and get ready to move on. We filled the forward and aft water tanks then worked on pulling together a list of supplies we wanted at the store.

We even borrowed the car keys from our newest kids boat friends Amazing Grace II to do a last minute midnight run to the Wal-Mart in Brunswick. On the way back down the dock at 12:30am we quickly realized that the wind had picked up. The increase was instantly noticeable on the waters surface. Small angry waves topped the water next to the boat and out across to the bridge. As we unloaded the groceries and dragged them from the car across the dock to the boat I couldn’t help but shake my head.

Cold weather I’d braced for. It’s been freezing here (literally) but the wind, with this cold… I’m not sure I’m ready for it. After getting the groceries and kids below Boyd checked the weather. Sure enough, in addition to the 20ish degree weather -that I may have already mentioned in a previous post- the forecast for Tuesday included 35 knot winds. Not wanting to be a hero popsicle, I immediately suggested we reconsider our plan to leave, now only a few hours away. And so… the false start. Water tanks full, groceries stuffed into every nook and cranny we decided to wait it out.
It’s one thing to go out in bad weather, something else to go in really bad weather. Sure it could be warmer in Florida, or as the news says today it may be even colder! There are parts of Florida that would definitely be warmer but it would take about a week, coincidentally the exact amount of time this snap is supposed to last, to get there. In the mean time just to keep reasonably warm we’d be compelled to stay at other marinas, which would cost more money and be less likely to have all our friends at them.

And so, here we still are at Jekyll Harbor Marina. Just for the record, not even Boyd seems unhappy about our decision! We have decided to order the “second wave” of things that we couldn’t get before and to stock up on all of the items that aren’t readily available in the Bahamas.

I’m taking well into an informal survey of the local opinions about where to jump from and how to “clear in”. We have walked on the beach, visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Marine Park and a small local nature center with touch tanks. The kids continue to have movie nights nearly every night after dinner on one boat or another. During the day after all the home schooling is complete they bounce from one boat to another playing board games and game boys and even Wii as the opportunity presents itself. For being “stuck” we have lucked out once again.

We’ll make it to the Bahamas yet, we may be a little bit late. Right now its better to be here than out there and better to be safe than sorry.