cruising on the Mary T

We sailed around the Abacos for about three more weeks after writing the last installment of this blog. Cruising is very easy there, with many great harbors and well-protected anchorages all within a short distance of each other.

We hit some familiar spots multiple times and tried out some new ones. We met up with the crews from Moonlight and Windfall on several occasions for food, drink and revelry. On one such occasion, anchoring next to Windfall in Marsh Harbor, we lost control of our transmission. It was stuck in forward while the shifting stick just flopped around uselessly. Fortunately, we were nearly finished anchored, but we feared a major problem. Upon closer inspection, we discovered that it was just a nut and bolt that came undone causing the cable to disconnect. It was so simple, Amy fixed it. We couldn’t believe our good fortune.

That evening, we went with the above mentioned crews to the “Jib Room” for the Saturday night steak dinner and limbo show. The steak was great and the show was quite a hoot. The limbo man invited the customers to join in until he lowered the bar to about 1 foot off the ground and lit it on fire.  The next day, Raffi and Lisa, along with us and Raffi’s niece and her boyfriend, all rented a car to do some land site-seeing. One of the more interesting places was the town of Cherokee Sound, which is about 22 miles south of Marsh Harbour. It’s a very tidy little town with the longest wooden dock in all the Bahamas. Naturally, we had to walk out to the end of the 770 foot structure and pose for photos. (That’s Lisa and Raffi in the photo on the right.)

We revisited Hope Town and picked up a mooring due to foul weather that was forecast. On this occasion, we rented bicycles and went to the far reaches of Elbow Cay, stopping to sample the food and drink at various establishments along the way. Unfortunately our favorite place, On Da Beach Bar and Grill,  was closed.

On Easter Sunday in Hopetown, we saw a group of  young churchgoers all dressed in white wearing hats with crosses and holding paper Easter bunnies. Their Sunday school teacher told us they were going to be performing at their church service and that we were more than welcome to come in and watch. At first we said, no thanks, but she assured us that we could leave at any point in the service–so, the pressure was off. Sure enough, people were going and coming throughout the time we were there. It was quite casual. The children’s presentation was somewhat hard to understand but their point was that Easter was not about Easter eggs and jelly beans.

While in Hope Town on our first visit this year, we had met Art and Ann aboard Discretion. Discretion is a Morgan 38 just like ours which meant visiting each other’s boats to see how things are the same and different. In the process of visiting, we loaned Art and Ann a copy of our DVD. They loved it so much they bought four copies to give to friends. (Thanks, guys). Later in our journey back to the US, we were greeted by two different boats asking if we were celebrating Pirate Friday. Turned out that these folks had been shown the DVD by Art and Ann. For a very brief moment, we felt almost like celebrities.

Eventually, we worked our way westward to Green Turtle Cay just in time for their annual cultural/heritage festival. We took a mooring in Black Sound and heard from the marina manager that there was an opening reception being held at the New Plymouth Inn. We figured we’d go have a look and move on if it didn’t look appropriate for us to be there. As we timidly nosed our way in through the gate, Kevin, the marina guy called to us to come on in. Kevin was there as the entertainment. Besides being a one man band, Kevin is also guitar player and lead singer for the Gully Roosters–the number one band in the Bahamas.

While there, we also met the visiting Pirate troop who were part of the festival’s entertainment and the crew of Sinn Féin. (No, not the political party from Ireland). The youngest member of the crew–a 10 year old girl–was taken under the wing of the Pirates and the next day, she was dressed in full pirate wear and part of the show. We learned from her grandparents, that she had had quite a few remarkable experiences on their voyage, notably, spending a month going to the public school on Little Farmer’s Cay in the Exumas. Like most cruising kids that we’ve met, she was very bright, poised, self-assured, and quite comfortable around adults.

The next day at the festival, we had the pleasure of meeting Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister of the Bahamas. He just came up to us and shook our hands as if we could vote for him. No security detail was evident–just an aide or two. Imagine that happening in the US?

We also met Bob and Jane, surveyors and publishers of the Wavy Line charts. They had a small, wooden sailboat on display at the festival that was made in Man o’ War Cay. We learned that they were living aboard their sailboat while they were finishing their house on nearby Manjack Cay. They invited us over for a look if we had the time. So, the next day, a Sunday, we left for the short hop to Manjack. We did some snorkeling there as well as dinghying around looking for their house. While we did see the house from the water, we didn’t see Bob and Jane. The house certainly looked gorgeous from the outside.

From Manjack we went to Crab Cay at Angel Fish Point. This was a more remote anchorage compared to most we’d enjoyed in the Abacos. While checking the oil prior to departure the next morning. we discovered that the alternator belt was shot. We had a spare on board but we weren’t sure how long the old one had been loose. A maintenance book on board said that the alternator may be damaged if it were run with a loose fitting belt. This caused us much concern as we knew we’d be needing the amps that the alternator produces. Our solar panels are great but they don’t work very well at night. We pondered the idea of installing our old alternator but were hoping we could make it back home without doing all that work.

We moved on to uninhabited Great Sale Cay for one night, and then up to Grand Cays. We were killing time waiting for the winds to shift from north to east so we could cross over to Florida. We’d never heard of Grand Cay before and were quite happy to go there. It’s an interesting place where lots of sport fishermen keep their boats and basketball is the sport of choice amongst the cay’s local population. The marina isn’t really suited for deep draft sailboats, though. Our keel was sitting in the mud at low tide. We thoroughly enjoyed our walks around town, greeting the peeps and visiting the local hang-outs. We left the evening of our second day there, with the plan to sail slowly during the night over the banks and hit the Gulf Stream in the morning. The plan worked perfectly. We got to Fort Pierce on Friday the 13th. Having left the day before saved us from the curse since we didn’t start our voyage on the 13th. The nautical superstition actually states that you shouldn’t start a voyage on any Friday, let alone the 13th.

Raffi and Lisa, aboard Windfall, set off on their trip on the 12th as well, leaving from a different cay and taking a slightly different route. We were in contact via radio at various times throughout the day and were only a few hours ahead of them getting into Fort Pierce. After they arrived, they came over to Mary T with champagne to toast the successful crossing.

We had acquired “Local Boater” cards for easier customs clearance on our 2008 trip so, we expected to clear in with just a phone call. Back then, we had asked the agent how long these cards were good for, he replied, “Forever, or until the rules change.” Thus, we were confident that when we called in, we’d just have to give our numbers and be on our way. Not so fast, Mary T. Our passports had been renewed in the interim therefore, our new info was not “in the system.” We were told that we must go in person to the nearest customs and immigration office. Luckily, there was one at the little Fort Pierce airport.

The next day, we rode into the Fort Pierce municipal marina with Raffi and Lisa. They were hoping to rent a car in order to attend a memorial service for an acquaintance, and we were trying to find our way to the airport. It turned out that Raffi and Lisa couldn’t rent a car in time to get to the service so they went to the splendid farmer’s market that the city hosts every Saturday.

We were looking for the marina office to inquire about transportation to get to the airport when we met a yacht broker named Joe who worked in the same complex. Amy figured that he’d probably know how to get to the airport and asked him for directions. He said there were no buses and taxis were hard to find, but he’d be happy to give us a ride.

Joe Strazzulla is currently a yacht broker at East West Yachts. However, he has been a citrus fruit farmer, pilot, bank owner, developer and various other things in his long life. He even used to own a Morgan 38 just like ours. He told us many humorous stories on the way to the airport and waited for us as we went through the customs and immigration paperwork and took us back to the marina. We were so grateful, we offered to take him to lunch. After lunch, he drove us, along with Raffi and Lisa, to the local West Marine store so Raffi could get a new wash-down pump and we could get more stove fuel. Meeting such nice, helpful people along the way is one of the highlights of the cruising life.

Fort Pierce seemed like a nice town judging by the small bit that we saw. We’d certainly go to the farmer’s market again. The only negative aspect was that the place was inundated with flying insects in the process of mating. The locals referred to them as lovebugs. Thankfully, they do not bite–after all, they’re lovers, not fighters.  We had to deal with them for the next few days but nowhere else were they as thick as in Fort Pierce. Also while there, we were hit with one of the worst squalls of our entire nine month journey. It was quite intense but a look at the online radar showed that we were not getting the worst.

Moving along up the coast with Windfall gave us  many opportunities to share meals and trade stories. One such occasion was in Eau Gallie near Melbourne, FL. Lisa and Raffi had us aboard for breakfast and a viewing of the take-off of the space shuttle, Endeavor. The launch happened so fast but was still very impressive. The sound arrived a few minutes after the shuttle was halfway up in the sky. We made a pilgrimage to the hottest spot in Titusville–the “Dixie Crossroads.” And, we also enjoyed the St. Augustine scene with the Windfall crew. (That’s Amy with the “Ghost Sheriff” who gives ghost tours of St. Augustine. Photo by Lisa Kennedy.)

Both crews were planning to go offshore from St. Augustine to points north. Windfall to Beaufort, Mary T to Charleston or there-abouts.  During the day, we realized that it would not be prudent to try and do an overnight without our alternator working properly. So, we opted to go to Fernandina in northern Florida, and replace our high output unit with the original alternator that came with the boat. Once the engine had cooled down enough to work with, I started to detach the power supply wire. The ring connector was hanging on by only one wire strand. Aha! So, that was the problem all along. We had a new connector on in a few minutes and were all set to go the next day. Another major engine repair avoided. (The photo on the right shows the industrial side of Fernandina.)

Our trip up the coast went so well that we went beyond Charleston to Winyah Bay and up to Georgetown, SC. We’d been there briefly once before but decided to linger a couple of days this time. It’s a very pretty town with many stately homes along its streets and some pretty nice restaurants. Our favorite was “Rice Paddy.” We visited the Rice Museum which explains the plantation rice culture of the mid 1800’s. Skilled rice cultivators, the West African slaves did a bang up job enriching the plantation owners. Slaves made up 90% of the population in those days!

Rested and refreshed, we continued north up the ICW enjoying the scenic Waccamaw River, traveling as far as Calabash/Little River in SC. From there, we took a brief offshore hop to the Cape Fear River and up to Carolina Beach. Working our way up through the ICW again, was rather tedious but we never ran aground. We eventually arrived in Beaufort, NC where we spent Memorial Day weekend. Raffi and Lisa were long gone having arrived in Beaufort many days earlier.

The remainder of our trip back to the Chesapeake was rather leisurely with pretty good weather the whole time. The worst part were the bugs we encountered in Broad Creek off the North Landing River in NC. The evening was perfectly pleasant with hardly any bugs. But, when we awoke, our boat was covered with winged insects ofan unknown genus. Taking no chances, we dressed in long sleeves, long pants, gloves, and, our never before used mosquito hats (like the one in the photo). As we went out to do battle, they buzzed up a storm and flew frenziedly about. These bugs looked like mosquitoes but, like the lovebugs, they didn’t sting.

They left green spots everywhere which we guessed to be their excrement. We chased most of them out of the cockpit and hoped the others would blow away as we moved away from the anchorage. No such luck. It took us most of the day to swat, spray with soapy water, and hose them away. And that was just to dispose of the bodies. We are still cleaning up the green spots which are showing up in various nooks and crannies of the exterior of Mary T.

The following evening in Chesapeake, VA, we spent a restless night fending off no-see-ums in our V-berth. Apparently, some of the screes in our ports are not made of a fine enough mesh to keep the little buggers out. We survived, however, and motored on up to Hospital Point on the Elizabeth River. This popular anchorage gives one access to both Norfolk and Portsmouth, VA. Some other boaters who were motoring with us through the bridges, recommended we check out the Olde Towne section of Portsmouth, so we did. Although it was quite hot that day, we enjoyed walking the shady streets of the old neighborhood and found a great German restaurant named, oddly enough, “The Bier Garden.” One can withstand almost any touristy discomfort if they find a bier garden at the end of the trail.

Later that day, we went over to Norfolk in search of air conditioned venues. We wanted to know what was beyond the revived waterfront so, we headed inland. After a few false steps, we found ourselves on Granby St. A few blocks later we were sitting in a cozy tapas restaurant called “The Empire.” Since we were still fuming from a terrible meal we had in Beaufort at a place called “Finz,” we were quite pleased with ourselves having found two great eating/drinking establishments in one day.

We moved along the next day to Sarah Creek off the York River. Taking the dinghy over to Yorktown, we soaked up all the history the town had to offer. The museum recounts the events leading up to the Revolutionary War up through to the last battle which took place in Yorktown as Cornwallis’s redcoats were surrounded and overtaken by rebel and French forces. Hoooray! We followed the tour with a pub lunch at the “Yorktown Pub” which is very popular among the Harley Davidson crowd.

We ended up spending four nights in the York River although we only intended to spend two. Forecasts of thunderstorms kept us in port, and when we finally weighed anchor and departed a water spout  forming over the Bay, chased us back in. No need to challenge Mother Nature not to mention the fact that Amy just happened to have had a bad dream the night before about a tornado on the water. The next day we finally got underway.

After stops in the Great Wicomico and Solomons Island, we got back to Deale, MD on Wednesday, June 15. We’ve decided to spend this summer and winter in Deale at Herrington Harbour North Marina. It is quite delightful with plenty of amenities including clean bathrooms, swimming pool, workout room, kayaks and bikes. They even have parties with free food, drink and live music. Every other Saturday is movie night with free popcorn. We almost feel like we’re at club med.

We shall remain here gathering our strength, repairing the boat and working until it’s time for the next sailing adventure. That will be in the summer of 2012 when we head back to Newfoundland.

Some stats:
3066 nautical miles traveled
241 days out
654 hours underway
449.3 hours motoring
204.7 hours sailing

The intrepid crew of the Mary T has slowly worked its way to a latitude of 23 degrees 06 minutes North and longitude 74 degrees 58 minutes West, which puts us just a hair below the Tropic of Cancer. It is the farthest south we have ever sailed, though we visited this place by car three years ago. Clarence Town on the southeast side of Long Island boasts two exquisite churches, three restaurants, the world’s deepest blue hole and a small comfortable marina called the Flying Fish. After four nights at two different anchorages here we elected to take a slip at the marina while a fierce nor’easter blows through. If we had remained at anchor it would have been difficult to make it ashore in our dinghy with its five horse power motor.

Marinas, however, do have their disadvantages. Yesterday morning I was passing breakfast items out to Kenny in the cockpit. After handing him the coffee pot cozy that Viki Keating made for us, I heard him yelp. A mouse had hidden in the cozy and jumped out as Kenny was placing it over the coffee pot. It must have sneaked aboard via our dock lines when we weren’t looking. The frightened creature skittered around the cockpit and suddenly disappeared. There is nowhere to hide in the cockpit, so we were mystified. Then Kenny realized it must be hiding in one of his shoes. He slowly picked up one shoe and turned it upside down over the water. Nothing. When he held the second shoe over the side of the boat, a small grey mass tumbled into the water. That is the last we’ve seen of the poor little fellow.

After talking with some other cruisers here, we have decided to alter our course and enter the Caribbean via the Windward Passage between Haiti and Cuba. It is something Kenny had suggested long ago, but we had decided to go the way of most cruisers along the north coast of the Dominican Republic and head south between the DR and Puerto Rico. Most cruisers choose that route because it is more direct if you’re heading for the Virgin Islands and points further south. Taking the Windward Passage obliges one to go a bit to the west before heading east. It is a much gentler and quicker route to the Caribbean if one is not in a hurry to arrive in Puerto Rico. According to many accounts, sailing east along the southern coast of Hispanola in the Caribbean is much nicer than bashing east against the tradewinds in the Atlantic Ocean on the inhospitable northern coast of the Dominican Republic. This route also allows us to avoid the Mona Passage between  the DR and Puerto Rico which is known for being treacherous.

Of course as we sit here listening to the winds howl through the rigging, we sometimes wonder if we’ll ever go anywhere at all. Our current plan is to wait for things to settle down and then head for the island of Great Inagua, the southernmost in the Bahamian chain - a 25-hour sail from our current location. It is known for its birds and meteor showers. It also has a small town where one can get basic provisions and fuel. From there we will prepare for our trip through the Windward Passage. The trip from Great Inagua to Ile a Vache off the southwest coast of Haiti is about 230 nautical miles, which is two days of sailing for us. The northern part of the passage can be a bit rough, but once you get south of 20 degrees latitude things settle down.Ile a Vache is reputed to be a little paradise without many of the problems, which plague the Haitian mainland. At any rate these winds won’t settle down for a while, so it’s possible we’ll be here for a couple of weeks or more… No matter. We’ve got plenty to do - videos to shoot, videos to edit, books to read, bread to bake, boat projects and cleaning. Never a dull moment on the Mary T.

We’ve made new friends here, at Clarance Town. Wade and Diane on Joana, a 53-foot gorgeous steel behemoth of a sloop, that they built entirely on their own. Diane is a retired nurse and Wade a retired lieutenant colonel from the Canadian army. They are a very can-do, helpful and generous couple. Diane gave Kenny some good advice on how to bring down the swelling of his knee.Joana has been traveling in company with Brian and Gail on Novia. Novia is in the marina with us while Joana remains at anchor. We are all headed in the same direction, but as Joana is a much larger vessel they may end up departing in higher winds than Novia or Mary T, so we may part ways and find each other down the road. Gail and Brian are a very sweet, laid back couple. Brian used to be an air traffic controller, which is one of those jobs that makes me shudder.

We had a Valentine’s Day lunch at Le Pon in town, with the crews of Novia, Joana, and Marionette. Marionette, with Dee Dee, Pete and their two dogs, is out anchor as well, hoping to get favorable winds to head down to Luperon in the DR.The crews of Joana and Novia and me, rented a car together to see some sights and do some shopping. We drove to Dean’s blue hole nearby with our snorkel gear. (Kenny generously offered not to go as we could only fit five in the car). There were a couple of guys at the hole free diving. One of them was the world record holder and we got to see him dive down 100 meters (about 325 feet). He lay on the surface of the water for some time relaxing and then gulping as much air as possible before taking the plunge. Brian and I watched him from the surface with our masks and snorkels as he disappeared into the black hole. We could only see him for the first sixty feet or so. Three minutes later he shot to the surface, took a few deep breaths, and climbed back onto the raft like nothing happened. He was using a new thing called a mono-fin, which is a giant flipper that you put both feet in. It allows for greater speed and when sporting it with a sleek wetsuit, one could easily be mistaken for a mermaid.

The other night, while we were still at anchor I was flinging my dinner crumbs over the side of the boat and accidentally tossed my whole plate into the drink. We gazed over the side as the black disk floated to the bottom. The moon was half full and the water as clear as a bell so we could see it without any problem. I asked Kenny if he wanted me to go down and get it right away. He thought it would be fine to wait until morning. Next day the boat had swung on anchor so we weren’t exactly in the same place, but after swimming around the boat for five minutes with mask and snorkel I eventually came upon the missing plate. It wasn’t hard to clean after that, just a short rinse to remove the salt water. Kenny surmised we could save a lot of time and fresh water by flinging all the dishes in the water every night and fetching them in the morning.

Prior to arriving in Clarence Town, we were in Calabash Bay on the west side of Long Island with our friends Corning and Tita on Blessed Spirit. We enjoyed sharing meals with them and Corning and I went snorkeling together one morning. We parted ways there, but we continue to talk nearly every day on the SSB radio.Next we visited the islands of Conception and Rum Cay. Conception is uninhabited and part of the Land and Sea Park. I did some snorkeling from the kayak, and saw gobs of colorful fish and fields of underwater fans waving in the current.

Rum Cay was a mysterious place. We felt we’d arrived at a private club where we were not members. The marina owners were absent, so other boaters and friends of the owners were kind of running things. The guidebooks talked about the amazing gourmet food at the marina restaurant, but when we arrived on Superbowl Sunday (how ’bout dem dere Pack, eh?) we were told there was a potluck. When we went up later to check things out, “Rasta” told us he was cooking something for the skydivers staying in the cabanas and we could come and pay like $20 each in addition to bringing our own dish. We didn’t quite get it, so we decided to try another local joint.

We’d had cocktails at Kaye’s with a gregarious group of islanders, so we decided to try the only other place in town, the Ocean View Restaurant. Although she normally expects at least one hour advance notice for dinner, Ruby, the owner, cooked us up a delicious fish dinner. She took pity on us when she learned we’d come all the way from the marina through the mosquito gauntlet. There were only three other patrons and Ruby’s son or nephew who seemed less than thrilled with our presence. By halftime the only ones left were Kenny and I and Toby, who had passed out in his chair. The population of Rum Cay is only about 55 people and most of the inhabitants are really quite friendly. There is not a heck of a lot to do, so I can understand why a lot of the population has embraced drinking as a primary pastime.

We were tired and decided we didn’t need to watch the rest of the game, so we bid adieu to the Ocean View, and walked the mile back to the marina along the dark, dirt road with our flashlight. The crowd of skydivers and kite boarders were hooting and hollering at the TV up at the marina restaurants as they watched the 2nd half of the Superbowl, while we lay snug in our V-berth wondering what we were missing.

It is now two days since I wrote this blog and we’ve had a change in plans. Due to boat insurance considerations and the inability to buy diesel fuel in Ile a Vache, Haiti, we’ve decided to take the other route to the Caribbean. From here we will sail to the Turks and Caicos and then travel along the north coast of the Dominican Republic, go through the Mona Passage (bt. Puerto Rico and the DR) and land on the south coast of Puerto Rico….or maybe we’ll turn around from Turks and Caicos and head back north… We’ll keep you posted as we continue on this mystery tour.

The crossing of the Gulf Stream from Miami to the Great Bahama Bank (A shallow shelf in the sea, not a place to keep money) was not quite as easy as we’d imagined. We thought with a west wind of 20 - 25 knots we’d fly across to our first way point just north of Bimini, the western most Bahamian Island. In reality we could only sail southeast or northwest of our mark, because the wind was right at our back. Putting the sails out wing and wing was difficult to maintain as it was a bit too rough for Kenny to put out the whisker pole with his delicate knee.

We reluctantly resolved to motor-sail and after ten hours gratefully arrived on the crystal clear, suddenly calm, waters of the Bank. We ended up going through a cut in the Bimini Island chain rather than shooting for the more northerly waypoint. The only disadvantage to that was that we found ourselves sailing in 6 to 10 feet of water, which when it became dark started to spook me. What if the shoals shifted and the chartplotter was no longer accurate? In daylight, you can see shallows and sail around them, but at night… I woke Kenny and told him I wanted to deviate from our course to sail in deeper water. He sleepily agreed, not knowing it would add 16 nautical miles to our trip. The good part was that this new course made for a lovely point of sail and we gently moved through slightly deeper and calm waters at 4-5 knots underneath a sky emblazoned with stars.

Later on my watch at about 3 a.m., I decided we should drop the anchor and sleep for a couple of hours and wait until daylight before going through another potentially tricky area. Once again, the captain acquiesced. The banks are no more than 30 feet in most places, so if it’s fairly calm you can drop the anchor anywhere.

We docked at the Nassau Yacht Haven at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 9. I apologized to the customs officer for making her work on a Sunday evening. She was very nice and gave us a 90 day visa. (Many cruisers have been given only 30 days, for reasons unknown to us.) Cruising in the Bahamas for one season costs $300 which includes a fishing permit. Not cheap.

We enjoyed a dinner out at the Poop Deck, adjacent to our marina. It was ridiculously expensive as is everything in the Bahamas, but we felt like celebrating. That night we slept like the dead.

The following day, I trudged off to Batleco (the phone company) while Kenny washed the boat. I purchased a Blackberry last summer because it has a GSM chip, and I was told it could be used all over the world. A Sprint employee explained that all I needed to do, was take out the Sprint SIM card and put in the card of the country in which I was traveling. Tiffany Ferguson, a very lovely and helpful employee of Batelco, tried to assist me in this procedure, only to discover that Sprint had put a lock on the phone preventing me from converting it to a Batelco phone while visiting the Bahamas. I intend to break my contract with Sprint, and if I had the energy I would start a class action suit against them, as this seems to me a highly illegal practice.

I bought a calling card from Tiffany instead which can be used with pay phones. I tried using it that evening to no avail, so the following day I tramped back to Batelco and got yet another card, which does work, though my mother was not in when I called. I shall use it, the next opportunity I get.

After two nights in Nassau, Kenny and I moved Mary T to an anchorage just six miles to the east next to a tiny piece of rock and scrub with a few houses, called Rose Island. It provides excellent protection from the north and was a lovely place to sit out a cold front and enjoy kayaking. I discovered a little beach with chairs and a hammock, which I rested in one day before kayaking back to Mary T.

We intended to leave Rose Island after 3 nights but the wind was still rather fierce, so we decided to stick it out one more day and headed for Shroud Cay in the Exuma chain on Saturday, January 15. We will always remember Rose Island because it was a place of many firsts. There, Kenny baked his first loaf of bread; I made my first granola; and I wrote my first tune (the Cruising Blues) on the Ukulele. Now instead of listening to Polly Wolly Doodle ad nauseum, Kenny has to suffer through endless repetitions of “The Cruising Blues.”

A very lively sail from Rose Island landed us in Shroud Cay a couple of days ago. It is part of the Exuma Land and Sea Park, which means it’s a no take zone - no fishing, no hunting, etc. There are creeks there which run through the mangroves so we took a spin in our dinghy and felt like Katherine Hepburn and Humprey Bogart on African Queen, only more comfortable. Another couple from Maryland, Sarah and Phil aboard Spartina,  joined us in their dinghy and then invited us over for a sundowner aboard their boat. Phil and Sarah are our new best friends, and they share some old friends in common with Kenny. It turns out we’d all met a few years ago at the mutual friends’ house (the Scotts) on the Eastern shore of Maryland.

We are currently (as of January 18) in Wardrick Wells, which is also part of the Land and Sea Park and another truly magical, postcard kind o’ place. As we picked up our mooring, banana quit birds joined us in the cockpit to scour for crumbs. They have no fear of people as they used to be fed sugar by hand on the deck of the park warden’s office. Now that they’ve become somewhat pesky, that practice has ended. A minute ago, one landed right on my computer.

Tomorrow if it’s warm enough, I hope to do a bit of snorkeling and a hike through the park will be in order. Until our next entry, know that while the dazzling Bahamian waters continue to enchant us, we are missing you all.

 We celebrated “Pirate Saturday” with grand-daughter Trynity, last weekend. She spent the night aboard the Mary T and delighted us with her excellent reading and interpretation of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” We went to Peanut Island on Sunday for a bit of exploring and digging. We all had a wonderful time. (Click on the pictures to see an enlarged version).

Our trip to the Caribbean has officially begun. We left Deale, MD, on Monday, October 18–only two and a half weeks after our target date. Although we had been preparing for this trip for about a year, the month of September was especially frantic.

We had the boat hauled out and did all the bottom cleaning, painting, waxing, some minor hull repairs, along with the installation of our new solar panels. We stayed with our dear friends, Tim, Viki, and Annie while Mary T was out of the water. As usual, they treated us like family and never put any pressure on us to get a move on.

We didn’t want to live aboard Mary T on the hard. For one thing, the boat sits at a steep angle with the bow higher than the stern so the rain won’t collect on deck. Secondly, it’s not very romantic.

At the time we were getting hauled out, Hurricane Earl was a potential threat to the Chesapeake region, so, Robert, the yard manager at Shipwright Harbor Marina, placed Mary T in a safe place amongst some larger vessels and also put additional jack stands under her as a precaution. Robert was also very helpful with advise on some of our repairs.

The major event of our September occurred on the 19th, when we went to Gloucester, MA to get married aboard the sailing vessel, Windfall, a Hinckley 49. Windfall is owned by our friends Raffi and Lisa who charter her out of Gloucester in the summer, and then, out of the Abacos in the Bahamas for the winter. Massachusetts is one of the few states that allows ship captains to perform weddings. So, when Amy and I got engaged, it was a no-brainer to ask Raffi to officiate ours. My brothers Jack, and Bob, along with all of Amy’s family came aboard for the ceremony. We left the dock, circled around Gloucester harbor, and then head to Misery Island near Salem and Marblehead. What better place to start a marriage, eh? It was a splendid day aboard Windfall, followed by an exquisite meal at Duckworth’s Bistrot back in Gloucester. (yes, that is the way they spell “bistro.”) We highly recommend Windfall to all who may be looking to charter a crewed sailboat. (www.defiancesailcharters.com) (Go to: Wedding Photos)

Our trip to Massachusetts, by car, was a great opportunity to visit crusing friends Lou and Jane in Nyack, NY, as well as Corning and Tita in Edgecomb, ME. It was a very special ten days. Kind of like a “pre-honeymoon.” In between, we stayed at Amy’s sister, Molly’s, place in Littleton, MA. Molly, husband Tim, and son Woody, hosted with the mosted, making us, along with the rest of Amy’s family, feel like royalty.

We had to complete all our boat work after the wedding when we returned to Maryland. Weather played a small part in our delayed departure but most of our time was spent re-organizing our lives. With daughter Kai-lee’ and family headed to Finland in May, 2011, we realized that we had better get all our stuff out of their garage and attic. Then there was the unexpected passing of Peter, the Berke family dog. Kai-lee’ and Rory had raised Peter since his puppy-hood in Hawaii and his passing was very painful. He was special and will be sorely missed. Here is a short film Amy did when we were pet-sitting Peter a few years back.

So, after several farewell dinners with friends and family in October, we thought we were ready to set sail on the 14th. But then, during a routine trial of the motor, we found that our motor gauges were going crazy. Needles were flying all over the place while others were normal. We looked everywhere for some clue as to why, but found none until Sunday. That day, we found a wire with a broken ring connection to the alternator. Once that was repaired, we were golden. Or, so we thought.

We left Deale Monday despite the fact that the tachometer was not working. We did not understand that that meant the alternator was not putting juice into the batteries. Fortunately, Monday was sunny so our solar panels were charging the batteries. We made it to Solomons where we had a rendezvous with sailor friends David and Peggy for one last farewell dinner. Tuesday, we saw by way of our boat’s regulator, that the alternator was functioning but failing to charge the batteries.Tuesday we arrived in Deltaville, VA, and were very fortunate to find a highly recommended mechanic, Henry Lackey. Dripping with southern hospitality and charm and an accent to match it, he came out immediately to Mary T to help us. He found yet another broken wire that was a completely different issue from the one I had found a couple of days earlier. All is well now: alternator, regulator and tachometer all working like a charm. Henry showed up later in the evening with a promised gift of two bottles of his home-made wine — one tomato and the other crab apple. We sampled the tomato, which was white and tasted nothing like tomatoes. Hard to say what it tasted like…but we were touched by the gesture.

In Norfolk, we anchored in Willoughby Bay surrounded by Naval ships. Rebel Marina owner, David Briggs, was very kind to us and let us tie up our dinghy at one of his docks and borrow the courtesy car. We needed to drive our portable Honda generator to a Honda dealer for repair. David also offered us the use of his marina’s showers, morning coffee… and he always had plenty of time to chat no matter if he was in the middle of a million tasks. Now that’s southern hospitality.

Cruising married is much different than it was when we were lovers. Amy won’t stop telling me what to do and I scowl and mope.

Today (Sunday, Oct. 24) we continued on to Great Bridge, VA where we sit presently, tied to the side of a canal with other cruisers watching the Canadian geese swim back and forth. The tachometer has stopped working again. Henry!!

On May 1, we did a land cruise to Baltimore so that Susie Chatham could cover the American Visionary Art Museum’s annual Kinetic Sculpture race for her yet-to-be-named next film. Tim Keating, ace cameraman, did the filming. Ken was driver, key grip, and best boy. Although it was rather hot that day, this was one of the most fun events we’ve ever been to. The crowd was outlandishly festive.

Amy hopes to have some footage ready for YouTube in the coming weeks, but until then, we hope you enjoy the still photos below.