This blog begins with our Atlantic crossing on February 14, then reverts backwards to our stay in Ft. Lauderdale February 11-13 and ends on February 11 when we left Key Biscayne and cruised through Miami.
The Crossing: February 14, 2009
Freedom’s Turn made her Atlantic crossing safely on Saturday, February 14 from Ft. Lauderdale to West End of Grand Bahama Island. We had the pleasure of having the company of Jim and Lisa from the boat Kismet as our buddy boat and hope to continue traveling together to our mutual destination of Sea Spray Marina on Elbow Cay in the Abacos by Saturday, February 21 or so. Our Atlantic crossing was safe and a thrill. Up to that day, we had traveled 2,939 miles since leaving our home port of Cheboygan, Michigan on August 8, 2008.
And by crossing the Atlantic Ocean in our very own boat, Charlie and I have now accomplished a starred item on our “Bucket” list!
This is the main channel to the ocean that all the big cruise boats come in and out of. We had to navigate around five big cruise ships. The main one above, is a Princess boat similiar to what Carrie and Jody just took on a cruise at Christmas and one in the distance is a Celebrity boat similair to what Charlie and I had taken two years ago, both out of this same channel. For us, coming back on our own boat now, it was a feeling like completing a life circle! Kismet leads the way for us as we navigated ourselves out of the New River, where we stayed three miles up river at Cooley's marina in downtown Ft. Lauderdale for the past three nights. We studied the weather several times each day while in Ft. Lauderdale and delayed our departure day by one day. Jim and Charlie said this was the day to go so go we did.
Our crossing took us 8 nautical miles east to the Gulf Stream, then crossed the 25 miles wide Gulf Stream in a path heading north and east to the West End of Grand Bahama Island. The trip took 9 hours and we traveled 75 nautical miles.
At 7 a.m. the seas were 79.7 degrees with the winds at 8.15 knots coming out of the WSW. Wave height was 2 ft with big rollers every minute or two and it became choppy until we reached the Gulf Steam where the seas settled down a bit. We felt more free to move around then, but Linda relied on eating her crystallized ginger root candy to settle her stomach.
Freedom's Turn's speed was set at 7 knots. When we settled into the Gulf Stream, our gage indicating SOG (speed over ground) showed 9.4 knots, telling us that the Gulf Stream was giving us about a 2.4 knot boost north and east. Thus, Charlie set our course 18 nautical miles south of West End, counting on the Gulf Steam currents to give us that 2 knot boost north and west over the 9 hours. The water temperature increased to 81 degrees in the Gulf Stream.
When planning a crossing of the Gulf Stream in a small boat, wind speed and wind direction are probably the most important factor in deciding when to cross. In all our readings and advice given to us, it was best to have no northerly component in the wind direction and only go with a wind speed of 10-15 knots maximum. We follow these weather web sites to help us: Passageweather.com, sailflow.com, ikitesurf.com and weatherunderground.
Other important factors to consider are having full fuel tanks, engine in top notch condition, acurate depth sounder, GPS on target and your VHF marine radio working perfectly. Charlie had gone over the entire boat from top to bottom with all mechanical systems a go. But you never know what may go haywire at any given boat.
Having a buddy boat to travel with in the Ocean is highly recommended for pleasure craft boats. Should a need arise, one can feel more comfortable to have other people nearby on a backup boat for help. Also, different boats can take turns leading the way. This offers relief from always being on top of things or from always looking into the sun directly. And it is a great way to share both information back and forth as well as help pass the time because the hours can get long while cruising.
The day was all about the color blue. The bluest of skies and the most beautiful shade of indigo blue for the water. (This ocean water blue reminded me of the same color of the bridesmaids’ gowns for Carrie and Jody's wedding!)
Out in the ocean with no land to see, we felt our insignificance in the grand scheme of things. The forces of Mother Nature were direct and all powerful. We felt like a small speck in the biggest field of energy and life we could have ever imagined. This notion can work on your mind in an unnerving way if you let it.
So we concentrated on business as usual and settled into eating our bowls of cereal with bananas at lunch time and kept telling ourselves we could and we were doing this! We talked about how far we thought we could see in the distance. Charlie gave me some of his trivia wisdom. ( as first mate I listen wide eyed and alert)) He said “if one is standing on flat land with nothing to block their view, one can see about 9 miles away and not much further, due to the curvature of the earth. Since we are up 12 feet while cruising, I bet we can see farther than 9 miles.” ( I smile and take this into account.)
I remember once seeing a long necked white bird fly past us at a distance. We were several miles out. I wondered how he could have so much strength to fly such a long distance, continuously. I watched intently as he flapped his wings 10 times then glided a rather long distance then repeated the sequence several times. This is a miracle of nature; the way a bird can fly in such a rhythm for such a long time and find his way.
Charlie said he saw some huge sport fish at one time leap out of the water. Jim from Kismet radioed us to look and find the schools of hundreds of little 6 inch fish that were literally flying out of the water. But then, everything was amazing that day.
These photos are among the first ones we took. We were approaching the Ginn Su Mar Marina in Old Bahama Bay, the marina where we stayed.
Around 4 p.m. we safely entered the port of Old Bahama Bay, West End, Grand Bahama Island.
We pictured having a very happy Happy Hour later.
All pleasure boats entering the Bahamas are required to clear Customs and Immigration at their point of entry. We chose the West End because it has such a port as well as a nice marina. It also is one of the shortest distances to cross over from Florida to the Bahamas. This port is on the way for us to eventually get to the Abacos.
As we entered the harbor, before going immediately to Customs, we were required to display a yellow flag showing we had not reported in yet. (“quarantine" flag it is called ) After reporting in and cleared, we then had to take the yellow flag down and display the Bahamian visitor flag which is red with a white cross on it and a blue rectangle in the upper left corner. (I will photograph one for you at some point.)
In the customs building, Charlie had to show our passports and our boat's proof of documentation. It was required for me to stay on the boat until he came back and we had then cleared.
We also had to buy a temporary cruising permit while visiting the islands. This permit is $150 for boats 35 feet and smaller and $300 for boats over 35 ft. This permit gives us both the right to fish while we remain here.
Our marina was beautiful and we were grateful to be there, believe me. We treated ourselves to some R & R time lounging around the pool and afterwards went to Kismet’s boat for a celebration of roasted pecans, cheese and crackers, heart shaped little sandwiches and heart candy. It was Valentine’s Day, you know. Charlie told us that Valentine's Day is not officially celebrated here, just individuals celebrate. This is according to Charlie again.
The staff at the marina were very courteous and wanted to help anyway, anytime. We enjoyed a delicious meal of grouper and conch in their restaurant during our stay.
Some of the basics were a bit different at our marina. The water was not always hot in the showers. Water is a valuable commodity here. It is made by reverse osmosis where a resin filter takes the salt out of the water. (and everything else out of it) We paid $10 extra a day for water for our slip. The electricity was not working at our dock so we had to run off the batteries for three days. That meant we could not make ice cubes(!) could not always have hot water or use all the cabin lights to conserve the 12 volt battery power. We managed but had to constantly check our main batteries. We were told we could run our generator in the morning and at night for a few hours which we looked forward to doing each day. The cost of electricity was normally $20 additional per day so we saved some there!
Views as we entered a foreign country!
Views approaching the beach and pool area.
Our friends Jim and Lisa enjoying the pool.
Second day we walked to the
We spotted five huge black Manta rays in the water but they were too quick to photograph.
Above: we are checking the weather while at the West End. Notice the direction of the wind is shown by the handles on the lines. ( the beginning of an arrow pointing the way) The different colors show the wind speed. If you go to this web site, you can make it animated. Here, it shows the winds from the West End were coming out of the north and the light blue color indicated winds at 10-15 knots.Let us now backtrack to Ft Lauderdale.
Ft. Lauderdale Day 189-191 February 11-13.
We came into Ft. Lauderdale on the Intracoastal and went up the New River about two miles to our city marina in the downtown, called Cooley's Marina. The ICW goes north and south here and the New River flows off of the ICW to the west. The main channel out to the ocean comes off the ICW on the east.
We were very fortunate to meet up with some boater friends of ours and Kismet's, Harold and Cheryl from the boat Victory. We met them in the fall on the rivers. Now they have finished the loop and reside back in Ft. Lauderdale. They invited us to their home and treated us to a wonderful dinner and even took us to get groceries, to Office Depot, and Charlie and I to the Bureau of Customs and Immigration to get a special card to use when we returned to the U.S. We will never forget their gracious hospitality! They actually live right on the main channel going out to the ocean and we waved to Harold as we passed by leaving Ft. Lauderdale.
Above- A view as we walked the riverfront on the New River, downtown Ft. Lauderdale, close to our marina. The yellow boat is a water taxi .
Linda went to the Ft. Lauderdale Historical Museum on the river where she took in a Frank Loyd Wright exhibit there. The relationship with Frank Loyd Wright and Ft. Lauderdale is brief but significant. One of his projects brought him here in the late 1930's when he came to design this circular river cottage for a couple. It never was built but it is a example of his early circular building designs.
Top: Circular living space,then circular bedrooms, and the patio at the bottom.
This is what Mr. Wright looked like during the 40's. I do not know his age in this photo of him.
Miami Beach on our starboard.
I took several architectural photos especially for our architect daughter Christa, noting the interesting shapes as well as the abundance of color on several buildings. (Next time we watch CSI Miami, Charlie and I will definitely have to pay close attention to try and recognize any of the buildings!)
Some of our spectacular views
Buildings are so colorful in Miami
The sequence of our travels in the Bahamas this past week was as follows:
February 17 Anchorage at Great Sale Cay
February 18 Mooring ball at Black Sound, Abaco
February 19- 20 Green Turtle Club, Green Turtle Cay, Abaco
Leave tomorrow (21) hopefully, for Sea Spray Marina, Elbow Key, Abaco
