The night sky in the Bahamas

I'm still at home. Jan and I will leave on Friday for a day in Fort Lauderdale and then we'll fly back to the Abacos on Saturday morning. I thought I'd write about the sky in the Bahamas.

No doubt, the further you get away from light pollution, the brighter the stars in the sky are. Back in the late 80's when we were living in San Diego, I ran a hang glider towing clinic in the desert out near Yuma Arizona. There was a group of us spending 2 days and one night out where we could tow without worry of where the rope landed when we released it from the glider. That saturday night was the most memorable for me in relation to the visible number of stars. We all decided to just sleep out in the desert - without a tent. The number of stars that were visible were simply incredible because we were so far away from the lights of civilization AND the atmosphere had very little humidity in it. As long as I live, I'll never forget that feeling of 'smallness' in the universe.

When Rick and I crossed over from the U.S. to the Bahamas, we got onto the Little Bahamas Bank just after sunset and sailed until 2:30 am. It was a perfectly clear night and the closest I've come to that night 20 years previous in regard to number of stars that you could see. The route we took had us probably 40 miles or more from any population center and so there was very little light pollution, so our only detriment to our seeing the stars was the humidity that you just can't get away from in this part of the world. Again, combining the view of the sky with the fact that we were a 38 foot boat in a vast watery world with no civilization within a reasonable distance - I felt very small.

There's been just a few times that I've felt really small and nearly insignificant in my life. These 2 times and one time when I was at 18,000 feet over Boundary Peak on the north end of the White Mountain range - in the Owens Valley in a hang glider come to mind instantly.

After we'd been in the Abacos for a few days, we were lucky enough to get to experience the Geminid meteor shower while laying on the deck of the sailboat. I saw the most vivid and long lasting meteors I've ever seen that night.

It doesn't escape me - how fortunate I am to be able to add these experiences to the incredible ones I've already had in life. I only wish that more people would take the time and opportunity to make these things happen in their lives as well.

Visiting A Special Place

Doug and I on Sauratown

For years, Doug Hileman and I have met at Hanes Mall early in the morning on Christmas Eve to do our final Christmas shopping. This year I had finished all my shopping so I suggested we head up to Sauratown Mountain to check out the hang gliding launch for 'old time's sake'.

In the early 1980's Doug and I, along with a group of devoted area hang glider pilots opened and developed one of the most reliable soaring sites on the whole east coast. Sauratown Mountain has 300 feet of south facing granite cliffs that collect the heat from the sun all day long and releasing it as thermals and the evening 'glass off' conditions which Sauratown became famous for.

Sauratown Mountain represents one of the great times in my life where I had a core group of close friends who all few together and worked for the combined goals of flying hang gliders at our 'own' site.

I moved away in the late 80's to further my hang gliding career, but all the time keeping my ties to my home site. In the early/mid 2000's the TV station that owned the property and had been working with us for years was bought out and the new owners didn't want the liability of having people flying hang gliders from their property - so they closed the site.

Doug and I met in King on Thursday morning and drove up as far as we could go on Tower Road and parked on the shoulder of the road, in the freshly plowed snow. It was probably a 3/4 mile walk past the locked gate and through the unplowed snow to the parking area where we'd unloaded gliders countless times in the past.

Walking past the old fire tower which apparently hasn't been used in a few years, I was reminded of how many times we used to run up the first few flights of stairs to get the best feel of which way the wind was blowing when we'd get to the top of the mountain. The first flight has now been removed to keep anyone from heading up the aging structure.

The Firetower

Walking on the north side of the rock structure and up the path toward launch, we were the first persons to make prints in the 5 day old snowfall. We crested the 'peak' of the mountain at 2443 feet above sea level and then walked the slight downhill slope over the rocks to the launch area.

The view from the 'peak' of the mountain.

The set-up area, which in the past would accommodate comfortably about 5-6 gliders, and in a pinch would hold 8-10, had now grown up with 4 ft. high scrub pines. The main launch ramp however as still in place and was completely usable - had we brought some gliders along.

The main ramp - still in usable condition

Visibility out into the valley was pretty good. It wasn't so crisp that you could see a sharp horizon, but still a good view.

The view toward King

It was really nice to be back up on the mountain. It brought back a lot of memories and while it was wonderful to be there again, it was quite sad at the same time. A lot of people: Jake, Peter, Tom, Doug, Jeff, Junebug and myself worked really hard to make the site a viable place to fly. Others, Doug R, Jeff R. and more joined later to keep the site open and safe.

We hung out probably about an hour and a half and then headed back to King for some lunch.

While we were up on the mountain, I tried out my new GoProHD camera by mounting it on the end of a 6-8 ft stick. You can see a couple of minutes of footage below:

Sauratown Launch - Christmas Eve 2009 from GW Meadows on Vimeo.

Be sure to click on HD to see it in the highest resolution.

More Abaco

On Thursday, Rick and I walked down to the south end of the island to visit with a nice fellow and his wife that we met at Grabbers. Bruce and Deb have been building a house for the last 5 years. Bruce comes down to Guana for a few months a year to work on the house. They just finished it.

We had a long hike to get to the area where their house is. Bruce was working on a buddy's house next door and Deb had gone into the 'big city' of Marsh Harbor. Bruce was looking for any excuse to not work anymore so he gave us a tour of that end of the island. It was a great time. He took us back into town on his 'gator' style vehicle and we sat around and talked with Jerry (who owns one of the main businesses in town) as we watched the town folk drive by in their golf carts.

What a fun time.

When we got up on Friday, the weather forecast was for gale force winds on friday night and saturday and so since we had to be in Marsh Harbor on Saturday for our flight back to FL, we went ahead and prepared the boat for the 10 days or so that I'll be away and we took the 4:30 ferry over to Marsh Harbor and got a hotel room. We had a little concern that the weather may keep the ferry from operating on Saturday morning and didn't want to miss our flight.

I'll be home until late december/early January when Jan will come back with me for some needed time off.

Back on Guana Cay

We went ashore in Hopetown this morning to have breakfast at Capt. Jacks, then we left the anchorage and sailed back to Guana Cay. After getting back to our mooring, we got our snorkel gear and headed over to the beach in front of Nippers bar and did a little snorkeling on a fairly barren reef.

We came back to the boat and Rick fixed up a great pot of food and we headed over to Grabbers for Wednesday night potluck, where the locals and visiting boaters get together. It was a great time and we learned we were not in the best place for snorkeling. If the weather allows in the next 2 days, we'll head back out with our snorkel gear to the 'right' place.

A fun day. The weather and water were perfect.

Hopetown

The lighthouse on Elbow Cay

With a fully functional boat (except now my main VHF radio has gone out), we decided to head to Hopetown on Elbow Cay today. The wind was light out of the SE (dead on the nose), so instead of tacking our way upwind for 12 miles, we just leisurely motored over.

The water was great. Everything was typical Bahamas and things are really grand.

The water in the Sea of Abaco as we headed Easterly today

We picked up a mooring and no sooner than we had turned off the engine, than a guy came by wearing a 'Downeast Rover' tshirt. Jan has already told me to look for Brad who used to run the Downeast Rover (a sailboat for tourists on the Outer Banks). As he started by and I saw his shirt I asked him what his name was. He turned his dingy around and said it was Brad. I told him I was Jan's husband and it was another example of a small world.

After having a beer on board, we headed ashore and had lunch at the HopeTown Lodge - at their beach bar. The cracked conch was great - although it didn't agree with Rick too well and the bartender was a guy named Gary who was unassumingly very smart. We had an interesting conversation about Edward Teach (look it up) and I was about to bet him a $5 tip that he couldn't name Edward Teach's ship. He pegged "Queen Ann's Revenge" instantly. He's one of those guys you wouldn't expect to have the little treasure trove of knowledge. Goes to show you can't judge the book.....

The beach

After lunch we walked south a bit and then back into town and around the lovely little streets. It was pretty hot today, so we came back to the boat and chilled out a while.

Around 4, we went to the lighthouse and went up into the top for a look around. The lighting was great and harbor looked marvelous.

The view from the top of the lighthouse

We went to happy hour at Capt. Jacks where we had 2 for 1 Margaritas and since it was taco tuesday some great tacos.

Back on the boat now. We'll head back over to Guana Cay tomorrow.

Alternator, - check!

The view off the back of the ferry as we leave Guana on the way to Marsh Harbor

If you've been reading this blog, you know that I've been playing the alternator follies. The first alternator went out at 3 am on last wednesday morning. The second one went out before midnight on the same day.

Once I got to the Bahamas, acquiring what I needed to replace the alternator has been less than easy.

Today, I took my second trip on a ferry into Marsh Harbor and went to the NAPA. Before I went, I contacted my alternator guy (the one who rebuilt the first one poorly) and got him to cross reference my alternator with the closest one from NAPA. Thusly I was able to march in with the part number I needed.

They didn't have the exact one I needed, but they had one that was close and so I hopped the ferry back over to Guana Cay.

After installing the new alternator (with much sweat and effort), it didn't work. I called my guy in the US and asked him why. He said it wasn't a 'self exciting' alternator. It seems that alternators have to be told to 'engage' by some mechanism other than the belt turning them (that seems like enough to me). The one I was supposed to get would know to engage on it's own (self exciting), while the one I got uses a series of wires from the car to do this.

Luckily, I understand electronics and so after Bill told me what had to happen for it to work I got out all my electronics stuff and built a wiring harness which I connect one end to the two probes on the alternator and the other end to a switched 12v connection. Now when I turn on the key to the boat - it sends a message to the alternator telling it to 'alternate'. Go figure.

Glad to have the boat back as it should be.

We may sail over to Hope Town tomorrow. I'll take photos. It's a photogenic place.

A great Sunday!

Last night on the boat at sunset. I've been taking these type of photos with the camera mounted on the end of a 12' boat hook (pole)

Nippers on sunday afternoon.

This morning in the anchorage. I thought the clouds really looked nice

We had a great day yesterday. It was the first day since we got into Abaco on Friday that the winds haven't been pretty strong and even quite a bit cloudy. I got some boat projects done - cleaned the bilge and replaced a pump in the shower sump. I put a new and badly needed new painter (rope) on the dingy.

Around 1:30 or so, we left the boat and went over to Nippers for some drinks and lunch. Sunday's are the biggest day of the week for nippers so it was a decent crowd. Around 4:30 or so we came back to the boat and chilled out while the sunset. About dark, we went back ashore and had drinks and dinner at Grabbers. We got back out to the boat somewhere around 8pm I think and watched the meteor showers for a while.

This morning the anchorage is very calm and nice. I've been tracking down part numbers for the alternator via skype and I'll be getting on the 11:30 ferry and headed over to Marsh Harbor for parts scouting. Hopefully I'll get what I need on this trip. I've already had a new 93 amp alternator made up for me in the states that I'll bring back to the boat after Christmas. This way I'll have a spare and not get in this situation again.

Chillin' in Guana

Serenity on her mooring in Settlement Harbor - Guana Cay

That's not Guano - it's Guana :)

Because of our adventure of getting towed into Guana, we had not cleared customs. There's no customs office on this island and so we had to take care of that. We were actually - by law - a bit out of compliance, so I gingerly asked around about the best way to take care of it.

Troy at Dive Guana - who knows EVERYTHING there is to know about the Abacos, told me to call over to customs in Marsh Harbor and tell them the story and ask them what to do. They just said bring the documents for the boat and our passports and come over to the Airport.

So at 11:30, we hopped on the ferry and rode a half hour over to Marsh Harbor. A 10 minute cab ride later we were talking to the customs folks and going through the process of clearing in. After that, we had our cabbie take us by the only auto parts store open on saturday and I spent about 30 wasted minutes trying to get them to see if they had an alternator. There's a NAPA in town and I'll have the alternator guy back in Palm Beach find out what NAPA alternator will work - on monday morning, then I'll take the ferry back over and try to get one.

This is the townspeople on Guana Cay - all turning out on this saturday morning to decorate their town Christmas Tree in the Town Square (the fig tree).

Our ferry back to Guana left at 3:30 and since we were done with customs and stuff by 1:30, we went to Snappas - a bar/restaurant on the harbor and had lunch. Then we walked around and looked at boats and walked to a resort on the NE end of the island.

We got back to Guana a little after 4 and I got on the internet and booked our flights home so we can both be home by Christmas.

Tomorrow - we have absolutely nothing to do, so if the weather's good we'll do some exploring.

The longest day....2

This morning we got up and got the boat ready to tow it to Guana Cay. During the night, I had an idea to tow it to Guana where I could put it on a mooring ball instead of anchoring in Marsh Harbour. The advantage is that you don't have to worry about the anchor dragging if the wind pipes up to 30 + knots. I called Troy at Dive Guana and got a monthly rate for a mooring ball that was a good deal and so we towed to Guana Cay.

We left from Spanish Cay at 11:15 under tow. The conditions were not lovely. We saw winds over 25 knots and seas of 4 or more feet. This is not so bad when under sail, but it was kinda sucky while being towed without an sail up. We towed for 4 hours - sometimes at speeds of 8 knots. Our tow guides brought us through the back way - Don't rock passage - instead of us having to risk going out through the Whale Cay passage which would have been treacherous. We arrive before 4pm and tied up to a mooring.

We sent to Nippers - on the beach for a very strong drink and then to Grabbers for another strong drink and dinner.

Tonight, it is blowing 15 - 20 knots, but I will sleep very well with earplugs in. I will also sleep late - at least until 7 am or so.

It's all good....

Crossing the gulfstream at 7+ knots with a reefed main and genoa.

Approaching the Bahama Bank near sunset.

Serenity tied to the dock in Spanish Cay

Spanish Cay in the early morning.

After a day of uncertainty of what we will be doing regarding the boat's alternator and getting to somewhere safe and affordable, all (most of) the questions were answered this morning in a manner to my liking.

We are currently sitting at the northern end of the Sea of Abaco in an exclusive resort marina. Now, that itself doesn't seem so bad, but this is the kinda place where you can have your cruising budget eaten up pretty quickly. TowBoatUS is on the way here now and will be towing us to Great Guana Cay (my favorite) where I have just reserved a mooring ball for a month for a very affordable price. A mooring is a permanently installed anchor that has a float on top of it. You can sail into a mooring field and attach yourself to it and not worry about dragging an anchor when the wind pipes up. This arrangement allows for sleep at nights without worrying about waking up aground at the shoreline. It's the best of all worlds in that you're still your own 'island' in the water - not being tied to a dock, but you have security. This will allow for me to not worry about the boat while home for Christmas as well.

We will then arrange for alternator by ferry to Marsh Harbor. Marsh Harbor is a great place, but not as great as Guana, so I'm glad our base will be Guana. Also, there's no moorings in Marsh Harbor for rent, so when the wind hits 30 knots tomorrow night, I'll be sleeping like a baby instead of being on anchor watch.

Another good bit of news: To cross between the northern end of the Sea of Abaco and the southern end, you have to cross the Whale Cut passage. When the wind is strong North or Northeast, this is a treacherous passage - even being only a mile or so wide. Recently, a passage known as the 'Don't Rock' passage (it goes past Don't Rock) has deepened allowing for boaters with local knowledge to pass inside the lee of the Whale passage. Since we will be towed, the tow boat operator will be taking us through there - allowing us to get to Guana - which we otherwise would not be able to do in these weather conditions.

See - things are looking up.

I'll update after the big move.

Adventure defined

A very fun 2 day period - accented by frustration.

Wednesday morning, we left the inlet at 3 am, got into the ocean and the alternator on the boat quit working. We turned around and headed back into the anchorage, slept for about 3 hours, took the alternator out and I dinghied over to Riviera Marina, paid $10 park the dingy, called a cab that didn't come, hailed one that was going by, went to a marine alternator shop where the 2 guys quickly rebuilt the alternator and then drove me back to the marina. Dinghied back out to the boat, installed alternator, waited to hear from Jan about her doctor appointment, then headed out across the gulfstream.

Sailed all the way across to the Bahama Bank and more than half the way to Great Sale Cay. Started up the engine after the wind died back to 10 knots. After 5 hours or so of motorsailing, the shaft bearing on the alternator went out. We sailed the rest of the way to Great Sale Cay, anchored in the lee of the cay, got 4 hours of sleep and then sailed out of the anchorage - very slowly in light winds. We saw several periods underway of almost 7 knots today, but sometimes it was as slow as 2.5 knots. We tried all day to contact TowBoatUS (which I have towing insurance with) to meet us in the sea of abaco and tow us to Marsh Harbour, but could only get them just before dark - and they wouldn't come out that late. We sailed to just outside of Spanish Cay marina where the staff came out and towed us into a slip. The dock hand 'crashed ' us into the pier by locking down on the bow line instead of slowing us. Damaged the teak on my boat. Will have to fix it in the next few days.

We're supposed to be towed to Marsh Harbor tomorrow morning if weather permits a crossing of the Whale Cay channel. Marsh Harbor is the only place that we have a chance of getting a new alternator - or a replacement flown in.

Other than all the hassle, the sail was tremendous. Having a good time.

Headed out - again

Got into the ocean at 3 am this morning and the alternator died. Came
back in - got a new one and we are underway again 7 hours later.

Poised and Ready

We moved south about 5 miles today to the Lake Worth Inlet Anchorage. First we stopped at the sailfish marina and filled up with fuel and water. We plan to get up around 2 am and be underway around 2:30. We should be on the Bahamas Bank by 11 am at the latest. The forecast winds are from the south at 16 knots, so it should be good sailing. Seas are supposed to be less than 4 feet. We plan to continue across the banks and anchor on the NW side of Great Sale Cay Wednesday night and then continue on to Green Turtle Cay by Thursday night where a fast moving front should sweep through after we're in White Sound.

I'll update the blog from there.

On the Hook

We've been in North Palm Beach since friday night - waiting on the needed weather to cross to the Abacos. That weather looks like it is about to be here and we'll probably cross on wednesday - leaving from the inlet anchorage around 3 am or so. It's a 2 day sail to the sea of Abaco, so we should be in the Green Turtle Cay anchorage (probably Black Sound) on thursday night.

When we arrived here on friday night, there were rain squalls and thunderstorms rolling through and we couldn't get the anchor to set on the western side of the anchorage. We drug anchor twice in the darkness and rain, so we had to pull up anchor both times and try to reset. That's no fun in a driving rain. With saturday's daybreak came better weather and we moved to the eastern side of the anchorage where we've had great holding.

Saturday night, Rick and I went to the boat parade as shoreside observers. We watched it from a bar/restuarant called Panama Hatties that's located right on the ICW which was the parade route.

Sunday evening, Jan came down and has hung out with us for 2 nights and will go home today.

It looks like a good crossing forecasted with 15 knot winds out of the south. That's good for sailing at top speed.

The morning after the storm.

Such a lovely morning at the North Palm Beach anchorage. Last night
was a series of rain squalls and thunderstorms that had us dragging
anchor twice. We had to reset the anchor in pretty miserable condition
2 times.

It's always good to see the daylight after a night like that. We're
gonna move to the other side of the anchorage this morning - hoping
for better holding.

Underway to north Palm Beach

Headed south to hang in the NPB area to be ready for a weather window
for crossing to the Bahamas.

Thursday morning in the mooring field

We've got some persistent south winds so we're hanging in Vero a
little while longer to try and avoid heading into them.

Things are good. Not much to report.

Underway

Rick Jacob and I, joined by Dan Johnson took the first leg of our trip
yesterday from daytona to Titusville. Dan was only able to spend the
first day with us (he's a busy guy) but it was great to have him
along. We anchored outside of the Titusville marina in perfect
conditions. Right now Rick and I are southbound to Vero Beach where
we'll spend tomorrow waiting out a storm.