Blog 033 – A Party, Another Big Storm And Middle Ground

Amazing day in the Bahamas

It was one of those perfect, and I do mean perfect, days in the Bahamas. Liana just mentioned that for the first time she finally felt like we were actually here. This is how she imagined the Bahamas. Turquoise water making hardly a ripple and so clear we could walk all the way around the boat and count each starfish below. We could easily see the anchor in twelve feet of water.

Early that morning she asked me to help take some of the frost out that was building up in the freezer. And there it was, a neatly wrapped gift from our brother-in-law, Joe. Liana’s sister Lita and husband Joe had visited us in North Carolina for a week of R&R at Cape Lookout. Before we left for the Cape we all had a BBQ with our old friends from San Diego, Steve & Tempra who now lived in Raleigh, NC. Steve had requested Joe’s carne asada. This is famous world-wide. Even when they get visitors from Denmark it’s at the top of the request list. Joe never does anything small, so when he mixed up a batch it was twenty pounds of skirt steak all seasoned to perfection. He wrapped half of it for us and we stuck it in the freezer to be used sometime in the future. We were craving it now so we pulled it out to thaw and hopped in the family car (aka: dingy) to give personal invitations to each boat anchored at Meeks Patch.

A few of the 16 people we had on our boat!

And a few more

We stopped by our friends boats first – Cloud 9, then Makani Olu, and then See Ya. Next, we dingied over to Jenny B and met Brian and Michelle and invited them. A bit later another boat came in named TBD with three bachelors onboard. Lou was the captain, Doug and Mike were his buddies out for a month long cruise in the Bahamas. They said they had been eating freeze dried food and some kinda mushy vegan stuff Lou had been feeding them with healthy amounts of grog to wash it down. Lou said he would whip some up for the party but the crew threatened mutiny if he brought any. After everyone had arrived one more boat sailed in. Of course, we had to invite them too. They were French Canadians from Montreal – Michele and Linda. They asked if we spoke French and I said no but come anyway, it will be fun. He asked if our boat was big enough. Good question, come anyway. Liana cooked Mexican rice and refried beans. She chopped onions and peppers and grilled up chicken for fajitas and made iced tea. By 4:30 in the afternoon dingies started showing up and sailors started to fill up the cockpit and the salon. Tom brought some island music and plugged it into our stereo. We had a parking lot of dingies tied along side and everyone was chatting and passing around platters of appetizers and chips. Sixteen people on a 50 foot boat is close quarters but oh did we have fun. I cooked the carne asada on the grill and the smell made us all hungry. Down below a buffet of hot food was coming together. I wondered if we would have enough food? No worries, we had everything from quesadillas to bean dip and fresh made salsa. The conversations went into the evening under the glow of the cabin lights. We listened to sea stories and many enjoyed a few drinks. Then one by one each crew said good-bye, shaking hands and untying dingy painters. Michele and Linda were the last to depart with two kisses, one for each cheek. We handed down bags of dishes and watched them each head back to their boats just before cruisers midnight – 9:00 pm. I know, light-weights, right?

Most of us listen to daily updated weather reports with Chris Parker at 6:30 a.m. on the SSB radio. He had been warning us for a week now to find a safe harbor. He said a wicked low pressure system was going across the U.S. and the Bahamas would be hit by sustained 30-35 knot winds by Sunday evening. At the head of this would be squalls that easily could gust to 50-60 knots with lighting and even waterspouts. Liana and I made plans to tie up Silhouette at Yacht Haven Marina in Spanish Wells just a mile from where were we anchored. Cloud 9, Makani Olu, and TBD were also going there. Phil and Teresa on See Ya were going to stay close to the northeast end of Meeks and ride out the blow at anchor. The French Canadians were heading to Nassau in the morning. Jenny B was also going to stay anchored. They built their boat from the ground up and were by far one of the saltiest among the group having sailed about the world without an engine for two years before putting one on their boat. These guys are not only extreme sailors but they are accomplished rock climbers and Brian is even a kite surfer. What a great day! Thanks again Joe for the carne asada. It was a hit thoroughly enjoyed by all – truly world famous now.

Early Sunday morning the high tide was just hitting Eleuthera and Spanish Wells but the Marina had told us not to come in until after 8 a.m. so they could have dock hands available. I was nervous because the chart clearly states 6 feet 6 inches deep for the inlet channel; that’s the draw of our keel. Floyd the dock master assured me we would still have deep enough water until 9:00 am so we pulled anchor around 7:45 and headed slowly to the channel. The wind was blowing 12-15 knots steady out of the South and we could feel the weather changing. Cloud 9 and Makani Olu went in before us and helped us handle lines when we got there. TBD came in after us. Lou backed into the farthest slip like a true professional. It was fun watching him handle his boat in all that wind. He zigzagged forward and then reverse making a few feet sideways with each one. Even the dock master was impressed by his skills. When he got close enough he threw it hard to starboard and full speed in reverse and pulled a perfect Captain Ron…without the cloud of smoke…and shoved it in neutral against the pilings. Nice show mate. For the next hour we tied stuff down and added fender boards and bumpers and by early afternoon it was starting to really blow. Steady into the 20s and then hard into the 30s by morning with some thunder, lightning and heavy showers.

The next morning we heard some friends in Royal Harbor had a loose boat hit their bow. The boat had slipped their anchor in the 63 knot winds that had exploded over the area. That was just five miles away from us and we had been there just a couple days earlier. We were very glad we opted for tying up to a dock.

Makano Olu: Is this the beginning or the end of the rainbow?

So we survived the storm and moved back to Royal Island Harbor along with Makani Olu. Only a few boats were there when we anchored around 2:00 in the afternoon. The wind was still blowing at 20 knots when we dropped the hook but we knew the weather was going to change and so did everyone else. Soon Royal began to fill up and we knew many of the crews. Lou and his friends on TBD anchored beside us. Fire Light who we had met earlier, had circumnavigated the planet and raised two children aboard. They said they came back three years too soon. We assumed they enjoyed the ten years or so it took them and here they were still cruising. Another boat, Timeless came in and one more boat that we had not met yet, Stella Luna, a 50 foot Hinkley came in just before sunset. Now a Hinkley that has been well cared for is a work of art, the rolls Royce of yachts, and this one was very well cared for. I have seen the sister ship, Bella Luna once before, majestic pieces of nautical history. We were invited to Tom and Annie’s for dinner and it was wonderful. A real treat for Liana because Annie is a gluten-free cook. Dinner was a gigantic crab claw for an appetizer and then chicken enchiladas, delicious.

The next morning our alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. and it was time to sail south to The Exuma Islands. As the sun was rising between the entrance channel, we watched Makani Olu pick up anchor and we were right behind them. Timeless was also going with us. Beside us was TBD and they also were pulling anchor so we gave Lou a call on the VHF. They were also leaving for Highborne Cay. Stella Luna sailed out behind us and when we told them we were all heading to Highborne via Fleeming Channel they decided to join us too. They had not taken this route with such a deep drafted boat and were happy to follow us because we were both dragging the same depth of keel and our boats were very similar in size.

We were streaming a fishing line and so was Makani Olu. About the same time we both had fish on. It was fun reeling this one in because it was big and put up a good fight but in the end we set it free because it was a big barracuda with a huge mouth and lots of razor sharp teeth.

Barracuda we threw back

The bigger they get the more likely they have ciguatera. A disease that is common to reef fish. It can be deadly to humans but usually just makes you feel like you want to die. It affects your gastrointestinal system (diarrhea, cramps, vomiting), neurologic system (blurred vision, teeth pain, paresthesias), and cardiovascular system (arrhythmias, heart block). It can make hot feel cold and cold feel hot. The effects can be severe and last for a few months or for years. So we learned what species are most likely to carry it and we avoid them like the plague…I am pretty sure I used that saying correctly.

The Fleeming Cut is one of those dreaded places that can be a raging sea or a gentle crossing depending on the day. Phillip and Teresa went through this same cut the day before us and they were in the grips of a raging mess and violently tossed about by the confused and dangerous waves. It’s a good thing they were wearing harnesses because at one point white water was flooding into the cockpit. Teresa said she was scared. Thankfully, they came through unscathed but that does not erase the memory of the ordeal. A couple days later we were anchored at Big Majors Cay when we saw Phillip & Teresa tacking into the anchorage. I called them up on the radio and Teresa said they had a problem with their propeller. It was not powering in forward or reverse and they were coming in under sail to anchor. This can be a tricky maneuver that we have never needed to do yet. So I told Teresa we would come over when they got anchored and I would get my dive gear and check it out for them. That’s when they told us how bad it had been going through the Fleeming Cut and how thankful they were this problem did not happen during the crossing. So I geared up to take a look expecting some line fouling the prop or a sheered key on the shaft but everything under the water was fine, except it did not work. We opened up the engine compartment to check out the transmission and shift linkage. There it was. Loose bolts on the shaft coupling that connects the transmission to the shaft. We tightened them up, started the diesel, put it into gear and wa-la, fixed. A few minutes later and they were pulling up anchor and on their way to Little Farmers Cay for the 5 F Festival (Farmers First Friday in February Festival). We would meet them there in a few days.

Oh, back to Fleming Channel and Middle Ground. Seems like a middle of the road kinda word – Middle Ground. It could be referring to the patch of green grass down the middle of a dirt road. Or possibly the fertile soil propped up between rows of corn in a field. No, this simple word refers to a minefield, of sorts. Somebody screwed up when they named this piece of real estate. So here we were, another armada of sailboats going into the danger zone of another cut. But today, as predicted, it was a walk in the park. A bit bumpy and some strong current, but we got to see it when the seas were calm.

Little did we know really dangerous stuff was just around the corner, a coral garden called Middle Ground. Not sure how these actually develop but if you blasted the top off of a huge volcano and spread the lava bombs out over say 30 miles or so and place the tops of them just below the surface of the water, and then put so many of them there that even the chart maker gives up, so instead of putting them on the chart he just adds a few and says, “Warning: visual piloting rules apply,” for this area not all corral heads are charted, this is the coral garden. Now you can get a feel for how Middle Ground is arranged. It’s a fiberglass destroying minefield of hidden rocks just waiting to take apart at the seams any boat unaware. Our plan was a game of follow-the-leader, preparing for them one at a time, going single file and only a few boat lengths apart.

Single File through Middle Ground

We proceeded with caution into the minefield. Makani Olu went first because they had been through this many times before. They had previous waypoints saved for a safe transit to follow. They would spot the corral heads and give us the general position, port or starboard, close aboard or several yards away. At first it was a few and it lulled us into a sense of security, like no problem. Then reality set in. Liana was on the bow with headphones on, spotting the corral heads as I was at the helm. She would call out the course changes – a little to port, a little to starboard, hard to port, hard to starboard. Then it was, oh no…I’m not sure which way to go, and then, were going to go right between these, we’ll have a few feet on each side if you turn to port right now, now go starboard and slow down or you’re going to hit one dead ahead, go left, go left, go left.

(That last makes me feel like we are back in England driving on the wrong side of the highway with all the cars coming at us. At each roundabout she would say, stay left, stay left, stay left). Every once in a while I would look at the other boats and we all looked like a snake winding through a rock pile. This went on for a couple tense hours and by the time we got out of it I needed to change my shirt and my shorts. Ok, just kidding about one of those. Well, we did all make it through and Stella Luna hailed us on the radio and said thanks for letting them tag along. They were heading to the marina and the rest of us were anchoring off Highbourne Cay. We headed between a few islands in a different direction and the rest of that sail was stress free.

Strokes from God’s paintbrush