It’s been a fast week and we’ve been working away at all our normal storage jobs. Not much to report except that we are actually ahead of ourselves and have only a few more items to complete before we haul out on May 2nd.
So this is a very short post because we’re close to hauling out. All is good here on the pier and very soon we’ll be in the storage yard. Next post will probably be my last for this season. I’ll give you some more detail about what to expect for next year!!! Stay tuned 😁
It’s been a fun filled week of boat jobs – the never ending list!! It has taken 6 days to complete the paint job in the cockpit (plus surrounding deck). The cockpit was divided in half so we could still enter and exit the boat. Each half needed 3 coats – primer and 2 colour coats. We had a deadline for this job because we were expecting a big rain storm on Sunday, April 21 (which we got at about 9pm that night). Each morning Mark would dry the wet parts of the deck (from the morning dew) and by lunch we’d be done the coat of the day. Finally today (April 22) all the tape came off and all the removed cockpit hardware and other items were replaced. It looks amazing!!! The paint job is complete….for now. After a season of use, we’ve decided that the deck paint we used is too slippery. In November, we will be adding a non-skip paint to parts of the deck (not the entire thing).
Other jobs have also been worked on this week. The V-berth has been washed with soap/water and also with vinegar and water. The vinegar helps control the mold that always grows during storage. The V-berth mattresses were all wrapped up and all the bedding for that room has been laundered and vacuum sealed into various sized bags. After each laundry session, additional fabric items have been vacuum sealed and placed in the V-berth. Unfortunately the enclosure sides are currently hanging out up there but they will eventually be stored in our cabin so I’m working around them the best I can.
Mark has been working on the fuel pressure problem. He took apart the fuel transfer pump and found a completely clogged filter. That must be the culprit!! Off to Napa to get a new filter but he had to order it. The filter arrived on Saturday (April 20) and Mark installed it that afternoon. It took until today for us to test the engine and unfortunately the new filter didn’t fix the problem. Back to the drawing board as they say!
It’s not all work – we’ve had a couple of happy hours with Julia and Brad aboard Alizarin. We also went out for a wonderful dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Green Cove Springs. We were joined by Julia/Brad, Sharon/Rick and Barb/John. It was a fun evening – good food and great company. At the end of the evening, just as we were all heading to our cars, Mark made a little presentation to our American friends Barb and John. Mark gave them “honorary” Canadian passports (which he’d made at home over Christmas using photos of celebrities for the 2) so they could be part of the Canadian club!! It was very funny and Barb and John were delighted to be honorary Canadian citizens!
So the work continues this week! We have a haul out date scheduled for May 2nd so the job pace will pick up a bit now that the painting is finished. The list is long but as usual, it will all get done!!
Being back at the pier means lots of things. It signals that the sailing season is coming to an end and the summer storage jobs are about to start. Along with all the work, there’s a bit of fun to be had!
We started our Reynolds Park spring stay with a happy hour on Alizarin on Saturday, April 13. It was great to see Julia and Brad again and chat about our seasons. Of course we’ve been in contact via messenger but it’s still so much more fun to hear the stories in person. Joining us on Alizarin was Jeannie and Jeff (Merryweather) and Sharon and Rick (Orkan). It was a great way to be welcomed back to Reynolds.
Sunday was the full day of jobs! With the help of Rick, Mark went up the mizzen mast and tied up the wind generator for storage. We don’t need the wind generated power while on the hard so it’s safer to secure it with a few ropes. Once that job was completed, we did a bit of grocery shopping. We returned after lunch, put the groceries away and started back to work. You might not remember this but in the fall we chose to leave the last bit of deck painting to our return so now we have to finish that job. All that’s left is around and inside the cockpit. I emptied the cockpit of all cushions and other items and then hosed down the entire boat (as well as inside the cockpit). While I was washing the boat, Mark was dealing with the spinnaker and other ropes that needed a bit of a rinse. After these jobs were done, we went to the lounge for some air conditioning and relaxation. We met Brad there – he was watching golf so we had a little visit.
Today (April 15) started with Mark prepping the cockpit for painting. Lots of items needed to be removed – speakers, compass, etc and some areas needed to be sanded. As Mark prepped, I washed all the cockpit cushions on the pier (they get very salty after a season). Mark washed the deck and cockpit and then we stopped for lunch. After lunch we taped the area and are now ready to start painting in the morning.
It’s April 13th and we’ve come a long way in 5 days. Our crossing from Ginn Sur Mer was exciting (in a good way). We left right on time – 4 am (April 9th) in the dark and crept our way out to the inlet. At the 1nm point, we turned north west and raised our sails. We were off!!
We had great wind speed and a good direction for a long downwind sail. We fairly quickly got into the edge of the Gulf Stream which gave us a bit more speed. As the day progressed, we got deeper into the Gulf Stream and boy did we start to zoom! The wind was still high (17 – 23 knots) but so were the waves (coming mostly behind us). As long as we had the higher wind speeds, we were able to beat the waves and have a fairly easy ride. Unfortunately the wind was not super consistent so it would dip below 15 knots and then the waves would push us around.
As day wore on, our Gulf Stream advantage really started to pay off. We were seeing consistent boat speeds in the high 8knots to low 9knots. I was watching our progress on my iPad (on an app called Aquamaps) and making note of places we were passing (more than 40nm out). We passed Fort Pierce and then Vero Beach. When we got to Cape Canaveral we hit our high for the trip – 12.3knots with 19knots of wind! Very exciting!!
As morning rolled around, we were already out of the Gulf Stream (had been for several hours) and the wind was directly behind and decreasing in speed (just like last year). The last 70nm into St. Augustine dragged on and we finally reached the inlet at about 1:30pm (April 10). Getting in through the inlet was a challenge. The wind picked up from behind (of course when you don’t want it) to about 16knots. Unfortunately we were facing an outgoing tide which meant we had wind against current going into the inlet. This opposition caused the inlet to be super wavy and it dropped our speed down to 2.8knots!! It seemed to take forever to get through the inlet into the smoother waters of the Matanzas River, but we finally got there! We just missed the 2pm Bridge of Lions opening but got the 2:30 and were secured to our mooring ball at St. Augustine Municipal marina before 3pm.
Our next jobs were to take the dinghy to shore, pay for our 2 nights and then head to the lounge for wifi. Using the ROAM app, we cleared into the USA and requested our cruising license for the year. Foreign flagged vessels must have a cruising license to be able to move around the USA. We had trouble getting one last season (expiry date issues) and had to travel on a permit to proceed (which is a royal pain) so we were very nervous about getting one this time around. But no need to worry – our license was approved the next day! After completing all our business and picking up the new lift pump (which arrived very quickly) we went out for dinner!
Thursday April 11 turned out to be a very bad weather day with high winds, rain and a tornado warning – good thing we were nicely attached to a mooring ball! Mark spent the day installing the new lift pump but unfortunately it didn’t fix our fuel pressure issue! By mid afternoon, the weather had improved and we were able to enjoy a bit of sunshine in the mooring field.
Early Friday morning (April 12), we were up and getting ready to catch the 7am opening for the Bridge of Lions. We were one of many boats heading north – it was quite the parade. We had a nice sunny day but the winds were much higher than expected and our progress up the ICW was slow. We were passed by several powerboats but we kept plugging away at the distance and eventually made it to our destination, Exchange Island, Jacksonville, by 4pm. It was a good night and we even got to see a fireworks display!!
April 13 – our last day of travel!! We were up early and ready to go by 8am. The first opening (after the rush hour closure) of the Main Street Bridge was 8:30am, so we took our time travelling the 3nm to the bridge. We had the current against us so that helped slow us down. We got to the bridge at 8:30, requested an opening and were on our way in no time. It was an easy morning – the wind was from behind so we had the jib out, helping our speed a bit. We arrived at Reynolds Park at 12:30pm and had so much help on the pier! Julia and Brad and Rick, plus Barb from Mojo, all took our dock lines and helped us onto the pier.
Now we’re back and the summer storage jobs begin! But not tonight – happy hour on Alizarin with great friends!! We’ll get all caught up.
I couldn’t resist doing one final post about our last day in the Bahamas for the 2024 season. We spent the morning getting ready for our crossing. I made spaghetti for Tuesday night’s dinner (which turned out to be tonight’s dinner as well) and Mark did some engine and fuel checks. We secured items inside the boat and on deck.
We decided to do a walk on the west side of Ginn Sur Mer (Grand Bahama Island). There’s a nice beach so we walked along it and came back through the abandoned development. It’s crazy to see how much was done before the project stopped. There are a few homes left to rot, concrete roads and interlocking brick sidewalks. You can see light posts, speed signs and even a few fire hydrants. It would be a great location for a zombie movie!!
So our dinghy is secured at the back. The table is down and set up to be our sleep area for the overnight part of our passage. We’re all ready to go!! It will be an early morning – getting up at 3 am and a long 30 + hours but by Wednesday evening, we’ll be popping our last bottle of bubbly!!
We’ve had a perfect few days at Ginn Sur Mer waiting for our weather wind to cross back to Florida. The weather has been cooler than Turks and Caicos, especially at night which has been a very welcome change.
After travelling for so many days and being very busy with company onboard, it’s been a bit weird (and quiet) relaxing in our little hidey hole. Ginn Sur Mer is a very protected area – you feel the wind but there’s no waves so the boat is nice and calm. When we first arrived, there were 7 boats (including us) in the anchorage – 4 of the 7 were Canadian boats. We had a happy hour onboard our boat the second night here with 2 French Canadian boats. One couple had just arrived from Florida and the other couple were heading back. It was fun to hear their stories.
On Friday I did some laundry while Mark spent some time working on the fuel system for the engine. After a few experiments, Mark has pretty much determined it the fuel lift pump that’s not working properly. Unfortunately the 2 spares we have onboard are old and don’t work any better than the one that currently installed. Mark has now order 2 replacements – one being delivered to Reynolds Park and the other being delivered to St. Augustine Municipal Marina (our first stop when we cross back). For now we’ll just keep using the fuel transfer pump to help with fuel pressure and hopefully sail most of the way back to the USA.
Friday night we had a second happy hour with a couple from Nova Scotia, Cathy and Joe. They are sailing on a 38ft Island Packet named Lady Seagull and they met our friends Julia and Brad (Alizarin) in Hope Town just a few weeks ago. We had a great visit hearing about their experiences. They bought their sailboat in Europe and Joe (with help) sailed it to Grenada in 2023. Cathy and Joe spent a few months touring the southern Caribbean and then Joe, again with help from friends, spent the past 6 months (or so) bringing the boat north. Cathy joined Joe at Turks and Caicos. We picked their brains about travelling in the Caribbean and got some good info!
We finally got off the boat on Saturday and went for a walk to the little town that’s on the east side of Grand Bahama Island. It’s a nice town called West End Settlement – less touristy than some of the other places plus it was the weekend, so more people were out and about. After returning from our walk, we went over to Lady Seagull for a wonderful happy hour!! We had given Joe and Cathy some of the fish we caught and Joe made a very tasty curry dish with the tuna!
So we have one more day in Ginn Sur Mer to relax and get ready for our crossing. The plan is to leave here at 4am on Tuesday, April 9th and sail the roughly 240nm to St. Augustine, arriving there around 2pm (or earlier). We’ve reserved a mooring ball at the municipal marina and will most likely leave there on April 12th. If all goes as planned, we’ll be back at Reynolds on April 13. 🤞🤞
4 days and 4 hours sailing 480nm (roughly 890km) with one 16 hour stop – we’ve made it to Ginn Sur Mer, Grand Bahamas and are waiting for a weather window to cross back to Florida. Lots has happened in the last 4 days, starting with the departure of Evelyn, Caroline and Samantha.
Like a lot of our plans this season, they changed as the time grew closer. We were to leave Blue Haven Marina on March 28th, anchor nearby so we could clear out on the 29th, and then leave around 6 am on March 30. Well in the afternoon of March 27th, a sailboat came into the dock beside us and they had sustained some damage along their trip. After a brief conversation, we discovered they had entered the Leeward Cut (the only way in and out of Blue Haven) with a north wind and swell. They got hit by a wave as they entered the channel and lost their solar panels on top of their dinghy davits. They had damage to the davits themselves and the lines holding their dinghy snapped. They also had a porthole open so took on salt water. There is a warning about the Leeward Cut – it’s dangerous with north or west wind or swell.
This story scared us – we were planning to exit that cut early March 30 with a northeast wind! We quickly changed our minds! We decided to check out of the marina and clear out of Turks & Caicos at the same time on March 28th. We then left the marina to head back to the south side of Provo so we could leave from there on Saturday, March 30. It’s a good thing we made this change. Leaving on March 28th around lunch we still encountered leftover swell from the day before. We got hit by one large wave just at the end of the channel! It was exciting for a few moments as we went up the wave about 8ft and then came crashing down!
Clearing out of T&C on March 28th and then not leaving until March 30 put us in a difficult situation. After clearing out officially, you are supposed to leave the country within 24 hours. We were going to be over that by almost a day. We joked as we motored to the south side of Provo that we’d just tell them we were having engine issues and that delayed our departure. Well we jinxed ourselves!!! We were about 3 nm from Pirates Cove (our anchorage for the night) when the engine slowly stopped running (like it had run out of gas). We’ve had issues like this in the past (trip to Bermuda comes to mind!) so Mark quickly got us up and running again so we could anchor. March 29th was spent with Mark deep into the fuelling system of the engine. First thought was that the fuel pump wasn’t working (fuel pressure was quite low). After replacing it with a newer pump (not brand new), it still didn’t work properly. Mark tried everything he could but still the fuel pressure was low. No worries – we are a sailboat after all so we can sail and the engine was still running just maybe not as reliably as we would have liked. We decided to continue with our plan to head out at 6am Saturday March 30th to Cat Island, Bahamas.
We left Saturday morning pretty much on time and the first part of our sail was a bit wild. Lots of wind and good sized waves moved us along quickly in the first 18 hours or so. The first night saw us around Acklins Island but the wind was decreasing so we had to motor sail for several hours. That was a bit stressful, not knowing if the engine would quit but it didn’t and we kept up our speed with the combination of motor and sail.
By the time we were closing in on Rum Cay, it was early Sunday morning and we were feeling really good. We had wind behind us for the most part and easy seas so we decided to not stop at Cat Island and just keep going north to the Exumas. We picked Highbourne Cay as our new destination with the possibility of stopping at other places in the Exumas if we got tired or conditioned changed. Our eta for Highbourne was around 10am on Monday, April 1.
The wind decreased again overnight (early hours of April 1st) so we motor sailed into the cut at Highbourne Cay and were on the Exuma Banks by mid morning. Things were going so well, we decided to just keep going up to Nassau. Easy motorsail got us all the way in to the north east side of New Providence by 4 pm Monday. We had done a total of 340nm in 58 hours!! Crazy! But we didn’t stop there!
After a 16 hour rest, we pulled up anchor on Tuesday, April 2 at 10am and continued north for another overnight sail to Ginn Sur Mer (our first anchorage for this season way back in January). The first part of the 140nm trip was great – sailed downwind with the spinnaker. Mark caught 2 fish – a skipjack tuna and a Spanish mackerel (we had an amazing dinner that night) and we saw lots of boat traffic (such a switch from the rather empty Providenciales). As night rolled around, we took down the spinnaker and sailed on with the jib and main sails. We were expecting high winds by morning and the wind delivered (boy did it deliver). We had a lot of wind and made up lost time from the lower winds early in the night. With strong south wind and waves behind us, we came charging into the Ginn Sur Mer inlet at 10am. Anchor was down by 11 am!! What a ride!! 4 days, 4 hours, 480nm!
Crimson Kathryn and her crew 