The Johnson's New Years Letter

Wow, how time flies.   This is   our 4th year sailing on Side-by-Side.  The friends we made, the laughs we had and the memories we formed will be cherished for life.   As you will see, 2009 was the year of Plan A turning to Plan B then Plan C Option 2a. 

Parker, our conscientious, studious 7^th grader, thrives on wakeboarding, cliff jumping, hanging with other kid boats, and non-tropical diversions such as Legos, and electronics.   He did spear his first lobster this year! Sabrina, our attentive 5^th grader, remembers everything and everyone, and has become a great swimmer and snorkeler.  Whenever possible, she finds a way to get on a horse.  Several Bahamas kid-boats we met had wonderful young ladies aboard, now all good friends of Sabrina’s.  (From left to right, Kaitlin, Emma, Sabrina, Claudia, Ally and Caroline) 

With our kids  now working semi- independently on school, Angie and I spend many mornings kayaking or snorkeling.    For “testosterone therapy” I dive for conch and stalk huge lobsters.  I’m always dreaming up ideas for the next “work” stage of my life to allow for future adventures.   Angie  is the family navigator, chef, weather tracker, bill payer, and communicator.    For her, it has been the year of injuries.  She left a chunk of her leg on a tree, mountain biking in Idaho, folded her ankle over in Montana, has a shoulder protesting its every move and she got a pinched hip nerve doing who knows what.  Thank you acupuncture. Seems to be safer for her to stay on the boat!

Last Christmas, all we wanted from Santa was a new mast and sails…instead we received a denied insurance claim.    Hey kids, if you like metal and money, become a PhD forensic metallurgist like Dr. Paul, our new best friend.  First, using his electron microscope, he vindicated us with the insurance company.   Then, he agreed our newly installed rigging wire should not rust after 3 months and “encouraged” the company to make it right. I think the mast coming down was the least stressful part of the whole ordeal.   

While Side-by-Side was docked in Fort Myers for repairs, we escaped to Utah in January for some snow and ski time.  During Sundance, we caught glimpses of Cuba Gooding and Kevin Bacon.  With our claim denied, the boat repairs un-started, grandparents arriving and getting more grey hairs by the minute, we left Utah.   Finally, 6 weeks after arriving, we cast off the dock lines the second the contractor stepped off.   

From Marathon FL, sailing out of the great abyss of the Gulf Stream onto the gin clear shallows of the Bahamas Banks under moonlight was indescribable. In the morning, the sun saturated the Bahama blue water as far as the eye could see. Oh how sweet it was to be back ‘n da ilans’.  With the Johnson’s just-in-time planning, we were a whole day early to pick up the Case family for a wonderful week with them.  Dr. Chris, though, had to practice his ER skills on Marc’s head.

 At cruisers week in Georgetown Bahamas, Angie’s mom visited and joined us dancing under the stars.  We competed in the crazy events of coconut harvest (kids won, adults did not), beach golf, sand sculpture, (Parker’s and Sabrina’s entry won) and the sailing regatta.  The Mima/Side-by-Side “no talent show” entry won 3^rd place and garnered huge laughs.  New to us Bahamian islands such as Eleuthra, Cat Island, and Duncan town (just try and find that one) called us.  By April, we had a flotilla of kid boats which helped fill the void when Mima went back to the States.

With a punch list on our new refit, we headed to Ft. Lauderdale in May with plans to cross to Europe. The juxtaposition of multi-million dollar yachts against the addicted homeless “living” on the benches near our boat was dramatic.    Getting that dreaded phone call, we flew to Michigan just before Grandpa Ray died at 92.  Then on to Saratoga just before the death of a dear family friend.   It was a time of great sadness and loss. 

As hurricane season was underway, we sailed Side-by-Side bound for Panama now, not Europe.  4 days at sea and 100 miles from the Caymans, mechanical issues caused a turnaround. 8 days later we fueled up in Marathon and headed to North Carolina for hurricane season.  

With Side-by-Side out of commission, it was onto plan F, get an RV!  I spotted an unadvertised 38 foot land yacht on a car lot that had been repo-ed and was priced to move in the Michigan economy.  On August 8^th, we headed west supplied thanks to garage sales, thrift stores, Craig’s list and parents’ basements.  August and September in the northern Rockies was incredible. Wal-Mart and Flying J parking lots had better amenities than most marinas in the Caribbean.   Our trip started with the Corn Palace of SD, of course, then WY, ID, MT, Alberta Canada and ended in UT where we put our RV in storage. We visited 13 National Parks, friends, and even cousins and hiked, biked, learned and photographed the west. 

In October, we returned to Side-by-Side and rejoined many Bahamian kid boats for the Annapolis boat show.   The cold dismal weather pulled us south after a quick visit to Saratoga.  In November, the storms passed, the seas settled, and a voice said “carry on Side-by-Side and fair winds”. After saying goodbye to friends in NC, we did a straight 1500 mile passage to St. Thomas for Thanksgiving in the tropics with the Watts.

Since then, we’ve meandered through the BVI’s, where Angie and I first learned sailing 18 years ago.  The detour to St. Croix, USVI, the most under-rated island of the Caribbean, was a highlight of the trip.

On New Year’s Eve we were anchored in Gustavia, St. Barth; the place to be seen in the Caribbean. Anchored around us were maxi, mega and the new giga-yachts. Some with not one but two helicopters on deck, tenders longer than our boat, water slides strapped to the side that are 4 stories tall, on deck swimming pools, crews of over a dozen and annual operating budgets in the millions. And they say times are tough?  Now, we are enjoying our last cruising season with plans to sail to Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos and back to the Bahamas….. and then home.

 

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.” Thoreau

Sabrina turns 11

Sabrina's 11th birthday was spent hanging in Road Town, Tortola, BVIs. She planned her day to the minute. Monster Pancakes for breakfast (a type of baked egg/pancake), painting nails on the boat then out for lunch. The kids both enjoyed a huge cheeseburger and Ting, a Jamaican grapefruit soda. After lunch we did some expensive grocery shopping. We found our hair braid lady in the craft stalls and Sabrina sat for an hour while Sherry braided her hair. Dinner was pizza on the grill with Marc grilling a made to order pizza for everyone. Present and card opening followed with big smiles by Sabrina. Thanks to Kmart on St. Thomas and Black Friday, we got an adult version of Apples to Apples. The added weight on the boat is compensated by the kids desire to play the game nightly. Marc gave Sabrina the ever popular, "get out of dishes", "get out of punishment" and "wild card" hand made coupons. Showing great discipline, Sabrina just cashed in some of her last years cards a week before they expired this year. Smartly, she got out of Thanksgiving dinner dishes which Marc completed by himself.
After Road Town, we headed toward Norman Island, home of the Wille T floating boat bar and reputed buried pirate treasure. Though when here 17 years ago, I was young and crazy enough to do a body shot on the bar, this year we just watched the crazy drunken sailors. We met 6 guys on a boat from Rhode Island who bought us beers, danced, chatted us up and invited us back to "party" on their chartered catamaran. After assuring them that 9:00 p.m. was our bed time and we were old enough to be their parents, we left the craziness.
After two snorkeling adventures in the Caves and Indians, we felt the reefs were in respectable shape after 17 years of abuse by boat loads of tourists. The fish followed us around after being trained that boats and snorkelers meant food. Our entertainment has been watching the charter boats trying to anchor, pick up moorings and sail. Yesterday an "Emergency" call was heard on the radio. The panicked captain did not know to say "Mayday" or "Pan Pan" and state his position in the event of an emergency. He had ran his Moorings charter boat up on a well charted reef. With no Coast Guard or Boat US to save him, the local restaurants coordinated a rescue after figuring out where he was.
In Roadtown, we spent an afternoon touring 5 year old catamarans coming out of charter and going up for sale. Anyone thinking of buying the sales pitch presented at the boat show about the wonderful income stream chartering gives you should see the boats after 5 years. Even the boats "fixed up" looked trashed to us. Then, after seeing the way the boats are handled, the charter boats do not seem like a good deal. Next to Virgin Gorda, Anguilla and onto St. Maarten.

St. John

After exploring the north side of St. John 3 years ago, we headed to the
south side. Thanks to Laurance Rockefeller, about half the island of St.
John is National Park. The waters are protected by a sea park. Most of the
anchorages have mooring balls are are $15/night. In one such anchorage, a
park boat came along presumablely to collect while Sabrina tried to catch
the sea life. No, they are just the welcome service and cannot accept
money. With no maps left and limited knowledge of the fishing rules and two
guys on a boat, maybe deficit reduction should start with their jobs. After
experiencing the disappointing underwater trail at Truck Bay, we were not
sure what to expect in Reef Bay. The snorkeling was vibrant and Marc even
caught a lobster.. By hand!

To beat the heat, Marc and I started at 6:30 a.m. for a hike to the pre-Columbian petro glyphs on the National Park maintained trail. The National Park obviously did not believe in chemical eradication of the bugs and the mosquitoes enjoyed feasting on Angie. From Reef Bay, we sailed to
Coral Harbour. The harbor was filled with derelict boats with new reefs
growing on their bottoms. The "town" was the same as it was 3 years ago, a small grocery store and a few stores including a post it. With 100's of
boats in the harbour there was no dock. We heard something about protecting
the sea bottom. Ironically, all the dingy anchors digging in were much
worse than a dock would be. Sabrina was excepting gifts at the post office
Cruz Bay, on the other side of the island. Unfortunately, that can't tell
you if your packages are there over the phone. They did say that items
sent regular mail can take 4-6 weeks to arrive on St. John. With a
disappointed daughter, we sailed the short distance to the BVIs.

Parker's Paradise

After 9 days at sea, Parker dreamed of a cheeseburger. When the St. Thomas
yacht club had a TRIPLE cheeseburger on the menu for the evening, he begged
us to go with the Watts out to dinner. Of course, we relented and enjoyed
our last evening with the Watts. Seeing Angie, Chris, Meghan and Christina
at Cowpet Bay after 9 days a sea was a real treat. Though they don't see
each other often or communicate regularly, the kids fall easily into their
friendships. They had a ball swimming, kayaking and chatting.

Having just left the states, we had the fixings for a full Thanksgiving
dinner on board. A hot oven with 90 degree heat outside, why not? In NC,
Alyson took me shopping and we picked out a roaster in its own cooking bag
that would last in the refrigerator until Thanksgiving. After the fourth
day at sea, I realized the roaster was not a turkey but a chicken. Marc and
I decided not to mention this oversight to the kids, who loved the "turkey".

The biggest adventure of the trip was Chris and I going to Kmart for Black Friday. Since I (Angie) had little for the kids for Christmas or Sabrina's birthday, I thought it might be a fruitful adventure. Leaving the boat at 5:30 a.m. with my honey having to wake up and dingy in, I found Chris
waiting for me at the dock. He wanted to save on a new washer dryer for the
condo. The line at the store was already large with security guards trying
to control the line jumpers. We waited outside for 30 minutes, us and all
the locals. It was truly Black Friday. I tried to get a cart in but gave
up when I could not get it in the door. I guess now the stores open on
Thanksgiving day, taking families away from each other for shopping. With
the sale signs still up from the day before, I thought I was getting a
"deal" (still 40% higher than in the states) on games for the kids. After
waiting 45 minutes to check out a few bioncles, games and two pillows, I
realized no sale, full price today. Chris still had not been able to
purchase the washer dryers and almost gave up when they said, you have to
take it with you today. Inefficiency was in full force and the kindness of
the islands gave way to all out yelling for the precious washer dryers.
Never again I said. I believe I saved a whole $10. The Watts flew back to
Saratoga and the Johnsons fueled up and sailed to St. John.

In the middle of nowwhere

Sailing out here in the middle of the Atlantic, I realized that, besides our immediate family, no one knows where we are or where we are going. As a write this, due to modern GPS technology, we know exactly were we are. However, as we can't sail directly where we want to go, we don't know where we will end up or when. With many financial balls in the air to be juggled prior to being incommunicado for a week or more, I failed to update the blog/facebook/email with our plans. The biggest stresser to us getting off the dock this time, no ink cartridges. With 5 days of shopping and a very detailed list, I failed to remember to inventory and buy ink cartridges. Well, even though I only need to print vitally important documents in black, our 5 year old Epson printer will only print if all 4 ink cartridges have ink in them. Without a car and with no public transportation in Carolina Beach, we had to get creative. Marc tried a "no mess" refill kit from Walgreens to no avail. I called the dockmaster to use the office, to no avail. Finally, I convinced (using carefully placed bills in the tip jar) the dock hand at a fuel dock to let me use the office printer. Print, scan, email and off the dock we go. In the its a small world category, a boat that we met 4 years ago in Annapolis was passing by. After not speaking in 4 years, Marc and Capt Larry on Meriah had a great chat and we followed them out the Cape Fear River. We hope to see them and their two girls this year in the Bahamas.

Since October, we sailed north to Annapolis for the boat show and a wonderful reunion with several dear friends. A side trip to Saratoga left us leaving Annapolis much later than planned. With kids, the issue was "where to be for Halloween". We tried to make it all the way to NC but decided to enjoy the Dismal Swamp instead. Halloween was spent in Elizabeth City, NC with 11 other kids (pictures on facebook.) After stopping in Orcacoke NC we arrived in Carolina Beach NC a week after Halloween to see our friends on Aly Cat, Lew, Alyson and Caroline. Every day, Alyson took us on various errands to stock up on non perishable food and boat supplies we many need for the next year. An hour before they left, we did a fresh food run to load up the fridge and Lew and Marc did a guy trip to buy engine products and booze.. but no ink cartridges. After a wonderful 5 days with Aly Cat in Fayetteville NC where we enjoyed unlimted hot water, a washer/dryer, internet, roller skating, dining out and of course their unending hospitality, we cut the dock lines on Monday to head to St. Thomas, V.I. Most boats are heading south this time of year and there are several ways to make your way to warmer weather. The cruisers inter coastal waterway (ICW) starts in Norfolk and goes to Florida following rivers and canals inside of the ocean. Many families with kids elect the "inside route" as there are not issues with big seas. Marc and I find the ICW more stressful and would rather make a few big overnight passages then them to worry about bridge schedules, being rocked by the boat wake of big power boats, finding anchorages for the night and having to be at the helm at all times. From Florida, crossing the Gulf Stream becomes the biggest issue. Some boats do a combination of inside and outside routes, and enjoy stops at popular ports such as Charleston, SC and Cumberland Island Georgia.

The crazy Johnson's and at least 3 other boats are trying to get as far south as possible in one trip. The other boats, however left 2 days before us and are a good 300 miles further east. From Cape Fear NC, our route was over 1100 NM to St. Thomas VI. In order to get south, we wanted north wind. However, a strong north wind against a strong north setting gulf stream can create dangerous standing waves. . The rule of thumb is to not cross the gulf stream when the wind has any north component to it. We diligently studied the latest color analysis of where and how strong the gulf stream would be and picked the weakest point to cross it. Marc and I bantered around our options.. my issue being 25 knots of NE wind predicted when we hit the gulf stream. Marc saying that with only 1.5 knots off the NC coast, the waves would not be a problem and we needed to get east as soon as possible. In the end, we were both right The gulf stream rose to 3 knots and we had a very rough, uncomfortable time crossing it for about 10 hours. After months at the dock, all of us needed to get used to the motion and any activity inside the boat led to nausea. Water was leaking in the front hatches and we had to adjust course to take the waves off the back of the boat more. Prior to hitting the gulf stream, we got to experience the frying pan shoals off of Cape Fear. Now we all understand how they got their name.

Chris Parker, the weather guy boats "sponsor" to help with weather prediction, speaks to the other VI bound boats about easting every day. As the trade winds and waves come from the east, unless you are a freighter it is very difficult to get east in a sail boat. Our original plan was to go to Bermuda but IDA and the corresponding wind and seas made that impossible. The "easting" issue is why we want to get all the way to St. Thomas now, then work our way back north and west with the wind. The wind is supposed to go away along with the seas and we may have 3 days of motoring to get the 480 further east we need to be inline with St Thomas. Hopefully the fuel and engines hold out. Instead, we may end up in Puerto Rico, DR, Turks in Caicos or Bahamas. Imagine a car trip dependent on weather as to where you end up.

Our position is updated daily with the link to the right if you would like to see our progress. More to follow...

5 kids boats with 11 kids for Halloween at Elizabeth City NC

Auto pump shut off

On the boat, we are used to traveling for a month or more on 150 gallons of fuel.  After all, we are a sail boat with two auxiliary engines.  Our patience for slow sailing has increased with a 3 knot cut-off.  If we are going less than 3 nautical miles an hour (maybe 4 miles an hour) we turn on an engine and motor sail.  Now we are driving 40 feet of house down the road with a V10 Ford Triton engine and no sails on the roof.   All the CPAs in the family were taking bets on our first fuel mileage, with a required report in.

 

As with anything, figures can be manipulated to benefit the presenter.  At our first fill up, the pump magically shut off at only 38 gallons.  That would be phenomenal fuel economy.  But wait, it shut off as we had charged exactly $100 and that is the max on one credit card transaction.    That has NEVER happened to us before at the pump.  Another $100 and we had our first official mileage report and a realization that we are now our worse environmental nightmare at between 7-9 miles/gallon. 

 

Now we are happy that the recession has caused a drop in fuel prices. 

Now, we love the fact that U.S. has the lowest fuel prices of the wealthy nations. 

Now, we creep over the border from Canada so we don’t have to buy fuel at $1.00 a liter (about $4.00/gallon for the math challenged). 

Now, Marc has now taken to Priusing, coasting down any and every hill in neutral. 

Now, our internet time is used searching for the lowest fuel in the area.  Where is Chavez when you need him?   

As the accountant, I have figured at fuel costs $.33/mile.  Every wrong turn I think, ca$$ching, ca$$ching.  So, we are hoping our carbon footprint can be averaged over the last 3 years and divided by 4.. right?