Happy Holidays 2010-Recap of the Year

What a difference a year makes; our last holiday picture was taken on the wharf St. Croix, USVI. This year, we are still on the water, it’s just frozen. Saratoga Lake had a perfect sheet of black ice for a few days. It felt great being on the water again, only with many more layers on.

2010 started with a bang in St. Barts, the yachting capital of the rich and famous, including jet-skiing Lindsey Lohan. From St. Barts, we sailed over to St. Kitts for Carnival. As is typical in the Caribbean, Carnival started 2 hours late. Nevis next door was a funky, laid-back island. We enjoyed a hike in the mountains with new found friends. While in Nevis, we could not understand why there was a fine grit all over our boat. Montserrat had erupted and Side-by-Side was covered in volcanic ash. I had picked the wrong day to wash windows.

Our southbound distance covered, we headed north back to St. Croix, the jewel of the U.S. Virgins. The U.S. Postal system had held Sabrina’s birthday presents in St. John for over a month. She happily picked them up. After a quick stop in St. Thomas, we sailed to Puerto Rico with a tsunami watch on the radio from the Haitian earthquake. Little did we know how devastating the earthquake in Haiti was. In Puerto Rico, we picked up Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Bernie for a week of sailing fun. It was our first time exploring the outer Spanish Virgins by boat.

With large north swells, we had a brisk sail to the southern-most island of the Bahamas, Great Iguana. The Coast Guard called us and circled our boat several times but did not board. From there we explored the desolate reefs and islands of Hogsty and Plana Cays. At Crooked/Acklins we visited a local school and borrowed internet from the school master from Guyana. Again we had the pleasure of hosting the Case Family from Saratoga for a cozy week on Side-by-Side. A TV crew shot a pilot for a reality show “Kruisin Kids” with Parker and Sabrina, Jack and Katie. It was a fun and eye-opening experience for them.

At cruisers week in Georgetown Bahamas, Liberty (Chris and Josh) and Parker and Sabrina put together and performed a star-studded skit called Georgetown Squares. Local Georgetown celebrity sailors and weather guru Chris Parker were called to help fill the squares. They won first place for comedy and a bottle of rum. No, we did not drink it but it’s labeled for their 21st. The adults keep getting 4th in every event, even missing tie breakers. Departing Georgetown we headed to friendly Long Island for Easter and some community service beach cleaning. Conception Island with several kid boats kept us busy before returning to Georgetown for Family Island Regatta.

During the Regatta, Bahamian sailing sloops from near and far compete in a huge national event. I would compare its importance to our Super Bowl. Parker and Sabrina both competed on hand-made Bahamian race-boats. Parker’s team mates, Colby and Connor sailed their boat to 3rd place overall and awesome trophies. Sabrina’s team did well also and both kids learned some new “racing language” from the captains. In the main race, Marc decided to volunteer on the Six Sisters, captained by the 80-year old “Rev” with diminished reflexes, limited eye-sight and a poor memory for the rules of the road. After several close calls, they were T-boned during the main race and actually sunk the another boat. Marc decided to skip the next day’s sailing. (See bottom right picture above)

Leaving fun-filled Georgetown for the last time, we headed up the Exumas with several kid boats. For the first time in four years, Marc gave up a fish to an aggressive shark. As it hungrily charged towards Marc, he tapped the shark on the nose and it finally swam away. The adults and kids returned to the sail boats a little bug-eyed from the exciting adventure.

A high-light for the kids was a return Atlantis for one last visit and a goodbye to our friends on Liberty. From Nassau we visited Spanish Wells and the Abacos. The Abacos were much different from the rest of the Bahamas with more charter boats and green water. Treasure Cay and Hope Town were our favorites. Finally, it was time to return to the US with arrival at night in Florida. From Florida we had boat repairs done in the idyllic island of Jekyll in Georgia and two other kid boats next door. Our last passage was exciting and scary with lightening strike landing so close you could smell it. In the Gulf Stream, Marc wisely decided on a 3 mile detour after spotting 3 water spouts touching down to port.

Side by Side is now for sale at the Severn River Marina in Virginia. Her web site is http://www.manta42.com/. Please forward the link to anyone interested in a great boat. She shows as good as the day we bought her.

With Side-by-Side emptied and in prime condition, we headed to Michigan for July 4th then to Salt Lake City to rejoin the land yacht. The RV was in great condition after a year in Utah, it only needed a jump. We headed west combining the excitement of the big cities of San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Reno with National and State Parks of Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Muir Woods, Redwood, Crater Lake, Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainer, and Flaming Gorge. Oma and Grandpa Larry joined us for some cold, windy camping. We reconnected with sailing friends on Mima, Asolare and Las Serenas in Idaho. After several years we reconnected with Crystal and Sea U Mañana in beautiful Leavenworth, Washington. Seattle and San Francisco allowed us to visit with old friends and realize that cities are no places for 37-foot RVs. I will take 24 hours at sea to 2 hours in the streets of Seattle anytime.

Parker started 8th grade at Saratoga Spa Catholic. After 4 years of Calvert home-schooling he fell back into the regular school routine with no problem. Tennis, soccer and skiing help balance the love of his new Macbook, related iPod and Wii. At the Georgetown cruising regatta, he revived the home-made sailboat races as a sanctioned event. From the radio announcements to his laugh-filled award presentations, he did it all himself. It is now an official event for 2011.

Sabrina, our mature 6th grader, is a new mother to 5-year old Tristan, a Netherland Dwarf bunny. In the Bahamas, she would free dive 25+ feet to pick up the speedy conch from the bottom. In the Juementos, she speared her first lobster. He was a huge one with a 9.5 inch tail. Now back with her school friends, she is taking tennis and horse back riding lessons. Sabrina loves the barn and has become quite a great horseback rider. Daily we are lobbied for a horse of our own. Winter sports include skiing and ice skating.


In September, we returned to Saratoga Springs in time for school. Slowly we are putting our home back together after 4 years of “hard living” by Navy renters. Floors, furniture, doors and appliances need to be replaced. The choices are over whelming. Marc has attended two conferences on self storage and is actively becoming a storage guru. I’m busy being a chauffeur, volunteer, boat-seller and de-contenter.

I had good intentions of sending this out in time for Christmas. Of course, I have an excuse. I lost most of the pictures from our time in the Bahamas this year. Needless to say, my motivation for compiling a letter waned. We are seeking cruisers who may have pictures related to our time in the Bahamas. If anyone has regatta pictures from Georgetown, I would love to get a copy. If you can help, please drop us an email at johnsonsailing@gmail.com.

“May the best of your past be the worst of your future”

Happy New Year everyone and keep in touch.

Love and Friends,

Marc, Angie, Parker, and Sabrina Johnson

4 Waterspouts in the Gulf Stream

Land trip, day 1

         Thanks to the Grego's from Free Spirt who we have not seen in 2.5 years.  They offered their home to us so we did not have to sleep in 104 degree heat.  The day we were ready to leave, our ride to the airport  has arrived but the boat and the Johnson's are  not ready to go yet. Marc and I are still covered in sweat. Another cruising family has offered us a ride to the airport and has arrived. A half an hour later, quick shower, some pictures of Side-by-Side for the blog and we are finally ready to go. Thanks to the iphone, we found out the flight was delayed and had plenty of time. Otherwise, we would have missed our flight from Richmond to Salt Lake City. It is a relief to be off the boat, with the kids finally done with school.   Sabrina finishing hers in the car ride to the airport. The delay means we might miss our connection and can reconnect with our friends on Liberty in Houston. I call ahead, get everyone excited and then, darn, we make our flight. All of us were hoping for a delay and a good night sleep. Instead, we have to find a hotel. We hadn't thought about that earlier. Just before boarding, I use HOTWIRE and hope for the best when we get to SLC. Wow, what a great deal. For $50 we get a ride from airport, a suite room and a breakfast. Marc's birthday is the next day but after all the traveling, no one is prepared. He actually calls a guy who he met on the airplane last year and has a nice lunch at Charlie Chow's Mongolian restaurant while the kids and I hung out at the new modern downtown Library. With bated breath we head toward the RV in storage for a year. I had left cans and bottles in the shower and hoped I did not have a big mess. It is amazing how different a dry climate is from the humid ones on a boat. Everything was fine, even the cereal was not stale. Wind had been an issue and the cover was all cadywompus with one tire cover gone. The battery disconnection switch did not work so the rental car was used to jump the RV. For our first year of winterizing an RV, no major disasters. After a night at the Pony Express Resort we headed west.

Excitement at Sea

After an exciting father's day, we are having a very pleasant sail. At about 4 a.m. last night a squall overtook us. The wind reached 35 knots and the boat, with one reef in, handled fine. The scary part were 3 very close lightening strikes. On land, there are other good targets for lightening. On the ocean, we have a 60 foot metal object that is the only tall items for miles around. The strike was so close that Marc's hair stood on end and the boat shook with the thunder. Instead of running downwind with the storm we tried to get out of it after the close calls. In the confusion. our sun shade blew over board. It will be an expensive oversight on our part. We headed off shore to avoid the squalls.. but one got us.

This afternoon Marc diverted 5 miles (about a two hour detour) to avoid 3, count them 3 water spouts! We have some good pictures. On a positive note, dolphins have been following us today and the skis are blue. Hopefully tonight will be less exciting.

Our position is updated online, shiptrak.org, call sign kc2hcj. We look forward to hearing from you. Twice daily at 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 pm. we are checking in at 4045 on the SSB for anyone with a radio.

Angie, Marc, Parker and Sabrina

Lost Children at Atlantis

Sabrina's Leap of Faith

 

Atlantis

Our weather guru, Chris Parker came on the SSB at 6:30 a.m. the other day and said, "all my weather models say something different and I have no idea what the wind will be like!". "However, plan on squalls to 50 knots from any direction". Nothing like that to get sailors excited. Especially sailors with kids who like to keep together with other kid boats. So over coffee and banana bread we had a 3-boat 6- adult, "where should we go" conversation. Finally, after a dingy exploration, Liberty and Side-by-Side went into Norman's Pond at high tide on Norman's Cay, Bahamas. It did rain all day but the wind was not that bad. The next day we moved to the northern Exumas. Everyday we thought it may be goodbye with our good friends on Liberty. The kids were very close and we had lots of fun, great dinners and adventures with the parents. On the day it was supposed to be goodbye, Marc got up early, looked at the wind and said, "we are going to Nassau". Liberty agreed and we headed for a surprise night at Atlantis one last time. The kids and adults had a ball on the rides and lazy river. Who knew the lazy river is more fun with a Rubbermaid lidded cup of Bahamian sky juice? Those signs that say no alcoholic beverages on the rides are not for us. Thanks Liberty! Atlantis was even playing Avatar on the big screen! Now onto Spanish Wells.

 
 

While in the Bahamas, a rocket launched from Cape Canaveral lit up the night sky over Stocking Island, Georgetown Bahamas. The pictures show when the rocket broke the sound barrier and the after cloud. The kids said, Mom, Dad, come see this. Enjoying our wine and company we were slow to come out and look but glad we did.

 

But I don't want to tack

 

Family Island Regatta Race week was something that we returned to Georgetown Bahamas to watch and hopefully participate in. Bahamanian sloops are the pride of each "family" island. For 4 days, they race several races a day with exciting anchor starts, aggressive tacks at the turns and usually several near collisions per race. The sloops are hand crafted mostly wood boats with over sized masts and sails, made to go fast. The ballasts are produced by people "hikin out" on pry boards that have to be moved across on tacks and gybes. A friend of ours broke their thumb last year crewing on a boat. Marc then met the "Rev" owner of a B class boat who was 72 years old, had a 37 year old boat and needed crew. Without doing any independent investigation, he agreed to crew. So, off Marc went to the start while I followed in the dingy with Sabrina. Here is Marc to tell the rest of the story.

The boat was a "classic" and the Rev was past his prime. No two pieces of hardware matched, there had been several restorations, jerry rigs, and patch jobs to "Six Sisters". So after a 12 second training session "puu up da anca" "gim som sail" "Rev! Push it up ya gon hit da boa at ancar!" So a committee boat gave us a tow to the start as I was re rigging the main sheet line that was all knotted up between the blocks. The fact that I knew how to keep it from knotting now made me the main sail trimmer and not high on the pry board... that was a relief. A thousand feet of sail a 3:1 block and pulley ratio, no winch and just a plastic cleat that was pulling out of the deck to secure the main sheet to ...nice.

Bang! Our crew of 8 start pulling on the anchor rode for the traditional Bahamian anchor start. As this is happening the captain hauls up the sail as we bear off on the planned starboard tack. Only problem, we are the most windward boat and all the other boats below us have right of way and are pointing higher than the Rev likes to sail. To add to the excitement the port tack boats with 35' booms hanging off 25' boats are crossing on all sides. Puu it Rev, mak i hard (hardin in the main)but that could go for the jib but no distinction is made just louder yelling. CHAOS is an understatement. Did I mention our wooden mast has a crack in it at the base about a foot long? By the grace of God, he is a Reverend, we survive. The communication with our captain goes from bad to worse as the Rev at 72 does not like to be told what to do. "Why you havin may on da boat u no gonna lisen Rev? Sal da boat Rev! don' slac it Rev, Sal da boat repeat" 10x.

Now the good part. Behind the 50' high curtain of sail is another boat now approaching perpendicular and with the right of way. The English language has over 50,000 words but 80% of the conversation contains only one and it starts with F. The Rev keeps falling off and not going up into the wind high enough. Despite our captains continual "positive encouragement and coaching" we are falling off into a collision course. The captain now changes strategies and demands that we tack to avoid a collision. "Wha' ya wan tack fo? You teln me sail da boat now you wan tack? Yo all mes up!" The Rev say, "I ain' ready ta tack! I can reach da mark!"

And then from behind the curtain of sail the bow of "Hummingbird" of Long Island came T-boning into the side of our boat knocking me off the high side into the bilge as the Rev was sent more forward. Booms and masts entangled, my shades were in 5 pieces. Hummingbird is going down and we don't want to sink too so I reached up and pushed the tiller over to sail us off their boat. Within 5 seconds there boat had sunk to the 8' bottom as the wide eyed crew bobbed in the water. Tis better to be the sinker and not the sunken because you can just keep on racing hoping to get into more close calls with the Rev. After finishing next to last we lined up at the start with a foot long structural hole in the side of our boat to do it all over again. To avoid sinking we had to keep the rail out of the water. not easy to do. With team work and me planting my foot next to the tiller to keep us on track we managed finish around 12Th of 18!" In the interest of self preservation I chose not to crew with them the next day. What a ride!

The crazy sport of free diving

While in Long Island we watched, as much as we could, the first day of the world championship free diving contests. Men and women from around the world, using fins or no fins descent into the worlds deepest blue hole in Long Island Bahamas without compressed air. They hold their breath for longer than 4 minutes, risk lung damage or worse so see who can go the deepest. We met a US free diver Jared who informed us about the extreme sport. He and his girlfriend were interested in our life as we were in their sport. Jared informed us how safe the sport was. Funny, they inquired about the dangers of our life, sailing about the world in a small boat with two kids. How big are the waves, what about hurricanes? While I thought diving to 210 feet, learning to close off your lungs from your mouth, often passing out at the surface was dangerous. I guess it is all a matter of comfort. Keep me on the surface with my boat afloat.

 

Sabrina went hunting with Marc determined to land her first lobster. She has developed amazing ability to dive to 20-25 feet and hold her breath. As she tells it, she looked under a ledge and waited for a school of snapper to clear out. She could not believe it when she saw a huge lobster sitting there under the ledge Excited, she surfaced, took a big breath and went down, steadied herself and took a perfect shot. As the lobster shook violently at the end of the pole spear, she gave Marc a look at the surface.. Dad, help. Marc helped her so she could go up for air. Marc bought it up and into the dingy. Back at the boat, we measured it, it was 41 inches for end to end. It was one of the biggest lobsters ever.

Black and White

 

Our friends the Cases came down from Saratoga. Even with sunscreen, it is hard to avoid the sun out here. Can you tell Angie's feet from Kelly's? We had a great visit and were sad to see them go back to the great white north. Now it is the craziness of Georgetown.. 300 boats and the fun of cruisers week. We love it.

Parker and Sabrina do their junior ranger program at the Fort San Cristobal in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Old San Juan is a jewel of a city in the Carribean.

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