Heading west with no GPS

Goodbye Hastings.  On Saturday, August 8^th, after cleaning, fixing, and loading the “new” RV with food, we left Hastings Michigan heading west without a definite plan.   A new tradition was established.. honk at the entrance to every new state.  Bye Michigan, hello Indiana…. Goodbye Indiana, hello Illinois. 

Scott, my brother, turned 40 that day and we were meeting him off the highway in Illinois. We learned quickly to try to avoid toll roads.  With 3 axles, we had to take out a small mortgage to pay the toll taker.   Entering downtown Chicago,  the Express lane sign read, “no trucks”.  Our we now a truck… with 3 seconds to decide, survey yes, “YES”   After getting his first ticket in 20 years, Marc was extra sensitive to being a law abiding citizen in our new Tropi-cal RV.  So, onto the “local” lane we merged.   The first adventure of the trip occurred. ;
Black smoke was billowing in the right lane and cars were screeching to a halt.   With a car on fire in the far right lane, cars were slipping by in the left lane.   Just as we were getting by… WHAM, the impressive Chicago Fire Department showed up in force, parking their fire truck right in front us, cutting off the lane.   By now, the car was in full blown inferno with Marc saying… get a picture.  Chicago’s finest parked their fire truck in front of our perfect Eye Witness News photo.  I’ve never been the eye witness in Eye Witness News and now the picture was lost.. but I got the smoke and the firefighters in action.

We were so close, we got to chat with the firefighters and see the business man with his briefcase watching his car go up in flames.  One of the firefighters gave Parker a comment about playing his DS vs. watching the action.  New DS rules were put in place and within 20 minutes, we were on our way.

Land Lubbers

August 1st , 2009 was a milestone day. In the morning, we negotiated our first RV purchase, a 37',1999 National "Tropi-cal" model with 35,000 miles.Why did we BUY an RV you ask. Side-by-Side was "on the hard" at the Severn River Marina in Virginia awaiting a new transmission. Most boat yards forbid living on the hard. We have done it once and it is no fun and nearly impossible for the 3-4 weeks it was going to take to fix the boat. So we were officially home-less. Ideas were tossed around including rent an RV in Europe as the sailing plan there was squashed by the kids. Heading to South America was an option. Then sailing friends in Idaho (formerly Mima), who purchased an RV after sailing, invited us to visit and tool around in the RV. Maybe it was time to "See American First" as the original National Park travel slogan stated. Renting an RV was costly and, for the 4 weeks, would have been as much as buying one. Brad, my CPA brother in law and I approached the decision from a non emotional "run the numbers" approach. Brad asked to see my spreadsheet analysis of the cost of an RV vs. nightly hotels factoring in gas, depreciation and the opportunity cost of money. I'm still working on it. Inspired by our friends the Olson's who had tented camp for 3 weeks last summer, I suggested driving the 1996 teal Plymouth Voyager with 120K on it and tent camping. Marc just said, "It is about the experience, not the numbers." so off shopping we went.
After almost buying an RV in Virginia until metal appeared in the transmission fluid, we were spending every day looking in Michigan for an affordable, low mileage older RV. We checked Craig's List, walked through pre-auction lots, called dealers to no avail. Anything reasonable was trashed inside and/or water damaged and delaminating. Seems that Michigan's15% unemployment rate has lead many fore-closed families to move into motor homes as their primary residence. Feeling discouraged, we saw a large RV sitting in a used car lot in Caledonia Michigan, outside of Hastings. It looked entirely unaffordable but Marc said, "Let's take a look." Wow, it was not trashed, had Corian counter tops, tons of storage, TWO slide outs, palm tress on the outside and etched sail boats on the inside. On the down side, it had some evidence of water damage, non working batteries and was $7,000 outside of our upper limit. The sales guy, without asking, takes $5,000 off the price. After a 6 hour work over by a mechanic and a list of repair issues, we went in for some hard negotiating. 2 hours later we left with an insured, paid for RV but running late for Hannah's baptism. Then onto Angie's 25th class reunion.. Quite the day!

Reunited

Close friends. Sending out Christmas cards or wedding invitations our list of friends can swell to large levels. But when it comes down to the number of people you can call on for anything, anytime the number shrinks Those people who open their homes to you and tell you to stay as long as you need to, even beyond the standard "4 day" limit. Sailing, we meet other cruising who become "do anything" for you friends in a short period of time. Why is that? Maybe because we are all somewhat craving play mates for our kids and adult conversation from someone other than our spouses. Maybe we know that at any time we may need help in terms of a boat part, computer expertise or just an ear to vent to. Regardless, turning around and headed back gave us an to opportunity to be reunited with "shirt of my back" friends on Aly Cat, Pelican and Miakoda. They were "sorry" for our boat problems but glad the goodbye we said in the Bahamas was not as long as expected. Thanks Alyson, Lew and Caroline for opening up their beach home to us. The kids learned to surf in all of 5 minutes while the adults had a great time being schooled in Poker. Too soon, we felt it was time to head north.

One Big Bad U Turn

After 4 days and 450 miles into our trip south, between Cuba and the Cayman islands, we mysteriously stopped moving through the water. For 95% of the time, we had to motor with no wind or wind coming from the direction we wanted to go. We finally decided to drop the sails and punch our way to the Caymans using just one motor. The 140 miles left were going to be rough, bashing into building seas.
Waves had crashed on Sabrina's hatch and leaked through to the mess below. Had the school books not still been on her bed, the salt water mess would have been more manageable. Could this be a behavior changing lesson?
All of us we excited as we had not been to the Caymans before. From there we were going to refuel and cruise downwind to Panama. Fate had other plans for us. First, my laptop which had been developing vertical lines decided to add a large black stripe down the middle of the screen. At the last minute, we got a new lap top from Best Buy in Fort Lauderdale 5 days ago. Dell had a recall on the screens but we were too late. Never fear, Marc has the same laptop and I can get my data off. Two days out to sea, Marc's laptop gets a black stripe also. Two laptops down, two left. The kids computer had intermediately stopped powering up and we took it into Best Buy prior to leaving. They, of course, "could not replicate the problem". Now, it will not power up.. One laptop left. The new laptop however is Vista and non of the programs will work on it. Fate is trying to tell us something.
A sun shower looks good about now. Finally, the port engine stopped working altogether.
But, we have another engine.

Hot, tired and discouraged, we stopped the boat and called a family meeting in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. Sabrina wanted to go to the Caymans. I was looking at Honduras or Guatemala but Marc that the best repair options were back in the States. Parker, thinking internet and friends wanted to go to States. Now we are have to BACKTRACK all of the distance we just covered and make it to North Carolina after stopping to refuel in Miami
After we turned around, we put up the spinnaker for a nice, comfortable downwind sail. 15 minutes later, the black cloud behind us was fast approaching. I just noticed the wall of wind heading our way rapidly. Marc ran forward and fought with the spinnaker sock to get it down, just in time.  Wind reached 48 knots and we were sailing only on the sail covers.

On the positive side, once we finally arrive in about a week, hopefully we can see the friends we left behind in the Bahamas. At least we weren't 1000 miles out on the way to Europe when this happened.

Crash at Family Island Regatta

 

Half Moon Cay

A few days ago, Jennie (Miakoda) and Alyson (Aly Cat) made friends with the Jamaican horse tenders on Little San Salvador. For marketing purposes, Holland American Cruise Lines has renamed it Half Moon Cay and set up a cruise ship fantasy land on the island. Living onshore are 25 or so ex-polo ponies for the cruise ship passengers to ride on the beach and in the water. Our cruising guide says, "boats are not allowed in the harbor or ashore except in an emergency" as the island is privately owed. Well, no one owns the water and we find a little kindness goes along way. Sure enough, minus one bottle of tequila, Jennie and Aly arranged for the kids to ride the horses at 9:00 a.m., before the 4000 cruise ship passengers swarmed the island. Parker and Casey bagged out, so 6 girls and Aly (who Rodney, the dentally challenged Jamaican seemed to have taken a fancy to) rode polo ponies around the corral. Aly also arranged for the ladies to come back at 2:00 p.m. for a real ride at the end of the day.

Kristin (Pelican) and I enjoyed the hiking trails and almost lost our way in the interior of the island. School was put on hold and 5 kid boats with 8 kids and 10 adults tried to blend in with the mostly older, sun burned cruiser ship passengers. The caretakers encouraged us to take part in all of the festivities. First stop was the stingray lagoon. However, by the time we got there the first group of paying cruise ship passengers were donning life jackets, masks and snorkels to swim in waist deep water with the tamed sting rays. With no shoes to protect our feet, we ran to the ocean while Aly and Jennie negotiated a return trip.

By now, 4000 people has crowded the beach, filling beach chairs, cabanas and even private houses for rent at $100/day. Sabrina said, "I feel like I'm back in Florida". Casey (Pelican) and Parker made for the water park and ocean tramps while the girls went back to the stingrays. Green backs talk and the kids got to

feed sting rays for a little kindness passed to the low paid workers.  Marc spent the day photographing Americana while the rest went back to the horses. Riding horses in the water was an exhilarating experience.

Staying on was tricking with breaking waves. The horses keep doing their business in the water, requiring legs up to let it passed by.

The adventure kept going. Ally (Miakoda) split her chin open on a water slide. Dr. Johnson to the rescue and he did a professional suture job on the boat, applying 4 stitches. As the wind has picked up and changed

directions, all of the dinghies on shore were flooded with shoes, masks and snorkels strewn across the beach. Bailing, bailing, bailing and all three dinghies were floating. The gas tanks were flooded also so

Casey and Parker got our dinghy from the boat to tow the other boats in. Side by Side is now missing a few packs of cigars kept on board just for trading and a bottle of tequila. Thanks to Carnival Cruise Lines for a

great day.

Family Island Regatta

Every year in April, traditional Bahamain sloops from all the island groups in the Bahamas compete for three days of racing, drinking and dancing in Georgetown Bahamas for the National Family Island Regatta. The sloops are unique as the ballast comes from 5 or so guys "hikin" out on a board on the windward side. On a tack, everyone has to duck and get the board out on the other side. Race conditions were intense all week, with 20-30 knot winds. The Johnson's wore bathing suits for the rough ride across the bay and back to watch the start of the races. Breaking races would drench the dingy and all of us. As one of the few to brave these conditions, we got to see the anchored start and two major crashes. The Cat Island boat was rear ended, sending sailors into the water, breaking the boom and ending their race week. Our friend, Mike, co-owner of Long Island Breeze, has a broken thumb after being cleared off of the board by the boom in a crash at a buoy. Crewing on a race boat looked more dangerous by the hour. Had we arrived one day earlier, the kids could have sailed in the Junior group. After seeing all of the crashes, I was glad we missed it.

On Saturday, two bands performed for the delight of the crowd. The first group were elementary to high school age kids. Unlike our marching bands, the Bahamains do little marching and lots of dancing, gyrating and booty shaking. My favorite quotes included a Bahamain guy behind me to his woman, "now I see what I be missin". Marc stated the PTA would be in an uproar over these moves. The main event was the Royal Bahamas Police Marching Band. Traditional marching band style started their show. However, the drum major had moves I have never seen before, even embarrassing the local woman he pulled out of the crowd. I believe I heard her say, "don't go there!" Another local said to me, "If they could investigate as well as they played, there would be no crime in the Bahamas!" The drum corp precision while tossing their drum sticks and drums was incredible. Who needs cable!

From Georgetown, we motored to the north end of Long Island, Bahamas. Long sandy beaches, salt pond islets and tall white cliffs grace the end of Long Island. Our afternoon dingy adventure included a climb to the Columbus Monument where he ran aground in 1492. The monument was unique in that it said, "to the peaceful, friendly, loving, Lucaya Indians of the Bahamas (many spaces) and to Christopher Columbus." The message was subtle but effective. From there we tried to navigate a shallow inland pond and collect sand dollars and shells. After pulling the dingy through the mangroves, we decided to turn back. On the north end of the the island, the waves have created dingy in caves with natural skylights at the top. Hunger called us back to the boats, but we loved our time on Long Island.

Currently, we are in Conception Island and leaving for Cat Island today. With our fellow kid boats, Miakoda and Taua, we have enjoyed mahi from our fishing successes. The kids (and moms) have been wake boarding and water skiing, beach combing, snorkeling and turtle watching on Conception Island, a land and sea park. Our position is posted on the link in our blog.