Friday March 25 - Monday March 28:  Easter Weekend

     We slept in on Friday - no surprise there! - and spent much of the day cleaning, organizing, and stowing.  We had brought with us a lot of prepackaged food and many things for the boat, and we were happy to spend a leisurely day dealing with it all.  We also needed to re-acclimate to the warm, humid weather.  Tommie was constantly underfoot; she was not going to let us out of her sight.   After we cleaned up all the hair she left for us, Dan instituted a new policy - combing the cat several times a day.  I think we get a kitten’s worth of hair out of her every day.  

     If you have been following along, you will know our 4th crew-member, Ziggy the Auto-Pilot.  Well, Ziggy was known and named for his erratic courses.  Our cruising friend Ivan from Wisp in the Wind tried to help correct Ziggy’s wrongs, but to no avail, so on his suggestion, while we were in Maine we found a rudder angle indicator to match our Ray-Marine auto helm.  Upon arrival back in Georgetown Dan installed the new component and on our first trial coming across Elizabeth Harbor it worked great. It may even steer close to a good as Wisp in the Wind’s auto helm.  Thanks for the suggestion Ivan.  We shan’t be embarrassed by our Ziggy anymore.

     Also while in Maine, we went on-line and obtained a proper Ship Radio Station License (required internationally) and international MMSI number.  MMSI is akin to a vessel phone number, for private calls between vessels at sea.  This is part of the digital selective calling system, DSC.  As well as having the MMSI, our VHF radio is coupled with our Global Positioning System, GPS, so, in essence, our radio knows where we are at all times.  The other purpose DSC plays is in the event of emergency, at the press of a button on our VHF radio we can send out a distress call, an SOS or MayDay, and our position, name, and MMSI will pop up on other participating boat’s or ship’s GPS Plotter, right on their chart, and other vessels’ SOS will show up on our plotter as well.

     Long story short, we are just a little more prepared than we were a few weeks ago, and hope, other than Ziggy, that we never have to use any of those emergency systems. 

     Saturday we went to town.  This is Easter weekend, and George Town is very observant of this holiday.  Everything was shut down yesterday for Good Friday and will be closed for both Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, but Holy Saturday is a normal business day.  I spent time in the laundromat while Dan filled water and fuel jugs, and we did a good grocery run before we took the Wille back across the harbor.  Our spot off Volleyball beach was taken so we moved over to Honeymoon beach.  We went for a quick swim to cool off, had a nice hot shower from the solar-powered shower bag, and hopped back into the dinghy to meet Frank and Rose of Local Knowledge for dinner on the beach at Chat ’n’ Chill.  We feel like we owe them more than food for looking after Tommie and the boat the whole time we were gone, but they just wanted a meal at Chat ’n’ Chill as payment.  How lucky are we to have such good friends?  We had a good time with them, enjoying our take-out and watching the sun go down.

It just doesn't get much prettier than this!

     Sunday morning we went back over to Volleyball beach for the last service of Beach church.  There were more people in attendance than they’d seen all winter which was made for a great community, but we did miss having a choir and choir director.  

      We had the day to ourselves and decided to take the dinghy up to the Northern end of Stocking Island for some snorkeling.  We found an excellent coral bed and saw lots of fish and many large snails.  The water is now a steady eighty degrees, but we still wore our wetsuits.  We could stay in almost twice as long that way, and had a great time exploring that area.  

        This weekend was also the Junior Regatta for the Bahamian dinghies.  The race was across the harbor, and difficult to get photos of, but we did manage to capture a couple of the kids as they sailed their boat through our anchorage before the races began.  Some money from the George Town Regatta goes to support this sail club, which gives local kids a great chance to learn how to sail.  The Junior Races are a big deal in town - they set up a tent and have live music and food, and many folks from town and from the boats come to the harbor to watch and cheer.  

     Monday we met a fellow New Englander, Mark from Gloucester single-handing his ketch Gingernut.  It turned out we had many friends in common, and we spent several hours and lunch listening to his tales.  Fun to hear a Massachusetts accent.  Small world.

     After lunch we dinghied around the corner to the blue hole we’d explored previously.  We’d heard there was a second blue hole in the same lagoon and though we snorkeled for close to an hour, we didn’t find any evidence of it.  We did find lots of fish, though, and some giant, ugly sea slugs munching their way through the algae on the bottom.  I wish I had an underwater camera to better show the sights below the surface, but for now, stock internet photos will have to do.  

Blue tang.  These can be various shades of blue, usually darker than this picture.

     Tomorrow we’re planning to head off farther South.  We will probably be out of cell/internet range, so don’t be surprised if it’s awhile before there’s a new blog posting.  We will keep writing them, though, so that when we get near a cell tower, we’ll be ready to go with a posting. 

Weds - Thursday March 23-24:  Back to the Bahamas

     We don’t do anything the easy way.  You’ve read how we traveled to Canada to come home to Maine; we did the reverse to get back to the Bahamas, and it was slightly more of a hassle.

     Dan’s parents were up with us at dawn, Marnie getting breakfast of yogurt and fruit ready and Al going over logistics with Dan.  We had retrieved our foam  mattress from our house and they were figuring out how best to store it until we come back.  Dan and I had thought back in May we had a great plan - stuffing it into one of those heavy vacuum bags which flatten things out very well to save storage space.  Well, apparently they don’t hold a vacuum very long, and the foam mattress had blown its boarders sometime between May and March.  Dan decided we would roll it up as tight as we could and tie it down, and Al produced some heavy vinyl bags that once held bird seed.  The four of us managed to roll it up, tie it down, and bag it from both ends.  Dan sealed the bags with duct tape, and lugged it out for storage in his parents’ garage.  We will see how well this works.

     By eight-twenty we were showered, fed, packed, and in the car for the short trip to the bus stop.  Goodbyes were heartfelt and tearful and we were off into the grey morning for the five hour trip to Boston.  The first movie on the bus was McFarland, USA, a feel-good Disney movie based on the true story of a teacher/cross country coach in a very small California town.  We both enjoyed it.  After we changed buses in Portland, the second movie shown was Cinderella.  Dan took a nap and I played cribbage on my phone.  We got to Boston just after one pm and did our first stint at the check-in counter and the security line.  

     I said ‘first’ stint, because on this journey we ended up having to go through the check-in and security process for all three plane rides.  We also found out we were not allowed to check our luggage all the way through to the Bahamas, even though that was our intended travel.  They did check it through to Toronto, but we had to collect it in Montreal in order to get through customs, then check it back in for the flight to Toronto.  The saving grace for us in customs was our Nexus cards.  We were expedited through customs and through security.  There are kiosks to check into customs, and special lines for immigration and security.  While it was a pain to have to collect our checked in luggage, the whole process didn’t take very long as we avoided standing long lines and were even told we didn’t have to remove our shoes.

     Our flight to Montreal was uneventful.  Our flight to Toronto was scheduled for just after ten pm but we managed to get onto an earlier flight that got us to Toronto around nine-thirty.  Here we again collected our two large checked-in suitcases because we had to go through the entire check-in process for the morning’s flight to George Town.  However, we couldn’t do the check-in process until the morning, meaning we had to stay outside the secure area where the gates and shops and restaurants are.  There are a handful of eateries in the non-secure area, but only one of them is a sit-down restaurant as opposed to a counter with pre-packaged food, and as soon we were seated at a table, our waiter apologetically told us the kitchen was closing and we had about one minute to place our orders.  We were just happy that we hadn’t wasted any time getting there!  The snack of choice on the buses and the planes were little bags of pretzels.  We were pretty hungry when we got to Toronto.

     The international terminal in Toronto also has a large lounge on the third floor of the non-secure area.  It’s a fairly quiet place (until someone turns on the televisions) and has slightly padded rows of chairs that have no arms so you can lay down.  There are also two neon sculptures in the middle of padded platforms, and a carpeted children’s area with things to climb on.  The savvier travelers know to head to this lounge and claim a spot for the night.  Dan and I found a couple rows of chairs that we pushed together to stretch out on.  People were curled around the children’s toys on the carpeted area and all around the neon sculptures (that turned on and off all night) and if we didn’t all sleep soundly, at least most of us slept on and off during the night.  One big drawback was that the bathrooms were a five minute trek away.

       At seven am we were back in line to check in for our final flight.  Toronto was very organized about this - there were dedicated counters for specific destinations and cheerful employees overseeing the lines to make sure everything flowed smoothly.  Once our large suitcases were taken care of, we again found a Nexus line to breeze through security, and began the short wait for the nine-thirty flight to George Town.  Almost there!  Finally!   

       At nine-thirty the clerks at the gate announced we would have a twenty minute delay.  The plane was overnight in the hangar, they said, and no one was around to bring it to the gate.  Twenty minutes later they said the flight was delayed until ten-forty-five because the plane had sat outside all night in the freezing rain and some of the systems were showing error lights.  At ten-thirty we were informed we needed to move to a different gate across the terminal, and the flight would be at twelve-thirty, because the plane wouldn’t start.  We were told we could use our boarding passes for ten dollars off a meal at any restaurant, so Dan and I decided to eat an early lunch.

     Outside there was indeed a freezing rain falling steadily, coating the windows and the runway.  We watched a small plow push the stuff into small piles off to the sides while crew and small vehicles slid around dealing with all the outside duties of a busy airport.  The departures board showed many flights canceled or delayed.  We began to wonder how long it would be before they offered us a hotel for the night.

     But no - the plane boarded at twelve-thirty.  We were going to the Bahamas today!  After we sat on the runway for thirty minutes making sure all systems were a go, and after we sat in line for de-icing for another thirty minutes, we took off.  Our flight attendant informed us all that this was the plane that was to have been the plane for the nine-thirty flight.  It had been diverted to Montreal because of weather and had not been able to get to Toronto until noon.  The plane that may or may not have been left out in the bad weather all night had been a back up plane, and it still wasn’t functional.  We didn’t really care at this point, we were finally en route to the Bahamas.  And a good thing, too, because we found out later that the freezing rain took down the power in much of Toronto and closed the airport.  Had we been delayed any longer, we probably would have spent two more nights there.

      We got to George Town and muggy, eighty degree weather about five pm.  At the customs table, the attendant eyed our large suitcases and asked Dan if he had brought any boat parts.  Either he didn’t hear her or he didn’t understand what she’d asked, because he said “No” and she gave him a knowing look and motioned to the baggage.  “Open the suitcases, please.”  

     Dan gave her a grin and produced some air filters, and she nodded with a small smile and said “So you do have boat parts.”  He declared their value and she waved him through with a chuckle.  She must see that all the time.  

      We had met several people on the plane coming to join relatives or friends on boats, and some of us shared a cab to the dinghy dock.  I ran in to the market to pick up things for supper and Dan negotiated a ride for us.  The owner of Cool Cat was there to pick up a couple our taxi-mates, and he offered to take us and all our stuff across the harbor to the Willie Dawes.  

      She was right where we’d left her, with a little yellow stuff on the anchor line and some green stuff on the water line, and a lot of gray stuff inside.  Cat fur.  Everywhere.  And I do mean everywhere.  And one ecstatic cat whose purr could probably be heard from the beach.  Tommie was so happy - rolling around and talking - she wouldn’t let us out of her sight the entire night.  After the initial greeting, she also had to let us know how she felt about us leaving her - both Dan and I received a couple of bites and scratches, just to put us in our place.  I think she’s forgiven us, though.

Sorry there aren’t any pictures… I’ll try to make up for it in other blogs

March 5 - March 22:  Visiting Maine

March 21st - spring in Maine.  6 inches.

     Maine in March is a crap shoot.  It could be cold, warm, sunny, snowing, or raining depending on the hour of the day.  This is the time of year there is a noticeable change in the heat of the sun, and the days get longer by a few minutes every day.  The time changes early in March too - spring ahead (pun intended) - and the twilight seems to last a long time and the sun peeks its head between five and six am.  Crocuses bloom and daffodils push out their shoots even through the snow.  You can smell spring - it’s a clean, earthy smell.  The sap is running and the birds are flocking.  Most of the time we were home the ground was clear, but yesterday we woke to a snowstorm that steadily dropped six inches.

The snow doesn't deter the birds.

     The first thing Dan and I did when we got here was raid our house for winter clothes.  We’d brought the warmest clothes we had on the boat, but needed jeans, sweaters, and extra long-sleeve shirts to get us through our twenty day stay.  The next thing we did was go shopping for a few other things we hadn’t brought but  needed.  Before we knew it, our room in his parents’ house was strewn with extra things we had not arrived with.  As we prepared to return to the Bahamas, we sorted all our accumulated stuff into three piles - things going back into storage, things for carrying on the bus and planes, and things to go into the luggage we’d gotten at Good Will to check in for our return trip.  How is it we can travel from the boat so lightly and return to the boat with two large suitcases purchased especially for that trip?  We hope to give those suitcases away in the Bahamas because we do not have room for them on the Willie Dawes.  

     It’s been a wonderful visit.  Dan’s father has been ailing for a long time and we were happy to be here for the beginning of the recovery period.  His parents have been fabulous hosts, giving up their privacy and the use of their car to accommodate us.  It's been great spending time with them - I think we both gained five pounds, which was actually the goal for his father.  (He gained too.) We're going to miss all the desserts, especially the ice cream.  

Preparing ice cream with hot chocolate sauce. 

     We’ve been able to see and spend time with everyone we wanted to - good friends and family alike - and both Dan and I spent a little bit of time at our places of previous employment.   We’ve been able to take care of mundane but necessary things like filing our income taxes, upgrading our electronics, getting our hair cut, and making necessary phone calls to various establishments - all the things that aren’t so easy in the Bahamas.   Plus we’ve been able to take showers anytime we wanted!!!  We attended our church and sang with our choir, went for walks around Camden and the harbor, and spent a lot of quality time just talking and laughing with the ones closest to us.  We got our cat fix by attending the needs of Percy, who prefers to use the couch alone, thank you very much.  (Our Tommie is still on the boat in George Town and is doing just fine, according to Rose on Local Knowledge.)  

Percy on the couch.

     As much as we enjoyed seeing Maine as winter melts into spring, we are both looking forward to being back in the sunshine and warmth of the Bahamas.  The upcoming months are the best months to cruise these islands, we’ve recently read, because the winds and seas are far more favorable, and most of the transient cruisers will have left either to go back North or to continue farther South.  Hopefully Tommie will be happy to have us back aboard.    Tomorrow we get up bright and early to catch the bus to Boston for the plane which goes first to Canada and then back to the Bahamas.  

 March 3-4 2016:     Travel Time

     We were up early on Thursday to move out of Ambergris's way as they were weighing anchor and it was under the Willie. From then on we were preparing for our departure by plane and getting the Willie ready and everything aboard ready for our absence.

     Dinghy aboard, loaded with deck gear, cover on, drain fitted, anchor gear checked, scuba gear dried and stowed, jib stowed below, mainsail cover tied down, rain flies set over fore hatch and midship companionway. Which windows and ports to leave open, which to close? Tommie's litter box cleaned out, food and water ready, instructions for Rose for Care and Feeding the Cat, our bags packed, water taxi confirmed, taxi to the airport arranged.

     Actually had a few moments while we waited for the water taxi, why are they headed away from us? Finally picked up and only a few minutes late to the taxi stand, but plenty of time before flight. Taxi about 25 minutes late: Island Time?

     It ended up that there were six of us in the taxi, so the price doubled. How does that work? A few tense moments as we meet a couple cars on the narrow road. That's right, driving on the left side. Glad they all know it!

     At the airport, we get right in line at Air Canada, about 2 hours before flight. Something is wrong with the Commodore 64s; they are operating very slowly today. Once we are cleared we head out across the road for a bite to eat, the line has grown behind us, across the small terminal building and out onto the sidewalk. I guess we timed that just about right.

Flirting with the ladies at the AirCanada ticket counter.

     Just as we are finishing our lunch they call us to go thru security. A lady from the terminal comes right across the street to herd us back to the airport.  I guess everyone hangs out there before leaving.  Just about as laid back as security will be on an International Flight, maybe because we are flying to Canada?

     An uneventful flight, on time landing in Toronto. Most of these folks are home now. We have a 6 hour wait for our flight to Ottawa at 1230 AM or so.

     Here in Toronto we can use our new Nexus Trusted Traveler Cards to clear customs. But wait, the machine says: No Iris Screen on file, no go! So we remember that when we first got our Nexus Cards a year ago in Calais they had no iris screening equipment and told us the first time we make an entry to get our screening done at the airport. So they checked us into Canada in person, then directed us to the customs office for our Iris Screening. Now we are much more official. Peases to the front of the line!

     Even though we had not left the airport, we still have to go thru security before boarding the plane to Ottawa, and after de-shoeing, de-belting, getting out our baggy of toiletries and laptop computers, when we slid our tray of carry-on bags thru the x-ray machine, the TSA man asked me if I was carrying arrow-heads in my bag. I laughed and said, “What?” He said, “Looks like you have a couple arrow-heads in your bag.” So opened my computer bag, and sure enuf, I had tossed in two bronze jib sheet traveller track ends that we had salvaged off a wreck in George Town. I had never given it a thought, but they did look kind of like an arrow-head. Even funnier, the guy seemed to know exactly what they were. We all had a good laugh, and I stayed out of jail.

"Arrow-heads"

     1230 Am flight delayed, long day getting longer. Finally plane is ready and we are on our 1 hour flight to Ottawa. In Ottawa most terminal areas are shut down, (it's the middle of the night) so we try to make camp on a couch. Maybe get a nap? Not too comfy, and too near an exit door. Every time someone came in or out we got a nice cold draft. I tried to go outside so our DeLorme tracker could send out a signal, but I was driven in by the cold. About 15 degrees F!

     Eventually morning came and our 0630 flight to Boston. We started checking in thru US customs, again with our Trusted Traveler Cards. I got right thru, but the machine denied Kathy. After lots of confusion, turned out the machine was just out of paper.

     Red eyes for us. And when we get to Boston still another 2.5 hour wait for the bus to Maine. Ah, travel is an adventure. We got a little breakfast at Logan, and sat where we could watch all the people gong thru security. What a boon-doggle, most people very frustrated, but in true Boston fashion, the TSA guy was very vocal about telling people just how to do things, what to get out, how to lay a backpack on the conveyor, and all with pretty good humor.

     Our bus was right on time and just as we boarded, the snow began to fall. Welcome to New England.   As usual, the bus ride was very smooth, and after stops all along the coast we pulled into Camden, where my Dad, Alan, was waiting to pick us up. Mom, Marnie was at the house to greet us. Lots of catching up to do after 5 months! An exhausting trip, but good to be back in Maine and with family.

Welcome to Maine!

George Town Cruisers Regatta Salboat Races, Dan goes as Crew

     On Monday and Tuesday for Regatta Week they hold the “Big Boat Races.”  First day is the in harbor “around the buoys race,” and second day is “Around Stocking Island.”

     I was asked to help crew on Wisp In The Wind, a Catalina 34, owned by Ivan and Joy. We had met them on Honeymoon Beach a week earlier. Also in the crew was Daniel, the “Crazy Frenchman” from Water Music, and Chris from Charisma. Bill from Charisma joined us for the Stocking Island race.

     The day of the in harbor race was quiet, winds between 8 and 2 knots. Quite a fleet of boats was entered, several classes, at least 2 multihull classes and three monohull classes, each boat having a handicap to help make the race fair as there are no two boats alike. The race course is set up as a triangle and todays race has a windward start. It is a cruising race, no close quarters sailing, (these are our homes), and no special sails or spinnaker poles allowed.

Boats awaiting the start of the In Harbor Race.

     They started the multihulls first, followed by the Monohulls. To avoid any close calls, each boat has a five minute window to cross the start line and your elapsed time begins when you cross the line.

     Wisp in the Wind, (WitW), was in the middle class of Mono hulls, and started about in the middle of the window. We had to make several tacks to reach the first mark, Capt. Ivan at the helm, Dan and Chris tacking the jib, and Daniel handling the mainsail. Keep in mind that Daniel has a strong accent, a bit hard for me to understand sometimes, when he shouts, “There is no hair in the jib!” or, “Watch out for that 'dinky'."  Of course he means air and dinghy. But you get the point.

     We lose a little ground to our class-mates on the first leg, but they are bigger and presumably have a bigger (or is it smaller) handicap. None the less, we are sailing and having a fun time trying to figure out what Daniel is saying. All we have to do is sail the boat as fast as we can an hope the time correction will favor us. The second leg is a reach, and we sail right down thru the fleet of aanchored boats. At one point a woman's voice comes over the radio that she thinks the boats are coming a little close to her boat. Not to worry, it was just Denine, Daniel's wife, and it was probably in reference to us!

Wisp in the Wind passing through the anchorage.

     Third leg is close hauled, then around a second time. Of note, shortly after we start our second lap the fastest of the trimarans is finishing. The mono-hulls are averaging 5-7 knots, the tri was making 15. Wow.

Trimaran Triad - fastest boat overall.

     It was a fun race, very laid back, (we were on auto-pilot much of the race, and had crackers and cheese and wine on the second reach leg). I think we were last over the line in our class, but won't know the real results til Wednesday at the awards ceremony.

     The second day the wind was a little stronger, and proved to be just right on the windward side of the islands, 17 to 18 knots and a 3 foot sea. Just right for an easy beat. This race stated just at the middle of the anchorage, so everyone had a good view. The start was downwind, then out into the sound for a long beat, then a reach and run back to the finish, once around. The classes were a little different today, with only 2 in our class, and the winning trimaran from the day before was handicapped severely. (the owner of that Tri was also in charge of handicapping so it seemed like the right thing to do.

     We were right at the end of our start time and 5 minutes behind the other boaat in our class, aa smaller 26 footer, so we knew we had to beat them by quite a bit.

     As hoped, the wind was stronger outside in the Sound and we had a great sail, getting well ahead of our class-mate, and getting to see the larger mono-hulls as they passed us, as well as several of the multi-hulls. We made several tacks to get around the Stocking Island where we were in a group of five boats. We had a great time jockeying for position even though none of these boats were in our class. We especially enjoyed leap-frogging a fifty footer on the reach run leg, while we were drinking our pre-finish beers!

     We did beat our competition around the marks handily, but as before, won't know the corrected times til later.

Our competition in the Around the Island Race - Prima.

     Wednesday afternoon the awards ceremony was held on the beach under the swaying long-leaf pines.

     Turned out we took third in our class in the In harbor Race, for which we won 2 beers to share and for the second day's race we worked our way up to second in our class on corrected time, (out of two)!  Only missed first by 5 seconds!

     So ended 2 days of SPB, (sailing other peoples boats) and DPB, (drinking other peoples beers)! What a great time, can't wait til the next races! Thanks Ivan for letting me be a part of it!