RANDY KRUML'S LOG ABOARD "KRISTINLY"

Early March '09 Log Entries

Most Recent Entry

May 19th, 2008

This first log entry is a great summation of Randy's earliest adventures. Unfortunately with slo-mo computer disease I deleted many of Randy's log entries
and pics. But his passage across the gulf stream to the Bahamas is especially fun to follow & I will be sure to post his travels from here on in!!

February 15, 2009 Chub Cay in the Berry Islands, Bahamas
 

Thanks to everyone who sent well wishes in response to my email before
leaving Florida.  I departed Dinner Key, FL in the Biscayne Bay south
of Miami N25° 43.537' W80° 13.942' as scheduled at 0300 Thursday 12
February, proceeded across Biscayne Bay and into the Atlantic at N25°
38.763' W80° 08.061' at about 0430, arrived at the north shore of
Bimini Island, Bahamas N25° 48.200' W79° 15.500' at 1230, and dropped
the hook on the Great Bahama Banks east of Bimini N25° 41.614' W78°
47.279' at 1730.  It was an awesome trip and conditions were pretty
much as forecasted.  We motor sailed much of the trip, but had great
sailing conditions for about half of the time and what a treat that
was.  Spike and Rocky were not crazy about the motion of the boat and
pretty much stayed down below until we got to Bimini.  I have to say
that about the first half of the crossing was a little rougher than I
expected (nothing terrible), and enough so that Spike puked once.  But
once we got to the Great Bahama Banks, it was smooth sailing the rest
of the way and the boys joined me in the cockpit and enjoyed the
beautiful weather.  Rocky absolutely loves it in the cockpit and barks
at boats and islands, and Spike pretty much just tolerates the whole
experience, including listening to his brother.

When we (along with sailing vessels Autumn Borne and Kirian) departed
FL, we were considering sailing all the way to Nassau. depending on
weather conditions.  As it turned out, we could have done that, but it
was not necessary, and I was tired at the end of the day, and the
winds were dead calm and seas were flat as a mill pond, so we simply
pulled off our route about a mile and dropped the hook in 20' of
water.  The Great Bahama Banks are about 20' - 30' deep with a white
sandy bottom and about 60 NM across, east to west.  The water is so
crystal clear that you can see the bottom and it looks like it is only
a few feet under the keel.  You can see fish and star fish and
anything else that happens to be down there.  It takes some getting
used to and reminding myself that it is actually 20' - 30' deep and
reassuring myself that I am not about to run aground at any minute.
It is unbelievably beautiful here - beyond my expectations, and the
experience of sailing here is beyond words.  Anyway, we decided to
anchor for the night and then left at sunrise for Chub Cay in the
Berry Islands and checked in through customs here.  Still anchored
here and debating what to do next.

The check in process was interesting.  Pulled into the Chub Cay marina
and tied up, filled out paper work, and then a guy showed up in a van
to take us to the customs office at the airport.  Only the captain is
allowed off the boat, which is officially "quarantined" until cleared.
 So I left the boys on the boat and went with Dean of Autumn Borne and
Kirkley of Kirian and travelled a few miles on a rough road to the
airport.  At one point, we came to an intersection of a paved road.
Wouldn't have given it much thought until I saw the sign that said
something like "watch for aircraft".  Of course, this was the runway
at the airport.  The customs people were very friendly, asked some
simple questions, stamped a lot of forms and sorted them and stapled
them, and ... never even asked about the dogs, which made me crazy
since Nikki and I fretted over them with applications and health
certificates and all of that.  But we're here and that is what counts.

Not sure when I will have Internet access again, but will write when I
can.  Hope all is well with everyone.  :-)

--
Fair winds,
Randy
s/v Kristinly
IP38-83                                
 

February 18th, 2009  Rose Island near New Providence, Bahamas

I just arrived in Nassau and will be here until Nikki arrives on Saturday.  I will write more later, but here is the update I wrote this morning when I was anchored off Rose Island and had no Internet service:

We arrived here Monday, 16 February, after an easy day of motor sailing from Chub Cay with north winds that started light and gradually increased throughout the day to the point of increasing to 20 – 25 kts.  Anchoring on the lee of the island (opposite the direction of the wind, and in this case, on the south side of the island) provided the cover we needed for the last two days from the north winds.  Sailed through Nassau harbor between New Providence and Paradise Island to sort of get the "lay of the land" of the harbor, and also since it was the easiest way to move east and south to Rose Island.  Nassau is a very busy harbor and you have to contact harbor control for permission to both enter and exit.  Lots of pleasure vessels, but also cruise ships, fishing boats, cargo and mail boats – boats of all kinds.  I have avoided anchoring in Nassau harbor, since theft is rampant and as described, the harbor suffers from 400 years of anchoring and trash on the bottom and holding is a real problem.

With that said, it is necessary to move today as the winds have shifted to the SE already and there is no cover here at Rose Island from the wind and resulting ocean swells.  All of this was predicted, so no surprise, other than the clocking of the winds started about 4 hours earlier that forecast.  At 0700, I was lying in bed and suddenly could hear the anchor chain dragging on the bottom.  I set the anchor with northerly winds, and when the winds shifted to the east and the boat started to swing, the anchor pulled loose.  I jumped up and started the engine and quickly brought the anchor up and moved east and set the anchor again.  Not the best holding here and it took a while, but I am not comfortable staying here tonight so will move today around noon.

Dean and Susan came over for dinner last night and we had great fun.  Rocky and Spike love the company, and when Spike isn't pissing all over everything, he's great.  With that said, Spike continues to struggle with the whole toilet thing.  I thought we had a break through for a day or so, but when he gets nervous (about anything) he seems to be unable to control himself, and sometimes just forgets what he is supposed to do, and then I am sure there are times it is both.  We'll keep working on it.

A funny thing happened yesterday.  Susan and I, along with Spike and Rocky and her golden lab Sydney, hopped in the dinghy and motored over to a nearby beach.  All the dogs were wearing their life jackets.  As soon as we got within 10 feet of the shoreline, Sydney jumped out of the dinghy (water was only about 6 inches deep) and Rocky did his imitation of Rin Tin Tin and FLEW over the side to follow Sydney.  I laughed my ass off!  As much as he and Spike hate their baths, they both seemed to love the water to play in.  Of course, they look like a couple of rats when their hair gets wet.  They weren't long for that though as they got cold quickly and started to shiver.  They have absolutely no body fat to insulate them from the relatively cold air when they are wet.  They tested drinking the salt water but seemed to not like it so did not drink much – thankfully.  Sydney, on other hand, drank a lot and was puking and crapping uncontrollably during the dinghy ride back to Autumn Borne (in their dinghy!)  But it is great to know the boys like to get out and play.  They also like Sydney, but can't help barking non-stop at her.  Sydney is gentle (for a 90 pound dog) and doesn't seem phased.

The plan today is to move west 6 nm to Athol Island and pull into a small cove on the north side that should provide cover from the southerly winds.  If that anchorage is full of boats (very likely, I suspect) then it will be into Nassau Harbor and hang there on the hook for a couple of days.  Autumn Borne is going to do the same, so we can watch each others' boats, from a security perspective.  We are trying to find a marina to pull into for Friday and Saturday nights.  That will give us a chance to do laundry and clean things up before Nikki, Ruthie and James arrive Saturday.  Then, Nikki and I will plan to begin our trek south to the Exumas either Sunday or Monday.

February 20th, 2009  Nassau Harbor, Bahamas

February 23rd, 2009 Nassau, Bahamas - continued....

February 24th, 2009  Nassau, Bahamas-Final Night

February 25th, 2009  Allen's Cay, Bahamas

We departed Nassau at 0815 and arrived here at Allen’s Cay at 1430.  Fresh winds at 20 – 25 kts mostly from the east for the first half of the day.  Then variable shifting to ENE at 15 – 20 kts.  Made for a lumpy start to the day, and the boys were not amused.  We motor sailed for the first 3 hours and then shut the engine off and enjoyed the Bahamian waters, with the many shades of blue.  Today was a real treat, even though it was a bit rough at times.  But no complaints here!  Using the head and working on lunch in the galley is always interesting when the boat heels hard to 30° - 35° without warning.  Nikki is a real trouper and is absolutely not fazed by this.  How lucky that I have a partner who enjoys sailing as much as I do and accepts all there is to experience?!

There is not much here at Allen’s Cay (by the way, Cay is pronounced as “key”) other than the famous “wild” iguanas.  We are not sure what they truly want to eat, but once you bring out a carrot or some lettuce and one finds you, the others come out of the brush by the dozens.  It was like trying to buy a wedding gown at Filene’s basement bargains (JENNI – by the way, Nikki thought of that crack!)  I was trying to get them to eat from my hand and got nipped a couple of times, but no big deal.  But it is hard to get used to such an ugly critter grabbing your finger in his mouth.

Some French speaking folks pulled in after us and three of them got out their kites and boards and put on quite the show.  One of these guys was flying at least 15 feet in the air at times.

The beach is carpeted with dead conch shells, as well as small live conch.  You can see the critter when you pick up the shell out of the water.  We found a couple cool large shells for souvenirs. 

February 26th, 2009 Allen's Cay, Bahamas

After working on a few projects and doing a little reorganizing in the morning, we went ashore to SW Allen’s Cay, which is right next to Allen’s Cay to the south.  A beautiful little cove with a sandy beach, and were it not for the NE winds, we would have moved there, but as it was, it was exposed to the north.  More iguanas to feed and these seemed a bit tamer than the one’s on Allen’s Cay.  I think that may be due to the fact the tourists from Nassau are brought out here on large motor launches to see the iguanas and feed them.  Nikki wanted to see the iguana “stampede” again over at Allen’s Cay, so we went back there.  She figured out that long leaf lettuce is what they like.  However, when the leaves get short, these little bastards lunge at you to get it and sometimes get hold of your finger(s).  Nikki got bit TWICE, and actually broke the skin.  We cleaned her up with hydrogen peroxide and used a triple antibiotic ointment on her wounds and all is well.

A local fisherman anchored next to us came over with a HUGE spiny lobster and wanted to trade for some beer.  He also offered us fresh caught conch.  We declined on both but offered him a beer each for him and his 4 shipmates.  He then insisted we take the lobster.  We did, thanked him, and cut off the tail to freeze, as neither of us care for it, but figured someone will in the near future.

We plan to leave tomorrow sometime and sail to Shroud Cay, which will put us in the Exuma Land and Sea Park.  Shroud Cay is known for outstanding mangrove creeks to explore and a gorgeous beach.  We’re not sure how long we will stay there, but the next stop after that will probably be Warderick Wells Cay.

February 28th, 2009  Warderick Wells Cay, Bahamas

March 1st, 2009 Warderick Wells Cay, Bahamas

Very calm conditions again last night and what should have been a restful night of sleep was interrupted by a small rain shower.  It is so dark out here due to lack of city lights anywhere and stumbling around in the dark, even though I know every inch of this boat (it would seem) was a challenge.  Other than the stars and the waning crescent moon, the only other lights are the masthead lights of the moored sailboats.  Oh, we do have one token power boat in the mooring field.

March 24th, 2009 Georgetown, Bahamas    
 

April 2nd, 2009  Staniel Cay, Bahamas

We started the day sailing back out to the sound and heading north, but it was quite rough and wind and waves hit us on the starboard quarter, causing a continuous roll, that nobody was enjoying.  Dan was again sleeping in, and again got seasick.  Some people are slow learners … !  J

We decided to cross back over to the banks early and did so at Galliot Cut, north of Cave Cay.  A much smoother ride and we arrived at Staniel Cay mid afternoon.  Happy hour at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club I a thing of the past, so we decided to head back to the boat and prepare to go snorkeling at the grotto.  As everyone was getting ready, I was in the dinghy sorting through a few things.  Suddenly, I noticed some asshole headed full speed in his dinghy straight at me.  The last time we were here, something similar happened twice, and I decided I was going to be ready if it ever happened again.  At the time, I had the dinghy anchor in my hand and was thinking seriously about throwing it at this moron, and then I realized it was our good friends Joe and Deb of Sea Note!  He was clowning around of course, and we all laughed.  It was great to see them, finally.  These are the folks who lost their transmission when they were approaching Bimini after crossing the Gulf Stream, and returned to Miami to get it fixed.  I was beginning to think we would miss them on this trip.  Anyway, after snorkeling the grotto, which Dan and Kristin thought was fabulous, we had dinner Kristinly, and Joe and Deb, along with Dean and Susan (Autumn Borne) joined us and we had so many laughs.  On this night, the youngsters went to bed early (too much the night before, I think) and the old people stayed up until the wee hours.

We did the drift dive from the cut again, and this turned out to be Dan’s favorite part of the trip.  On this float, we saw a huge manta ray swimming right behind us.  Hard to say how big it was, but I don’t think 8’ – 10’ across from wing tip to wing tip would be much of an exaggeration.  We also did the obligatory trip to hog beach to see the swimming pigs.  I don’t think farmer Dan was very impressed.  ;-)

April 4th, 2009    Nassau, Bahamas part 2