El Derecho

Been here in Georgetown for about a week and half now.  Some of it due to weather, some of it due to procrastinating the things we need to do while we are here (fuel, water, groceries, etc)…some of it just from being boaters.  I'm getting anxious to move on to the next place, because to be honest, Georgetown is one of my least favorite parts of the Bahamas.  With the exception of availability of goods, like awesome groceries and other needed amenities, there really is not much to do here in terms of spearfishing or underwater activities.  The sailing community here is large, with the anchorages full of other cruisers, which to me poses a deep love-hate relationship.  I hate how many people there are here; zipping by on dinghies, anchoring way too close, yapping on the VHF.  Sorry for sounding crotchety, perhaps I'm just getting used to being in less inhabited islands?  That being said though, what I do love is the how cruisers come together in a time of need and once again, how they abide by philosophy of communal living.  

About a week ago, a weather system technically known as a "derecho" hit the Exumas.  A derecho, according to google, is "a widespread, long-lived straight-line wind storm that is associated with a land based, fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms.  Derechos can cause hurricane force winds, tornados, heavy rains, and flash floods..."  This particular one hit us unexpectedly, with winds reported at 70-100kts in some of the anchorage, I personally only noticed a sustained wind between 30-40 for a couple of hours on our anemometer.  Regardless, it was a bit of a shit show.  At the time, Nico and Lindsay were on our boat just hanging out, making dinner with us, when out of nowhere within minutes, the winds go from 15 kts to 50 kts.  Frank and Nico were in the cockpit, and Lindsay and I were down below preparing dinner.  Of course we stopped what we were doing to check on what was happening, and next thing you know, we notice that Nico and Lindsay's boat dragging.  The waves in Elizabeth Harbor were large and violent, and there was no way that anyone could safely get in a dinghy and drive over to his boat, which was a half a mile away.  The waves were so strong that we were getting soaked just from them crashing over the bow, and into our cockpit.  So there we were sitting helplessly watching their boat drag clear across the anchorage, while monitoring the VHF and the anemometer.  At this point, I'm at the helm putting the boat into the wind and driving forward so as to take some strain off the anchor and keeping an eye on our neighboring boats.  Frank was forward checking on the anchor and letting out more scope.  Next thing you know, our friends' dinghy starts to blow vertically and the point on which their line was attached at the bow rips off their dinghy.   Luckily, there was an aft line holding it as well, and Nico was standing close by, and able to catch it.  There he was holding onto his inflatable, which at this point is behaving much like a flapping sail, You never realize how much windage those things have until they start flopping around the side of the boat like a dying fish.  I call Lindsay who is down below to help because he was struggling to hold it.  Frank rushes back, grabs a line, and they both struggle and tie the line to the dinghy.  

Their boat continues to drag across the anchorage, and with every boat Vida del Sol (name of their boat) passes, we cringe hoping that they don't get closer. We watch helplessly as the boat slowly passes a couple other boats unscathed.  We keep an eye on the anchor light at their masthead, and hope that it's still bobbing, indicating they haven't run aground.  Eventually, Vida del Sol starts to get pretty close to another boat which at this point is now in our anchorage, half a mile later.  We see spotlights illuminating their boat as it starts to inch closer to another boat.  The owners of the said boat start yelling at Nico on the VHF shouting that he needs to get on his boat and drive away.  Nico replies that he can't because it was unsafe for him to get in the dinghy.  The woman on the other boat starts panicking and wailing like a banshee at Nico to get his ass to his boat now, which then ended with Nico calmly replying in broken english, "Look, be sure as soon as the weather is nice and it is safe for me get in my dinghy for go my boat, I will.  But be sure I will make a stop to your fucking boat first."   Nice...

 This situation was rather infuriating as number 1, why would anyone WANT to sit and watch their boat drag clear across an anchorage with the possibility of it running aground and sinking...idiots. Number 2, the other boat was  perfectly capable at that point to start their engines, hoist anchor, and drive away, why the hell didn't they?  I know damn well if I saw a boat coming even close to us, that I'd be ready to get the hell out of its way, regardless of whether or not there was someone helming it.  That to me was simply poor seamanship, not taking responsibilty for their own boat and leaving it to someone else to take care of it.  Anyhow, luckily, there was no such collision, and Vida del Sol continued to merrily drift on by, naive to any potential danger.  Shortly after, the winds die down to the 30s and Nico takes the opportunity to get in the dinghy and to his boat.  He gets to his boat safely and turns on the engine, and pretty much drives it into the wind for the next hour or so until Frank deemed it safe to leave Moitessier and go over and help him re-anchor.  All said and done, the only major loss was their solar panel, which decided to take flight and seek shelter elsewhere during the derecho.  Very lucky considering all the close calls.  

The next day, getting on the cruisers' net and seeing if anyone needed help, we re-discover just how amazing cruisers truly are.  People, ourselves included, were offering help to whomever needed it as well as loaning supplies and offering what we could to each any boat that needed it.  One woman lost one of her stays, and immediately 5 other boaters offered what they could to help her replace it,  another ran aground and were on the rocks and cruisers came together on their dinghies to get it off.  Some lost their dinghies, some floating away completely,  while others flipped over, ruining their outboards.  It was really touching to see people so selflessly come together.  Georgetown wasn't the only one affected by this...it was as far north as Warderick Wells which had reported winds of 110kts.  A lot of yachts, I hear, at Staniel Cay were found aground and on the rocks.  I am so grateful that nothing happened to Moitessier, considering the conditions.  We had seen worse in terms of wind and waves in both Miami and Long Island, but this system posed the greatest threat simply due to the crowded anchorage.   I hope to not see one of those again anytime soon. 

Anchorage from above

"A Single Act of Kindness….

…throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.  The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves."  ~Amelia Earhart

Right now, as I type this, a huge storm system has just passed us that had reported gusts of about 50kts.  Sitting here rocking and rolling for a couple of hours with lightning all around us was not fun  We were worried that we were going to drag, or worse, get hit by lightning. The wind was howling like a banshee, the seas were big and choppy, and the anchor chain snubber was so taut, it looked like it's about to snap.  I must say, those conditions were a little intimidating.  It's finally abated, Frank has been going forward and checking on things, and I have just been laying here combatting the onslaught of seasickness symptoms.  Headache, mild nausea, you name it, I've got it.

I took this as it started to get bad...

Been here in Miami now for about a week.  Shortly after we re-anchored a few days ago, we noticed that our new/used RIB had a little trickle coming in.  After further inspection, we realized that the leak was coming from the seam where the hypalon meets the aluminum.  Frank suspects that the delamination was due to the aluminum being corroded and the glue no longer sticking to the corrosion.  This was most likely caused by the aluminum being improperly prepped when the factory was gluing the hypalon to the bottom.   Of course with our luck, after contacting AB about this, we discover that we are in fact NOT covered under their 10 year warranty simply because we are the second owners.   Arrghhh!  So of course, after a mad dash of calling around to places to see where we can get this damn thing fixed (not an easy thing when its your only means of transportation to and from shore), we found a place that would come and pick up the dinghy and deliver it back fixed for us within a week.  Of course, we had to pay out of pocket for this repair.  Another unexpected fix, it’s always a challenge. 

So after we discovered that we had to get this damn RIB fixed, Frank and I were were a little concerned that we would be stranded without a means to get to shore.  Especially because where we are anchored out is right smack in the middle of the bay, in what seems to be the middle of no where.  Up until now, we’ve had a lot of feedback and emails from our readers that have been sending their support, kind words, as well as advice, and welcoming us back to the blogging community.  We have been corresponding back and forth between one particular person who has not only given us invaluable advice about anchorages in Miami, but has gone far out of his way to help us in our time of need.  This man, whom I believe that the gods has anointed to be our fairy godfather, Randy, has truly blown us away by his generosity. 

After discovering that we would be stranded, I wrote to Randy to ask about where there were any anchorages here that have a frequent taxi service.  He wrote back and said that there were none but that we were more than welcome to borrow his little spare dinghy.   We were more than grateful!   After going back and forth, we discovered that our 9.8 hp outboard was far too big for his spare dinghy, and we wrote him back and told him that, unfortunately for us, it would not work.  Before I even had a chance to feel disappointed, he wrote back with another email, saying”…there is more than one way to skin a cat…” and offered his primary dinghy to us.  WHAT THE HELL?  This couldn’t be real.  No one is this nice.  But let me tell you….these people do exist.  I never cease to get amazed by the kindness of complete strangers, especially being from NY, where the pace of life keeps you from ever stopping to look around and ground yourself.  Being a part of this boating community has shown me time and time again that there is still humanity left in the western world.  It brought me to tears thinking that here was this complete stranger, willing to trust us and go out of his way to help us, without a question, without asking anything in return.  After incessantly thanking him, we asked if we could take him out to dinner or have him over for dinner, he simply said, “no worries…just pay it forward…” 

It’s these singular moments in life that make all the hardship and heartache worthwhile.  The discovery that people are good, that there is still love and support in places that you least expect it.  That in this never-ending cycle of surviving and suffering, that there are people who understand and are more than willing to hold out a hand when you fall, and perhaps it is because they have fallen as well once upon a time and know how cold and hard the ground is, or perhaps it’s simply kindness.  Whatever it is, it’s bigger than you and I, so I thank you, Randy, for showing a girl who has struggled to believe that there is still light in this world of darkness.

Anchored outside of Hurricane Harbor, beautiful morning,
before the system rolled in...  

PS-  Sorry if this post embarrassed you, Randy, but we really can’t thank you enough… 

Pearson Trip-Day 4

Saturday, July 20, 2013

We made it to Beaufort, NC today.  We arrived sometime around 4pm and realized what a mistake that was.  All of Beaufort was covered with weekend warriors and we couldn’t find a slip that we could get into easily without causing the adjacent boats some damage.  We had planned to make this stop to refuel, fix some things that broke along the way (the alternator belt is shot, and the extrusions on our jib furler has come apart), and to get a better idea on the weather, as we will be going around..dun, dun, dun….. Cape Hatteras.  Since our mast is 67’, traveling to Norfolk, VA via ditch is simply not a possibility.  Upon arrival, we realized that we weren’t going to be able to stay in Beaufort, so Kristen called around to the next best place (Smartphones really are smart).   She found this marina called Portside Marina, in Morehead City NC and Dennard, the doc-master was more than accommodating.   This marina is really nice; the facilities are clean and they even have outdoor showers.  They provided us with a primo T-head slip, and also guided us as to where to go eat.  Funnily enough, on our walk to the restaurant, we noticed that we all (with the exception of Kristen) had “land-sickness” which is this weird phenomenon that happens when you get on land after days at sea.  Frank and Dylan seemed to suffer the worst of it as they were both walking around like drunk zombies.  Frank was swaying down the sidewalk, and Dylan was simply not feeling so well.  I, on the other hand, didn’t realize that I was suffering from the same until I sat at the table and saw that other tables were swooshing around.  I thought it odd since I had my Scopalamine patch on.  Transderm Scope is this patch that you wear behind your ear to prevent seasickness. It basically shuts down the inner ear so that your body doesn’t get confused with the conflicting signals it’s getting from your eyes and inner ear and produce histamines (which is what your body makes when it senses something is wrong.  The excess histamines are what make you sick).   The side effects of this prescription medicine include dry mouth, which I have had since putting the patch on, and blurred vision when you take it off and go through withdrawal (that happened to me the last time I was on it, and I couldn’t read a menu).  I have sworn by this stuff because I am extremely prone to seasickness and aside from the side effects, this stuff works really well.  I know you all must think I’m just plain stupid for wanting this lifestyle, but you must realize that I came to terms with my stupidity shortly after puberty, so no need to worry.  We are going to spend the night here, get some much needed rest, and hopefully have a better idea as to when we will be Hatteras bound in the next few days.  

Walk from town to Portside Marina 

Land sickness walk