"Camu" is a very interesting French Canadian artist who has a 20' sailboat with no motor.  He has lived on the water for the past 19 years and been through 9 hurricanes, 8 of them while he stayed on his boat, and plans to head to the Bahamas in March.  He is one of the net controllers for the Marathon Cruisers' Net and organizes the Buddy Boat list for local cruisers in Boot Key Harbor.

We gladly left South Riding Rocks for the Gulf Steam and had a very good crossing.  We had east winds at about 10 knots all day and seas were only about 3-5'.  Valentina tossed to and fro through the waves as we trudged against the current.  

Due to the strong current, sometimes, we would only travel 2 knots.  It was very deep, around 2900'.   We did have some problems with the outhaul on our mainsail, that we also had to contend with.   In the afternoon, we had a crew of dolphins swim along with us at the bow of the boat.   We were able to get them on video.   It was nice and calm when we arrived  at Hawks Channel at sunset and went to Rodriguez Key at 8 p.m. for a great night's rest.  It was a calm evening.

We anchored at the edge of the Gulf Stream at South Riding Rock at 2:30 p.m..   This place should be renamed "Rough Riding Rocks", because this was our roughest anchorage ever. 

 At anchor, we had 15-20 knot winds and waves coming over the bow.  Now, is that a rolly anchorage, or what?  We were eating dinner in the cockpit, and Kay's drink was knocked over from the rocking. 

After little or no sleep, we knew the Gulf Stream would be a breeze after this anchorage. We were anxious for  sunrise to hit the Gulf Stream.

 We had 15 - 20 knot winds from the east and waves from the aft quarter-panel, so we rolled from side to side, but it was great.  This was actually the first day we could sail and not run the engine at all.   The water was about 2100' deep.  At 8:30 p.m., we anchored for the evening, just on the banks.  We put out 120' of chain and drug 1/4 mile during the night.  There is just 6" of sand on top of solid rocks, so your anchor just drags.  But, the good news is, "It doesn't matter".  You can drag for miles and miles, and it is the same.  No boats, no obstructions, no depth difference, just water.

When we woke up at 4:30 a.m. and looked out, I thought there was a sailboat anchored right next to us.   But it was not, it was the brightest star in the east that I have ever seen.  (There are no boats around you, just water and more water).   We have seen it every night, but it is just not quite a bright as it was on the Bahamas Banks.

2/14/06

We flew back to Nassau and found Valentina watching and waiting patiently for us secured to the dock.  She was completely unharmed and in perfect shape.

At the marina, you have to tie the bow to the front of the dock, and telephone poles  to the aft, with boats on each side and a 2  1/2 knot current.   We had to get on and off the bow, but tie it back so as to not hit the dock.

So, we have airline tickets to return to D/FW tomorrow, arriving tomorrow night. Not sure how long we will stay.

Please pray for our family during this time.

We have our boat at a marina in Nassau and we will check in the morning if we can leave it here, while we are gone.

Just wanted to let you know.

We will take our laptop and you can email us at sailingvalentina@hotmail.com rather than the boat N5OTB address.

1/13/06

After motor-sailing all day and night, of course the wind was on our nose.....We arrived on the Great Bahamas Banks at sunrise and traveled across them to anchor for a few hours rest from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. We pulled up anchor and started the trek to Nassau. It was 56 miles, so we sailed again all night and arrived at daybreak.

We had two buddy boats that accompanied us on this crossing. One was a 36' PDQ catamaran "Kokomo" from Baltimore, MD and the other was a single-handed Canadian gentleman on a 40' Benneteau "Ellusion". It was nice having someone along to check on each other along the way.

We arrived this morning to Nassau around 8:30 a.m. and found our way to a marina. We found a marina that is $.75 per foot per day. Very reasonable....we thought the Bahamas would be very expensive. So, we will stay here a few days. You have to come to the marina for customs to come to your boat to clear you in the country, then Immigration comes aboard. We had the Customs officer come this morning, and we are still waiting on Immigration.

You have to fly a "Q" flag for quarantine until Customs and Immigration have cleared you. Sonny (the Captain) can get off the boat, but I cannot until we are totally cleared in.

We have washed down everything on the boat and showered and ready to go walk around to explore.....hope they come soon.

I will probably have our mail delivered here, so we may be here a week or more.

Will update the website when we can walk around and find an internet cafe.

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