Purgatory in Misery Bay

We got here the evening before but for the record we will call today...

Day One: Yes it is that bad when It starts with “Day One:” We woke up to 20 knots from the East and a boat anchored 75 feet from us in a huge anchorage. They were abeam and riding the waves too. No big problem, but really? We relaxed for a few more hours hoping the extra wind was a “morning thing” No! It wasn't. We spent the day lounging around and hoping for the wind to catch up to our forecast, or actually slow down to our forecast. It never did. By mid afternoon it was breaking 25+ and Tin heard the other boat whistling at us early in the afternoon. He called it to my attention and it seems that thing were so bad that BooBooTinTin had decided to have a wrestling match with Mercury and was currently pinned to the mat with Mercury's foot holding it down. (the waves were beating us up so bad that the dinghy went under the motor as Gemini Dreams rocked in the waves) .Now as all the world was rocking and splashing I had to referee the two apart and send them to their corners. Score Mercury 1: BooBooTinTin scratched up and a tube cut! We let more line out on BooBooTinTin's leash and they didn't get into any more fights. At this time we also noticed the boat that was 75 feet away kept sliding away. Sometime in the late afternoon he was about 50 feet farther down wind than when the dinghy fight took place. Either they didn't notice while sitting in the cockpit or their discomfort factor didn't kick in until almost sunset. During sunset they decided to anchor DIRECTLY upwind from us. With them only 50 feet in front of us watching the captain try to set a second anchor and wondering as I watched his first anchor drag ever so closely to where my anchor rest, if they would meet. One of the locals came by and asked if I needed help. I filled him in on all that was going on and suggested the other guy may need some. When he was done he settled in 75 feet to the port side now instead of the starboard. At least he drifted to our side as he set the second anchor. We dropped our lunch anchor over the side just in case we needed a back up if things got worse overnight! There was no way to row it out and properly set it.

Day two: Getting up early and checking the wind seemed useless.  I could hear the whistling rigging from the berth. The boat felt simi-calm, meaning the wind was over powering he tides and she was riding out the waves instead of rocking from side to side. Our anchor was set and all was good.  Around 10am or so the other boat worked very hard to get their anchors up and by now probably need marriage counseling. I watched that 32 foot sailboat leave Nixon Harbor and know that by now they just need a divorce attorney. By the time they left the seas at the entrance were 6 foot! The whole top of the waves coming from a 35 knot SW wind was just gliding into the bay. It was not a good place to be. The option of being pounded by the SW growing 35 knot winds and waves sounded worse as once we were out of this bay we had to enter between the Bimini Islands and not get beached there. I sat there for what seemed like hours (minutes) on the bow watching the waves run under Gemini Dreams. I kept thinking that she was going to bottom out in the sand as it was hard to tell if there was enough water still under he keel. Checking the Lowrance she was going from 1.7 feet to 7 feet as the waves rode underneath I finally gave up and went below saturated with stress. About 30 minutes into some Tv show I did my glance at the Lowrance and we were dragging. I was quickly on deck assessing the situation and we were sideways with the waves. The lunch hook had popped off the bow cleat and was holding strongly but quickly pulling us stern to! I tied a bumper to the end and quickly untied it from the stern, over she went! Then Gemini Dreams settled in bow to as she hooked in. With now over 40 knots there was no way to row an injured dinghy to set another anchor out, and I am not that suicidal. I tossed it as far as I could and hoped for the best if it was needed. After all it's little brother did the job the day before.

About 30 minutes later at the peak of the wind storm, BANG! I thought someone crashed into us or we hit the poles sticking up out of the water. It was a big bang, The chart plotter showed us still in the same position. Up I went with flash light in hand, NO OTHER BOAT, THE POST FOREST WAS WAY OVER THERE, WTF! It appeared after checking the foredeck that we were broadside as we slid down a wave and when we were tossed by the next one the anchor was so tightly embedded that the starboard pinch cleat was ripped completely off and the guard on the anchor roller was knotted up. I verified the lines were in good shape and we kept riding the storm. It was a long night!

 3/4 line chaffed through during the blow

Missing Cleat and bent (somewhat straightened now) roller guide

Day three: Forcast 5-10 random N 30+ after 7pm With hopes for the 5-10 random between the unforeseen 30-45 SW and the forecast 30 N we wanted to get out of this place. The light winds never happened. I was on the foredeck pulling on the anchor to see how hard it was going to be to get two anchors up if we could leave soon. The secondary was easy but the Fortress was going to be motor over only. We would have to leave the lunch hook and come back hoping someone else didn't like the over priced fortress at the end of the big blue bumper. Then I saw it coming! A black horizon. Flash backs of Marathon last March appeared before my eyes. There was NOT going to be a light wind today. Just as if someone flipped a switch the winds went from 35 SW to 35 N! Seriously I felt one gust on my left shoulder and within 10 seconds I had a face full of north wind. Good thing is the fetch was less from the north so after the wind changed the wave direction (about 45 minutes) the night was calmer but just as loud. Another restless night

Day four: Continues the north winds started on day Three. Those north winds were the only thing right with the weather, or almost right being three hours early. Going stir crazy!

Day five: Winds back east 25knts Cabin Fever!

Day Six: Winds down to 15 in the mid morning. Row out to fetch the lunch hook. Pull in the secondary. Before we get the Supreme in it is over 25 knots again  and I settle back in for another day.  During this time I had Tin working on misc. things and one was trash duty.  I tossed his collection into a large bag and then into the dinghy, out of site out of mind.

Three or more hours later I was in the cockpit staring at the beach and crashing waves over the rocks.  Still staying here for another day!  Just before I started to go below I glanced at the dinghy,  Good it is still there.  I turn, head to the companionway and freeze solid.  The subconscious had just taken over!  I yell for Tin to get on deck, NOW!  I was pulling off my shirt and getting ready for a swim in the churning water.  The leash on BooBooTinTin  was loose.  Hell there was no longer a U-bolt in the dinghy!  As I stood there wondering why it wasn't drifting away any faster...  I saw that the trash bag was weighting down our towing bridle and keeping it from drifting away.  With great team work and me outside the railing and bimini, slowly pulling on the line I was able to make it into the dinghy.  Using the anchor rode I fetched earlier I tied it to the front seat and then to Gemini Dreams.  Then I also clipped the towing bridle to the handles of the RID kit (Note: Never do this, ever!  It will pull the kit off and the dinghy will still continue out to sea.) which was a bad idea in the moment of stress.  I quickly got back in the dinghy and clipped the bridle around the seat also.  Now I only had to stress about the next thought that kept banging around in my head. "Would the seat rip out?"

Day Seven: Winds down to 15 knots in the mid morning after the prep from yesterday we were able to get out before the winds came up again. 20+ going into the channel between N and S Bimini. There were 3 sailboats escaping the harbor that day. Two went back toward the USA and one went north and may have made it across the banks. We made it to Bimini Blue Water Marina around 9:30am and were able to check in 7 days 14 hours later!

Stay tuned for more adventures....Man life is good!

w

Going Bahamian

Phone does it's thing at 4am and I just hit it and go to sleep. At 4:15 it does it again. Persistent damn phone. I get up and check outside. Just like it sounded 25 knots instead of 10-15 as forecast. I turn off the 4:30 alarm and go back to sleep. Then around 6:30 I actually get up and still only two boats are leaving one east and one west. I lay down as it is still more windy than predicted. At 8:00 I get up and move to Rock Harbor to get ice and breakfast. Once back on board we head out toward the reef, WITH A LATE START.

We had been checking the weather and there was a 3+ day weather window to make the Bahamas.

Wednesday                10-15 E

Thursday               10-15 ESE

Friday                      10-15 SE

Saturday             5-10 random

Sunday                            30 N

Monday                          30 N

Earlier in the week it was a 4 day window a sign of things to come.

There were 6-7 footers at the reef due to the rise from the ocean floor to only 12 feet deep. If we would have encountered these at 5am as planned, in the dark, with 20+ knots we would have waited for another window. (over a week away!) I asked the first mate if he wanted to press on or wait a week. “PRESS ON!” So into the wall of sea we went. About 3 miles on the outside of the reef the waves started leveling out to 4 foot, then as we got to the stream all is comfortable. The seas are as forecast 3 foot with mostly less. The seas are slightly confused but made for a flatter ride. About every 12 minutes we would hit the plus wave. The wave where the current and the cross wind added and seemed to be 3 feet or more higher than all the other waves for the next 12 minutes. About one in 5 of these Gemini Dreams thought she would do a Pirouette and start to turn on her toes. But within a couple moments was back to tracking straight ahead. I do wish the autopilot was faster to correct courses!

This and one lone sailboat about 4 miles behind us all day were our only encounters

The Fisher King Asleep at the helm

In reality the sail in the stream was great for a first time. Once we were on course about 4 miles from the reef the autopilot was set. Then hours later I added two degrees. Several hours after the first adjustment I added two more degrees and we were within a mile directly off Nixon Harbor before the stream let go and we were heading more south, fast. Our plan “A” was to spend a night in Bimini a Blue Water resort as referred by Espin on s/v Mini Pearl. But we had to get there during daylight

Sunset a couple hours outside Bimini

Plan “B” was to spend the night in Nixon Harbor (the reason for the second autopilot adjustment) if it was after dark when we arrived. Nixon Harbor is open with an easy entry and you would have to make a big mistake to end up on the rocks here. Little did we know the penalty for spending the night here. When we arrived there was a boat fishing at the entrance. With such a wide space this was no problem as we circled around behind them trying to translate the paper Charts to what we were seeing on the chart plotter. Knowing one thing while looking at another is definitely a time to triple check. And just for reference when you come in during the dark an think you are going to the right spot to anchor look out for the channel marker poles! We actually dropped the hook and turn around to find us only 100 feet from what looks like a telephone pole sticking out of the water without enough marking to see it. Now that we know they are there it's easy and they are marked but after hours across and hoping just to set the hook, beware.

Ahhhhhh! We are in the Bahamas! Check in tomorrow and go from there.

Leaving Marathon

There was a stiff SE breeze on the way to Rodriguez Key today, 15+ knots allowing us to sail from the moment we turned east. The fisher King stayed below doing school, playing games and watching videos during the trip. Around and hour before sunset and with two hours to go to Rodriguez Key we started loosing the wind. To keep the momentum we fired up Mercury and kept on sailing. At least this section of water had a few less crab pots to dodge. With twilight still gleaming we entered the anchorage with around 11 other boats already there. We were not last as 3 more were approaching as we set the anchor. I wondered if I should have anchored about 1 mile away in Rock Harbor. We would need ice to save the cooler full of items as timing has not been in our favor. We decided to wait and get ice in Bimini as we went off to sleep.

w

The Great Dinghy Walkabout

3:15am February 29th BooBooTinTin was missing!  Seems he needed a Margarita and a Cheeseburger, probably in that order too, for a late night snack. The Margarita part must have been repeated several times since he never found his way home.  A scan of the harbor with a very bright LED light showed a reflection off in the mangroves.  I assumed he had just taken a rod and was night fishing (yes the dinghy all by it's self)  so I returned below and tried to sleep until sun rise.  LOL  You know how it is when you kids are out late with the car?  Just imagine when the car is out alone and you can not go anywhere with out it.  So after tossing and turning and staring out of the companion way for over 3 hours it was light.  Through the binoculars it was confirmed,  BooBooTinTin was definitely in the mangroves but he wasn't fishing but looking more hungover tucked under the branches.

Arrow shows location where BooBooTinTin spent the night

I flagged another dinghy down as it passed by and tried to get a rescue going on but THAT dinghy had pressing business and just kept on going with a "sorry".  As I stood in the cockpit thinking "Fins and snorkel"  I saw another dinghy waking from the night before.  With coffee in hand and a smile the second dinghy spearheaded a rescue attempt and we were off.  When we got over to BooBooTinTin the water was too skinny for the motor and we had to row the big inflatable across the silt covered flat.  We finally made contact and lead BooBooTinTin out of the muck.  Without so much as a "Sorry for staying out all night" or even "I ran out of gas" comment he is all back at home.  And he is grounded for 3 months!

During the time BooBooTinTin was missing it gave me time to run the numbers of the impact a "LOST" dinghy would impact to the budget cruiser.  The cheapest replacement I could find in the crunch would be over $300,  to completely replace what was lost is over $1500 and a "new" upgrade around 3K.  Not an acceptable mistake in securing the dinghy!

Thanks Gill for saving the day!

I would like to thank Gill from m/v Suits Us for taking me out to fetch our dinghy that slipped away in the night.  He was telling me of a dream his wife had just up the west coast of them loosing their dinghy into the vast blue of the Gulf of Mexico.  Maybe she was foreseeing the events of today.

Oh and I just found out that a restore on our computer just deleted Turbotax and the return I had ready to file.  So now I am reentering all the data instead of heading out to Key Largo!  Damn!  And now the internet is acting up!  Oh well, i could be at work.

BAD DINGHY!
w

All work and some fun

Well we have been busy over the last few days with preparations to make a crossing of the Stream.  We were having a blast at Bahia Honda during the days went spent there.

We haven't posted enough fishing pics lately, Boot Key Anchorage

One afternoon a fellow fisherman offeced us a couple dozen live shrimp since he was going up the keys the next day.  These little guys turned out to be a blast.  We fished within casting distance to the campground and caught two groupers that made it to the grill and some small mangrove snappers.  At this point I would say that "live" shrimp out fishes gulp about 20:1.

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While talking to Kristopher about last years adventures he reminded me about cooking shrimp

Then on our last day at Bahia Honda we kept checking the weather and debating on staying or going back to Boot Key.  Last year a spent a couple nights with 25 knt easterlies and it went okay.  Then one the other boats that was currently anchored decided to leave and we followed suit.  This is good as it gives us time to prepare and stock up during the windy days.  The forecast was for 25 knts plus at 7pm but they didn't arrive until after midnight when we were safely anchored in Boot Key.  Have a great time on the Appalachian or CDT Tom!

Reminded by another friend about blackened pasta,  I made a version for the keys...

Cajun Cay Delight, Blackened Grouper Pasta with shrimp

Back in Boot Key there is so much to do!  Groceries, Post office, Taxes, Boat,  Schedules, Weather,  Oh My!  With a couple of trips to Publix and Home Depot we were ready to take the list which would need a cab to get back to the marina.  We were planning on 3 months in the Bahamas and didn't want to stress over daily food.  I really need to break down and bake some bread but I just keep putting it off.  Now where to put all this stuff.  There is a good day to cross later this week!  If nothing goes wrong we will be going Bahamian.

Key Lime Pie, Mmmmmm!

On the political side here in Boot Key, Marathon has decided to revamp it's control of the harbor.  There are meetings to go to and things to do.  I hope when we return there is still a way to make a few dollars here instead of spending a lot.

w

the Scorpion King

 Scorpion Fish (photo from web)

Sunday evening the 19th of February, I had an encounter with a Scorpion Fish.  It was lightly hooked so I reached for the pliers and went to twist the hook up and out.  Well, Mr. Scorpion didn't like this and decided to give a nice twist and tried to flip off himself.  My normal counter reaction to not get hit by him instantly freed him.  He fell quickly off the hook.  It seems however that when I reacted to his Kamikaze attempt to get free I must have also retreated slightly.  His mad high wire dive back to freedom was interrupted by the side of TinTinBooBoo and while there on his new found perch above the sea with a choice to go either way, he chose inside the dinghy!  Funny thing about rowing dinghies they have a built in slip and slide.  Anything dropped at the rub rail instantly goes all the way to the center and the tiny two inch rib keel.  Of course this is where my bare feet interrupted his glorious slip and slide adventure!

Here I was in the dinghy with a scorpion fish that has just inflicted pain upon two of my toes, the Fisher King is snorkeling nearby and Gemini Dreams in anchored OVER THERE!  First was to eject the fish before I had any more pain so with the same needle nose pliers over he went!  Then "Tin!',  wait a bit "Tin!!"  a bit more as he was intent on his snorkeling.  "Tin!" and with a motion of my arm he came to the dinghy on double time.  I latter found out my intensity gave him the "SHARK" alarm in his neural process.  (later he said, "If it was a shark you would have just said to get on shore since it was closer...right?)  Now I had to row back to Gemini Dreams which really brought my heart rate up aided by the sting.  Damn this hurts... kind of like a hornet sting but worse.   By the time we were on board my toes and part of my foot had swollen.  Now where is the Benadryl? where is the baking soda? I have to get the water hot!  While Tin dug through the first aid hunting the Benadryl I got him to hand me the baking soda.  I made a slurry of soda to coat my wounds and help draw the poison out while hobbling along trying to boil water on the grill on a rocking boat in the wind.

Once the water was hot enough I poured some in our bread pan and slammed my foot in it.  I poured in more baking soda.  I spent the next hour cursing, grumbling and switching out the water to keep it as hot as I could stand.  It went from a constant burning severe pain to sporadic with random intensity.  Now that the pain was tolerable I went below and noticed I was calm and my heart rate was about normal.  Double checking the wounds now for broken fin fragments and other issues all looked good.  We then treated with Neosporin to help keep out the other infections.  Next was to spend the next few hours watching House with the foot elevated.

It has been over two days now and all looks good.  But trying to keep it treated and still snorkel and fish is a challenge.  The joints in the two toes he stung are still a little stiff.   Overall it could have been a lot worse,  we could have been a very long way from Gemini Dreams or who knows what else.  Now I just have to keep an eye on it for staph and other issues.

Here is the disclaimer!  IF STUNG BY A SCORPION FISH GET IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION.  ALL KINDS OF THINGS CAN GO WRONG AND YOU COULD DIE!  The above worked for me, I have no allergies!  It may not work for you YOU MAY DIE! SEEK IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION!  Any Questions? just one? Oh Okay.... GO TO THE DAMN ER!

w

GoPro HD2 Review part one

We have now taken the GoPro on  an adventure and took 1406 photos!  Of those we are only keeping around 100.  The underwater blur is just crappy!  But, I knew it was there going in.  Most of the online comparisons do not show how bad it really is in real life.

They get worse than this from a distance

In order to take good underwater photos you need to spend a LOT more on accessories.  

1. Blurfix We just ordered this item before we head to the bahamas!  $80+ after shipping
2. A color correction lens for the Blurfix.  Not in the budget  $100+ after shipping
3. Lighting  So far we can't budget additional lighting  $300+ after shipping
4. An extension to help reach lower levels.  We have been using the boat hook
5. Floating handle  $30+ after shipping
6. Extra Battery Bacpac with housing $50+ after shipping
7. Anti-fog inserts $15+ after shipping
8. Photoshop $699+ for the full version. LOL

In order to operate the camera or change modes you must face the lens to see the screen.  This is annoying and you take some photos of yourself while doing it.  The HD setting crashes most older video cards and they can't play it!  The rapid shot burst and continuous are great features!  I like the hands free of every two seconds while diving but it gives you a massive amount of crappy shots to sort through. 

I give the GoPro a rating of 3out of 10 for underwater ("out of the package" version of GoPro HD2)

It would have received less but it is in a H2O proof container.  If only one item is in your budget get the BlurFix and anti-fog inserts!  I know that is two items!

We will reevaluate the GoPro once we return from the Bahamas in part 2.  

The following are meta tags for those cruisers trying to find info on the GoPro Cruising Cruisers Sailboat Bahamas boot key harbor underwater photo photograph pic pics digital cam camera reef lobster florida keys fish sailor review

Deep Bay D1 & D2

Day one:  After giving Burdine's $88 for fuel and a nice little sail from Boot Key Harbor we rounded the tiny key at Bahia Honda and sailed through the open bridge span.  Then all that nature and man made stuff to starboard blocked the light breeze and we motored past the swim area and tried to set the anchor.  Da Da the second try is all hooked up.  The first one was a good hook full of ancient coral mud and grass.

The long sail around the key

Bahia Honda has hooked up the long range WIFI!  There is a full signal in the anchorage! Look for the obvious, bhlongrange.  We use a BadBoy WIFI but some computers may be  able to pick it up without an external.  So Captain "K"... that means the "office" has internet now!

The Fisher King got to snorkel finally on day one.

BOY DO i HAVE A SURPRISE FOR HIM!

We didn't catch anything worth keeping during our fishing time.  There is a significant amount of grass floating around this year making some of our fishing just winding in weeds.

 Practice, practice, practice

 Sunset day one

Day two:  Started out a little late today.  The Fisher King must have been tired he woke up after 10 and still acted tired.  School day so he isn't thrilled anyway.  After fighting a little over the school day and what he was going to wear while snorkeling I finally filled him in on the surprise.

Aeriel of Looe Key

"It was Feb. 2, 1744, when Capt. Utting came upon a suspicious-looking ship flying the French flag near Cuba. It is not clear what " suspicious " means, perhaps what was suspicious were some of the dark-skinned " Frenchmen " sailing the vessel. Utting gave orders to chase the vessel down and when his marines boarded the ship, something caught the captain’s attention. One of the men aboard the French ship was observed tossing papers overboard. The crew of the Loo was quick to scoop the contraband out of the water and when Capt. Utting read the papers, it was discovered that while the vessel was indeed flying French flags, the ship was the captured English merchant vessel Billander Betty. Furthermore, the ship was being used by the Spanish.


Capt. Utting took control of the vessel and began towing it back to Charleston. On night two of the trip, the H.M.S. Loo sailed past Cayo Hueso (Key West). Every half hour the crew dropped a sounding line to mark the water depth and around midnight, on Feb. 4, satisfied with the safety of the ship, Capt. Utting went below deck to his quarters. About an hour later, the men on watch suddenly saw waves breaking over a shallow reef system. An alarm was sounded and evasive actions were taken, but the rudder struck the reef, broke off, and the ship, unable to steer, was pounded by swells and beaten against the coral beds. She was sinking — and sinking fast. To make matters worse, a few minutes later the Billander Betty crashed behind her."  If you want the whole story it was taken from here

the Fisher King goes in

His first large cuda

Sea Fans

More Barracuda 

now he goes out, wishing he could have brought his spear

Of course his charming disposition gets him time running the charter boat with 49 aboard.

     I missed the Nurse Shark (not our pic) he and others saw, and also the Goliath grouper he saw.  

We both missed the Moray Eel some saw

Sunset day two.  Go take time today to watch the sunset!

Happy Valentines day Boo!

Hey baby girl I miss you!  Hope you like the treat.

Reminds me of something someone else once did.

Notice:  Boo, the Fisher Kings sister has recently made the school softball team.  I also found out last night she has moved up to Starting Pitcher!  Wooooooo Hooooooo!  Way to go Boo!  I knew you could.

The Fisher King enjoying his Valentine lunch from his moms.

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Sushi (his favorite) and a chocolate Valentines day cake.

w

Boot Key Harbor Igwannas

The Fisher King found something to occupy his time in Boot Key.  Instead of typing up his blog. lol

 Shhhh! so far he has not name him!

 No you can't take it on the boat!

These little guys can be found in the mangroves here.

Yes he had his Jason Bourne hair cut revitalized
W