Monday, March 14, 2011
March 10--One very bad day for boaters.
We had a fierce storm blow in as we were out getting a rental car for Will’s trip to Miami . It blew up to 50 knots and there were many capsized boats and missing persons. One guy had dinghied in to the Marathon Harbor for supplies and his boat disappeared at anchor just off the marina. Another guy’s wife disappeared off the boat. A number of boats were blown into the shoals. Some coming in now with shredded sails. We were lucky and chose to get here yesterday ahead of the predicted bad weather and we were well tied up, so no damage to Patina in her slip. The Coast Guard was very busy.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Key Largo
They made it to Miami Sunday, checked in with homeland security this morning and headed south for the Keys. They are currently in Key Largo:
http://www.findmespot.com/mylocation/?id=4Mf1G/25.31215/-80.28
http://www.findmespot.com/mylocation/?id=4Mf1G/25.31215/-80.28
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Crossed the Gulf Stream today!
At 3:20 Eastern time they appear to be less than 10 miles from Miami!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Hunkered down in Bimini
The guys went almost all night to get to Bimini, but the weather turned bad and they had to stop early morning--so my last post was not accurate. They did not get across the gulf stream. They are waiting for a weather window but looks like it will be days.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Looks like crossing is underway!
Definitely going to have some tired sailors! But I bet the weather window is closing for several days so they are making the run.
http://www.findmespot.com/mylocation/?id=4Kgix/25.71891/-79.31891
http://www.findmespot.com/mylocation/?id=4Kgix/25.71891/-79.31891
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Successful fishing in the Exumas last week--now back to Florida
Ken and Patina have stayed in Staniel Cay and had a leisurely time that included fishing and general low-key out island life.
Will arrived back onboard yesterday (Sunday). They had a farewell dinner with John and Barbara aboard Bamboushay. They plan to leave at first light and proceed from Big Majors Spot near Staniel Cay in the Exumas and head directrly for Nassau on New Providence Island. Hoping for a 75 nautical mile broad reach sail in 15-20 knots wind. On Tuesday the plan is to sail from Nassau across the northern portion of the Tongue of the Ocean through the Northwest Channel to the Great Bahama Bank where the plan is to anchor near Northwest Shoal. On Wednesday they plan to cross the Great Bahama Bank westward to the vicinity of North Rock near North Bimini Island. That would put them about 55 nautical miles from the Florida Coast. The weather is not looking favorable for a crossing at that time but they will be poised to take advantage of the first good weather window to get across the gulf stream. Stay posted as the SPOT notices come in to tell of their actual progress!
Fair winds and following seas!
Will arrived back onboard yesterday (Sunday). They had a farewell dinner with John and Barbara aboard Bamboushay. They plan to leave at first light and proceed from Big Majors Spot near Staniel Cay in the Exumas and head directrly for Nassau on New Providence Island. Hoping for a 75 nautical mile broad reach sail in 15-20 knots wind. On Tuesday the plan is to sail from Nassau across the northern portion of the Tongue of the Ocean through the Northwest Channel to the Great Bahama Bank where the plan is to anchor near Northwest Shoal. On Wednesday they plan to cross the Great Bahama Bank westward to the vicinity of North Rock near North Bimini Island. That would put them about 55 nautical miles from the Florida Coast. The weather is not looking favorable for a crossing at that time but they will be poised to take advantage of the first good weather window to get across the gulf stream. Stay posted as the SPOT notices come in to tell of their actual progress!
Fair winds and following seas!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Staniel Cay Luau!
Will and I picked this one for the Luau, but it wasn't cooperating and in fact got downright antagonistic. 
Staniel Cay in the Exumas on SuperBowl Sunday.
The guys made it to Staniel Cay yesterday afternoon. On Will's first snorkel, a 7' nurse shark shark right under the boat!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Leaving Nassau Saturday morning.
Heading for the Exumas. Mostly visual navigation.
The plan at the moment is to leave Nassau Harbor heading Easterly for Athol Island and then ESE to Porgee Rocks (a total of 5.2 nm). From there, generally SE along the Great Bahama Bank from Porgee Rocks to Allens Cay (28.6 nm). From there, we would continue proceed S and SE along the Great Bahama Bank to Staniel Cay (an additional 41.3 nm.), where we will hang out on the hook.
The plan at the moment is to leave Nassau Harbor heading Easterly for Athol Island and then ESE to Porgee Rocks (a total of 5.2 nm). From there, generally SE along the Great Bahama Bank from Porgee Rocks to Allens Cay (28.6 nm). From there, we would continue proceed S and SE along the Great Bahama Bank to Staniel Cay (an additional 41.3 nm.), where we will hang out on the hook.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Boat Troubles!
Patina has had a few problems with the welds on the pushpit assembly. While in Ft. Lauderdale , at the end of January, I noticed a widening crack at a welded joint by the curved section of the aft starboard rail. I keep the grille at this location and was worried that it might fall off. Since we were leaving for the Bahamas in a day or two, I hired a local welder who repaired the crack at the dock before we left.
While transiting Northwest Channel between Bimini and Nassau yesterday, the innermost portside rail sheared off at the bottom weld by the attaching bolt and the entire assembly seemed poised to come off taking with it the GPS antenna, bimini, davits and dinghy. A crack also developed at the same location as the one at the starboard rail that we had had welded in Ft. Lauderdale . We removed the GPS antenna and rigged some lines to support the assembly temporarily as we approached Nassau . There is also a sizeable break in the gelcoat near the innermost starboardside rail near the swim platform entry.
For our trip to Staniel Cay, we have beefed up the portside rail supports with some heavy ties attached to the aft stern cleat, but decided to stay in Nassau and get it all welded.
The welder is here at the dock repairing the cracked stern railing and we hope to make Staniel Cay in time for the Superbowl .
Sure Glad John and Barb on Bambushay have Satellite System ( so they don't miss any Duke BasketBall Games) so we will get to see the Super Bowl.
Looking forward to getting under way from Nassau to Allen Cay tomorrow.
While transiting Northwest Channel between Bimini and Nassau yesterday, the innermost portside rail sheared off at the bottom weld by the attaching bolt and the entire assembly seemed poised to come off taking with it the GPS antenna, bimini, davits and dinghy. A crack also developed at the same location as the one at the starboard rail that we had had welded in Ft. Lauderdale . We removed the GPS antenna and rigged some lines to support the assembly temporarily as we approached Nassau . There is also a sizeable break in the gelcoat near the innermost starboardside rail near the swim platform entry.
For our trip to Staniel Cay, we have beefed up the portside rail supports with some heavy ties attached to the aft stern cleat, but decided to stay in Nassau and get it all welded.
The welder is here at the dock repairing the cracked stern railing and we hope to make Staniel Cay in time for the Superbowl .
Sure Glad John and Barb on Bambushay have Satellite System ( so they don't miss any Duke BasketBall Games) so we will get to see the Super Bowl.
Looking forward to getting under way from Nassau to Allen Cay tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sunday check-ins
At 8:45 am Eastern time they reported by text message that they were approaching the west wall of the gulf stream with seas of 2-4 feet (before entering the gulf stream) and north winds of 12-15. Marginal conditions.
at 4 pm Eastern time, they reported their position as north and east of North Cat Cay as marked by the red dot:
http://www.findmespot.com/mylocation/?id=4AXb5/25.74213/-79.10318
at 4 pm Eastern time, they reported their position as north and east of North Cat Cay as marked by the red dot:
http://www.findmespot.com/mylocation/?id=4AXb5/25.74213/-79.10318
Finally on the move again
After a month in southern Florida, Patina is finally leaving the US.
Over the past month, the boat has seen substantial upgrades and/or repairs. In addition to the regular maintenence and repair to things like joker valves, Patina has an additional house battery, a new 120 amp alternator, a new three-stage regulator, rewired DC connections and a battery monitor that will, at a glance, allow us to determine our power reserves. On the trip from Fort Lauderdale to Miami, the windlass went out and Ken and Will tracked down a broken relay to get that functional again.
In Fort Lauderdale, John and Barbara were a big help to Ken as he worked on all the electrical changes. Will Flannery rejoined Ken about one week ago.
Saturday night, Ken posted: We ( Bamboushay and Patina) plan to leave Miami tomorrow at 0700 through Government Cut and take a course of about 80 degrees magnetic to North Rock near Bimini in the Bahamas. It is about 45 nm so should take about 7 to 8 hours under ideal conditions. If the slight northerly wind component makes the passage too dangerous, we will return to Miami and try again in a day or two. If it is tolerable we will spend the night in the vicinity of North Rock. In that event we will likely head East for the Berry Islands or Northwest Shoal (55 nm) to anchor out on Monday night. We would then head Southeast forNassau (45 nm) to check in with the Bahamian authorities. Once in Nassau, we will be able to update the itinerary. We will likely head further Southeast for the Exumas and Staniel Cay.
Over the past month, the boat has seen substantial upgrades and/or repairs. In addition to the regular maintenence and repair to things like joker valves, Patina has an additional house battery, a new 120 amp alternator, a new three-stage regulator, rewired DC connections and a battery monitor that will, at a glance, allow us to determine our power reserves. On the trip from Fort Lauderdale to Miami, the windlass went out and Ken and Will tracked down a broken relay to get that functional again.
In Fort Lauderdale, John and Barbara were a big help to Ken as he worked on all the electrical changes. Will Flannery rejoined Ken about one week ago.
Saturday night, Ken posted: We ( Bamboushay and Patina) plan to leave Miami tomorrow at 0700 through Government Cut and take a course of about 80 degrees magnetic to North Rock near Bimini in the Bahamas. It is about 45 nm so should take about 7 to 8 hours under ideal conditions. If the slight northerly wind component makes the passage too dangerous, we will return to Miami and try again in a day or two. If it is tolerable we will spend the night in the vicinity of North Rock. In that event we will likely head East for the Berry Islands or Northwest Shoal (55 nm) to anchor out on Monday night. We would then head Southeast forNassau (45 nm) to check in with the Bahamian authorities. Once in Nassau, we will be able to update the itinerary. We will likely head further Southeast for the Exumas and Staniel Cay.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Ken finally gets to post!
Lessons learned while cruising: 1) conserve electrical power like a miser, 2) use the diesel's sweet-spot rpm's as long as possible, 3) avoid refueling from jerry cans while at sea and 3) always keep running fixes.
We weighed anchor at 0707 on December 17 and refueled everything since we anticipated some offshore mileage and expected the main tank to be at 1/4 level by the time we reached Port Canaveral. On the way south after leaving the St. Augustine Inlet at 1230, we were able to motorsail for most of the passage while the weather held. It was scheduled to kick up somewhat overnight and we wanted to get as many early miles under our belts as would be feasible. As the weather turned sour, we ran nearly all of the electrical systems while underway (including the reefer and the inverter for a ceramic heater providing cockpit heat). We kept running fixes every hour or so just in case we had trouble with the electronics in the middle of the night. As it turned out, that was a prudent decision. At about 0100 on the 18th, while motoring to avoid the shoals off of Cape Canaveral, the auto pilot quit, the radar quit and the GPS went blank. We knew that we were free of conflicting traffic at the time, so, to minimize the drain on the electrical system and encourage the voltage to return to normal, we turned off the reefer, the inverter, the main VHF, the ship's lights, the auto pilot, the GPS and the radar. We broke out the portable spotlights in case we needed them, hand steered to our compass with a generous course to the southeast for safety and ran the diesel at higher than normal revs to keep the alternator operating at max output. We used the handheld VHF to maintain communications with other vessels. We kicked on the GPS every now and then to verify a fix and backed it up with a handheld GPS. We ran very close to hull speed (8 knots) to compensate for the longer course we were steering. Naturally, the higher speed burned much more fuel than normal. At about 0330 on the 18th, we decided to refuel since the diesel tank was getting quite low. (We had cleared the shoals and had altered course to the southwest to get closer to shore and calmer water.) We were then hailed by a Navy warship approaching us from the south. We could see his lights on the horizon. We explained that we had lost our instruments, were refueling at sea and were limited in our maneuverability. The captain understood and altered course to provide us with additional searoom for the refueling operation. Crew put in about 10 gallons of diesel on the fly and we motored in to Port Canaveral for our second fill up in 24 hours. The electronics returned to normal about one hour before sunrise. Next item on the list from West Marine is a pump/siphon for diesel. I am also considering boosting the battery capacity and alternator output.
Gay and I went to the beach on the 30th and took a dinghy ride between the Las Olas and 17th Street bridges. Lots of boat traffic. I can report that crewmember Will Flannery did a splendid job last week of diagnosing the problem with the outboard and seeing to its effective repair. Gay and I were able to get the dink up on plane and really haul. Thanks, Will! Gay and I just saw an 8-foot Manatee feeding on the leaves off our dock. We were close enough to touch him. He remained feeding off the dock for about ten minutes. The plan now after Gay leaves is to attend to some minor maintenance items that need to be addressed before Patina will attempt the gulf stream and the Bahamas. I believe that I have crew lined up for at least the hop to the Bahamas, and will keep the log current on our progress as the saga unfolds.
We weighed anchor at 0707 on December 17 and refueled everything since we anticipated some offshore mileage and expected the main tank to be at 1/4 level by the time we reached Port Canaveral. On the way south after leaving the St. Augustine Inlet at 1230, we were able to motorsail for most of the passage while the weather held. It was scheduled to kick up somewhat overnight and we wanted to get as many early miles under our belts as would be feasible. As the weather turned sour, we ran nearly all of the electrical systems while underway (including the reefer and the inverter for a ceramic heater providing cockpit heat). We kept running fixes every hour or so just in case we had trouble with the electronics in the middle of the night. As it turned out, that was a prudent decision. At about 0100 on the 18th, while motoring to avoid the shoals off of Cape Canaveral, the auto pilot quit, the radar quit and the GPS went blank. We knew that we were free of conflicting traffic at the time, so, to minimize the drain on the electrical system and encourage the voltage to return to normal, we turned off the reefer, the inverter, the main VHF, the ship's lights, the auto pilot, the GPS and the radar. We broke out the portable spotlights in case we needed them, hand steered to our compass with a generous course to the southeast for safety and ran the diesel at higher than normal revs to keep the alternator operating at max output. We used the handheld VHF to maintain communications with other vessels. We kicked on the GPS every now and then to verify a fix and backed it up with a handheld GPS. We ran very close to hull speed (8 knots) to compensate for the longer course we were steering. Naturally, the higher speed burned much more fuel than normal. At about 0330 on the 18th, we decided to refuel since the diesel tank was getting quite low. (We had cleared the shoals and had altered course to the southwest to get closer to shore and calmer water.) We were then hailed by a Navy warship approaching us from the south. We could see his lights on the horizon. We explained that we had lost our instruments, were refueling at sea and were limited in our maneuverability. The captain understood and altered course to provide us with additional searoom for the refueling operation. Crew put in about 10 gallons of diesel on the fly and we motored in to Port Canaveral for our second fill up in 24 hours. The electronics returned to normal about one hour before sunrise. Next item on the list from West Marine is a pump/siphon for diesel. I am also considering boosting the battery capacity and alternator output.
Gay and I went to the beach on the 30th and took a dinghy ride between the Las Olas and 17th Street bridges. Lots of boat traffic. I can report that crewmember Will Flannery did a splendid job last week of diagnosing the problem with the outboard and seeing to its effective repair. Gay and I were able to get the dink up on plane and really haul. Thanks, Will! Gay and I just saw an 8-foot Manatee feeding on the leaves off our dock. We were close enough to touch him. He remained feeding off the dock for about ten minutes. The plan now after Gay leaves is to attend to some minor maintenance items that need to be addressed before Patina will attempt the gulf stream and the Bahamas. I believe that I have crew lined up for at least the hop to the Bahamas, and will keep the log current on our progress as the saga unfolds.
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