Sailing Offshore

Images of sailing offshore bring about many different thought for people. Some people visualize a scary image of being surrounded by a desert of water with huge waves attempting to sink their boat. They feel more fear of what they think it would be like than they are able to see all the details of what a typical day on the ocean would be like. Their inability to visualize the details is due to a lack of experience on the water, or it might be caused by a single bad experience on the water, or if like a majority of people it is influenced from knowledge gained from television and movies that emphasize on the dramatic negative stories that hold the viewer like any bad car wreck that stops traffic with people staring at the wreckage. Then you have the people, mostly men who visualize sailing offshore as an escape from the cities or their daily lives with everyday ending with a perfect sunset and cocktails. Unfortunately both types of people are both right and wrong. Anyone who spends enough time on the ocean will have experiences that will scare them and bring them to the realization that no matter how well prepared you are, once you are offshore you are at the mercy of mother nature. The key to this is learned from mariners who have spent countless days offshore and who rightfully so respect the weather. The same can be said about the wonderful, magical times one will experience by spending time on the ocean. There will definitely be the times when you will feel so incredibly lucky to experience the gifts of nature on the open sea. A pod of dolphin swimming alongside, a moonless night where the stars a so thick you think of the romans who looked at those same stars and created the constellations and stories about their characters and the companionship those same stars gave them every night. There will be the sunset cocktails, the rainbows, the amazing phosphorescents trailing behind your vessel on a night passage, the sense of accomplishment upon making landfall in a foreign port, the welcoming transition to dawn with a cup of coffee as you watch the night fade away and the sun rise over the open ocean, feeling the boat find it’s rhythm with the swells as she surfs up and down the waves as you clip along in a perfect 15 knot breeze just aft of the beam, and so many other sensations that will stay with your every living moments that you will either love it or not.
One of my most memorable experiences happened on our 17 day passage from Beaufort NC to St. John in the USVI. The first part of the trip was far from ideal. We struggled to make our easting needed to achieve before entering the trade winds and progress was slow. On about the fifth day out we were only a few hundred miles off the east coast with a track on the chart looking like a lightning bolt from all the tacking we were doing as we waited for a front to push through and give us a more favorable wind. When the front did finally pass through the winds clocked around to the north west and began to howl around 40-45 knots. The next two days we sailed and surfed our 32 foot sailboat farther than in the previous five days combined. Our track straightened out and even though the ride was intense in the high winds and 15 foot seas it was a good feeling to be making some good distance. On the night of the second day the winds began to lighten and then were gone completely. I still only had up a tripled reefed mainsail and a storm jib up when it happened which left us rolling on the giant swells with no stabilization from our sails. It was a long night as we fired up the engine in an effort to gain some forward direction as we listened to the sails slap at the air. When daybreak finally came I was rewarded with one of the most magical sight I have ever witnessed. We were riding along on an ocean as slick as oil with swells big enough to swallow our boat completely. In the troughs we were surrounded by walls of water as calm a lake on a summer morning and as we rode up to the crest of one of the swells the view out across of breathtaking. The ocean was alive! It was as if we were riding with a herd of elephants all running in the same direction. On the crest of the swells all you could see was the rounded tops of all the other waves moving up and down and they raced along to the southeast. The speed that they traveled was astonishing as they approached from behind and we rode up and over swell after swell. I have seen the ocean in many different moods, so many times its character is a direct influence from the wind and as the wind changes so does the ocean in direct proportion. This was such a different experience because the ocean was alive long after the winds effect. It was a memorable morning riding the smooth swells, watching the sunrise and morning turn to day. It was a peaceful feeling witnessing something I had never seen before and have not experienced since.
And now as I sit here riding in mar car on a boat (riding a ferry off Ocracoke island where we live) writing this I once again have this peaceful feeling. Memories like this are what life is all about. Being able to recall times that touched the soul, that made me stop and give thanks for the experience, loving life and always looking forward to the next magical experience. For me and for many others these experiences just so happen to happen more often on the ocean, this is our “Ocean Medicine”.

Sacrificing the Cruising Season

Sometimes it is neccessary for us to, (horror of horrors), skip a cruising season!  We usually work seasonal jobs June through November and then cruise the islands December through May.  However, if we do not make the neccessary amount of money for the cruising kitty, we cannot go for the whole time or at all in some cases.  This year, we lost our diesel engine.  It finally died for good.  The replacement will set us back about $10,000.00.  It looks like we will need to keep working in order to pay that off and save enough to go cruising next year.  We choose to cruise debt free.   We have been debt free for as long as we’ve been cruising and do not want the burdens or risks of debt holding us back or pulling us under.  It is easier and more carefree cruising for us that way.  There is also the possibilty that we could make enough money between now and  the usual departure date.  I could sell the book I’ve been working on, or maybe 1,000 copies of my ebook, “Preparing Your Finances to Go Cruising” (for sale on my website www.yachtpuff.com), OR maybe we’ll have one of our business ideas take off in the next couple of months for a remote income from a website based business. . . If you want to keep cruising you have to have all sorts of money sources, we are working on more than a few.  But, for now, it’s mainly good old fashioned rat race style working that is feeding our hungery cruising kitty.  I work in a realty office and my husband, Brian, does remodels for existing homes.  I still harbor the hope that we will make enought to pay for a new engine and go cruising in December – anything is possible, right?  If it doesn’t happen, we will be madly planning a fabulous cruising season for December ‘09!

Passage Notes from Marathon to Angelfish Creek – Florida

Passage from Marathon to Angelfish Cay

After spending three months living and working in Marathon, Florida our time had come to move on. We had been living on a mooring in Boot Key Harbor on our 32’ Bayfield “Puff”. The facility provided by the town of Marathon at its City Marina caters to liveaboard cruisers. For a very reasonable monthly fee ($260 for our 32’ sailboat) they provided a dingy dock, showers, laundry facility, book exchange, and bike racks. The marina also strictly enforces no overboard discharge and provides weekly pumpouts from a pumpout boat that makes its rounds throughout the week. We feel a lot of other marinas could learn a thing or two in this respect by making pumpout stations more available.
On our trip down to Marathon we had taken the bay side route and enjoyed the shelter of the many small cays. Wanting to get the full experience we planned an ocean side return north. On our itinerary were stops at Molasses Reef and the dive at the Christ of the Abyss. Our first leg of the trip took us from Marathon up to Rodriguez Cay just off Key Largo. We planned our departure according to the weather and as the wind was shifting to the southeast we set sail The water inside the reef was crystal clear turquoise and as we approached the greater depths of the open sea it darkened into the cobalt blue of the deep. Their are two options for cruising the ocean side of the keys, the open sea beyond the reef or the marked channel through the inside of the reef. We chose the open ocean passage in hopes of catching dinner as we trolled the ledges of the abyss. Our only luck was a single bonito (too bloody for our taste).
As we approached Rodriguez Cay the wind had died and we ended up motoring the last few hours to a beautiful anchorage. Our view of the open ocean had a bit of excitement that went along with the beauty of it. Excitement in it because there is always the possibility of the wind shifting onshore and putting you on a lee shore in the middle of the night. The forecast held and there was only light winds shifting to the southwest and a brilliant red sunset to end the day.
The next morning we awoke to a glass calm anchorage and billowing cumulus clouds out over the gulfstream. The day was already warm and had that wonderful tropical feel as the birds on Rodriguez Cay serenading us to another glorious day. Molasses Reef lay only seven miles from the anchorage where we arrived around 9:30am. We grabbed our fins and masks and were over the side exploring the remains of a spanish galleon’s anchor, a beautiful swim through, and some of the most dramatic coral formations we have seen. After nearly two hours of diving we were satisfied with our visit Molasses reef and set sail to the Christ of the Abyss eight miles northeast.
On the sail we enjoyed a quick lunch and rest as we got ready for the second dive. Our expectations of this dive were only to see the statue and continue on to Angelfish Cay. As we picked up a mooring and jumped overboard we found ourselves in a fabulous coral garden. The formations came from 25 feet to within 5 feet of the surface with huge hogfish and groupers swimming throughout. The Christ of the Abyss statue was placed within these formations obviously to protect it from currents and surge while creating a glorious backdrop. It was truly a magnificent area to explore and well worth the effort.
It was now 4pm and time to make for Angelfish Cay before the wind clocked around to the north like forecasted. The wind was piping up out of the west with the approach of the front and clouds that were rolling in. Within 5 miles a dark cloud passed over giving us a light shower and bringing the north winds on its backside. The cool dry air told us that was the front and the engine came on to motor us the remaining way. The approach to Angelfish Cay and Angelfish Creek that brings you bay side was very straightforward with clear channel markers and good depth throughout. We opted to anchor in one of the many small channels off Angelfish Creek to wait out the strong northeast winds that followed with the high pressure behind the front.
Our splash back into truly cruising again after a short stint of work in Marathon was fabulous. We choose a good weather window for what we wanted to do and got some great sailing and diving as a result. We are looking forward to the rest of our voyage back north, sailing, fishing, diving, and exploring as we go.

Stuart, Florida: The Best of Both Waterworlds

Stuart, Florida is a nice stop for cruisers for many reasons. First and foremost is it’s prime location on Florida’s Treasure Coast with ocean access through St. Lucie Inlet and more than one comfortable anchorages right off the ICW. If you’re a water person, you’ll find no end to the activities available in Stuart. You can anchor in one of the two anchorages in Manatee Pocket, which is a hurricane hole at Port Salerno in Stuart.  There are plenty of marinas to offer fuel and water. Within walking distance, less than a mile, there is a West Marine, a Winn Dixie, coin laundry, canvas maker, fantastic produce stand, incredible marine consignment shop and flea market, not to mention the numerous waterside restaurants, boatyards, and fishing docks. There is a huge warehouse right on the water in the southern anchorage of Manatee Pocket that has been made into a coffee shop and artist’s co-op with free WIFI and fabulous original pottery, tile, painting, and stained glass.  And here is a little gem of cruiserly local wisdom, a 5 minute walk from the dingy dock will reveal a 24-hour ice machine that dispenses 10 or 20 lb.  bags of ice, or loose ice into your ice chest, for $2.00!

There are two public parks to dingy to, this is especially nice if you have a dog. The parks are beautiful and full of birds, squirrels, palms and pines. The landside amenities for the cruiser are endless. And here’s another secretto look for while you’re here, there are colonies of wild, green parrots living  in large nests in the tops of the palms. They are quite vocal and scold you if you get to close. They are great fun to observe.

In the harbour, you can expect to see bottlenose dolphins hunting their breakfast every morning. Since we’ve been here I’ve seen a baby dolphin spyhopping, (that’s popping his head out of the water and looking around), and an adult dolphin tossing a large mullet into the air over and over, like a dog playing with a toy. There are herons, sandhill cranes, gulls, and lots of pelicans. We’ve seen several spotted eagle rays gliding gracefully below the surface, leaping out of the water every now and then. The Spring is a wonderful time to be here because all of the wildlife is very active this time of year.

If you want to have some fun, take the dingy or kayak up one of the numerous creeks and see if you can spot an alligator or a manatee. Or, pack a picnic, and dingy out to one of the lovely deserted islands between the ICW and the inlet. We did this and had a blast. These little islands have clean beaches with sandy shoals that you can walk out onto at low tide and watch tiny crabs and minnows hide in their nurseries of marsh grass and shallows. Big Causaurina pines provide plenty of shade, and the water is cool and refreshing.

You can also go all the way out to the inlet in your dingy and fish around the rock jetties. We spoke to someone who dove the jetties and spotted a huge spiny lobster there. People are catching mostly mackerel, pompano, kingfish, snook, and catfish. Offshore, not for the dingy motorist, there are an abundance of sailfish, after all, Stuart is the Sailfish Capitol of the World! Stuart can also boast a six square mile reef, which is considered the northernmost of tropical coral reefs. The reef is accessible by dingy on the outside of the inlet, or if you dingy to Peck Lake, part of St. Lucie state park.  Or take the big boat and anchor there as it provides a nice anchorage, and beaches on both the ICW side and ocean side.

There are all sorts of hidden surprises for fun and relaxing in the area of Manatee Pocket. We’ve yet to discover everything. During a sunset cruise last night in our dingy, we met a couple on a trawler from Maryland. They told us about the Bathtub Beach, (where shallow pools of ocean water are warmed by the sun), and the surfing beach, ( where local surfers maintain a tough front and build surf shacks at their favorite break). Guess we’ll just have to do some more exploring…

Reading the Conditions to Go Free Diving in the Keys

 

Upon arriving in the Florida Keys in late February Jeannette and I were anxious to get in the water and do some serious freediving.  The entire sail down from NC was filled with strong winds, oddly enough from the southwest,  and once secured to a mooring in Boot Key Harbor the winds continued. Front upon front that marched across the states would find us down here and blow as they passed through then increase in strength as the high pressure filled in behind.  Well all this wind is obviously not good for diving.  A few days when the wind settled down to around 15kts I would charge out for a beating in the dingy.  The first two times I went out the water was clear one day and cloudy the next.  My first thought was a change in wind direction had caused a change in water clarity.  In NC an onshore wind will bring warmer cloudy conditions, while an offshore breeze will bring cooler, clearer water in. As I experimented with the winds with each passing front my theories were being blown out of the water, nothing was being consistent relating to wind direction and water clarity.  As a result I began to question other variables that could effect visibility on the reef.  It was on a bus ride back from Key West that it became apparent what had the most effect on the visibility.  Riding over the seven mile bridge I could see the green cloudy water of the bayside in contrast to the blue clear water on the oceanside.  The tide was coming in and the clear water was rushing by the pilings of the old bridge. It was like a light bulb went off in my head.  So over the next few weeks whenever the wind slacked to 15kts or less I would review the tide charts and go out on an incoming tide, and voila,  more consistent clear water. Thinking about it it all makes sense.  The high nutrient rich waters surrounding the shallow mangroves has that green cloudy characteristic, while the deep cool ocean water has the clear visibility that is needed for more enjoyable diving.  Watch the tides and you have your own calendar for the best times to make the run out to the reef without getting burned.  Now it’s mid April and the fronts have finally settled down. The wind and sea has calmed and the water is becoming clearer each trip out.  There are truly some amazing reefs to dive, and if you venture to the greater depths there can be some rewarding spearfishing as well.  

How Much Does It Cost To Go Cruising

How much does it cost to go cruising?  We all know the answer to that… exactly as much as you have.  But that is not very helpful, now is it?  I’m going to simplify this question and tell you how much it costs myself and my husband to go cruising.  We have been cruising for seven years, far and wide, so I feel I can give you an accurate report.  Then, you can take my information and plug in your own numbers, because it is different for everyone.  For example, the boat might cost $30,000 or $300,000.   Cost of Cruising aboard Puff…Boat:  $50,000Equipment and Gear (self-steering, new sails, fishing and diving gear, inflatable dingy, etc.):  $30,000  (spread out over several years as we acquired new stuff)Yearly Maintenance  (including annual haul out and bottom painting):  Average $4000 (how I got this average: some years this is around $2000 if we have no major repairs and some years it can be higher, like $12000, if you have major replacements or repairs like the engine.)Dockage, slip fees, marinas:  $1500/year (Explanation:  We live out at anchor while we are cruising or island hopping through paradise, but 5-6 months out of the year we live in a marina in the USA while we work, we have paid anywhere from $200 – $750/month for marina rent)Mail Forwarding Service:  $10 – $14/monthCharts and Guidebooks:  $30 – $50 for a guidebook or cruising guide; $100 – $300 for paper and/or digital charts of each area.  (We attended a Seven Seas Cruising Association Marine Flea Market and bought paper charts for the world from a guy who had just completed a circumnavigation for just under $3000)Provisioning:  $1500+ for a 6 month cruise  (This is all dry goods, rice, flour, canned food, nuts, seeds dried fruit, spices, etc.  We do it cheap, of course.  You can buy gourmet or organic everything or lots of sodas, liquor and beer and spend 5x as much.)  Grocery and Eating Out Allowance:  Ours is quite small, $30/week.  We don’t eat out except maybe once a month, very cheap burgers or something, and we work hard to catch our own food almost every day, fish or lobster.  We buy fresh local produce every week from local farms.Water:  $30 – $60/month (Usually, when you are cruising, you pay for freshwater to fill you boats tanks, .10/gal to .50/gal.)  Diesel/Gasoline:  $200/month (And that is being generous.  We sail all we can and try to use the engine sparingly.  We do use gas for our dingy a lot to go fishing and diving, and of course it is our only vehicle while cruising.)Medical Supplies:  $300/year  (We stock  up on basics like antibiotics, suture kits, emergency medical supplies about once a year so we are prepared while cruising.  We had our doctor show us proper procedure for everything.)Licensing and Documentation:  $150 one time fee usually (Make sure you get proper documentation for your boat in your country of origin or you could be facing fines and legal penalties)Customs and Entry Fees:  $0 – $300/per country (This depends on what country, your best source for current entry fees is Jimmy Cornell’s site, www.noonsite.com) I’ve probably forgotten some things, so I may have to do a part two of this article, but all the basics are here.