Cat Cay

I was on my way to Miami and decided to stop in at Cat Cay for a land based meal and ran into some sailors I know, that was the end of my schedule. I stared at about 04:00 this morning; I'll make Miami at noon today.
Here at mid Gulf Stream, I was just radio challenged by a large Cost Guard vessel. I answered all their questions and was told to standby, after a short time they said thank you for your cooperation and wished me a good and safe sail. Homeland Defense!
Yesterday I said I'd answer some questions that I'm frequently asked, so here goes.
The term singlehanding is a good place to start; the description will address most of the questions. The term generally means sailing alone without assistance but I think it more refers to a woman or man who makes long ocean passages alone. A short or long passage -alone - is the key word.
They have to deal with all the same things fully crewed skippers deal with like: weather, navigation, partially submerged containers, sleeping whales, malfunctions, ships who may not see your vessel, anxiety, fear and the like, but there are differences.
The big one is sleep, followed by the law.
Many singelhanders cross the Atlantic on 25 foot sailboats without engines, wow. You know they need to sleep; it can take 20 days or more. Ya can't anchor in 3000' of water so they break the law.
The law, rule 5 of the international regulations for preventing collisions at sea, COLREGS for short requires every vessel; shall at all times maintain a proper lookout by site and hearing and it goes on from there.
They begin with self-confidence, experience, a lot of knowledge, (hopefully) fear, anxiety, knowing that no insurance company will cover them in what might be there home. Here's what they do.
Collision with a ship is the big one so they may buy a fuzz buster at Radio Shack that detects a radar sweep from other vessels. They may also set up their radar to alert for new targets. I met a singelhander, an Englishman at Gibraltar who painted his boat the brightest yellow I've every seen, to be seen, he said. They sleep in fifteen minute to half hour increments with one or more obnoxious alarm clocks to wake them and hope for the best.
I often single hand but it's done in legs of about 100 miles where I know I can safely anchor or go into a port and dock, get some sleep then start the next leg.
I enjoyed a video of a young Australian girl name Kay Cotty who broke a singlehand world record; she went around the world alone. During her preparations she was advised to visit with a Ship's Doctor to learn how to deal with loneliness'. He said a lot but the fun part was to tell her she would hear human voices and that it was perfectly ok to talk to them but- never invite them aboard!
I'm getting into a heavy shipping lane so I need to go post a proper watch, if I missed something your interested in send me an email.
Mark

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Great Bahama Banks

04:30, Cat and Gun Cay,s of the Bimini chain are 40 miles West of my current position, that's where the transition from the shallow waters of the Great Bahamas Banks, (80 miles of 10 to 20 foot depths) to the Golf Stream waters occurs. The Stream separates the Bahamas and Florida with deep waters of about 2,500 feet that start and end abruptly. The stream is 50 miles wide in this location, flowing North between 1.0 and 3.5 kts. Today's conditions are the same as yesterday with the exception that there is no wind yet, but the forecast has it east at 15 kts.
I anchored up at about 19:00 last night in 15 feet of water on a white sand bottom, had dinner, a shower and watched an HBO movie for thirty seconds I guess, since I don't remember it. The wind picked up at about 02:00 so I got up for a look around, satisfied that all was well, I enjoyed the stars for awhile then went back to sleep. I'm well rested and will make Miami at 17:00.
Mark

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Nassau to Miami

I set sail at 09:30, 11 miles east of Nassau at Rose Island where I spent the night at anchor and had a very nice dinner in the good company of Jan and Wes aboard their 42 foot Norseman Catamaran, Dances with Dolphins.
I went out there, the opposite direction from Miami, to exchange my Dink and outboard for cash. Carla J is an American girl I have known several years, she's a Chef Mate and charter broker, her real thing though is diving. Added to that she and her significant other Peter house sit a charming island cottage with a beautiful view and white beach with a great stand of coral a few hundred feet off the beach; tuff life. Anyway, they have a dock on the south side of the island and beach on the north so Carla wanted a boat she could leave on the beach side. I had planned to purchase a new dink when I get back to Miami so timing is everything.
I'm single handing this 175 mile passage, I did have a few friends that would have liked to come along but I was not sure of departure dates/ times and they are normal people, you know like - they have real jobs with real bosses kinda thing, so timing is everything.

It's 14:00, Rose Island is now 70 miles behind me, the sea is running 2 feet on my stern, the wind is 10 kts also on the stern, the air temp is 85 and the sea surface is 82, the viability is unlimited, as close to perfect as I can hope for. I have the mainsail up with two diesels running at 2000 rpm. Not using much fuel but making about 8 kts.
People often ask me how I can single hand, is it scary, do I worry about pirates and what do I do about sleep? Do I just leave the boat on auto pilot and sleep while the boat moves on through the night? These questions have been asked so often I think it's time to answer them, I'll do it in tomorrow's log.
Mark

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Six Shillings Cays

Today I'm sailing from High Borne Cay where we spent the night in a beautiful cove with white beaches and lots of coral to explore, to Green Cay north of Rose Island.
Today has been picture perfect with a south east wind at 15 we have been sailing at 7 to 9 knots.
Earl hooked and lost, at the last moment, a Cero Mackerel, my favorite. We have both lines out now and are hoping for the best. Three days ago Earl landed a blue fin tuna which we all enjoyed at dinner follow by fish taco's the next day, really good.
Two days ago while sailing through Pipe Creek we were surrounded by thunderstorms but not really in any down pours, just on the fringes. The lightening and thunder were spectacular to see and hear off in the not to far distance.
Just as I was navigating a very deice channel with coral on both sides Earl, who had been helping to read the water, pointed his finger to direct me and seemingly a lightening bolt shot out from his finger tip. Booom! I could hear the electrical crackle, and then I felt the concussion in my chest and extremely loud thunder, wow that was close, about a quarter of a mile. Ok Earl, watch where you point that finger.
Later in the day I noticed that the music had stopped, that's when I discovered the lightening strike had ruined the audio system and the satellite radio receiver. As expensive as all that will be to replace it could have destroyed the radar, sailing instruments, auto pilot and chart plotter, computers, plus the TV's. I'm also thankful that my two new IPODS were not connected.
I'll be starting my approach to Green Cay in a few minutes so I better get back to the helm.
Mark

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More fun

Well we caught our dinner on Tuesday night. A 22 pound Mahi dolphin fish. The fish fed all nine of us easily and there was a little left over as well. Nobody has gone hungry on this trip.

Tuesday night, we tied off on a mooring ball off of Exuma Land & Sea Park. We took the dingy over to the island and hiked to Barefoot Beach where we swam for an hour or two. There were three or four beaches on the island, each more beautiful than the next. The white sand felt like baby powder on your feet and the water was a deep aqua blue and crystal clear. If you've ever seen a Corona commercial with someone sitting on a beach and thought, "Wow, I wish I was there!"…well that's where we were.

The next morning we sailed south to Compass Cay and entered Pipe Creek. The waters were very shallow through the Creek, which Captain Mark had to navigate manually. It was well worth it though because the scenery was awesome. We then headed south to Sampson Cay Yacht Club where we bought provisions. While we were there we saw several nurse sharks and a sting ray swimming around the dock. We then sailed past Big Majors to Staniel Cay where we anchored for the night. There we snorkeled around and into Thunder Ball cave, where the James Bond 007 movie was filmed. This was some of the best snorkeling we've done yet; a lot of different fish and some great coral. That night we had dinner for the first time off the boat since leaving Nassau at the Staniel Cay Yacht club. Great food and great atmosphere, much like a place you would read about in a Hemingway story.

Back at sea again, will keep you
posted….

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Nassau to Norman Cay

We sailed for most of the day yesterday and arrived at Norman's Cay about 7:30 last night. Norman's Cay is about 50 miles South East off the coast of Nassau and was once run by Pablo Escobar, a huge drug lord back in the 70's. They used this island as a distribution center and would fly cocaine from here right into the States. The runway they used is still operable today. Today the island is very primitive, home to a few private families, however plans are in the works to turn the island into a private resort.

We had another great meal last night. Grilled pork chops with a mint sauce, potatoes, broccoli, and salad. I think we've drank about 12 bottles of wine in the past two days, not to mention a lot of rum.

The sky was beautiful last night, untainted by the light of the city, it felt as if you were on the moon and could reach up and touch a one of the million stars above. Lying out on the trampoline looking up at the sky, I felt so small in comparison yet at the same time a part of something much bigger.

Today we are going to do some deep sea fishing. Hoping to catch a huge tuna fish to cook up for dinner, you cant' get any fresher than that!! Will keep you posted…..

Brad

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