The Adventures of Echo

2009-12-24T10:43:00.000-08:00

Wow it has been a long time since the old blog was updated!! We got sidetracked in Cocoa, FL working on well…work!! Lets see the last we left you was with our trip back from the Northwest Caribbean….

We had to put into the Dry Tortugas which was absolutely fantastic. Just what the captain and crew needed a few days to rest, swim, explore and dry out the boat. As said earlier 3 of the 4 boats we headed back with put in here and all had issues, even the boat that carried onto Key West had problems but they were able to power much faster than the rest of us enabling them to make into port safely in daylight.

The anchorage was quite crowded as many boats had made for this harbor to wait out high winds.

Fort Jefferson is actually located on Garden Key. Built in the mid-1800’s, with over 16 million bricks, this is America’s largest coastal fort.

The Islands were first discovered by Spaniard Ponce De Leon in 1513. First named Las Tortugas(The Turtles) due to the abundance of sea turtles.The word 'Dry' was soon added to mariners' charts to warn of the lack of fresh water.

There is no provisioning here. No fresh water, groceries, or fuel. Many boats skip this as it is easy to get “trapped” waiting for the right winds to carry on either to Key West or to the Banana Republic.

Since the days of Spanish exploration, the reefs and shoals of the Dry Tortugas have been a serious hazard to navigation and the site of hundreds of shipwrecks. U.S. military attention was drawn to the keys in the early 1800's due to their strategic location in the Florida Straits. The first construction on Garden Key, in 1825, was a lighthouse to warn sailors of rocky shoals. Construction of Fort Jefferson began in 1846 but the fort was never completed. The United States knew it could control navigation to the Gulf of Mexico and protect Atlantic bound Mississippi River trade by fortifying the Tortugas. Construction continued for over 30 years but the Fort, which covers 11 of the key's 16 acres, was never finished. During the Civil War the fort was a military prison for captured deserters.

It also held the 4 men convicted of complicity in President Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865, the most famous being Dr. Samuel Mudd. The Fort was plagued with construction problems and Yellow Fever epidemics. The invention of the rifled cannon made the Fort obsolete, as it's thick walls could now be penetrated. The Army finally abandoned Fort Jefferson in 1874. In 1908 the area became a wildlife refuge to protect nesting birds from egg collectors. In 1935 Fort Jefferson was proclaimed as a National Monument but it was not until 1992 that Dry Tortugas reached it's current status as a National Park to protect both the historical and natural features.

After a couple of days it was time to move onto Key West and properly check back into the country and make our way up to Cocoa, FL where we hoped to pick up some work and do some much needed projects on Echo.......

Isla Mujeres

2009-05-28T16:18:00.001-07:00

Well unfortunately all good things must come to an end, after countless miles and many a great sun downers, excellent dinners, tall tales and wonderful times it was a sad day when we finally had to say adios to our amigos, John and Barbara, on Sam the Skull. They have elected to keep their boat in the Rio for hurricane season while they fly home to Scotland to take care of business. We on the other hand are headed back to the US to find some (bad word alert) Work to help out the old cruising kitty!! (Arggh Matey you have not seen the last of us yet!!!)

On our first day out headed to Belize we immediately “ran” into this freighter (not really)!! Reiterating the fact that we are not in (Kansas) the river any longer.

We did not stop in Belize except to catch some shut eye so we did not get any good pics. However we did have our share of engine problems. The day that we went to leave on passage for Isla Mujeres the engine decided she wasn't going to start. After much investigation and tearing the boat apart, it was determined that we picked up some bad fuel in the Rio - even though we ran it all thru the Baha filter. The captain changed filters and "polished" some fuel and finally we were ready to go. Our early morning departure turned into a early afternoon departure. It shortened our weather window so we decided to give Cozumel a miss and head straight to Isla Mujeres. Which just happens to be one of our favorite places!! We arrived in the early morning, just before the winds settled in.....this we found was to be a trend!! We would love to come back to Belize to explore more on Echo as she is the perfect boat for this area.

Upon entering the waters between Cancun and Isla Mujeres we were once again astonished at the beautiful clear water, some of the prettiest we have seen.

The entrance into Isla is pretty well marked for Mexico....but it was even better because the race from St. Pete to Isla started arriving the day after we did!!

Little did we know that we would get “stuck” with weather and not be able to head off to Key West for almost 10 days. Everyday it blew a steady 20-25k out of the East - just so happens that the direction we needed to go!! The up side was our wind generator kept us fully charged and we were able to watch season one of Rome!!

During the day we did what every good cruiser does and enjoyed Isla!!

One day we took a beach tour....

Next a ferry ride over to Cancun......

Where we ran into this friendly Iguana!!!

A tour around Isla proper.....

We found a Mexican watering hole where we took a break and had a Sangria or two!!!

We even took a dinghy tour thru the Chute the Chute pass, an alternate entrance to the anchorage. Mucho charter cats do this pass so many times daily that you can’t keep count!!

The island has not escaped hurricane seasons unscathed and you can still see evidence of this here and there.

This hotel overlooking the Atlantic was once a beautiful and happening place before the storm.

The Mexican police/coast guard take their job seriously and keeps this fleet of boats at the ready to chase any smugglers!! It made us a little nervous the day we actually left because we could not check out of Mexico. The government was shut down because of the swine flu scare which just happened to coincide with Cinco de Mayo!!

We managed to dodge the swine flu but it was pretty freaky seeing people in town wearing masks and what not. Even the admiral decided we better scrub the decks clean of any left over swine….and many wonder how she became known as the “deck mop”!!

After studying the grib files and countless weather forecasts we finally had a weather window to head to Key West. In my next life I want to come back as a weather forecaster.....Why is it one of the only jobs that you can often be so wrong and still have a job???

The forecast was for ESE 10-15k.....

We hit the gulf stream with 20-25 knots (gusting to 30k) out of the North East…which meant wind against the stream….we were airborne going 7k off some of the squarest waves we have ever seen. On one we hit so hard it felt like we hit something…..we even managed to move a bulk head!! The captain has a little work to do......

With the wind staying strong out of the North East and the crew miserable, even the admiral cried uncle, we headed for the Dry Tortuga's instead, 3 out of the 4 boats that took this window put in here and all suffered some damage. Misery loves company but you could not stay blue for long as the Dry Tortuga's turned out to be just what the Doctor ordered……more on them next time!!

Rio Dulce, Guatemala

2009-04-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

Aah….Life on the Rio!! Well we made it to the Rio Dulce in Guatemala. We had a boisterous sail down from Puerto Escondido to Tres Puntas. Sixty miles in less than 10 hours….not bad!! We anchored for the night in Tres Puntas where we met up with Mike and “the love of his life” Robin, on Sea Biscuit. They hail out of all places New London, CT.

Crossing the infamous bar to gain access into the Rio turned out to be no big deal, it’s nice to have a 5’ (or less) draft. Check in with the officials was not too painful although they arrived just before they went on Siesta so retrieval of our paperwork meant it would not be ready until after 2:00 PM making the run all the way up to Fronteras next to impossible. It gave us chance to check out Livingston….pretty much the armpit of the Rio. Once we picked up said paperwork we were on our way up the Rio

If you have never been to the Rio, the entry into the “Canyon” is pretty breathtaking. You are surrounded on both sides by steep to jungle with birds and wildlife all around you and men, women, and children fishing in the local cayucas. This is where Tarzan was filmed and you can almost expect him to come swinging across the river!! The following pictures will probably not do it justice but here they are anyways!!

We made it up to Texan Bay for the evening. What can I say….Texan Bay is run by Texans!! We had the best Chicken Fried Steak this side of the Border!! Seriously this is a unique stop. We took a slip, our first since Jamaica, had dinner and drinks and our total bill including dockage was $35.00. That won’t get you far in the states!!

The next day we moved on up the river to marina row!! The last time we were in the Rio it was unheard of to anchor out. If you anchored out you were robbed, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. With the addition of the Guatemalan navy patrolling the river cruisers seem a little braver and we noticed several boats anchored here and there. We were told it was “safe” to a point but you wanted to make sure you were on your boat by sundown and you must lock you dinghy to the boat. We elected to pick up a mooring off of Tortugal Marina, $5.00 per day which included water, showers, wifi - when working, trash disposal, and a place for the admiral to promenade. Plus if you wanted daily yoga sessions!! This way we were not locked into a monthly rate and could move around if we wanted to.

In season, Hurricane Season, over 500 boats call the Rio home. Most will leave their boat and head home for 4-6 months and then return sometime in the Fall and head out again. Prices for boat storage, in water, range from $125.00 to $300.00 per month. Not too shabby. Of course there a few draw backs, one it is extremely hot here, while we were in the river temps regularly broke the 100 degree mark. During the rainy season most of the marinas flood and if you arrive to your boat during this time you may not be able to get to it!!

Most of the cruisers that come to the Rio take this opportunity to travel inland to visit Tikal, or one of the many Mayan ruins, Antigua, and believe it or not the Belize zoo!! We did this trip last time we came to the Rio and elected not travel inland this trip as we did not have a good “babysitter” for the admiral - after traveling the chicken buses with the previous admiral we learned our lesson!!

While here though we did complete a project that was long over due…New cushions (Thanks Betsy for your advice)!! We did not get to the varnishing as with temps going into the high 90’s and 100’s we could not get excited.

As you can see Judi, the Admiral, John and Barbara all adapted various methods to keep cool in the Rio!! You can swim in the river as long as you are up river of Fronteras or down river in the El Golfette, if you can call 86 degree water temp refreshing!!

We met a shipwright by the name of Casey Brooks on Retriever who lives here full time. When you buy property here you never really “own” it as you never receive clear title so you can’t really sell it. You also usually inherit a family that will live on the property and “watch” it for you. Anyways Casey had a friend that was just opening a Mexican restaurant and asked if we would like to go for opening night via his launcha….how could we resist. The restaurant is lovely and the food was excellent!! Everyone had a great time and I’m sure the restaurant will do quite nicely!!

We had the experience of being in the Rio Dulce for Semana Santa. Let me just say that this is the biggest holiday in Guatemala. For 10 days or so the whole country shuts down and it is crazy. Officials stop work the Wednesday before Easter Sunday and no one gets checked in or out during that time…you could probably check in for a very high fee, but everyone is warned to wait until it is over!! The parties go on all night, the music doesn’t stop until 4:00 or 5:00 AM. Traffic on the river is crazy, just taking the dinghy across the river can be an event!!

We did manage to take a nice sail by the San Felipe Castle on our way down to Texan Bay where we hoped to escape some of the craziness of the Holiday.

Oh well all good things must come to an end and it was time to say good-bye to our friends on Sam the Skull, as they are remaining in the river where they will leave the boat to return home to Scotland, and it is time for us to be moving on towards Belize, Mexico and then the States.

We checked out of Livingston in about half the time it took us to check in and made our way once again across the bar, once again no problems, and anchored for the night in Tres Puntas. It was nice to be in clear water once again and I must say clear air. One thing about the river the air is never clear there is always a haze that hangs about.

We will keep you updated……!!

Bay Islands, Honduras to Porto Escondito, Honduras

2009-03-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

While anchored in French Harbor on the Bay Island of Roatan we took a break from snorkeling and took a stroll and came across a "few" iguanas.

Actually they were on an iguana farm that a local guy has, he is very friendly to cruiser and has a dock that you can land your dinghy on!!

After saying goodbye, for now, to Sam the Skull as they had to boogie up to Belize to meet up with Family, we decided to back track 5 miles to Jonesville. Jonesville is so different from French Harbor we thought we went to another island!! There is only a very limited road into Jonesville and the road actually ends just the other side of town. Because of this everything works by water. The water taxis abound and all the kids go to school via a pango.

That said we decided to take a dinghy tour from Jonesville to Calabash Bight which is about 3 to 5 miles up the coast but the cool thing is you can make this run with out having to go outside the reef as there is a series of canals that connect after a fashion, we had a great time and got a few thumbs up for the dinghy!!

We had so much fun that the following day we decided on the Mango dinghy tour which runs about 2 miles the other direction through a mango lined canal. You end up in a beautiful bight with crystal clear water for a nice swim.

No trip to Jonesville can be complete without a stop at the Hole in the Wall café. So we headed over there for a burger and a cold beer. While there we met some great couples and could not resist the cigar shots, Cigars are free to all customers, for all our friends (Ernie) who enjoy a stogie from time to time!!

We spent almost a week in Jonesville waiting out a cold front. While it is nice and easy to get sidetracked there you can’t really swim off the boat as this is where the main dump is for the surrounding area.

We didn’t get any adverse smells as the wind was in the right direction but we could see that at times this might not be a pleasant anchorage!! So we decided it was time to head to West End which of course is on the west end of Roatan.
Let me just say a quick word about navigation here. The guide books and charts for this area are few and far between and when you do get information on the anchorages from the guide books or charts they tend to be a “little” out of date or a “bit” off on their GPS coordinates. For the most part we are using the Pavladis guide to the Northwest Caribbean and while we have found most of his information to be accurate there has been some discrepancies. For example heading to Jonesville the book says head between the red and green markers…no problem except that the waypoint puts you just beyond the red marker (which someone moved on top of the reef) and there is no longer a green marker just some Clorox bottles tied together approximately where the green should be. So a word of warning to all that may traverse this way as Pavladis is fond of saying “navigation by eye is necessary at all times“. I would also like to give a shout out to all the cruisers that stand by on their radios and are always pleased to offer advice and assistance to boats entering the various harbors!! Once again we were surprised by West End as this harbor was so different from the other two we again wondered if we may be on another island!!
West End is definitely the Tourist end, with a dive shop every 100 steps in any direction. A restaurant every 50 steps!! We enjoyed our stop here as it is a Marine Park and you must take a mooring (free) and of course you can not fish or take shells from the reef. Speaking of all you had to do was dive off your boat and swim 50 yards or so and you were able to snorkel the reef!! We did some great swimming and snorkeling here. We also hiked up (twice) the hill and were able to take some great pictures of the harbor with both echo and the reef in the background. Look hard as it was farther up the “hill” than we expected!!

We hung out here for about a week before deciding to move onto to Utila the western most Bay Island. We had a great sail over to Utila about 25 miles. Our friends Larry and Vely on “Lady in Red” a steel 40 footish Colvin designed schooner went also.

Utila is a wild island. I’m sure this where all the spring breakers must go as it is one wild place after another at a fair price. Everyone here spoke English as almost everyone here is a displaced American, Canadian or Brit. The water was not quite as spectacular as Roatan but pretty none the less. We did not spend much time here as we had a weather window towards the Rio Dulce and we were hoping to catch up with our friends on Sam the Skull so we could say hi to their family. After a day or so of picking up some necessities and saying goodbye ( for now) to our friends on Lady in Red - it was great to get to know them as Larry has spent quite a lot of time in the Rio and Vely is Guatemalan so we were able to practicar our Spanish with her and she could work on her English with us!! We checked out of Honduras and headed off to the Rio.

On our sail over, about 45 miles from Utila, we were visited by these playful dolphins. The captain got these great shots!!

We made one stop along the coastline of Honduras in a place called Porto Escondido.

Porto Escondido is part of a Honduran national park, there is nothing there but a beautiful lagoon with palm trees and sandy beach. In the morning while you are having your coffee in your cockpit you can listen to the Howler monkeys, parrots, and watch the Toucan's fly overhead. We tried to get the admiral to “howl” like the monkeys but she was having none of it.

From here we will head to Tres Puntas which is about a 60 mile run. The gateway to the Rio Dulce - Sweet River! Here we will await the right tide to cross the infamous Rio Dulce Sand Bar - we won't have to wait too long as Echo draws less than 5' and there is reported 5.5' depth at MLW.

Jamaica to Roatan, Honduras

2009-02-26T11:21:00.000-08:00

We decided to move up to Montego Bay from Port Antonio by doing a short overnighter….Sam the Skull decided to try out their “new” spinnaker…although it was a touch windy to start they cruised with that sail until dark touching on speeds of 10k while surfing down waves..what a ride, mon!!

The anchorage at MoBay sounded better in the book than it was in reality, a lot of sunken boats in the harbor and just under the surface, Sam the Skull actually went right over one and just about got stuck, they were lucky to be able to back off. We anchored here for a couple of days and took advantage of the yacht club…which was getting ready to receive the Pineapple Cup, a Race from Miami to MoBay.

We eventually moved around the corner to Bouge Lagoon a lovely secure anchorage which could be used as a hurricane hole if needed.

Bob Lives!! That is what the sign says anyways!! We figured that no trip to Jamaica could be complete without a visit to the Reggee star’s home in St. Annes Parrish. Since our boats were securely anchored in Bouge Lagoon and the weather was supposed to be settled, we went for it!! The trip up to Nine Mile, as the homestead/mausolium is called was about a 3 hour drive from Montego Bay. We stopped at a scenic overlook, which looked down into Runaway Bay.

The drive up once we got off the main highway was on a pretty narrow road that went straight up the mountain, wouldn’t want to be on a tour bus passing another tour bus here!! We actually hired a route taxi which we split with our friends on Sam the Skull - the cost was $50.00 per couple for round trip as the driver had agreed to wait for us. We had heard that the facility was still owned by Bob’s family and that you may even get a chance to chat with his aunt or an uncle…the day we went there was a tour from a cruise ship and if any relatives were around they probably went and hid, like we wanted to!! This definitely gave it a feel of a tourist attraction as they wanted to move you in and out as quick as possible to the gift shop at the end, we would have preferred the more laid back atmosphere that the guide book suggested. The good thing was we got to “tag” along with their group and did not have to “hire” our own “Rasta Guide”.

No trip to Nine Mile can be complete without a stop in Bob’s “Garden”…!!

As you can see from the following pictures it has become pretty commercial but it was interesting that such a muscian could come out of this tiny town in the mountains and become probably the most recognizable Regee Icon in the world.

After a “grueling” day touring Bob’s grounds it was time to have a refreshment at the Houseboat bar and grill where we could check on the boats, all was well!!

The weather was right to make a move to the Bay of Islands in Honduras, so provisions were purchased and haircuts were had!! It was to be a downwind run of roughly 505 miles to Roatan and we expected that the first day out we would be having 18-20k behind us with gradually moderating conditions.

We had all of that and more as the waves were incredibly large and breaking over the side, we took a couple and soaked the cockpit!! Sometime after midnight we were running the engine because there was no wind and the seas had finally laid down. The wind stayed light the next day and we decided to try out our “Big White” otherwise known as our Drifter, the sail worked beautifully and enabled us to continue to sail without having to run the engine…by midnight we were taking it down as the wind had filled in and once again we were romping along with 18-20k!!

Dave did catch a nice Dorado on the handline, sorry no pictures. The wind held until late into the 3rd day when once again it was time to run the motor, oh well we needed to charge anyways!! The forecast was for decreasing winds of about 10k….you know what happens when you take the word of the forecasters… instead of a nice mellow night for our last night out we had building winds which finally topped out at a steady 30k and of course with the winds came the seas and it wasn’t long before we were surfing down 7-8’ seas once again with just a bit of sail rolled out!! Once again I was glad to be going with the wind and seas and not beating our way east!!

As soon as the sun cleared the horizon we had our first look at Roatan in the daylight along with the beautiful water that surrounds her. We headed in the cut between the reefs for the anchorage in French Cay. After weaving our way around the shoals that abound in the anchorage the tired crew was able to drop the hook and as it was Sunday we couldn’t clear customs we got some much needed shuteye!!

The following day we took a taxi to Coxen Hole where were able to clear immigration but customs had to wait until the following day as he was out of the office, once the official paperwork was done it was time to let the admiral put her feet on terra firma, the first time in a month!!One of her walking areas is on Fantasy Island.

Where she must share the land with Iguanas, Monkeys and some kind of Rodant (which we hear they serve it grilled in Belize).

We must share the anchorage with a seaplane that makes a death defying landing over the masts and between the anchored boats 2 or 3 times a day!! We just happen to be anchored in his flight path!!

What can I say…so far we really, really like Roatan . The people here are very laid back and are very friendly. Spanish is the main language but almost all speak English. We enjoy practicing our Spanish and have once again taken out our books to refresh our vocab!! We are looking forward to visiting a few more harbors here before moving onto Utilla and/or Cayo Cochinos. Hope to have some great photos soon!!

Jamaica

2009-01-31T03:46:00.001-08:00

When we last left we were headed off for Jamaica…Well we made it!! After 3 nights we arrived the morning of the 4Th day. The weather was changeable to say the least as when we left we had wind fairly light out of the west and when we entered the cut to Port Antonio we had NE winds 20k gusting to 25k, heavy rain squalls and waves 7-10’ talk about surfing your way in!! During the trip we did catch 2 nice Dorado’s which we ended up eating some and freezing the rest. The days were mostly sunny and the weather was warm.

Jamaica…Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect….that is what they say!! So Far... we have had both good and not so good experiences here. The good…The country is beautiful, lush and abundant with many fruits and vegetables. The colors here are beautiful!!

The exchange rate is fairly decent, 82.64 Jamaican dollars to every $1.00 US. In Port Antonio, so far it is fairly safe and protected by the port authority. We were treated very nice by Customs, Immigration and Agriculture even though the Agriculture officer stressed several times, even though the Admiral did here best to charm him, that she is NOT allowed off the boat for any reason…if she is caught off the boat she will be put down - no questions asked - along with a $500.00 fine!! She has been pouting ever since and we can’t blame her!!
The people, ah the people, for the most part are nice... kids especially, seem the most curious and genuinely friendly most just want to part you with your money by trying to sell you whatever they can, coffee, trinkets, ganga, sightseeing tours, work needed on your boat, cd’s and just about anything you can think of. Being American and a bit rusty in cruising the areas where hawkers and higglers are present it has been a bit of a re-learning curve to be polite but firm with the NO Thank-You’s !! You have to agree on a price - whether it is a taxi ride or a meal before you purchase it. The market is an experience all of its own as negotiation is the name of the game - which after you get used to it can be quite entertaining. I think what gets to you most is when you are trying to eat a meal, have a beer or even trying to place an order you constantly have someone poking you in the ribs trying to get your attention and another person speaking in your ear trying to sell you their stuff, it is enough to make you want to scream “RESPECT MON”!! Plus we have not seen the sun for any length of time since we left the Bahamas to say it rains a lot in Jamaica is an understatement!!

Ok nuff said about the negatives!! While we were in Port Antonio we met "WeJon" and loaded up on fresh bananas and Plantains...we won't need these for awhile!! Port Antonio was the perfect place to leave the boat and take some side trips...one was a trip to Boston Bay to sample some "jerk" and watch the surfers!!

Another was to go rafting on the Rio Grande, Which I must say was SPECTACULAR!! This was made famous by Errol Flynn when he fell in love with Jamaica!! The drive up to the Rio Grande was beautiful with the Blue Mountains (Blue Mountain Coffee) as the back drop!! We finally had a sunny day and had a great time!! The trip down the river was 8 miles long, I would not like to be the one to have to get the rafts back up river, as we went through some rapids and strong currents!!

We decided to move up the North coast so we did a short overnighter to Montego Bay, affectionately known as MoBay by the locals. The sun shines aplenty in MoBay, we have reached the sunny end of the Island!! Jamaica was stunning at night we are glad we got a chance to view her this way!! We will probably be here for about a week while we await the right weather window so we can cross over to the Bay of Islands in Honduras. We do have one more trip planned here as our friends on Sam the Skull would like to go visit Bob Marley's Grave, so we are going to take a route taxi up to Nine Mile in St. Annes Parrish. We will keep you posted!! Peace, Love, Unity and Respect, Mon!!

Georgetown and Long Island Bahamas

2009-01-18T07:35:00.000-08:00

Wow it has been awhile since we have been able to update as our Internet connections have been hit or miss since we left Big Majors Spot. Lets see….We made the 5 mile arduous journey from Big Majors to Blackpoint where we waited for favorable conditions to make the 50 plus mile run from the cut at Blackpoint to the entrance at Georgetown. We had a nice sail down to Georgetown only having to dodge a few squalls here and there.

We did not land any fish, however we did have a monster of a fish spool our reel and take our nice brand new lure…never did see what it was. While under way we were passed by this awesome catamaran, Glory Days, a custom built Schoning. Georgetown…what can I say. It is a Destination for many cruisers and offers just about anything you would like to do. About 300 - 400 boats arrive here in mid January and most will stay right here until it is time to head back to the states and Canada. As I said they offer a multitude of activities ranging from daily beach volleyball games, dominoes, cooking with out an oven classes, paddling classes, how to be a better fisherman, bread making classes you can even get your ham radio license. Of course all these classes take a commitment hence this is why many boats go no further than here. If you can think of something you would like to learn or improve your skills on Georgetown is the place. We held a “class” of our own on Echo…How to pound conch into pulp to make cracked conch. Much fun was had by all…but it was quite messy prompting that all future attempts of this be done on the beach!!
While in Georgetown we decided that we would go fishing so Mark and Michele on Reach kindly offered to take us out and as you can see everyone got ready and in the mood…even the Admiral was prepared!!

Dave caught a big Wahoo

but alas though we once again did not land the fish…but at least this time everyone saw it before it fled the gaff but we had no more hits despite trying different tactics…assuring that everyone would attend the fishing seminar the next day. We decided to break out of Georgetown after a few days of organized activities and head over to Long Island.The sail over was very nice but the only fish we caught was this small barracuda which we threw back.

The weather was relatively calm and settled so we anchored in Calabash Bay and awoke to this beautiful sunrise.

The beach here is probably the most beautiful I have seen in the Bahamas so far. As the weather was not going to stay calm we decided to move down to Thompson Bay otherwise known as Salt Pond. This area is becoming quite a hit with cruisers as a new cruiser friendly place called, Long Island Breeze has opened and they provide a dinghy dock, laundry, book exchange, a fresh water pool with showers, and a nice place to have a beer or a meal. We decided to splurge and had a fantastic dinner of local Hogfish with our friends, John and Barbara from Sam the Skull and Mark and Michele from Reach.
We also decided it would be nice to see the island so the three boats split a rental car and off we went to explore the island. Our fist stop was the Museum of Bahamian Culture and as you can see by the pictures offers a look at life thru the years of the island. The next stop was Clarence Town to view the church that appears in various paintings throughout the island. The climb to the top was interesting…but the view well worth it.
The next stop was the Blue Hole and well what can I say it was awesome.

After all this excitement it was time to rest with a Rum Punch from Conchy Max

The following day we finished up with the Columbus Monument, He supposedly landed here on Long Island at the tip of Cape Santa Maria. Again it was breathtaking and even the Admiral was impressed as she had her picture taken with us!!
We have enjoyed our time in the Bahamas but it is time to move onto our next port of call which at this time looks like Jamaica!! We are sad to part ways with our friends Mark and Michele on Reach, as they are going to explore the Bahamas for a little while longer before heading back north, Our friends, John and Barbara on Sam the Skull however will be heading our way so we will have company. We hope to be able to update the blog when we can but have no idea how easy that will be once we leave here!! We will be able to check our emails one way or another so please feel free to contact us this way echoc40@yahoo.com if you would like to.

Sampson Cay to Staniel Cay

2009-01-02T07:45:00.000-08:00

We left Shroud Cay the after Christmas to sail down to Sampson Cay and meet up with our friends on "Sam the Skull" and to get caught up on emails, phone calls, laundry etc. We left Shroud with our friends on "Reach" and "Star" and had a pretty rough sail down as the winds ended up being just south of east. I think we even saw both keels on Reach airborne a few times!! We were glad to get the anchor down once we got to Sampson Cay. Sampson Cay is a private cay with a resort and a marina. They are very friendly and we all went in to check out their happy hour which offered drink specials and some of the best conch and grouper fingers we have had in years!! Later we went back to Reach and watched a very large motor yacht navigate it's way into the marina. There is not alot of water in the channel...probably 8-9' at high tide and the yacht on the right of the following picture draws just over 7' . It was rumored that Tom Cruise and family were on "one" of the many mega yachts in the area...we never saw the "guests" on this yacht but they did not spend the night onboard as the accommodations were not good enough and they elected to rent a couple of the guest houses at the yacht club!! Sampson Cay is a beautiful spot and we took advantage of getting caught up with phone calls home with well wishes for the holiday and laundry although the weather did not cooperate (too windy) for trash burning we did snap this picture of "Sam the Skull" framed in the pretty water looking out through the cut in the marina.

After completing the chores we decided to move down to Staniel Cay (about 5 miles south) to ring in the New Year and to watch the Staniel Cay local regatta. We passed a beautiful Schooner anchored off Sandy Cay - we last this boat in Miami.

We were able to get Echo anchored in a front row spot...right off the yacht club in about the shallowest water I have ever been in....at low tide we were in about 4.9' (high tide we had about 8.2') of the clearest water you can imagine!! The night before New Years Eve the Yacht club puts on a Pirate Party and of course we had to wander in to see what we could see, unfortunately none of the pictures I took came out so we will have to see if we can dredge some up from another camera...lets just say the captain was almost captured and taken away by a rouge pirate wench ( much to his dismay the first mate intervened!!) On New Years Eve day the Yacht club runs the local C Class racing regatta and as all of us, Echo, Reach and Sam the Skull all had front row seats we were invited to view the races on Reach....so the morning of the race the "girls" did their best to be bow fluff...and vamped it up the best they could!! For those of you who do not know the C Class is a traditional Bahamian boat that has a full keel and a boom that extends beyond the transom of the boat...so you actually need an additional boat to rig it. The race itself is start from anchor and around the coarse a couple of times. The captain was able to get the following pictures...most from the dinghy...hope you enjoy them as much as we did!!

After the races were over it was time to relax and rest up to get ready for the New Years Eve festivities...of course some of us took this opportunity to go out and paddle their Kayak..showing up the rest of us!! Since we have owned Echo it has been traditional to have New Years Eve on aboard Echo and we have actually spent the last 5 years in the cold north this would be our first southern (and warm) New Years. So we did not break from tradition and invited Mark and Michele from Reach ( who have spent the last 5 years celebrating New Years on Echo) and John and Barbara from Sam the Skull.....Then we wandered into the yacht club to check out the sites and then back to Echo for Champagne and Fireworks. New Years Day the weather once again changed and it was time to move onto a better anchorage...so we moved a 1/2 mile to Big Majors spot and when we went ashore we tried to make an offering to the owners of the beach...but apparently to the admirals delight they don't like Shihtzu!!

Miami to Highborne Cay via Nassau

2008-12-27T09:33:00.000-08:00

Well we finally said goodbye to Miami and Sobe!! We got a weather window to get out of dodge for December 20Th!! So on Friday the 19Th along with our friends on Reach we moved the boats down to No Name Harbor so we could stage ourselves for an early morning departure to ensure that we could clear Gun Cay and enter the Bahama Banks in daylight. Of course before we left we took one more tour of Sobe and let the Admiral bask in the attention that is afforded her kind along the beach!! Our friends Mark (s/v Reach) and Keith (s/v Kookaburra) of course wanted to get into the spirit of Sobe also they agreed to "pose" with the admiral also.... After our tour of Sobe was done it was time to get the final provisions for our trek over to the Bahamas. One early Christmas (Birthday, Anniversary etc) was to invest in a Honda generator so we could give our diesel a break and charge when the wind was calm. Of course all we did was ensure that the wind wouldn't die!! We organized a Beach party with fellow cruisers so we could all compare notes and get to know one another before heading off to the Bahamas...!! Dave and Mark provided the grills and every one brought a dish to share..I believe a good time was had by all!! On the way down to No Name Harbor the Captain snapped this great picture of a seaplane that was doing tricks. Well 5:00 am came early the next day when we upped our anchor to head out of No Name and make our way towards the Gulf Stream. The forecast was for light easterlies, 5-10 knots, because normally you would rather have a West or SW wind. We ended up motor sailing the entire trip. Which meant that our crossing was very mellow and the seas in the Gulf stream were 2' or less. We did manage to catch a small Black fin tuna (sorry no pictures) and it made a very tasty dinner. We spotted the lighthouse off Gun Cay at around 3:30 pm and we rounded and dropped anchor for a much needed swim, along with our friends Mark and Michele on Reach. After cooling off and snapping a couple cool pictures it was time to start moving again and we crossed the Bahama Banks during the night and hit the North West Passage light at around 2:00 am. We entered the tongue of the ocean and headed for Nassau. We rounded the lighthouse off Nassau at around 11:oo am.

You do get to see some pretty awesome boats in this harbor like this "little" private yacht that not only carries it's own sailboat but power boat also!!

Lets just say that being early to arrive in Nassau is not always a blessing...we tried to go to the Customs dock to check in but were told that we needed to go to a marina to check in. Of course we had made no plans to do so as we were planning to anchor so we circled around until we found a fuel dock that was out of fuel and awaited Customs and Immigration. They finally showed up at 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm respectively. We finally got anchored at 7:30 that night. We found out that later in the day they were allowing boats to check in at the Customs dock as the marinas were all full. Apparently with our weather window there were around 80 plus boats that took advantage of the same window (along with upteen Cruise Ships) and both Customs and Immigration were a bit overwhelmed. Oh well what can you do we are visitors in their country and the good thing was we were checked in and free to move on!! Nassau harbor is good for one thing....to stock up on rum!! We were looking forward to going in with Reach and possibly splitting a case along with a few other items. As we were anchoring in the dark we just found a spot away from everyone figuring we would re anchor in the am to a better spot. We woke up early to catch the forecast and listened as it sounded that either we get out now or we will be "stuck" in Nassau until well after Christmas with strong East to Northeast winds 30-35 knots. As the holding is not very good in Nassau harbor we opted (along with Reach) to fore go the rum and get out and cross the Yellow Banks and make a run to the Exumas before the predicted afternoon winds. It turned out to be the right call and we had a fantastic sail across the banks with the wind easing just as we hit the most shallow areas on the bank allowing us to spot the corral heads and dodge around them. Well we arrived in Highborne Cay and dropped our anchor in about 8' of nice sand and after exploring the Beach we invited the "Reachers" over for sundowners and hopefully to catch a glimpse of the elusive "Green Flash"!! We spent a day here and then moved down to Shroud Cay where we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We had hoped to make Sampson Cay where we would be able to not only meet up with our friends on "Sam the Skull" but be able to get "connected" and call home to wish everyone some Holiday Cheer. The weather did not cooperate and so we put into Shroud Cay...A very beautiful, uninhabited island that is actually part of the Exuma National park. Not too shabby a place to spend the Christmas Holiday!! Of course the Admiral was happy as Santa managed to find her and drop off a much needed Pig ear and Peanut butter bites (thanks Cheryl and Cassie) !! We are now currently in Sampson Cay. We will stay around this area for a little while probably moving down to Staniel Cay for New Years festivities and as the wind is supposed to lay down soon some snorkeling!! We will hopefully be able to update this with some good pictures and stories!! We would like to wish everyone a Very Happy New Years and wish everyone well for the New Year!! Cheers!!

Lake Worth to Miami (SouthBeach)

2008-12-17T09:02:00.000-08:00

Welcome to South Beach, Miami!! Aren't we supposed to be in bathing suites by now??? Actually the day we sailed down from Lake Worth we had a beautiful sail...a little chilly but nice wind a little aft of the beam...we cruised down. It was about a 70 mile trip from anchor to anchor..we left at 6:00 am and we had the anchor down and sundowners in hand by 5:30 pm!! We hit Government Cut with the tide against us but we still had the wind behind us..

This beautiful classic boat was coming in the same time as us...

We LOVE South Beach (SoBe) and have had a great time waiting for parts and weather. Of course we are also Dolphin fans and it has been fun catching "Dolphin Fever"!! We hope to have a weather window on this coming Sunday/Monday to cross over to the Bahamas which should mean we can be over there for the Holidays.

While in SoBe we have been able to complete a few projects...like sewing new Curtains!!

We also received our parts for the auto pilot and Dave was able to repair it...fingers crossed that this solves the problem. Of course it has not been all work we have had a couple of excursions into Miami...we went to Little Havana one day and then to Coconut Grove another. The public transportation is fabulous!! For $5.00 per person you can get anywhere you want to go!! We of course visited the local marine store which happens to be next to the South end of South beach and proved to be a "great" walk back to the dinghy dock!! Sunsets are beautiful with the brightly colored lights in the background...

Dave gets plenty of exercise rowing the Admiral to the beach for her morning walk ( she is getting very spoiled here) as she is welcome at all the establishments here in SoBe!!

Due to bad weather we have moved around the area quite a bit and one place we discovered was an anchorage in Sunset Lake which is surrounded by multi million dollar homes...most were welcoming...although you can stay in the lake for up to 7 days you can not land your dinghy so we were only there for about a day and a half and the worst of the weather cleared out we were able to move back to the "designated anchorage" . The local Marine Police are probably the friendliest I have ever come across and provisioning and laundry are very convenient!! We are hoping to get everyone in the anchorage together tomorrow afternoon on "Tilleys Beach" for an afternoon of grilling and getting to know one another...Seeing as we are all "stuck" here!!

Our friends on Reach showed up the other day so of course we welcomed them to SoBe!! Or should I say that they welcomed us as they caught two fish on the way down...Echo didn't catch anything but weeds so far!!

The Internet connection has been horrible from the boat so we had to come into shore and go to a cafe where we could get a connection. I hope that the next time I update this page will be from the Bahamas we'll See.....In case we can't get a connection before Christmas we would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years...(Happy Birthday to Amy and Kelsey!!)

Titusville to Fort Pierce

2008-11-30T10:46:00.001-08:00

Well we had a change of plans (what a surprise!!) and due to changing weather conditions we opted to run down inside to Lake Worth instead. I hope every one had a Great Thanksgiving...as you can see from the following pictures we did not lack any food or beverage.

Even the Admiral had a chance to don her party scarf and sit with the captain for a few bits of Ham and Turkey!!

After everyone had their fill it was time to enjoy some port with desert!!

Late morning the next day it was time to leave Titusville after a quick visit with our old friend Jon Keyes who was visiting his father in Sebastian. Our original intention was to jump outside at Port Canaveral about 18 miles down from Titusville and run outside overnight to Lake Worth but changing weather conditions and a non working auto pilot did not make hand steering all night seem all that appealing (at least to the first mate!!) Our friends John and Barbara on "Sam the Skull" agreed and decided to remain inside with us also. "Sam the Skull" is a PDQ (pretty darn quick) catamaran that hails from Scotland. The name comes from a song entitled Sam the Skull ( I'm a cat, I'm a cat, I'm a Glasgow cat and my name is Sam the Skull...) anyways from the following pictures you can see that when conditions are in their favor they had no trouble going by "Echo".

Along the way we saw many nice houses including this estate which also gave me my first "dolphin" photo...

We are currently anchored in Fort Pierce in a place called Farber Cove awaiting passage of the latest cold front...while here we enjoyed an evening of fine dining aboard "Sam the Skull" along with a rousing hand of euchre (the girls won!!) to top off the evening.

Tomorrow we will head off to Lake Worth where we will hopefully be able to make a short overnight hop to Miami where we can get caught up with some mail and get the auto pilot fixed (fingers crossed!!)

New Smyrna Beach to Tittusville

2008-11-27T07:13:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to All!! We are in Tittusville, FL rafted up to our friends John and Barbara on "Sam the Skull" getting ready to celebrate the Thanksgiving Day feast with a group from the Marina...

We moved down to Tittusville on Monday after celebrating our friend Michelle's Big 40 on Echo Sunday Afternoon!! We invited John and Barbara to come up and join in the celebration...a good time was had by all as we "splurged" and made Margaritas in the blender!!

We had to say good-bye (for now) to our friends Mark and Michelle on "Reach" it is always sad to part ways with good friends even when you know that you will see them in a harbor down the way.

We headed off to Tittusville, inside the "ditch" about 30 miles south... forewarned that the "potty police" were boarding boats...as our friends Dave and Kathy on "Pacifica" were boarded while they were anchored in New Smyrna. Their heads were closed but not locked so they only received an $88.00 ticket instead of the normal $250.00 fine. So the day we left we made sure we had the lock in place and lo and behold it wasn't long before the boat in front of us received a boarding and we were soon to follow...

The rest of trip was not very exciting as we did not see any manatees (too cold I'm told) we did see plenty of dolphins as they were busy feeding but they proved too elusive to capture on film!! We did see this lone pelican drying out on the rocks just past the Haulover canal.

We reached Tittusville where we have had the use of a car with various trips to Super Walmart, Home Depot, Winn Dixie, and the laundry mat. All of this is very tiring to the Admiral who need plenty of beauty rest to keep up with everyone at happy hours....

We have been having many "discussions" on what and where we are heading....as the primary goal has been to get south where it is warmer (not yet achieved that one as the further south we head the colder it gets!!!) and work through the kinks on the boat....the latest one being our out of production auto pilot (WP300CX by Simrad/Navico) stopped working as it needs a new belt that is no longer available....all though they make an upgrade to the "clutch" and all you need to do is have a "technician" install it....so we have that on order and hope it will catch up to us in Miami where we can find someone to "install" it for us, meanwhile our friends on "Sam the Skull" have loaned us their "old" Autohelm from their "Johari" days to get us by until the Simrad one is back up and running. So the latest plan is to get to Miami and wait for a good weather window to cross over to the Bahamas....we hope to be in the Bahamas for Christmas, from the Bahamas the plan is to head through the Windward Passage to Jamaica and from Jamaica over the NW Caribbean hopefully by March....that is the plan of the moment keeping in mind that it is subject to change at any time....we will keep you updated!!! We plan to head off tomorrow from Tittusville out Port Canaveral down to Lake Worth hoping to get in by Saturday early afternoon where we can wait out the next batch of nasty weather headed our way....hopefully it will be warmer in Lake Worth!! I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday and we wish our nephew Zachary a very happy 18Th Birthday!!

Oriental, NC to New Symnera Beach, FL via St. Marys, GA

2008-11-23T07:47:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has been awhile...poor Internet connections and a computer glitch!! We seem to be OK at the moment so I will do my best to update to present time!!

We made a short run from Campbell Creek to Oriental, NC where we got a weather report that sounded perfect ( beware of perfect weather reports!!) to make a jump from Oriental to Fernandina Beach, FL via the Beaufort inlet. We arrived in Oriental where we filled up fuel and water, did a much needed oil change and hit the grocery store. We were able to get under way early the next morning for the 20 mile run to the Beaufort inlet....there were a whole line of boats looking to make the jump and put some distance under their keels....speaking of distance under the keel we only draw 5' w/the center board up but we did manage to have a quick rub while en route to the inlet....in the bright early morning sunlight range markers look suspiciously like ICW markers!!! No problem it only slowed us down for about 10 minutes as the captain has a sweet touch on the wheel and quick wits about him...the funnier thing was all of the boats behind us were headed to the same spot and you should have seen them scatter when we went aground!! No other problems than that....and we exited the Beaufort inlet at around noon with a weather forecast for the next couple of days for winds to be North to North West 10-15k with maybe the occasional gust to 20k sounded perfect.....

The next morning dawned nice as the wind finally kicked in as we had to motor most of the previous afternoon and evening to get around Frying Pan Shoals. The wind finally filled in around 3:00 am as expected out of the North/ NW. The temperature was not too bad and everything seemed to be working well....the Shepard's pie did much better than the soup on the previous trip!! With roughly 150 miles to go we were all ready figuring on an awkward arrival time to St. Marys/Fernandina Inlet probably around Midnight of the following evening. This is where you should knock on wood or give the wind/water gods a nod as if it seems too good to be true it usually is....It is always surprising to me how quickly the weather can change. ..

We spent the night dodging squalls and battling winds that were gusting up to 30k and building seas. We had been in contact with two other boats, "It's About Time" and "Pioneer" who were also making the same passage. We were in VHF contact with them throughout the night. Early the next morning they received a poor forecast from their weather router, Chris Parker, who advised that they head for the nearest port as conditions were going to deteriorate throughout the day and upcoming evening. We were about 90 miles from our destination still looking at an awkward arrival time so we got the charts and chart books out and decided the prudent thing to do would be to put into Port Royal Sound/ Hilton Head, SC. To do this we actually needed to head a bit north as we were south of the inlet...but the description of the entrance described it as an "all" weather entrance. We tightened up the sails and made for Port Royal in steady 30k winds and building seas, the entrance to Port Royal was well marked as there are shoals on both sides. We fired up the motor (fingers crossed) and ran her for all she was worth as the first 5 miles were straight into the wind with the current just starting to turn in our favor. I give the captain props as he was as calm and cool as a cucumber (the first mate was a bit more nervous and the admiral was sound asleep!!). After the first 5 miles we were able to fall off and put up a little main and actually sail a bit. We decided to head for Cowen Creek as the other 2 boats had radioed us and invited us for a dinner the next day. Our only disappointment was we were hoping to catch up with our friends on "Reach" as they had made it into St. Marys/Fernandina earlier that morning..we were hoping to spend our 26Th wedding anniversary with them catching up and drinking champagne....oh well we had a very nice couple of days in Cowen Creek/Hilton Head, SC.

While we had a few days to kill until the next weather window we decided it would be a good time to get one of our many projects out of the way. Putting a ceiling on the side of the VBirth with the Alder strips we had varnished and stowed for just this down time...

The project came out very nice and it was a perfect calm place to work on it...although our neighbors gave us a funny look when Dave brought out his compressor and nail gun!! After a few days of respite and being able to not only get caught up on some projects and much needed rest we once again got a weather forecast that sounded too good to be true so we made a short over night run down to St. Mary's/Fernandina Beach, Fl. with only a couple of problems....The auto pilot decided it wasn't going to work the entire time and the engine wasn't going to run on starboard tack and once again we sailed so fast we got to our destination in the predawn hours!! Once again the captain had no problems getting us in, in the dark under sail. Once we were in through the breakwaters the engine decided he would run and we headed up the St. Marys River to the anchorage where we were looking forward to meeting up with our friends on Reach.

We had a great couple of dinners aboard not only Reach but their friends Keith and Jamie on board "Kookaburra". St. Marys is a very boater friendly place. They have a welcome center with volunteers to drive you to do your laundry, grocery shopping, and any other errands you may have. They also put on a Thanksgiving Feast for all of the anchor boats in the harbor. Below are pictures of the Welcome Center along with one of the town which is on the St. Marys River.

After we had done some provisioning we headed off to hopefully much warmer conditions...New Smyrna Beach, FL..........

Elizabeth City to Oriental

2008-11-09T16:35:00.000-08:00

We are in the anchorage in Oriental, NC...the "Sailing Capitol" of the USA!! We had a pretty "boring" run down the ICW from Elizabeth City. Elizabeth City is a very cool place as they have free slips available on a first come first serve basis. We had waited out weather at the last lock on the Dismal Swamp and the day we left we did not expect to get a spot in Elizabeth City as the Harbor Master said all of the spots were full...we left anyways figuring we would anchor and hopefully be able to lauch the dinghy to get some much needed laundry done....well when we arrived (along w/a couple of other boats) we were able to squeek along side the wall and get all of our laundry done without having to launch said dinghy!! For those of you who don't know about Elizabeth City it is home to the "Rose Buddies". They meet and greet each boat and once day offer a free wine/cheese party along with a rose (for the firstmate) each night in season. Each party includes a factoid about Elizabeth City...our being that all blimps with the exception of the Good Year Blimp are made in Elizabeth City.

Here is where they are housed and built..wish the day was nicer but it was still very overcast and kind of early in the morning when we left. Also while we were in Elizabeth City we visited their Dinner Theater, for $6.00 per person you get a movie in a beautiful theater (first run) we saw Pride and Glory. Dinner and drinks - which of course are extra include anything from a steak dinner to chili dogs!! We splurged with a couple of other boats and had a great time. The next morning we moved on to cross the Albarmale Sound and get to the start of the Alligator River Canal.

We ran the Alligator River Canal which was about a 50 mile run in pretty good time considering we lost our engine when we came out of the canal and into the Pamlico River. We were pretty hard over as of course we were beating to weather so we think we sucked up some air. The engine shut itself down and refused to run until we had beat ourselves up the Goose Neck Creek - a very tight channel in winds on the nose of about 15-20K once again we are very glad to have a boat that is easy to sail. Once we had the anchorage in site the engine decided it would run long enough to get the anchor down. We went through all of the systems and checked our fuel and could find no obvious problem. Just to be safe our old friends, Mark and Alison, on "Angel" "loaned" us 5 gallons of fuel with a promise of a cold beer in the Bahamas. We never saw one alligator in the "Alligator River" only this Eagle taking a much needed rest!!

After arriving in Oriental today, Dave did an oil , we lauched the dinghy and went to shore to get some provisions as we are thinking of moving onto Beaufort, NC and jump outside to Charleston, SC as the weather looks good for this run, no chicken soup this time but we will try a Shepard's pie instead, hopefully we will be able to spend more that 1/2 a day somewhere and get some "nice" pictures downloaded to the blog!! Will keep you posted...more later!!

Mystic, CT to Dismal Swamp

2008-11-04T13:11:00.000-08:00

Well we made it to the Dismal Swamp located in VA and NC as it is raining today it is pretty dismal!! OK here we go.. As you can see the day we left it was pretty cold as we said good-bye to family and friends. We powered out of the Mystic River and as the railroad bridge closed behind us we wondered when we would be back this way again (and were we crazy to leave in the threat of snow flurries!!!)

Once we cleared the mooring field in Noank harbor we rolled out the jib and sailed through Wiccapisset and headed around Montauk. The seas were lumpy and the wind was howling but it was behind us....As we rounded Montauk and started down the coast of Long Island we readied the boat for night watches. OK lets say that I did prepare a few meals so that it would be easy to prepare dinner but I can tell you that a fully loaded container of chicken soup trying to be loaded into a pot while the boat is rolling from side to side is not recommended (at least by someone who is a bit out of practise) and I am sure to be cleaning up chicken soup out of crevices for months to come. The captain did have a hot meal but the first mate ended up with a bout of sea sickness and the "admiral" was wondering why her house was rolling from side to side and bits were crashing about inside. We cranked through the night. Watches were a bit out of whack as it was our first passage in a long time. We started out with 2 hour shifts and that was about all you could handle in the cold. It was cold but the night sky was spectacular!! We had one mishap in the night...Dave rescued our lazy jacks as they had come loose and were trying to rid themselves overboard.

Morning dawned....

And no matter how many times I tried to tell myself that the sky was only a little bit pink it soon became evident that it was anything but "Blood" red. We checked the weather, grib files, etc closely for the week leading up to departure and no where did it say that we would be getting strong W SW winds...we did expect some but they were supposed to light...soooo we had planned for them ... we sailed west while we could and figured if the W SW winds came they would be light and we could make up our southing. OK lets just say there are some things you should never do...count on forecasters being right (unless it is Herb) and think that you have made/making great time and might be in , after 2 nights instead of 3....the weather/wind gods don't like that!!

After the sun came up the winds filled in...you guessed it from the W SW and guess what they were not light they were 20-25k with gusts to 30k...that's OK we told ourselves they are supposed to go back to the west and then NW....right!! During the day we had some visitors...I saw a pod of about 100 dolphins...and this always brings a smile to your face even when you are still feeling not so good!! The other visitors were not so welcome...birds...I don't care if they are supposed to bring good luck, bad luck or indifferent luck I don't like them (probably saw " The Birds" one too many times) especially when they land on you!! No pictures as I was busy trying to shoo them away and Dave was catching some much needed shut eye. Well it was Halloween after all so I guess we were in need of some spookiness. We never saw the NW winds so we ended up double reefing the mainsail and slowing the boat up so we could wait the wind to come around to the NE/N. We are here to say that Echo can not only get up and move....she screams!!

Tilley made sure the drogue was ready...but we never needed it!! On Saturday evening the wind/seas finally died down so we decided to power for "awhile" to make up some westing. We had a few "moments" with the motor. During the night we had a close encounter with a freighter and had to take her out of gear and lo and behold we had no gears...it had slipped out...no problem as Dave was able to fix. Our next problem came when we finally shut down late Sunday morning...we discovered that the alternator arm had snapped a bolt..once again Dave solved the problem in record time. Have I said Echo can sail ...well when the wind finally came up out of the NE we unrolled the jib and took off...surfing down the waves and headed towards the Chesapeake Bay!! As you can see it is still cold!!

We sailed all the way into the Bay and through (over) the Bay/Tunnel bridge. We sailed up the channel sharing it with the likes of Freighters and Tugs!!

In fact we sailed the whole channel right up to about a mile from our anchorage in Hampton Roads/Mill creek.We arrived at 8:30pm!! We were glad to have the anchor down and a glass of red wine!!

The next day we headed off towards the dismal swamp.... Where we ended up with a Free Dock (we like free...thanks Skipper Bob) we were able to squeeze Echo along side!! We headed off the next morning to the next "free" dock where we will wait out some weather headed our way!!

Dave had a little help helming the boat!! More later....

Getting Started

2008-10-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

Well it's been almost 5 years since we came back to Mystic, CT to sell our old cruising boat - Leaena - She was a wonderful old girl who took us to many exciting and exotic places, like the Azores, Med, Canaries, Cape Verde, over to the Caribbean including Trinidad for Carnival then back up through the islands to the USVI's. We decided that we should sail home to Mystic and work the summer. From there we headed down the ICW and landed in Marathon, FL where once again it was time to replenish the kitty. We then went down to Mexico, Belize and Guatemala then up to the Bahamas, over to Puerto Rico to meet up with Family. Our original plan from here was to head to Panama and beyond...we were starting to get pressed for time and also after 14+ years of owning Leaena and nearly 5 years of living aboard she started to feel a little small for all our junk we had accumulated through our travels. So we decided that the best place to sell an old wood boat was back in lovely New England so we headed back to Mystic. Where we found Echo...

Echo was once owned by Dave's younger brother Chris. He sailed her down to the Bahamas for a lovely cruise and then headed back to Noank where he sold her to a mutual friend..Mark. After owning and sailing her for nearly 14 years he and his partner, Michele, decided it was time to move into the world of catamarans and sell Echo. We had always loved the boat and when opportunity arose to buy her we took it!! It is heading towards our 5th winter up here in Mystic and we hope to be finally putting the final touches on the boat and get a weather window to head out of New England before the first flakes fall...

Of course while we were here there were a few milestones that happened....we lost a beloved crew member - who we had rescued while we were in Marathon.

We also lost a respected and well loved brother-in-law, Paul.

We helped celebrate both younger brothers, Bruce and Chris's , big Four O's ( you know you have been here too long when this happens in different years!!)

And saw older brother Pete tie the knot!!

We had a new addition of a Great Nephew added to the family!!

We met up with old Friends and made New ones!!

We did lots of work on Echo...here are only a few of the projects... including building a new Danny Green nesting dinghy!!

We picked up a new crew member....the "Deck Mop"

We had a few (too many???) New Year Celebrations aboard Echo.....

And while New England is a beautiful place to be.....

It is definitely time to move on....to much warmer waters!!!!