Goodbye Trekker

They say the two happiest days of your life are the day you buy your boat and the day you sell it!  So I guess I should be happy, but I am tearful remembering the amazing times that we have experienced on Trekker!  

She was the capsule in which we realized a dream held since Karen and and I met in 1978, to travel south and cruise the Bahamas.

She was the catalyst for so many memories that will last a lifetime ... our first locks, meeting our boat buddies Bob and Shiela, our first exposure to currents and tides, crab pots, our first overnight sail, meeting sailors from around the world, crossing the gulf stream in "sporty" 9 foot waves, sailing across the Bahama bank with 4' under the keel, Georgetown, hosting friends and family, rays, sharks, and beautiful azure waters ... I could go on, but it is mostly recorded in the blog!

Thankfully Trekker has been bought by a good friend who has had his eye on her from the day we took him out for a sail in 2015.  I'm sure she will continue to help make memories! 

So what is next for us?  Trevor and Alyssa are each getting married over the next two summers,  so we expect to remain boatless, travel and take some road trips around their weddings. New Zealand, PEI, Cape Breton, the Yukon and Alaska bekon!  If we miss boating, we think it might be time to go to the dark side. A trawler that we can do the Trent-Severn, Rideau, Down East Loop and the Great Loop looks attractive today! 

If you're reading this, you are definitely a keen follower of Trekker's Travels, so I hope she and we have provided some entertainment!  Trekker out ...

Is it really better in the Bahamas?

Many of our friends and acquaintances were surprised that we brought Trekker home this year.  Not so much questioning our decision to truck her because of the pandemic (which everyone agrees was a good choice) but rather why would we not continue to explore the beautiful Bahamas each winter. We could tell by the raised eyebrows or slight increase in pitch, “really?".  So since it’s a rainy day at anchor on Georgian  Bay and I’ve nothing else to do, I thought I would, from my point of view, compare the Bahamas with Georgian Bay. 

As a sailor I guess my first thought should be towards winds and waves.  In the Bahamas the wind never seems to stop.  I took to furling our flags at night so the flapping wouldn’t keep us awake (plus it’s good etiquette)!  We’ve been on the Bay now for a couple of weeks and it’s been effectively calm each night. In terms of direction, the southeast tradewinds predominate when we are in the Bahamas in the winter, with a few “northers" thrown in to keep us entertained.  The Bahamas Islands run generally northwest to southeast so one waits for a norther to head south and enjoy the trades from behind coming north. The prevailing winds on the Bay are from the southwest and most of the time are between 1 and 25 knots.  Since the Bay runs generally southeast to northwest it should be a beam reach up and down the coast, ideal! Unfortunately since we have been out this year the wind has been west or northwest, or nothing, so we have done much more motoring than we did down south. And then there are the waves.  When we went south we joked that a 6 second period (the time between successive wave's crests), which is relatively short for the Bahamas was great, because we were used to 4 seconds on the lake.  Now we’re used to a much longer period and feel like we are getting beaten up punching into short steep waves!

You can’t beat the multi hued clear blue water of the Bahamas.  In the Bahamas you can make out the details of the sea floor in 20’ of water.  On our first trip up on to the Bahamas bank I remember Karen exclaiming that she could see starfish on the bottom!  The coast of the Bay, in contrast, is a wonderful shade of weak tea.  If you look carefully you can see your toes when swimming!  Georgian Bay definitely takes this one.  Why?  Because the Bay’s tea is fresh, not salt water!  And there are no predators looking for a snack if you skinny dip to cool off before bed!  I expect it will take us a couple of seasons to get rid of the rust stains left by the salt water on our so called stainless steel.  And by the way, why did none of our salty friends or family tell us that straight vinegar removes rust stains?!  We had to find it out from Jim, who we shared an anchorage with a few days ago.

Trekker anchored at "the mine" in Spider Bay

Trekker at Warderick Wells

Apart from those previously mentioned northers, the climate in the Bahamas is perfect, 23 degrees C day and night.  The Bay however can be a bit variable.  This cruise we've had 27 C (feels like 34 C) and today the high is 18 C!  Thank goodness we can jump in the lake to cool off when it is hot and humid and we have our little fireplace to take the edge off of the cold mornings.

But what about the scenery and geography? I don't consider the Bahamas to be particularly picturesque.  Let’s face it, the highest point in the Bahamas is 63 metres. Trekker’s mast is almost 20 meters, so they are low scrubby islands.  They have lots of beautiful beaches, if that is your thing.  Karen and I prefer the gorgeous granite rock and windblown evergreens that define Georgian Bay. There is no spotting sharks, rays or tropical fish through the tea on the Bay, but the loons' calls are incomparable. 

Karen considers provisioning for a cruise on the Bay similar to a cruise in the out islands,  which is to say bring most of what you need.  There are few stores in the Bahamas and those few have little stock unless the supply boat has just been in!  There are two main centres at which to provision on the Bay, Parry Sound and in the North Channel, Little Current.  That said the Canadian stores are reasonably well stocked.

A highlight of our cruise down the coast to the Bahamas was meeting sailors from all over the world and making friends that we still stay in touch with.  Most of them were much more experienced than us, many having crossed oceans or sailed offshore to get to the Bahamas.  They were great sources of courage and information.  Not that there aren’t many very experienced and skilled sailors on Georgian Bay (they say if you can sail the bay you can sail anywhere), but there are also many more weekend warriors. They are amusing as they “set" their anchors and make us furious as they blast by at full throttle within feet of us in the narrow channels.  Serves us right I suppose for using the small craft route! 

So now I’ve written this all down, I can’t really say whether I like the Bahamas or Georgian Bay better. We’ve never seen a Green Flash at sunset on the Bay, although the colors can be spectacular. I’ve also never heard anyone trumpeting a conch at sunset, the loons and whippoorwill call instead on Georgian  Bay. They are both wonderful places to cruise, just different.  We are ecstatic to be back on the bay, and are enjoying visiting well known anchorages, and are discovering some new ones too! 

We (and Trekker) are home!

Karen said in the last post that it felt right to ship Trekker, and to hasten our return home.  Having finished our 14 day quarantine now, during which we have been saturated with COVID 19 news, including terrible news of the virus' spread in the US, and elsewhere, it feels, more than ever, like we made the right decision.

The mast came down without any issues, and I got some help from the riggers to remove all the shrouds and spreaders, which turned out to be a good idea because Karen and I would never have got the spreaders off by ourselves.  

Thursday March 26 Trekker was hauled out and we went to work finishing preparations for her shipping.  The only issue we had on that front was removing the arch on which the solar panels are mounted, and which includes our dinghy lift. The arch needed to come off because it would make the load too tall to fit under bridges on the highway.  Karen and I were able to remove most of the bolts although it did cost us a rechargeable drill that we donated to Neptune.  Unfortunately one nut was determined to "spin", and in spite of my conquering my claustrophobia and wriggling from the aft cabin into the extreme back of the boat, I couldn't reach it.  We got some help from a younger more flexible helper from Whiticar (the marina's on site service folks), but he couldn't get at it either, so the final decision was to just drill off the head of the bolt to get the arch off and worry about putting it back in Midland.

Trekker waiting to have the arch removed, but otherwise ready to ship

By the end of the day Thursday the boat, mast, boom, dinghy and arch were ready to be picked up, the car was packed, we were very hot, sweaty, tired and faced with the prospect of the trip home.  We couldn't face the idea of just driving straight through so we booked a room in Fort Pierce for Thursday night and decided to get an early start Friday and take two days to get home.

Friday morning about 5 am Karen and I each rolled over and asked the other if we were sleeping.  With two negatives we decided to get on our way!  Friday we made it to Beckley WV, and stayed in a Marriott with about 5 other guests. The clerk at the front desk was very careful, wearing gloves and disinfecting my drivers license and credit card before returning them.  We crossed our fingers that they practiced the same attention to cleanliness in the room! 

Saturday we were on the road about 6 am and headed for Buffalo.  We had originally planned to take the rental car home and then drive in convoy with our own car back to Buffalo to drop off the rental, but we couldn't get a clear answer from the US CBP as to whether or not they would let us back in to drop off the rental.  Apparently it would have been at the discretion of the border agent.  So instead our son Trevor and partner Kate came up with a plan to drive to Midland to pick up our car and convoy to Niagara Falls, ON where they would leave the car in a motel parking lot. We dropped off the rental and picked up a taxi at the Buffalo airport and drove across the border to the motel.  Trevor arrived just after us, wiped down the surfaces he had touched and left the car for us to load up. We waved our thanks, blew kisses and said goodbye.  It worked great!  Crossing the border we were informed that we were quarantined under the Quarantine Act, and that we would have to stay at home, no exceptions, for 14 days. They might be checking on us to be sure we were home.  If not we would face fines up to $750,000! The very pleasant border agent asked us if we had friends or family that would bring us food etc. and when she heard we did, bid us safe travels.

We arrived home with fumes left in the tank, and were so thankful for our move to Midland when we opened the fridge to a couple of beers and turkey soup dropped off by our friends Diane and Mac! Since then we have had numerous folks bring us food and booze. Thanks Ben, Victoria, Ken and Grace, Andrew and Rene!

During our quarantine Karen has done lots of knitting and baking, I have raked the lawn and done some figuring for how to frame the basement interior partitions and we have done one and a half jigsaw puzzles.  We have had a few online Zoom swizzles and in general enjoyed being home!

We finished our quarantine yesterday and headed over to the boat to pick up food and other essentials we had left aboard.  Unfortunately we forgot to check a couple of lockers so we went back today, moved the dinghy under Trekker, flipped it over and recovered the last of the food, including two bags of trail mix!    Karen made a few face masks the other day and plans to brave the grocery store tomorrow.

We're hopeful we will be joining friends and family again soon and sailing this summer, but for now it's one day at a time  ... stay apart, stay healthy!

What a difference another week makes!

Sailing across Eleuthera Sound

An update on our update ... what a difference another week makes. Once we arrived in Florida the reality of what was happening in the world became more apparent. As we entered the inlet in Fort Pierce we could see the beach was packed with people. So much for social distancing during spring break! The grocery store was busy, not packed so keeping a distance from others was easy. And like home, there was no TP, rice, pasta, tuna or potatoes to be had. Stop the hoarding people!! The bars were closed but the restaurants were open to half capacity only, but have since closed to seating and have take-out only.
We started looking at our route north, and became aware of some cities, counties and marinas closing. Then some states started to close all non-essential businesses and advise people to self isolate.
And the rate of spread in the US is huge. Hugh read an article on the CDC website that stated by the time this is done more than half of all Americans will be infected.  Moreover they warned that emergency services and policing could be impacted.  So, what to do?
We could haul the boat in Fort Pierce and leave it for another year. But then we would have to do this all again.
We could try to get as far north up the ICW on the boat as possible and if necessary leave it and go home with no idea of when we would be able to get  back to it to finish the journey home.
Or we could just bite the bullet and truck it home.
So, after some phone calls and logistics management we have booked the boat to be trucked back to Midland.
The mast is still coming down tomorrow, and we haul the boat out Thursday. We have rented a SUV to drive home, and due to the virus Enterprise has kindly waived the one-way drop off charge, and the CBSA is allowing people to bring rental cars across the border for a short while to get their stuff home before bringing them back to the US.
The good thing is we can leave a lot of our “stuff” on the boat, so we will only pack the car with essentials, (like toilet paper) to bring home. Once the boat is back in the marina we can unload the rest.
It’s all been very overwhelming being so far from home, and trying to make good, rational decisions. But this feels right, and we are looking forward to being home, even if we can’t see anyone for a few weeks.
Besides, I miss my lovely new house and now that we have all this unplanned time on our hands, we can get the basement started! Now there’s a bright side to all this.
So we will continue to self isolate and get the boat ready to come back to the sweet, clear waters of Georgian Bay ... one day at a time.

What a difference a week makes!

What a difference a week makes!
The WHO declared the COVID-19 virus to be a pandemic on March 11, 2020 and that seemed to create panic, at least in North America.  Borders began closing to those that had visited areas badly affected by the virus.  Travel advisories were issued recommending that people avoid non-essential travel. Toilet paper sold out! And then, caring family and friends began sending us scary news headlines and imploring us to either stay in the Bahamas for a few more months or to return home right away. 
So much for enjoying our last few days in the Bahamas.  From Nassau we hightailed it to Soldier Cay in the Berrys, then Grand Bahama Yacht Club in Port Lucaya and then Old Bahama Bay in West End.  Even flew our spinnaker most of the way between Soldier Cay and Port Lucaya.  We sat in West End for a day for the waves in the Gulf Stream to reduce and the wind forecast to increase. Interestingly, we met 3 young 30 - 40 something couples in West End setting out to live their dreams!

A lovely sunset at West End

 We crossed the stream yesterday without incident motorsailing all the way.

Always happy to be across the stream

The problem is, we want to get our boat home!  We are done with the Bahamas, and tired of paying exorbitant marina fees and insurance premiums for the privilege of leaving Trekker in a hurricane zone!  
So, thinking we are a reasonably practical couple, we dug a little deeper into the travel advisories and headlines.  The Canadian Government says to avoid all “non-essential” travel.  So what exactly is non-essential travel?  The government website says  that each individual will need to make that determination based on their particular circumstances.  Well, as far as I’m concerned, getting the boat north is essential.  The next biggest concern seemed to be that our travel health insurance would not respond if we were to get the virus "because they are changing the policy wording" or “because a travel advisory has been issued". So I called our insurer and they have assured me that since the effective date of our policies was before the travel advisories were issued, they are not impacted and are in full force and effect until the end of the policy period. 
The next question is: are we putting our health at risk bringing the boat north up the ICW through the United States?  I have searched State websites and been sent maps detailing the locations where cases of the virus have been confirmed, and while the status is changing daily, the coast seems nearly clear of cases up to the Chesapeake. At that point population density increases as does the risk of interacting with an infected person.  That said, we figure we can socially distance ourselves in our little floating capsule for a week at a time, at which point we will need groceries, diesel, a pump out and water. But wouldn't we have to buy groceries at home too? 

Essential supplies and an uninfected friend to socially distance ourselves with

So that gets us up to NY City where I read that Mayor De Blasio is warning New Yorkers that they might have to “shelter in place“.  I don’t even know what that means … does a boat count? Can your "place" move? But if we can get through NY then we are back in Ontario, home free!
Unfortunately, with restaurants, bars, brew pubs and potentially marinas shutting down, the trip that we were both looking forward to will not be nearly as much fun!  You could argue that it has turned into a boat delivery.
Yesterday we used the CBP ROAM app and were welcomed to the US. Today we got our cruising license from CBP without any problem.  
We have the mast scheduled to come down Tuesday March 23 and it is scheduled to ship at the beginning of April.  I got the turnbuckles loosened up today, so tomorrow we will get sails off, and prepare the mast to come down. Those are current plans but with circumstances changing daily, it really is one day at a time!

A Windy Week in Warderick Wells without Wi-Fi

Trekker moored in Warderick Wells

It amazes me how much our life is centered around the wonderful World Wide Web. Down in the Bahamas, you are lucky if the marina you are in has good Wi-Fi. Most have it, but the chances of it reaching your boat is slim. So, in our wisdom, we bought a BTC (Bahamas Telephone Co.) SIM card and put it in my phone. So we now have a Bahamas phone number, with a thousand minutes of talk, 30 GB of data and text for $30 for 15 days.  It works pretty well, when you have a signal. But, when you are being chased by a big system that is going to blow for days on end, and you decide to go to one of your favorite places, Warderick Wells, to sit on a nice safe mooring ball, but with NO cell service, life becomes different.

Our usual routine in the morning, is to check our phones, including emails, news, Facebook, Instagram and of course weather. Weather is huge when you are cruising. It dictates what you are going to do that day, or where you are going, or if you are staying where you are. Basically our life revolves around the weather when living on Trekker. So last week, while enjoying ourselves with our friends Sue and Randy, in a nice safe marina on Cape Eleuthera, we noticed that the weather was predicted to be very windy for the next week, so we decided to sail across to the Exumas and get a mooring ball to wait it out.

Exuma Sound before the blow

Exuma Sound during the blow

So here we sit, Monday March 9, 2020, day five, so far, on a mooring ball, and day three of a huge blow, with winds clocking up to 35 knots. The sound of the wind is endless, and at night the best way to sleep is with earplugs to dull the noise.  We haven’t been to shore much, because the wind is so fierce that you can be guaranteed a nice salty spray as you dinghy to shore, or walk around the island. Plus there is not much to do here when it is blowing. There are no stores, food markets, laundry or restaurants other than the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park office, which sells t-shirts. You get the picture. When it’s nice there is amazing snorkeling, hiking, and beaches.

But the worst part is how difficult it is to check weather, get emails, or know what is going on at home with our family and friends, or in the world. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, ignorance is bliss, but not knowing what the weather is going to do and when this blow will stop, is frustrating.  If we are lucky we do have access to some cell service. If you go to the fire hydrant by the park office, cross your eyes, hold your breath, and point south, MAYBE you will get one or two bars.  Or, you can walk up to the highest spot of the island, BooBoo Hill, and maybe you will get a bar or two there. But it’s always a maybe, and often a no.

So what are we doing while we wait to move again? Hugh and I are having a fierce tournament of Bananagrams, with Hugh winning 4-1 so far. Cribbage and Rummycube are played a lot. I am doing some baking; muffins, brownies, and gourmet meals (sort of), knitting and of course we are reading a lot.

Every Saturday night the Park office hosts a happy hour for all the boats in the anchorage, and despite the wind that night everyone gathered on the beach to exchange stories on their travels and survival of the weather.  It’s always enjoyable to meet fellow sailors and compare notes. We also get to visit with the Park Administrator, Cherry, who has been here since the first time we came to visit in 2018. She works three weeks straight, living in a small house built for the staff on the island, and then has a week off. She really is the soul of the anchorage, and everyone knows Cherry.

Cherry and Karen

We had our last Happy Hour on the beach Tuesday night (self organized) with the remaining boats, as it seemed that everyone was leaving Wednesday morning. The winds were getting slightly calmer, (only gusting into the low 20s) and we were all ready to move on! We had a brisk sail up the Exumas to Highbourne Cay, where we were surprised to see only three other boats when we arrived. But as the day wore on, it filled in until there were at least twenty boats anchored by sundown. It seems we weren’t the only ones ready to move.

Yesterday we had another great sail up to Nassau, where we will stay for two nights to get some food and do some laundry. Two nights is more than enough as it is a busy, noisy wavy place.

So now that the winds have blown themselves out, and the forecast is for a lovely week ahead, we will start heading back to Titusville in Florida, to get ready for our journey home. The good news is we have confirmed a ride for our mast with US Spars, and so we will be taking it down and getting it ready to travel to Buffalo, where we will put it back up for the final leg home along the Great Lakes. So once the mast is down, we will become a trawler, I am calling us the Ditch Witch (the nickname for the ICW being the ditch), and our aim is to enjoy the many small towns and harbours along the eastern coast of the States. With no bridges to worry about, we hope it will be less stressful than the trip down, although we still have to watch our depth in some marshy areas. We’ll try to travel on mid-tide rising so if we do get stuck we can eventually float off. It’s always something!

So stay tuned for our further adventures as “Trekker Travels Home” … one day at a time.

Excellent Eleuthera!

After putting Alyssa in the taxi to the airport Sunday we just relaxed … coffee at Starbucks, a stroll down the street to Montague Park and back to the marina.  Monday we topped up water, did laundry, got groceries, and ready to leave.  Tuesday February 25 we sailed from Nassau to Spanish Wells in perfect conditions.  The wind was on the beam (coming from the side of the boat for you non-sailors) and blowing 15 – 18 knots.  Most of the route from Nassau to Eleuthera is protected from the southeast by a reef, so the waves were only about 1 metre.  Half way to Spanish Wells I couldn’t help myself, “these are the days we live for!” I exclaimed to Karen.  Luckily we got a slip at the Spanish Wells Yacht Haven, to weather the next blow. 

(l-r) Hugh Sue Karen Randy

Sue and Randy met us on the dock and we marveled at how we had actually managed to connect a year after they floated the idea that we should meet them in Spanish Wells.  Tuesday evening they invited us to the cottage, called Sweet Ting, that they are sharing with Randy’s sister Marilyn and cousin Heather and we all enjoyed Bubba’s fish tacos, and some wine.

Heather and Marilyn

Wednesday we walked around St. Georges Cay, the island on which Spanish Wells is located.  And when I say walked around … I mean almost literally.  Turns out Sue and Randy love to walk, so we left the marina, walked up to the Shipyard restaurant at the extreme north end of the island to make a reservation and then down the beach nearly to Sue and Randy’s cottage at the south end of the island!

Sue and Karen on St. Georges beach

After recovering, we all went up to the Shipyard for a very lazy dinner.  Thursday we decided to sit another day due to the rather sporty conditions, and were happy we had when the black clouds rolled in in the afternoon together with a cold wind. Sue, Randy, Marilyn and Heather hosted us for lunch and then we all enjoyed takeout pizza from Wreckers for dinner.

Friday the sun was out and we cast off with Sue and Randy aboard for a run down Eleuthera. Current Cut is a narrow passage one has to transit on the way from Spanish Wells to the other Eleuthera towns farther south.  Apparently the tide can flow through the cut at up to 6 knots, so the key is to arrive at slack tide.  There is much discussion in the cruising guides and on Active Captain, crowd sourced information, on the best time to transit Current Cut.  The best I could figure based on our prior experience and Active Captain was 90 minutes after Nassau high tide.  Just before we left the marina I asked Leroy, the manager, and he said 60 minutes after Nassau.  Anyway, we left in time to hit it at 60 minutes after Nassau and were pushed through by a 2 knot current. 

Once out on the Eleuthera bank we had a gorgeous sail, beam reaching in 10 knots of wind on our way to Hatchet Bay.  Then … two dolphins joined us and played in the bow wave and around the boat for 20 minutes!  Unbelievable!  We have rarely seen dolphins before, so it was amazing that they joined us while Sue and Randy were aboard.  Of course we told them that we had laid on the deluxe cruise for them!

Dolphins playing with Trekker

Hatchet Bay is a small harbour with a very narrow entrance carved through the rock.  Incredibly, freighters and ferries use the cut too.  I image they bounce of the sides at times!  There were quite a few boats already anchored when we arrived, but we took our time and luckily found a patch of sand to drop the anchor in and were very happy when we backed down on it, it buried and held.

We all hopped in the dinghy and went into town and while the Front Porch would not serve us a beer (too busy preparing dinner) we did enjoy a cool one at Two Brothers before returning to the boat for the evening.

Saturday we had the anchor up at 0730 and headed for Rock Sound.  We put in one reef and were pretty comfortable with the wind almost right behind us in spite of it gusting to 23 knots and the waves being about 1 metre.  Once in Rock Sound we downed the main and began motoring over to our normal anchoring spot by Frigates.  As we neared the other boats anchored there we noticed that it was not as protected as we thought it would be and everyone was bouncing around quite a bit.  Plus it was still gusting into the 20s.  Had we been smart we would have just gone over to the west side of the bay where two boats were anchored (and our sister-ship Breeze On anchors in a westerly blow) but instead we decided to head back out and go to Cape Eleuthera.  What I hadn’t figured on was a one hour bash back into the wind and waves to reach the beginning of the Davis Channel, a narrow, unmarked channel that one has to take to Cape Eleuthera.  Not fun.  Anyway, we made it and arrived at Cape Eleuthera marina about 1600. 

Sunday we rented a car with Sue and Randy and toured the south end of the island. We showed them the caves and ocean hole in Rock Sound and then we had lunch at Frigates gazing out at the boats sitting calmly in Rock Sound harbour, protected from the wind that had shifted to the northeast … oh well. 

Sue, Hugh and Randy in the caves

We ate dinner at Harbour Point restaurant in the marina and Monday we took Sue and Randy up to Governor’s Harbour, had a great lunch at Buccaneer’s Pub with Marilyn and Heather and then Sue and Randy went back to Spanish Wells with them and we drove back to Cape Eleuthera.

Lunch at Buccaneer's with our entertaining waiter Bigz

Today, Tuesday, we relaxed, did a load of laundry and biked a four mile loop on bicycles our neighbour kindly loaned us.  I spoke to Cherry at the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park and put our name on the list for a mooring ball tomorrow, and also spoke to US Spars to arrange to ship our mast north while we motor up the ICW.  It’s looking like a nice day to cross to Warderick Wells tomorrow, so we’ll try and get away by about 0900 so that we can get to the inlet while the tide it still flooding through the cut, the same direction as the wind and waves, for a calm entry. Currently it looks like we are going to spend a week in the ECLSP (due to more fronts coming through), then start heading back to Florida, one day at a time ...