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 ...