Helen's Birthday

2007-03-27T05:37:00.000-07:00

MARDI GRAS SAIL

2007-02-27T17:56:00.000-08:00

MARDI GRAS SAIL

2007-02-27T17:48:00.000-08:00

From Kismet Trip

2007-01-30T07:45:00.000-08:00

>Hey, we moved! Actually pulled the anchor and moved. We moved down near >the Red Shanks/Crab Cay area at the southern end of Elizabeth Harbor, about >5 or 6 miles from where we were at the Monument. Actually we moved twice. >
Yesterday we relocated to Sand Dollar Beach to be close to Maggie M for the >'Opera on the Water'. We're now anchored at the entrance to the channel >into Red Shanks. We found a nice sandy patch just outside of John Devine >Cay. I like this better than being fully inside. We're close enough to JD >Cay to our west that we'll have very good protection when the wind clocks >and when it finally gets around to the north we're close behind Moss Cay. >
With the wind out of the west -northwest-north, we have all of Master's >Harbor to drag across before we get in trouble. Inside you're surrounded >by ironshore so if you drag, you're on the rocks before you get a chance to >do something. Also the bottom in there is somewhat grassy. Those bottoms >can be deceiving. You think you're hooked well but if you've hooked a >grass clump, your hook can rip out the whole chunk of sod all of a sudden >and then your anchor's clogged with grass and won't reset.>>I know I promised an update on the dance put on by Rockin' Ron but we >decided to pass on that after all and ended up staying on the boat Tuesday >night. But we did make it to the opera last night.>>
The opera on the water was as advertised a very laid back and informal >affair although Divya was dressed to the nines. Everyone else was in the >usual T-shirt and shorts. Chris and Divya did this one by themselves but >it was nearly as good as last year. Last year you may recall, Chris and >Divya partnered with Stephanie on Rhapsody. Stephanie and Divya sang >wonderful duets as well their individual arias.
This year (Rhapsody is not >in the anchorage yet) Divya played a keyboard and Chris played a guitar and >of course, they both sang, with Chris narrating a silly story to try and >tie the music together. They also used electronics to amplify both the >music and their voices which I think helped considerably despite the >obvious headsets and microphones. The opera they put on is a mix of >Divya's highly trained soprano, singing classical opera pieces and Chris >with his comic cruising-oriented folk-rock originality. Great fun. Just >before sunset we all rafted our dinghies off the stern of Maggie M and >settled in to listen (and imbibe). There were probably 40 or 50 dinghies >rafted off. We took Molly with us.
I'm sure she had no idea what we were >doing but at least she didn't howl during the arias. Of course, we were >blessed with a typical gorgeous Exuma sunset as the concert was drawing to >a close. Perfect evening.>>We up anchored and moved out with the dawn this morning. And a beautiful >red dawn it was too. I was bit worried about the visibility of the coral >heads coming into Red Shanks at that hour but they're really obvious and it >wasn't an issue. We arrived just as the cruiser net was starting. We had >light southerly breezes over night that were just starting to build as we >arrived here. We came in just about dead low tide too and never saw a reading under about 8 feet.
The anchorage at Master's Harbor/Red Shanks/Crab Cay is virtually >unchanged. The same boats seem to be anchored here. I suppose it's mostly >folks that don't go in for all the happenings at Volleyball Beach or >Regatta. They still hold regular meetings at the Red Shanks Yacht and >Tennis Club though so it's not like these folks are anti-social or >something. Eldredge C showed up later in the morning and anchored near us >but a bit farther out in the harbor.>>
Construction on Crab Cay continues. I saw heavy equipment operating on my >way to softball this morning and there are a couple of new buildings there >on the western arm of Crab Cay. It doesn't appear that they've done >anything with the bridge that was rumored a few years ago. Construction >continues at February Point as well.>>Saturday, January 27, 2007>N23.30.60>W75.44.53>Sand Dollar Beach, Elizabeth Harbor>>Well, we moved again. This cold front passage was most unusual. When we >arrived at Red Shanks the wind had shifted to the south and started to >build; by mid afternoon it was westerly and blowing about 10-12k, not bad >at all.
Then it went flat calm overnight until squalls moved in with rain >about 4 in the morning. Then the wind built out of the NE and by about 1pm >at the high tide, the anchorage became so choppy that we decided to move.>>We watched Eldredge C try various spots in the harbor from in front of GT >Marine to the holes up behind Crab Cay and then finally settle for a spot >close between us and Moss Cay. That spot might have provided some comfort >but without swinging room when the wind shifts. After watching him we opted >to leave altogether for Sand Dollar. The next front is expected through on >Sunday so we'll likely end up moving again.
As it is with the wind at 60 degrees and 20-25 knots, Sand Dollar isn't all >that comfortable. We're at the south end of the anchorage but last night >at the hide tide, we had a southerly surge rolling in that was just about >on the beam. Quite uncomfortable and even this morning it's a bit lumpy. >We're also about as close in to the beach as we dare. Our anchor is in >about 8ft of water and we're between the beach and the little reef just >off Sand Dollar. The forecast calls for southerly winds at 15k by Sunday >morning so we'll likely have to move by then.>>Well, we decided to move back down to Red Shanks while we had high water >this afternoon (some people are never happy with their spot). We explored >the anchorage quite a bit and ended up anchoring behind Rose Anna and right >in front of the Red Shanks Yacht Club on the southern tip of Crab Cay. >
We're sitting in 8 feet of water and I think we have plenty of swinging >room. I poled the area around and there's one spot that has about 6 or 6.5 >feet to our north so we'll be just on the edge of the anchoring hole when >the wind goes south sometime in the morning. Nassau low tide is about 10am >and I think by then we'll have SW or W winds and we have plenty of water to >our NE and E so it shouldn't be a problem. I look bucketed the anchor and >it's buried in soft sand with just the trip line hole exposed and the first >10 feet of chain buried too. That should do it. It's in 8 feet or 9 feet >of water and I have 100ft of chain out and a 10ft nylon leader so we should >be good and solid. If we bump in the morning I can shorten it by 25 or 30 >feet without risk of breaking out the hook. It's very protected in here so >I don't expect any roll or surge like we had last night or the night >before.
That'll be a relief. The problem here is that if we drag, we >won't have much time before we ground. Fortunately it's all soft sand with >a little grass to our northwest. We have a week or so of cold fronts >coming about every other day so it would be a great spot to hang out if we >can.>>Sunday January 28, 2007>Red Shanks Cays, Exuma>N23.28.9>W75.44.1>>Ok, we're still here. I did shorten the rode by 20 feet or so last night. >Our depth sounder was down to 3.7 feet (our sounder is almost 2 feet off so >we have to add back a little less than 2 feet to what it reads) with an >hour to go until Nassau low tide. We never bumped but it's pretty much >waveless in here so I'm not sure I'd have felt it unless we just started >laying over or something.>>
Also the wind direction is pretty much the same as it was when we came in >here ... East, about 110 degrees. It also got very calm during the night >again and at 5:30 this morning I awoke to the wind again screaming in the >rigging. A squall moved through dropping light rain for maybe 30 minutes >but the wind hasn't yet shifted from east. Maybe the last front is now >backing up as a warm front?>>The forecast was wrong again. The wind was supposed to clock overnight >leaving us with south winds by daybreak. Then it was supposed to continue >on to the SW-W-NW. We'll see. It hasn't started clocking yet but the >squalls would indicate pre-frontal activity.>>Well, the wind was dying as I left for softball about 10:30 this morning. >Almost flat calm again but what was left was easterly. Skies clear as they >get. We played the US Army and DEA agents for 7 innings to a loss 17-19.
Not bad for a bunch of old fart cruisers. Only one woman on our team today >but she plays a good game catching several fly balls as a short fielder and >scoring a couple of runs. I started out playing shortstop but I couldn't >catch cold so I switched with Bruce on Different Drummer and played third. >He couldn't catch the hard grounders either but he did make a few nice >plays on short outfield pop-ups and I managed to at least knock down most >everything that came to third including a couple of good plays getting a >runner at second and throwing out one of their best players at first on a >hot grounder. The field is a little rough and rocky and the ball always >takes odd hops. A hard grounder usually means you get on base. I smashed >two or three hard shots right at their third baseman and they went right >through the wickets each time. He had a tough day as nearly everything hit >his way went through.
When I got back to the boat about 1:30 or so, the wind had shifted exactly >180 degrees and was now blowing 12 or 15 out of the west. It never did go >south or southwest, it just reversed directions. Interesting ... that >wasn't forecast either. I was glad to see the boat right where we left her >though.>>Monday January 29, 2007>Red Shanks Cays>>Still here, the wind is now WNW at about 15-20k ... back to howling through >the rigging. It died off for a little while last night but it's stayed out >of the west and now it's back up.>>We're thinking about sailing down to Thompson Bay on Long Island possibly >tomorrow.

Change of Watch 2006

2007-01-24T08:49:00.000-08:00

Manatee swim

2007-01-24T08:09:00.000-08:00

Photos From Gulfwinds Sailing Club in New Port Richey fl.

Helen's Birthday

MARDI GRAS SAIL

MARDI GRAS SAIL

From Kismet Trip

Change of Watch 2006

Manatee swim