"A Year Barefoot"

September 18th Godspeed slipped into the slings and out she came. After a barnacle scrape and pressure wash she was set on her keel and stands for a long winters nap. It took us several days to winterize and put her to bed. Then we waived goodbye, vowed to return, and flew back to our home in Wyoming.
The renters did not tear the house up and the weather was great for a few weeks as we settled back into a completely different lifestyle.
In "a year barefoot" we learned so many things. First we went from idiots to mariners, traveling well over 4000 miles and spending a 8 month stretch without being hooked to shore electricity or tied to a dock. Navigation, sail trim, anchoring etc. etc. etc...
In "a year Barefoot" we learned many other things about ourselves and the world we live in. Living at anchor and going to shore daily is much like looking in at the world from the outside of a window. Each place is so different from the last and we would go to shore and interact with people just living a life in which we were in no way involved in but were there as observers. Some were in a country way, some in a great hurry, soccer moms in beautiful homes, different industries ( if any) and how that affected the locals lives. It seemed at times that we would watch from the window until we weighed anchor, sail on, and then go to the next window and look in for a completely different show.
Our shopping only consisted of groceries. maybe a movie to rent, and maybe a needed part for Godspeed. We had no place to keep any souvenirs or collectibles and learned there is no need for such things aboard. Our small budget did not have a dining and entertaining allowance, so we cooked on the boat and did not have to worry about what to do with extra money, because we had none, just one less thing to worry about! We went without TV, hair driers, curling irons, utility bills and many of the things we all take as necesary. During this time we have learned how little it takes to enjoy life and be comfortable doing it. Sure it was nice to get our big bed set back up and take a long hot shower, or a soak in the jacuzzi instead of a very short water saver's special. We carried about 85 gallons of fresh water which would last us over two weeks without even trying. Sure we bathed, washed dishes, even drank water just like anyone else but we learned to do it using very little. I think it is called conservation or something like that.
"A year barefoot" taught us to be very in tune with mother nature. Mother nature made all decisions on when and where to move, when to hunker down, where to anchor, and which anchor to use among many other day to day factors that we just don't have to deal with on land or in a marina. Mother nature also told us when it was fine to leave Godspeed and enjoy exploring an island or go bike riding for the day, Or have a wonderful meal in the cockpit while having dolphins or other sea life for dinner guest and splash, play and feed, in a mirror flat sea.
"A year barefoot" also gave us many new friends. Cruisers come from many walks of life. Some seem to have an unlimited budget and some have almost no budget at all, but we are all out there doing it and that seems to bring a common bond that is the great equalizer. Sure there are those that are too good to mingle but that is there loss and the rest of us are enjoying new friends constantly from all walks and instantly forgiving differences in each other because we are "real cruisers" and are a part of a very small community. "Real Cruisers" have a strange bond that maybe comes from traveling many of the same miles, living like most would not understand, and seeing and experiencing life in a way that is only possible from a boat. We visited cruisers well over a thousand miles from where we met them several times, some pre-arranged some just bumping into each other and instantly resume our friendship, watching each others back, and will do whatever it takes to keep all in the anchorage safe. The cruisers were probably our biggest surprise!
Lorrie, Dylan and I, hopped on our snowmobiles and left from the house to cut our Christmas tree yesterday. We rode from the house for ten minutes and arrived at mother nature's tree lot. As we cruised on our "snow yachts" through the forest looking for the perfect tree, we were able to experience a different side of God's great creation. There is beauty everywhere and we have much to be thankful for!
The "cruising kitty" is being replenished and we plan to wet Godspeed again this spring and head north to Nova Scotia and just take it all in!
Merry Christmas and a Happy new year from the crew and we wish you all "Godspeed"!

"Duck Days" of summer!

I know it has been a long time since I last posted and it looks bad, dog ate my homework? Lost at sea?
We left Elizabeth City NC and took the Dismal Swamp route and My dad, Mr. Harris to you, hopped on Godspeed along with his buddy Tom and rode to Portsmouth VA where we found yet another free dock so we tied up for a few days. We then were commandeered by my parents to get a marina for a month and help them get their home of 42 years ready to sell, so we did. After doing our time, we set sail for Yorktown and anchored in nearby Sarah's Creek. We got a little to used to the place as we had daily shore excursions and Anstasia from the Bahamas was close by and also some other boats we new as well. We ended up staying there for almost three weeks. Every day these three gangster ducks would swim up and demand some type of payment for thier protection services, so we paid them in bread twice daily, in turn they claimed to have kept us safe. We got so lazy that Lorrie and I were finding that it was becoming too much work to just breathe. When we finally found enough energy to weigh anchor, the chain had barnacles all over it, what bums!
Shortly after the "Lazy Days Incident", we were called back to Norfolk for another month of moving Mom & Mr. Harris to another house. So we found ourselves as "dock rats" again and we had actually become celebrities at the marina because we were the only boat that had been anywhere. A month later and "hurricane Earl" later we were cruising the Chesapeake again. Jackson Creek in Deltaville was a great place to anchor. We met up with "Finally" finally and a new buddy boat "Heather" and had some great cruising times. There are these cool old Chesapeake Bay work boats called a "Deadrise". We got to watch them come and go each day and one Called the "Martha Lynn" would unload 20 to thirty bushels of Blue crabs a day. Well, Lorrie dinghyed over one day while they were unloading with a bucket and a twenty dollar bill, a few minutes later she came back with a bucket and a twenty dollar bill. The bucket was full of Female Blue crabs, Captain David set us up and a new friend was made. We shared the Crabs with "Heather" and moved on to Tangier Island.
Tangier Island was settled in the 1600's and the same people just kind of stayed there and kept making people to replace them until now. They speak in old English (would thy like some Gas?) but really nice people and all they do is crab. There is no place to anchor so Mr. Parks has a few really inexpensive slips that have a wicked cross current are nothing short of horrifying to crash land into. After getting Godspeed and Heather secured Mr.Parks began giving his famous golf cart tour of the island and we unloaded the bikes and peddled everywhere. Going slow it took about a half hour! That evening we asked Mr.Parks about soft Shell crabs and a few minutes later a man in a skiff knocked on our hull and sold us two dozen soft shells ready to cook and if that wasn't enough he took Lorrie and I on a personal tour of his facility and explained the entire soft crab business to us,now this is cruising.
We waived goodbye to heather and set sail back to Deltaville. This is to be Godspeed's home for a while...

1000 miles at 6.8 knots

Doug on Gillaen said it best " it's like driving a riding lawnmower from Virginia to Florida". There is never a dull moment in the Intracoastal Waterway, just when you are cruising along enjoying a part of the US only few get to see something entertaining always and WILL happen!
We left Ft Pierce buddying with our good friends Dwayne and Linda on SeaVeyor and anchored in Cocoa and then again in Daytona before making a two night stop in Saint Augustine. We had a great time traveling, mostly sailing or motor sailing when the winds were light. Our sailing skills have vastly improved as we took all the bridges under sail and negotiated the sometimes tight and narrow channels with barges, tugboats, and just plain sea monsters coming at us and forcing us into tight quarters. This was not even on the menu when we were headed south in November. We dropped the hook (Delta Don)in front of the first structure in the Uninted States, the Spanish fort in St Augustine and felt historic as Delta Don grabbed the anchor ground that many explorers for the last 500 years have used as well. We then blew our entire eat out budget for the whole trip in two days, but it was worth it. Dwayne and Linda are great traveling companions and touring the oldest city with them was a ball. The next day we left Florida in the rear view and anchored by Cumberland island GA. The Girls rowed the Blond to shore and explored the island while Duayne and I Fixed SeaVeayor's generator. We then got on our "riding lawnmowers and continued north, throughout the journey, we would loose Seaveyor for a day or two or maybe a week, just to cross wakes and share an anchorage and travel time again. One day in Georgia SeaVeyor had passed us (they always do) and called back on the radio "Godspeed, it gets real skinny (shallow) up here". We approached slowly and sure enough we found the bottom-four times. As I slipped Godspeed off the bottom and back into deeper waters again, it was clear we would have to wait a couple of hours for the tide to come up enough to transit this spot, so we sent Delta Don down and went fishing. There is one little thing, or hundreds of little things that were really beginning to bug us: Greenheads, horseflies, biting flies. They were swarming under the bimini, but we had some bug spray and that kept them at bay pretty good. About that time, a sailboat came rumbling on by and I held up our handheld radio and motioned for them to talk to us. They did not get their act together in time to get our warning about the skinny water and "Bonk" they hit pretty hard. "Godspeed, Godspeed, we have a bug problem......... oh, we found the bottom too! Now picture this: French Canadians wearing their foul weather gear-hoods up (hot, 90 degrees or so) sitting hard on the bottom only concerned with the bugs. "What do you do Godspeed", Lorrie replied "do you have bug spray, that is working for us". "We have roach killer, think you that work?". We were doubled over in laughter by this time. They dove down below and we slipped through the skinny water shortly after and the Canadians were not to be seen on deck again. That evening, as we were approaching our anchorage, "Godspeed, would you like to make reservations in the resterante SeaVeyor? The menu is fillet Mignon, baked potatoes, and salad. Of course we did and another fine evening on SeaVeyor was had by all, complete with a wild anchor dance of three vessels. It was crazy, there is a nine foot tide here, which means in every 24 hour period 36 feet of water comes and goes so the currents are extreme and when the wind opposes them boats at anchor can do crazy things, we were well entertained as the vessels darted this way and that as if they were haunted. At sunrise we were headed to the dreaded "Hell Gate" named for the constant shoaling and unpredictable bottom that is attracted to keels. Before we reached it the flies got to bugging us in Saint Catherine's sound and we could see the ocean. We checked the charts and it was quite safe so "Exit stage right" We slipped onto the Atlantic and the cooler air sent the greenheads back to land and Hell Gate was bypassed as well. Sailed the day with the big boys and their shipping lanes, Delta Don took a swim that evening in Beaufort SC. Along the way we passed SeaVeyor, which has never been done before because thier lawnmower goes twice as fast as ours. Dwanye was crushed and said we cheated but what the heck, SeaVeyor spent the night in Georgia, and Godspeed in SC. Score: SeaVeyor 50 or so, Godspeed 1, "Kick um while their down".
Pat's Big mean sister Melanie and her esteemed husband Norm spent the next two days with us in Beaufort SC and we dinned on Bahamas lobster, steak, you know the usual cruiser cuisine (usually Vienna sausages or sardines). Toured the town and went for a day sail where capt'n Norm sailed under a bridge and joined the "bridge Club". It was great having them aboad again.
In Masonboro NC we decided to go clamming. We launched the Blonde and had no idea at all of how to do this so we saw a guy and did the unmanly thing, asked how! He said there in the mud, go find them. Armed with this great insight we did just that. Lorrie took the conventional approach and walked around squishing her feet in the mud hopeing to feel them, while I had the scientific approach and used an oar to stab the mud millions of times hoping to make contact with these crustaceans. Lorrie got 4 and I got 2-what a score! She was sooo happy that I could not even hold her precious clams, She was now a card carrying member of the "Hunter Gatherer Club". Just enough for an appetizer for one, so we split it and dingyed into Wrightsville Beach and did the tourist thing. The next morning we were joined by Judge and Chris Point for early morning clamming. In an hour or so we had a five gallon bucket half full and so was theirs, covered in mud like a bunch of kids. Now that is quality time well spent. We then weighed anchor and then headed north to find our depth sounder had quit(that is the thingy that tells you how deep it is). Now this is somthing you need in a cruising vessel and sould not go into unknown waters without. So we did the prudent thing and went anyway- 100+ miles to Bo-fert(actually Beaufort, same spelling as the one in SC but pronounced Bo-fert). SeaVeyor called us and said "we passed O'Canada in Cape Fear inlet today. So another reuinion was had. We had a clambake aboard SeaVeyor enjoying our friends and made a plan to assault the Cobia(big knarly fish that tastes good) run that was on in Cape Lookout. So we all set sail for Cape lookout and were served lemons-no Cobia. But hey, we used our new found skills and found the(you guessed it) CLAMS! I think Elvis had a movie Clambake. Anyway we had some great times again and Jamie played his guitar and sang us into "never neverland" each night with a belly full of calms-Spectacular times!
Then onto Oriental (Still no sounder) where our adventure began. We saw all of our Friends and Dave our Yacht Broker with ST. Barts was cheery as always. OK OK, I finally got a new sounder set up and it is fabulous to say the least. After Oriental, we rafted up(tied our boats together and swung on one hook) to our Friends Paul & Susan on Slow Dancing (nice lawnmower) in a remote anchorage and they made us dinner and breakfast the next morning before we parted wakes. Tonight we are tied to a dock (I know I know, this is bad for our image) in Elizabeth City NC. Before you pass judgment, the dock is a free service of the city, so this should not go against our permanent record. Tomorrow we take on "the Great Dismal swamp" stand by for news! Pictures: Rafted to "Slow Dancing", aboard "Slow Dancing" with Paul & Susan,Jamie & Sean on O'Canada, Worlds smallest "Grey Suit" (shark), Lorrie's Clams!

"Back in the USSA"

I know, I know, it is a long time between posts! Hey you kreeps, it is very tuff to get wi-fi on the aqua trail, and when we do, buisiness is first and land lubbers second. Abacos is what we are talkin' about! We left Spanish Wells early one morning with "Slow Dancing" right behind us. We had no problem heading north to the Abacos. We did not even blink an eye as we navigated the "Devils Backbone". Nobody bothered telling us you always hire a guide boat to get you through this or you will certainly die a horrible death! So we thought nothing of it and easily saw the ominous coral reefs and thought it best not to run into them! no harm done! Back into the deep water we went. Slow Dancing,in thier larger boat, smoked us bad on the Ocean Passage but we caught a nice "Bull Mahi Mahi" and shared some of it with "Slow Dancing" and "Hocus Pocus" the next evening before entering Hopetown. Hopetown is the place of friends from Wyoming, and as we got close the radio sang "Godspeed Godspeed, Touch and Go". "Lorrie answer that, I think it is Peter!" She did and it was Peter Kline! We hooked up and had a great afternoon with his people on thier privite island in the Parrot Cays. The next day Peter (Big Bamboo Outfitters from now on) took me Bone fishing.
Let's get this right, I have guided Peter many times to sucesful elk hunting in WYO and was looking for payback. Payback is what I got! Quick into the hunt Peter said "put it there" so I did and the fight was on! Severeal hours later, the fish was wore out and picture time. Too bad Peter did'nt catch one but it was a great day and thanks Peter! By the way, Please comment, my friend!(or used to be!).
Now that is not all the services Big Bamboo outfitters offers, Mr. Big Deal Kline also fancies himself as a sailboat rigger. Being as we had an open account from the Bone fishing rip off(He actually caught the fish and photoshoped my head on his not as good as mine body, I'm sure you all picked up on that already anyway!) so up the mast he went. I must say my money was well spent (Did'nt give the Kreep a dime!) he actually did a great job, centered, straightened and tensioned the mast. Posed for pictures, looked real pretty, all the things I would expect from a "Big Deal Guy". After it was done he was real lucky or he had it together because Godspeed sailed better and the mast quit "Creeking" during stress. I would recomend the "Mast Tuning" from "Big Bamboo Outfitters" but don't take the bone fishing thing, you are just there to take his picture!
We also visted the second home of Pete and Les Mead from Alta Wyoming in Hopetown and had a great time as Pete schooled me on fishing and Les and Lorrie did girl stuff-great times.
Paragon, SeaVeyor, and Anastsia caught up with us in Marsh Harbor and several great times were had. One day, we went off shore fishing on "Hocus Pocus". We lost a few and then Mr. Lucky went off! I grabbed him and went to work as I watched another rod bend over with a fish and leave the boat with a tuna on it, so if you ever catch a tuna with a rod and reel attached, let me know and I will give you bill's address so it can be returned!
Green Turtle Cay has a place in my heart because I was last there 31 years ago as a starving college kid. The visit was great and it was more developed, but I still was able to find the old places that I remembered so well, little did I know that one day I would sail into that harbor in my own yacht one day, CRAZY TALK I mean CRAZY! We were lucky enough to be there for the pirate festival when Lorrie's favorite 20 year old girl friend hailed : Godspeed Godspeed, Moon Shadow. She screamed and yet another reunion was had. They watched movies and giggled while I made them popcorn and treats-Women!
Three fabulous days of high speed sailing lie in front of us, following seas, hull speed, and the rear view full of "catch Godspeed if you can" (and they did'nt by the way). The "Little Bahamas Banks" was where the buck stopped and the washing machine started, it had enough quarters to run all night! We all arrived early evening and were pertched on the edge of the Gulf stream anchored in 25 feet of water with Godspeeds bow pitching at 15 feet or so. Very uncomfortable to say the least as we had no sleep that night. At dawn Godspeed made her intensions known over the VHF to weigh anchor immediatly and set sail for florida, the next few minutes were not for the weak of heart or stomock as Lorrie did a great job at the helm and I prayed alot while hand over handing the heavy anchor and chain on board in the violent seas. We had a following of vessels and eight hours later we set Don in USA sand for the first time in months. Very important and official US customs people made us take a taxi to the airport in Fort Pierce and show our stuff. SeaVeyor, Not Ha Gan, and Godspeed shared the wonderful experiance and were allowed entrance "back in the USSA"(humm a Beetles song when you say it).

Island Time!

There are different time zones like Eastern, central, mountain, etc. Well, we have entered "Island Time". This is not an official time zone but very real, a lot like the "Twilight Zone". We and most people around us have lost complete since of time. Yesterday we laughed so loud (this is good for you) when a Yacht beside us asked "Godspeed, what day is it", "Today is all I Got", "I think it's Tuesday another boat replied", "are you sure", "who cares!". Now that is "Island Time".
It took many months and several thousand miles to cross into it. There is no wrist watch or clock on our boat, and the day's length is judged by the position of the sun. We bought four pounds of hamburger and eight pork chops months ago and they are still in the freezer because we eat fresh caught fish. We have no cell phone, TV, and our vessel has not been connected to shore since November. We make our own power from the sun and harness the wind to move with less petroleum used in 6 months than most use in a week or so. Along with several other boats, we are in the Abacos hesitating to make the mandatory move north that will land us back in the US. Not that we don't love the US but we will cross into the "Eastern Time Zone" and "Island Time" will be lost! The nightly blowing of the conch at sunset, waking up at dawn because you want to, being part of mother nature with no schedule and time doesn't matter, will be lost when we cross the Gulf Stream. Jen on Anistasia was on the radio this morning and said to another yachtie: we are so busy doing nothing that we don't have time for anything else". "Island Time" is not a place or line on a map and is very difficult to enter and maybe harder to exit, I hope you all can someday find your way around the "Twilight Zone" and enter "Island Time", at least for just a little while!
Picture: Linda on SeaVeyor blows the conch at sunset and we all sigh with a smile because we are still in 'Island Time".

"Fish On"

OK, let's back up to the sailboat race. There was a prize for the biggest fish caught in the race so when I got time, Merrick's majic lure went off the back. Funny thing was when we were in a couple of miles from the finish line and sewing up the victory, I mentioned the only thing we need now is a fi.... It actually happened like that. "Fish On" I caught a nice Mutton snapper and the prize was mine, until the last boat crossed the line with a bigger Albcore. The race crew feasted on delicious fresh snapper that night.
On to Hog key cut on our way to the Jamentos, when we followed Liberty through. As Godspeed entered this narrow shallow cut "Fish On". Only problem I was already over my head navigating with no room for error. The rod was bent and a little drag pulled out so we left it in the rod holder and proceeded with plans to deal with this "not so big fish' when we could. Suddenly I thought of a "Grey Suit" beating us to lunch on the line that was being tow behind us and I said "Lorrie why don't you reel in that fish before the "Man in the Grey Suit visits". She went to reeling and I kept on truckin when she said "the rod is bending really bad and the line is going out", well there he was the lunch stealer...Snap the "Grey Suit" swam away with our lunch and Merrick's lucky lure-sorry Merrick! No worries, I had a really cheap piece of junk bought at Kmart to replace it with and we did. 15 miles to water key "Fish On" and a nice yellow tail snapper came to Godspeed. Wow maybe Kmart isn't so bad. We anchored in Water key by early afternoom and Dwayne on SeaVeyor said "Get your spear and let's go". We took two dinghys for safety, remember there is no one to save you here, and were underwater chasing fish and lobsters in no time. In juist a few minutes I found a nice lobster under some coral and the hunt was on. It took some doing but he was on my spear and the in the bucket in Dwayne's dinghy in no time. I swam over to Dwayne and he was on his way to the bucket with and identical lobster. We had a fabulous meal of Lobster, yellowtail Snapper, and Grouper that evening on SeaVeayor. Dwayne Could not belive that my rod and reel was still alive because it was about my age and way too small for some of the fish that have been caught so at this time he affectionately named it "Mr. Lucky". The next day we dived and explored and found an "Ocean Blue Hole" There were actually three of them nearby, That evening we invited all four boats in the anchorage over to SeaVeyor for Conch Fritters. After the feast, we dreamed up an assault on the blue hole. By mid morning we had SeaVeayor anchored over this 600 feet wide, circular, vertical walled hole, that who knows how deep it is. It was really spooky because the water is as clear as the air and you can see every detail of the bottom and then it goes to dark, dark, blue in an easily seen 600' circle. No one was up for swimming and I just knew there had to be a sea monster or lock ness monster in this hideout. It started out slow but Tom, Rick and John Wayne caught a few pan sized reef fish that we hooked on Dwayne's "big boy reels" and sent them into the asbiss as bait. "Fish On" I hooked several groupers that beat me to their hole and escaped but not all got away ,and had one monster on that got away as well. Now Dwayne is a Carolina sport fisher and so is his wife Linda and he has all of the toys right there on SeaVeyor. It was Dwayne's day, "Fish On" and his massive Penn International rod and reel were smokin'. Yelling and sceaming all over the boat, Get the lines in, move that dinghy, no move it back, get the gaff... Snap, and their he was...Gone! no worries, Dwayne went into killer mode and reached into his bag of tricks and built a super duper shark leader and Rick supplied him with a three pound yellowtail snapper that went from his hook to Dwayne's and he sent him down the wall of the Blue Hole for Mr. Big."Fish On", I know you are getting sick of hearing that but I like it and it's my blog! Wait till you have to gag though the pictures. Anyway, Screaming and yelling as usual, but this time he was not going to get through the leader. It was more fun watching Dwayne catch this than if I was in the drivers seat. He really knows how to handle big fish and big fishing equipment. "The Man in the Grey Suit" was back. I got the first gaff in him and Tom the second, It was a nice Bull Shark like the one I caught a few weeks earlier but mine was just a little bigger (sorry Dwayne this is my blog and after all, this is a fish story!). The anchorage feasted on clean white shark that night and we went south in the morninig.
After the "rescue of Our Freedom" we left Gorgetown with the compass reading North. With the Kmart special in tow just skipping across the surface "Fish On". Mahi Mahi shot from the water like Brett Favre was throwing a "hail Mary". It was a sight to see! Mr. Lucky was in the rod holder, bent over double, drag spooling out and handling things just fine for now. All hands on deck ( Short for "hey Lorrie can you come up please"). We Turned Godspeed into the wind and slowed her to a couple of knots while we furled in the head sail in and held her too close the wind while Otto was allowed to drive towards Spain very slowly until this was over. A half hour later Lorrie scooped up a nice Mahi in our big net. There were several more fish caught and some not like the five foot Baracuda that hung out behind Godspeed in Staniel cay and let me feed him for two days but would not touch the bait with a hook in it- he won! Spanish Wells was my favorite island and when we left Godspeed led the way with Slow Dancing brave enough to follow us through the "Devils Backbone" and out to sea for a 45NM ocean sail to the Abacos. "Land Ho" that is so much fun to say after land has been out of sight for a long time. "Fish On" was the next shout. Mr. Lucky was doing his thang and working overtime. The usual big fish drill of slowing the boat takes a minute or two and this was no different headed for Spain I Grabbed Mr. Lucky and this was a big fish! We saw him do the football jump and I thought "gee wis he looks small". Still taking line out I looked at the reel and there was the other end of the line. That's 700' stripped off and that's why he looked so small, he was more than 2 football fields away. This was a tough cookie and a real bruiser, I would gain some line then he would take it back. Slowly I gained on him a foot at time and this had turned into a "Bar room Brawl". With him still a couple of hundred feet out and full of fight Mr. Lucky locked up, no more today he said. "lorrie, can You get my leather gloves please" and we went "hand to hand". This had turned into a real "Slug Fest" Mr. Mahi had no intentions of boarding Godspeed and I no quit so we just slugged it out, I was standing ankle deep in stipped mono filament and he would run and I would feed the line back at times in a snarled mess. There was a moment when we were both in our corners just holding on when I took a moment to "Smell the Roses". The simplicity and satisfaction were immense, A fish with a hook in his mouth, a man with the line in his hand, on a vessel powered by wind, with a pretty girl at my side, with land now in sight! Well we got the fish to Godspeed and he was finally tired out so I tied the line to the rod and traded it to Lorrie for the Gaff. Missed the first shot but the second could not have been better and he was on board. Lorrie had to measure it because she always says I lie and she asked how big do you think it was and I responded 25 inches or so and she then measured 51 inches, women!

Fast Turtles and buddy Boats

Racing turtles can be fun if you have the fastest turtle! This is a big deal in Georgetown Exuma where there are more than 300 turtles (sailboats) anchored. The morning of the race Bob on Paragon had to get SeaVeyor to move his boat because his anchor was directly under SeaVeyor, Then Paragon was maneuvered to the side of Godspeed and we "rafted up" (tied the boats together) and they both swung on Godspeeds anchor while a bunch of stuff like spare anchors, fuel jugs, etc were loaded onto Godspeeds deck to lighten up the 15 ton Paragon. We had to turn this turtle into a rabbit! When all the work was done and right on time this sailor named German showed up, tied his dinghy to Godspeed and jumped on, he was the rest of the crew. After a bunch of jocking for position the race committee said GO!!! And that we did. We were first across the start line which was quite exiting until we realized we had no one to follow. This race was 20NM or so and it is around Stocking Island which is surrounded by treacherous reefs. in addition to that it requires rounding certain way points (Latitudes and longitudes). So here we are out in front adjusting sails and such and Bob says: Where are going! Bob was the helmsman (steering wheel guy) German stood on the foredeck and yelled orders, Pat was the brawn on all the winches and lines, Pam and Lorrie assited where they could and were great help. Bob had a wadded up piece of paper in his pocket and he handed it to Lorrie and she read off the waypionts as Pat put them into his handheld GPS. So the next three hours went something like this: German was constantly shouting stuff like, gimmy some ginny, OK stop now gimmy some main, let's work on that mizzen. So while all this constant sail trimming is going on Bob the driver is shouting "where am I going". Pat would yell something like gimme 5 degrees more to port, OK maybe a couple more, looking good Bob, hold that course. It was crazy, thirty or so boats behind us an we held them off. After our victory, We sailed Paragon through the anchorages and were "real big deals" as we took the victory laps between all the anchored yachts. It was definitely the "odd bunch", German was a brilliant sailor, Bob a great helmsman, Pat and lorrie beginners but navigating and trimming sails along with Pam and sending this 1969 41 foot Morgan Yawl to victory. "We had the fastest turtle" so heck yea, it was a blast!
So this was regatta week in Geogetown and there were other events as well. The Blackbeards Sailing club entered the "Coconut Challenge" and needed help so Pat was included in this event. Basically this is designed to make grown men look like idiots! Four guys get in a dinghy with their life jackets on upside down, no motor but each guy gets a swim fin to paddle with, and pick up coconuts that were dropped in the water. We stuffed about 100 or so and it was aload on Blondie with the four of us too. It was a battle but team "Our Freedom" won 2ND place and had a ball.
Shortly after dawn on March 15Th, Bob and Pam from Paragon boarded Godspeed with coffee and breakfast. Out of nowhere came the kazoos and then they played happy birthday! They then gave Pat an official Paragon shirt which is very cool, Great start to a fiftyth birthday. We spent the rest of the day preparing to head south into the Jementos and Ragged Islands. At dawn we weighed anchor and followed Liberty out of Elizabeth harbor and into the wilderness of the Bahamas. We sailed south to Hog Key where there is narrow shallow cut that would save us a day if we could get through. At high tide we would barely have enough water to pass if at all. Liberty has been through before and said "no problem, we will go ahead and call depths back to you, and that he did. Godspeed crossed the cut with maybe a teaspoon under her keel. It turned out to be a great day, we sailed another 35nm and saw several masts on the horizon. As we parted ways with Liberty and wished them "Godspeed" the radio bellered: Godspeed Godspeed, Our Freedom. Well here comes "Our Freedom and Non-linear" from Blackbeards sailing club along with a few other boats we know. We all ended up that night anchored in Water Cay. We spent the next few days lobstering, spearfishing, and Blue hole fishing which will be covered under the title "fish On". We then parted ways with our good friends on SeaVeyor as they headed north and we headed south.
We were within 100 miles of Cuba when trouble struck. The Ragged islands are nowhere to breakdown. There are no services, no search and rescue, and if you have trouble you are on your own. Boaters tend to Buddy up to help each other in case of trouble and these islands are not traveled much due to this. Tom on Our Freedom came over one morning with a jar of transmission fluid that looked like mud and said,"No Go"I have no motor. Well we all talked it over and decided that his boat is a sailboat. The big problem is setting anchors and the numerous reefs will not always be safe to sail, so he said he was heading back north to Georgetown right now. Lorrie and I decided that we would stay by Our Freedom's side until she was safely anchored in Georgetown. So off we went, and as luck would have it the wind shifted and it was dead on the nose. To add to the fun Tom was having GPS problems and this was no place for this. We turned around and led Our Freedom into safe waters while John and Marsha on Non-Linear launched their dinghy into the 2 to 4 foot swells. Tom prepared a tow line while Pat prepared a tow bridle on Godspeed. John maneuvered his dinghy along the underway Our Freedom and took 150' of anchor rode from Tom and fed the coils off with one hand as he maneuvered the dighy to underway Godspeed shouting "get closer, hold your course", stuff like that. Now John is a little guy that is a computer tech with a belt with radios, tools, basically a "Bat Utility Belt" At that moment seeing this unlikely guy pull this off so well we named him "JOHN WAYNE". Well the fun continues as Godspeed Tugged Our Freedom which is twice her weight to Water key and safely to anchor. The next morning Our Freedom sailed off the Hook and was headed for Hog Key Cut 35NM away. Godspeed stayed by her side until we had the cut in site and left her behind as we raced forward with Non-Linear (John Wayne)to get our vessels through the cut and anchored on the other side so we could deploy our dinghys for the next ridiculous feat.
Pat and John Wayne raced their dinghys back through Hog Key Cut and then about three miles across the banks to the now anchored Our Freedom. John Wayne tied his dinghy to the port side and Ollie (Tom's wife and first mate) tied theirs to the starboard aft and Pat and the blond tied to the starboard bow. We all had radios and Tom said "gimme some power, lets do it". So we we started our dinghy motors and gave tom about 40 horse power. This was one violent ride! Ollie and Pat were on the windward side and taking seas that slammed us into the hull. After Our freedom gained speed the Blonde was in the bow wave and within a few seconds was rapidly filling with water. I(Pat) began to analyze an exit strategy when I realized "Hey I'm in the Blonde, she is full of hot air and therefore can't sink" and it was true. The bow wave flowed over her port side and over the stearn, at times only the powerhead of the motor and the bow were above water but she was gittin' it. Ollie took one heck of at beating and John Wayne had it made on the lee side and stood up the whole time, I love that guy! Anyway, a few hours later Our Freedom "set the Hook" safely in Georgetown with a show of excellent seamanship. We would not have missed it for the world! Now let's talk Fishing!

The "Man in the Grey Suit"

Nassau passed into the rear view and we were on a beautiful sail to Allen's cay, our first overnight in the Exumas. We were warned by a couple the night before to not leave too early because their is a field of coral heads that has to be navigated by sight and the sun angle has to be right to see them. Well here comes the coral heads, they were everywhere. Lorrie was on the bow pointing which way to steer as we slipped by, between, but not over them. It was quite hectic but finally we got through and Allen's cay was in sight. We ended up staying about a week in Allens and weathered a big blow here along with eight or so others, four of which were from New Bern NC. All members of The Blackbeard Sailing club, Our Freedom, Non Linear, Delphenis, and Windfall have been allot of fun as we continually find ourselves sharing anchorages. We found several conchs while in Allen's and made conch fritters- yum yum. My valentine had a Cracked conch dinner on V-day along with a big group of cruisers on Norman's Cay. Then we woprked our way to Staniel Cay where we visited the wild pigs, What a hoot, they swam out to the blond as we approached with "No Fear" We fed them some scraps and wished them well. Down the islands we went at will.
Farmers key found us hiding from yet another big blow, we had a pleasant surprise one evening when O'Canada was anchored beside us. These two young men just finished thier bachelors degrees and are sailing the Carib. several times we have shared anchorages with them and this time proved to be a doozy. We Had breakfast on Godspeed with O'Canada and Paragon when I mention to them that while spearfishing earlier, I had found a large grouper hiding in a cave, they eagerly signed up for the hunt. First we speared some smaller reef fish for bait then we went to his cave for a date with the big boy. To our amazement, within minutes we had a hook in him but he ran into his cave and wrapped the line around the rocks and enjoyed his free fish breakfast. We moped off and had lunch, a siesta, and headed for the next spot. A large snapper for four joined us for dinner that night as we made plans for an all out assault on this newly discovered fishery. Armed with some newly speared reef fish we were skunked again. Then suddenly we had two fish on and the 100 lb. leaders were cut almost instantly. Sean said "shark" and that is when I first saw the "Man in the Grey Suit" We were had! so off we moped again. Hey wait a minute, shark taste good! This time we came back with steel leaders, more fish and armed for bear, or sharks maybe. We hooked a big one and he quickly made off with Sean's line. My leader was shortened by a couple of feet the same way. The next hour or so was a blast. We got very selective trying to hook a smaller (less than 5 feet) "Grey Suit". They "Men in Grey" were everywhere now, one even had an orange suit. We were pulling the bait fish right in front of them as they were trashing with fins above the water, trying to steal our bait. Lorrie got some great video and finally Mr. Right was spotted. I put the bait fish in front of him and with a lighting fast grey thrash, FISH ON! 200+ yards of line was headed to sea. I kept the rod as bent as possible without breaking and kept dialing more drag on the reel until I dared tighten it anymore. The equipment was at the breaking point with the reel whizzing, the rod in a "u turn" and the line all but gone! Our prayers were answered and the fish let up, I looked at the line spool and could see the other end of the line, not good! As the fish took a breather I got some line on him, he ran again but not as far. "We will need the gaff, I think we can land him!" Sean & Jamie hopped into the blond and took off to Godspeed, returned in record time, Lorrie did cheer leading, gasping, screaming, and even told me I was going to die!. I worked the now tired "Grey Suit" to the rock bank and they gaffed and dragged the trashing fish into a large hole in the rock and now he became the "MEAL in the Grey Suit"
We ate like pigs and O'Canada left the next day with all they could eat, a fine time was had by all! We spent the next few days island hopping to Georgetown, hiding from a big blow with our good friends aboard the Paragon.
We slipped into Elizabeth Harbor and there was the Blackbeard sailing club, O'Canada, Paragon, Heck everybody was there. The annual regatta is on so we are racing the Paragon tomorrow. We have never been in a sailboat race but I think it is allot like racing turtles, We will let you know!

The "Keys to Kids" and a "Ship in the Night"

Afton & Dylan flew into Key West early in January. The weather had us pinned down in Marathon so we took the bus fifty miles for $5 (that was for us both) to pick them up. Thier first day was nice, we went for a sail and they both swam and sunbathed. That evening the weather changed a bit. It began breaking records day after day and was just plain cold. I know 35 degrees is not that cold but when you are sitting on the water and surrounded by it, well it wears you down. Godspeed has no heater unless you are plugged into power (no way) so we made lots of cookies, baked bread, basically found any reason possible to use the oven which did a great job of warding off the cold. We made the best of it and played hearts, cribbage, watched movies, playoff games, and enjoyed other shore activities like walking in the freezing rain to keep spirits up. The last few days of their visit it started a slow warming trend and we set sail for Key West. The amount of dead fish due to the cold was astounding. We could fill the net in less than a minute while sailing along. Anyway we made Key West and their last couple of days turned out nice and we had a great time. We had to leave Godspeed at about 4:30 am to get them to the airport and it was something like this: Navy Seal team Bravo departs destroyer in 25 knots head wind with large seas in total darkness to make contact with dock 1 mile from departure point, no casualties reported but entire team wet, disoriented and wandering how they ended up at the destination and why. Anyway we said goodbyes and stayed there another day to eat conch fritters and watch the Minisoda Vikings beat the Dallas Cowgirls. The next morning we went to weigh anchor and I must say it weighed allot. I could only get about 20 feet of the 90 feet of chain we had out. Realizing we were snagged on something, we snugged up what chain we could get and maneuvered around attempting to break free. No dice! so we got a little more aggressive and realized whatever we had captured we were dragging about. That was good because it was no too heavy. We rigged some lines from the chain back to a big winch and cranked it up. It was down about 25 feet so it took a bit, Lorrie was on the bow waiting to see what it was. Suddenly, like a streak of lightening and only slightly louder, she headed to the Stearn "IT'S A BODY". Well it was a body of dead coral, about 300 to 400 lbs. just a wiggle of the chain and back to her watery grave she went. We were very glad to get that off because we did not want to leave our new anchor "Don" behind (a 45 lb Delta fastset named "Delta Don" I think he had a relative named "Delta Dawn"-she had her own song in the 70's) Then we set sail back to Marathon to capture Cody and Beth for round 2.
They flew into Miami and took the bus system all the way to Marathon for, you guessed it $5 (each). We hung out in Marathon for a few days waiting on weather and then we headed north. We stayed a night at Indian Key and the next day headed for Angelfish Cut. Great day, the wind was dead on the nose so we motored and "zinnnng" went the fishing reel. Spanish Mackerel, we filleted him and caught 2 more that day as well, that kept us eating well for a while. Then we crossed Biscayne Bay and enjoyed seeing Miami from the water. We anchored in South Beach and went provisioning (Mariner talk for groceries and such). The storm drainage system in South Beach is a Fantastic way to get around if you are equipped with a dinghy. We were able to drive the blond all over town without stoplights or traffic while cruising right beside both. Any stop in South Beach would not be complete without a visit to the home of Merrick Pratt. Seal Team Harris was able to penetrate the drainage system to within a few blocks of his home and he grilled the largest steaks this seal team has ever seen, made key lime pie, and sent us on our way with a packet of lures guaranteed to catch fish in the gulf steam and the Bahamas. Great evening Merrick!
We weighed anchor in the pre-dawn darkness and motored towards Government Cut With Cody and Beth on the bow as lookouts as we picked our way to the busy harbour in the dark. As the light came, we found ourselves in our "little ship that could" pretty much the only thing moving in this busy harbor. After steaming by all the giant cruise ships and shipy ships the harbor ended and we were taking some nice size swells with a powerful current on the bow. High Drama! 50 nautical miles off the bow lies Bimini and the Bahamas, 2500 feet below Godspeed lies the bottom, we passed the outer marker and up went the sails and we set our course 15 degrees south of Bimini to counteract the northern flow of the stream and we were off for the Bahamas.
The sea state was confused and we were on a close reach which made kind of an annoying ride. At 23nm we lost sight of the Miami skyline and the good ship pushed on. Ten more nm and "Land Ho!" we could see Bimini-YaHOO!
As we approached from sudden rise from the deep, we were all quite exited to see the water color change from a deep blue to a light blue and spirits were high. "Zinnnng" there goes that fishing reel again. Cody grabbed it as I watched in horror as the line stripped of like mad. With only a few yards of 50 pound test left I tightened the drag on the reel until it stopped striping line and Cody held on. We were moving way to fast to fight this fish so we furled the head sail and pointed her into the wind to slow down. We just drug the fish awhile and tired it out and took turns getting line on it when we could. It is not the size of the fish in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the fish! We dined on Amber jack that evening after a great little battle. Merrick's lure was the hero of the day!
Once Godspeeds hull was slipping through the crystal clear water of the banks, the sea state vastly improved and spirits were high and wind speeds were low. We changed out the head sail to our light wind Genoa and were moving along smartly again. sunset found us watching starfish slip by on the bottom 20 feet below us. After a group vote, we decided to keep on truckin'. Pat gets the first watch, then Cody and Beth.
The moon came up at about 9:00 which greatly improved visibility. There were other boats making the same trip and they began passing us up with their sails up and motor running as well. We were sailing not motoring and it was very cool seeing the other boats in the moonlight with only the sound of the hull slipping through the water and the wind in the sails, I felt like a pirate on a "raid for the booty".
About 1:00 am Cody scampered on deck and took over, Beth joined him and I went below to be awakened shortly before daylight as we approached the "Tongue of the Ocean". 55 nm across deep water lies Nassau. The sea state was not great and Godspeed was on a close haul again with 15+ degrees of heel. We had some squalls visit us so we got a bit of reefing practice in and finally sailed into Nassau with 1 reef in the main and the Genoa furled way in. We took a slip in Nassau that evening as the immigrations and customs officers visited and cleared us in. When we were done we removed the yellow Quarantine flag from the mast and replaced it with the Bahamas courtesy flag- we made it!
Cody and Beth arranged for flights back to the states and we took Godspeed to the other side of the island for a night to a beautiful little bay and anchored. The next morning Cody and Beth took the blond exploring. We saw them go to shore and beach the blonde, funny thing was later we saw blondie headed back to Godspeed on her own! After a nice swim Cody rescued the wayward little vessel, picked up his damsel in distress and made it back to the mother ship. The next day we said goodbyes. They were a great help and it was fun to have them along on this journey.
We supperbowled in Nassau and set sail the next day to the Exumas and that's another story!