Hmmm, The New Rule

With the trip to go scalloping still fresh on our minds, we are back in Miami earning a little money for our next sailing trip and doing some projects on the boat. There is always a list of things to do when you have a boat, it never stops completely, although the list has things that need doing pretty much 'right away', and things that can wait a bit. What these things are, and into which category each item falls, is a bit subjective, but items like bilge pumps always fall into the 'right away' type of project. Which brings me to the subject of Rule brand bilge pumps. We have several, being a catamaran, we have two separate hulls, each having a bilge of course. So each side has an independent pump to clear the bilges of any water. Easy enough to understand this concept, as well as the importance of having a nice dry bilge. That is why we replaced the bilge pumps when we bought Saltrun several years ago. Piece of mind is important, new pumps are good. So imagine our surprise, when, we discovered that within eight months we had to replace them again! WTF? One of the pumps would not automatically turn on, and the other one would not turn off. So, as is typical with most of my boat projects, I had the gratifying joy of repeating the project with yet again, new pumps. So, here we are, around 14 months later and... you guessed it, another dead pump. Now look, this is getting crazy here. This is not like putting up a new role of paper towels, and why are these pumps failing? They have a warranty, so I took them back to West latrine for a swap out. No can do, they said, you gotta send them to Rule, we don't want them. OK, so I go to the Rule website and try to find out how this is done. I guess they are called Rule because the first rule must be to eliminate the possibility that this can be done. Seriously, it is really hard to find this on their site. When you do, they say that the pump has a date code on it, and without the actual purchase receipt (who has that?), the date code must show that the pump is within the three year warranty period. But, they do not tell you how to decipher the code, or where this hieroglyph can be found on the pump. My frustration mounts, as I have now purchased 5 of these crappy things. It turns out that I was told that Rule moved their manufacturing to Mexico recently, and the quality is not what it used to be. Hmmm, what quality, I ask myself. Anyhow, who cares where the plant is, it is the company that lets this engineering marvel be sold knowing it will last about as long as a tomato plant. So, 5 pumps, at $130.00 dollars each, that is $650.00! Now, divide by 30 months that we have been aboard, that's $21.66 a month that I've paid for bilge pumps so far. Nice. The next pump will be a Johnson pump thank you very much, That's my newest Rule here aboard the boat.

So, other than a variety of projects, we have been enjoying Miami, and fresh scallops!

Scallops and Sea Hags

Sure, we are in Miami a-workin away the whole live long day, but that does not mean, my friends, that there is no fun to be had. We love to take a quick trip up the West coast of Florida to a sleepy little town called Steinhatchee this time of year, to take part in the 8 week long bay scalloping season. So we grabbed our little 20 foot bowrider, and hit the highway. Bay scallops are the smaller scallops, not the giant sea scallops, and have a delicious, sweet flavor. They are about 5/8ths of an inch across (the meat that is), give or take. And, catching these little guys is really a lot of fun. No scuba needed here, this is stricktley a snorkel and mask event. The hardest part is actually finding Steinhatchee in the first place, MapQuest is worthless, so don't even try it. It seems that Steinhatchee is actually the westernmost edge of the Bermuda triangle, as it is so remote that it seems to move from year to year. Once you get there though, it is a beautiful little town on the river and the bay, huge oaks draped in Spanish moss, and cool evening breezes. The people are full of smiles, and Southern hospitality. Untill you get to the boat ramp. You and the other 250 boats, then it is an "organized boatramp show", the likes of which I have never seen. The idea is to get in line with your boat trailer, and wait until one of four ramps is free. Then, you are supposed to launch or retrieve your boat in as quick a fashion as possible. Safety and common sense are totally dispensible notions at this important time, the key is speed. There were trucks that had the trailer ball mounted to the front bumper, so no backing down the ramp was needed. There were retrievals made with 4 spotters in the bed of the truck, and two riding on the trailer up out of the water. There were Daisy Dukes and beer bellies everywhere. White smoking rear tire full on burnouts, all the way up the ramp. No-one batted an eye. Or seemed to lose one either during this people on the hood as the procession went down the street, kids sitting on tilted up outboards while the boat was snatched from the water, 10 people in the boat as it went off into town, scalloping event. Want some good clean fun, but don't like scallops? Come to the Steinhatchee River boat ramp around 3PM during scallop season. And bring the popcorn.

So we joined in, and had a blast. The object is to first locate the little suckers, as they are never in the same place twice. They actually swim, and can take off on you by clamping closed their shell as the propell themselves around. They can see too, they have a row of irridescant blue eyes, and when they see you coming, they either take off for the hills, or more often they clamp up and hope that you dont see them. This tactic is often self defeating for them though, as they see you first most of the time and you in turn see them because they move when they clamp closed.

The reason they see you first is because they have a lot more eyes than you do. And they somehow know that they are delicious, so they are always wary of hungry snorkelers.

Each person can keep 2 gallons of these scallops a day, and that ends up being about a pound of fresh, cleaned scallops. We had our son Dylan aboard one day, and some friends with us too, and we caught our share over a three day trip. It was a lot of fun, and we got some much needed time in the water. There is no need to actually bring a boat either, as we found ourselves surrounded by rental boats from a place called Sea Hag Marina. It was really jumping there, as we stopped for fuel one day. They have a store with interesting Sea Hag branded t-shirts, full marine supplies, and of course an ouside waterfront bar and eating facility.

So, go there, and find some scallops. It is pretty easy, just find some patchy grass in about 3-5 feet of water and jump in. The learning curve is pretty quick, and before you know it, you will have a bucket of scallops yourself. Yum yum!

Look, there's some!

The Sail To Miami

We left Bimini early, and set sail for Miami. We had a nice southern wind around 10 knots, and were sailing along, sad to be leaving the Bahamas after such a nice trip. After an hour or so, the wind died, and so we had to motorsail. The seas were calm, and the gentle motion of the boat, and some Jimmy Buffett music made the trip a bit easier. The view down into the sea through the floor hatch changed from the aqua and turquoise Bahamas to the deep blue purple of the gulfstream. The sun was shining, and we put out our fishing line one last time for this trip. Life was pretty good, even if we were motorsailing. We thought about or great visit to the Bahamas, and how lucky we are to have some nice friends there, and how lucky we are to have the Bahamas so close. We explored the central and southern Bahamas, but still have a lot to explore next time in the Abacos. For now though, we are heading West, to Florida, and a return to work for a bit, so we can do this again soon. We were sad, our trip ending, much like a ten year old feels at the end of summer break. Back to school, back to the routine for a while, back to reality. So it was for us too, at least for a short while, the reality of bank accounts and budgets, and with the monetary needs for the upcoming fall sailing trip on our minds too.

As we sailed west toward Florida, we realized how our lives have changed. We no longer work to exist, as we have done our whole lives. We worked and worked, and never said no, never realizing that it is OK to slow down, to have a bit less, and really have so much more. As the Miami Beach skyline slowly started to appear on the horizon, it started to sink in that we were going back to that life, if for just a short while at a time. We are looking forward to working a while, and maybe attaining a new goal we have for our sailing adventures, we don't mind the work really. It is just that we look at the whole work thing as something that enables us to go do something else now, it does not define us. It used to, having good jobs and being the best at them, was who we are, or were. Now, not so much, we are still very good at our jobs, but, they are not who we are now. Not sure who we are actually, but we are not the corporate slave types that we were, that is for sure. We measure our worth a little differently, we have changed. We have more smiles, and less furrowed brows. We have more time, and less complications every day. We have less money, but have less obligations. We have adventures, not "day to day existence".

When I was a kid, not that long ago, things by today's standards, were a lot harder than today. When I used to tell my children that "Back in the Old Days", we didn't have color TV, or air conditioning. No internet, or microwave ovens. No cell phones or pagers. Cars didn't come with AC or even power steering for the most part, and they were stick shifts. You slept with the windows open at night, to get a breeze, and I grew up in Florida where it is plenty-o-hot in the summer. They would look at me in wonderment, and sometimes laugh out loud, like it is a true miracle that I somehow survived this ordeal, this oddysey. Things are so much easier now, and so why would anybody decide to leave it all behind and go risk it all at sea, and have to step back into a time where things are harder, more work, and less comfortable and safe? For us, it is the spirit of seeking our new things and people and places. Also, it is the feeling of accomplishment that you get when you complete something like a trip on a boat somewhere. We love it, and want more. I guess that is why people climb mountains, for the same reasons, not for me, but hey, I get it. So as Miami, and civilization as we know it came into focus, we again rejoin the system, the collective to borrow a phrase. We are going to plug back in and rejoin for a while. We have some breaks planned though, and we are looking forward to next fall, when the wind will again blow us somewhere new, somewhere we have not been before. We can't wait, I feel like starting to provision right now! And as if we needed a send-off, a topper for our Bahamas Trip Cake, we started catching Mahi on the way in to Miami. We boated a couple, although we didn't try to stay on them, as we pressed on to Miami and Coconut Grove. We grabbed our old slip before dark, and sat back with the satisfied smiles that a trip like we just had will bring. Man are we lucky!

Life Is Short...

Yes, Life is short. It may not seem that way when the normal 9 to 5 seems to never end. When the children's needs never seem to stop. Or even when work demands or everyday stresses seem to take all day and then some, to squeeze into the always busy schedule. Why in the world do we always seem so tired, I swear we seem to squeeze every last drop of time out of every single day and we are always so damn busy and... then something happens, and we realize that we almost missed the important part of life. That part that makes us whole, and compassionate and well, human I guess. We feel this part of life when we relax, and when we let go of the stresses that we and society have placed upon us. When we are free and able to let go of all those things that "normal people" take for granted. Cell phones and gym memberships and car insurance and union dues. Sometimes it takes a lot to rattle that cage, to get your attention, to snap out of it. Sometimes it only takes a single moment in time. A sentinal moment that makes it all suddenly crystal clear, so obvious that you wonder, what was the thought process that kept it from you all this time. For us, being free from the norm meant exploring by boat, taking on the unknown and embracing the sea to find new shores and new experiences. It has become a way of embracing something new, and yet fearful at the same time, and also something that most people find out of the ordinary. We have spent time on the oceans, fishing and traveling, but not at a great distance, and we wanted more. We did not want to find ourselves old and incapable of doing these things, and so we set our selves upon making this happen while we are relatively young. What a life we would have had if we had realized this much younger in our lives. What adventures we would have had, with the gift of youth and the spirit of adventure and energy the young have! While we are not old at all, we are not young either, we know this for sure, and we envy the young people that have decided to embrace the sea, the challenges and hardships, the rewards that a life on a sailboat exploring can become. Don't wait until the perfect moment to go, to have kids, to move to a better place, to go back to school, to anything. Make your decision and go for it. For us, we should have gone along time ago, in a smaller boat and on the cheap would have been just fine. Go now, just go. The things that you want in life, go find them and make that happen. Do not let life go by, and find that you cannot do things, because you are too old, too poor, or too sick. Go now, go now... go now. We love you John. Hang in there.

We've got your back, we love you...

Hurricane Seasoning

Hurricane seasoning is not a spice, although it sounds like it would be a good one. Hurricane season is the dreaded time of year that sends boaters flying, sometimes quite literally. It is that six months or so during the summer months that the intense heat lends favorable conditions to the formation of afternoon thunderstorms, and occasionally, a tropical storm or hurricane. It only makes sense that these things are to be avoided, and most prudent boaters keep a close watch on the weather during the summer months. Some, like us, spend the summer hurricane seasoning somewhere "safe", at a marina or a dock. It is really hot in the tropics too, and we choose to refresh the pot-o-gold this time of year by, well, by... working. There. I said it. Nothing better than a paycheck to put a smile on your face, and nothing worse than a Monday morning on your way to earn the thing. So, we continued our Reverse, Reverse.. Take it Back Now , Ya'll theme and headed for Miami again.

We lifted the anchor at Mackey Shoal, on the Bahama Bank, and pointed the boat due west, toward Florida. It was a nice morning, but by 10:30 the wind had almost stopped, and so did we. So we motored our way the last 20 miles to Bimini, and pulled up to the dock. This was the first time we had been in a marina since we left the same spot a couple months before! We almost felt guilty plugging the power cord into the power pedestal and turning on the A/C! Almost. Guincha was in climate controlled canine heaven.

It was just a few hours later that the anvil shaped clouds started circling the boat, like angry Indians with huge bolts of lightening instead of arrows. The rain that came was amazing, and if it were not for the gajillion volt lightening bolts, it would have been good to scrub a bit with the deck brush. The salt was all gone from the boat by the next morning, and we had plans to go by ferry to South Bimini, and check out Ponce DeLeon's fountain of youth. It is supposedly located there, and we wanted to see it and bring back some water for our friend Lisa who told us about it.

However, by 09:00 in the morning, the clouds were again circling us, and the war-cries of angry thunderclaps were getting close already. We decided to stay inside the covered wagon, and guard the air conditioning. We were actually pretty tuckered out, and the thunder and rain was a bit too much for us. Sorry Lisa, next time. You look great anyhow.

Reverse, Reverse- Take It Back Now Ya'll

Well, what's this all about? We have definitely been busy, and this will require some rewind of the last couple weeks. And since we call our headsail Casper, because of the way it dances up and down when it is not deployed, here is a cool video that is all about Reverse, Reverse; Take It Back Ya'll, and is by DJ Casper!

OK, you can practice later. Right now we need to update this blog. We left the Land and Sea Park in Warderick Wells early, at first light.

The wind was perfect for a downwind sail, and we were making great time. The decision was made to go all the way back to Nassau in one run, and we did, with just enough light in the day to run the dog in for a quick stop onshore.

The next day, we went to shore, and found a great couple that agreed to take us to the store. They refused any money, and showed us where the bank was, and the nicest grocery we saw in the Bahamas, a huge Fresh Market! We got some groceries and ice, and some fresh veggies too. Thanks Calvin and Lynnette for the ride, sometimes nice people just do things for others because they are nice people. It turned out that Lynnette spent a great deal of time as a youth, living on Long Island Bahamas with her aunt! What a small world, and no wonder she was so nice.

We spent 2 days in Nassau, and with the wind across the beam, we headed Northeast across the Tongue of the Ocean and into the Northwest Channel. This is a cut that we went through on our way east, and it is where the 10,000 foot deep Tongue of the Ocean meets the shallow Bahamas Bank. We could see the entrance to the cut a mile away, because the 20 knot wind that was pushing us along, was blowing right into the rushing tide in the cut, and there was a huge, mile long rip current with crashing waves that we could see. We decided to take down the sails, and motor through the narrow cut with the best maneuverability using the engines alone. This proved to be a wise decision, because as we entered the cut, we realized that there was a huge current that was also going sideways. This tried to turn the boat to the left, and if the sails had been up, we would have probably lost control. There was another sailboat several miles behind us, that had been following us across the passage, and we looked back to see them completely sideways, and very close, if not on, the hard bank. They had entered the cut under full sails, and probably got caught in the side current we experienced. The sails were quickly dropped, and the boat was re-centered in the cut quickly, and they resumed course. A good thing, as we did not want to turn around to assist them, but were prepared to do so if needed. We would because that is what sailors do, we are ready to help if needed. We will Reverse, Reverse- and we will Take It Back Now Ya'll, if we need to! Just ask. Seriously.

On to Mackey Shoal we went, for another anchor out night on the rolly Bahamas Bank. As the night passed, so did the wind and waves, and by morning light, the wind was down to 12 knots and the waves had subsided too. Oh yeah, just in case you followed the link to the video above, the Bahamians know how to dance too ya' know. Check this out, a great song and video, although the resolution is low.

New Video: The Climb Up Monument Hill

While we were in Georgetown, in the Exumas, Bahamas, we tackled the climb to the top of monument hill. There is, of course, a monument there, and we wanted to see it. So, we grabbed Guincha, and some water, and up we went!

Our plan was to find a trail to the top, and we did, but later we found out that there is a much easier trail than the one that we followed. Figures. It was pretty steep at a few places, but really not that bad. The view from the top was worth the effort.

Joyce found out that the monument was originally used as a marker to let passing ships know that there were provisions here, in town. Now, it is used as a trailhead, and as a nesting location for Osprey.