Up The ICW to Annapolis

I'm spending my last night on Top Shelf before driving to NYC to see my daughter Jackie.  From there I will be on my way home to Norwell.  This will be the last blog of the series.  Back to Beaufort NC...

Destroyer in Norfolk VA

After getting to Beaufort, Ryan and I washed the salt encrusted Top Shelf.  When we were done, they left to tour the town while I took a nap.  Later that night we went to Rib Eye's for dinner.  It is one of the stops you don't miss if you are cruising the ICW (Inter-Coastal Waterway).

The next morning we slept in and left around 9 am as we only had 65 miles to our next stop in Bellhaven NC.  I expected an easy cruise and a restful night, but Ryan had other plans.

Bellhaven Marina

I had told Ryan a few days earlier that I had a large steaming pot on board with a great propane burner that I had not used since we had a lobster bake in Maine with Greg and Sandy Ford.  Ryan had plans, but he didn't let me in on these until we landed in Bellhaven.

Blue Crab Delivery

Greg is the General Manager and Dockmaster at Bellhaven Marina.  His marina has the highest rating on Active Captain.  He is one of those folks who will get things done for the boaters at his dock.  Ryan knew we were in crab country, so he asked Greg if he had a source for a half bushel of Blue Crab.  After a few phone calls, Greg had a fisherman delivering them within the hour.

Ryan Delivering the Crab Boil

We walked around the small marina and invited all the crews on the dock to join us.  I still had a case and a half of Bud Light on board, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity put them to use.  Sam went to the grocery store with Greg as we waited for the Blue Crab to show up.

Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Old Bay Seasoning and Blue Crab.  That's what went int he pot.  What came out was a good old fashion crab boil.  We had a great time eating this with Greg and the Aussies aboard the neighboring sailboat.  We didn't get to bed until late.  So much for the restful night!

Greg Overseeing the Crab Boil

The next morning, we got up at sunrise to attack the next 85 miles of the ICW to get to Coinjock NC for the famous Prime Rib that was served at this marina.  We had our fill of the 32 ounce Prime Rib.  Sam was smarter than us and ordered the more reasonable 16 ounce version.

Eating Crab of Over 2 Hours

The next morning, up again at sunrise for our final 183 nautical mile run to Annapolis MD.  The first 50 miles continued on the ICW to Norfolk VA.  Here we saw a great shipping port as well has home to the Atlantic Fleet.  Unfortunately, there was only one aircraft carrier in port.  The other 3 that are usually there must have been out threatening someone?


We thought we were going to get a nice 10 knot SE wind to push

ICW Waterway VA

us up the Chesapeake for the 130 nautical miles to Annapolis.  What we actually got was NNE winds at 20 mph that were blowing a 4 foot chop with a 4-5 second interval.  When waves are made only from wind, the distance between the crests can be very short.  Waves in the ocean typically have 7-12 second intervals.  Since the water is shallow (20 feet) and the waves are wind driven, this give a really uncomfortable short interval wave.  We rode these waves hitting us on the starboard beam for the next 8 hours.

Cruising Past Navy Norfolk

We got to Burr at 3 am.  They had left a slip open for us which is where I am sitting right now.  We docked the boat and went right to bed.

The next morning, I got up at 8:30 and washed the salt off of Top Shelf for the last time.  Ryan and Sam got up right after me and packed as they were going to visit family in Baltimore and then NYC before heading south start preparation for the North American Spearfishing Championship being held at Lake Mead later this year.

Nimitz-Class Carrier Harry Truman

I was talking with the Fleming yacht technicians at Burr Yacht Sales when Sam and Ryan left, so I didn't get a chance to give a proper good bye, so I'll do that right now....Thanks for all of your help to get Top Shelf safely back home!

Now that the trip is over, here are the stats.  We sailed over 3,600 nautical miles since October 15th last year.  We visited 4 countries, had 10 visitors, anchored 51 times, put 479 hours on the main engines and 825 hours on the generator.  We only had minor mechanical issues and no accidents, which to me is the best part of the adventure.

I want to thank everyone who followed this blog.  Getting your comments meant a lot to me and was my inspiration to keep writing.  Julianne had a nice book made of the blog up through December, and gave it to me as a Christmas present.  Maybe the remainder of the blogs could end up as an April birthday present?

Farewell for now, and may the seas of life for all of us be pushing from astern.

West End to Beaufort

1 AM Monday April 8, 2019 N 33-10.5 W 77-14.9  – Top Shelf is 54 nautical miles southeast of Frying Pan Shoal on the east coast of the USA.  Ryan and Sam are sleeping having completed their watch at midnight.

505 NM Route: West End to Beaufort NC

We have 12 hours and 110 nautical miles to clearing US customs in Beaufort NC.  This has been the furthest off-shore and the longest passage I have taken as a Captain.  When you have crew on board, a voyage like this can weigh heavy on you as it is 100 percent my responsibility to make the right choices to keep them safe.

Capt Eric's Rig on Troll

I contemplated this passage back in January while I was in Puerto Rico.  To make this work, we would have to have a perfect weather window for 3 days in April.  It was a low probability this would ever happen.  The bail out was to Stuart in Florida, or perhaps Hilton Head in SC if the weather window didn’t appear in April.

Ryan and Sam knew of the plan, and we all agreed it would need to be a perfect window, or we would continue to spearfish until around the 12th, then we would head to Florida.

Windy.com is a great weather tool.  If you have never used it, I would suggest you check it out.  Especially if you have any type of adventure outdoors.  Windy forecasts weather out 10 days, so starting around March 20th, I was looking for our weather window.

Chris Parker Weather Services

I subscribe to a weather service by Chris Parker.  Chris has done a great job for me and hundreds of yachties this winter running around the North Atlantic and Caribbean Oceans.  I emailed Chris about a week before our departure and asked him to watch this weather window with me.

He reported back on Wednesday that the window looked good and he would prepare a detailed 3 day forecast for Saturday April 6th to Monday the 8th.  His forecast met my maximum requirements.  No winds over 15 knots with all winds from the south for the 3 day period.  This would keep most swell in the Atlantic below 6 feet.

Stabilizer Leaking Sea Water

Top Shelf was in pretty good shape mechanically.  The alternator on the generator was fixed and reliable, but the starboard stabilizer had been leaking oil and sea water.  I got behind the starboard engine on Thursday afternoon and torqued the seating bolts as hard as I could.  I was able to move them more than three quarters of a turn.  I know the torque settings on these ¾’ bolts is higher that I could put on them, but I gave it everything I had.  The leaking stopped on our 9 hour passage to West End.  The long passage was still a go.

I didn’t sleep well on Friday night after our big meal with Mike and Isa.  I’m sure it was nerves about this trip.  I got up at 5:45 AM and we were out of the harbor at 6:24 AM.  Six minutes before our planned start time.

Atlantic Sunrise 

The seas and wind were as forecast and Ryan pulled out one of Eric’s custom rods that he had left on the boat.  We trolled daisy chains that he had made 3 years earlier.  We caught and released a Barracuda within the hour.  We trolled since then for over 200 miles without a bite.

Sam continued her great cooking on the voyage.  Saturday afternoon she made a conch salad from conch she had gotten from a Bahamian at West End.  She followed that with the best rice and beans to date.  I know rice and beans sounds boring, but before you rush to that conclusion, you haven’t had Sam’s cooking.

Ryan and I are taking 6 hour shifts during the night, then Sam fills in for much of the 12 hours of day light.  We are into our second night now and the rotation seems to be working.  On passages before, Greg, Rob, Eric and I have used 3 and 4 hour watches.  This 6 hour shift seems to work well.

Atlantic Sunset

When I got the forecast from Chris Parker, he recommended that we sail west from the Bahamas to pick up the Gulf Stream and ride the 3 knot current all the way to North Carolina.  I plotted a direct route and one that followed the Gulf Stream.  The Gulf Stream route was 91 nm longer, but ended at the same time in Beaufort.  Had we been a slower sailboat, say averaging 6 knots rather that 9.3, this routing would have made sense.

I decided to stay with our original great circle (straight) routing.  This routing had kept us well east of the Gulf Stream until 8 pm Sunday night.  The wind was out of the north east at 11-13 knots when we noticed the side current effecting our bearing.  The autopilot had adjusted 20 degrees to the left to keep us on our track across the Gulf Stream.  At the same time the waves started crashing the bow.  Ryan ran to the galley and saved the spaghetti and meatballs as they were sliding off the stove!  The seas were only 6 feet, but there were no backs to the waves, so for the next four hours we had quite a ride until we got to the other side of the stream.  I can’t imagine what that ride would have been like if the wind was blowing 25 knots.

I’m finally writing in real time in the pilot house of Top Shelf.  It is almost 2 am and we are 90 nautical miles from Beaufort.  We’ve picked up a nice tail wind and current after leaving the Gulf Stream so Top Shelf is ripping along at 10.9 knots. If this keeps up, we will be clearing customs at 9:30 Monday morning.

For me, this passage was the most challenging.  Everything had to come together and luckily it did.  Like the last 6 months, I had to plan to safely maneuver Top Shelf and her passengers around the North Atlantic in the middle of winter (and early spring).  I’m looking forward to living back on land where weather and safety will not be the daily top priority any more.

Spear Fishing In The Berry Islands

Currently Sunday night in the North Atlantic.  We haven’t seen a ship out here on radar in over 16 hours.  I guess the Coast Guard came out last night and circled us a few times.  Ryan was on watch and I knew nothing of it till the morning.  Back to last week in Nassau.

Sometimes a plan comes together.  In Nassau, I dialed up our old friend Ricco, the one who brought a case of Guinness to Julianne back in November.  We used Rico for transportation the next few days.  We dropped Mark and Jim off at the airport, and 20 minutes later we picked up Ryan and Sam, fresh from spearfishing in the Abacos.

9 lb Male Hog Fish

I brought the Alternator to a shop to have it repaired on the way to the airport, and picked it up on the way back.  They told me that the alternator was fine and to check to exciter wire upon re-installation.  I had already repaired the wire before bringing the alternator, as I thought I had broken it when I removed the unit.  As it turns out, the wire had broken, and was the route of the problem.

6 lb Female Hog Fish

With the alternator repaired we were ready to go, but the weather for Sunday was bad.  We made the decision to get out of Nassau and cruise to the Berry Islands in the bad weather to get an extra afternoon of spearfishing behind Soldier Cay.  It was a very rough ride, but well worth it when we caught 10 lobsters on the last day of lobster season in the Bahamas.  Sam cooked up one of her great dinners with a few of the lobsters and we retired with the crashing seas just on the other side of Soldier’s Cay.

Spear Fish "Trolling"

The next morning it was flat calm.  One of those rare epic days of no wind and clear skies.  Ryan had already made his plan.  Using Google Earth, he finds formations in the coral that are holding areas for the species we are targeting.  Today is Hogfish.  These fish, native to warm water reefs, cannot be caught by hook or net, so most folks have never eaten them.  For me, they are the best eating fish in the ocean.  Hog fish typically live next to or on top of reefs where there are fan corals or grass.  They do a great job of camouflaging themselves among these plants.

Same 9 lb Hogfish

The day before, I couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with my spear.  I had missed one of the lobsters 3 times, before he walked out in the open for a final shot.  Today, however, was my day.  The large Hog in the picture was hiding behind a fan coral.  I dove to the 30 foot bottom, about 15 feet from the Hogfish on the opposite side of the fan coral.  I approached slowly and was within range, but I hesitated because I had never shot through fan coral before.  In that split second, he started to swim away.  It was a long shot, but I lead him by about a foot and he swam right into the spear.  A nine pound Hogfish currently vacuum-bagged and on its way to Boston.

Big Catch: Hogs & Grouper

Last Day of Lobster Season

Once again, Sam and I traded places diving and running the tender, while Ryan stayed in the water.  Sam had the same problem with the spear yesterday, but today we were both on.  Ryan filleted fish for over two hours and we spend over an hour vacuum-bagging the catch.

Yellow Fin Grouper

Hog & Black Grouper

The next day another front was coming in, so we decided to cruise to Great Harbor Marina to hide from the NW and NE winds forecast to be close to 30 knots.  Before we left, we did one more set of dives, this one targeting queen trigger fish.  If you like tuna fish sandwiches, Trigger fish prepared like tuna fish will blow you mind.  (I just ate one after writing this…delicious).

Sam, Ryan, Mike, Ricky

We docked at Great Harbor around 5 pm.  Ryan had captained a boat that was stationed here a few years back, so he had friends on the island.  After we got tied up, Ryan and Sam took off to catch up with the locals.

Vacuum Bag Operation

Ryan has 80 thousand followers on Instagram who follow his diving adventures.  My daughter Jackie is one of his followers.  He posted that he was in Great Harbor, and Mike from Miami was there with his wife on vacation.  Ryan and Sam met up with him and they went spearfishing the next day.  I was invited, but I had hurt my ear the day before, so decided to pass.

Deep Freezer on Top Shelf

They came back with stories of aggressive Bull sharks that forced both Ryan and Sam out of the water, but they were still able to round up dinner.  We were invited to Mike and Isa’s vacation home on the beach for dinner.  Conch Salad, Sushi, and fried Hog fish was on the menu.  It was a great meal surrounded by great spearfishing stories.

Sam On Watch Running Top Shelf

The next morning were up early for a 9 hour passage to West End Bahamas.  Our jumping off point for our longest passage yet back to the real world and Beaufort NC, USA.

The Rest of the Exumas

I’m writing literally in the middle of the North Atlantic 152 nm east of Savanah and 142 nm south of Cape Fear.  Currently Top Shelf is underway from West End Bahamas to Beaufort NC.  This is a 54 hour, 505 nm passage that is currently on schedule to arrive in Beaufort tomorrow morning at 1 pm.

Back to the Exumas… Jim Driscoll and I spend 2 nights in Clarence Town after dropping off Tom

Coconut Bread French Toast

Buckley.  The weather we were waiting on caused problems with Tom’s flight out of the Bahamas.  It took him 36 hours to get back to Boston.

Once the weather cleared, Jim and I traveled to the much anticipated Georgetown in the Exumas.  This is the most southern harbor in the Exumas and has gained the name “Chicken Harbor” as most folks won’t venture any further east because of the constant 20 knot trade winds and the associated 6-10 ft seas.

Pig Roast at Chat & Chill

Because of this, Georgetown hosts over 400 yachts in the huge harbor every season.  Retiree’s from all over the world congregate here from mid-December to mid-April.  The Bahamians have created an interesting economy to support these travelers.  Beach Volleyball, Pig Roasts, Water Aerobics and 50 more activities are broadcast every morning on VHF channel 68 at 8 am.  In addition to all of the activities there are numerous Tiki Hut bars that have sprung up on every beach.

Jim and I arrived a day early to meet Mark Hughley, Miniter’s head of sales, who would arrive the next evening.  We anchored away from the crowd in Red Shanks, but moved the next day as the current was playing games with our ground tackle (anchor).

Georgetown Tiki Bar

Mark arrived Saturday night and we had to take a 3 mile wet ride in the tender from the dock to our new anchorage in 25 knot winds.  The next morning, I cooked Mark my now semi-famous Coconut Bread French Toast, then we were off to explore the Georgetown activities.

Sunday was Pig Roast day at Chat & Chill.  We headed over there just after noontime and hung at the Tiki Bar and engaged some of the local boaters.  Many were from Canada and Europe.  Some living on a shoe string budget, and others enjoying the season at Georgetown.

Georgetown Beach

We had lots of conversations about spear fishing.  Folks that cruise on yachts all attempt to spearfish.  Most have had no training and are actually a danger to themselves.  Since Ryan trained me with safety first, I feel obligated to explain the dangers in their techniques.
 
We over-ate at the pig roast, then moved to the Saint Francis Resort Marina Bar.  This place was up on a hill so we had a good view of the 250 plus boats anchored in the harbor.  The couple next to us engaged Mark as soon as he sat down.  They were well on their way for a Sunday afternoon and we had a great time talking with these folks. 

Bill was from Cape Cod and lived in the big house next to Brax Landing in Harwich.  Vanita lived

Arriving at Oven Rock

full time on her sailboat "Island Lady".  As we talked with them, we concluded that she had no idea what end of a wrench to use to fix her vessel, but she was cute and had many “maintenance” men ready and willing to visit her in Georgetown to fix things.  Bill was one of the folks.  It takes all types to make up the unique culture of Georgetown.

The next morning, the seas had calmed down enough for us to head northeast up Exuma Sound.  We cruised about 35 nm to enter the Exuma Bank, west of the Cays, via Cave Cut Channel.  Wind was blowing about 20 knots and we had 6-8 ft seas as we entered the cut.  Wind against current made the waves up to 8 feet and we were all a little anxious entering the skinny 15 foot deep channel.  Once inside, the Exuma Bank is on the west side of the island chain and the seas are dead calm in the prevailing east winds.  We anchored at Oven Rock to do some exploring ashore.

Great Guanna Cay Cave

Mark and I hiked to a cave on the windward side of Great Guanna Cay.  It was a big cave that was spooking to enter.  I brought a flashlight, so we were able to explore down to the waterline.  There were stalagmites and stalactites and bats.  I can’t tell you the difference in the first two, but I know what a bat is.  Mark decided to throw a big rock and the echo sounded like the place was coming down, and the bats were attacking.  We took some pictures and headed for the lighted opening.

Mark in the Cave

The next morning, I called Exuma Park headquarters at 9 am.  Lucie, the park manager, remembered me and my donation to the park last November, so we were able to get on of the prime mooring balls in the Warderwick Wells mooring area.

We first stopped at Big Majors Spot Key to view the swimming pigs.  This time I knew better not to get out of the tender.  There were 25 folks feeding them on the beach, I told Jim and Mark that we were here to see them swim.  So we baited them with some stale Triscuts and soon we had a half dozen pigs 50 yards off shore looking for treats.
 

Cave Entrance

Mark had to join a conference call, so Jim and I took the tender over to Staniel Cay for Lunch.  Jim bought lunch (as he always did…much appreciated) and we left the marina just as an armada of tour boats with dozens of tourists unloaded.

Due to time, we didn’t dive the Thunderball Grotto.  We hoisted anchor and cruised to get to Warderwick Wells before 5 pm.

Pigs Like Stale Triscuts

We got on the mooring ball with no issues around 5 pm and we sat down in the cockpit to have a beer.  Next thing we know, a young girl swims out to the boat and asks us to join the party on the beach.  We all looked at each other as nothing like that has happened to any of us in 30 years!  Mark and I jumped in the tender and when ashore.  Jim stayed aboard.

Selfie with the Aussie

We got ashore and found that the girl was the daughter of Brian, an Australian sailor.  He had sent her out to get us.  He ended up hanging out with us for the rest of the night.  There were also folks there from Denver and an Olympic bicyclist from Ashville NC.  All sailing different yachts.  Brian gave us cozies for our beer.  On them was his boat named “Aussies” and the slogan “Misbehave or Walk the Plank”.  After it got dark on the beach, Brian joined us on the back of Top Shelf until about 10 pm.  The cozie describes the night perfectly.  If the Gilpin’s go to Australia for Christmas break next winter, we will be staying with Brian the “Crazy Aussie”.

Mark on the Reef

The next morning it was time to go diving.  The plan was that Mark would SCUBA while I free dove.  Mark hadn’t dove in 20 years, but he was more nervous about the sharks.  Before arriving, Mark bought both he and I “Shark Bands”.  These were magnetic devices that was supposed to keep sharks away.  Check Out the Video on the Facebook Group Page.

Mark Under at Warderwick Wells

We did three dives before time ran out and we had to leave the mooring for the next guest.  We saw 2 sharks and lots of other sea critters, I’m here to report that Mark is still alive.

Mark Diving the Wreck

That afternoon, we cruised up to Highbourne Cay, where we would ride out the cold front that was arriving that night.  I was dealing with the generator’s battery which obviously was not being charged by the generator’s alternator.  I’ve always questioned why a generator has an alternator to charge the battery.  Well, here I was in that situation.  The temporary fix was to take my battery charger, that I plugged into the generator to charge the generator battery so that it would keep running!

Great Dinner at Highbourne Cay

We docked at Highbourne, had a great dinner, and rode out the cold front that night.  The next morning we departed in 30 knot winds for our 33 nm very wet run to Nassau, where both Jim and Mark would leave me.

I have to take a moment to thank Jim Driscoll for his dedication in bringing Top Shelf over 1,000 nautical miles from the east coast of Puerto Rico to Nassau.  As Jim, Julianne, Mark, Rob, Greg, Ryan and Sam can tell you, I’m not the easiest going person on Top Shelf. 

Thanks Jim

Not only did Jim pick up every tab along the way, he sat the tough mid-night watches during our many night passages, and most importantly, put up with my quirky-ness on board.  Thanks Jim.

Back to the Bahamas

I’m writing from the Berry Islands in NW Bahamas as we wait for a weather window for a 550 nm passage from West End Bahamas to Beaufort NC.  Living aboard Top Shelf will be ending in 8 days.  It is almost time to re-enter the real world.

Jim Driscoll Piloting Top Shelf

While we wait 3 days for the weather window, I thought I would catch up on the blog as I haven’t written since Jim Driscoll and I left the east coast of Puerto Rico 25 days ago.

Jim Driscoll is a good friend and father-in-law of my childhood friend Tom Buckley.  Jim has had a cruiser yacht for as long as I have known him and was the person who recommended a Fleming to Julianne and I five years ago.

Jim & I arrived in San Juan on Saturday, got groceries for the next 2 weeks, then had two days until our weather window for passage to Samana Dominican Republic. 

Arecibo Observatory

Jim rented a car and we drove to the Arecibo Observatory.  The observatory was built in 1963 and was the site of the largest radio telescope in the world until 2016.  The observatory was very remote and gave Jim and I the Puerto Rico “outside the wire” opportunity.  The observatory itself was made famous in 1974 when Joseph Taylor and his graduate student Russel Hulse, who looks surprisingly like Rob Smith from our office, won the Nobel Prize in Physics for discovery of binary pulsars.

Monday was a rest day before we started our first 25 hour cruise across the Mona Passage to Samana.  Tom Buckley was flying into Santa Domingo and would meet us on Wednesday afternoon a few hours after our arrival.

Samana DR

Jim & Tom in Samana

Tom made it on time and we took the next day to bring Jim to see the home of Sammy Sousa, Samana DR.  This was a truly outside the wire experience.  The section we went to looked similar to a ghetto in the US.  It would be intimidating for most folks, but we quickly learned that folks are very friendly.  We did some shopping for the amazing DR fruit, Tom bought some pineapples and I looked for Coconut Bread with the help of a few locals.  I ended up with two coconuts.  I guess my Spanish needs some work!

Tom & Jim at Ocean World

Ocean World's Dockmaster Eddy

We stayed at the marina until 6 pm, then got our Dispatcho from the DR Navy Lieutenant for Luperon.  Our plan was to re-fuel in Ocean World after our 14 hour overnight passage, then say we were going to Luperon, although we were actually going an additional 18 hours to Great Inagua in the Bahamas.  I learned that if we don’t actually stop at the last Dispatcho port,

Cruising North Coast of DR

we wouldn’t have to pay the exit fees and potentially more “presents”.

We arrived in Great Inagua at 7 am and anchored in front of the Morton Salt plant that I discussed going east in January.  I was able to reach our former tour guide Casper, and he once again did a nice job touring the Salt operation and the flamingos.  The lighthouse was now closed as a tourist got hurt when they fell through the rotten wooden staircase inside the lighthouse.

Great Inagua Lighthouse at Sunrise

We stayed two nights on anchor, then we left for Clarence Town, Long Island Bahamas as Tom had to get back to work.

Old 2012 Top Shelf Sticker Still in Clarence Town