2010 sail

Get ready, Marcnicliz is heading South around the 4th of Feb. Why so Late? Speedy had his gall bladder removed, a hernia repaired, and Nanc has been recovering from a broken leg. Hopefully things will improve quickly as we head for the Abacos this time. Our buddy boaters on Aviator are already on the ICW, and we hope to catch up with them in Miami. S We have loaded much food, summer clothes and enough towels for Speedy to feel secure. (You know his towel fetish!) It is a shame we didn't get out ahead of the predicted snow but....hopefully it will all be gone by next Thursday when we depart. So.....you will be able to follow our adventures again....and hopefully have a joyful trip with us. The new blog will be nancyandspeedy10.blogspot.com , as in 2010, to separate the two.

Home - D'ville

Departed Ft. Monroe at 0630 this morning and tied to the Deltaville dock at 1130. Home again. That is 13 days from Nassau to here with two days waiting in Fernandina Beach for the wind to drop. I am claiming that as a world record or at least a very good average. Ate the remainder of Kentucky fried for lunch and everyone is scattering. Odyssey - Any long journey, when filled with adventure, hardships, etc. Last blog, thanks for following along. S

Interesting Day

We stayed at Sea Scape Sat night and went on the hook Sunday night just North of the Alligator Bridge. We pulled the anchor this morning at 0635 and headed for Norfolk. After ten minutes we were hard aground. Chart plotter showed us with 9.2 feet under the keel. We lowered the dingy, and I used the anchor line as a lead weight to see where the deeper water was. A power boat moved by 150 yards away, and I jumped on Marcnicliz and powered forward as the waves passed. We moved several feet. I had Bill get in the Dingy and make waves, and we got off and underway by 0810.I found that the transducer offset was changed some how and put it back at the correct setting. We are now at Great Bridge Lock waiting for the 1700 lock and plan on anchoring around Ft Monroe tonight. S

We are on the dock at Sea Scape on Adams Creek Canal

Ran hard from 0640 this morning to 1850 tonight and stopped to refuel on Adams Creek Canal. Motored sailed the whole way with many bridges to negotiate. Steak tonight and popcorn as we watch As Good as It Gets. Chilled one of the beer kegs I brought along and killed it. Plan on leaving early in the morning at first light and anchor at Alligator River. Will miss church, say a prayer for us. S

Beaufort, NC tonight, we hope

Off the hook at 0640 this morning and encountered our first bridge, Wrightsville, at a few minutes past eight. She was going to make us wait for 58 minutes for the next on the hour opening. I ask her if she had opened on the hour and if she would consider letting us slip thru. We heard nothing and were getting our lines ready to hit a fuel dock as we waited. All of a sudden the horn sounded and she opened. Someone in this crew is living right. We then had to wait about 15 minutes for the Figure Eight Bridge, and we have now passed thru and are running for the next one which is two hours away and opens only on the hour. It will be close. Rained last night and washed the salt away from yesterday. Steak tonight. Watched Slum dog last night and Doubt is up for tonight. S

"Here is your butt", Mother Nature

We departed Fernandina Beach with a forecast of winds 20 to 25 on the stern and seas of 4 feet. About 2200 on the 8th, we had 25 gusting to 35 with 6 to 8 feet.We were hitting over 12 knots of boat speed surfing down the waves, and then... we encountered something in the water that attached to the keel or rudder. Our boat speed dropped to one knot, and I had to turn the boat into the wind and back down to release it. Pretty amazing. I then came on watch at 2400 and decided to divert for three hours into Charleston instead of continuing on to Cape Fear, which was 23 hours ahead. Bill and Ben tell me it is pretty hard to sleep with your foot on the ceiling to pin yourself to the bed. Got on the hook at 0500 and slept really well. When we went to the dock to refuel it took more time to wash all the salt off the boat than to put fuel in. Now passing North Myrtle after spending the night in Georgetown, SC. Lasagna tonight. S

Good day to be on the dock

Front has passed thru, and it is a good day to tied to a dock. Looks like Wed may be the day we head back out to Cape Fear. S

Back in the "Good ole US of A"

We threw off the dock lines at Freeport (see pic) on Sat morning at 0915 and motored past West End (see pic), Grand Bahamas around 1300, and entered the Gulf Stream about 1530. Had a head current until then of a knot or so. Once in the Stream we hit 11.6 knots and rode that to abeam the Cape and set a rhumb line for Fernandina Beach, arriving here at 2000 hours. I used the Sirrus Weather to stay in the main part of the stream. That is 318 nm divided by 34.5 hours for an average speed of 9.16 knots. We took turns on watches of 3 hours with an over lap by Bill and me on Tom and Ben, ie: Tom started his watch at 1630, and Bill came on at 1800. Ben came on at 1930, and I started my watch at 2100 to 2400. There was always 2 on at a time after 1800. We saw many large ships at night, and I had rigged the radar reflector with my own radar going. Several times I saw a ship on radar before I acquired him visually. We had to add fuel at sea and took 46.8 gals here at the dock this morning. I called customs last night and got a clearence back into the US over the phone. We then walked to the Crab Shack and had fresh local shrimp for dinner. We walked to a local restaurant for the best grits ever this morning. We then walked to Immigrations and presented ourselves to ICE for our final clearence into the States. The weather looks like we will stay here until Wed or Thur before we try to go outside and bypass Georgia's shallow water and low tides. We are back at the dock that Nanc and I stayed at coming down, and I was able to call her on my cell phone yesterday while 20 miles off the coast. Marcnicliz had several Atlantic Spotted Dolphin playing under her bow yesterday. Hope the luck holds until Deltaville. S

Freeport/Lucaya

We departed at 0730 from Great Harbor Cay by the airport to here by 1700. Lot of wind and seas/ 25 to 30 with 8 to 10 feet. Not bad actually. We hope to depart here in the morning and join the Gulf Stream about 1100 and ride it to Fernandina Beach. Should be there by 1100 on Sunday morning; however everything depends on weather and Chris Parker's forecast. He has been right on so far. The two guys who have little sailing experience learned a lot today. We had cheese burgers at the bar tonight, and I will be in bed early. Thought I heard something in the steering today, but I inspected it this evening and could not see any abnormalities. Weather is nice here at the dock. Washed all the salt water off when I got here, and I am ready for bed after a cheeseburger at the pool bar. I am tucked in between a Jenneau 54 and a Beneteau 46. Took 3 approaches to get into the slip due to the high winds. Everyone is fine and having a super time. Ben is growing in knowledge and experience by the hour. Tom/Joe is having a good time. We were doing between 8 and 10 knots all the way here. See the photo at the lower right. That is 9.8 knots boat speed. We hit over 10 knots many times sliding down a wave. S

First anachorage on the way home

We departed Atlantis/Nassau at 1005 and sailed to Petit Cay at 1700 after motor sailing with and average speed of 7.57 knots. There are three other boats here, and we are North of Devil Cay by about 15 miles. We plan on departing here in the morning for Lacaya, which will take about 7 hours and spend the night to wait for a weather window to ride the Gulf Stream to Fernandina Beach on Sat/Sun. Ben was my sail trimmer and helmsmen, along with Bill and Tom. Life is good, but I miss the Pussycat already. I have Ben preparing Spaghetti for our dinner, and we have already consumed the Summer Sausage and pepper cheese. The wind is blowing at about 15 knots, and the wind generator is howling. I forgot to get the ground beef out to thaw and fired up the Honda generator to run the mico wave. We watched Cadillac Records last night and everyone fell asleep before the end. S

Nanc is one the way home

Nanc pulled out this morning at 0900 for Richmond and should be home in D'ville tonight with Noiemiester. We walked and toured last evening with Tom (Joe) and Ben who got in about 1530. The weather is changing, and I believe I will put into Devil Key tomorrow night and wait for Sat/Sun to go to the Cape or further North. S

Atlalntis

We docked at Atlantis this morning with the help of our friends Ellen and Randy who are heading to San Francisco via the Panama Canal. Nanc leaves tomorrow at 1140 and Bill Hughes arrives sometime tomorrow probably on the flight she is leaving on. We set sail on Thur and the weather looks good to run all the way to Moore Head City. S

Howling wind

The wind has blown at 20 plus since we arrived here. Yesterday it laid down some, and we rode the dingy into Atlantis and walked around and had lunch at Johnnie Rockets. Last evening the wind was gone and we watched another movie on the DVD. This morning the wind was right back up there at 20 plus. This area is feeding air into the fronts moving across the East Coast of the US. the forecast is good for next early next week with the wind backing to the SE by late in the week which will give us a nice push toward D'ville. I have included a picture from last evening. We are both well and loving life, and the beautiful world God has given us to live in. S

Back in Nassau

Well, we had a super week, sailing down the Exumas chain. I listened to Chris Parker this morning and his forecast was for high winds starting late this afternoon and lasting thru the last part of the week with another cold front coming thru next weekend and more wind. I was concerned about having Nanc in Nassau for her flight home and picking up the guys flying down to help me bring Marcnicliz home, so we departed this morning at 0900 and arrived here at 1900 after the last two hours of high winds up to 30 knots and seas of 4 to 5 feet. We both did well and so did the boat. Glad to be on anchor. We had a good time at Warderick Wells, and I will include pictures of the Banana Quits eating from our hand and Nanc walking on the beach at Shroud Cay after a trip thru the mangroves. Pretty special. We anchored at Staniel Key/ Big Majors last evening and ate at Thunder Ball Club last night. Name comes from the James Bond Movie. It sits high on a hill overlooking the surrounding Keys. Very pretty. We were able to average over 7 knots coming back with many spells over 9 knots. I was dragging the dingy behind, and that was amazing. I should have put it on the fore deck with the forecast. Next time. Party chicken for dinner tonight. I will miss the super meals Nanc puts together when it is me and the guys. I have cans of tuna, chicken, and Pringles for Bill Hughes. We will be fine. I plan on improvising next week prior to their arrival and our departure for Deltaville. S

Warderick Wells Exumas

We left Nassau on Monday and motored to Highborne Cay. Really nice place and another Lobster met his demise. We then proceeded to Shroud Cay and wondered thru the mangroves yesterday and this morning. We departed there at 1300 and motored sailed to arrived at Warderick Wells in the Exuma Land and Sea Park at 1530. We are heading for Staniel Cay/ Big Majors by Sat to ride out a strong wind thru next Tue. We will depart on Wed for Nassau if my weatherman Chris Parker is right, and he has been up until now. We start our Honda 2000 each evening to top off the batteries and watch a movie at the same time. Nanc, of course, reads constantly. We conserve water, however a shower each day is a necessity for both of us. I get up each morning at 0700 and listen to Chris Parker and then at 0830 to the Cruiser net on the SSB. It is working beyond my expectations. I am identifying those things that need to be changed before the next adventure, and there are a few. There are usually 6 to 10 other boats at anchor with us, and we talk to a few as we meet on the beach. Marcnicliz is performing well; however I constantly have to spell the name before anyone will try to pronounce it. We visited Allens Cay and saw all the iguanas that the tourists come and feed. There were really a lot of them and some were really big. We stayed off shore in our dinghy! Also, the food is really pricey on the small islands.....a head of lettuce was 10 dollars and a small jar of capers was 8 dollars! We haven't seen a lot of wild life since getting to the islands but today we did see a beautiful white heron and an osprey.

Actually, there isn't much for me to add. Speedy has done an amazing job of preparing the boat and being the captain. We've had lots of good meals....which is my job. Everyone we meet is really nice and so many people have done the trip many times. I have read a lot of books....which really makes me happy. We have really gotten into the habit of watching movies at night....which has been fun as well. Last night the stars in the sky were totally amazing. Because there is no light pollution, there really are a million diamonds in the sky. The adventure is all I hoped it would be. N

Call us Parrot Heads

Love Jimmy Buffett. S

Nassau until Monday

We decided to stay here in the Nassau Harbor Club Marina until Monday morning and then head for the Exumas's Highborne Cay. It is about 30 miles, and we will pass up Norman Cay and the Iguanas. We saw one at the zoo today.We will then sail casually down the chain to Staniel Cay and turn back to Nassau for Nanc's flight on the 1st. We plan on staying two night at Atlantis as a treat for the the guys coming to help me get Marcnicliz home. We have been chilling out and bought some groceries, defrosted the refrig, and ate downtown after the zoo at Cafe Matisse. Super lamb shank followed by a drink with the owner at the bar. We had Ellen and Randy over for dinner last evening and talked until late. Sure is easy to sleep with Marcnicliz rocking around. There are some huge tide fluctuation as you can see. We have spoken to the kids and my brother via Skype several times and feel like we are somewhat in touch. Bought the NY Times yesterday and found everything is still pretty much the same. Will try to make church in the morning. S

Nassau

OK, we made Nassau and had ole friends to dinner. We have spent the last week at Devil's Cay; have been catching lobster and grouper. We ate on the beach for several evening meals by cooking on a camp fire, and took many walks on the beach to collect shells, etc. We took a long hike on Hoffman Cay to a site that over looked the whole area which was really pretty. Another day we hiked to a blue hole which was beautiful. We caught 20 conch one day and made a chowder and fritters. You could only get into the anchorage at high tide, but we stayed there a week and had a super time. I cleaned most of the bottom of the boat off with a brush which is really hard work. Nanc said she was trying to remember how to do CPR when she saw me. We used the dingy to troll for the grouper and snorkeled for the lobster. Was windy the first few days, but the last two were made in heaven. We left this morning on a high tide and motor sailed to here in about 5 hours. The wind was on my nose which was not too conducive for sailing. We will stay here tomorrow and do laundry, put on water and fuel and leave Friday for the Exumas. Will be out of touch again for a week or so. S

We are in Nassau after departing at 0815. We dropped the anchor here at 1400 and will go into a slip tomorrow to do laundry and shop. We have had a super time, and I will expand this later. We are waiting for ole friends who slipped their boat across from us in Deltaville to arrive with a French couple we just met for dinner. S

Chub Key

Off the dock in Bimini at 0600 and dropped the anchor here at Chub Key at 1800. Motor sailed the whole way. Plan on leaving for Devil Hoffman also in the Berrys at 0730, and will spend a week there searching for lobster and grouper. S