| s/y Nine of Cups Eastern Seaboard USA, the Bahamas & Canada 2001 |
| Beginning the new year 2001, we were still berthed at the Charleston Maritime Center and already had several commitments. Shane Brinkman, a family friend celebrating his Master's Degree, was to meet us at the end of January in West Palm Beach, FL to crew with us to the Bahamas. His parents and sister would join us later in Marsh Harbour, Abacos for a week. We needed to make ready and get trekking… but not too fast! After all, we’re on a boat. But first things, first. One of the great things about Charleston, in addition to the city itself, is its proximity to other charming cities like Savannah. Although we could have sailed there, we didn’t. We drove to Savannah to have our life raft recertified and while there, had the opportunity to play tourist. |
| “The Waving Girl” is one of Savannah’s most famous statues, depicting an actual woman who greeted arriving ships for 46 years anticipating the return of her lover. |
| Installation of the wind generators and solar panels was completed just before we left Charleston. Our take pertaining to anything on a boat: “Nothing’s ever easy and nothing’s ever cheap." |
| We met Fay & Doug Grimm at the Charleston Mari- time Center aboard their little 32’, “Nip and Tuck”. We chanced to meet up with them again in West Palm Beach. Doug’s sister, Judy, invited us for dinner and gave us fruit from her trees to take on our trip. |
| Charleston, SC - 32N47 / 079W55 |
| Lake Worth, FL - 26N77 / 080W05 |
| We left Charleston on January 24th, 2001 for our 4 day, 400 mile passage to Lake Worth in the West Palm Beach area. It was freezing cold, the wind was 25-35K all the way, the waves were big, and we were seasick. All in all, a memorable passage only because of its uncomfortable nature. But we survived, arrived a few pounds lighter (that’s a plus) and soaked up the sun and warm temperatures. It took us about a nanosecond to shed the 6 layers of clothing including long johns in favor of short and teeshirts. Shane arrived around midnight on January 31st and took a cab to a nearby marina where David met him with the dinghy. (Remember: Nothing is easy on a boat!). |
| Rafting up with "Nip 'n' Tuck" |
| Great Harbour Marina - Berry Islands, Bahamas - 25N75 / 077W86 |
| The weather window for crossing the Gulf Stream was good, so we left the next day (Feb 1, 2001) to make the overnight passage to the Bahamas and the Berry Islands. Shane turned out to be a good sailor and an amiable crewmate. He stood watch, helped navigate and taught us several new card games including Duck which kept us occupied on several evenings. |
| Our first port of call was Great Harbour in the Berry Islands where we would clear Customs. The entrance to the cut was very narrow and all unknown territory, but we managed just fine. |
| Cups berthed at Great Harbour Marina |
| The marina had a huge mountain of conch shells and Shane was intent on taking home a conch shell with him. He rifled through the lot to find the best one…he also found the second best one and brought it back for Marcie. |
| Ahh...another little dragon to be slayed! We had never cleared Customs before in a foreign country and weren't quite sure what the correct procedure should be nor what to expect. The marina staff took it all in stride and arranged a visit from the Customs official. We presented boat papers, a pet permit for Jelly and our passports and along with $100, we were cleared in for a three month stay with permission to fish. Voila...another dragon down, just like that! |
| We island hopped in the Berry Islands rowing the dinghy ashore when we felt like it to explore. Norwegian Cruise Lines uses Great Stirrup Cay as its fantasy island. We landed on the opposite side of the island to check it out. The Great Stirrup Cay Lighthouse built in 1863 was neat, but not functional. The airport sign was our favorite sight: arrow pointing up "departure"...arrow pointing down "arrival". |
| Great Stirrup Cay, Berry Islands, Bahamas - 25N82 / 077W92 |
| Marsh Harbour is considered a pretty good sized town by Bahamian standards, but it was quite small and walking from end to end of the town was not difficult. One morning we arrived at the dinghy dock to find a truck parked in the middle of the harbor. It never moved while we were there and may have become a permanent fixture for all we know. |
| The beaches in the Bahamas are awesome. The water is warm, clear and aquamarine. We found deserted beaches and walked for miles, it seemed, beachcombing and delighting in the beauty of it all. |
| We noted these jelly-fish looking critters floating in the water with what appeared to be little sails sticking up providing a neat form of locomotion. We captured one to observe it more closely and named it a “Sail Jell”. It is, of course, a Portugese Man of War. Duh! |
| Marsh Harbour, Abacos Islands, Bahamas - 26N54 / 77W05 |
| Shane left us in Marsh Harbour, Abacos and his parents, Kent & Marlys and 7-year old sister, Amy, met us there. The Brinkman-Davis’are old friends and it was their first time on a boat and first vacation in several years. We snorkeled, walked, played cards (they taught us how to play canasta), read, visited and generally relaxed. |
| Amy enjoyed being on the boat and decided to be helmsman for awhile. |
| Because the anchorage is so shallow in Hopetown, we took the Albury Ferry to Hopetown. Above, Hopetown Lightr. Below, the view from the observation platform at the top of the lighthouse was spectacular. |
| “Potcakes” , stray dogs, were everywhere in Marsh Harbour trying to find a place to stay cool in the heat. “Potcats” were also in vast number and local cruisers contributed funds to house, feed and neuter unwanted animals. |
| Dry Tortugas National Park - 24N60 / 82W80 |
| Our time in the Bahamas was much too short. We needed to get to Key West to meet David’s brother, Paul. We crossed the Gulf Stream to Miami and anchored off Government Cut. This skyline of Miami is beautiful. But after the Bahamas, the noise level and boat traffic was overwhelming. Between cigarette boats, cruise liners, fishermen in the middle of the channel and regular boat traffic, it was good to find a quiet anchorage. We daytripped to Key West anchoring overnight along the way and made it to Key West in plenty of time for Paul & Donna’s arrival. We were celebrating Paul’s 50th birthday. Since they had limited time to spend with us, we planned a quick overnight trip out to the Dry Tortugas. |
| We toured the fort and walked around the island. We snorkeled, swam and generally enjoyed the day. |
| A seven-mile-long archipelago of seven low-lying islands forms Dry Tortugas National Park, a bird and wildlife sanctuary. Fort Jefferson, a relic of 19th century, sits in the middle of this tranquil area and it's nearly overwhelming to see it on the horizon in the middle of nowhere as you approach (Aerial Photo: National Geographics) |
| Paul was also anxious to try his hand at deep sea fishing. |
| Fort Jefferson is the most southern park in the U.S. National Park System and for many years was also a prison. This is where Dr. Mudd was sent for incarceration after he treated John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln's assassin. |
| While Marcie was on watch, she noticed the boat was a bit sluggish. On arrival at the Tortugas, we found “6 miles of foul” wrapped around our prop. David & Paul worked long and hard to cut away the line. |
| Key West, Florida - 24N34 /081W49.50 |
| The Dry Tortugas are “dry” in that they have no fresh water supply and the “tortugas” are the large sea turtles which inhabit the area. |
| No trip to Key West is complete without at least one or two drinks at the Hog’s Breath Saloon on Duval Street. We managed to watch a sunset or two at Mallory Square, shop, have lunch at the Hard Rock Café, have a couple of beers at Rick’s and generally play tourists, then it was time for them to leave. |
| Paul’s 50th. The plan was to stay out late, drink and get rowdy. We all managed to stay awake till around 10PM, then sleepily headed back to the boat and went to bed. Something about turning 50, I guess! What a bunch of wimps. |
| Cayo Hueso, bone island, was the original Spanish name for Key West. It was bastardized when translating it to English. |
| Two days later, our friends, Jeff & Peggy Burandt from Wisconsin, arrived. It was their first time on a boat, too and Peggy, God love her for being such a sport, was sick from the first. We enjoyed the visit, but kept most of our activities land-based which suited Peggy just fine and gave David & me a chance to see some of the Key West sights previously missed. Our visits included Hemingway’s House with his many multi- toed (polydactylic) cats; Whitehouse Street with the “birthplace” of Pan Am Airlines and its huge banyan tree and the Southernmost Point. |
| From Key West, we slowly started making our way back up North. It was late March now and we were intent on having plenty of time to spend in Maine and Canada this summer. David & I are still working part time as consultants and several commitments needed to be met. We headed towards Charleston as a base of operations for a month or so with a few stops along the way including St. Augustine which we had missed on our previous trip down. We're not sure why, but it always seems we're in a hurry to get somewhere! |
| Charleston Maritime Center - Charleston, SC - 32N47 / 079W55 |
| The center of Key West's historic waterfront, Mallory Square stages the famous Key West sunset celebration every evening. |
| As always, David took the opportunity to get some work done on the boat. This time, varnishing the brightwork…made much easier by the use of a float borrowed from the Maritime Center. |
| Arriving at the Charleston Maritime Center was like arriving home. From the warm welcome on the VHF announcing our arrival to the hugs on the dock once the lines were secured, we were glad to be back. |
| The Maritime Center is right on the Cooper River, a main shipping channel, and next to the Wallenius terminal. This huge ship carried BMWs manufactured in North Carolina to distribution points around the world. |
| Theodore Tug managed a visit to the Maritime Center while we were there. Theodore Tugboat is a Canadian PBS children's television series about a tugboat named Theodore who lives in the Big Harbour (Halifax, Nova Scotia) with all of his friends. |
| David’s Mom, Becky, got a chance to visit for a couple of weeks. At age 83, with a bad hip, she did splendidly on the boat and gave us an excuse to be tourists. Above, a replica of the USS Hunley…an early submarine which sunk during the Civil War and which was recently recovered with all crew aboard. |
| Cypress Gardens was really interesting. The movie, “The Patriot” with Mel Gibson was filmed here. The Old Spanish Mission shown here was constructed specifically for the movie and the set was left in tact and seems to fit in. |
| The Charleston Aquarium is right next door to the Maritime Center, so it warranted a visit. This is about as close as I really want to come to a moray eel. |
| We paddled through the swamp and bayou and saw several alligators and lots of babies.Though you can't make them out in the photo above, most of the lily pads had baby gators on them. |
| Several tall ships visited the Maritime Center, but none so interesting as the “Avontuur”. Hailing from New Brunswick, this 110’ steel ketch, built in 1911, had only a crew of 3 and still delivered its freight under sail. They were delivering a load of angelique wood from Surinam to Charleston which was to be used to lay the keel for the new tallship, “Spirit of Carolina”. |
| Ship's Cat Loses One Life One of the crew aboard “Avontuur” was Andy. While we were away from our boat one day and Jelly was out visiting, some bad dogs raced down the dock and caught Jelly off guard. She was stranded at the end of the pier and forced to jump into the water to avoid becoming dog lunch and was not able to get back on land. Andy noticed her and plucked her out of the water, thus saving her life. |
| Work on the boat continued. There’s always something to be repaired, replaced or maintained. Above, David does maintenance on the windlass, used to haul in the anchor. |
| A view from the top of the mast as David cleaned and greased the sail slide track, replaced the anchor light and repaired the bow light. How does he get to the top? He sits in a canvas boatswain’s chair with his knees hugging the mast. A halyard is attached to the chair and Marcie manually hauls him up the mast using a winch. This is not the time for David to piss off Marcie…she’s got leverage! |
| Hurricane season was fast approaching and we were ready to head back North. We left Charleston on May 24th and with only a quick stop in Beaufort, NC, we once again headed up the Gulf Stream around Cape Hatteras destined for Bristol, RI. Way out in the ocean, markers are few and far between so sighting the one marking Montauk Point at the end of the Long Island, NY was a welcome sight after 560 nautical miles and 6 days at sea. We were getting close to land. |
| Jelly is quite comfortable in Marcie’s lap during passages. |
| Spend Summer 2001 with us in New England and maritime Canada. |