We installed flopper stoppers as part of the build and commissioning process three years ago. And never used them until just last week. Not that we haven’t rolled, we have. But were heretofore either too lazy or too late to deploy them. More on the “too late” comment later.
For those of you unfamiliar with the various stabilization options for a trawler such as ours, there are two approaches to enhanced stabilization while running, paravanes or hydraulic fins. We have hydraulic fins for stabilization while underway. They work well, as long as the hydraulic systems are operational. Paravanes also work well, but do not require hydraulics, so you might see a serious ocean crossing trawler with both for redundancy.
Paravanes and flopper stoppers look somewhat similar, so might be confused with each other. But paravanes drag a “fish” though the water that dives with speed and this creates very strong loads on the system. Paravane systems are therefore pretty beefy. You see them on commercial fishing boats everywhere.
Flopper stoppers just pull drag panels up and down while the boat is at anchor and therefore are not nearly so strong. Looking at the picture above, you can see how the system functions. Poles are deployed from either side of the superstructure, guyed from the mast above and then with lines fore and aft. The drag panels, we call them doors, are then lowered from the boat deck into the water. They function by sinking easily but providing resistance when pulled up; the “doors” open and close in opposition to each other with the roll of the boat.
The Doors
Here is one of the doors. You can see it is hinged down the centerline, with cables for connection to the down line. They are about 3’x3′ and weigh about 20lbs. They can be a bit awkward to raise and lower. They can easily bang against the hull if you either are not careful, or you are already rolling. And this is what I meant about being “too late” to deploy the system.
lines from top of the mast
These guy lines hold the pole out perpendicular to the boat and horizontal with the water.
Pole attaches to the side of the boat at the upper boat deck
The poles tuck up against the boat deck when folded back and then pivot out when deployed. The operation can be a little tricky. The attachment point also needs to be well reinforced. We specified the system at time of build so this area was beefed up in the mold. This can be accomplished as an aftermarket operation but requires a bit of work, with maybe some advice and councel from the builder. I know some folks have mounted their poles lower on the hull in order to make it easier to reinforce.
Note that we have a mast. We had originally specified an arch but the builder determined that the arch did not have sufficient height to enable the angles necessary to support the poles. Now that we have the mast, we sorta like the look! As an aftermarket install to a boat with an arch, a center pole for support might work well.
Our poles are carbon fiber to keep them light, but aluminum works well. They look like re-purposed spinnaker poles and that is probably what they are (were).
Deployment takes about 15 minutes if you keep all the lines attached. We are looking at adding additional lines to aide in dropping the doors over the side and may have storage bags fabricated that attach to the outside of the boat deck rails to simplify deployment and retrieval.
So, how does the system work? We are quite pleased with our first experience. We were anchored in a bay with direct wind protection but were expecting a wrap around swell with an oncoming front. When the swell arrived we did roll, but the roll max angle was lower than expected, the roll rate was much slower and the roll attenuated much faster than in the past. After an initial roll, the next roll was about 50% of the first, and so on.
This was a mild swell, visible to the eye but less than a foot in height. Plenty to roll us when abeam the swell. We were able to sleep through the night just fine.
We do have a concern about what we would do if we needed to vacate an anchorage in an emergency. Lots of gear in the water. Although we haven’t tried it, we believe we could motor short distances at low speed, to re-anchor for example, with the doors just raised out of the water. For more estensive maneuvering we could pull the doors up on deck but leave the poles extended. Not a perfect solution, but it could be done quickly.
We are headed to Cambridge Cay next and will be there for a month. With a strong North wind a pretty good swell can come in so we will deploy the system for the entire month and report back on performance.
We came over from the Bahamas in Late November. The plan was to spend Christmas at Blue Haven Marina, hosting our sons and their significant others. Thought I would provide a few notes on our initial impressions.
We did the trip as an overnight from Georgetown and got here mid day. Our first port of call was Turtle Cove Marina on the north coast of Providenciales. Two marina options here, Turtle Cove and Blue Haven. Both are accessed through a cut in the reef. Sellers Cut, leading to Turtle cove is winding and at times narrow and shallow. My best estimate is maybe 6.6′ at low in one spot. We used the free escort in and out. We arrived with about 18 knots wind and maybe 6′ rollers at the entrance. looked a lot more challenging than it turned out to be.
Turtle Cove is a decent marina. I wont comment further, as the Active Captain comments are, in the aggregate, accurate. I would go there again. Our objective going here was to save money till we needed to be at Blue Haven as it is half the price.
We left Turtle Cove and went out the cut and up to Blue Haven. The cut into Blue Haven is straight and deep. Maybe 7’+ at low. No need for an escort. Blue Haven Marina is associated with the resort next door and all the amenities are provided to marina patrons, which is why we came here. Actuall three resorts, connected with shuttle services. The other two resorts are on Grace Bay, which is beautiful.
The resort itself is, at best, in transition. Never rebuilt after a hurricane two years ago. Some of the wrecked power sub stations are still lying around on the dock, just where they ended up after the storm, I presume. One dock is connected to land and has power and water. The other dock is free floating out in the channel. No power or water and a dinghy ride in. Still, a few mega yachts out there, as it is the only place they fit.
The dock we are on is mostly sport fish and chartered mini mega yachts. Also a few day boats for the tourist crowd. Lots of activity and not too much hassle. Maybe a bit more techno-Reggae than I would choose.
Decent kayaking in the mangroves and spectacular snorkeling out on the reef when it is calm, which is rare this time of year
DCIM\101GOPRO\G0382709.JPG
Took about 200 shots before I got this one of a Green Turtle. Mangroves are full of these guys but they only come out to feed at near high tide.
There are two other marinas on the island, both on the banks side. South Side is small but well maintained and has a nice bar and restaurant. Otherwise a bit secluded. Shallow entry. Maybe 6′ at high? We wee there by car.
Caicos shipyard carries a bit more water coming in. Also rather secluded. Docks being upgraded. New buildings. Promising. Also the only plae with any maintenance capability.
Provo has many fancy high rise resorts and lots of villas along the beach. good restaurants. Great grocery store, etc. Good roads, plenty of traffic, etc. Lots of expats mixed in with the locals. Somewhat different than the Bahamas. rental cars relatively cheap, taxis quite expensive. We use our bikes for shopping.
Cruising the TCI is somewhat challenging in mid winter. The typical northern swell will make many of the anchorages somewhat uncomfortable. We have tried to head over to Grand Turk, but the only anchorage is a roadstead and dinghys go to the beach. A challenge when there is any surf.
We are in Stuart, FL and will move down to Lake Worth tomorrow to stage for crossing the Gulf Stream on Friday, headed to the Bahamas. This will be crossing number ten or so, but I really do not feel I have a tactic to make the best of the Stream’s current.
(edit: I first released this on 9 Nov. just after the crossing. Then realized maybe doing math after no sleep is not a good idea. So if you read this yesterday and had some issues with the math, I apologize. Hopefully my edits have corrected the math errors)
On the sailboat we were usually between New England and the Caribbean and the Stream was just a small distraction on a 1500 mile trip. Our tactic was to cross at right angles to the current and just maintain our general heading. The current would set us twenty miles or so, one way or the other. By the time we exited, we would just adjust our heading by a degree or two and keep on sailing. The word was, do not crab into the stream.
But sitting here in Florida, and wanting to go to Bimini, for example, the problem is a little different. I don’t really want to get set twenty miles north on a sixty mile trip. And I don’t want to run all the way down to the Keys, just to get a better angle. So I have been wondering just what is the most efficient method of crossing the Stream.
In central and southern Florida the Stream is about forty miles wide and has current from 2-4 knots, averaging 2.5 knots for the forty miles. A little internet searching will bring up as many tactics as there are sailors, but one can winnow those tactics down to just a few.
The first approach is to go south on the Florida coast in order to improve the angle, say Angelfish Creek to Bimini. This approach does provide a relatively quick, day hop, and if your goal is shortest possible time on the passage, this works. But proponents of this approach tend to forget about the days spent moving down the Florida coast, not to mention the pain of all the bridges if you do the trip inside on the ICW.
For the other approaches, lets use a trip from Lake Worth inlet to West End, Bahamas. About fifty-five miles on a bearing of 95 degrees. The Explorer Charts recommend the classic navigation technique of calculating the required offset for the current and then setting a heading to accommodate that offset. See below.
Assuming one holds a constant heading, this tactic will generate a ground track roughly “S” shaped as the current first increases then decreases during the trip. Not sure why they say, “Dont angle into the current” because that is just what you are doing here.
This approach has lead to some folks suggesting sailing a purposefull “S” track. Proponents of this tactic suggest leaving Lake Worth and turning SE even further than necessary to hold the rhumb line. Getting ahead of the current, so to speak.
Waterway Guide provides headings for various boat speeds and destinations, essentially the same as the Explorer chart Again, holding a constant heading to counteract the average current will produce an “s” curve track.
Then there is what the old salts told me way back in my sailing days. And that was to take up a heading perpendicular to the stream and let the stream set you. Then angle back to your destination once clear. This does have the advantage of getting you out of the stream the fastest, even if it does drop you off fifteen miles north of your desired track.
Finally, there is the approach of letting the autopilot carry you across the stream exactly on the rhumb line. This approach will get you across the stream in the shortest distance, as compared to the previous, shortest time approach.
As an aside, think about what would happen if boat speed were four knots and if the Stream were four knots. If you let the autopilot drive, you will stand still, with speed through the water of four knots and speed made good of ZERO! On the other hand, if you took the perpendicular heading approach, you would still get across the stream, albeit far from your intended destination.
So what is the modern mariner to do! Time for a little math. Using a speed through the water of 8 knots and a current of 2.5 knots for a distance of 40 miles, I would estimate about 12 miles of drift north. That would require an 11 degree offset and reduce my velocity made good (VMG) by one knot. That would increase my time by 45 minutes or so.
Alternatively, I could cross at 8 knots by not crabbing, then come back south 12 miles, which would increase my time by 1.5 hrs.
In the final analysis, all of the options fall in between those two options; the “S” curve approach is a compromise between the shortest time and shortest distance approach.
I plotted a course across the Gulf Stream and estimated the speed of the current every 5 miles. Here is my slice across the Stream, crossing from Lake Worth to West End
And then I built a table of headings and speeds for each 5 mile segment of the trip.
NM
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Leg
0
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
Knots
1
2
2.5
3
2
2
2
1.5
1
Course
95
95
95
95
95
95
95
95
95
STW
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
HDG
102
109
113
117
109
109
109
106
102
Corr.
7
14
18
22
14
14
14
11
7
SOG
7.7
7.5
7
7
7.5
7.5
7.5
7.5
7.7
Hrs1
0
0.6
0.6
0.6
0.6
0.6
0.6
0.6
0.6
Hrs2
0
0.7
0.7
0.7
0.7
0.7
0.7
0.7
0.6
Set (NM)
0
1.3
1.6
1.9
1.3
1.3
1.3
0.9
0.6
If this is accurate, it should take me 5 hours, 45 minutes to cross, versus the 5 hrs with no current. Frankly, I doubt we will do this well.
My plan is to capture our actual headings and ground speeds every 5 miles and compare them to the calculated values.
My hypothesis is that the fastest way to get from point A to point B, in the presence of current is the shortest distance route, not the shortest time route. And that means running the rhumb line. The easiest way to run the rhumb line is to let the autopilot drive the boat, so that is what I will do.
Note that our ultimate destination is Palm Cay on New Providence. So the full question gets a bit more complex. The route we will take, crossing the stream at right angles, results in a total distance to our destination of 201 nm. If we were to go by the most direct route, the course would cross the stream on a course of about 125 degrees, angling into the stream. So the bigger question becomes: is it better to cross at right angles to the stream, even if that takes you out of your way. In this case, 10 miles out of your way.
I will update the blog after our crossing. We will do the 40 mile test run, then turn south and run overnight to Palm Cay marina, so give me a few days to do the data analysis.
Part 2 Trip complete:
Good news is, the trip was great. Stream was smooth and for the rest of the trip the water was like glass. And a 3/4 moon to boot. So how did all the calculations work out? Below is a table that shows the calculated GS current and the actual current derived mathematically from my actual headings and SOG. (speed over ground). (Best I can do to get all the numbers on the chart)
Miles
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
Leg
0.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
Estimated current
1.0
2.0
2.5
3.0
2.0
2.0
2.0
1.5
1.0
Course
95.0
95.0
95.0
95.0
95.0
95.0
95.0
95.0
95.0
Speed Through Water
8.0
8.0
8.0
8.0
8.0
8.0
8.0
8.0
8.0
Estimated Heading
102.0
109.0
113.0
117.0
109.0
109.0
109.0
106.0
102.0
Estimated Speed Over Ground
7.7
7.5
7.0
7.0
7.5
7.5
7.5
7.5
7.7
Set
0.0
1.3
1.6
1.9
1.3
1.3
1.3
0.9
0.6
Actual Heading
110.0
116.0
115.0
116.0
109.0
103.0
102.0
101.0
100.0
Actual Speed Over Ground
7.7
7.5
7.5
7.5
7.7
7.8
7.8
7.9
7.9
Actual Current
2.0
2.7
2.6
2.7
2.0
1.5
1.0
1.0
1.0
As you can see, the actual current in the Stream was a bit less than calculated, so our speeds were better than planned. With a no-current crossing time of 5 hours, and an estimated crossing time of 5hours, 45 minutes with the calculated current, our crossing time was 5 hours, 25 minutes. Our total time for the 201 mile trip was 25.5 hours, exactly as predicted, which means we were slower than 8 knots for the portion of the trip once we exited the stream.
Now lets compare this to the direct route. The no-current total time for the 191 miles at 8 knots would be 23.9 hours. At a 125 degree heading across the stream we would be in the Stream for 50 miles at an average speed of 6 knots. At that speed and distance it would take us 8.33 hours to cross the stream. We would complete the remaining 141 miles at 8 knots in 17.6 hrs for a total time of 26 hrs, all that using the original calculated estimate of Gulf Stream current.
However!! The stream was not as strong as estimated. If we use the actual stream data calculated from our actual trip, then the direct route crossing would not have taken 8.33 hours but just 7.8 hours. And that would result in a total trip time of 25.5 hours. Exactly the same!
A brief note on geometry here. As angle A, in this case the angle between a route perpendicular to the current and one angling into the current, increases, the hypotenuse, in this case, the time/distance in the Stream, increases rapidly (geometrically, actually). So in our case, with a direct route angle of 122 degrees and the estimated current of 2.5 knots, it is better to take the perpendicular/shortest distance route. At the actual current of about 2.2 knots, the two trips are identical in time. At this angle, slower current favors the direct route and stronger current favors the perpendicular route. With lesser currents a larger angle of attack can be taken. With stronger current, say the more typical 3 knots, then the perpendicular route will be favored.
And a last note about boat speed. The slower the boat, the more favored the perpendicular route will be – up to a point. If your boat only goes 4 knots, and the current is 4 knots, take a plane. Just kidding, but in this whole experiment we used a constant 8 knots and variable angles of attack and current level. Varying boat speed leads to the same conclusion, the more time you spend in the stream, the larger the penalty.
With all this, my conclusion is: the fastest way to cross the Gulf Stream at typical current levels is to cross at right angles and crab into the current sufficiently to maintain a course perpendicular to the current. And the best way to accomplish that is to use a capable autopilot.
I understand the “S” curve idea, but I believe it is a hold over from when autopilots just held a course. Using old fashioned navigation skills to calculate a heading to counteract set and drift, a constant heading would result in an “S” curve track with the Gulf Stream current. But that does not make an “S” course efficient.
Of course this over-simplifies the problem. If you are trying to make a day hop of it, and want to check in at Bimini or West End, then you might need to pick and choose your departure point. Lake Worth works well for West End, Fort Lauderdale or Miami for Bimini. And the slower your boat the more you might need a lift from the stream to improve your ground speed. And finally, if the weather stinks in the stream, moving south in the meantime might improve things. But I wouldn’t waste time going to Miami for the angle if the weather was decent when I was still in Lake Worth.
Finally, a note on calculating speeds, angles and distances. The easiest and quickest way is with an old fashioned E6B flight computer, nowadays available on a computer or as a phone app. Using the tool you can quickly and easily test various alternatives and choose the best combination of launch point, course, etc. So, try this experiment yourself and see what you find.
We took Privateer out today just to check all the systems after a 2000 hour service and a change of all her oils and fluids. All that went fine.
The area just north of Newport can be pretty crowded so occasionally someone shows up near us that I didnt see coming. In the picture below you can see Big Blue on AIS coming by. She is a 45′ cabin cruiser doing 25 knots.
Big Blue comes by on our port
So I look out the side and see nothing. I get up and go to the door, nothing. Then a minute later she disappears from the screen as well. I search the screen and she reappears about a mile north, where she really is.
My assumption is, there was a malfunction in either her transmission or my reception. More likely her transmission. I have seen AIS return for boats showing them going backwards or sideways, a transmission error that I could sort of comprehend, but this is the first time I have ever seen a boat displaced by more than a mile. The ramifications are quite disturbing.
We are working our way north towards Newport. Meanwhile, The Jersey coast is not playing nice. The challenge for this last leg is that we first have to negotiate Delaware Bay before we come up the Jersey shore and each has its challenges.
Lisa says I need to add photos to my blog so people will be interested. Since I have none that are related to Annapolis I will randomly throw in some of my past favorites from our trip south. Here is the first:
Grayson feeding the sharks off Key West. This would have been a 10 pound tuna.
Delaware bay is shallow and has a fair amount of current. That means that the wind driven waves, when opposed by current, will stand up straight and tall and close together. It doesn’t take much to make Delaware bay uncomfortable, And we try and avoid uncomfortable.
Delaware bay is about 50 miles long, so 6 hours should be enough time to run its full length. Northbound we can ride a flood current all the way. But southbound that doesn’t work so at least half the trip will be in foul current and as I mentioned, foul current and wind opposing is messy.
Takes a day to get down the bay, then if we stop for the night it means an expensive marina. There is one anchorage in Cape May but it is often crowded and the holding is not great. So for us, if we do stop, it is at a marina. Better to just keep going overnight to Newport or NYC. It is often easier to get a weather window to NYC, since this route keeps you close to shore, but then we have to deal with the East River and Long Island Sound, both of which present their own challenges.
One night at Cape May is not so bad but it is easy to get stuck here waiting on a weather window to go north because the weather pattern that makes Delaware bay decent is not always the same pattern desired for the Jersey coast. So here we sit, watching cold front after cold front roll out to sea.
But getting stuck in Annapolis isn’t too too bad. We are on a $30 mooring way back in Spa Creek. Totally protected and a short dinghy ride into town. Yesterday was dinner at the Boatyard Grill for the world’s best crab cakes. (100% crab, no filler). This morning I took the dinghy to one of many dinghy docks, most every street in town that ends at the water’s edge has a dinghy dock, and walked to the nearest bakery. Fresh croissants are perfect for a rainy morning on Spa Creek.
Short interruption while I complain about Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. Here are two cities with a large boating community that go out of their way to keep cruisers on their boats and out of the city. Miami has virtually no public dinghy docks. Meanwhile the little town of Annapolis has dozens. We spent $100 on dinner last night in Annapolis. This fall we spent four days anchored off in Miami and never got off the boat. Both we and the city missed out. I do understand the problem throughout Florida with derelict boats and the boat bums that live on them. The advantage Annapolis has is, it gets really, really cold here in winter. So the boat bums all go south and problem solved for Annapolis.
Time for another unrelated picture. This is my favorite turtle shot. Underwater action photography is not my specialty and I must have taken a hundred shots of this turtle before I got something half way decent:
Turtle at Coral Gardens, Warderick Wells, Exuma.
You might have noticed that there was a fairly major geographical jump in blog posts from the Exumas to Annapolis, so here is a short summary of our trip north.
We left Great Harbor Cay in the Berry Islands and went straight to Charleston, about 50 hours. Those of you who are keeping up will notice that this was a two-day overnight passage, which is major change to Lisa’s normal routine. We usually keep it to one overnight at a time but two things played into this. One is, Lisa really likes our stabilizers. And two is, she really likes Charleston. And whats not to like?
The trip itself went fine. Early on we had some headwinds and so we stayed east of the Gulf Stream until the winds died down. A little bumpy at first, but smoothed out as we ran north. Had about 24 hours of 3+ knots push. Actually had to slow down to avoid arriving too early to our slip at the Charleston City Marina.
This is a great marina. One long face dock that can hold dozens of boats. Free shuttle service to town. And what a town. Besides being steeped in history, and visually stunning, it has the greatest collection of outstanding restaurants. We ate out four times in five days and each meal was better than the last. Can’t wait to go back, but waistline and wallet have limits.
Seared Octopus with pork belly at McCrady’s Tavern.
From Charleston we hopped out again overnight to Morehead City and then ran up the ICW to Pungo creek for a pleasant anchorage and some sleep. From there it was a stop at Coinjock for fuel and prime rib. Next to Norfolk and the Norfolk Yacht and Country Club. What a deal this is. Nice floating docks for $1.50 a foot, plus access to the club’s facilities which included a full health club with indoor pool. We had a great dinner, watched the Kentucky Derby on a huge TV while being served free food, and generally pretended to be members. Highly recommended.
From Norfolk we entered the Chesapeake and stopped at a couple of our favorite remote anchorages before coming in to Annapolis yesterday. So now we are up to date so time for a few more unrelated photos:
Spotted Eagle Ray
These guys are fun to watch. With 8′ wing spans they often leap completely out of the water. Sometimes they swim in formations of up to five.
All for now, we will check in after our final leg back to Newport
We spent the month of February as volunteer mooring field hosts for the Exuma Land and Sea Park. Our primary duties were to collect mooring fees, explain the park rules and provide information on snorkelling and hiking in the park. We also cleared trails and picked up trash. And despite all the work we managed to do a fair amount of hiking and snorkelling ourselves. All in all, a very nice way to spend a month in the park.
Collecting mooring fees
Every day we travel throughout the mooring field to collect fees. Usually a mid-day trip and then one more before happy hour. takes about an hour a day. The field has nine balls for cruisers and three for mega yachts.
A couple of big boys
The mega yachts in the park are sort of a mixed blessing. They bring much needed revenue, paying $100-150 per night, but sometimes bring more noise and activity than some folks would like. For the most part, they behaved themselves, but we probably don’t need the jet skis.
Trail maintenance in paradise
The land is rather arid but the vegetation still manages to overgrow the trails so we spent a few days hacking back the sides of the trails and adding markers to make them easier to find.
Happy hour on the sand bar at Cambridge Cay
We are also often the social directors for the anchorage. All that means is that we announce a happy hour on the beach. Easy to get a crowd.
Pleiades
We maintain a 24 hour radio watch, just in case some emergency arises in the field. Mostly pretty quiet for the month but these folks had a problem with their batteries and could not start their engine. No TowBoat US down here. Or anything remotely resembling a boatyard. Luckily we carry a set of battery cables and we were able to jump start his engine with a spare battery he was carrying.
We also rescued a “dinghy in distress” trying to row back from Rocky Dundas. Took us 20 minutes just to tow them back so no telling how long it would have taken them to row against the current.
Fish Finder
We are part of a study of fish migration sponsored by the Smithsonian. Whenever we anchor we put a sensor overboard that responds to RFIDs on tagged fish. We wont find out what fish we have tracked until the finder is returned next spring.
Green Turtle
We spent lots of time in the water “harassing” the green turtles. After a while they just ignored us and if I was in the water I could get pretty close for a photo.
Blue Hole Beach
This is one of our favorite beaches on the island. Not really a blue hole as it is only 30 ft deep or so, but the colors are special. Kayaks were a perfect means of transportation because the area dries at low.
kayaks at Blue Hole Beach, Cambridge CayBell Rock at Cambridge Cay
One stunning view after another. Just when you think you have seen everything in the area you get a view like this.
Spotted eagle ray
Spotted eagle rays came by most every day. Occasionally they would leap entirely out of the water. Pretty impressive for a beast with an 8′ wingspan.
Sting RaySting ray up close and personal
Sting rays are everywhere and rely on their coloration to hide in the shallows. We were careful to shuffle our feet when wading. In the kayaks it was possible to go right on top of them before they would spook. This one reminds me of the F117 stealth fighter.
Sea Aquarium
One of our favorite snorkelling sites is called the sea aquarium. Just a small indentation in the rocks but after years of folks feeding them, the fish are quite friendly. If you don’t feed them they finally get bored with you.
Sea Aquarium dinghy tie up
Lisa with her friends
The fish will get close enough that you can even touch them.
Porcupine Fish
This guy was a little less friendly.
Conch
Queen conch is endangered throughout the Bahamas due to over-harvesting, some of it legal and some not. The park is a no-take zone and has become a critical part of protection and regeneration of all sorts of marine life. These conch would be easy picking outside the park and the fact that they are even here at all suggests that the park’s efforts to protect the wildlife is working.
In our snorkeling we have seen spiny lobster, Nassau grouper, and many other species of over-harvested wildlife that are rarely seen outside the park but are doing well inside the boundaries of the park. There are a number of marine protection zones in the Bahamas besides Exuma park but Exuma park is the only one with the resources to combat poaching. Hopefully more will be done in the future.
Park patrol boat
While we are at Cambridge there is little opportunity to replenish stores. Once a week or so someone from the park staff comes by and takes Lisa in to Staniel Cay for a little grocery shopping.
Nurse Shark
Nurse sharks are constant visitors to the anchorage. They are pretty harmless. Caribbean Reef sharks come by as well and are less docile. They pretty much ignore swimmers, as long as they aren’t being fed. Unfortunately some visitors to the park dont understand this and we have had to admonish a few folk.
Most visitors cant distinguish from one shark species to another and feeding nurse sharks is a popular tourist draw at some of the local marinas. So visitors come to Cambridge and feed the sharks that come under their boat. But they are feeding Reef sharks while other boats have kids swimming near by. We have also seen Hammerhead sharks in the park and others have seen tiger sharks. Lets hope nothing happens.
Obrien’s Cay
The colors of sand and sea and sky in the park are just incredible. Every time we think we have found the ultimate beach, we find one more. This is on the northern tip of Obrien’s Cay, just around the corner from the sea aquarium
Hog Cay
This is not from Cambridge, but from Hog Cay, another park mooring field. We spent a week there, hiding from a significant cold front. We were the only boat there for the entire week. Lots of current, but excellent mooring ball.
Mooring gear
When we visited the park last year the moorings were in a state of disrepair. Joe and Nicola Ierna had just taken over as park administrators and were focusing on replacing all the gear. None too soon as we saw at least two boats break their moorings in the month we were there. For our month of volunteer work that year I dove and installed my own line to the anchor post on the bottom.
The new mooring gear is beefy, to say the least. Mega yachts lay on the same size gear as the cruiser boats so we can feel pretty safe. The down line is now all chain and the pendant is 1.5″ nylon. Also, the ball itself is not part of the system, a significant improvement over the old design.
Cambridge sunset
Speaks for itself. Another day well spent at Cambridge. We were sad to leave but will likely return next year.
This was our second year to volunteer at Cambridge and it was equally rewarding. We met hundreds of cruisers passing through, collected neary $10,000 in mooring and anchoring fees, and did a bit to clean up our little part of the park. And managed to have some fun doing it.
Having visited the park a number of times over the last few years, we are excited about the revitalized efforts to improve the park now that Joe and Nicola, along with Brent the warden, are on board. The new moorings, the increased policing, the upgrade of the facilities, all are much needed and much appreciated. We are blessed to have them running the park and equally blessed to call them friends.
We sat out a significant front here in Hog Cay on a park mooring. Nice new beefy gear so we felt nice and secure despite the winds gusting into the low 40’s from just about every direction. Strong currents make for exciting times when the wind and the current oppose. As in past visits, January is a very active month for cold fronts and affords short periods of cruising between longer periods of hiding from adverse winds.
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In between fronts we have been enjoying ourselves. Snorkeling at Obriens Cay is always a favorite. The dive site is called The Aquarium and is in the park. People feed the fish here so you get swarmed as soon as you enter the water. Learning how to use my new GoPro camera so my underwater shots need work.
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We are now at Cambridge Cay doing our stint as mooring field hosts for the park.We will be here a month. We give out maps, collect fees, maintain the trails and other duties in return for a free mooring ball in a little piece of paradise. The water in the Bahamas is very easy on boat bottoms. We had her cleaned in Key West in December and still no growth.
We are also participating in a fish research project for the Smithsonian. Whenever we anchor we drop a listening device into the water and it picks up signals from tagged fish. Unfortunately we will not know which fish we “saw” until we return the device in the spring.
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One interesting adventure is a cave system called Rocky Dundas. At low water you can swim inside to see a spectacular grotto. Best on calm days. This is Lisa swimming out behind a friends from Mystic Star.
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friendly Barracuda keeps an eye on us. Harmless but they open and close their mouth to breathe, showing some impressive teeth. The also like to follow along behind divers, just out of sight.
Nothing like a cold beer after a Gulf Stream crossing. As crossings go, this one was just fine, if a bit bumpy at first. A different sort of crossing in that we were coming NE from Key West so crossing the stream at about a 30 degree angle. We left Key West at about 8am, figuring on covering the 225 NM at a fast average speed over the ground of 8.6 knots, 1.1 knots above our actual speed through the water, thanks to the boost from the current in the stream.
We originally planned to enter the banks at South Rock with an option to choose a more northerly course to enter the banks above Bimini if we didn’t like the conditions. This would add about 12 miles to the trip but would also give us a bigger boost from the stream.
In my planning I estimated the GS current at 3.5 knots and with our angle of attack figured about a 15 degree offset angle to hold course and a 2 knot resultant boost in speed. As it turned out it was taking closer to a 25 degree offset to hold course and we were not getting quite 2 knots of boost. At a boat speed of 7.5 knots and a steam speed of 3.5 knots it doesn’t require much of a miscalculation to throw off prior estimates. In this case, I figure the angle of attack was closer to 45 degrees so the required crab was much greater. Had I seen that coming I might have entered the stream a bit further south. Maybe next time. Hard to calculate the best approach between taking the shortest route and getting the best speed boost.
With lots of unknowns regarding what was going to happen later that night with winds and sea state we decided to turn north to improve the ride, reduce the crab angle and maybe pick up enough extra speed to absorb the extra 12 miles of total distance. Also, the wind was forecast to clock further to the west in the early morning hours which would put it more astern after our turn east at North Bimini. As it turned out, the wind never clocked and stayed at about 225 degrees throughout the night and morning, but still behind the beem, so just fine.
We can see out 64 miles with our radar so I began tracking and timing the advance of the front i knew was coming some time Saturday morning. At 3am it was moving at about 12 knots so would arrive right on time at noon. With that estimate we planned on standing off until the front passed, possibly testing our new lightning protection system. By 10 am, when we were 2 hours out, the front had slowed to 8 knots and would not arrive until 1pm. Plenty of time for us to get in and tied up before it it. As it turned out, the first slip designated for us didn’t agree with our boarding doors so, with the lightning and thunder near, we moved to a more agreeable slip. We had the last line secured when the front passed over. Lucky timing on our part.
We will stay here a week, with plans for kayaking, bicycle touring, and maybe some fishing and conch hunting. And maybe a few more Kaliks on the beach. Then we will begin moving towards the Exumas. The Exuma Land and Sea Park is expecting us on 1 February for our one month stint as mooring field hosts at Cambridge Cay. After that, no real plans.
We made it to Key West, a milestone of sorts. We are here for a month or so and will celebrate Christmas with our two sons. Then it is off to the Bahamas.
The leg from Canaveral to Key West was relaxed as we had time to kill before our slip reservation at Boca Chica Marina near Key West. Our first night out promised to be lumpy with strong winds out of the North so we chose Suntex Marina (formerly Loggerhead) in Vero Beach. We had never been there and were somewhat concerned about the channel as there were numerous Active Captain comments about hard obstructions in or near the channel. All I can say is that we had no issues and I would estimate at least 6′ at low tide. Once inside, the marina was very nice and totally protected.
We followed up with some locals regarding the channel and one fellow provided us a set of soundings that he had taken with his dinghy. Those soundings did show some shoal area encroaching on a portion of the channel, not quite reaching the centerline. I am sure those write-ups in AC were true, in that the boats hit something, but maybe not so accurate in that whetever they hit, it was not on centerline. We left the next morning following our breadrumbs from the day before without any problems.
The charts show just a few pilings but there are actually 8-10 on each side of the channel so it isnt that hard to stay centered. If anyone wants a copy of the soundings for the channel, send me an email.
A note on Active Captain. I read the reviews and check the hazzard comments on my route, but often the hazzards just arent there. All I can figure is that the authors just werent where they thought they were when they encountered the problem. As best I can tell, nobody reviews the data and once a hazard is logged, it stays on the charts forever, despite numerous comments that the hazard just isnt there. More on this later.
Our next stop was Peck Lake. This is another interesting spot becasue the charts show the area to be 3-5′ deep when there is a large area 10′ or greater. But the only way to figure out just how large the area is requires probing with your hull. Not my favorite. In this case, the AC comments are helpful as they describe where the “gate” is as you leave the ICW and enter the anchorage.
For us it was fairly easy because there were just a few boats there. We picked a spot with plenty of swing room and felt a good set on the anchor. By the way, you know how a dog circles his spot before lying down? I understand that is to insure he doesnt cover a gopher hole or whatever. Well the same sort of move works with a boat. If we arent sure we will have minimum depth throughout our predicted swing we will circle our spot to confirm, doggy style.
It looked like a fine evening, until the bugs arrived. And did they ever. By morning we were covered in bugs that looked sort of like mosquitoes but didn’t bite. They just left stains everywhere. And they stayed with us for days. What a mess.
Lake Worth inlet and anchoring options
Our next stop was Lake Worth to an anchorage just south of the inlet. There are three options for anchoring here. Just south of the inlet, at the northern most AC symbol, you can anchor just south of the channel. It is close if you want to enter or leave in the dark. But the current is strong and it is quite deep at 20′ or so. The next spot, just south of the large spoil area, is close to the inlet but somewhat crowded with a mix of moored and anchored boats. Further south, roughly east of Rybovich Marina, is 1.7 miles from the inlet but wide open. We chose this spot and had a pleasant night.
We left the next morning just before sunrise. There is added light from land so not so hard to leave in the dark and run along the docks to the inlet. Lucky for us, the weather was perfect for an outside run to Miami, skipping the most concentrated series of bridges along the Florida coast.
Venetian Islands Anchorage
We have anchored here a few times. Well protected but can be busy with tour boats, jet skis and the like. Better on weekdays. There are a couple of No Anchor spots as well. Under current Florida anchoring laws there are very few places you cannot anchor. These are some of them. The houses here are all million dollar plus and the rumor is, a few have enough political pull to prevent boats from disturbing their views. Whatever, still plenty of places to anchor that are out of the way of traffic and protected. Last year we anchored between San Marino and Di Lido, this year just SE of Palm. A good place to wait on a hop east to the Bahamas or, in our case, south to the Keys.
Our plan was to stay inside Biscayne Bay to Anglefish Creek, then go out to Hawk Channel for the rest of the trip to Key West.
Anglefish Creek
Anglefish Creek is one of the last places a boat drawing 5′ or more can exit to Hawk Channel. The ICW continues but there are large portions where the depth is less than 5′, especially at anything but high tide. But reading the AC comments about the creek suggests there are areas of less than 5′ in the channel as well as hidden obstructions. Here is another example where blind allegiance to AC comments will keep you from going places that are safe.
Since we had a few days to kill, waiting on weather, I took the dinghy out and sounded the entire creek. I also talked with numerous boats passing through the creek in both directions. From my readings the lowest points are at the entrance and exit from the creek. On the Biscayne Bay side, the lowest point is 7′ MLLW and on the Hawk channel side, 6’3′. And I could not find any obstruction between marks 1 and 3 as AC described. I did chat with the author of the AC obstruction comment and I am sure he really did hit something at that point, but my guess is, it was some sort of partially sunk log that had since drifted off.
Our first time in Hawk Channel. My two comments; the barrier reef does cut the swell from the east, but doesn’t really help with the wind driven wave. And the number of crab floats will keep you paying close attention to your path through the mine field.
There are not a lot of anchorages with much protection from anything above 15 knots from the east so a run down Hawk channel requires a bit of weather planning. There are only a few bridges that will allow a cross over to the other side of the Keys in order to get out of wind or wave. We anchored one night on the far side of Channel Five Bridge and then went to a marina in Marathon to avoid a cold front.
WE spent a few days at Marathon Marina and Resort, just inside the channel into Boot Key Harbor. A very nice marina that is cruiser friendly and has decent rates for extended stays. Marathon served our purposes well but we had a hard time appreciating the attraction to the mooring field in Boot Key Harbor. Hundreds of boats here, many for the season. Nice weather, good protection and cheap rates, but not particularly attractive. And it is hard to fall in love with the town of Marathon itself.
We did enjoy a tour of the Turtle Hospital in Marathon, which is a real working turtle rehabilitation facility. Tours are a little pricey at $25 or so, but since the proceeds are important to funding their work, then maybe not so bad. We also checked out the bars in the area and give two thumbs up to the french fries at Burdine’s.
We next headed to Boca Chica and our marina for a month. Boca Chica is home to Key West Naval station airfield and an MWR marina. The marina was a mess after the last hurricane, with many boats sunk in their slips, but now it is up and running and nearly full. Not all repairs are complete but it is in pretty good shape. Tiki bar, small restaurant, beach, etc. And $1/ft. But only for military.
We are about seven miles from old town Key West, so having a car is helpful. We have been doing the tourist things in town, and it is a touristy town, but it is also a town with plenty of legitimate history if you look past the Tee shirt shops on Duval street. Maybe a dedicated blog post on Key West in the future.
The boys are both here for Christmas so their christmas present was a day of deep sea fishing. Fishing is a big deal here, with hundreds of charter boats available so choosing one boat was a challenge. We did a lot of internet searching but finally settled on a boat we had seen arriving at the dock by our happy hour bar. Among the six boats at the dock, this boat had the most fish. We chatted up the captain and liked him and hired he and his deck hand for the day before christmas. The boat name was Triple Time and I would recommend it. An older boat but a great crew. And of the returning boats, we had the biggest catch.
The catch
We caught all five tuna in about an hour. None before or after. Other boats that missed the window got nothing. Our captain said he had been doing this for 40 years so I am guessing our success was not just luck. The biggest tune weighed in at 25 lbs. We are still eating it.
We would have had one more tuna but a shark beat us to it.
We have had enough weather surprises, mostly disappointments on this trip south, when actual conditions were worse than forecast. Nice to get a pleasant surprise now and then as we did for the trip from Savannah to Cape Canaveral. Overnight we had 10 knots from behind, a 2′ swell and 90% illumination all night. It just does not get any better than that.
Lets back up a bit. Our near term destination for this leg was to get to Key West in time to host our two sons for Christmas. We had five weeks, more than enough time to take it easy and maybe add a few side trips. our plan was to travel offshore whenever weather permitted, limiting it to one overnight at a time. Once we arrived in Florida we no longer had to worry too much about weather as we could always run inside, but we really wanted to avoid the leg between Lake Worth and Miami as the number of bridges can really get to be a pain in the neck.
From Mobjack we we next stopped at Atlantic Yacht Basin. Decent fuel prices, no current, friendly folk. Our favorite activity here is to tour the covered docks. Some beautiful older boats, including a spectacular Trumpy, in pristine condition.
Coinjock may become a tradition. A short run from AYB so we arrived early, which is good here, and enjoyed our prime rib. Coinjock dock hands are famous for stacking boats tightly here, often with overhang fore and aft, so getting here early makes arrival and tie up easier. Best you not be watching as they bring boats in behind you. And also best if you let some of the boats depart first.
From Coinjock we took the “road (somewhat) less traveled” down Pamlico Sound, stopping in Manteo and Ocracoke. Overall, this route is shorter than the ICW, less crowded and with fewer hazzards. The only drawback is that Pamlico Sound can get rather nasty in any significant winds. A 20 knot wind can set up a rather nasty 3 foot, 3 second wave pattern than is uncomfortable even for us. Our route is in blue, the ICW in green.
The Pamlico Sound route
Manteo has a nice small marina, some anchoring opportunities and plenty of land adventure opportunities. The entrance channel is a little tricky, but holds aout 7′ at low tide at the worst spot. Note that sustained east or west winds can lower or raise depths by a foot or two. We rented bikes and went to Ft Raleigh, checked out the Lost Colony and the Alligator River National Wildlife Sanctuary Visitor Center. Oddly, while the actual sanctuary is on the peninsula astride the Alligator River, the Visitor Center is on Roanoke Island. Not sure why except maybe Roanoke is the closest civilization. The town of Manteo is pretty touristy, but still interesting. Enough locals live here to keep most shops and restaurants open even so late in the season.
The local museum is a short walkBrings back memories of me as a kid. Outboards used to be hard to start
Ocracoke is sort of the gateway to the Outer Banks, with large ferries arriving every half hour in season. When we got there, in early November, the ferries were hourly but disgorged fewer travellers, mostly fishermen towing their center console boats from the mainland.
The channel to the basin is well marked and deep but there was some confusion due to recent dredging and changes in bouy locations. As we approached I watched a few ferries come and go on AIS and then adjusted my plotted route to overlay their tracks. That worked out pretty well as some of the route cuts across what the chart shows as shoal, and on the wrong side of a charted red buoy. As it turned out, you can ignore the charts and follow your eyeballs and do just fine. In most of the channel there is plenty of room to pass a ferry going the other way, but there are a few choke points so most cruisers either follow a ferry in or wait till the outgoing ferry exits. You can look up the ferry schedules on line and use that unfo to plan your trip in.
Once inside the basin there is a large area for anchoring and a few marinas. We docked at the NPS docks, which are very nice, and cheap for us. With a NPS pass, the dockage was $37 per night, including power. Unfortunately, quite a bit of dock space is not taken up by a new fast ferry dock located between the two floating docks, preventing access to any of this dock space.
This time of year, many stores and restaurants are closed but there are enough things open to satisfy your urge for fried whatever. We again rented bikes and went out to the shore. Pretty spectacular beaches with hardly any people. We walked a mile or so on one beach and never saw another person. Nice time to visit.
From Pamlico sound we rejoined the ICW and went to Morehead City Yacht Basin, which has become our staging point for running offshore. But this year the weather didn’t play nice so we stayed inside from Morehead City to Bald head. Not many good anchoring spots on this leg if you want to do it with one stop enroute so we booked a slip at Topsail Island Marina in Surf City. So, we are about 10 miles out from the marina, it is 3:30pm and we get a call from the marina on VHF. They tell us they are quite sorry but they had double booked our slip and it was now occupied. too bad, so sorry, good luck finding somewhere else to go. As the Seinfeld skit goes, they new how to take a reservation, they just didn’t know how to keep a reservation.
This put us in a bit of a bind. We called a few other marinas in the general area, but no luck. Searching the charts I found an anchorage that might work if we could get there before dark as we would have to clear the Surf City Bridge and it was on an hourly schedule. We went to mak speed, which for us is not much over 9 knots, and made the 5pm bridge with a few minutes to spare. Another 15 minutes to the anchorage and we had the anchor set by sundown. Not sure what we would have done if that had not worked out. Another boat in a similar situation as ours, who didnt make the bridge, anchored out in the ICW overnight. I cant imagine that working out well. Cruisers own the days on the ICW, tugs and barges own the night.
As it turned out, this was a very nice anchorage and we will use it again, I am sure.
Topsail Sound at Sloop Point Anchorage
Next day we went to Bald Head marina. Well protected and well situated for an offshore run. We rented bicycles and toured the island. From there we made an offshore hop to Savannah, stopping at Thunderbolt marina. The Krispy Cream donuts remain a big hit. We spent a day doing the tourist things, parks, old homes, restaurants, etc. before heading offshore again to Port Canaveral.
One of the many parks in downtown Savannah
As I mentioned ealier, the trp from Savannah to Port Canaveral was about as good as it gets. Calm seas, clear skies and full moon all night. We spent a few nights at Ocean Club marina and took a side trip to tour NASA’s Cape Kennedy site. Expensive at $50/pp ut worth it. takes a full day to see everything. We went on Thanksgiving day and that was a good choice as the place was nearly empty. Maybe 200 people for a place that is set up to handle thousands. Perfect.
Saturn V is a monsterThe shuttle up closethis is a working shuttle landing simulator. I crashed repeatedly. Must be losing my touch
Our next leg is from Port Canaveral to Key West and will be the subject of my next blog entry.
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