Back in the Keys

I left Morgan's Bluff early Thursday morning and headed North to the channel across the shallow bank, I could see a squall building above Lowe's Sound and hoped I could outrun it. The wind was from the East at about 10kts and the thunderhead was to the West, as the top of the clouds came over the sea and shaded Waltzing Matilda I thought about reefing my mainsail, just in case. the "rule for reefing" states "If you think you might need to reef soon, do it now". Never being too good with rules I decided I could outrun the squall since it seemed to be hovering over the island and not able to push out to sea, as I sat pondering this decision the clouds opened up for just a second to reveal the biggest water spout I have ever seen about 5 miles behind my lee side, but I still didn't reef. My gamble paid off and I was able to get a good deal North of the thunder head, as I turned West the winds picked up to about 15kts and I launched my spinnaker at about 13:00. I didn't drop the spinnaker until 22:00 when I turned to the South-West. I got my tiller lashed in a good position and laid down to sleep. I wasn't too worried about anyone being out where I was sailing and there wasn't anything to hit for many miles in every direction, before the moon rose the stars reached all the way to the horizon, there was no light pollution to diminish the view.

I sailed all night and day Friday and most of the day Saturday, around 15:00 Saturday afternoon I reached a place named "Castle Rock" and decided it was a good place to take Mattie for a walk as well and sleep on the anchor before I ventured out into the gulf stream. Castle Rock is a series of coral rocks that poke up out of the water marking the edge of the gulf stream, the one I landed was so small that I could stroll around it in about 10 minuets. The charts listed the terrain as bushes, there wasn't anything grown taller than 4 feet but the bushes were very thick and there were thousands of brooding seagulls nested there. Never one to miss an opportunity for an easy meal I set about collecting gull eggs from the bushes. The seagulls weren't too fond of my intrusion and would either run from the nest dragging a wing or stubbornly sit there and bite me when I picked them up, turns out that seagulls can break the skin when they bite. I collected 18 eggs and got 3 minor cuts on the backs of my hands, when I got back to Waltzing Matilda I heated up the skilled and made some scramble gulls eggs with pancakes. Seagull eggs taste a bit fishy and don't need to be salted, several of the eggs contained embryos so the fish around my boat got a nice treat too.

I slept from sunset till 02:00 and after a cup of coffee hoisted sail and continued on bearing 240° in 10kts of wind, I reached the Eastern edge of the gulf stream at 10:00 and turned to 330° as the wind picked up to 15kts gusting occasionally, I had a nice beam reach and a fast current under me, I flew North at 7kts, at one point my GPS showed 9kts! About 13:00 the winds died completely and the sea flattened out, I dropped to 4kts (the same speed as the current) and decided that I'd rather fire the motor than try to make an unknown entrance in the dark. I motor sailed the last few miles, at 15:00 the skyline of Miami came into view, by 18:00 I was in Biscayne bay headed south under sail in the ICW.

I made it back to Islamroada on Monday afternoon and took Mattie to a much needed shore walk, with beaches and fresh water, and cars, and traffic noise, and T shirt shops, and rude people.... after the silence and solitude of the last few days I felt a bit overwhelmed. Eating the biggest juiciest burger that the Lorelei restaurant can provide helped me feel a bit better about being back in civilization, but it ain't Red Bays, and I can't find any seagull eggs, and I'm not allowed to fish these waters.

pictures will be posted soon, I didn't have an underwater camera, but next time I go to the Bahama's I will, the reefs were amazing.

Social sailors

I've had some great experiences since Waltzing Matilda and I first set out, most have been brought about by the wonderful people that I have met and who have befriended me. Recently I have crossed paths with folks that I have met before. A big fancy yacht came into the anchorage and hailed me on the radio to ask how intense the bugs were at night, we got to chatting a bit on the radio and the next day they came over to my boat to introduce themselves and get some tips about local services. They invited me to join them in a rented car and drive the length of the island to see the sights. I readily agreed and was able to point out interesting things until we got further south than I have been. We drove about an hour south and stopped at a yacht club in Fresh Creek for afternoon drinks. I mentioned that I was a member of Harbor Landing Yacht Club out of Ocean Springs Mississippi and the car was filled with laughter, turns out one of the crew members is from Ocean Springs and a member of Poor Boys Yacht Club, located right next to Harbor Landing. We got to chatting about Mississippi and the great folks in Ocean Springs, I was sad to learn that the folks that treated me so well and rescued Waltzing Matilda are closing their business.

Matti and I went to greet a ketch that sailed into the harbor and before we could get close the crew yelled out “Mattie!”, turns out they were a young couple that I met in Key West, they remembered Mattie and me as “the guy that walks Mattie”. They invited me on board for and we chatted about people we both knew, keeping up on other friends whereabouts. I knew that they had kin in Pensacola and they mentioned that they were going to meet up with his dad who was in the Bahamian Islands on his boat Valkyrie. I put things together and knowing that the first cruising couple I met sold their sailboat of the same name in Pensacola I asked if Valkyrie was a Pearson-Rhodes ketch, turns out this Valkyrie is a 75 foot power yacht that I first encountered in Marathon FL. I noticed it then not because of the gleaming bright work but the cute woman covered in sawdust working on it. When Valkyrie arrived in Morgan's Bluff we were invited aboard to cook the mess of fish and huge lobsters caught from the most amazing reef I have ever snorkeled. I caught a lobster that was so big I couldn't swim with the weight of it, the tail was longer than a beer bottle.

I've finally gotten better at spear fishing and found that snappers have blind spot directly over their heads, I wait above the hole that they are hanging out in and when they stick their head out to look around, WHAM, I spear them through the top of the head then get them out of the water and into the boat before the sharks notice the sound and smell of a dying fish. I haven't had to worry about the sharks too much, they usual aren't very big and fairly docile, but there was one big 15 foot shark that got into a staring contest with one of our fishing crew

I recently needed to get some metal work done on a winch that I salvaged from a wreck and I was directed to the Mennonite farm about 10 miles south of where I am anchored, I easily found the farm as it was the only one that didn't have piles of dirty disposable diapers and trash all over the yard. They had a great shop set up capable of automotive, truck and tractor repair as well as a small machine/welding shop. The work that I needed should have only taken a few moments but things never work out that way, it took about 45 minuets and the smithy only charged me $15. I've found that when metal workers discover that I am in the same guild they cut me a good deal, professional courtesy I suppose.

I really enjoy Morgan's Bluff but I need to be heading back to the states soon, hurricane season is starting in just a few weeks, Skatopia is beckoning, finances are dwindling and Waltzing Matilda is feeling smaller than ever. I'm quite proud to be the smallest boat in the anchorage and the other cruisers are amazed at my stories resulting in many free meals but I want to go further, deeper, into more remote areas and Waltzing Matilda is a day sailer. I'm starting to tire of single handing as well, so many things would be so much easier with a crew mate aboard, but the type of crew mate I want usually doesn't like using a bucket for a toilet and standing upright in the cabin would be an amazing feature to have. Waltzing Matilda is in such good condition now, lots of gear and good sails, but the amount of modifications I would have to do to her to make her blue water ready is so extensive that I feel it would be easier and more cost effective to get a larger boat that is closer to an ocean going vessel than this cute little day sailer.

Bahamanian Bohemians

I'm still in the Bahama's, Morgan's Bluff to be exact. There could be worse places to be stuck, the wind is not co-operating, I am ready to be underway. The krew I've been traveling with has headed to Nassau, it's been wonderful traveling with them, the Capitan cooked so well, and they always scored lots of fish. I still can't catch anything, even with my spear I'm a lousy shot, although on another cruisers boat with his rig and tackle I caught a 3 foot barracuda, I traded it for a nice BBQ chicken dinner, barracuda can be poisonous. The locals all trade fish for goods, I am amazed at the lack of shame they have in begging, the kids will walk up and demand that you buy them a soda, then demand a dollar, then start asking you for sunglasses. I taught a couple of the kids to make the things they need rather than rely on the US dollar to get anything, I did give those kids some fish hooks and line. I do understand that they think white skin means walking ATM but they have it wrong with me, I have already proved to several that I have less than them. Despite not having dollars I am good with my tools and there are fishermen around, fishermen always need things fixed and always have fish, which explains why I am craving beef, the other night I dreamed of eating steak.

The cruisers here are wonderful people, very friendly and kind, very bohemian too. I met a great couple from St Petersburg on a 27' catamaran, he is a retired theater teacher, she an actor. I went to dinner on their boat and when it was discovered that we were all theater geeks we began to tell jokes that can only be appreciated back stage. A few nights later we were all on a 47' power catamaran for a dinner party, using the fore deck as a stage and the ship's searchlight for illumination we were treated to a one act play. I've been missing theater and it was great fun to sit on the louvers over the cabin windows and watch a show. It makes me think back to the days before canned entertainment, I feel we have lost a great deal by industrializing our entertainment and not being able to make our own.

I scored winches for Waltzing Matilda! A cruiser and I went to a wrecked sailboat that I spotted and found that the winches hadn't been stripped off, everything else but the mast was stripped. I haven't sailed her with winches but it will make it much easier for me to trim my head sail now. According to the locals this sailboat showed up on the bank about a year ago with sails up and no one on board, there was blood on the deck and no sign of the skipper. I don't know if that is true, the locals are all fishermen, and fishermen don't have a reputation for honesty. Another interesting find was on a coral head near where several of us were spear fishing. I was getting tired and spotted what looked like a suitcase on the beach. I swam over and on a deserted island found a very rotted suitcase packed with rusted cans of corned beef, rusted away Vienna sausages, soggy ramen noodles, packs of new under shirts and shorts, and a Haitian passport. The passport was stamped for entry in Nassau in December 2004 with a mariners visa, the visa has been expired for 5 years, the passport expired in 2009. As much as I love a mystery I decided it was best not to poke my head into this business. I know that a mail ship went down a few months ago and the locals all went fishing for luggage, I also know that some Haitians were involved in some dirty business related to a stolen boat loaded with stolen drugs. Rumor has it there are more Haitians in the tongue of the ocean than in Haiti.

Mattie is quite popular with some of the locals, whenever we walk into Willy's Water Bar she gets greeted and given a bone to chew, I have to pay for beer and don't get such a boisterous greeting. Willy's wont take fish as payment.