On 21 March we decided it was time. The weather for crossing
the Gulf Stream looked like it was going to be pretty good for at least a week
and the weather from Nassau to Bimini – for us that’s about two days – looked
good as well. Besides, we had been in the Bahamas for nearly five months. It
was time in more ways than one. So, at 9AM on the 21st we put 300
gallons of fuel in Traveling Soul and
took off.
Different people make the jump from Nassau to Florida in
different ways. Some leave from Nassau and don’t stop until they arrive at a
destination in Florida; that can take them at least two and possibly more than
three days. Others go from Nassau to Bimini in one day, then spend a second day
crossing through the Gulf Stream to Florida. We are kind of lazy. We like going
forty miles from Nassau to Chub Cay in one day, taking a second day to travel
the hundred or so miles from Chub to Bimini, then cross the Straits to Florida
on day three.
I was initially going to write about these three days
separately, but so little happened – the seas were calm and the skies
delightful – that I just don’t have that much to say. Suffice to say that while
the days were a little long, the cruising was wonderful. The only interesting
little tidbit was the push the Gulf Stream gave us. We left Bimini early
because we thought it might take us 10+ hours to make it to West Palm Beach. We
were wrong. The Gulf Stream gave us a push of two to three knots – we were at
times moving at well over 12 knots -- putting us at the Lake Worth Inlet (just
outside Palm Beach) at 2:30 PM on March 23rd. Finally, we were home.
We had arranged to berth in the Old Port Cove Marina. We
arrived, checked in with US Customs, then checked on the arrangements we had
made for the immediate repair work we needed to have done. The list wasn’t
extensive, but it was important. I’ll offer just a few words on each.
·
Radar and electrical connections. Some of
you may remember that while crossing over to the Bahamas last December our
radar went out. Radar isn’t that important for us unless we are planning to
travel in reduced visibility or outside in the ocean. Since we didn’t do either
one in the Bahamas, we decided to wait until we got back to the State to have it
fixed. Now that we are back, however, we are going to need it. I was hoping that our problem was a simple
loose wire or corroded connection, but alas, that would have been too good to
be true. Apparently Garmin (the manufacturer of our radar) allows local
technicians to check for bad connections, but any work on the radar itself has
to be performed at the factory. They charge a flat $500 for fixing a radar,
regardless of whether it is a little problem of a big one. Since we are in a
bit of a hurry, to that we would have had to add about $150 express shipments
both ways for a total of $800 – and even then it might not be back in time for
us. The alternative was to spend $1100 and buy a new radar – which is what we
did.
We also had some electrical
problems. When Tim and family were here and we were at a marina, one of the
outlets through which we connect the boat to shore power started smoking –
literally. Now, we have several other connectors so we could live with it, but
it was something we wanted to get fixed when we got back to Florida. To make a
long story short, that problem is now fixed.
Overall, the Florida marine
electronics industry made a little over two boat units on us, baby. That’s two big
ones, two grand, 2000 smackers. I guess you get the picture.
·
The second problem we had was the washing
machine. It went out a week or two before we started back. Most marinas
have Laundromats to it wasn’t THAT big of a deal, but it was certainly
inconvenient. Luckily for us, our
washing machine is an apartment-sized Whirlpool, so the repairman could fix it
pretty easily. This only cost us about a quarter of a BU.
·
Third, we had to get the air conditioners
fixed. Although there were a couple of nights in the Bahamas when it would
have been nice to have had an air conditioner, we really didn’t need them. That
was a good thing because shortly after we arrived in the Abacos last December
we learned that three of our four systems were on the fritz. We had some of
local experts over and they suggested that we just “gas and go,” meaning they
add some Freon (actually R22, a very pricey substitute) and take off. Six
hundred dollars later and we did – take off that is.
·
And finally, the heads. The master head,
the one that Zimmerman’s Boatyard in Deltaville put in, has never worked
correctly. Marine Plumbing Services in
the Palm Beach area (out favorite head repair people) believe they have fixed
it for us. I sure hope so. Also, the Lectrascan we had put in a year ago is
acting up; not so much that we expect Raritan to honor their warranty
obligations, but enough so that we got out the paperwork to check on the time
period (we still have a year to go). We
haven’t yet received the invoice on the heads.
·
The worst thing that happened, however, was
that my Achilles tendon is acting up again. Actually, it is not the tendon
itself, it seems to be the original surgical site. It has opened up again and
appears to be infected. I had an MRI taken last Saturday and have sent the
results to my surgeon at Walter Reed. We’ll just have to wait and see what he
says. If it is important, I’ll let everyone know. Total cost – ZERO Boat Units.
J
In addition, of course, we changed the oil today. We are
getting better, it used to be a day-long chore for us. Now it only takes
half-a-day. The rest of the time is spent scrubbing ourselves in the shower
trying to wash off some of the oil.
Well, the Good Lord willin’ and the Creeks don’t rise (BTW -
thanks, Allie, I think of you every time I use that expression!) tomorrow we
are heading to sea. We are planning on spending about 30 hours on the high seas
heading north. That will let us cover about 300 of the 1100 +/- miles we have
to go to get to Deltaville where we plan on leaving the boat and making a trip
out west. It will also allow us to miss some of those darn Florida bridges …
that slow us down even more than the slow-as-puddin’ sailboats. (Sorry Sailboat
Friends, I just had to say it!)
ANN’s NOTES: Sorry, Ann's busy getting ready for the trip tomorrow.
Traveling Soul .... Out!
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