Long Island to Long Island 2016 Bahamas to NY and returning

My goodness, where has the time gone?  We left Long Island Bahamas on March 5, 2016 after a great surprise party for Bess & Billy on Alibi II for all of the work they did to organize the hurricane relief there.  Neither one of them had any idea as they were told it was a going away party for us.  Of course everyone else knew!  It was a blast.  I forgot the camera though.   We also attended a birthday party for our buddy Bruce at their newly finished home and I did not forget the camera then!

 

 

 

 

We basically beat feet through the Exumas as we knew we needed to get back to VA but we did make a few stops.  One was Little Farmers Cay where we saw lots of turtles and rays.  We finally got a wood carving from a man I have been watching carve for years.  We saw lots of iguanas and even managed to catch up with our friends John & Monica while in Pipe Cay.

 

When we reached the Abacos we even caught up with our Pearson 365 fleet!  Tom & June on Lady Ella and Bill on Long Winded.  We had a great dinghy explore as well as some great food!

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Had a wonderful crossing with several other boats in radio range.  Sequel To stayed close by as it was their first venture from the Bahamas to Charleston.  At one point his fuel was getting low so we did a fuel drop offshore.  Quite interesting.  He dropped his dink upwind of us and drifted back to us,  We handed him a 5gal. jerry can of diesel while his wife brought the big boat behind us and he then drifted back to her.  The whole evolution took about 5 minutes.  We arrived in Charleston in the middle of the night and just dropped the hook.  Some of the other boats that had been with us came in the morning.  We all got together for dinner at one of the houses and a grand time was had!

 

 

 

We did our normal trip up the ICW and arrived at Cobb's Marina on 5/12/2016.

June 14th was a big b-day for me... 60!  Wow, I can't believe it!  Rob arranged a fantastic party for the 13th as I had to work on the 14th.  What was funny was how many misread the email and showed up on the 14th while I was at West Marine!

Lots of land & cruiser friends were in attendance & I really liked the decoration of the cake!

 

 

 

 

It was hot in Virginia and we decided that since we had not been up north for 4 years that it was time.  After a raft up with the Brotherhood of the Coast we departed for Sandy Hook, NJ on 8/14/016 about 1045am.  Now before we left Rob had said he thought the prop may have been fouled and he was right!

Since we were making less than 4knts we decided to go into Barnegat Bay and try to find a diver.  We did and it was nice to have a rest too!  Of course it was an outgoing tide on our way in and at one point the GPS showed us making zero forward movement!

From there it was on to Sandy Hook for the night and then on through New York City, Hell Gate and on to Oyster Bay.  Oyster Bay is always a favorite and this time was just as good.  We found a great place for Rob to get a haircut and they recommended  a new pub, The Homestead.  Fantastic!  We were caught inside for 3-4 hours as it poured!  It rained so hard the street flooded and water went up a parked cars tailpipe.  The dink was fine when we returned and the next day we explored Bayville just around the bend.

Next we went on to Port Jefferson for Rob's birthday on August 23rd and again found a great new (to us) restaurant, Crazy Fish.  Next came Mattituck with its Anchor Only Zone and The Broken Down Valise.  Another new to us grocery was Lombardi's on Love Lane.  GREAT Italian market.  They even had the wonderful unsalted anchovies that we like so much.  From Mattituck we had a nice sail across LI Sound to Joshua Cove for the night then another sail into Three Mile Harbor.  This area is also known as "The Hamptons" and can be quite pricey.  I managed to find a haircut, wash/cut/blow-dry for $25.00!  Of course, English was not the lady's first language but it is a great cut!  There are a few storms out there and Herminie is the one we watched closely.  Three Mile Harbor is, 3 miles long so we have decided to head back towards Oyster Bay as our weather guru, Chris Parker told Rob this morning we would be better off at the west end of the sound.  We dropped the hook between Oyster Bay and Bayville, NY along with a few other cruising boats and just waited for it to pass. 

 

 

 

 

A nice quite trip back to Norfolk where we stayed for a few more weeks and got underway on Weds. 9/28/16 around to Hospital Point to begin another trek south.

The next day found us waiting for the water (tide) to recede at Great Bridge as they could not open the lock due to high water!  We have friends that took the Dismal Swamp Canal route and were stranded at the NC Visitors Center!  Eventually they backtracked to the Coinjock route after waiting over a week.

Of course it was that time of year and there was yet another hurricane brewing.  Matthew was its name.  It looked like it was going to be a bad one so we started looking for a safe spot to put the boat.  We made the decision that if it came ashore as a Cat 1 or better, we would get off the boat.  We tried River Dunes Marina where several boats we knew where headed but were told we were number 3 on the waiting list.  Oh well.......  We decided on Bath Creek.  It is 70 miles from the ocean and is very well protected, plus there is a motel there too.  The storm changed course and we had 1ft waves!  Not too bad.  The man who owns the motel/marina called us to be sure we were ok and keep us appraised of the weather updates and said not to worry if we did not need the room, but it was there should we want it.  How very nice!  After the skies cleared we put all the sails/canvas back on and decided to treat ourselves to lunch ashore.  We called The Town & Country Restaurant in Bath and were told that they were closed because they had no power.  The lady asked where I was and I told her.  She told me that while they were closed, they were giving away fried chicken dinners.  Just come up and they would give one per person with sides too!  They needed to cook the chicken & decided it was better to give it away than throw it away.  Since we did have food on the boat I thanked her and said that was a very kind thing to do since many had no way to cook.  We will definitely return there to eat.

From Bath we made our way to Oriental to visit with our cruising friends Brad & Jeannie.  He is otherwise known as "Builder Brad" from Long Island Bahamas fame and his picture is in the previous post.  We noticed that the stern rail was cracked at the stantion base and the luff tape was bad on the jib while putting the boat right after the storm.  With Brad & Jeannie's' help we were able to get both repaired while in Oriental.  Kudos to Inner Banks Canvas & Sail Craft Marine.  We also spent a lovely night at their home in Oriental with a wonderful dinner complete with a chef! 

 

From there we continued on to Beaufort, NC where we picked up my friend from St. Catherrines, JoRuth and her little dog Molly for a trip to Georgetown, SC.  To say she was excited was an understatement!  While JR has travelled from Beaufort to Norfolk with us, she had never been farther than Swansboro by southbound boat .  Spooners Creek, Mile Hammock, Wrightsville (where we waited out weather for 4 days & the fact that the Soccastee Bridge could not open) Southport, Calabash, it was quite the adventure getting little Molly to shore twice a day.  The dog was a trooper!  Not an accident at all and boy, did that dog love her dingy rides.  As it turned out, JR's ride back to Beaufort was in the area of Osprey Marina so that was Molly's last dink ride of the trip.  We loaded up JR & Molly into the dink & I took them in while Rob went round in circles waiting.  We dropped the hook later that night and decided that the boat just was not the same without them!  It was a great time.

The following day we made it into Georgetown SC, a place we do enjoy!  After a short visit we made our way to the Georgetown Lighthouse for an offshore trip to Charleston.  The ICW between Georgetown & Charleston has several trouble (shoaled) spots & it is just easier to go offshore than to try to work the tides.

Charleston was fun as usual.  We had a wonderful day walking around and playing tourist.  We found an oyster bar near the market and will definitely go back for lunch.  The next day we meandered to the Stono River and had a great visit with Bobby & Francie of Barefootin. They took us all around to the grocery and a Trader Joes wine run and we all topped it off with a stone crab feast with our new friends Rod & Diane of Colonels Lady.  It was hard to leave but they had projects to work on & we were getting cold! 

 

Thursday 11/3/16 found us anchored in Factory Creek in Beaufort, SC and visiting with Bess & Billy of Alibi  II.  Standing on the dock with Bess, our friends Joel & Donna of Sequel pass by and anchor near us!  Joel & Donna have been our boat neighbors at both Bay Point & Cobb's Marinas.  Fantastic folks who went back to work for awhile and are now back to full time cruising!

From Beaufort we made our way to Bahia Bleu marina in Thunderbolt GA. We have great friends there too and took a slip for 2 nights.  Laundry is always a concern when cruising and the laundry at this marina is free!  So, needless to say everything got washed.  Clothes, sheets, towels, us, the boat, the stainless.  We kept quite busy.  Our friend Bob lives on his trawler at this marina and he offered to take us around as a tour guide & chauffer.  It was nice to see the old city from a vehicle.... you see so much more than on foot!  That night we had a group for dinner at Tubbys, the local pub.  One of our dearest friends had an "episode" and the paramedics did come but he was much better even before they arrived.  I won't embarrass him by name but we are just so happy he is alright.

The same cannot be said for two of my friends.  Sue White and I met several years ago and it seems that the poor woman just could not get a break.  Her boat exploded, killing her recent boyfriend, then she got breast  cancer, thought that was beat but the cancer returned a few years back with a vengeance.  Sue put up a long & courageous fight and had only recently made the difficult decision to go for quality rather than quantity of life and she stopped all treatments.  She passed on Saturday 11/5/16.  She fought long and she fought hard.  Now she has peace. I miss her greatly.

 

Linda Marshall Burgess and I met on the kickball field when I was 10.  We got into a fight and have been friends ever since.  Our friendship spanned more than 50 years and I love her as the sister I never had.  She had only found out she had kidney cancer in July.  The kidney & part of her lung was removed and she was starting the same treatment that former President Carter had such success with.  No so for Linda.  The cancer hit her hard and hit her fast and she was taken on Saturday 11/12/16. I love you girlfriend and will till the end of my days.

 

Many years ago we had an event at Coinjock Marina where we picked up a stowaway we named "Sammy the Seafaring Mouse".  It took us 6 weeks to rid ourselves of him.  Given that, you can imagine our dismay at awakening at 4am at the marina to the sound of little pattering feet, I mean claws.  The evidence was there, a bag of peanuts with the corner nibbled away along with a plastic bag containing napkins with a hole chewed in the side!  Well, at least he was trying to use a napkin!!!  Upon seeing this we knew what the culprit was.  Rob decided to leave the light on in the salon to discourage his return.  Rob called Bob in the morning & asked if he would run him to the hardware store to get traps.  Bob did one better.  It seemed that he had a rodent recently & had a trap he was no longer using.  He brought over the trap & the cheese to bait it with!  It seems that perhaps the light being left on discouraged the rascal as we have seen no further evidence of him.  I even dismantled the pilot berth where he would have been to reach the peanuts and there was no sign.  No chew marks, no hair, no poop!  We still have the trap set just in case.

11/15/16 found us anchored off Cumberland Island visiting with even more cruising friends, Terry & Jeanette of Aquila.  We went to their boat for dinner and as usual, a fine time was had by all.  They hope to catch up with us in the Bahamas.  Great folks, but then again, all our cruising buddies are fantastic!

 

More later,  keep the sails full!

 

 

 

Long Island Hurricane Relief Feb 2016

 

Another month has passed and what a rewarding time it has been. 

We arrived at Salt Pond/Thompson Bay on Long Island on Friday Feb. 5th.  Before leaving George Town we had picked up even more donations from cruising boats that were not going on to Long Island.

The Ministry of Tourism Office is not open on the weekends so we spent Saturday morning at the Farmers Market and Sunday at a Happy Hour on the beach on Sunday.

    







We decided to take a dinghy ride up the bay to see what kind of damage had happened.  Little did we know we were in for a shock.  Long Island Breeze Resort had been closed and up for sale ($3+M) for over a year and it took a lot of damage.  Unfortunately, I do not have a photo from the water before the hurricane but there was a beautiful deck around a very nice pool.  Under the deck were fresh water tanks as there is no ‘city’ water in Salt Pond.  Since the resort was closed these tanks were empty.  As the storm surge rose, these empty tanks started to float and literally pushed out the pool which ended up a few hundred yards away resting against the fuel tanks for Long Island Petroleum.

The dock at LI Petroleum was gone.  There was NO TRACE that a dock had ever been there.  As an example of the spirit of the folks on Long Island the owners have decided to dredge before building a new dock so that deeper draft cruising boats may bring the big boat to the dock instead of using jerry cans to ferry the diesel.  We continued on and here is some of what we saw.

 

Little did we know at the time but we would end up on a ‘Work Party’ at the bright green house.  Charlie & Joyce who live there were faced with the daunting task of getting all of the water and storm debris out of their home.  They had done all of that, rebuilt walls, replaced doors and cleaned up their yard before the cruisers ever arrived to help.  All we did was paint.  Nothing hard but it certainly raised their spirits!  Charlie is a local Realtor and Joyce a former Mrs. Bahamas!  Fantastic people and I know we have made two new friends.

Our mantra has become “We may not be skilled labor, but we are cheap!”

Notice all of the dead vegetation on the cays.  The
salt water has killed it.The landscape has really changed. 

On our 2nd night there we met two local fishermen, father & son and we traded a couple of Kalik’s for a couple of crawfish heads.  Most folks throw these away but there is a lot of meat inside.  That plus I clean & seal the horns to make earrings.

 






After speaking with Dawn & Samantha at the Ministry of Tourism we carried in boxes of school supplies to sort for the 5 primary & 2 high schools on the island.  I know it looks a bit funny but the Trader Joe’s wine boxes store very nicely in shower stall & lazeretes.  

We also brought clothing and such for hurricane relief but needed more than our dinghy to get it to shore.







Francie from Barefootin’, Susan from Peregrine and I jumped in Bess from Alibi 2’s car one day and drove the clothing to A & N Electric in Deadman’s Cay to sort it all by age & gender.  Before that all of the clothing was in bags and it was a daunting task for someone who may need clothes for themselves & maybe a child to look through it all.  That was a very rewarding day and we heard from Claudette – proprietor of A & N - that once that was done the clothes flew out of the crates!  Claudette had offered her loading bay/storage area as a drop off/distribution center for relief supplies but often the goods were just dropped off!  Now remember, she still has a business to run as well as a wonderful family so we were happy to help.

I mentioned that we were in a car…. owned by  boaters…. Well, Bess & Billy of Alibi 2 had engine problems on their boat and stayed almost the whole summer of 2015 in Thompson Bay while it was rebuilt.  They got to know a great number of folks on the island so when the hurricane hit they were the first cruisers to arrive – I think it was last November.  Long Island is that, a long island!  They figured out very quickly that to do what they wanted to in terms of assistance they were going to need transportation so they purchased a car from a teacher who was leaving the island.  Bess was a DC lobbyist in her former life and as such she really knows how to get things done.  She was able to ascertain who needed the type of help we boaters could supply and cajole locals with pick up trucks into providing transportation.  A great number of folks were helped because of their dedication!
One of our first jobs was to clean up the beach at Clarence Town.  Let me explain that for the most part the northern part of the island was ok but the southern part was devastated and Salt Pond/Thompson Bay was about the dividing line.  Clarence Town is in the south or “up south” as the Bahamians say.   Due to the prevailing winds, it is an upwind sail to the south.

The reason for the beach cleanup was there was a small cruise ship (100 or so passengers) due to stop there.  If the passengers enjoyed themselves it may become a permanent stop which would bring much needed tourism dollars to the settlement.

Notice the way to open a Kalik when there is no opener and the damage done to the packing house at the Clarence Town gov’t dock.

 Since we were all the way to Clarence Town, about an hours drive from Salt Pond we all invaded the Rowdy Boys Bar & Grill.  Unless you’re at a major resort it is highly unusual to have a crowd this size descend on a restaurant but they pulled it off with grace and everyone had a great time.

Now it was time to get to the real work!  We had 2 work parties going at two sites for a couple of days.  One home had a ten foot wall of water go through it and the adjacent store and another was in a low area and remained water logged for quite awhile.  The first was a retired fisherman and his family and the second a retiree with failing eyesight.

First house

 









Second house

 








Remember that these were multi day projects. Also notice the lack of debris when finished.  Lots of trips to the dump and a few burn days too!

The ladies took a couple of days to help another family clean roofing and storm debris from their yard.  The wife is 4”11 and the water was so high in their home that the husband had to cut a hole in the ceiling to put her in the rafters!  The water was almost to the ceiling of their home.  I cannot imagine the fear.  Thank goodness they did not have to punch a hole to the roof!

We had some fun on the way back and forth as well!

 

 










The Regatta Site was also severely damaged.  The supplies had yet to arrive but we could do the cleanup!

 

When we went to church on Sunday we noticed how many nails were in the yard from the roof replacement so some of us decided to take a day to clean them up.

 
 
 









Father Wood will surely be surprised!

The wooden ladder at Basel’s dock (he lets the cruisers use it too) washed away during the storm so “Brad the Builder” designed a new one!

 

Of course the power goes out during the installation so Bruce got his generator & saved the day!

Another tradition is the Sunday afternoon cocktail party on the beach.  Hurricane Joaquin devastated that too!  Luckily we had “Brad the Builder” and with nothing but scrap lumber the guys made the area better than ever.

Hurricane Joaquin also sank the containership El Faro with all 32 hands lost.  The containers that broke free have supplied the beaches of the Bahamas with all sorts of stuff.  Some good and some not so good.

A friend who lives on Eleuthera found a matching pair of shoes, sealed make up, Avon products and such.  On Long Island there have been thousands of insulin syringes in packages, Kraft Mayo, Wishbone salad dressings, yogurt, shoes, empty prescription bottles, M & M’s, lots of grocery & health & beauty stuff. 

We did rent a car from noon to noon once and as usual went ‘up south’ first then north the second day.

We went to a new to us place called the Moonshine at the Stella Maris Resort Oceanside.  There is a natural ‘pool’ on the ocean as well as a manmade one too.  Sue-Honey was our bartender and a hoot as well and we only wished we could have stayed longer but the cars were due back at noon.

Because of all of the efforts of Bess & Billy we decided to have a surprise thank you party for them.  Unfortunately, I left the camera on the boat but neither one had a clue!  I think someone told them it was a farewell for us as we left the next morning.

We feel that we were able to help a bit on Long Island but there is still so much to be done.  The repairs to homes will go on for months if not years longer due to the shortage of skilled labor and the need for school supplies and household items will continue too.  I want to expand the school supplies drive to include things such as sheets, towels, kitchen items and clothing.  Larger sizes are in demand & I hope to hear from some of you who would like to help.

Thanks.