Conception Island is a beautiful and remote Bahamian island between Georgetown and Turks and Caicos. It has no facilities, no native population, no docks or airstrip. Its only visitors are the occasional recreational boater that stops by for a night or two during their passage south through the Caribbean. It is for these reasons that this island is an untapped goldmine of opportunity. With nothing but open ocean for hundreds of miles off its Eastern shore, its beaches act like a primary filter that catches all kinds of goods washed ashore by the prevailing easterly winds. Hard hats, spoons, forks, buoys, rope, netting, lawn chairs, toys, Nalgenes, fishing lures and countless five gallon buckets. Like a kid in a candy store I couldn’t contain my excitement and ran around the beach picking up all the choice items. But the supplies seemed endless. Grabbing yet another five gallon bucket I thought: “Damn, I just paid five dollars each for three of these at Home Depot. Too bad I didn’t come here first.” It was then that I actually got thinking. If I could somehow manage to transport this stuff back home I could doubtlessly sell it for a profit. The first couple shipments might be tough but after that I would have enough capital to set up a permanent outpost on the island to facilitate the collection of goods, packaging and shipment. The wheels got turning and I thought back hard. Someone told me once; I think it was my uncle when teaching me something about fishing line, that plastic takes a really long time to decompose. Think of the possibilities! With any luck the customers would throw the goods back into the ocean, after which I could re-collect and sell them back. Could be the start to a successful and long term family business.
Fishing lure, courtecy of Conception Island
1-12-11
Losing any fish can ruin your day but when its one that’s threatening to take all the line out of a large reel its borders being painful. A couple days after new years we left Nassau and headed down the long chain of islands known as the Exumas. Each day we woke up early, sailed between 15 and 30 miles and spent the afternoon/evening in a new anchorage. We did a lot of snorkeling and I saw some unbelievable stuff including an abandoned airplane and an underwater cave. But I’ll try not to get ahead of myself. The western side of the Exumas were shallow and not very great for fishing. We did catch a good size barracuda but threw it back for fear of ciguatera poisoning. When we crossed over to the eastern side to make the final stretch to Georgetown (where we are now) we started to have some luck. Right off the bat we hooked a Dolphin on one of the two trolling rods. As we were taking in the other rod to avoid a tangle, another Dolphin hit and a tangle is what we got. With the sails up and nobody to control the boat one of the lines became wrapped around Grania’s keel while the two fish swam around and entwined their lines together. Amongst the confusion we were somehow able to get both fish to the side of the boat where I grabbed their leaders and hoisted them into the cockpit. They were two good sized fish, the larger being just over 40 inches. Wasting no time we untangled the gear, adjusted the sails and changed course for the boiling water about two hundred yards off our starboard bow. Trolling past the feeding frenzy a monster of a fish hit one of the rods. By the time I finished reeling in the extra rod, the running fish had already taken about half the spool out of the one Pat was holding. We were still sailing at a good five knots so I tried heaving to in order to stop the boat. This ended up being a poor decision because the boat over turned, the line got caught on our solar panel, went slack and the fish spit the hook. It was disappointing losing our first very large fish but its tough to complain after just having caught more fish than we could eat. The rest of the day was spent cooking and preparing the meat for drying. After filleting both fish, we kept a portion fresh to eat for lunch and dinner, but the rest was cut into thin strips, salted and hung on fishing line to dry in the sun. These two fish will supply us with food for weeks to come. Not wanting to waste anything, both carcasses, heads and all, were cut up and placed in the pressure cooker and set to a boil. After simmering and adding an onion and assorted spices we had a soup that was fit for kings.
Conch sandwich underway with Laughing Cow cheese and homemade bread.
1-2-12
On December 26th at about 11:30AM motoring back to Grania after the all night parade and celebration called Junkanoo, I realized a couple things. One was that it will be a while before I indulge in cheap gin again, but more importantly I had just experienced something incredibly awesome. The contagious energy of the paraders with their brass, drums and hand crafted costumes spread throughout the crowd until everybody was chanting Glorious! Glorious! on multiple occasions. Pretty sweet stuff.
The Bahamas have been great and we have had luck fishing and hunting for conch. We have also been putting our 35lb supply of flour to work and have been experimenting making bread, conch pie, dolphin pie and even a Christmas day calzone and apple pie. I am very proud of this because I spent the last four years cooking exclusively Annie’s Macaroni and Cheese, white rice, and beans out of a can. Hey, I guess it’s true what they say, you can do anything with a solid Can-Do attitude. Someday I hope to move on from pies to something more complicated but for now I will bite my tongue and not count my chickens before they hatch.
Tomorrow a strong cold front is going to blow through bringing winds up to 35 knots and a shift to the Northwest (from the prevailing southeasterly). On Wednesday the winds will die down but stay from the North, giving us a perfect opportunity to continue our passage south. So, that’s the plan for now. Hope everybody had a merry Christmas and happy New Year.
In about an hour we are going to make our long awaited departure from the United States to the Bahamas. All that is left to do is to fill up on fuel and water before we set sail. The plan is to leave around 5pm so that we will arive at West End, Grand Bahama to clear customs sometime tomorrow morning. If all goes to plan i wont be back in the States until mid May.
In Fort Lauderdale we had a great vistit by my parents and sister Beth (Check out the pictures). Having access to a car was extremely helpful as they were able to drive Pat and i around to a number of stores to acquire last minute suplies before we make the leap across to the Gulf Stream. We got the symetrical spinaker repaired which I was happy about. We also picked up 178 pounds of food at a Publix grocery store. This includes 35 pounds of flour so that we can start making our own bread.
My dad, Pat and I delivered Grania down the ICW to Miami where we left her moored for a couple nights while we took a mini vacation to Key West.
12-6-11
After having to wait an extra few days in St. Augustine for a weather window, I was aching to finally get on the move again. We had stayed a full week there, the longest we have spent anywhere so far. Pulling up our anchors it became apparent that one of them had become fouled on some submerged abandoned line. I dove down, cut us free and we were off to West Palm Beach, 200 miles away. In my opinion this was one of the most enjoyable sails we have had so far. With a solid 15 knot easterly breeze we made great time and did some fishing. We caught a tuna! But, unfortunately, the world’s smallest tuna and we threw it back. As we rounded Cape Canaveral we hugged the coast to avoid the dreaded Gulf Stream and it was interesting to see the platforms where they launch their rockets. The charts warned us to watch out for falling debris… We arrived in West Palm Beach Friday morning and spent the evening with pat’s aunt and uncle who loaded us up with groceries and a pizza dinner. On Saturday I spent the night in the city by myself. To my great surprise and delight I discovered that Vanilla Ice was playing a free block party concert which I promptly attended and was able to hear Ice Ice Baby live, along with his many other classics. Another one of my childhood dreams complete. The following morning we left at 9AM onward to Fort Lauderdale in a solid 20-25 easterly. Under a double reefed main and reefed jib we were doing 6 knots. It’s amazing how much nicer sailing is when its 80 degrees and sunny, rather than cloudy and frigid as it was when we left up north. Along the way we caught a Mahi Mahi which we ate when we arrived in Fort Lauderdale well after sunset. It was almost more than the two of us could eat and one of the more tasty things I have had in a long time.
11-25-11
Well, I hope that everybody had a great thanksgiving. I myself enjoyed a turkey feast that rivaled my own mothers cooking. Thanks to some lucky timing we were able to meet up with Pat's roommate from college, Gray, with whome we spent the holliday. I met some great people and spent a fun night out in Tampa.
From here we plan to finish up maintenance and repairs so the boat is ready to leave the United States.
11/9/11
Underway to Charleston from Beaufort; second night, 7:30-11:30 shift. Had a great sail all day with a 15 knot following breeze. The wind died down with the sunset and we have been doing a bit of motoring. Barometer falling - bad weather was forecasted for Friday. About 50 nautical miles to Charleston.
Met some interesting people in Beaufort. A nice lady who drove us back to Little Creak Marina after we walked six miles in the wrong direction coming home from the grocery shore. Jim, the flounder fisherman who had spent his entire life at sea - met him at the HandleBar. Said he has sworn a few times when he has been in bad storms that he would never go back to sea if he could make it out alive. I guess that’s what most people would do when they are in 40-50 foot waves. Billy Burbridge, Jess's uncle who she gave us contact to. Nice guy who drove us to Omar Sail loft to get a sail repaired. Sandy - a sail maker at Omar sails who fixed the tack of our working jib despite her busy schedule - free of charge! She had spent a portion of her life cruising and knew what it was like.
Oh, and did you know that: By counting the chirps of the Black Field Cricket for 14 seconds, then adding 40, you've got the exact temperature reading.
Some visitors off of Cape Fear
11-5-11
Pamlico Sound was large, flat and windless: a perfect day for a long and relaxing motor. In total we motored for about 17 hours and traveled a distance of eighty nautical miles. Some worrisome issues involving the engine (read about them in our Log Book) caused us to motor at a slower than normal pace and a closing weather window forced us to push on such a great distance. By 1AM we were anchored at the mouth of Adams Creek, just 17 nautical miles from Beaufort.
Fishign in Pamlico Sound
11-1-11
We have been making our way down the Intracoastal Waterway and into North Carolina. Yesterday at noon we left Norfolk, motored to mile 12, and spent the night for free on a dock just beyond Great Bridge Lock. Passing through the lock was quite interesting. We got boarded by the Coast Gurard who gave us a full inspection. Not only did this inspection include checking out the standard safety equipment, but also bringing aboard a K-9 drug dog. After tearing apart every possible corner on the boat for about an hour they finally concuded that we had nothing illegal and let us go on our way. Maybe it had to do with our unshaven faces.
Grania at Great Bridge Lock (on the left)
10-30-11
Well, we finally made it to Norfolk after a long offshore voyage from the Jersey Shore. At points it sure gets windy out there. After getting here on friday evening we have had a few days to relax during which i wrote a detailed account of our travels. This account includes problems that have arisen as well as the people we met along the way.
Sailing is tough when there is no wind. It gets even tougher when you have no engine to motor through the calm. Well, at least we brough pleanty of limes. After waiting for a weather window in Block Island, we set sail with the intension of reaching Atlantic City, New Jersey. If the weather stayed nice we were going to sail on to Norfolk, Virginia. Unfortunately, the 5-10 knot forcast was more like 2-3 knots straight from the Southwest. We motored a great deal, did four hour shifts and were able to do lots of reading and fishing (no luck fishing). In the end we were at sea for a little over 48 hours and had a great time.
Troubles arose during the second night when both our batteries died. In Block Island i noticed this potential problem but ended up writing it off as a faulty volt meter after bringing our batteries to a mechanic and having them tested. With no power we were forced to sit in a dead calm off of Atlantic City for about 12 hours until the wind picked up in the afternoon the next day. We sailed into Ocean City's Great Egg Harbor and anchored under sail using both the delta and oversized danforth.
We are currently troubleshooting the battery charging problem. After conducting a number of multimeter tests it looks like it could be due to a dead alternator. Tomorrow we are bringing the alternator to a mechanic to have it tested.
Dinner at Sea
10-20-11
I am currently sitting in the Block Island Public Library. Yesterday we had a great sail leaving early from Cuttyhunk with a strong Easterly breeze bringing us to Block Island. We changed headsails a few times, put up both sipnakers and topped out at 10 knots surfing down waves. At one point we were even chased by a pod of dolphins playing off Grania's bow. Things got interesting as we rounded the Northern side of the island with building seas and a 35-40 knot breeze. We entered the harbor with a double reefed main and our storm headsail and spent the night on a free mooring in the protected bay.
Today we sailed from Cotuit harbor to Cuttyhunk Pond and hope to make an early departure to Block Island in the morning. After waking up at 5:00AM we were off the docks at 5:30 with coffee being brewed on the motor out. Winds were about 20 knots and we started off the day with a double reefed main and our smallest headsail of the three. Although we made great time in the early morning, the current in Vinyard Sound changed at 10:00AM so from there on we were fighting both the wind and the tide. After a 30 mile upwind leg we finallly made it through Quicks hole and arived at Cuttyhunk Pond at dusk.
Today was the first day of the trip. After a large goodbye at the Cotuit Harbor peir we sailed out with hopes of reaching Oak Bluffs, Marthas Vineyard, despite the questionable weather. Allthough beautifull and sunny it was too windy to make it to our destination. Wind was from the West right on the nose and blowing at a solid 35-40 knots. With just the main up we could not point much higher than a reach and the building seas caused us to head back to Cotuit. Overall Grania felt very steady and it was nice to finally get her and her crew into some heavy air.
