Have you ever seriously thought about living your dream? We did and now we are full time cruisers onboard M/V Big Run. Everyday is a new page to be written in our ship's log as we travel to new places and revisit some ol' favorites. Come along and share our experiences and journeys.

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Welcome to our Adventure

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Square Between The Eyes

     The crossing from Nassau to Miami went as planned.  We did leave Nassau on Monday about 1.5 hours earlier than planned, we figured if we got to Goverment Cut in Miami to early we could always throttle back to delay our entry back into the States.  As we crossed the Tongue of the Ocean from Nassau to Northwest Channel Light waypoint the seas started to laydown as the winds let up.  The journey across the Great Bahama Bank is always a pleasure even though most of that was done in the dark.  Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, we approached the last Bahama waypoint, Triangle Rocks.  By taking this route from south of Bimini back to Florida, we were hoping to set a heading south of our rhumbline to compensate for the push north by the gulf stream currents.  According to our last update on Monday from NOAA, the western wall of the gulf stream was 10 miles east of the Florida coast as reported at Fowey Rocks.  The crossing of the Florida Straits went smoothly with only a few extra large ships to avoid.  The seas were still a little confused from the winds as we had following seas with rollers attacking from both the port and starboard quarter.  It's strange how waves can intercept each other and not cancel each other out.  Another one of the "mysteries" of the oceans.  Finally, around 7 a.m. we were able to start to see civilization, the coastal skyscrapers.  Also, we were approaching the western wall of the gulf stream.  At this point, any push from the gulf stream should have pushed us north to our rhumbline, but we were still 1.5 miles south of the rhumbline as we had planned.  Then, once inside of the "reported western wall" of the gulf stream where there should not have been a current it grabbed us and took us for a ride.  Long story short, 1 hour later we were 1 mile north of our rhumbline as we tried to buck the current and head SW to Government Cut.  So we changed course to a westerly heading, drifted north with the current and then when the current released its grip we headed SW to Government Cut.  By 10 a.m. the anchor was dropped at the  Belle Isle anchorage in South Beach.  Another successful crossing.  
     Our plans were to recuperate from the crossing the rest of the day on Tuesday, drop the dinghy on Wednesday and visit a grocery store, where the shelves are filled to the max.  No waiting in line to get fresh produce.  And that one day on Tuesday would allow us to adjust to the "cultural shock" of being  back in the States.  All the noise, congestion, people and the madness of civilization, that isn't found in the Exumas Cays, is overwhelming and will hit you square between the eyes.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Not So Happy Ending

     It all started yesterday, Saturday, as I was killing time on the boat.  Our number one source of entertainment, as boaters, is checking and keeping an eye on the weather.  After checking windfinder.com and passageweather.com and a few of the noaa.gov pages, it was confirmed that our weather window to leave the Bahamas and head back to Florida was going to be Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  It was time, our immigration permit (visa) expires in 3 weeks on May 6th.  Imagine, over 5 months in the Bahamas, what an adventure. As this was a sudden decision to depart on Sunday morning, we were not able to depart until the news was dropped like an atomic bomb on a few friends.  After we said our goodbyes over the VHF to some dear friends, the anchor was up and stowed by 8:15 am.  Late by Big Run standards, but still early.  Our original plan was to run up the Exuma chain to Highbourne Cay to an anchorage we used last year for the same purpose, heading "home".  After fours hours of cruising the decision was to forgo the Highbourne anchorage and head to Nassau.   The weather forecast was for the winds to be in the low teens (knots) out of the southeast.  This would be a following sea as we crossed the Yellow Bank to Nassau and provide a little push to get us there before sunset.  By 6:30 we made it to the Porgees Rock waypoint at the east entrance to the harbor.  Just 5 miles to the anchorage at the west end of Nassau harbor.  At 7:30 as we were deploying the anchor, the anchor chain got jammed in the pipe leading from the anchor locker to the foredeck and the windlass.  Thanks to a 5lb. persuader (read sledgehammer), the problem was remedied in under 5 minutes.  Time to kick back before dinner and unwind as we waited for Sharon's world famous Stromboli's to come out of the oven.  After a long day, the dinner was perfect, well almost perfect.  As we sat at the table discussing our plans for an overnight passage to Florida on Monday night, there was the sound of a police siren next to the boat.  When I went out onto the cockpit, there was a Bahamian Defense Task Force boat on the port side of Big Run.  We never heard them approach Big Run.  Then, to what was almost a perfect day, came the words "Prepare to be boarded".  Fortunately, our cruising permit and immigration papers were in order and the officers left after an uneventful "inspection".  Now, if it would have been 3 weeks later and our permits had expired, well, that would have been another story with an not so happy ending.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Coconut Bread

    The Bahamas are filled with many treasures and most of those treasures can't be taken.  The greatest treasure is the Bahamians themselves.  Once you get away from the "big city" of Nassau or even George Town and meet the Bahamians of the family islands (cays), you will truly meet some great people.  Another treasure is the cays and the waters surrounding the cays, but you can only take pictures of those.  But there is one treasure that you can have and that is the Bahamian cuisine.  The conch is a staple to the Bahamians and is prepared in many ways.  My favorites are the conch salad, conch fritters and the conch chowder.  Mac and cheese is also a Bahamian favorite as well as peas & rice.  There is also the many different species of fish - Mahi Mahi, Grouper, Wahoo and Mutton Snapper just to name a few and, although not a fish, the Spiny Lobster, which in addition the traditional "lobster tail' dinner is also great as a lobster salad.  There is one other Bahamian food item, among many, that is very basic but very, very good and that is Bahamian bread which is prepared in many different ways.  There's plain bread, cinnamon bread and our favorite coconut bread.
Coconut bread from DeShaMon restaurant in Black Point Settlement, Exuma, Bahamas


 

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Good Looking Boat

Photo credit - Perry & Karen, M/V Morse Code III


     Weather!  You can never have enough sources for weather information.  What was thought to be a good weather day for motoring, well, as you can see in the above photo, turned ugly very quickly.  We were very fortunate that day because the ominous skies only brought heavy rain and brief strong winds.  This photo, which we just received, was actually taken September 7, 2011 on the Chesapeake Bay, south of Poplar Island as Big Run was heading south to Knapps Narrows.  Perry & Karen on M/V Morse Code III took this photo of Big Run and submitted the photo in a photo contest and won a prize.  Congratulations!  I always knew we had a good looking boat!
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