A 3 Hour ...er... Month Tour

"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale..." a tale of a potential misunderstanding. It has come to my attention that my last post about the Bahamas trip may not have been as clear as it was in my mind.  So, to avoid confusion, I will try again.

At least a couple people have thought that the length of the trip I was trying to put together was in the 6 to 9 month range.  That is not my intention.  The time window I have to make the trip is between 6 and 9 months (sometime in October or November to the beginning of June), but the trip itself will not be that long.  Although I may be crazy, even I'm not crazy enough to believe that most people have a free 6 to 9 months to spend sailing the Bahamas. My goal is to spend a month or more in the Bahamas with the total trip length being up to 3 months from start to finish.

I also know that many people do not have the ability to take 3 months out of their lives to go on a trip, so I am perfectly happy to split up the trip into multiple segments. I believe many of the islands have airports and/or ferry services, so it should be possible to embark or disembark at several locations. Since I have two cabins available for guests, there is also room for some overlap here (or if someone wants to do the whole trip while others cannot). Obviously priority will be given to those who will be available for the larger passage segments (from Southport, NC to Florida to the Bahamas and/or the return).

Right now the big unknown is still the schedule. I have a family trip planned for next month and I won't be able to get out to the boat until after that.  I have a caretaker looking after the boat in my absence and reports are that it is doing fine (engines were started and checked just moments ago in fact), but I assume there will be at least a few things requiring my attention when I get there.  This is just part of life when you have a vehicle that sits in one of the more corrosive environments on the planet. Of course this means that the boat could be ready to go in a week or it could be more than a month and I'll only really know that once I do get out there. Naturally, once the boat is ready, the other variable will be the weather. The winter months tend to become a bit tricky with regard to weather windows. Thus having some flexibility in travel dates is key to joining this adventure.

Of course, I can't expect flexibility from others without having some myself.  So, I'm happy to work with others schedules within that time window as well. I fully understand that Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays fall within that time window and many people will have family obligations, so sliding the start and end dates is not a problem (I may return home and come back out to the boat later if needed). I am also open to suggestions as to where the crew would like to go while in the Bahamas, etc.

If you have already contacted me, do know that I have added you to "the list" and will send out an email to that list in the coming week or two.  If you have not and this clarification has you thinking you may be interested or able to join the adventure, please let me know soon so I can include you in the discussions.

Rebooting The Dream

Well, I could apologize once again for the lack of posts, but it is getting old and tired and I think you all understand there is very little in sailing related stories that can be told from Colorado...particularly in the winter. But I do finally have some news to share...and perhaps an opportunity for someone with an abundance of free time and desire to travel by sailboat.

As you probably know, we tried to sell Rover after moving back to Colorado.  Unfortunately the closing company and broker we used when we bought the boat failed us during the original sale and we did not discover this issue until we tried selling the boat. The combination of this fact, being so far from the boat, and frankly my lack of enthusiasm for selling and we still have her.

One of the original plans that we had when we set out cruising was to make it to the Bahamas. The idea was that trip would be an adequate first real test to see if we would like the longer term cruising lifestyle. Of course, this never happened.

Photo by Gregory Culmer on Usplash

So why am I telling you this...well...I'm reviving the idea of taking the boat to the Bahamas. I still have the boat and I put in all that work on it so I might as well....right?  The only problem is that I'm lacking a crew.  While I have found that I can single-hand the boat, it is much easier to have additional hands to take watches and to help with docking or anchoring.  Besides, a trip like this is far better when shared.

Image by PublicDomainPictures fromPixabay

As of now, I don't have much of a plan for this trip, but as they say "cruising plans are written in sand at low tide" so even if I had one it would likely continue to change. Right now the goal is for me to return to the boat in September or October and spend some time getting the boat back in shape.  I'm not sure how long this will take, but I hope she will be ready in November if there aren't too many surprises. The time window for the trip will be sometime from the time the boat is ready until the start of hurricane season the following June.

Image by buckeyebeth from Pixabay

Once the boat and crew are ready, the trip will start with a cruise down the east coast from North Carolina to southern Florida. From there it is a wait for a weather window to cross the gulf stream to the Bahamas.  Spend a month or three exploring some of the various islands of the Bahamas, then use another weather window to return. Depending on time and weather (and any potential new anchoring restrictions in Florida), we may also spend a little bit of time in the Florida Keys.

The swimming pigs at Staniel Cay
Image by Lisa Larsen from Pixabay

Photo by tavius on Unsplash

In the past when I've looked for help moving the boat, I tried to find people with at least some sailing knowledge since I was paying for room and board while aboard the boat and the goal was to complete the task of re-positioning the boat.  Well, that worked out well at times and other times it did not.  I realize I don't really need people with sailing knowledge or experience for this trip. I just need folks that are honest about their abilities, willing to learn what little I will need them to know to help out with the boat, have a somewhat compatible lifestyle to mine (since we will be living in relatively close quarters - imagine a very small "3 bedroom" apartment), and want to spend some time seeing what it is like to live on a sailing catamaran. The right person/people will also need to be flexible with time, have a passport, and want to spend some time in the beautiful islands of the Bahamas.

Bahamas Lobster and coral. 
Image by Paulo O (Creative Commons)

I'm sure you might be wondering how much a trip like this would cost.  Unfortunately, that is like asking the question "how long is a piece of string".  A lot of it depends on your lifestyle.  I'll provide the boat (two double berths available), cover the costs for any boat maintenance, the first tank of diesel (67 gallons) and other durable supplies.  We will split costs for food and drink on board, stays at marinas, customs and cruising/fishing permit (currently a flat $300, but theoretically changing in 2020) and other group related costs. You would be responsible for getting to and from the boat, your own restaurant and bar tabs, and any other personal purchases.  So, depending on how well we provision the boat before we leave, how much water and diesel we use, and how much time we spend at marinas and restaurants and bars, the costs can vary quite a bit.  I will only say that I'm pretty flexible as far as food and entertainment goes and am happy to anchor out and sail as much as others desire to help keep costs down.  If you want to get an idea of how much this type of trip may cost, you can Google "cost to sail the Bahamas" to get an idea. All I can really say is this should be significantly cheaper than a similar land-based stay in the Bahamas and you will have the chance to go places that are not accessible to those staying in one of the resort hotels.

What the accommodations look like.
Images and videos available at The Boat link.

Does this sound like something you would be interested in doing?  If so, shoot me an email (the tool at the bottom of the right hand column of the blog can do this if you don't already have my email address). Someone able to complete the whole trip would be ideal, but I'm happy to entertain different people for different segments of the trip if we can find others to fill in the empty slots. I'm posting this here first to give those that are following my blog the first chance at this opportunity before I post it on some of the crew wanted sites.

Rover at No Name Harbor...where many people make
the hop to the Bahamas.

Goodbye Dear Friend and Companion

This past Monday we had to say goodbye to our eldest four-legged crew and family member Madison.  After her cancer diagnosis in August we knew this time would come but it still does little to prepare one for it.

Madison entered our lives in 2004 when she was about 8 weeks old. We adopted her from a local rescue and she has been a part of our family ever since.  For 15 years, she was a wonderful, adventurous, smart, loyal, and occasionally mischievous companion. She enjoyed playing in the yard (including chasing cats and squirrels out of it), our daily walks when I worked from home, hiking in the mountains, camping, car rides, and food.  One vet once described her as the most food motivated dog they had ever known.  It was an easy choice to cook special meals of steak and lamb for her the last few months.

Cruising seemed like a natural fit for her.  Getting to see new sights and smell new smells was something I know she liked.  Being able to lay out on deck while the house moved to a new location was something she really seemed to enjoy.  I guess it was like both laying in the yard and going for a car ride at the same time. Although she wasn't a big fan of water (or at least baths), she did like playing in the surf with her brother.

Having moved back to Colorado, we had access to one of the premier veterinary cancer centers at Colorado State University. While her cancer was found too late to cure, they were able to provide her comfort and make her last months with us more comfortable.  Thanks to their efforts in palliative radiation and chemotherapy treatments, she was able to go on one last family vacation, celebrate the holidays, and celebrate her 15th birthday with us. We are grateful to them for the added quality time we got to spend with her.

In her final days, we took her on numerous car rides and walks. Unfortunately the cancer was making her legs hurt and her breathing difficult so the walks were slow and fairly short.  But, just like always, Madison was a determined and independent dog and she seemed to still enjoy checking things out despite her failing body.  In the end she passed on at home surrounded by those who loved her most, her family.

Fair winds and following seas my dear, sweet, crazy little girl.