Kyanna Sails

42. “A Black Tie Affair??”

April 17-18, 2008

(See Photo Album of the Same Name.)

Birthdays are the perfect excuse to indulge, so we ignored the events of the recent blow and the fact that Keith and Joanie would be leaving for the States and celebrated Joanie’s upcoming birthday. I asked Joanie to wear a dress and told her that Keith had been given instructions – I peaked her curiosity. Joanie joined me down below and when the guys came in they were wearing palm frond ties with shorts – no shirts. Joanie gave us the reaction we were hoping for with her beaming smile. We enjoyed champagne, dinner and even dessert. Joanie delighted in her new conch horn among other home-made gifts. Over dinner we reminisced over the journey we’ve shared together. Our acquaintance started at Pike’s Bay Marina where we cordially greeted each other at marina gatherings. We left knowing that they would be cruising in the Bahamas and hoped that our paths would cross. Our routes intersected in Charleston, SC in mid-November. What we didn’t know was that we would travel together excluding a week or two here and there for five months. In that expanse of time our friendship grew and developed into one that will last a lifetime. Our companionship enriched our journey and enhances all of our experiences from exploring daily destinations along with the joys and challenges of cruising to wonderful meals shared on each others boats to conversations about life philosophies, believes and dreams. A greater gift we could not have wished for… The next morning we waved goodbye as they set sail for home. They crossed the Gulf Stream safely to Port Canaveral and are working their way up the Coast to the Chesapeake where they will leave Pelican to return to Minnesota for the summer. Joanie kept a wonderful blog of their journey: www.pelicanposts.blogspot.com.

41. Pandemonium

April 14 – 16, 2008

(See Photo Album of the Same Name.)

2:30 am the wind came up and howled so loud you’d have thought it was a full moon! *** White Sound although protected from all wind directions is small – only a quarter of a mile wide and a third of a mile long. To complicate matters, mooring balls are prevalent yet there is plenty of room for boats to anchor amongst the moorings.*** Shouts rang out over the screech of the wind, air horns sounded, spot lights flashed and boats began to move. Pandemonium broke out. The boat next to us dragged and almost ran into the moored boat behind them. They pulled up their anchor and tried to reset it. They circled ‘round us too close for comfort finally leaving our immediate area for better holding. In the darkness boats where swarming everywhere, some with their running light on to show that they were underway, but others only with their anchor lights showing. We could see their attempts to anchor and re-anchor until they finally found security until day break. The wind blew endlessly, but it seemed that things were settling down when trouble struck close to home. Our friends Keith and Joanie on SV Pelican had a Moorings’ catamaran from the local charter company anchor too close to them the day before and the consequences of this unfolded before our eyes. The cat’s anchor dragged and they backed within hands reach of Keith on Pelican’s bow. (Why they didn’t power forward we don’t know.) The horror reached us when Keith’s voice carried over the cry of the wind, “You’ve got our ANCHOR!!!” Helplessly we stood on our deck as the surreal scene unfolded. The cat pulled Pelican’s anchor free catapulting them into the catamaran. Tangled side by side they careened through the anchorage. Keith & Joanie pleaded with them to put down their anchor, but they didn’t. Pelican narrowly missed several boats only to be T-boned into the bowsprit of a large vessel by the catamaran!! Keith totally released their anchor and chain from their boat to finally free them from their captor. The catamaran drove off and re-anchored leaving them entangled on the other boat (Samaria II). Unfortunately, Samaria II’s anchor chain & snubber were fouled on Pelican’s rudder. The silver lining was that both boats were secure on Samaria II’s anchor (a 60 lb CQR) until they could be separated at dawn. The blessing was that no one was injured. White Sound was full of eyes on anchor watch peering into the blackness listening for the wind to abate. Morning brought little decline in the wind, but before sunrise boats were moving to find more secure locations, many flocking to the local marinas. The VHF radio buzzed with stories, but it wasn’t over yet. Claus and another Wisconsin cruiser joined in to help liberate Pelican from Samaria II and retrieve Pelican’s anchor from the bottom of the sound. In the middle of this process another boat skated by with no one at the helm. Claus, Barry & Keith put their endeavor on hold to rescue the runaway that would soon ground itself on the rocky shore. Sleepy people appear on deck as their boat was being pushed by dinghies out of danger! (Their mooring line had chaffed through setting their boat adrift.) Back at their own task, Pelican was finally freed. She sustained extensive superficial damage that will be a royal hassle to have repaired. To add insult to injury the charterer of the catamaran tried to deflect responsibility of the incident onto anyone but himself setting a harbour full of cruisers into an incensed uproar. Moorings’ handled the situation professionally and made assurances that the repairs will be covered. The night’s wind topped out at 45 knots (over 50 mph for land-lubbers) with sustained winds of 30-35 knots; the forecast called for more of the same. Next stop, the dock for camaraderie and a good night’s sleep.

39. By Land or Sea

February 19 – April 3, 2008

(See Photo Albums Hope Town, Red Hot & By Land or Sea)

Paul was welcomed aboard with cockpit full of sunny faces. “The Family of Four” and our friends from SV Pelican where on-board to welcome Paul and sample a batch of my conch fritters. Paul is our dear friend that is living in our house in Minnesota and taking care of things we’ve long since forgotten about like snail-mail and snow. The weather in Abaco was squally and gusty which prevented us from leaving Marsh Harbour for several days. To make the most of Paul’s stay we rented a van with Keith and Joanie. We headed south on Great Abaco Island. Keith took a left and we wove our way around a marshy mangrove area to Cherokee Sound - the cutes little town you’ve ever seen. It was obviously a very old settlement with its old homesteads sparkling with fresh paint. The streets were made out of concrete, but were barely wide enough for a car let alone a mini-van. Most of the yards were ringed with chain-link fence, which we only scizzed by as we drove the narrow streets. The sound is home to the longest pier in Abaco jutting 775’out over the shallow bay. At low tide the sound was absent of water and we took the opportunity to walk the sand and hunt for sand dollars. The other highlight of our day was a visit to Little Harbor where we enjoyed fabulous fresh fish at Pete’s Pub and toured the Bronze Sculpture Gallery and Foundry. See the photo journal of the process named “Red Hot” for more details on lost-wax casting. For more photos of their finished work check out http://picasaweb.google.com/johnstonartfoundry or www.petespubandgallery.com has info about the family’s history and life at Little Harbour.

Eventually the wind relented and we set sail for Little Harbour through the Sea of Abaco. The entrance to the picturesque harbour only has a few feet of water at low tide, so we anchored at nearby Lynyard Cay to wait for the morning’s high tide. We weren’t altogether certain that we could get in at all, so we dingied in at low tide with our hand held depth sounder to check it out. Back at the boat I looked up the high of the next high tide and calculated when we could start to attempt the entry.  Luckily, Keith & Joanie transited the opening first and gave us the all clear with 6’ 3” as their shallowest reading. Snug on a mooring in Little Harbour we all settled down to some serious relaxing. By day we hiked one way or another exploring the area or hunted for beach glass and shells. We snorkeled a nearby reef and came home with four lobsters. In the evenings we enjoyed cocktails and dinner on either Pelican or Kyanna bathed in the glow of friendship and conversation. Days slipped by and too quickly we were hugging Paul good bye as he left Little Harbour in a taxi to catch his flight back to snowy Minnesota.

Claus & I were ready to sit tight for awhile, read books and attend to the ever-neglected project list. As I write this we are still bobbing in the bay at Little Harbour. Later in the week when high tide is high enough and will rise in the light of day we will make our way back to Marsh Harbor to provision for our last month in the Bahamas, but back to the stories. The day after Paul left we where fortunate to watch “a pouring” at the foundry! It was a fascination process and gave us a real appreciation for the extensive process, the art and the price tags on the finished pieces. Joanie and Keith left after a couple of days to explore other cays. We settled down to being productive by day; I waded through our taxes, wrote the blog and played “monkey in the rigging” for a couple of hours replacing halyards and topping our mast with a new LED anchor light. Claus worked on our mysterious electrical system, attended to annoying leaks in our plumbing and ticked off e-mail forwards from weeks of spotty internet. The last calm day before lobster season ended we spent on an outer reef, but I didn’t see a one – time to set our sights on fish and enjoy our last few days in this quiet harbour.

38. A Family of Four

March 12 – 19, 2008

(Don’t Miss the Photo Album of the Same Name.)

It was a bit like putting together a puzzle in the cabin every morning and evening, but we had a wonderful time with our friends from Bayfield! Fred & Heidi with their teenage daughters, Hilary (18) and Molly (13) made Kyanna their home for a week. Claus & I had the luxury of relaxing much more than usual! Both Fred and Heidi are excellent cooks, so I was able to step out of the galley for the first time on our voyage. Summers on Lake Superior on their own boat made the whole family comfortable on board, but Fred and Hillary easily stepped in to help us run the boat when we were underway. With Fred’s extensive knowledge of marine electronics him wheels were always turning as he and Claus tried to figure out some of Kyanna’s quirks. The weather was on our side most of the time, which allowed us to sail and explore several cays in the area. Our days were filled with swimming, sunning, shelling, hunting for beach glass and relaxing. One day on a tip from friends we hit the mother-load of conch. Within minutes we had our limit and started a selection process to find the largest conch for eating or the best shaped shells to be made into conch horns. Hilary, Heidi and I turned into quite the conch cleaning team. There’s nothing better than fresh conch salad on a sunny afternoon, followed by Lobster Alfredo for dinner. Hilary, Fred and I scoured an area of coral heads were we had heard lobster could be found. We only found one, but that was enough to top the evening’s pasta. Another day they treated us to the weekly pig roast feast at Nipper’s on Great Guana Cay. It was a sumptuous spread of Bahamian favorites – more than our tummies could hold. Luckily there was a beautiful beach where we could work off a bit of our overindulgence with swimming and walking. It was a real extravagance for us on our cruising budget! In picturesque Hope Town we took cover from strong winds. It was the perfect place to shop for souvenirs, tour Elbow Cay and climb to the top of the lighthouse for an endless panoramic view. By the end of the trip there were four more conch horns sounding at sunset and we were all wondering were the week had gone! (Thank you all for your friendship and generosity!)