Back on the water again, finally.......off to the Bahamas

[dlandersson]

Classic

Yep when you leave sight of land and don't see another boat for hours on end you can start wondering is this such a good idea.

[sparky]

Sum, do you have trip lines on your anchors?

[Sumner]

Sum, do you have trip lines on your anchors?

I don't now but have used them before. Over here the water is so clear and I'm in water under 8 feet, usually under 5. When I anchor I can see everything. They slow down the process of getting the anchor up and a couple times I've been in high wind getting off anchor and being alone need to secure the anchor/rode and get back to the tiller and outboard quickly.

I might start using them again if I sail anymore on Florida's west coast where you can't see in the water far or if I decide to go up the east coast. In the west the lakes are so clear you don't need them is my feeling. I do have a thicker full wet suit, a body suit with short legs and sleeves and also a vest one in case I have to go in the water places where it isn't warm like what happened that time on Lake Powell....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... ll-09.html

I got on landracing.com the other day for a few minutes and looks like you are progressing on the engine/drivetrain for the lakester ,

Sumner

P.S. Guys Sparky is a former sailor with a Captain's Lic. and has sailed the western Atlantic and is the one who looked at the Mac in Phoenix when we found it on Craig's list and even delivered it to Utah for us . He also looked at the Suburban we bought and I might mention that he held records over 200 mph and 300 mph (so is in the 200 and 300 mph clubs) on the salt at Bonneville (Ruth and I were his pit crew on the 300 mph record).

============================
2015 To the Bahamas and back -- I hope

Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[Russ]

Hey Sumner,

I read your blog last night. Thank you for doing that. I couldn't stop reading. You document your journey so well and allow the reader to feel like we are part of it. The photos in the Bahamas are fantastic.
So you grounded your Mac on an outgoing tide for the first time. That whalecay dot com site looked interesting at first but goes nowhere, like the island. Florida phone number for a contact. Comparing it to your photos, it must have been nice at one time. Maybe before a hurricane.
It was so nice to see the Kera Jane in such beautiful waters.



For others wanting a good travel log, this is worth the read.
http://1fatgmc.com/boat/mac-1/2015%20Ba ... Index.html

For anyone who doesn't know Sumner and wants an afternoon of good reads and information. A wealth of information and entertainment.
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... index.html



--Russ

[Ixneigh]

I did read through Sumners webpage and pretty much concur with most of it.
His trip is sounding a lot like my first trip on that little keelboat I had at the time.

I had a gps with no graphics at all. Primitive by today's standards but at the time It was a godsend. It allowed me to at least know where I was.
Today I would feel fine with a couple handhelds and a paper chart kit. In the trip on the v22 I used the GPS to get me to half mile of my destination then just looked, and used binoculars. Good ones are a must. I finally get that after 30 years and now own a nice set.
I don't personally feel comfortable with computers and so would nix the whole chart plotter and computer thing. On the v22 once I reached the exumas I rarely used the gps. It was all by eye with the exuma charts. And in mostly shallow water. Good sunglasses are mandatory.

Even though the keel boat was far stronger the my M I worried about breaking things. I didn't have enough faith in the boat. It was a mental energy drain. In the 22, I still worried but less. I had beefed up the rigging and a few other things and knew what to expect. Years after the trip I had done a lot of other improvements but ended up with a different boat before I could return. You must have faith in your boat. Or fool yourself into having it. Let other people look at the boat, people who know about sailing if you must. Know what the limits are, and potential weak points (rudders)

Sumners right about the amount of work on a small boat. It's the motion. Small boats move around a lot more the. Big heavy ones. Hopefully once you get across the long stretches you'll be in shallow calm water. I always anchored the v22 on the flats if I could where my biggest worry was gouging the bottom on a conch shell.
In the keelboat I was stuck with everyone else in the small deeper harbors.
Also, every boat has it's own motion. The keelboat wasent that much better then my M underway plus it was dreadfully wet. In the conditions where I am relaxing with the dogs on the M , I would have been wearing raingear.
The 22 had a bad rolling motion at certain times at anchor that drove me nuts. Even in shallow water. The keel boat would misbehave in tidal cuts. The M seems to have neither of those tendency and I'm happy for it. Esp. The short jerky roll that the 22 had. I'm def. not missing that.
I went way out of my way to upgrade the anchor handling on the M. The last two boats it was all by hand. That bites.
I would highly suggest an electric windlass that has a manual backup. If it came to spending the money on two chart plotters or one windlass I know who I'd make the check to. Sumners not joking about that ground tackle either. If he's not a little bit envious of your anchors, then you don't have enough, or they ain't big enough

The autopilot issue is an important one for singlehanders. I never had one that worked well. In fact it would only work while under power (too small of a unit) but it was sure nice to have. That said neither of the previous boats would look after themselves under sail like my current one does. The keelboat might for a few minutes if you tied the tiller, and the 22 I could not get to mind herself at all no matter what I tried. Since it was smaller then the keelboat the autopilot did sort of work on it. The M will mind herself long enough to use the bathroom make lunch or take a fix without having to heave to. She will do this well enough that I plan on using this quality during my banks crossing.

Sumners opinions on the two week shakedown cruise is spot on. And don't wait for perfect weather either.
If you can't wait to turn around and do it again great. If you can't wait to come in and get a hotel room, the Bahamas may be a bad idea.

Also have a pretty competent tool kit. That does not mean having a lot. But something you can do a lot with.
I had to hack off a piece of aluminum tuna tower from a burned out fishing boat in order to make a new tiller. It took all day. Filed it, sawed it drilled it tapped it bolted it on. It's still on the boat 15 years later.

Time. Sumner has a lot of ground to cover and not much time to do it in.
I tried to avoid those long days. There are a few places it's unavoidable, but I tended to move about 5-25 miles a day. Sometimes just a few miles. I could anchor pretty much anywhere it was shallow. (Shelter by virtue of water depth)
I consider three months the optimum time for me to cruise the exumas. I did it in two in the 22 but I did not go all the way to Georgetown. I stopped at Barrytarry.

Pretend that the wind will be 20k on the nose wherever you want to go. You won't be disappointed.

Ix

[Tomfoolery]

Having nothing to do with anything about this thread, I just want to say that this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ is what it's all about.

Maybe some day I'll get out of this mud hole called Lake Ontario and get the boat into some water that's actually blue.

Carry on, while I live vicariously through others' adventures.

[BOAT]

Having nothing to do with anything about this thread, I just want to say that this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ is what it's all about.

Maybe some day I'll get out of this mud hole called Lake Ontario and get the boat into some water that's actually blue.

Carry on, while I live vicariously through others' adventures.

Yep, that is the nice thing about sailing in San Diego bay - there are lots of nice sandy places like Glorietta and others where you can just beach the boat and eat lunch on the sand within an hour of launching: no 12 hour crossing to get tot the beach. I am a member of a boat club (that I never sail with) that is mostly people with the old Ventures, 26S and 26D boats and that's mostly what they do - hang out sailing various places in San Diego Bay. Lots of nice anchorages and sandy beaches and the water is always calm. Because of where I live (40 miles north of San Diego) I don't get that - everything I do must be out in the ocean - there are always swells and all the beaches have big waves so you can't go to shore unless your ready to swim.

You should move to San Diego - best place for a sailor in a small boat if you like easy cruising. Even better is Hawaii, but that is a long way away and there is a lot of distance to cover between islands. Next, I would have to say the Keys - to me that Keys are the very BEST place for a sailor BUT! to me from what I have seen in the Keys (only being there a few times) I would say it is NOT for the inexperienced. I think sailing the Keys requires a very competent sailor. There is just so much stuff under the water that you can run into and there is not a lot of room to maneuver in some places. Key west is the best, but not the safest. San Diego is not the best, but it is the safest.

Sometimes you just want to relax and sail around and just take it easy. Sometimes it's nice to not care if you have any fresh water on board or a garage full of tools. Sometimes it's nice to not care that there is only a couple of gallons of gas in the tank. Sometimes you don't want to stare at a chart-plotter. Sometimes you just wanna, 'SAIL'. When Mr. Sumner gets back from his long trip and gets a chance to decompress it may take a while for him to be able to go back to normal sailing. That's what happened to me - every time I got back on a boat I was stressing over the amount of gas on board or food and water and asking about the tools and other crap. All stuff that is stupid to even think about on a one day sail close to shore - how dumb was I ruining a simple nice day of spending a few hours on the water worrying about things I would never need.

I guess that's why i stay a member of that little San Diego boat club even though I have NEVER sailed with them - that's how they sail every day - they rarely sail alone, they have no worries - they rarely leave the Bay, they are never in any danger - and every day is stress free. After trying it both ways I am still not convinced as to who is really "living the life".

[Russ]

Yep, that is the nice thing about sailing in San Diego bay - there are lots of nice sandy places like Glorietta and others where you can just beach the boat and eat lunch on the sand within an hour of launching

Without pictures it doesn't exist. Some of the great reasons we boat owners are fortunate.

Hey Sumner, google earth view of Whale Cay shows some interesting structures and that airstrip.
This swimming pool was probably once quite nice. I'm always amazed at how people can build things in the middle of nowhere by floating all their materials in. It must have been quite surreal to walk among these relics.

[BOAT]

http://roadslesstraveled.us/pictures/thumb3581.jpg


There are hundreds of them.

[Russ]

Okay, so I'm bored and did some research on Big Whale Cay. I love history of places like this.

It's for sale. Only $80 mil for over 850 acres and 26 miles of paved roads and a 4,000' airstrip.
Has an old lighthouse, church and big house that the former "queen" built. She held big parties on the island. Very cool history in those parts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbPqH0pVyyQ

[BOAT]

Okay, so I'm bored and did some research on Big Whale Cay. I love history of places like this.

It's for sale. Only $80 mil for over 850 acres and 26 miles of paved roads and a 4,000' airstrip.
Has an old lighthouse, church and big house that the former "queen" built. She held big parties on the island. Very cool history in those parts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbPqH0pVyyQ

Maybe mastreb or Kevin could buy it, it's a bit over my pay grade.

(I'm still just trying to save enough to buy a Tesla).

[Sumner]

Hi guys,

I'm moving south today hoping to be in Georgetown Sunday. I have a narrow weather window so might have to hole up before that depending on conditions.

I'll check in the next chance I get.

If you haven't noticed the links under my name I have more of the trip with lots of pictures on my web site and have filled in the part from the boatyard to when I cross to Bimini but still have some text to add to that when I get the chance. Here is the link to the main menu and the day to day is at the bottom of that menu...

http://1fatgmc.com/boat/mac-1/2015%20Ba ... -Menu.html

Sumner

============================
2015 To the Bahamas and back -- I hope

Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[dlandersson]

Nice article in the "Small Craft Advisory" about the owner of a 21 foot sailboat doing the Bahamas trip.

[Chinook]

Hi Sum,

The other night I read through your trip postings, and was enjoying the pics of the mystery ducks. I looked them up, and they are an endangered species called the Bahamian White Cheeked Pintail. Very cool sighting, and nice pictures. I never saw them when out there. Where were you at when you saw them?

[BOAT]

Wow, mystery ducks and monsters, and swimming pigs too? What's next, pink flamingos?