Cruising Stories

Cruising Stories... is probably going to be the most fun page on the website as it will contain pictures and cruising stories directly from cruisers.  If you have a story to tell, please go to our Visitors Log page and tell us about you and what you've done.  Don't forget to leave your name and contact information so we can get back in touch and let you know when your story is published.

Quick Links...
Associations & Publications    Bills Blog     Boat Services    Books   Book Reviews   Food Substitutions   Interesting Stuff    Loree's Blog    Parenting Afloat    Provisioning    SeaWolf   Links  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Had a wonderful visit with JC and Hillary McDowell and their adorable daughter, Emma James.  You can read about our visit on JC's website at http://jcmcdowell.com/?p=185

Enjoy the photos!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just couldn't resist putting in these pictures.  Although we are located on Biscayne Bay, Palm Bay Club is located in a spring area and the water is 'brackish' with little salinity.  As a result, we have quite a few visits from Manatees.  This past summer, a mother manatee spent several weeks visiting with her new twins.  When she arrived, the twins were about two feet long.  Our local aquarium said that manatee twins are very unusual and most likely, one would not survive.  Well, I'm happy to say that they were wrong.  Both twins survived and we all had the great pleasure of watching them grow and thrive.  Click on each photo to for an enlarged view.  The pictures are wonderful!

By the time we left on our Christmas holiday, they were huge and rarely came for a visit.  Needless to say, we all miss them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Picture Yesterday's Dream, a Gemini Catamaran, tucked in south of the island, just behind the lighthouse. The winds are blowing steady at 15, gusting to 22 mph and increasing in intensity.  The surge coming around the island and through the cut makes the anchorage a very unfriendly place.

We'd been cruising aboard the Yesterday's Dream for five years.  One of the benefits of the Gemini is its shallow draft, only 18 inches, so it was no big deal for us to search out a place in which we could ride out the coming storm.  We slowly inched our way up behind Big Stirrup Cay in the Berry Islands of the Bahamas and were able to get up to where the water was flat calm by raising the centerboards and adjusting the rudders for shallow running.  We gently motored into the perfect place to hide out from the approaching storm and anchored in about 2 feet of water. 

We were almost at the shoreline.  For those of you who know or those who want to pull out your charts, we were right behind the light house.  Since the Gemini only draws 18" with the boards up, it was no problem.  In fact we would sometimes be on the ground. For ten days, the fronts came through, one right after the other with virtually no break in the winds.  For the first four days, we were the only boat around.  In fact we were "stuck" there and "happy as clams" to be able to explore the island and simply relax.  In all, we were anchored at Great Stirrup Cay for a total of 14 days. There was lots of reading to do and a few boat projects that needed attention so it was a welcome diversion.

During that time, several boats came in seeking relief from the storm.  Being monohulls with four to six foot drafts, they all had to stay out in the anchorage.  Those unfortunate souls bounced around like corks in a washing machine.  No one stayed long.  One afternoon, we watched a 34 foot monohull attempting to anchor out in the anchorage.  After several attempts to set the anchor he finally succeeded and started what we called the "cork dance."  It was a pitiful sight.  After watching them for about 45 minutes and at my wife's urging, I took our inflatable out to "rescue" them so they could get a respite from the wave action.  Three of the occupants jumped at the chance but the captain said it was too rough to leave his boat.  I must say that in those conditions I would have made the same decision had it been my boat.  The deserters were very grateful for our offer and stayed for the afternoon. By early evening the seas started to ease up a little so I took them back out to their boat. As I motored away and looked toward the Gemini I realized that the shallow draft was probably one of the most valuable assets we had aboard our boat. The funny thing about it is that when we were in the beginning stages of our quest for a boat, we knew so little about sailing that the draft was not even on the list of things we were looking for when we purchased the boat.  The shallow draft just happened to be part of the boat we finally decided to buy.  Throughout our 5 year adventure, the Gemini's shallow draft proved to be an invaluable asset, allowing us to anchor and gunkhole where others could not venture.
 
Although we no longer own our Gemini, we firmly believe that Performance Cruising builds an excellent boat.  We are now the proud owners of a 50 foot Prout Quasar and plan to do some extended cruising in the not-too-distant future.  Although we love our Prout, the only reason we're not in another Performance Cruising boat is because Tony refused to build us a bigger one!
 
If you have any questions about our experience on the Gemini or how two consummate "dirt dwellers" managed to drop out and live the dream, do visit us on our website at www.CruisersLife.com. Drop us a line or give us your phone number and we'll be happy to get in touch with you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jerry Blakeslee, cruising aboard his "Islomania," has graciously provided the following pictures.  Jerry's been cruising on and off for quite a number of years and  has been a friend since 1999 when he acted as broker for our purchase of Sea Wolf.  If you're cruising in Central America, look for Jerry and be sure to tell him we sent you.

Prior to his trip to the Rio Dulce, Jerry was in Honduras where he reports that The Roatan Yacht Club in Roatan, is decent, the docks are okay and the staff is friendly. The place is undergoing a change in ownership, so the bar and restaurant aren't open. But there are lots of fringe benefits that come with the $250/month berths, including cable TV, free wireless internet, a swimming pool, pool table, and free ice, water, and electricity (they charge extra for electricity if you have A/C).  Unlike most of the Caribbean, they have full-length docks, not the Med-moor arrangements you see at most places.  The marina is also conveniently located near the largest super mercado (grocery) on the island, as well as banking.  About the only downside is that the water in the marina is sometimes dirty with oil, thanks to the fishing and other commercial boats in the general area.  Space is limited, so contact them well in advance if you're looking for a slip. They can be reached by phone at 504-455-5233, on VHF Channel 16 or by email at yachtclub@hondusoft.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~