Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from The Parkinson’s in the Bahamas! (Nov. 24, 2008-Feb. 4, 2009)
This email has been a long time coming, I know. Internet connections have not improved since we have entered Florida since I last wrote you. And the Bahamas are not any different. One of my main projects when I come home in the summer will be ways to improve my email/communications with family & friends at all times when we are travelling about on a sailboat even in Timbuktu, ie Pocketmail or SSB. There has to be a better way, although my antenna has helped.
I believe the last time I sent an email to you was when we had arrived in Jacksonville Beach, Florida on Nov. 24th (Week 11, Day 73): We stayed at a marina here; good location to all amenities, & facilities at this marina were good; we met some fellow Canadians here from Nova Scotia.
Nov. 25th: We reached beautiful, historic St. Augustine & it’s very Spanish- influenced architecture for 2 nights. We met up with friends on Sandcastle here after 18 days of being on our own, & toured & journeyed with them until we met up with the other NSC boats. Weather was warm & sunny during the day, but cool in the evenings.
Nov. 27th: 43.8nm motorsail to Daytona, but mostly motor because the wind was on the nose.
Nov 28th: 42.3nm to Titusville where we could see Cape Canaveral Space Launching Site.
Nov. 29th (Week 12, Day 78): 33.2nm to Eau Gallie/Melbourne where we stayed at a marina X 2 nights because of wind, rain, & tornado warnings; in fact, a tornado did touch down close by, but I did not hear if there was any destruction.
Dec. 1: 32.2nm on a lovely sunny day & passed through some very huge & beautiful mansions with their well manicured lawns & landscaping along the ICW into Vero Beach. It is a popular spot , so everyone is assigned to a mooring ball with 2 other boats! It is popular for many who need to provision to do the crossing of the Strait of Florida to the Bahamas. There is free bus transportation to all the big shopping stores & malls ie grocery stores, Super Wal Mart, Sams Club, Bells, outlets, etc. And it is here that we met up with Celtic Cross, Waterparke & Thyme Off after 24 days. We said our good byes to Sandcastle, wishing them a Merry Christmas & Happy New Years, as they were crossing to the Bahamas before Christmas, & the rest of us were making our way down to Ft. Lauderdale to visit with Tina & Lee for a few days, leave our boats in their capable & generous hands, while we flew home for Christmas.
So we left Vero Beach on Dec. 4th, first night (24.4nm) to Jensen Beach--- calm, sunny motorsail & very calm night anchorage.
Dec. 5th: 34.4nm to Lake Worth which comprised of 10 bridge openings; stayed X 2 nights because there is a lot of motorboat traffic in this particular area of Florida (Palm Beach) on weekends; we partied extensively that night!
Dec. 7th (Week 13, Day 86): 15 bridge openings; 38.5nm to Pompano Beach at a marina, as there are no anchorages in this general vicinity; Lee actually met us there for just an evening social. Unfortunately we had some fuel related problems at the start of this day; although Graeme spent 5 hours problem solving & changing the 2 fuel filters on the engine, the problem seemed not to be totally resolved. By looening the fuel cap which seemed to create a vacuum, things improved temporarily for several days anyway.
Dec. 9th: interesting passage through north, downtown & south Ft. Lauderdale involving more bridge openings to Tina & Lee’s. Preparations were done during the day to closing the boats up while we were back in Ottawa for the holidays, laundrying of course, shopping, the partying continued each evening as well.
Dec. 12th (Week 13, Day 91): We flew home compliments of Sharon’s association with Air Canada. It was one of my best Christmas’ since my Dad is so sick unlikely to enjoy another Christmas. I spent all possible time with my parents, talking, laughing, crying, holding my Dad, sitting with him in silence while he slept, shaving him getting shaving cream up his nose which made breathing a little bit difficult, (I was better the second time), trying to relieve my Mom of some of the physical strain & stress of looking after Dad, running errands for her, being part of his care, taking him to medical appointments, meeting his new palliative doctor. We were even able to get him out to my brother’s home for Christmas Dinner. I was also fortunate to have a morning of skiing with ski friends, a four hour luncheon with some co-workers, one evening meeting some sailing friends at NSC. All in all it was a very satisfying holiday, one I will treasure.
On Dec. 26th (Week 14, Day 92): We headed to the Ottawa Airport to return to Ft. Lauderdale, only to discover that there were no flights of any kind available to all of us until Jan.1! You must remember we are flying standby on Sharon’s pass with Air Canada. A few hours were spent researching multiple airlines, car rentals, bus & train options; nothing. There is a bus strike, the Canadian Junior Hockey Championshipsis in town as well as the Bell Cup, & it’s Christmas Time. So at 1300 hrs. we decided, the 6 of us (Sharon’s sister & brother-in-law were returning to Florida with us) to drive down in our van. We were on our way by 1500 hrs.!
32 hrs. later ( Dec. 27th night) we pulled into Ft. Lauderdale, tip-toed onto our boats & crashed.
Dec. 28th: We launched the dinghies, provisioned the boats with food & fresh water.
Dec. 29th: We were retracing our tracks back up north through the ICW to Lantana, as we had reservations in St. Lucie for Dec. 31st.
Dec. 30th: Hobe Sound.
Dec. 31st (New Years Eve-- Week 14, Day 97): We made a left turn from the ICW, up the St. Lucie River, passed Stuart & into the Ocheechobee Waterway, through one lock, then to St. Lucie South Campground; facilities for RV’s, tent camping, & 5 slips for boats. The only problem was that there were no laundry or internet facilities, & it was a long distance to shopping; thank heavens for Sharon’s brother’s vehicle! We brought the New Year in a quiet fashion sitting around a campfire.
Weekend motorboat traffic is heavy especially when it also includes Christmas & New Years. Thus we waited till Jan. 5th, 2009 to retrace our steps back to the St. Lucie River into the ICW on a beautiful sunny, warm, cloudless sky, calm water day. One problem; low tide & this particular area is shallow anyways. Hence we went aground twice & touched semi hard once. This night was again in Hobe Sound, a distance of 23.6nm, looking over at all the beautiful mansions & watching some locals fishing.
Jan. 6th(Week 15, Day 103): Through all the bridge openings again & onto to Lake Worth (16.4nm); there was a nice breeze today, but it was on our nose. Lake Worth is a Class A Inlet & considered a favourite inlet to leave from to cross the Strait of Florida into the Little Bahama Bank to the northern Abaco. A south wind of 10-15K is predicted for tomorrow, but then a cold front is moving in from the north & the winds are to remain from the N & NE for several days. We will reassess the weather in the am at dawn.
Jan. 7th: Essentially the same forecast, but the winds are to be 15-20K; heavier than we would ideally like, but we really do not want to wait in Lake Worth until the winds clock around to the south. At 0700 we up-anchored & started the venture through the cut. The winds started out south at 10K & seas at 2 ft.; the Gulf Stream is out about 12 mi. & we are sailing due E. By mid morning the winds were up to 20-25K with gusts to 30K, & the seas also increased at least to the predicted 4-6 ft. if not more on several occasions. We were sailing on the jenny alone, on a close to beam reach, any where from 5-6K to a max. of 8.5K. My tummy was not 100%, but not too bad either. Sharon’s brother-in-law was uncomfortable, but better when he took the wheel; a huge learning curve for him since he does not sail at all. The original plan was to anchor at Memory Rock, but we reached that destination at 1440. So decided to go on to Mangrove Cay, calculating our arrival time to be 1715. At 1600 we vividly saw the cold front approaching us from the north; a huge, fast approaching black wall of clouds. Foul weather gear was immediately donned & suddenly the jenny jibbed on us. We thought there would be a lot of wind associated with front so we furled the jenny quickly. The sun was quickly replaced by a grey sky, then a downpour of rain where you did not know the difference from sky & water, & if not for the compass & GPS, we initially did not know which direction we were travelling. Full moon was in a few days, so when day was replaced by night, the lighting was still grey & fog-like. Due to the change of direction of the wind to the north, Mangrove Cay was not the place to be. The best protection in this situation would be Great Sale Cay, which was 25 mi. away; 5 hours at 5K now making arrival time for an anchorage at 2300-2400. We had been out for 12 hrs. now, mostly under sail but the engine ran at an idle, but we were still concerned about our fuel supply in the boat tank. There was not a lot of wind or rain in this front after the initially onslaught. We hit a dead calm at 2000 so fuelled up only to discover that we had not even used 2 gallons of diesel. We plugged along under motor because the wind never did come back & dropped the anchor in Great Sale Cay at 0030 (100.1nm!) A calm, quiet night.
Jan. 8th: A most beautiful sunny day with lightish breeze in the am that picked up in the afternoon. We chose to stay here the day, drop the dinghy in the water, polish the chrome & metal with Prism & generally hang out. Since yesterday was the Joyce’s Anniversary & we could not celebrate, we took the day off to celebrate; a good excuse, right!
Jan. 9th(Week 16, Day 106): Another beautiful sunny day with NW winds at about 8K thus close hauled; with only the jenny out, we were moving nicely. As we changed our point of sail to a broad reach, our speed dropped. At 1755 & 44nm under our belts, we dropped anchor in Powell Cay. Interesting events at 0200---some locals perhaps from Cooper Town came cross in a motorboat into our bay occupied by 4 boats + 1 perhaps abandoned sailboat. They were racing round & round Celtic Cross & ourselves, climbing aboard the abandoned boat, yelling laughing, using the ‘F’ word every second word repeatedly for about an hour; a most uncomfortable feeling for all of us. I quess a full moon affects people here as well.
Jan. 12th: Again the sun was shining & the breeze is cool unless you are shielded by some canvass. The wind is SE & a good strength, but unfortunately on the nose. We took it easy sinced it was only 12.5nm to Green Turtle Cay. This is the location we chose to clear Bahamian Customs. We dropped anchor at 1500 just north of the docks at New Plymouth, dinghied to shore to the Customs Office. A very pleasant & efficient lady, curlers in her hair, processed us &the boat in about 20 min. once she was located from her home where she was making pizzas. Did a walk around of the community & located St. Peter’s Anglican Church where a service was scheduled at 1100 the next am (Sunday).
Jan. 11th: Upon rising we found the water flat calm. The sun had risen & the full moon was still up. A perfect reflection of the moon was on the water; what a magnificent photo. Graeme highly suggested that since the water was so calm, it would be the perfect day to do the Whale Channel. The Whale Channel is where the deep Atlantic Ocean waters meet & crash into the shallow waters of the Sea of Abaco. The sea rushes in & out quickly with low & high tides keeping the waters clean & clear, magnificent turquoise colour, but making this passage feared my many for very good reasons. Church was put on hold & we up anchored at 0700 & made the passage with ease. At 0930 we passed Whale Cay, followed the rusted channel markers between Great Guana Cay & Spoil Cay where we dropped the hook for several hours & snorkeled, watched the stingrays, walked the beach & shelled. After lunch we moved over to Baker’s Bay on Great Guana Cay (14.5nm) & partook in some partying up at Nipper’s Bar, which is located at a high point of the island, where one can sit & watch the Atlantic rolling in, & if it is calm enough even go in swimming here or simply walk the beach. We hit 2 more bars on the way down back to the boat & watched a picture perfect sunset. Weather overnight predicted to deteriorate, but that did not materialize; in fact the moon was full, the skies clear with abundant stars, no threatening clouds, some mist/fog over a very calm Sea of Abaco.
Jan. 12th( Week 17, Day 114): Sun & light winds from SE to start the day. Deteriorating weather predicted so motored the 8.3nm across to Marsh Harbor before noon. We met up with fellow cruisers (Sandcastle) that had made the crossing from Florida to the Bahamas before Christmas. Then it was off to do badly needed laundry in the laundromat; washer= $2.50, dryer= $0.25 per minute! No wonder many boaters dry their laundry on their lifelines. But that was not possible today; the skies opened up while doing the laundry, flooding some streets. Happy Hour at Sandcastle, dinner, no internet access again so read instead, then bedtime.
Jan. 13th: Sunny but very humid. We walked around the bay into town, getting a feel for the place, & shopping along the way. We got invited to a Chili Contest at the Royal Marsh Harbor Yacht Club; for $20.00 per person we ate as much of & an assortment of chili, salad, roll, dessert & all the booze you wanted. We met many fellow Canadian cruisers.
Jan. 14th: The routine every morning that we have been in Marsh Harbor is to listen to the Cruiser’s Net on VHF 68, where you get weather, what’s happening in the vicinity, abbreviated world news, sports, new arrivals & departures, trivia question of the day, people who are leaving & willing to take mail to USA, Canada, & U.K., ability to ask questions & others call in with helpful answers etc., while we are having breakfast, doing the dishes, or bathing. Into town this am & bought a week of unlimited WiFi; I worked for 5 hours catching up with emails, etc. in the café. Social at Jib Room at 1600hrs. Wind is gusty & the humidity is decreasing.
Jan.15th: Sunny, but cool. In the am we walked around the area of town where the locals do their shopping. Some internet work while on the boat.
Jan. 16th: After early am routine, to the internet café, only to discover on email that my Dad has been deteriorating. I almost went into a panic mode. I have to get home! But I almost did not know where to start to research online. We celebrated Sharon’s birthday by having lunch at the Jib Room. Then I went to a local travel agency who gave me some prices & stirred me in the right direction. At the internet café I did more research. Wednesday is the only day there is a direct flight from Nassau to Ottawa. Otherwise the daily flights are from Nassau to Toronto with a 7-hour wait in Nassau + a 4-hour wait in TO. It was cool & breezy today with some chop. The weather was to deteriorate tomorrow with high winds & chop. Please Dad, hold on!!! I cried all night long.
Jan. 17th: More unpleasant news from home. Sunny but cool & breezy today, although winds did not amount to predictions. Sweet Chariot hosted Happy Hour.
Jan. 18th: A school bus picked a group of us up to attend Mass at St. Francis de Sales RC Church; a magnificent upbeat church service in a beautiful setting; why did I not bring my camera? Unfortunately, the bus broke down when bring us back into town. No hardship; the locals in their cars, vans & trucks picked us up. It was a calm & absolutely lovely day so we up anchored & motored over to Hope Town. No mooring balls available. A cold front & gale force winds coming tomorrow & to remain so for a few days. More bad news from home.
Jan. 19th: Martin Luther King Day in USA. I did laundry & made my reservations to fly home on Wed. I spoke with the Palliative doctor who thought that would be O.K. We moved the boat into Mangoes Marina in preparation for my leaving Wed. & Graeme to fly home when Dad passes away. They said they will give us a bit of a deal under the circumstances. I tried to clean out the fridge & leave Graeme with instructions. Winds mounting as the day went on to gale force strength. Praying & crying for my Dad.
Jan. 20th: Obama Inauguration. All is ready for my departure. My bag has been packed for days. The wind continues to howl today & it is getting colder (high 50’s only). Please make the weather cooperate that I get home!
Jan. 21st: Up very early. It is cold & still very windy. I have to get home!!! I leave Marsh Harbor at 0745 & make it to Ottawa at 1830. I am rushed to my Dad’s side. He is comatose! Damn!!! I believe he knows I’m at his side. I must remember that the two of us had a number of good conversations at Christmas. He does not have much time to live. Sleep is hard.
Jan. 22nd: Palliative doctor has been in everyday not only for my Dad but for my Mom as well. An emotionally hard day arranging plot & funeral. I don’t think Dad is going to make it through the night.
Jan. 23rd: Dad dies at 0340 hrs. oh, how we will miss you Dad!!! Funeral arrangements confirmed.
Jan. 24th: Greame flies in. Church funeral arrangements.
Jan. 25th: Visitation Day. So many relatives & friends pay their respects. How wonderful to see & speak with all of them!!!
Jan. 26th: Funeral Day.
Jan. 27th-Feb. 4th: I will be assisting Mom with the aftermath.
I am sorry that this email is ending on such a sad note. Although I am devastatingly sad, on a positive note I had a chance to tell my Dad how much he meant to me, how much I love him. I had a chance to say ‘good-bye’. And I did not want to see him suffering anymore. I know he is in a better place. I hope that he will pray for us to have continued strength & guide us through the rest of our lives!
Ciao!
Laura
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