[Rhodes22-list] Bahamas offshore cruising class

[Wally Buck]

Excellant, glad it went well.

Wally


>From: "Mark Kaynor" <mark at kaynor.org>
>Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Bahamas offshore cruising class Date: Sat, 17 May 
>2003 17:38:10 -0400
>
>Julie and I are just back from our offshore cruising class that went from 
>Stuart., FL to Grand Bahama Island and back.We took and passed ASA 101 
>(basic keelboat), 103 (basic coastal cruising) and 104 (bare boat 
>chartering) at the Chapman School of Seamanship.
>
>Both our flights down (US scAir)were late and we didn't get in until almost 
>11:00 pm the night before classes started. With no time to get to the store 
>for food for our dorm room, we walked over to a nearby marina for breakfast 
>and were almost late for the first of two days of our 101 class.
>
>In retrospect, we probably could have challenged and passed the 101 tests 
>fairly easily, given our experience w/ sailing Raven. We spent the first 
>morning in class and the afternoon practicing docking, tacking, jibing, 
>etc. in a 27' full keel Morgan with an inboard diesel and tiller steering. 
>I was particularly surprised by how the incoming tide and prop walk 
>combined to make the thing just about unmanageable in reverse at the slip.
>
>Before we left home, I had dropped an email to Bob Quinn ("NoKaOi") letting 
>him know we'd be in Stuart. Bob called Thursday and invited us out for 
>dinner. He picked us up on his way home from work, dropped us at a nice 
>"local knowledge" restaurant (at the marina where NoKaOi is berthed), and 
>headed home to pick up Kathy. Julie and I had a great time walking around 
>the docks looking at the boats, then sat on the deck and had a beer until 
>Bob and Kathy arrived. We had a great dinner on the deck, watching the 
>sunset. On the way back to the school, Bob was gracious enough to stop by a 
>grocery so we could pick up a few things <important stuff like breakfast, 
>lunch, beer, etc>. He also showed us some of the local sights and proved to 
>be an excellent host. Bob and Kathy are great people and we're really glad 
>to have made their acquaintance. Thanks, guys!
>
>The second day included an hour or so of classroom time during which we 
>took the written test, and the remainder of the day was the practical. We 
>headed out to an open, protected bay and did our figure eight MOB drills, 
>sailing to a mark, trimming the sails, etc. The most interesting part of 
>the day for me was heading back. The tide was coming in and the boat was so 
>underpowered we sat still w/ the engine at full throttle. We couldn't run 
>it at that speed for very long w/o overheating, so had to motor sail back 
>into the wind. Every so often, we'd tack back across the channel, losing 
>ground, and, as closely hauled as possible, claw our way a bit further up. 
>It was actually pretty much fun, although it did take us a bit longer to 
>get back than planned.
>
>As soon as we got back, our offshore instructor grabbed us up and hauled us 
>out to the Publix supermarket to provision the 44' CSY center cockpit 
>cutter we'd be taking for our offshore trip. We got back to the dorm at 
>around 9:00pm w/ just enough time to shower and get to bed in preparation 
>for a planned 8:00 am departure - the boat drew 6' and if we delayed much 
>past 8:00am, we wouldn't be able to get out until the tide came back in. 
>The fourth member of our crew arrived right at 8:00 am and we rushed him 
>aboard and headed out. As it was, we bumped 3 or 4 times on our way out.
>
>We motored south on the Intracoastal Waterway to Lake Worth / Palm Beach 
>and took a berth for the night at the Sailfish Marina. We left at about 
>midnight and began our sail across the Gulf stream against a 3.5 knot 
>current. The night watches were made even more interesting by all the 
>commercial traffic (cruise ships, freighters, etc) that ply the shipping 
>lanes between FL and the Bahamas. Those things are huge! We got to put our 
>radio and running light identification skills to the test. Tom, the fourth 
>member of our crew, was taking 105 (coastal navigation) and 106 (advanced 
>coastal cruising) and the instructor had him plot a course that "crab 
>walked" us across the stream (Julie and I also picked up a lot from 
>listening in during his "class time"). The wind was pretty light, so we had 
>to motor sail or we would have been carried way north of our planned 
>course. We did duty shifts of 6 hours on, six hours off and got to Port 
>Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island and cleared in at around 3 in the afternoon.
>
>We spent three nights at the Port Lucaya Marina, going out during the day 
>to practice docking, MOB drills, anchoring, towing a dinghy, etc. All the 
>stuff we thought we had pretty well down until we tried it w/ a 44' boat. 
>Then all bets were off. Maneuvering that boat was a challenge! I had 
>particular trouble backing into a berth. The tide was running abeam of us 
>and the effect of the current on the keel was maddening. Great experience, 
>though, and I finally nailed it using the current and wind to advantage - 
>great feeling of accomplishment.
>
>As part of our final practical, Julie and I got to plot the course back 
>home, including planning and navigating into the Lake Worth inlet 
>("piloting into an unfamiliar harbor"). The instructor took himself off 
>duty for the trip back, leaving the 3 students to find our way back. We did 
>duty shifts of 8 hours on and 4 hours off w/ the instructor on call only as 
>necessary. To our credit, we never needed him and managed to get ourselves 
>(and the boat) back w/o mishap. Unfortunately, there was nearly no wind the 
>entire trip back, necessitating motor sailing again. The sea was actually 
>glassy until we hit the gulf stream. There was a tiny breeze from the 
>north, and we were really surprised at the  size of the waves such a small 
>breeze kicked up as we turned north to ride the current. We were all pretty 
>well worn out by the time we dropped anchor in Lake Worth. We had a 3:00 pm 
>appointment for customs and immigration, so we napped and relaxed until it 
>was time to clear in.
>
>We decided that, since we hadn't done as much sailing as we would have 
>liked, we'd get up early (at 4:30 am), head back out, catch the morning 
>breeze, and sail up to the St. Lucie inlet. Once again, no wind. We did 
>have a beautiful motor (we would have had to motor if we'd gone up the ICW, 
>anyway) and saw loggerhead turtles mating, porpoises, and flying fish.
>
>All in all, it was a great experience, and we really learned a lot. I wish 
>we'd had more wind so we could have gotten away w/ less motor sailing, but, 
>nonetheless, we both got quite a lot out of it and are glad we did it. Now 
>we just need to find some vacation time and enough spare change so we can 
>go do a bare boat charter in the BVI next winter <g>.
>
>Mark Kaynor
>__________________________________________________
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