[Rhodes22-list] Bahamas offshore cruising class

Tue May 20 11:44:43 EDT 2003

Bill,

This article was a reply to a question someone had made re cruising on the
Okeechobee Waterway (OCW) & the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW).

There was a much more detailed & longer article, re the cruise itself, which
was originally posted to the SailNet Rhodes List in late January - early
February, 2000.

Thanks for trying!

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Effros" <bill at effros.com>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 9:13 AM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Bahamas offshore cruising class

> Roger,
>
> This one?  Or was there another?
>
> Bill
>
> -----------
>
> Last January, I crewed aboard  the "Lazy Bench", a 36 foot ketch, on a
> cruise from LaBelle, FL to Nassau, Bahama Islands.  The 1st two days of
this
> cruise were up the Okeechobee Waterway (OCW) & then south down the
> Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to W. Palm Beach, FL.  LaBelle, FL is about
> halfway between Fort Myers, FL & Lake Okeechobee.  I don't know what the
OCW
> is like to the west of LaBelle, FL.  I recommend you get copies of charts
> 11427 & 11428 if you are planning to go on this cruise.
>
> Last January, we were attempting to catch a favorable weather window for a
> Gulf Stream crossing.  So, we didn't linger or make many stops in the OCW
or
> the ICW & my observations are based upon what you can see from a boat
> passing by at about 5 knots.  Along the stretch of the OCW we traveled,
> there are about 14 bridges & 3 locks.  Most of the bridges were of the
> drawbridge or bascule type.  Figure on about a 20 minute wait at each
> bridge.  The locks are of the old fashioned type & don't have any floating
> bollards to tie up to.  Bring an old wooden board along to fend off the
lock
> walls & wear old work gloves as the lock walls are very rough & dirty.
> Depending upon where the lockmaster puts your vessel in the lock, it can
be
> difficult to hold it steady if you are singlehanding.  It's helpful to
have
> a partner.  Locking thru requires about an hour.
>
> Most of the OCW can best be described as a ditch.  This ditch passes thru
> huge areas of farmland & equally huge areas of mossy swampy wilderness.
> Because of the levees &/or the moss covered trees alongside the ditch, you
> can't see very far inland from the boat.  After a few miles, it all
> starts to look the same.  You actually start to look forward to the next
> drawbridge or lock just for the change of scenery & something to do other
> than keeping the boat headed down the ditch.  If you are into bird
watching,
> you might enjoy this trip.  The locks have several little docks to tie up
to
> & modest camping facilities, but there appears to be little else to do
> shoreside if you did not have a car.  Other than Lake Okeechobee, you will
> be motoring all the way.  I would not recommend this trip to anyone with
> children because they will be bored to death.  We tried to do some fishing
> off the back of the boat, but had no luck anywhere on the OCW or the ICW.
> I'm told you sometimes see alligators & manitees on this stretch of the
OCW
> & ICW.  We kept a close watch, but didn't see any.
>
> Lake Okeechobee is another matter.  It's plenty big enough to sail on,
with
> interesting places to stop.  Someday, I'd like to go back there with
Dynamic
> Equilibrium & spend about a week.
>
> You start hitting civilization just west of Stuart, FL.  From there all
the
> way down to W. Palm Beach, the homes (estates?) along the waterway get
more
> & more opulent.  There are more towns & marinas to stop at.  You also
start
> encountering more industry & commercial boat traffic.  If you are into
this
> sort of thing, this leg of the trip is much more suitable than inland.
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Roger Pihlaja
> To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
> Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 8:15 AM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Bahamas offshore cruising class
>
>
> Mark,
>
> My last Bahamas cruise was aboard the Lazy Bench, a 36' LOA, full keel,
> center cockpit, ketch in January, 2000.  I was helping a friend move his
> boat from LaBelle, FL to the Bahama Islands for the winter.  I posted a
> lengthy story about this cruise on the SailNet Rhodes List soon after
> returning.  However, I lost my only copy of this story in a hard disk
crash
> about 6 months ago & the SailNet archieves don't go back that far.
Perhaps
> someone else saved a copy of the story.
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark Kaynor" <mark at kaynor.org>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Sunday, May 18, 2003 9:58 AM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Bahamas offshore cruising class
>
>
> > Roger,
> >
> > Thanks. We wished we had had more wind and waves, too. One of the
reasons
> we
> > selected this course was to get some open ocean experience. The roughest
> it
> > got was 3-5ft with an occasional 6 footer thrown in. The seas mostly
> ranged
> > from calm to 2-3 ft. It was pretty cool to look around the horizon and
see
> > nothing but water, though. And every once in a while a cluster of flying
> > fish would burst through the surface and take off in all directions...
> >
> > When was your last Gulf Stream crossing? Seems like I remember reading
> about
> > it a year or so ago?
> >
> > Mark
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Roger Pihlaja" <cen09402 at centurytel.net>
> > To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > Sent: Sunday, May 18, 2003 8:25 AM
> > Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Bahamas offshore cruising class
> >
> >
> > > Mark,
> > >
> > > I enjoyed your story.  It reminded me of my own trips down the ICW,
> > > anchoring overnight in Lake Worth, & leaving in the wee small hours of
> the
> > > morning to get across the Gulf Stream to Port Lucaya in daylight while
> the
> > > Immigration & Customs Agent was still on duty.  I had a lot more wind
&
> > > waves on my last Gulf Stream crossing!
> > >
> > > Roger Pihlaja
> > > S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Mark Kaynor" <mark at kaynor.org>
> > > To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > > Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2003 5:38 PM
> > > Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Bahamas offshore cruising class
> > >
> > >
> > > > 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
> > > > __________________________________________________
> > > > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > __________________________________________________
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> >
> > __________________________________________________
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> >
> >
>
>
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