[Rhodes22-list] Keller's thing

[Kroposki]

Bob,
	This is your type of trip.

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                           Ed k

-----Original Message-----
From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of
NAPOLI51950 at aol.com
Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2004 3:24 PM
To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] A description of '94 Bahamas trip.

Ok, Ok, Ok,
          I shall include some info on the Bahamas trim on my old
Rhodes.  I'll include some background and some incidents that
demonstrate why such a trip is so much fun and how it can be done.  Keep
in mind my Rhodes at the time was a 1976 and was 17 years old.  I had a
7.5 electric start Yamaha (as I recall) and so it had a small charging
component for the batteries.  I also had a 15 or 20 watt solar panel
mounted of swivels off the stern rail.  The pop top fitting was detached
from the mast (I once lost the mast and it pulled off the pop top....but
that is another story) and four locking pins were installed in the pop
top to make it totally secure in a roll over (not much chance but...)  I
also secured the lazerett so I would not lose it either.  I installed
hook up points for the Sospenders with built in harness.  No GPS at the
time, just a somewhat unreliable LORAN and some good dead reckoning
skills.  Replaced all the through hulls and sealed the small openings
into the cabin from under the seats and seat backs in the cockpit. I
also installed a special  "secret" shelf that hid my camera etc in a
sealed container up under the seat backs.  Oh yes, a VHF installed and a
small hand-held also.  Anyway the following is a note I sent to some of
those list members who asked.  (sorry if it didn't reach those intended)
so here it is again.

             Baja may be out, the spring break I was hoping turns out to
be 4 days shorter than I was expecting so I may just wait for July and
go up to the San Juans.

       About 10 years ago, I left my company after 23 years and decided
I would like to take a real sailing trip like I did when I was in high
school and college in Europe.  Being in retail for 23 years it was hard
to get more than 10 days off at a time, but now I had lots of time and,
most importantly, my 1976 Rhodes 22.  I had bought it new from Stan and
knew the boat well after sailing it all over the Chesapeake for the last
16 years.  

The first part of the trip involved getting the boat ready and replacing
the standing and running rigging for the 1st time in 15 years.  I made
some alterations (minor) to the hull, hatches, safety equipment, and
electronics and the boat was ready.....though I did have to borrow a
trailer and a tow vehicle. 

Step two was to provision the boat; something my wife did for me (we
still have the list if you are interested).  She packed up everything in
a series of Rubber maid containers and plastic shoe boxes and we filled
the boat with basically enough supplies for 2-3 months.  

The trip down to Ft. Lauderdale was the most dangerous part of the
entire voyage because of improper tongue weight and too light of a tow
vehicle (beggars can't be too choosy).  I left Lauderdale on the
afternoon of May 3rd amid scattered thunderstorms.  My brother was the
other crew member and we had a great night sail 
Across the Gulf Stream dodging isolated t-storms.  Lots of lights from
all the traffic both northbound and south bound (with a few unlighted
and very fast west bound boats).  Winds were SE about 10-15 knots (a few
of the t-storms that passed nearby cranked it up to over 20 but the boat
was fine)  seas less than 6 feet.  Before dawn we could see Great  Isaac
Light and because of the current (as anticipated) the light was almost
ENE of us.  Once the sun was up we headed south, mostly under power, for
about 15 miles until we reached the entrance to North Bimini.
Navigation was done using LORAN (it wasn't that accurate in much of the
Bahamas) and good ol' dead reckoning.  With GPS you wouldn't need to
make such a wide margin to assure yourself that you were north of
Bimini.  On the way down to Bimini a small fishing boat hailed us with 4
ladies in it who asked for water and fruit juice (one was apparently
diabetic).  We gave them what they wanted and they gave us 3 fine red
snappers, which we had for dinner that night.  We spent about a week
just hanging around Bimini and the small cays to the south.

We crossed the Great Bahama banks to the Berry islands and spent another
10 days exploring them.  On uninhabited Great Stirrup Island we anchored
at the southern tip by the old lighthouse and hiked north to the
"Barbecue Beach".  The island (or at least the northern half) is owned
by several cruise lines that anchor off the island and bring their guest
ashore for a taste of island life (Bahamian BBQ and lots of cold & free
drinks).  We emerged from the scrub jungle wearing our most touristy
outfits and had a great time mingling with the other guest.  The only
problem was when asked by the helpful ships' officers which ship we were
off we invariable pointed to two different ships (must have been the
Rum).  As the last few guest were getting on the launches back to their
ship we tried to slip away, only to be stopped by one of the local
ladies who come over from Great Harbor Cay to Stirrup cay to serve  the
tourist.  "Where you boys tink you be goin'  You can't be goin' wit out
taking all des fine leftovers and some ice back to your boat".  When
asked how she knew we weren't "guests"  she laughed and said "cuz you
got dem cockelburrs all over de socks and dey grow very tickly on de
sout side of de island."   So, loaded down with goodies we headed back
to "de sout side of de island".  We kept running in to her several times
more in the Berrys, and she always had to tell everyone our story.  The
Berrys are a neat group of islands with great fishing and diving with
sinkholes and caves on many of the islands.

We left and sailed to  New providence island (Nassau) and did the
tourist thing for a few days and then headed northeast to Eluthera and
all the small islands around there.  Current cut was very neat and we
saw several large reef sharks in the cut while snorkeling.  Royal island
was very strange, deserted and with a lot of ruins of  a big mansion
from the 1900's (it was a rum runners HQ some said).

We spent a number of weeks heading south to Great Exuma and Georgetown
and then turned north where my brother left my wife and 12-year-old son
and me joined me in Nassau.  With my family I retraced much of the area
that my brother and I sailed in and then headed north to the Abacos and
spent a lot of time there. We then left from Walkers Cay and returned
via West End to Freeport.  My sister and her husband replaced my wife
and son who returned to the states and we then sailed down to Gun Cay
via Bimini and then made the crossing.  The crossing was made on a beam
reach with a southerly wind, following seas (you know what that means
...surfing all the way) and arrived in under 10 hours (much sooner than
I had anticipated and I had to wait around till sunrise as I didn't want
to go into Ft. Lauderdale in the dark.

There were many situations that called for good seamanship and common
sense and these were tested.  The boat always behaved great and I never
felt that it would fail me, in fact on several occasions it was the boat
and not me that got us out of a few tight situations.  I would encourage
you to take the plunge and make the crossing using good sense and
appropriate caution.  Certainly a good GPS and weather radio are
essential,  planning and familiarization of your routes and proper
provisioning are all you need to have a great Bahamian vacation.  Let me
know if you have any questions or if there is any thing I can do to help
you reach your goal.  Would you need another crewmember?

Chris Geankoplis
Medford, OR