[Rhodes22-list] Bahamas offshore cruising class

[Mark Kaynor]

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