[Rhodes22-list] Bahamas offshore cruising class

[Julie Thorndycraft]

Mark,
Sounds like a great experience. Dan and I did a similar trip from Miami to
the Bahamas as part of an ASA class as well. We had a smaller boat - 36'
Beneteau and there were only three students. We were taking the 104 course
and found dodging freighters, casino boats, garbage barges in the middle of
the night a fabulous experience.

We did have wind on both directions but still had to keep the motor going to
make reasonable headway. On the return we had great wind and following seas
off our port stern - we kept the motor running at low RPM's and in gear just
to keep the back end from getting tossed around so much in the swells.

I wasn't sure what to expect having never sailed at night (we left at 5PM
and arrived around 11AM) but I found that being at the helm at night with
just the sound of the wind and boat and learning to hit the waves by
instinct (because you couldn't see them) was very cool.

Still haven't gotten up the guts to the big crossing over the 'pond' but
maybe some day...

Julie T.
S/V Blue Loon


----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Kaynor" <mark at kaynor.org>
To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2003 4:38 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
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