[Rhodes22-list] Bahamas offshore cruising class

[Mark Kaynor]

Julie,

Keeping a course at night with only a compass as reference was pretty
tricky. I found that I did better when I looked around a bit rather than
focusing only on the compass. I was eventually able to hold my course plus
or minus about 5 degrees, but it was more difficult than I had anticipated.
And you're right - after a while you begin "grok" the ocean a bit and are
able to anticipate the waves by movement, sound, etc. It's pretty cool how,
when you let go as you get more used to it, you find yourself responding
automatically w/o having to think so much about it. The Zen of
Sailing....could be a good book....

Mark


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julie Thorndycraft" <julie at circle7.net>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2003 7:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Bahamas offshore cruising class


> 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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