[Rhodes22-list] Keller's thing

[Bob Keller]

Ed,
Yes, but he made it sound so easy.  Somehow I don't think it would be that 
easy for me...
BK


>From: "Kroposki" <kroposki at innova.net>
>Reply-To: kroposki at innova.net,The Rhodes 22 mail list 
><rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>To: "'The Rhodes 22 mail list'" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Keller's thing
>Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 19:45:17 -0500
>
>Bob,
>	This is your type of trip.
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _/) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>                            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
>
>
>
>__________________________________________________
>Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list

_________________________________________________________________
Have fun customizing MSN Messenger — learn how here!  
http://www.msnmessenger-download.com/tracking/reach_customize