Stella Maris

l

Updated 03/03/10 

1 November 2009:  We are getting ready to go on Monday. We will be going down the Potomac and will be anchoring for a few nights. We should get to Yorktown in about a week and stay there for a few days where we are planning to visit Williamsburg and learn somemore about our great nation's history.  The anchoring experience  should be interesting for all of us especially getting used to saving water when I wash dishes and do cleaning. We are trying to see how much water we are using and how to conserve it.  I'm looking forward to be sailing again.  It was nice to be visiting new places but it was too long for my taste the stay in Washington D.C.,  even though I loved the sites and the history.  I miss being in the open waters and the feeling that comes with it.  We took the time in D.C. to get a few thing ready for the trip such as fixing the dingy's engine.  We are just about done and ready to go tomorrow.  We just need to orginize and put everything into place, that nothing flies away while we sail.  I will keep in touch for the next adventures to come... 

November 6, 2009: We made it through the anchoring nights rationing the water is working out so far. We can count on water for about 4 to 5 days and then we need to refill. The sad part is that we do have a water maker that  just needs to be install but we haven't had a chance  yet. We will get to it before we get to the islands. It had been fun but tiring, but you see so many things that in other ways of traveling you would never get to experience. The kids are catching up on school while we stay anchored for a few days in the same spot for weather reasons.

11/8/09 - We finally got to Yorktown safe and sound we got into a little rough weather between Smith Creek and Yorktown. We decided to stop in Wicomico River to get some shelter from south winds of 25 knots because we were beating straight into them, not that great or comfortable for a homeschooling day. At Yorktown our first day was great. We went into town and learned a lot about our great American History.  The second day was not so great. We were hit with a bad storm.  We were lucky that we were in a really good and safe marina and the shelter was good. We got winds with up to 70 mile an hour gust, 15 to 20 foot waves in the Chesapeake.  The next few days we had to stay in town and were not able to see or do anything, just stay inside and watch the storm go by. After the third day we tried to rent a car to go to Williamsburg but no cars were available because of the storm. All of the insurance companies got all the rental cars. We decided that it was time to move on and for the next few days we anchored in front of the marina to get ready for our next port. While anchored, we met the crew from sailing vessel Tranquility.   Leighia, Cameron, Myah and Fin were so great and their hospitality was amazing. They invited us to their boat right away to have some cocktails that night and we had a blast!!! The fallowing night we invited them over for a fajita dinner and I think that they were a hit!!!. That night we made many plans and we learned so much from them. It is so great to get together with people that you can talk and have fun and learn and the same time. We are planning to see them again in West Palm in January for some repairs and from there we go off to the make our crossing to the Bahamas.

11/17/09 - We are on the way to Norfolk VA. and we stopped at Willoughby Bay because the weather did not cooperate that much with us today. It was not one of my favorite days of sailing.  Even our lights didn’t want to work when it was getting dark in the middle of one of the busiest channels while we saw huge boats going by. With all my prayers we made good and spent the night at anchor on the bay with very heavy winds but all ended OK.

11/20/09- We arrived at Norfolk VA. We are staying at the Tidewater Marina it's the closest to the bridge that opens at 8:30 am. Our schedule was to motor for about 50 miles and take somewhere between 6 to 7 hours. One reason you never can make plans while sailing is when something comes up, like for example we encountered a couple that needed some help because they ran aground.  I ask if we could do something and they asked if we could try to pull them with a line. We knew that  we were new to the process but I couldn't say no. In that instant in a very narrow channel and in very shallow waters,  Angelica started helping me with the lines to put them together and she was the one who threw it over to the other boat. We tried everything but we couldn't help them and they called for Boat US after thanking us for everything. It felt good showing my kids how to help others and even though we couldn't do more, they feel good about it too. This is one of the  reasons that we are on this trip  in the first place. While we helped the couple with the towing, the bridge that it was right after their boat closed for  for some repairs and stayed closed for about three hours. We couldn't make it to Coinjack Marina until after dark which was not the best way to travel the ICW because it was pitch dark.  Another adventure to keep for the books...

11/21/09-  We are leaving the Alligator River Marina. We plan on traveling about 5 hours with no big events. The Marina was part of a Shell gas station, away from everything. The closest town was 12 miles away. During the night, about 1 or 2 AM,  I heard something very loud like a shot and something broke.  I knew that it wan't in the boat but somewhere nearby. After the loud noise, I heard an alarm, like a fire alrm or robbery alarm. The alarm kepted on for a while and went off.  In the morning when we went to the fuel dock (Shell station) to fill the boat I asked the lady at the dock and she explained that they were robbed last night and someone broke in by shooting out the front door. It was time to move on...

11/25/09- We left the Pungo River area and moved to anchor in the South River. In the morning of the 25th we moved into Whittacker Marina to fix our water pump and get ready for Thanksgiving. With my great culinary attributes,  I put my turkey in the crock pot about 11:00 pm to let it cook for 10 hours. I had already basted the turkey two days in advance. In the morning of the great feast, I transfered my great turkey from my pot to start cooking the pumpkin cranberry custard that I was going to make for dessert . We just own one crock pot and everything was going to get cooked in it. It was very interesting to say the least, but fun to cook while having the opportunity to give thanks to God for everything that He has given us.

11/28/09- In our way to Beaufort N.C. while we where in 17 feet of water and going on 7 knots we felt a big hit under the boat. Luis and I looked at each other and he instantly put the boat in neutral.  The kids are came up to ask what was going on. At that point, the depth sounder kept saying that we were in 17 feet of water and we kept moving.  I looked at Luis and asked him if the boat was moving ? He said yes, and  he put it in gear and slowly moved. We actually weren't stuck and didn't run aground hard. Like always, that put us behind schedule. It was getting dark and the entrance to the Beaufort channel was very confusing with different channels markers. We needed to go slowly and then we got to a bridge where we needed to call to open.  When we called, they said sit and wait for 30 min. That  put us into 5:00 pm and it was getting dark to anchor in front of the Beaufort Docks. We were able to anchor at night with plenty of boats around us. I was a little nervous to say the least. We  passed the anchoring at night test. After a day like this is when you really go to bed exhausted.  

11/29/09- I the morning I ask Luis to take me in the dinghy to the docks where I needed to get a few things. In the little town, the closest grocery store was a couple of miles away. Believe me when I tell you that I was looking forward for the walk and do something that I was never accostumed to do. I was able to walk through the historic town and see houses that were built in the 1800            s.  The owners keep them beautiful. I was so submerged sightseeing the the walk went really fast. I did found a Dollar store and went in to get a few things to decorate the boat for Christmas. It was good that I remembered to keep the load light because I nedeed to walk back with all the bags with no help. I made it back and it felt good. We  always get used driving around in cars and all the easy ways that it was good to do something the old fashion way.

11/30/09-  We had a cold front come in today. We are still at anchor and it shoud be ok . Luis is adding another anchor which they called Bahamain style. Winds are expected to be up to 40 mph. In the end we did hold really good. I went to bed late but sleep ok.  I am doing better than I did during the last front (I was up all night). The next day was a beautiful day.  We went into town with the kids and took Bones for a good walk.

12/2/09- We docked in the marina for the night.  We are expecting a package in the mail from dad with our mail from Florida. It was good going in today because the weather was expected to turn bad with gale storm winds.   I am really glad not to be anchored out there tonight.

1/31/10:  First of all I would like to apologize for not being able to write more often in our logs. Before the Holidays we were rushing to get to Charleston SC to get a rental car and to make it on time to be with the family in Tampa Fl. Well, we did make it! We had a great time and we got back by the 3^rd of January to start rushing things and head south. Again, the water pump had another leak which needed to be fixed before we crossed, we needed to install the water maker and we just ordered the raft and the EPIRB but they are on backorder for 4 weeks. We stopped in Savannah GA for an overnight and we went to an Oyster bar that we knew from our last visit to Savannah. As always, we ordered a bucket of oysters, beer, and the best Po’boy sandwiches.

 We are currently in St. Augustine Fl. where Luis is spending sometime fixing the things we needed to fix.  I took the kids to Tampa for another Orthodontist appointment. While in the way down the ICW, we noticed that the autopilot was not working.  Luis looked into the autopilot while he was working on the water pump and notice that the arm came loose and fell off. He saw that the nut came off the bolt and it was nowhere to be found. We started looking everywhere for the right size of bolt and nut, and I mean everywhere, but with no luck whatsoever. We finally had to order the part from Raymarine which was the manufacture. They said that it would take around 4 weeks to get to us. I honestly don’t get it with all these marine stores, it always takes 4 weeks to get you anything. While we keep waiting for so many things to come in, I started to work on getting the provisions ready for the crossing.

St. Augustine has been a really good location to host friends and family members where they could come to visit us. First our good friends Felix, Lisa and their daughter Brianna came to stay overnight with us. We had such a great time together sightseeing and just talking about boats and telling good mariner stories. I love listening to them with their expertise and just learning along with them. I really loved having them aboard. Last Friday my mother and sister in-law Abuela Lila, Patricia, Aidan, Ryan and Megan came to visit us and we loved having them with us for the day. They had a great time at the Fort and all the kids were very happy to be together. We hoped to see them come again and stay with us in the Bahamas.

 We sent our sail to get double stitched and we should get it back in a couple of days. Tomorrow we have a guy coming to install the water maker. Hopefully by Wednesday we will be on our way to Cocoa Beach. We will be looking to see if we make it for the take off of the shuttle and maybe see more friends and family if we are able to find a good spot to dock. As you all can see, between repairs, every day activities, and something else coming apart, there is no time to get bored. At the same time I am still getting used to living aboard. Some days are better than others. The hard part is when the bad weather comes and you can’t get out of the boat for a couple of days. When the winds are blowing 20 knots you can ride the dingy but by the time that you get to the docks you will be completely soaked. I can tell you that it’s not funny, being there, done that…   I hoped you enjoy our latest pictures and the WIFI booster that we just installed should help us to keep us connected more often. See you all very soon J    

Feb. 16 - We finally made it to Miami. On our way down the ICW we stopped in Daytona Beach, Vero Beach and Ft. Lauderdale. It has being a very nice trip and they were very nice places to visit. It is time to concentrate on crossing to the Bahamas. We are staying at a mooring in Coconut Grove, very nice area in Miami. The weather needs to be perfect for the crossing; we need at least a couple of days with south winds and 10 to 15 knots to be able to go. It does not look that we will be getting anything close to what we need anytime soon.  In the meantime I have been shinning the wood and putting a couple of layers of oil on keep up with it. We are planning to rent a car and go get the last few things that we need. I just can’t wait to get to the other side; we are just 47 miles away from the beginning of our real trip. I finally have time to read many books that I was always putting off because I never had enough time to do it. Hopefully the next time I write on these pages is to tell you that we are already in the Bahamas and looking at the beautiful waters of those islands. 

03/01/10:  We finally made it to Bimini!! On Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2010 we did the crossing from No Name Harbor (Key Biscayne) to Bimini. We had an excellent day for our fist time crossing. The closer we got to the Bahamas the easier it got. At the moment that we saw some land you could see the difference in the waters; I had never seen so many different shades of blue. It finally felt that our adventure was finally at the tips of my hands. It was a little hard to go in the harbor because there were no markers where they were supposed to have them. I went to the bow of the boat with my walkie talkie and tried to visually approximate the depth of the water so that we did not run aground and get into any reefs. We made the entrance and went to dock in Blue Water Marina. You all need to see the views from the deck; I already added some pictures that everyone can enjoy. We went for a walk around the Island of North Bimini in about 3 hours from point to point. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. While we were walking we discovered several different beaches and good spots for pictures. In the way back from the walk we were hungry and thirsty and were looking for a good place to have a cold beer and some famous Bahamian conch salad. We finally found the perfect shack right on the beach.  The salad was so fresh that we could see a fisherman pass the conch that he just caught and cleaned right to the guy who was making the salad. When we tried our salads I realized that it could not get better than this.

 The next few days, we waited for another window of good weather.  We met some other boaters and were invited to the neighboring marina for an afternoon cocktail. We met very nice people coming and going to all different routes and listened to all their adventures. You certainly learn a lot from all the stories. Angelica made some friends on the island while she was using the computer in front of the marina office. Young girls approached her and started asking some questions and watching what she was doing. She came to me later to tell me that the girls keep touching her hair and that they loved it. Every time we went for a walk, the girls would approach her to said hello. One funny story was when Angelica didn’t find an outlet inside the bathroom where the showers where. She panicked because she always needs to blow dry her hair and use the straightener. When I came back from the market with Luis, we saw Angelica doing her hair in front of the building and in front of everyone. It takes courage to dry your hair in front of all the boaters.  Besides, the view of the harbor was great from that spot. That night she was ready to web-cam with all her friends back home.

 Another fun thing was going fishing in the dingy.  Like always it was an adventure just going to fish. We are being bad at fishing and for me it is a challenge to cut anything. I always stay behind and let them go fishing but this time I decided to give it a try. Well, to make a long story short, we went with three poles and we came back with one. Two of the reels broke and I don’t remember how many lines we cut because they were stuck in the rocks.  In the end, I was the only one who caught a small fish that we let go.

 We kept waiting for good weather to come; it looked like it was going to be next Monday. Sunday we went to church. The church was very small and pretty, not too many people, but great people. Everyone was dressed in their best Sunday clothes and they looked very nice. During the part of giving peace to one another, the whole congregation came one by one to shake hands with us and make us feel comfortable. I love feeling that you don’t need these big and huge churches to get faithful people together to pray to God to keep us going.  I always thought that if Jesus could get under a tree to teach the children, how come we need all of these big churches for?  I do like the simplicity and beauty of people of faith, without many material things, but full of hope.  I forget to mention that on Saturday, we went for a long walk with the kids and while we were walking we noticed that we were following a lot of people in their golf carts and it looked that the whole town came out that day. Another tourist explains to us that it was a funeral and that they celebrated the death with a parade through the island. You could see them dancing, playing instruments, and drinking. It was a big party where everyone participated. It was something different and good for us to be part of it.

 Sunday afternoon, I asked some of the other cruisers to meet at the picnic tables for a cocktail party to end the week. They all loved the idea and everyone brought their own drinks and one appetizer to share. Monday we crossed to Great Harbor Cay to get closer to Nassau which is our next destination. We did have a great trip but it was very long. It took us around ten hours to get to our destination. It was 72 nautical miles to get there.  We made it right to the front of the harbor but it got dark and we decided to anchor for the night and go in the morning. By the way, we finally caught some good fish.  You all should see Luis’s face when we caught them. Even though they weren’t that big, it fed the four of us and we even had left-over’s. We caught two mackerels and one small Tuna.

The entrance into Great Harbor Cay was completely hidden and we could not see it until we were in front of it.  To enter the harbor, you enter into a mountain. When we started entering, you see that you are going to go thru a narrow channel in between two mountain sides. It was something spectacular. Now we are waiting again to cross to Nassau hopefully by Thursday. Today there is another storm over us.  I hope that it stops soon because I need to walk to the store to get a few things. The Island receives provisions from Nassau only once a week. We went to the store yesterday and the store was very low on groceries. It does change my perspective of how easily we get everything back home. I want the kids to realize how easy they have it at home so that when we are done traveling; they will go back to the states with another perspective in life.  There is a bad weather today, but hopefully it will end tonight and we can keep sailing to Nassau tomorrow.