By Jennifer
A day at the beach. The water really is that blue.
Author Archives: Kevin Taylor
In and around North Bimini
By Jennifer
Finally, a cold rainy day in Nassau (that wasn’t in the brochure!), so I decided to put up some slides from our time at North Bimini, the first island stop. We spent much of our time there walking up and down
the local street that stretched the length of the island — about two miles. You will see the BIG green boat, which ships in all the island’s supplies and food once a week; a garbage boat that carts the garbage to South Bimini, where it is incinerated; a conch diver cleaning his catch of the day; and Weech’s Dock, were we were tied up for the first week of our nearly two week stay there.
Jen’s Bookshelf III
(Personally rated on a scale up to five stars, *****, five stars being the best)
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. ** This novel, my book club’s November selection, was rather boring and predictable. I don’t know what compelled me more to finish the 545-page mystery — the mild curiosity of why a four-year-old girl was left on a cruise ship all alone in 1913 or the nagging hope that maybe, just maybe, if I continued on there would be a big, exciting twist at the end. Eh. (Read Nov.-Dec. 2012)
11/22/63 by Stephen King. *** My first Stephen King book and I was thoroughly entertained. This story explores the intriguing concept of “what if…” The protagonist, a high school English teacher, is shown by a friend a portal to the past. The English teacher is implored to travel back in time and intercede in the shooting of JFK with the hopes that it would positively alter the course of future events in the United States ie…the Vietnam War. King masterfully weaves in modern day commentary (like Dancing with the Stars comments). He also personifies “the past” like a singular being with its own embodiment that harbors a daunting dark side. I enjoyed the immense amount of research King compiled to write this tale. At the back of the bound book, King talks about his writing process and his inner thoughts about tackling the subject matter that at one time paralyzed our country. (Read Dec. 2012)
The Pearl by John Steinbeck. *** Madeline’s required reading for Literature and my first Steinbeck novella. A great read if you are looking to exercise your literary side — lots of symbolism and foreshadowing. (Read Oct. 2012)
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. *** My September book club’s selection. I really enjoyed this book and I can happliy boast I was the only one in the group to finish it. This piece of nonfiction pieces together William E. Dodd’s first year as America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s Germany. The book unfolds the story of Dodd and his family’s time in Germany through a collection of journals, letters and official correspondences. This book reads like “Frontline,” but I really like “Frontline” and enjoyed this book and its insight into this moment in history. I recommend it. (Read Sept. 2012.)
The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht. ** My August book club’s selection. This book I’ve seen on many book club lists, so I had high expectations. Unfortunately, the book fell well flat of those expecations. I struggled to get to page 100 and went around town begging anyone I knew if they’d read the book and if it would get any better. No one had. Anyway, I slogged through it. I won’t spoil it, but here’s my two cents. The author is a good writer, but she’s like 12 years old if you judge the picture on the back cover. The text is weighed down by too much description. There are too many tangential characters with more really lengthy descriptions. What I found interesting were the stories of the tiger and the deathless man. (Read Aug. 2012.)
wild by Cheryl Strayed. ***** BEST. BOOK. I. EVER. READ. This inspiring memoir can change the trajectory of your life. (Read Aug. 2012.)
Communications Aboard
By Kevin
In a recent comment I was asked what we use for communications aboard. One of our goals has been to “get off the grid” for the year. Well, we realized pretty quickly that totally getting off the internet would deprive us of some important tools. For instance, certain weather resources, HOW-TO’s and manuals, and email and blogging tools for communicating with loved ones.
So, we started focusing less on getting off the grid and more on “getting off the time sucking social networks.” This was our original intention in getting off the grid. We want to spend our time reading novels, hanging out with our kids and each other, homeschooling, snorkeling, and watching sunsets. Not updating Twitter or Facebook or liking posts on Instagram.
With that in mind, here are the different tools we have available for communication.
VHF
VHF is a line-of-sight two-way radio system, similar to a marine CB. It is standard equipment on all but the smallest boats. It allows voice communication between your boat and other VHF stations (boat or shore) up to about 20 miles, depending on weather, the height of the antennas, and the wattage of the transmitters involved.
We use VHF frequently for hailing over vessels, bridges, dockmasters and even restaurants. Also, we can listen in on morning “radio nets,” which are group conversations each morning with the other cruising boats in the immediate area, where tips are shared and requests for help are broadcast.
We have three VHF radios. One is at the navigation station down below. One is in the aft cabin and is accessible from the cockpit helm station. The last one is a rechargable handheld that we take with us in the dinghy.
SSB
SSB (single sideband) is a long-range two-way radio system. SSB allows boats and shore stations to communicate over hundreds or thousands of miles. It is a HAM radio that is specifically designed for marine use.
We use our SSB almost every day. The primary use of SSB for us is to get weather reports. We listen to Chris Parker’s 6:30 AM weather reports on 4045. We also frequently download weather faxes using the SSB and MultiMode. Here are examplesof weather faxes that we review in order to plan our passages:
We have also listened to entertainment and news on the SSB from sources such as the BBC.
Satellite Phone
We purchased an Immarsat IsatPhone Pro before leaving Fort Lauderdale. We also pre-purchased 500 airtime minutes and email and web browser compression software called Ocens.
The reason for the satphone, ostensibly, was for emergencies: to call our doctor back home or to call for a towboat, for example. We’ve used the satphone several times to call marinas for reservations when we were outside VHF range. We’ve also made some calls home to friends and family.
We set up the Ocens software so that we can send and receive emails while away from WIFI, which is most of the time. But, checking email is very slow on the IsatPhone Pro. It takes 3-10 minutes to send and receive a few emails.
We have successfully downloaded webpages using the satphone but we’ve had more success using a command line non-graphical browser instead of the Ocens’s modified version of the Firefox browser. (Check out Elinks or Lynx, if you have technical chops.) I’ve set up bookmarks to the specific pages that I need to download with the satphone so that I can retrieve just those pages without surfing around to any unneeded pages. Still, to download one simple page without the images will take 3-5 minutes.
WIFI
When we are in a marina or harbor that has a WIFI signal, we’ve found it absolutely essential to have an external WIFI antenna. The airport cards in our Mac laptops and iPads are just not beefy enough. We’ve chosen the Bear Extender products. Specifically, the Bear Extender Mini for Mac, 5dBi Antenna, and 16 ft USB extension cable.
When we need to we hoist the antenna partially up the mast with one of the flag halyards. Often we just need to put the antenna in the cockpit, with the USB cable going down through the companionway hatch to attach to my Mac laptop. Then, I set up internet sharing on my Mac laptop using my airport card. This allows the other laptops and iPads on board to share my laptop’s internet connection.
Mobile Phone
We have several mobile phones on board that run on the Sprint network. We were surprised to find out that they do work in the Bahamas when we are in range of cell towers. But, if we use them we are paying very high international roaming rates, which we want to avoid at all costs. So, we have them turned off and only use them as a last resort.
Bimini to Cat Cay Part II
By Kevin
Above are some pictures and video from our December 8th North Bimini to Cat Cay leg. For more details about the trip, please check out our post here.
Our Trip So Far
By Kevin
Cat Cay Arrival
By Kevin
Today we left Bimini bound for Cat Cay. We spent 12 mostly relaxing days in Bimini, sitting at Weech’s dock and then out on our anchor. We were there much longer than we had planned mainly to wait for a good weather window before continuing traveling east.
And, we definitely had to wait while we sorted out our GPS issues. (We solved that by purchasing a brand new GPS handheld, a GPSMAP 78sc. We’ll relegate it to backup duty once we get our Garmin 441s properly installed in Nassau.)
The 8-10 knot east wind and flat seas made our 3 hours sail south a slice of heaven. It feels good to finally be out here, sailing, visiting remote islands, and using this sailing yacht that we’ve poured so much of ourselves into over the past 6 months.
Tonight we are anchored off a small resort island about 10 miles south of Bimini called Cat Cay. On the island, if we were to take the dinghy in to shore, we would find a high-end resort, an expensive marina with a few docked mega-yachts, and a few mega-million dollar vacation homes overlooking the ocean.
The anchorage is a bit bumpy right now but we hope it will settle down in a few hours when the winds continues clocking around from the east to the southeast. (Let’s hope everyone does okay.)
Tomorrow morning we’ll get up about 5 am, eat an easy breakfast, raise the anchor and head due east bound for the remote and beautiful Berry Islands. We’re predicting about a 15 hour sail with a 10–15 knot close reach. In order to not arrive after dark in the next harbor, we’ll likely have to anchor overnight on the Grand Bahama Bank–in 10-15 feet of water and total darkness. It should be an experience not to forget.
GPS Woes
By Kevin
When you here the cliched warnings that GPS units sometimes fail so have a backup available, heed them.
In early November, we installed a new Garmin 441s electronic chartplotter, which we purchased at West Marine in Fort Lauderdale. We installed it by running the wires into the engine room (directly under the steering pedestal) and attaching the positive directly to the house battery bank switch and the ground to a ground terminal block that was also servicing our 12 volt auxiliary outlets.
Fail.
It seemed to work fine but when we got the boat off the dock in lightly choppy water, it cycled off. Each time we turned it back on, it would only stay on for 5 minutes or so. Fortunately, it was enough to get us to Miami and one of the crew had good local knowledge that allowed us to get into port after dark. (Thanks, Captain Gerry!)
West Marine was gracious and replaced the main GPS unit, in case the one we had was faulty. We kept the existing wiring in place and swapped out just that unit.
Fail.
The next time we went out, on a flat Biscayne Bay, it cycled off.
We rewired the positive to the 12 volt auxiliary circuit, as I suspected the house bank connection was loose.
Fail.
Unfortunately, the night we chose to leave for the Bahamas, crossing deep ocean water, it failed again. This time one of the crew (yes, Captain Gerry again!) had the Navionics iPad app and we used that for the 12 hour passage to North Bimini Island.
So, now in Bimini I hired a Garmin authorized installer to take a look. He thought the problem was the wimpy 3 amp inline fuse holder that comes with the unit. So, he replaced it with a heavy duty automotive-style fuse holder.
Fail.
We left the dock at North Bimini to sail 60 miles east. Within minutes of getting off the dock, the unit turned off again. So, we cancelled our crossing of the Great Bahama Bank and anchored out.
Since we want to get out of Bimini as soon as a weather window opens, we decided to order a new GPS chartplotter. We ordered a Garmin 78sc handheld chartplotter from West Marine. It will be shipped overnight to a private airplane company that flys between Bimini and Fort Lauderdale. Hopefully we’ll get it by Sunday, which is our next potential departure date.
So, the problem with the 441s should be either the voltage disappears, the voltage drops, or the amps drop. I turned on a voltage alarm on the unit when the problem first started that will sound if the voltage drops below 11.5. It hasn’t sounded when the unit cycles off. So, that leads me to believe either the amps cut out because of a corroded wire or the volts disappear because of a partially broken wire.
The only 2 things left to do to troubleshoot are: Rewire the unit directly to the battery to see if it works without fuses, breakers, etc in the circuit; second, replace the power/data cable that came with the unit, as it may have an intermittent wire break that only acts up when there is some wave or wind movement.
But, that will have to wait until we get to Nassau.
Island Fare
By Kevin
While tied to the dock at North Bimini, one of the local women came up to our boat selling lobster tails her husband caught earlier in the day. 7 tails for $25.
Thanksgiving in Paradise
By Kevin
S/V Real Life 