Annapolis, MD to the Dominican Republic
Introduction
This was a sailing trip from Annapolis, MD to the Dominican Republic on a FP Tobago 35' catamaran, Lazy Cat. The owner, Alan, is a retired 747 pilot and moved to the Dominican Republic to get away from the hectic life in the US. This was Alan's first sailboat and his first sailing trip down the east coast, Bahamas, and Caribbean. In fact, this was his first sailing trip anywhere!
The boat was purchased almost 9 months before this photo was taken and during this time, was being refitted by a local marine service company. The company was wasting lots of time and running up a big bill, so Alan was ready to take over the projects and get the sailing trip started. The boat was at the end of Spa Creek in Annapolis, MD on Feb 28, 2008, when I first met Alan.
The boat was in very good condition, but had no equipment on board for cruising, plus there were lots of little projects that needed to be completed. It was cold in Annapolis at this time of the year and one day Spa Creek even had a thin layer of ice, so cold days were spent shopping and the warmer (40s) ones were on boat projects. After two weeks of buying dishes, blankets, heaters, spare parts, food, installing the sails, engine maintenance, fixing the GPS & AP problems the service company installed, flushing the water system, etc, (about 50 more etc), we were ready to go.
It was a beautiful day in the 50s when we were approaching the Spa Creek bridge to begin the adventure. The Annapolis Naval Academy was on the left just past the bridge and the Chesapeake Bay was just a few miles to the east where we would turn south for the DR. This was the 1st of probably 100 bridges we would pass under on the trip. Alan had no idea about all the bridges at the time!
Chesapeake Bay
'The Chesapeake Bay has some of the neatest looking Aids to Navigation anywhere in the world. The 1st day's run was to Herrington Harbor Marina. For the first part of the trip we stopped in marinas every night so we could plug into shore power to run the heaters. It is cold this time of the year!
The Tobago 35 catamaran has an excellent forward view from inside the cabin, so many days we sat inside and out of the cold weather with the auto pilot in control. I wired the chart plotter in the cockpit to the auto pilot, so we could use the AP Track mode to ensure we stayed on course. We also had a GPS inside the cabin to keep an eye on the progress between waypoints.
A big cold front was coming and it was very foggy, so we decided to duck into Smith Point Marine and wait out the weather. Few sailboats can get in to the area due to the shallow water, but we made it with no problem thanks to the catamaran's draft. The front caused an extremely low tide, so we had to wait an extra day before leaving. There was a family of otters that swam around the boat and were fun to watch, plus it was nice place to go for some long walks.
At the south end of the Chesapeake Bay, Navy Seals were conducting some drills from a dinghy with a helicopter. The helicopter was actually flying just above the dinghy as the seals were speeding along. Air temperature about 50, water temperature about 45 degrees, wind speed 40+ mph, and wind chill below freezing. Crazy people!
In Hampton Roads, this warship was coming out of the Norfolk and contacted us on the VHF radio. Can you actually believe the radio operator said he 'recommended' a 'port on port' crossing with that big gun uncovered? If it were me, I would have been temped to say, 'target practice if you get in the way, little catamaran'. Alan and I had a little laugh about it for a minute and I thanked him for the call.
Atlantic Intercoastal Canal Waterway
The waterway starts in Norfolk, VA and follows rivers, bays, and man made canals for over 1000 miles to Miami, FL. The distances are measured in statue miles (like on US roads) starting from Norfolk. Every 5 miles there should be a mileage sign post and Alan decided to document the trip by taking a photo of every one along the way. North Carolina, where the above photo was taken, was the best state at supporting the sign posts, so the project got off to a good start. Throughout South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida the signs were very hit and miss and it became, in some places, rare to even see one. Maybe next time it should be 'Bridges of the ICW'!
One of the great things about the trip down the ICW is you never know what is around the next turn. This old wreck may have been used to dredge the canal we were in many, many years ago.
Another big storm was forecast so we decided to stop at River Forrest Marina, Belhaven, NC. The break water into the marina was falling apart and the docks were old and in poor condition. We were lucky to have the big steel schooner, Ghost, side tied at the end of the dock. In the worst of the storm we had 45+ mph winds, 3-5' seas pounding Ghost on her port side, and you could feel the entire dock move with each wave. We had Lazy Cat well tied to the dock and were very lucky everything held together. This is one marina I would never recommend!
The day before we reached Myrtle Beach, SC it was very cold and ugly outside, so Alan decided to put the boat in a slip for one month, fly home, and continue the trip with warmer weather. Alan took several cold weather, kind of bad photos of me during this part of the trip, but it is my website so I decided to use one of him. HaHa Alan! We did have some cold ugly days!
After about 3 weeks, Alan and I flew back to the boat and were both ready to continue the trip south. With the warm days and mild nights it was great to anchor out for the night and watch the sunsets and sunrises. There are hundreds of places to stop and explore all along the way south.
In the 1000 and 1 uses of duck tape, use #786 is a custom cabin hatch mosquito screen. The batten strip (lying on the screen) was used to strength the screen sides and was cut from the plastic open house sign. Lewmar wanted about $200/screen, but none were available. My custom duck tape screen cost about $3 each.
Lazy Cat at the Isle of Hope Marina, GA. This marina offered lots of extra services for a reasonable price, but was crowded and we just barely fit in the slip. They offered both bicycles and cars at no charge, so I rode a bike thru the pretty country side to a store near the small town for some supplies. We had a party that night with some people on a Leopard 41' catamaran named Changing Spots. What a great name! Isle of Hope was given that name after a plague killed lots of people in the area, but everyone on the small island survived. Lots of great little town to see along the way too!
Alan's girlfriend Sue decided to join the trip so we made a stop over in Daytona Beach, FL for a few days. Alan rented a car and picked Sue up in South Florida and then they made a quick trip to visit one of Alan's old friends in Naples. I had a good time hanging out at the beach.
We stopped one night to anchor in the middle of nowhere and just by chance met A Mermaid. One of life's top 10s! You can follow the link for the full story.
We had been in Florida for the last week or so, but until you round the bend in this part of the ICW and see this condo just north of West Palm Beach, it just hasn't hit you yet. YES, we are finally in Florida! Just under the Blue Heron Bridge in the background, we made a left turn to go out the Lake Worth Inlet and the remaining part of the trip was all done in the Atlantic Ocean. We did make a short stop at Lighthouse Point and stopped in Miami for some last minute repairs, but there are just too many bridges in this area to continue in the ICW. I'm sure Alan now completely understands!
Bahamas
We left No Name Harbor at about 3am in the morning with flat calm seas for an easy Gulf Stream crossing and checked in at Cat Cay. Everyone was very happy to finally be in the Bahamas! We anchored for the night at Gun Cay and did some snorkeling around Honeymoon Harbor. I found the lobster trap float (just to the right of Sue) and immediately tied it on the stern rail. On another trip to the Bahamas, a local told me it is the only thing that will keep away evil spirits. I have never seen an evil spirit and never want too!
Next leg of the trip was to cross the Mackie Banks to the Northwest Channel and then continue on to Nassau. Due to the distance, everyone anchors for the night near the Northwest Channel Light. We had a good weather forecast, but there was a front that was suppose to stall about 100 miles north of Grand Bahamas Island. So much for weather forecaster sitting in an office! Anyway, we saw it coming and got the boat ready, so it was only a rough couple of hours with no danger. These banks are like a giant sand desert and you are sitting in about 9' of water with no land in sight. The boat got probably the best wash down she had every seen with the wind blown rain!
The following day the wind was still up, so we sailed to the west side of Nassau and found a safe anchorage for the night. There was a small reef near the shore and I did a little snorkeling. We got up early the next day for the sail into Nassau Harbor. Paradise Island is on the left side of the bridge with the famous Atlantis Hotel & Marina just out of the photo. We stayed in the Nassau Harbor area for another two days.
One of the treasures of the Bahamas is the Exuma Cays Land and Sea park. With a shallow draft catamaran, like Lazy Cat, you can sail the chain in the protected waters of the bank side with 100s of places to stop and explore.
Many of the islands you can walk across to the ocean side and never see another person or foot print in the sand. Life doesn't get much better than this!
There are also some great sunsets in the Bahamas, but no Green Flash on this trip. I've seen two just for the record. One was between Jamaica and the Panama Canal and the other between Panama City, FL and Tarpon Springs, FL. I guess it only happens if a Panama is some how in the trip!
One of my favorite places in the Exumas is Thunderball Cave near Staniard Cay. The cave was used in the James Bond movie Thunderball and James was lifted from a hole in the cave just above my head.
Lazy Cat is the boat to the right and is anchored just in front of Thunderball Cave. To enter the cave, you need to swim underwater and the entrances are hard to see unless your head is just under the water. In the foreground of the photo, you can see our dinghy (one on the right too) and we climbed to a great spot on the ocean side to take this photo.
This is where the 2nd photo up was taken from. There was also a great view of the ocean just behind Sue & Alan, one of the highest points on the island. I'm sure the only reason Sue looks so good in these photos is my expert work with a camera!
After exploring the Exumas, we made a quick stop in Georgetown and headed south again thru Hog Cay Cut. The cut carries only 3' MLW, but we were able to make it thru after a short delay for the tide. Catamarans rule! Few other sailboats are able to pass this way due to the shallow waters and it is always great to explore areas less traveled. There was an old Bahamas fishing boat wreck and Alan was able to free an old block from the rigging and I got a piece of sail cloth for our treasures. The snorkeling on the reef at the south end of Long Cay was fantastic and no one would believe me if I tried to say how big the lobsters were!
The fishing is also better off the beaten path! This was an African Pompano and made 3 excellent dinners. Fish in photos never look as big as they do in real life, so no one would believe me if I tried to guess the weight.
You see lots of dolphins on sailing trips like this and they are always a joy to watch. This was a pod of about 5 that were following the boat.
After Long Cay we stopped at Crooked Island near Landrail, Atwood Harbor, and West Plana. West Plana is another great place to snorkel, but it does require a little walk down the beach for the best spots. On a previous trip from the Virgin Islands to Florida, we stopped by for some good surfing. There were some heavy rains and strong winds getting to Abraham Bay at Mayaguana, so the boat got another good bath. The local guy gave us a tour of the island and we purchased some very cheap diesel.
Sue liked my Message In A Bottle story and decided to give it a try herself. For the final leg, we entered the Caicos Banks at the Sandbore Channel and anchored a final night just off the Fish Cays.
After an overnight trip, we entered the Ocean World Channel, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic at about 10am, June 9, 2008. Sue and Alan received a warm welcome from all their friends and we had a party that night at Rocky's Bar.
Alan in the left seat of the 747 could probably fly over the same area we covered in just about 5 hours. Our trip took 3 months and 10 days, minus the lay over in SC. Life is short and just think of all you miss from 35,000 ft!