Sandpiper Has Arrived in St. Augustine

Sandpiper and her people (Loy and Linda) made it safely to the US east coast on Monday May 8 in the afternoon! We left Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas on Wednesday afternoon and sailed to Baker’s Bay, Great Guana Cay watching for weather to allow passage outside the sea of Abaco in the Atlantic through the Whale Cay Channel. Fortunately the water at Baker’s Bay is crystal clear and Linda spotted a black line with metal on it trailing Sandpiper at anchor. Loy snorkeled and discovered that our propeller and drive shaft had snagged a floating black polypropylene line with a dinghy anchor on it. We were fortunate that it only wrapped around and did not throw the anchor into the hull or the prop. With the help of Bob Henderson from Adanaco and Bob Knighton on Syzygy we cleared the lines and brought aboard our new dinghy anchor.

By Friday morning it was settled enough to pass and we sailed to Green Turtle Cay to wait for weather to cross the Gulf Stream back to the east coast. The Heritage Festival was on at Green Turtle and we enjoyed looking at Bahamian crafts, displays of the lineage of current residents going back to British loyalists, Southern slaveholders, Caribbean islanders and slaves. We went to sleep in the anchorage to the sound of the Gully Roosters band singing “Rake and Scrape music”, the current unofficial Bahamian national anthem, “Party All Night Long.”

After receiving a go, go weather report from the weather net Saturday morning May 6, we left Green Turtle Cay at 6:30 AM in company with Adanaco and Syzygy and a plan to check on the VHF every three hours. The water was many colors of Caribbean Blue and it was easy to see why the Sea of Abaco is called the Crystal Sea. We saw a pelican skimming the waves, the only one we saw in the Abacos. The wind and sea conditions were so good that we decided not to stop at Matanilla Shoal on the edge of the Bahamian Bank but to continue on to the Gulf Stream and the East Coast for a passage of three days. At midnight we passed Matanilla Shoal ahead of our schedule. Saturday night the wind blew 24 knots out of the West and we had big rollers all night long. It was an uncomfortable night and Loy developed a case of mal de mer. The auto helm on all three boats acted up, but by Sunday morning all three were functioning again. Syzygy an engine problem and continued under sail alone. We took two-hour shifts through the night with one of us on the helm and the other sleeping in the sea birth in the salon.

During the early morning hours Sunday the wind and sea calmed and we entered the Gulf Stream and picked up speed to 7.5 knots with the North current. The Gulf Stream has a distinctive color; a beautiful dark deep blue that looks like the water has been treated with Ritz die. There was Sargasso weed in the Stream and we saw a pod of Dolphin playing in our bow wake and two fin back whales migrating north toward the Bay of Fundy. Sunday night was our second night at sea and we begin to get a comfortable rhythm of exchanging helm and sleep. Linda had prepared chicken and pasta salad before we got underway that served us well at sea. We discovered that during the night Saturday a tool box in the forward cabin had gone flying and hit the faucet in the forward guest cabin and drained all 150 gallons of our tank water down the drain. We had 23 gallons backup in jugs but decided to be prudent and put in at St. Augustine. (Actually discovering the cause of the lack of water was a good thing as we had visions of a ruptured tank or hose—at sea paranoia is a reality!)

We arrived at the sea buoy for the St. Augustine inlet at noon Monday and went in to the Camachee Marina. Syzygy arrived in St. Augustine at 11pm. on Monday night and was towed in to Conch Inn Marina. Adanaco continued north in the Gulf Stream toward Beaufort, NC. We will have dinner with Bob and Linda of Syzygy tonight in St. Augustine. We have touched base with Gene and Gail Knight on Wind Dancer and made arrangement to meet with them in Brunswick, GA on about Sunday of this week.

Linda learned a new at sea approach to determining whether she needs to change her shirt. She touches her tongue to it and if it tastes strongly of salt it needs to be washed. She advises that this is not necessary at home. We now have cell phone service. Loy is at 630 728 8835 and Linda at 630 747 9673. We look forward to talking with you as we move North up the coast.