Use the Navigation Area to the left to cruise along with us

Check out Stray Cat Charters at http://www.SailStrayCat.com 

-------------  UPDATE - October 31, 2007  ------------- 

The website has been updated.  Journal updates are located on the appropriate pages which are accessible using the Navigation pane on the left.

-------------  UPDATE - October 19, 2007  ------------- 

The passage from Jamaica to Panama was supposed to be a beam reach through the trade wind belt.  Pilot Charts are reference books that show what the recorded wind and wave information are for the last 100 years in most oceans and bodies of water.  The Pilot Charts indicate that during the month of October on the passage from Jamaica to Panama that the wind blows out of the east at 15-20 knots about 90 percent of the time.  Well, we seemed to find 100% of the 10% of the time that the wind did not blow.  We were able to sail for several hours here and there, using squalls and localized micro-fronts to slingshot us 10 or 15 miles, but on the whole the trades never filled in.

On the second and third day, we did pick up some wind, but it was straight out of the south and right on the nose.  We spent the better part of 24 hours tacking – first southeast and then southwest, but we found this to be futile as a substantial current was against us on the southeast tack.  During those 24-30 hours we made only 15-20 miles of southing, and eventually realized that this tactic was not going to be successful.

At this point, we were forced to make plans based on the fact that if the wind never did cooperate, we were facing a serious issue, as we most likely didn’t have enough fuel to motor the entire distance.  As a result, we began using only one engine at a time, always keeping the RPMs in the 1500-2000 range in order to conserve fuel.  At low RPMs, the engines become very fuel efficient, and even though we rarely moved at over 4 knots, we surmised that this was our best bet at making landfall any time soon.

And so it went for close to 300 miles.  Sunrise became morning – morning became afternoon – afternoon became dinner – dinner became sundowners – sundowners became talking about the night watch schedule – a little sleep – a few hours on watch – a little more sleep – and sunrise came to start it all over again.  All the while, we prognosticated, forecasted, made assumptions, made predictions, read weather books, studied the clouds, and even said a few prayers – all focused on the big question – “Where are the trades?"

The Dinghy Push Project

With 120 miles to go, we realized that we could no longer make any plans that included hoping for the wind – there was none.  We knew that we were low on fuel so we started doing some calculations to see just what our situations was, and the result was that making landfall on the diesel that we had was questionable at best.

So, the last resort option came out and after a few hours of discussion, we decided to pull the trigger.  We stopped the boat, lowered the dinghy and moved it around to the starboard side of the boat and rigged a spring line from Stray Cat’s aft cleat to a padeye on the front of the dinghy.  We then rigged the dink’s bowline to Stray Cat’s bow cleat.  When all was tight and looked right, we revved up the Yamaha 15hp, and off we went – at a blistering 2.5 knots.  The dink was doing an admirable job pushing us along, and for as long as we could keep that Yamaha running, we could move along at 2 to 3 knots without running the diesels, thereby conserving fuel that we would need to make landfall and enter the harbor.  We also had a nice current of 1 knot and managed to stay between 3 & 4 knots most of the time.  We were carrying approximately 14 gallons of gasoline on board, but none of us were sure of how long that amount would last because none of us had much experience pushing a 22,000  pound boat with a 15 hp outboard motor.

We started with the “Dinghy Push Project” at about 9am on Sunday morning.  At about 11am, a squall came up and we were able to get the genny out and pulling for about 2 hours, which helped the dink get us up to 5 or 6 knots.  Finally, at around 5pm, the first 4 gallon fuel tank ran dry, and we switched to our second 4 gallon tank.  Then right before dark at about 7pm, we switched to the larger 6 gallon tank so that we would have the least possible chance of having to make any adjustments to the dinghy during the night, when it would be infinitely more dangerous.  We “motored” through the dark for hours, and then at 5am, on Capt. Mark’s watch, the Yamaha finally sputtered and died.  Back to slow motoring on one diesel engine until sun-up, but by that time, we had come within 30 miles of Panama, and because of the heroic actions of our little 10 ft dinghy and 15hp Yamaha, we were now pretty confident that we had enough fuel to make landfall and get into port.  The dink had pushed us for almost 24 hours and helped us make almost 60 miles.  Not quite as good as having the trade winds on the beam, but it got the job done.  The next morning we tried to get the dinghy going again, but the motor wouldn’t start – it seems that during the night, the strengthening waves had splashed into the dinghy and some water had entered the fuel tank.  Capt Mark proceeded to take apart the carburetor and clean it at least twice – all while underway, but alas, it didn’t help as the gasoline was now contaminated.  Oh well, at least we made it to Panama.

Landfall in Panama!!

Stray Cat and crew made landfall in Panama on Monday morning at approximately10am.  We pulled into a place called Miramar because one of our guide books told us that they had a fuel dock, and that was important to us.  We spent six days making the passage from Jamaica to Panama, most of it waiting for the trade winds to fill in.  We were forced to motor for a large percentage of the time, and we were quickly realizing that by the time we were close to Panama, we would be on fumes.  We knew that there would be no diesel available in the San Blas Islands because they are so remote, so we were forced to change course to make landfall about 25 miles from our original destination.  Our new destination was a small harbor town called Miramar, where we hoped to refuel before heading to San Blas.

We shot the approach into Miramar – a reef on the left and rocks on the right.  We made it around the reef and began to make our way down the channel towards the few docks and buildings that we thought was our destination.  It seems that we were a little left of the channel, however, because just after a local whistled at us and motioned us further to the right, we lost water and the boat came to a stop rather quickly – we were aground.  So much for a graceful entrance, but Capt. Mark stayed calm and skillfully used Stray Cat’s twin props to wiggle off the ground and back into deep water.  Ok – let’s try this again.  We moved the boat very close to shore and made a few inquiries about where we could get diesel and gasoline – our first foray into our “Spanish to Survive” course, and shortly thereafter we found what we had come for.

What we found in Miramar was a very small warehouse near the water, with a dock that can only be described as “rickety”, and a small store, or “tienda” run by a very cordial Chinese family.  When we arrived all of the locals were on the dock loading down with supplies to take to the small villages of San Blas.  We waited for a space at the “dock” for over an hour as they loaded all kinds of sodas, beers, flour, sugar, rice, bananas and fuel onto their small panga style local boats.  It was finally our turn to move in, and thanks to some great maneuvering and crew work, we pulled off the tight squeeze and tied the bow up into the mangroves.  After a few “preguntas” from the young Asian man working the dock, down the pier rolled the diesel – on a hand truck inside a 55 gallon drum.  We positioned the boat on the dock to get close to the drum and used a hand cranked pump to fill the port tank, but had to move the boat off the dock and flip her around to get to the starboard tank.  We bought every bit of diesel they had which amounted to about 75 gallons, which we figured would be enough to last us during our trip through the San Blas. 

They also had groceries and supplies at the small tienda, so we spent some time and money provisioning for San Blas before we left.  They had a limited supply, but a few key items were necessary since we were picking up a new passenger the next day and we were very low on food.  The prices were reasonable, the people were friendly, and our first contact with Panamanian culture was pretty enjoyable.  It was a Godsend to have been able to obtain fuel, meat, milk, cereal, soda, eggs etc..   Most of all, though, it was very nice to have the long, windless passage behind us.  Off to the San Blas Islands!

Checking in to Panama

Leaving Miramar, we turned east and followed the Atlantic coast of Panama towards Punta San Blas and the outlying islands of Kuna Yala.  We were heading for an island called Isla Porvenir, which is an official Panamanian Customs and Immigration check in location, but what makes it different is that it is run by the Kuna Indians, and as a result, it has a reputation for being a much friendlier and less bureaucratic place to check in – much better than Colon.  We had hoped to get there Monday afternoon in time to take care of the check in with the officials before they retired for the day, but our estimated time of arrival was past five ‘o clock local time.   As we approached, Mike got on the VHF radio and called Porvenir.  The Customs & Immigration officials answered on the radio and said they could accommodate us, but with overtime charges of $20.  No Problem Mon!  We anchored next to Porvenir just past 5pm and Capt Mark hurried over in the dinghy to meet Eduardo.  Capt Mark was headed towards the town dock in the dinghy when a man from an anchored sailboat flagged him down.  Mark stopped over and the man introduced himself as Eduardo Lopez.  They both made way to the town dock and after filling out a ton of paperwork, Capt Mark had the 4 of us and Stray Cat checked in for 3 months!  Wahoo!!  We celebrated that night with a few rums and a great dinner.  It was wonderful to all be able to sleep through the night without having to stand watches and battle squalls and freighters.  The sleep didn’t last long however, as we had to make sure that we were awake to pick up Walter at 6:30am from the Porvenir airport. 

We were all up early the next day, Tuesday the 16th, preparing for Walter’s arrival.  We were having our morning coffee in the cockpit, when we heard an airplane flying above us.  We watched the pilot’s deft maneuvering as he landed the twin engine, high wing, turbo prop at the Porvenir airport.  Capt Mark sped over in the dinghy to greet Walter and he was back in about 15 minutes with no Walter.  We decided that Walter had missed his flight when we heard the familiar sound of engines overhead.  Another of the same kind of twin engine buzzed the anchorage and then landed.  Another plane!

This time, we thought, Walter must be aboard, so Capt. Mark, Mike and Kate dinked over to collect our new crew member.  Sure enough, we found him just as advertised, with his video camera, already filming the buildings and uniqueness of Porvenir.  And so we added Walter – a Russian who has lived in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but now works in NY and LA.  Walter is making a documentary film about the San Blas Islands, and Stray Cat and crew will be his transportation and production support team for the week or so that he is on board. 

And so, with a new member on board, Stray Cat raised anchor and began the next chapter in the Panama Adventure.

-------------  UPDATE - October 9, 2007  -------------

We arrived in Port Antonio, Jamaica on Friday, October 5th in the morning just after 8am.  We had to check in with customs & immigration so we took a slip at the Erroll Flynn Marina.  "Mix" was our line handler and he worked for the marina.  One of the many great people we met in Port Antonio.  We tied up and started filling out paperwork.  What a job!  The papers had to be filled out 3 different ways and for 5 people, it was a lot of red tape.  We were able to get off of the boat and walk around the marina only.  Lots of us took advantage of the marina showers and a little shopping at "Things Jamaican".  The first item we picked up was a lb. of coffee for $1300.  We quickly put it down!  Then a shirt for over $900!  We knew something was awry, so we asked the store manager and she told us the exchange rate at the marina was 65J's(Jamaican Dollars) to $1 U.S.  The exchange rate at the ATM in town was more like 70-1.  We spent thousands of dollars everyday, but without all the guilt, and the ATM receipt gave your balance in J's - we all loved seeing our bank balances number in the hundreds of thousands of dollars!!

We were all starving and looking for some lunch after the first 2 customs agents came & went, although we were still waiting for the third.  Ryan got a suggestion from one of the local guys to head over to "Kooyah" for some authentic Jamaican food.  We headed out of the main gate of the marina.  The property of the marina was enormous and encompassed a city park open to the public in the daytime, it was gorgeous.  It was like a lush tropical paradise with every kind of flower and fruit you could imagine.  We did not have to go far to get to Kooyah and it was on the rooftop, so we toasted Red Stripes for making it this far on our adventure and we ordered, fried Red Snapper, curried chicken & curried goat!  We found goat to be one of the staple meats of the area.  Everything was delicious!  From the rooftop we could see the outdoor market and some really cool old buildings.  We were ready to explore!

We went to the bank to get some more J's when a local guy named John picked us up.  He was a guy who wanted to show us around town and help us get whatever we needed, sort of an informal local guide service.  John took us all over town showing us all of the shops, buildings, landmarks, and telling us some of the local history.  He took us through the market where they had all kinds of fresh fruit and vegetables along with Jamaican trinkets, wood carvings, leather shoes, Blue Mountain coffee, spices, local meats & fresh fish.  It was awesome!  There was so much to see and bargain for.  We went back many times.  In the butcher shop a man was showing us some goat testicles and telling us how good they were for us.  Goat & pig heads were a plenty.  Then  a Jamaican lady came and grabbed Ryan and asked him if he was an Irishman.  She was happy to see him and gave him some money to buy a drink.  Ryan was confused and John told him the lady was wealthy and had English roots, that she had gotten excited at seeing a tall white man.  Ryan promptly was gotten a Red Stripe in the market.  John took us back to the marina after showing us all around.  We tipped him for the service, but he always wanted more giving us the reason that Jamaican dollars "funny money" .

After chillin' on the boat for a while, Ryan was ready to bar hop on his last night in Jamaica as he was flying out the next morning.  Ryan & Capt. Mark hit every bar or hole in the wall in town.  Mike, Kate & Stuart went to Shadow's, an outdoor restaurant downtown, for dinner and had a wonderful fish platter of Mahi Mahi, steamed vegetables & rice.  One plate would have been enough for 3 people!  It was really good and we had a few rums too.  The local rum in Jamaica is Appleton Estates, we got very familiar with it.  As we were finishing up our drinks, John came in to the bar.  He had told us earlier in the day that they had really good food.  He proceeded to take us around the city again.  The first bar we stopped in we saw Capt. Mark & Ryan.  We all had a few drinks and then Kate, Mike & Stuart retired for the evening and left the night owls up.  Ryan had to leave at 8am for a cab ride to Kingston Airport.  We were all up at 8am as he was leaving, he had scheduled 2 cabs and neither one showed up.  There was a little panic as "Hulk" found a cab for Ryan.  Little did we know at the time - even though Jamaica is in the same time zone as we are, they do not adjust for Daylight Savings Time, so it was actually only 7am and at 8am both cabs did show up for Ryan, OOPS! 

Saturday was a work day for the Stray Cat Crew.  Capt. Mark & Mike worked on the generator wiring and fuel pump, they also mounted a pad eye in the deck for the SSB antennae, then they secured the dinghy with new line.  There were a couple of local guys, Hulk & Donovan, buffing and polishing the hulls for a few days as it rained on and off the whole time we were in Jamaica.  Stuart & Kate did 6 loads of laundry and went back and forth to the market 3 times to re-supply the ship's stores.  This was the day we discovered the local bakery & meat pies Yum!  The bakery was very inexpensive and had warm bread fresh from the oven.  Meat pies were the only ground beef we came across in a cheese flavored Phyllo dough, very tasty!  Rum thirty came early that day as everyone had worked hard.  There was a little exploring of the marina pool and the internet access was really nice.  We were able to use Skype to make a few international calls - it was really nice to be able to keep in touch for a few days.  We called it an early night as we were all exhausted.  

Sunday was another good work day cleaning up the interior and wrapping up all of the projects on deck.  We had a salon day on the swim platform with haircuts all around for Mike, Kate & Stuart.  We met little Sevaskia Brown, Hulk's daughter, who hung out on the boat & watched movies while he buffed & polished.  Donovan was still buffing the boat and went to get some lunch in Boston.  A local town well known for their jerk chicken & pork.  It was the best jerked meat we had the whole time in Jamaica, but it was VERY expensive. Mike & Kate scouted around the immediate area finding a restaurant nearby and a gorgeous beach with some historic ruins on the marina property.  The flora & fauna were incredibly beautiful.   We retired early again on Sunday as it was raining once more. 

Monday was spent preparing the boat for departure and stocking up on everything we could need for at least 5 days of sailing.  We hit the local Supermarkets, liquor store and hardware store.  The hardware store is where you would go to buy your baby chicks or eggs by the dozen.  The babies were adorable!  We did some more sight seeing with Capt. Mark and had lunch at a local chicken place called the Chicken Shack - there was one fast food restaurant that everyone would recognize - KFC, the locals called it the Fowl Coop.   

In the early afternoon, Capt. Mark checked out of Jamaica with customs & immigration and took the guys to fuel up and Kate went to town for a few more fruits & veggies.  Later a guy named Moses had been doing some fiberglass work on the boat and as he was leaving the marina he showed us all of the fruit trees on the grounds.  There were bread fruit, ackee and coconuts all over the place.  He was something of a bush doctor.  He snapped twigs off of trees and told us to make tea with it = the plant was called sour sap, and he said it would calm your nerves.  It was clear that Jamaicans live off of the land and do not even need to plant rows of fruit trees or crops, everything grows naturally and they harvest it when it is ready instead of trying to hurry along God's process.  It was fascinating to hear all of the remedies and how to prepare the different fruits & leaves.  Completely in tune with the earth and natural goodness.  Our last night in Jamaica we hung out in the cockpit and talked with Hulk.  He had been found on the streets in Kingston at 18 months old.  He was a very smart guy with a wordly knowledge and a big heart.  He was one of our favorite people that we met.  We finally decided to head out to dinner and opted for Chinese.  It was the only place around still open.  The funny part about this place was that we could not even tell that it was a restaurant and were hesitant to order, but we did anyway as our options were limited.  We wound up eating some of the best Chinese food any of us had ever had!  The shrimp & chicken in our meals were fresh & local - Imagine That!  It was great, we all retired immediately after dinner.

Tuesday AM - Not feeling too good.  Appleton Estates had us in a bit of a bad way, but we recovered.  Stuart & Kate headed out to the bakery early for some more treats & meat pies.  Capt Mark & Hulk cleaned the boat and Mike hooked up Mark's new email address on SSB to the Stray Cat website.  There were 2 other Privilege Catamarans at the marina and Capt Steve did let us aboard "Amazing Grace" the 65 footer.  It was enormous and laid out like a mega yacht!  The interior was astounding, incredibly fancy with every bell and whistle you could think of.  The last selling price was $1.5million U.S.  Stuart said he was jumping ship and stowing away on the Privilege 65!  Capt. Steve said that the owners did not like sailing, so they would call him and tell him which island to bring the boat to and get it all stocked up so that they could fly in to that location and meet him at the marina without having to be at sea.  They do not like being at sea?!  Why have a sailboat??  Stray Cat set sail just after noon, with Stuart on board.  Jamaica was great and Port Antonio had some wonderful people!   George the manager of the marina was very helpful & so was Mix, Moses, Steve & Hulk.  They were all there to wish us well and see us off.  We had a fantastic time and we would go back to Port Antonio anytime.  We would recommend it to others without hesitation!  Go Jamaica Mon!!   

-------------  UPDATE - October 6, 2007  -------------

Well, the adventure has begun.  We left New Bern, NC at approximately 6am on Saturday, September 29th on our way to George Town, Bahamas in the Exumas.  The flight out of New Bern left about 40 minutes late because they had a flight attendant call in sick at the last minute.  We arrived in Charlotte a scant 15 minutes before our next scheduled flight to Ft. Lauderdale and only an "Amazing Race" - OJ Simpson style airport run saved us from missing our second flight.  We arrived at the gate at the last minute, and were the last two passengers to board the jet - WHEW!

The rest of the flights went smoothly, but our 6 hour layover in the Nassau airport was less than desirable.  Regardless, we arrived safe and sound at the airport in George Town right on time at 7pm, which also happened to be just right to catch a beautiful sunset.  

We had made it safely, but as we soon found out - our checked luggage had not.  We weren't told that we needed to claim and recheck our luggage at the first port of entry, which was Nassau, and as a result, our bags were left in Nassau.  Willie, our taxi driver, waited patiently while we filled out the necessary forms and made the necessary apologies and pleas for help.  On the way into town, Willie offered to meet the 7am flight in from Nassau the next day to see if our bags had been forwarded on that flight.

This was the situation that we had most feared, as we were pretty sure that Capt. Mark would be ready to "beat feet" very soon after we arrived, and waiting on luggage would not be a good enough reason to wait around, especially during hurricane season.  You gotta get it while the gettin's good, as they say.  Knowing this, we had packed the most important items in our two backpacks, which we did not check, and carried on all the planes.  But, that didn't mean that the two small bags that were lost didn't want to be seen again.

After a 30 minute taxi ride, we arrived at the dock and made our way out to meet the boat.  It was a happy reunion with hugs and handshakes all around - it was good to see Capt. Mark and Stray Cat again.  We met Stuart, Ryan and Bradley, all of whom had been aboard since Miami, and had spent the previous 7 or 8 days making final preparations for the trip, crossing the Gulf Stream and then working their way through the central Bahamas and down the Exumas chain to George Town.  

We told Mark about our luggage issue, and he informed us that Bradley wasn't flying out until 3pm the next day, and that, combined with the fact that we still needed to go to Exuma Market to restock the boat with essentials for the next leg, would be reason enough to spend most of the next day in George Town before leaving.  So, we breathed a small sigh of relief and began praying that our bags would be put on the 7am flight and be in our hands before we had to set sail.

When the introductions and greetings were behind us and we had all of our things on board, we cast off the lines and headed out to the anchorage to spend the night at anchor.  Stray Cat has all the necessary equipment to be self sufficient, and to stay the night at the dock would have cost $100.  Now that's an easy decision.

That night, we settled into the boat and began to get to know the rest of the crew.  Stuart has sailed with Capt. Mark before on a long trip to the Dominican Republic and has a good many years of sailing experience.  In his shore side life, he is a laboratory scientist who works on cancer research.  Ryan and Bradley are brothers-in-law who grew up in the same town in Missouri, and took this trip together hoping for a little adventure.  Ryan is an USAF F-16 fighter pilot and Bradley is a professional photographer based in Hollywood.  They were all pleasant and welcoming.  We talked and laughed that night over a few rums and then turned in early to get enough sleep for the next day, which was likely to be a big one.

The next morning, we were relieved to here "Stray Cat - Stray Cat - Taxi One" call on the VHF at about 7:15am.  Willie had asked Taxi One to call us on the VHF and let us know he was on the way with our luggage.  We eagerly got dressed and jumped in the dingy with Capt. Mark and motored into Victoria Lake and the George Town dingy dock.  Willie was waiting and walked down the pier, but there was only one problem - he only had one bag.  Luckily for us, it was the one bag that had the most essentials in it, so if it had to be one or the other, we were happy to see this bag.  Willie said that the next flight in was at 2:30pm and that he would be there to check for our other bag at that time.  We told him that we weren't sure if we could stay that long, but that we would try.

The rest of that day was mostly spent grocery shopping, stowing groceries, and trying to get Internet.  We moved Stray Cat back onto the day dock to make the days tasks a little easier.  It was a Sunday in George Town, and everything was closed, except Exuma Market, which only stayed open until 11am.  We were lucky to get there in time and be the last people checking out as they were locking the doors.  Bradley was all packed up and ready when his 1:30pm taxi arrived.  We all wished him a safe trip and watched him walk down the dock, on his way back to Hollywood.

We were now down to the crew that would take Stray Cat to Jamaica - A crew of five - Capt. Mark, Mike, Kate, Stuart and Ryan.

Capt. Mark was kind enough to wait until the next flight from Nassau came in to see if our other bag was going to make it in.  The 2:30 flight time came and went with no VHF call from Willie, and we were preparing ourselves for the fact that we were going to lose that piece of luggage.  About 2:45pm, we called "Taxi One" on Channel 16 and found out that no bag had arrived for us, and that Willie was sorry, but he had found out nothing.  We thanked him for his efforts, drafted a note with our contact info, and left it with the local gas station attendant, who kindly agreed to pass the note on to Willie.

With our business in George Town completed, we made preparations for departure and by 3pm we were slipping the lines to make way.  We headed East between Stocking Island and Great Exuma before making the cut out to Exuma Sound.  Our direction at that point was going to be determined by the draft of the boat and the direction of the wind.  We considered a southerly route through Hog Cay cut (DON'T TALK LIKE A GRINGO TIP #1 - Cay is pronounced "Key" - not "Kay"), but because that cut is an extremely shallow one, and the tides were not suitable,  Capt. Mark decided to head Northeast for the northern tip of Long Island.

Another factor in that decision to head up around Long Island was the wind direction, which was South.  The decision ended up being the right one, because as soon as we rounded the northeast tip of Long Island we were able to cut the motors and sail at an average of six or seven knots.  The sky was cloudy and we encountered several squalls full of rain and wind, but we were able to use each to our advantage by skirting the counter-clockwise sector, constantly changing course to stay close hauled - not being over powered or under powered - and keeping the bow to the ever growing swells.  Each one lasted less than an hour - each one soaked us to the bone - and each one was somewhere between "amusement park fun" and "close to death terrifying".

This weather stayed with us as we moved down the coast of Long Island.  By this time, night had fallen, and we had settled into a watch schedule.  Stuart and Ryan took the 10pm to 2am watch, and Kate and Mike woke up for the 2am to 6am.  We didn't see a lot of traffic and besides the squalls, not much else.

We continued past Long Island and stayed to the north of the Acklins on an easterly heading.  The wind was still out of the South and while that was surprising, we were able to use that wind to make a lot of easting.  Our hope was that the trade winds would fill in eventually from the east making it possible to make our turn south towards Great Inagua.

We skirted the Acklins closely to take advantage of the lee of the island and the resulting calm waters, and as we made our turn around the east end, we got our wish.  The winds began to blow out of the east, and we trimmed the sails accordingly, hoping for a free ride to Matthew Town.

 With wind dictating much of our route, we weren't sure if we would need to stop or not, how far out of our way it might be etc....  The east winds fell off and became more southeast, and as a result, we ended up motoring more than expected.  Capt. Mark thought it would be prudent to stop for fuel before continuing to Jamaica.  Mark had never set foot in Matthew's Town, but had anchored just off of it many years ago.  None of the guide books for that area had any information at all on Matthew's Town and Capt. Mark had remembered that they may have fuel, but it would have to be carried in jerry jugs.

Our first stop since George Town and we pulled in to anchor 2 miles around the island from the point of Matthew's Town at 10pm Tuesday.  We had been underway for 2 days and 6+ hours.  It was really not bad to go such a long way, because we had so many people to stand watch. We did hit some really bumpy seas and that was about the worst of it.

Early the next morning we were up for coffee, conversation and plantains...  Yum!  At 10am we weighed anchor and headed to Matthew's Town.  As we got close we called in on the radio for instructions on entering the harbor.  The instructions were cordial and fairly vague, very Bahamian.  After a few minutes of searching, Mike spotted a range and a narrow crack in a seawall, That was it!  Capt. Mark eased Stray Cat in through the narrow channel, at 24ft. wide she's a big girl and he gracefully squeezed her through.  

There was a gentleman to greet us and guide us through the procedures.  We informed him that we were looking for a Starbucks and a Wal-Mart.  He had a great sense of humor!  He got us tied off and took Capt. Mark to customs right away as we waited for fuel.  Before he departed Kate asked him about the flamingos and he told us they were over 50 miles away. We knew we did not have much time so figured it was not possible. 

As we had pulled in to the harbor there was another boat already tied up - the only other boat there in the harbor.  This was not an ocean going vessel.  It was a Larson 32, much like a Sea Ray, a motor vessel or a speed boat you would call it - something that you would normally see on a lake.  As we were waiting Capt. Mark's return, the two latino gentlemen from the Larson came over and asked us where we were coming in from.  Ryan told them from Miami.  They said that's where they had arrived from and we could not believe it.  We had traveled through some very large seas on our way to get to Matthew's Town and we would never want to see waves like that in such a small craft like they were in.  

These 2 gentlemen, one named Maruzio, we think, had been rescued by the coast guard only days before.  They went on to tell us how the seas were huge and their GPS had failed.  The boat was being violently tossed back and forth when they ran out of fuel.  They were close to land at the time and almost decided to swim for the land and try to make it on foot.  They were told later by locals that they would be dead if they had tried it.  They did have an EPIRB on board, a rescue beacon that sends a GPS signal off to the Coast Guard with your coordinates, and they decided to press the button.  They retold the exciting tale how the chopper was overhead in 30 minutes.  The basket was lowered to take them to safety and one by one they crawled into it.  They told of the wild ride in the basket and how it flipped and flopped and felt like they were going to fall out of it.  They were soaked to the bone and scared to death, but alive.  The Coasties took them to Matthew's Town the closest settlement.

Upon arriving in Matthew's Town the men paid a local in a small aluminum boat to take them back out to the powerboat with some fuel.  They said it was a bumpy and X-treme ride, that took them 46 miles!  They were happy to get back to their bosses powerboat and made way into Matthew's Town harbor, now in the Larson 32.  They had told us they were trying to deliver their bosses boat from Miami to Venezuela.  They had 2 55-gallon drums for fuel in addition to the tanks on board.  We thought, these guys are Insane!  They had a great story to tell and they were excited to tell it to us.

Unfortunately, it turns out that these guys had not checked into The Bahamas at all.  You have to clear customs at the first point of entry or the first land you touch within 24 hours of entry.  They had gotten fuel at 3 other islands in The Bahama chain and never checked in with customs & immigration.  They told us that 40 police officers, immigration officers and even the DEA came down to meet them.  They were in BIG trouble!!  The officers tore their boat apart looking for drugs.  They cut all of the seats, carpeting and turned everything upside down.  As far as we know they did not find anything, but these guys were told they could be fined $10,000.00 for not checking in, plus 30 days in jail, and also they could take the boat and confiscate it.  As we left the harbor these guys were still sweating it out and had been there for 2 days.  The Bahamas is not the quickest pace to start with, that is part of the attraction, but in the case of these 2 guys there was definite foot dragging going on.  Who knows maybe we'll see them again on our journey.

Before we departed Matthew's Town we were able to fuel up, find an internet cafe next door and were taken to see the flamingos.  We saw the beautiful pink birds from a distance.  We also saw a young couple of feral donkeys and learned that they had wild cows, goats, donkeys etc...  on the island from folks who had lived there hundreds of years before.  They have many fresh water sources on Great Inagua.

It was strange that the latin men and everyone else that we asked told us there was no market or store on the island and as we went to see the flamingos we passed 2 stores a bakery and a liquor store.  It seemed no one wanted our business and we did not get to explore much of this beautiful town.

We set sail on Wednesday at 3pm for a couple of days sail to Jamaica-Mon.  We passed so close to Cuba you could smell the cigars.  Down through the Windward Passage we go between Cuba and Haiti, Travelin' South.  

The crew & Capt. Mark have been great.  The camaraderie is evident and everyone is chipping in.  It has been a truly win-win experience with a great bunch of people!  God is Great!

-------------  UPDATE - September 22, 2007  -------------

On September 29th, we fly out of New Bern, NC on our way to George Town, which is on the island of Great Exuma in the Exumas chain of the Bahamas. It’s sure to be one of those travel days that never fades from your memory. We are scheduled to change planes four times – first in Charlotte, then to Ft. Lauderdale, where we transfer to a Bahamas Air flight bound for Nassau. After a six-hour layover in Nassau, we’ll jump the evening flight to George Town, arriving there at approximately 7:15pm. We're hoping to catch a taxi from the airport to a place called Coco-Plums Beach Club, which we visited on our last trip to these islands. They are the proud creators of a cheeseburger, which has been rated #1 on both mine and Kate’s lifetime list of “Best Cheeseburgers Ever”.

The past few weeks have been hectic to say the least. We have been doing a lot of asset liquidation with the ultimate goal of getting down to the bare necessities of life. Believe it or not, Tomorrow is even up for sale, but we won’t let her go cheaply. If she doesn’t sell while we’re gone, we’ll be more than happy to have her, but if someone wants her badly enough between now and then, we’ll be happy to make the exchange.

Hopefully, after the #1 Cheeseburger in the World, we’ll grab a taxi into George Town and meet up with Capt. Mark and Stray Cat, a 45’ Privilege catamaran. Probably the next day, we’ll weigh anchor, and begin our journey south, ultimately heading for the San Blas Islands of Panama. The route will take us offshore, through the Windward Passage between Haiti and Cuba, and then on to Jamaica. We plan to pull into Kingston, Jamaica for a day or two to rest and take on provisions and fuel. When the weather allows, we’ll make the decision to continue south for the last offshore leg to the San Blas Islands, a distance that should take 2 or 3 days to cover.

The San Blas are renowned for their tropical beauty, palm tree studded islands, white sand and turquoise blue waters. They are also famous for the indigenous Kuna Indians, who still live according to their generations old traditions and legal codes. The country of Panama even recognizes the sovereignty of their nation and their laws. They are famous for paddling out to meet visiting yachts in their dugout canoes with the desire to trade fish, coconuts, and most famously, the colorful “molas” that are crafted by the Kuna women and children.

We plan to explore San Blas for several weeks before making our way to the Bocas del Toro province of Panama where we will be based for several weeks. Past that point, the schedule is relatively open, and as sure as anything CAN happen, we are sure that many things WILL happen.

We’ll do our best to update this blog and our website with reports and pictures so that you can all go on a “virtual adventure” without ever leaving your computer screen.

In return, we only ask for your thoughts and prayers for a successful and safe voyage.

All the best,

Mike and Kate.

The Sail Plan as written by Capt. Mark