Skipper of Black Diamond, Ed Radonic out on Delivery…

April 6, 2011 — s/v Black Diamond

 

I will be assisting friends with the delivery of their new sailing yacht “Sealight” a 43 foot Beneteau. This is an “X” Charter Yacht from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. The goal is to deliver this yacht safely to it’s final home at the Port Credit Yacht Club in Toronto, Canada. I will make up the crew along with other friends of the new owners, Tracey & Neilson Ruiz, most of whom are also members of the Port Credit Yacht Club.

I will be joining them for a total of 21 days from the BVI’s to The Turks & Caicos, then on to George Town, Exuma where our families will join us, my wife Roxane, kids Thomas and Alexander along with Neilson’s wife Tracey and their kids Natasha and Nicholas. We will then spend 10 days enjoying the Bahamas enroute to Nassau. There we will fly home, and Neilson will be joined by other crew that will continue on to Charleston. I will then return with my own crew, and Captain to boat from Charleston to New York City.

This delivery is now successfully completed without incident, praise God for being with us through out the voyage.

 

More details on photos on this later. But for now you can get some details on Sea Light’s web site…..

http://sailingsealight.com/

 

During the delivery we spent 10 days of cruising in the Exumas with our families, check out the video link below…..

 

Bahamas Pigs from Roxane R. on Vimeo.

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Cave Cay to Georgetown, Exumas

January 29, 2011 — s/v Black Diamond

Horizon of the leeshore, sailing to Georgetown, Exumas.

We exited the cut from Cave Cay, and took the outside route to Georgetown, we were sailing on the outside, as opposed to inside the cays. We chose this as a more direct and quicker route to Georgetown, Exuma. The inside route is a little more tricky, and still calls for deeper draft vessels to exit in order to avoid some of the very shallow areas. There are a few areas in the inside route, that we would not be able to navigate with a draft of 6 1/2 feet. Taking the outside route was less stressful on a beautiful day such as this. Just set your sails, autopilot and enjoy. We had one of the most beautiful day-sails ever, and by the end of the day we were in Georgetown.

Close Hauled and sailing clear of the lee shore.

The wind was very close to the nose, sailing close hauled trying to keep our distance from the lee shore. We were still able to make good speed, about 6 knots in light conditions. We noticed a larger boat ahead, that we could not seem to catch, and he seem to be on the same line as us. Later when we met up with them at the Anchorage, I commented on what a nice sail we had today. Then they admitted that they could not sail that close to the wind, therefore, they had to motor sail all the way to Georgetown, in order to keep off the lee shore. This is one of the advantages of our boat, in conditions like this, we were able to save the iron genny from being pressed into operation,  and we still managed to keep up with them.

My older son Thomas and I, enjoying the ride on the bow.

Having the an autopilot surely has it’s relaxing advantages. We enjoyed the afternoon sail to Georgetown, with a bit of fishing, lunch, relaxing, and enjoying the great weather.

Thomas enjoying the ride.

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Cave Cay, Exumas – Bahamas.

December 29, 2009 — s/v Black Diamond

Actually - December 2008 to January 2009 & March 2009. (C) Copyright 2008

Our approach to Cave Cay. (C) Copyright 2008

Cave Cay is a beautiful place almost half way from Staniel Cay to George Town in the Exumas. We decided to anchor here for a night, but after discovering how beautiful it was, and all the different activities it offered, we decided to spend an extra night here. Above you see the approach to Cave cay, and below you see the different colours of the Bahamian waters depending on it’s depth. The darker water is deeper water, but you want to also make sure it’s not coral, although there is not much of that in the Bahamas.

You can read the water depths by the colour of the water. (C) Copyright 2008

Anchored at Cave Cay. (C) Copyright 2008

3 Boys and a Dinghy. (C) Copyright 2008

Our dinghy worked out pretty well, the electric motor would run for a couple of hours on the slowest speed. But on normal operation we could only count on it for about 2-3 miles of distance. On full throttle which we needed at Cave Cay to get out of the strong current, it only lasted a few minutes and died. I had to row the dinghy a couple of miles along the shore out of the current all the way back to the mother ship. Overall it was sufficient to get us to shore and back, but could not do alot of exploring. If we come back to the Bahamas we will invest in a larger gas motor. It is recommended that you have at least 10hp or 15hp. I prefer the smaller one, easier to handle, less storage room and fuel requirements.

Exploring a cave entrance. Notice our electric motor. (C) Copyright 2008

One of our most favorite shots of the boys. (C) Copyright 2008

Hey Boys watch out for the Cave Man behind you! (C) Copyright 2008

Thomas Deep in a Cave hole. (C) Copyright 2008

I view of the Cove from the Highland we climbed.

The picture above shows you a view from the highland in Cave Cay. We climbed up to the top of this hill, the view behind us is a little cove formed by little rocky islands. Below you will find close up pictures of this cove, with tiny little beaches. An amazing protected harbour, difficult to get into with a large boat or anything that draws more than 6 feet. At the time we visited it looked like it was still under construction. There was no one around, but the buildings still looked pretty new. There appeared to be a few villas that could be rented, you can arrive by plane or boat. Would be a neat place to visit again.

Doesn't this just look like Paradise on earth. (C) Copyright 2008

Beautifully warm swimming water and private beaches everywhere. (C) Copyright 2008

The beaches don't get any better anywhere else, I don't believe. (C) Copyright 2008

Entrance into the little Cove of Cave Cay Marina. (C) Copyright 2008

Dinghy ride inside the cove. (C) Copyright 2008

Another shot inside the cove. (C) Copyright 2008

Marina Office, on a floating dock, that moves up and down with the tides. (C) Copyright 2008

Air strip at Cave Cay, ready to receive small planes. (C) Copyright 2008

Motorized power generation and battery storage found on the island. (C) Copyright 2008

Black Diamond, Picture perfect anchorage. Sure beats Lake Ontario, Canada. (C) Copyright 2008

Plenty of Shelling and Conch for the picking. (C) Copyright 2008

This Corona is worth its weight in Gold in the Out Islands. (C) Copyright 2008

After a whole day of hiking, snorkeling, dinghy rowing, swimming and much exploring it sure is nice to just relax at this peaceful anchorage with a nice cool bottle of Corona. The sandwich pictured here is made with Roxane’s home baked bread on the boat. You can see why I lost about 30lbs on this trip.

Sunsets like these every night. (C) Copyright 2008

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Snorkelling Cave Cay – Exumas Bahamas

December 27, 2009 — s/v Black Diamond

Thomas really enjoyed snorkelling Cave Cay. (C) Copyright 2008

Snorkelling around the cut at Cave Cay was the best underwater experience we had in the Bahamas. I am sure there are many more and even more amazing places to snorkel and scuba in the Bahamas. This particular spot we just happen to stumble upon. Within about an hour or so, we saw hundreds of tropical fish, a 3-4 foot large sea turtle and a school of about half a dozen Eagel Rays all pictured below. We also had an encounter with a Baracuda who followed us for about half an hour. I tried to stay between the Baracuda and Thomas, and instructed him to swim on. As we swam the fish just kept on following us around. He would pop up here and there all around us, but would keep a distance from us of about 15 feet. It was a little spookey, they can take a large junk of meat out of you if they wanted too. I have my diving knife ready to go if he came at us.

Alexander standing right by the Cave Cay Cut and light water snorkelling site. (C) Copyright 2008

While Roxane and Alexander explored the rocks around the cut, Thomas and I explored the underwater habitats. Alexander is pictured here right by the Cut in the Cays that forms an access to the Atlantic Ocean. The darker water is the safe passage out to the ocean. The dark water can also have a strong current during the ebb and flow of the tides. You want to stay away from the lighter stuff in a large boat, and away from the dark stuff in your dinghy or you could be taken out to sea. Our electric motor on the dinghy was not the best option for this sort of thing. We actually ran out of batteries and I had row all the way back to the mother ship. You might be able to spot her in the picture above, just under Alex’s left hand near the point.

This is the leeshore on the Atlantic Side of the Cave Cay Cut. (C) Copyright 2008

A lovely natural wadding pool for Alexander. (C) Copyright 2008

Roxane and Alexander had a great time exploring this whole area. (C) Copyright 2008

Not sure what these formations are made of, hardened sand crystals or something. (C) Copyright 2008

A school of Eagle Rays about 25 feet below us! (C) Copyright 2008

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Thomas commented. “Snorkelling here is just like the Aquariums at Atlantis but you get to actually swim with the creatures!”,

We saw Sea Turtles, Eagle Rays, Baracudas and hundreds of tropical fish with the span of half an hour!



A 3-4 foot large Sea Turtle keeping an eye on us. (C) Copyright 2008

A blue underwater plant or some kind of Coral. Notice the small pink fish! (C) Copyright 2008

Some interesting Coral. (C) Copyright 2008

Can you spot a sponge on the right? Brown and yellowish. Looks like Sponge Bob at Bikini Bottom with some imagination! (C) Copyright 2008

Look how Crystal clear this water is. (C) Copyright 2008

Just loving the warm waters of the Exumas. (C) Copyright 2008

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