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.

Posted in Bahamas, Videos. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments »

Jacksonville to St. Augustines, Florida

December 4, 2008 — s/v Black Diamond

Dec. 3rd, 2008

Florida is experiencing a bit of a cold spell this week. We actually had to turn the heat on in the boat last night! We can’t complain too much considering that we left much colder temperatures in Canada.

In Jacksonville we were at a marina located on the Intracoastal Waterway. We had two options either head south on the ICW to St. Augustine or head a bit north to the St. John’s river out to the Atlantic, then head south.

 

Calm seas on the Atlantic.

Calm seas on the Atlantic.

 

We looked at the charts and determined that it was more complicated to go down the ICW. During low tide there were areas of the ICW that would be too shallow for the draft of our boat. During high tide we would have to watch our mast height in relation to the tide and the height of the many 65’ bridges. The forecast for the ocean was calm with 1’ – 2’ seas. We determined that going coastal would be less stressful. On our way out the St. John’s river we just barely cleared two bridges with only about one foot to spare.

 

The kids named this dolphin Flap Jax (short for Jacksonville).

The kids named this dolphin Flap Jax (short for Jacksonville).

 

The kids were excited to be moving on the water again, so they were both standing on the bow when six dolphins swam approximately twenty feet in front of our boat. The kids were thrilled as they whistled, squealed and banged the hull to attract more dolphins. To our surprised we were surrounded by dolphins all the way to the ocean. Once on open water we did not see them anymore.  Heading down the coast we had to watch out for the many fishing boats in the area. After watching a pretty sunset, and after a couple games of crazy eights with the kids, we headed in towards the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine.

We called ahead so the bridge master was expecting us, and the draw bridge was raised for us to pass  through. Once in St. Augustine we went to a nearby seafood restaurant and enjoyed a nice dinner. This is a beautiful town, the oldest city in the US, with an authentic Old World look, completely lit up with lights. During dinner we had a view of horse drawn carriages taking people for rides. Alexander was sleepy during dinner, but he completely perked up when the horses went by. In the morning we headed out to town, had breakfast in a nice bakery with free Wi-Fi and uploaded our blog. Today we plan to head further south. 

 

Lift Bridge in St. Augustine

Lift Bridge in St. Augustine

 

In Florida boaters love to decorate their boats for Christmas.

In Florida boaters love to decorate their boats for Christmas.

 

Christmas Decorations in St. Augustine.

Christmas Decorations in St. Augustine.

A St. Augustine fort all light up.

A St. Augustine fort.

Posted in Floridian East Coast. Tags: , , , . 1 Comment »

Sailing with Dolphins

November 9, 2008 — s/v Black Diamond

Here is a really neat video of our half hour dolphin encounter on the Atlantic Ocean. This was during our sail in November 2008 from New York to Florida.

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Day 4 – A Dozen Dolphins Entertained Us

November 9, 2008 — s/v Black Diamond

Day 4 – Sunday, Nov. 2nd – A Dozen Dolphins Entertained Us.

 

Have you ever seen a mammal swim faster?

Have you ever seen a mammal swim faster?

 

The winds pick up to 15-22 knots, and we were able to turn off the motors, and enjoy some amazing sailing, and surfing. Today was the day that we broke a surfing record of 13.5 knots in 10 foot seas.

 

Mommy, Daddy and baby – only 3 feet long.

Mommy, Daddy and baby – only 3 feet long.

We had 3 separate visitations by various pods of Dolphins. Peter swore that it was the same pod, he named one of his favourite old grey. The largest pod had at least a Dozen Dolphins in it. I counted at least 6 on each side of the boat, and about 3 at the bow at any given moment. Our favourite was a little family, Mother, Father and little baby. The baby could not have been larger than 3 feet, but did a good job keeping up with the parents and the boat. It would never leave it’s mothers side. It was amazing how fast they could swim. At times they would dart in the opposite direction of the boat, then come speeding up to us, 2-3 times the boat speed, then slowing down and swimming next to us. They provided us with an entertaining show, one lasting at least 45 minutes. They would jump into the air over the bow wake, and would dive through large waves. Every 10-15 seconds, their heads would come up for air, and back down they would go.

Peter's favorite Old Grey!

Peter

 

The morning sun rise under moderate sea state.

The morning sun rise under moderate sea state.

 

Making good progress.

Making good progress.

Peter would tap on the hull, and wave his hands in the air, as if to say hi. These creatures are very intelligent. They would tilt their heads, so their eyes would be out of the water and look at us. When we waved our hands, they raised their heads out of the water and would make dolphin sounds, communicating a greeting back to us. They actually knew that we were looking at them and trying to say hello to them. I think originally when they approached the boat, they were just attracted by what looks like a whale or creature similar to them swimming through the water. The boat is grey underneath, and has 2 large fins. But they quickly realize that there are humans on board. Maybe I am just kidding myself, I am sure we were not the first boat they visited. They are so intelligent, that they probably knew it’s a boat with humans on it. But they did not try communicating with us, at least not until we waved at them and tapped the hull first. 

Posted in New York to Florida. Tags: , , . No Comments »
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