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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George Town, Docking at Exuma Docking Service Marina.

March 6, 2011 — s/v Black Diamond

Cleaning up with fresh water at the docks. (c) Copyright 2009

We are in the first couple weeks of January 2009, and planning to leave the boat in George Town Bahamas for a couple of months. We will fly home go back to work and school for a little while, and then back in March Break for a couple of weeks. The plan was to leave the boat on this dock at the Exuma Docking Service dock in George Town, at a cost of about $1,000 per month. Read on down to see what we actually ended up doing. But for now, the job at hand was to clean everything with fresh water. At a cost of about 10 cents per liter we had to be careful about the water usage. Washing the boat at home we just ran the hose all we wanted. Here we filled a bucket with soapy water, and then from there applied it with a brush. We hosed the whole boat down carefully with fresh water, and then using a stainless steal cleaning product to remove any apparent start of rust, and oxidization. This product would also coat the stainless steal, and protected from the salt water. As you can see we also cleaned everything and anything that ever had contact with salt water.

Power Boat behind us operates a Christian Mission out of it. (c) Copyright 2009

These were some of the other boats docked with us at the Town dock at George Town. We used this opportunity to do all the laundry and clean up the boat for an extended leave. The boat behind us here, was used as a base for a Christian mission. The owner was a self funded missionary, and did lots of good work to spread the good news of Christ in the Bahamas.

Anchored in front of George Town near Exuma Docking Service Marina. (c) Copyright 2009

Boat heeling at the docks in extremely low tide. (c) Copyright 2009

At low tide the boat was sitting on it’s keel. This does not harm the boat, but it is uncomfortable. However, there is a danger of the boat scraping against the dock, and getting all scratched up and damage. The tide goes up and down every 6 hours. Can you imagine leaving the boat here unattended for 2 months. The port side would have been a mess by the time we got back. I had to get up in the middle of the night and make sure the fenders were positioned properly, and the docket lines were set up properly. Also the docks are open to public accesses. I have been told, I would have to worry about the boat being vandalized or items stolen. We decided to leave the boat elsewhere, look for the next post to see where.

Another view of our heel at the docks in low tide. (c) Copyright 2009

My next post will be exactly about where we ended up, but I have not had the time to update my blog for awhile…We’ve had a few readers ask this question, so the answer is below.

Basically right across the bay from George Town, on Stocking Island, there is a place called St. Francis.

Its a small private resort. They run the hurriacane hole right out front of their place. They charge about $300 to $350 per month for you to leave your boat on their moorings. I left my brand new Jeanneau there for 3 months, and felt very safe about it. It is protected from all sides from wind and waves. Only one way in and out, and with a keel of over 6 feet, you can only get in at high tide. This made me more secure about some one trying to make off with my boat. Also they keep an eye on it for you, and can see it from their restaurant.

Before this trip, I was worried about leaving my boat on a mooring ball, thinking it was safer at a dock. Now I would only leave my boat on a mooring ball, but in a secure and safe location like St. Francis that I recommended.

Even though some marinas might be safe, the boat will still ride up and down on the dock in tides, and no one will really care if your fender shifted and your boat is getting all scratched up. Also is the dock protected from wind and waves on all sides? The St. Francis hurrican hole is hurrican rated. Only one way in and out, and the owners are always watching the boats. The only thing I would ask is that the mooring line is checked. For me they put on a brand new mooring line. You can dive on it and check it for your own security if you wish.

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Exploring Stocking Island, Great Exuma.

February 24, 2011 — s/v Black Diamond

Cruiser made hut from various items that washed ashore Stocking Island. (c) Copyright 2009

We spent a couple of days relaxing at anchor, and exploring Lee Stocking Island, Exuma, just outside of George Town. The island is mostly uninhabited, but there are a couple of small resort properties that rent villas. In the picture above you see a cool little hang out we found. This little hut was build by visiting cruisers, each adding something to the project. There is a little sign that says, feel free to add to the collection, but please don’t take anything away.

Snorkeling at the North Tip of Stocking Island. (c) Copyright 2009

Roxane and Alexander explore the shore, while Thomas and I snorkel these beautiful blue waters. We found these huge star fish, about a foot in diameter each. We tried to dry out a few of them in the sun, so that we might be able to keep them and take them home. We actually left them out on a rock for 2 months, and returned later for them. We found that this method did not really work. The star fish dried out to an awful ugly mess, and they still smelled. We later found out the proper way to do it. We saw locals drying them out in the sun upside down and continually filling the underside openings with house hold bleach. Once completed, they will not smell, and keep their shape much better.

Star fish Thomas caught snorkeling, actual size about 1 foot in diameter. (c) Copyright 2009

Anchored in front of Chat & Chill. (c) Copyright 2009

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Landing in George Town, Exumas, Bahamas

February 21, 2011 — s/v Black Diamond

Arrived in George Town, and Dropped our Anchor beside "Tia Anica" for the night. (c) Copyright 2009

Anchored along Stocking Island just across from George Town, Exumas. (c) Copyright 2009

We arrived to an anchorage in George Town a couple of hours before sun down. We anchored along side “Tia Anica” the large boat we were racing to George Town. They landed just before us, and these were the only convenient spots left to anchor. There are usually hundreds of boats anchored in George Town. So we joined the long line of boats anchored just between the deep mail boat route to George Town and Stocking Island. We were awakened at about 5AM by bright lights and loud engines to find a large container like ship about 200 or less feet from us. This was the Bahamian Mail boat making it’s way through. We were not in it’s way, we had our anchor lights on, and he could see the long line of boats usually anchored here. But for the boat to navigate this difficult shallow route, it must stay in the deep area carved out by the current, it is a sporadic route with bends and turns and it so happened to pass very close to us. This was a normal daily adventure for these mail boats to have to endure. For us it was a bit of a surprise and our worst nightmare at sea, waking up to a container ship a few feet from you about to run you down. I had to shake my head a few times to make sure I was not dreaming.

At the Chat & Chill Bar. (c) Copyright 2009

Having Dinner with one of the staff's kids, at the Chat & Chill. (c) Copyright 2009

Later that same evening we wanted to do some exploring. We were told there was a restaurant just around the bend and down a little ways. We jumped in our dinghy and were on our way. We were worried about our electric motor getting us there and back, so we kept the speed to a slow battery efficient pace. Definitely – if we come back to the Bahamas, we are going to have to get a decent gas motor. We eventually found the little island with a cute little place called the Chat & Chill. It is actually very well known by cruisers and celebrity visitors. We had a nice dinner there, and the kids enjoyed playing with a local boy who’s mom works at the place. You’ll notice all those t-shirts hanging from the rafters. These are actually crew boat shirts – with boats names on them. They are left there as mementos of the visiting boats, and leave their mark there for others to see. They have an amazing guest book, with hundred of boat crew signing there names, we also  left our mark in it. Then back in the dinghy and heading back to Black Diamond in pitch darkness. Good thing we left our blue spreader lights on, they really glow in the dark, and make finding the boat easy amoung hundreds of other anchored boats. One more problem, the battery was getting very low. But, I noticed we were going down wind, so to preserve the juice, I turned the motor off, took off my shirt. The four of us each held a corner of the shirt, and made a down wind sail out of it, and we actually sailed all the way back to Black Diamond with battery juice to spare. The kids thought this was one of the best parts of our trip, sailing the dinghy back with daddy’s shirt.

Roxane made boat-made muffins for breakfast. (c) Copyright 2009

The next morning, Roxane made some great boat made muffins. The boys and I loved them. She was actually able to make bread, pizza and a birthday cake on the boat. In the picture below, we are having dinner with the skipper of  Tia Anica. As I was saying our dinghy did not get very good range. This gentlemen was very helpful and generous, in assisting us on scouting out a few hurricane holes where we might be able to leave the boat for a couple of months while we go back home for a little while, more in the next post on this subject. But below you can see us dining on some of the largest lobster tails I have ever seen in my life. These were caught at a reef just outside Stocking Island. I bought them from a local fishermen, these were the smallest if you can believe that. It is possible to dive down and get your own, but I did not have any luck with that.

Take a look at the size of that lobster tail. Caught at a reef near Stocking Island. (c) Copyright 2009

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