Newsletter May 2006

"The Nation is safe with Homeland Security!! "

Yee-Ha, the zany crew of Pipe Dream is back! It’s been another month and time for your copy of the Pipe Dream newsletter, subscription information to follow (just kidding)!
Pipe Dream is now in Georgia sitting in a very nice marina. The Pipe Dreamers are getting her ready to leave for the summer. We must remove the sails, batten down all the hatches, and secure all equipment in case a hurricane blows through while we are gone. We should be out of here in about a week. Our friends, Dick and Vickie, on the sailboat “Chimere” found us the slip. As luck would have it, Dick will keep an eye on Pipe Dream during our absence.
In our last newsletter the Pipe Dreamers were in Georgetown, Bahamas, participating in the boat races of the Family Island Regatta. It took about three weeks for my backside to heal up after hanging out over the water on that twelve foot beam. Good rail meat I’m not, that’s for young guys! After the races we provisioned Pipe Dream with food, water, took on another keg or two of rum, lots of limes to go with our tonic - we don’t want a scurvy problem - and we were ready for sea. We sailed out of Georgetown Harbor in the company of sailing vessels “Millenium Falcon”, and “Varuna”. When you travel in the company of these two boats it’s party time every day. Our first stop was Long Island for a little sight seeing and cantina hopping.
Then we moved north up the coast of Long Island to a settlement called Sims. There we met up with some friends of ours on the boat “Free Bird”. We made reservations at the “Blue Chip Café” and had a farewell dinner party which consisted of all you can eat conch, fish and lobster. After dinner the Blue Chip had a “Rake and Scrape” band playing in the bar. We danced and sang island music until the wee hours. The next morning we said our good byes. Free Bird sailed south, Millenium Falcon sailed for Florida and Pipe Dream and Varuna sailed on to Cat Island. We spent a few relaxing days on Cat Island just playing in the sun and water. We needed a rest!
Our next stop was a small island called Little San Salvador. This Island is totally owned by Carnival Cruise Lines. The water surrounding this island is the most pristine we have ever seen. At the time we arrived there were no cruise ships anchored in the harbor. We called the office on our VHF radio and asked for permission to explore the island. We spent five wonderful days on Little San Salvador lying out on the lounge chairs and hammocks, taking wonderful showers after every swim and just exploring the Island. We walked through disserted bars, shopping areas, water-sports complexes with not a soul there. Aaah, the life of the idle rich! As soon as a cruise ship was scheduled to anchor, a large boat would arrive from Eleuthera, the neighboring island, carrying fifty workers to entertain the guests. The cruise ship would sail out of the anchorage, everyone would leave, and the island was once again ours to enjoy. During our stay at Little San Salvador the power cat “kath n’I”arrived with Ray and Kath aboard, who soon became great friends and joined “Varuna” and “Pipe Dream” for the next leg of our journey. Once again there was a cold front approaching the Bahamas and we had to pull anchor and run for cover. Sometimes we feel like “Chicken Little” and the sky is falling. Adios, we’re headed for Eleuthera Island.
The weather front did arrive and it blew twenty to thirty knots for two or three days. The one saving grace was that the power cat “Kath ‘n’ I had caught five big Mahi Mahi on the trip over. Ray hosted several Mahi barbecues and still had fish left in the freezer. The weather cleared and we were off to visit the picturesque town at Governor Harbor. Then we all moved on Royal Island for a few days to wait for a weather window to head for the States. The morning of May 24 the weatherman on the single sideband radio was predicting rain squalls and wind of 10 to 15 knots today. The rest of the week there would be no wind. Today was the day to cut the anchor lines and head to sea. We said our adieus, and there were a few tears shed in parting. We motored out of the harbor…and motored…and motored…and waited for that 10-15 knot wind. By the time we arrived in Fort Pierce, Florida, we had been motoring for 33 hours.. If any of you would like to know what the word “weatherman” means in English, it’s “LIAR”. There wasn’t a breath of wind the entire trip and not one rain squall.
On the evening of May 24 we entered the harbor at Ft Pierce. Being a good tax paying American, the crew of Pipe Dream should have taken a cab to the airport to check in with Customs and Immigrations. Well, we just took on Diesel, spent the night at anchor and headed out to sea at first light for Cape Canaveral. This is a large international cruise and commercial port and seemed the obvious place to check into the country. We entered the port and called on the VHF radio for directions to Customs and Immigration. Our next question was, where was the Customs dock? The conversation over the radio went something like this. “We don’t have one”. “Well, where can we dock the boat?” “Maybe one of the marinas will let you tie up there!” To make a long story short it seemed there was a fishing tournament going on that weekend and there was no room at the inn. We, being good Americans, stopped a policeman patrolling the harbor in a boat and asked where we could drop the anchor for about an hour to check into the country. He told us there was no anchoring in Port Canaveral and for us to enter the Intra Coastal Waterway and go to another port. By then it was 5:00PM on Friday evening and we knew the office was closed. The next morning I got up and was very nervous about being in the great USA without checking in. We had heard Homeland Security was getting tough about border security. I called on the cell phone to Custom and Immigration, “protectors of our boarders”, and asked about the possibility of returning to Cape Canaveral to check in. I was told by a very nice lady at their answering service that the office would be closed over the weekend and Memorial Day. Why don’t I try to check in next Tuesday? We traveled through Florida over the weekend and finally checked into the country at Fernandina Beach, a town at the Florida/Georgia border. The moral of that story is our borders are safe Monday thru Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00PM. The rest of the time it’s a crap-shoot. I know you will all sleep better knowing the Office of Homeland Security is taking care of us!
On a very sad note, this newsletter is dedicated to our close friend and sailing buddy, Bob Saemisch, who visited Pipe Dream with his wife Tish everywhere throughout Mexico, Central America and the Bahamas. He passed away suddenly of a heart attack this week. He will be truly missed.

From the Decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta