Newsletter February 2006

“We be here on Island time”

We’re finally back on “Island Time” where the day starts with coffee and ends with a sundowner (cocktail). In our last newsletter the crew of Pipe Dream was in Fort Lauderdale waiting for a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream and head for the Bahamas. We had been pinned down for a week waiting for a norther (heavy north wind) to subside. On Feb 6 the wind clocked around and very early in the morning (seven o’clock on Pipe Dream )we made our break across the Gulf Stream and on to the Bahama Bank. A north wind of only 15 knots against the Gulf Stream will build short and choppy waves 6 to 12 feet. That’s the reason we wait for a weather window. We have taken real beatings in those kind of seas and we don’t care to repeat it.
Jutta and I reached Nassau on Feb 8 after two stops to get some sleep on the Bahama Bank. Unlike our lengthy visit to Nassau last season we had three items of business to take care of before we left. We had to check in with customs and pay our $300 cruising permit, go to Potter’s Cay in Nassau harbor to have a conch salad and some conch fritters, and, most importantly, we needed a rum and cognac shopping spree before we left for the Exuma island chain. It seems the finest rum is about $10 per liter and French VSOP is $12 per liter. We never miss a bargain. All these things were accomplished in one overnight stay in Nassau and the crew of Pipe Dream crept out of the harbor and off to the Exumas.
The weather prediction was for a big cold front approaching the Bahamas in a few days. Our friends, Viv and Party-Bob on the boat Varuna, were headed for Pipe Creek and Pipe Dream was hot on their heels. It took two days to catch up with Varuna and we renewed old friendships over a barrel of rum and a plate of fresh caught lobster. The headache I woke up with the next morning was probably due to Bob’s cheap rum. One day I’ll grow up and be more careful, but remember: You’re never too old to have a happy childhood!
Well, the weather front arrived the next day and blew 30 knots all day and night. The following day the wind was down to 20 to 25 knots and continued to blow for 8 days straight. The Bahamas can be really suckie in January and February.
The weather finally settled down and Jutta and Viv went kayaking while Bob and I went diving every day for lobster. Bob shoots lobster like fishing in a barrel, meanwhile I draw blanks on the score board. I got buck fever on the only shot I took and missed. All was not lost. I volunteered to cook Bob’s lobster on my boat. It just goes to show some guys will do anything for a friend. I hope Bob appreciates it! It wasn’t a couple of days later I caught my first lobster of the season.
The crew of Pipe Dream and Varuna left Pipe Creek on Tuesday the 21st and headed toward Georgetown in the Exumas. If we really sailed hard we could be there in about 24 hours. But on our travel schedule it will take us about a week to get there. Remember, we are on “island time”. The Cruisers’ Regatta begins the first week of March and it lasts 8 to 10 days. You know we never miss a party!. I hope we don’t get a hold of some of that bad rum. Those headaches are tough.
It’s February the 26th and Jutta and I are preparing for another weather front approaching from the north. We are watching the thunderheads coming at us at an alarming rate. If you ever wondered where the saying “Batten down the hatches” comes from, it’s from people on boats.
Those of you who have been waiting to send your dollars to the “Keep Ferdy Cruising Fund” for the new state of the art weather prediction system, it might be a little late. We will just put on our rain coats, bend over, and hold on.
In a day or two we will be into the month of March and you will receive this newsletter. At the same time Ferdy will be enjoying another birthday on Pipe Dream. And remember it’s never too late to send something. We miss you all and Adios.

From the Decks of Pipe Dream

Ferdy and Jutta