We are currently sitting in a cafe in Port Lacaya, Grand Bahama Island.  We have been sailing for the past 22 days!  The boat is really feeling lived in, from the smells to the towels that never seem to get dry. 

The trip down the coast of Florida was more eventful than any of us imagined.  We managed to be sailing down to the Ponce inlet (near Daytona) when several storms passed over.  We were right outside the inlet's channel when a huge storm bombarded us, whipping us with over 30mph winds.  We felt like everything was going to just blow overboard in an instant.  The rain pelted down as Jack put up the gale sail and we had to reef the main.  We decided to turn on the motor to help get us into the channel, come to find out that of course the motor no longer started.  Also the GPS/depthsounder shut off and would not restart.  We lost all power and were sailing blind through a storm that let us see barely 100ft in front of us.  Our main landmark was the lighthouse on the coast, that we could sometimes make out.  Eventually the rain lifted and we saw our channel markers on the horizon.  We tacked up the narrow inlet against the wind with a rock jetty on one side and a shallow beach on the other.  Which took a long time and was very challenging.  We finally made it into the channel and anchored by several other boats.  Turns out all three of our batteries were dead - we think we had been charging them with the solar panel as if they were sealed batteries instead of flooded batteries which most likely dehydrated them.  One of the batteries we were able to bring back to life, but we had to buy two new batteries.  The next morning a SeaTow guy had to tow us to the closest marina, and he said we must be v

We spent the past week sailing and exploring Bimini.  There is not much to do in that town with one street, so we quickly explored to our hearts content.  Contrary winds trapped us there for longer than planned.  These tropical depressions have provided us with sprinkling showers most days, other days large thunder and lightning storms.  It's all been very exciting.  Things we did in Bimini:  Snorkeled around a sunken oil tanker.  Saw a lemon shark swimming right in front of us.  Killed, skinned, and ate conch.  Swam in one of the clearest beaches imaginable, with no one else around. Toured the Shark Research Lab.  Met up with a group of boy scouts who were on a diving expedition (Savannah loved that..... :D) Also met up with a fellow Savannahite - who Jack knows, because he knows everyone - the world is smaller than we think.

When the winds finally turned favorable we sailed North to Freeport and docked in Sunrise Marina, a beautiful marina with swimming pool, TV's, ping pong and free bikes.  We have spent the past four days here exploring the island via bicycle and watching the Euro Championship semifinals.  We should be setting sail for the Berry Islands tomorrow if Debbie doesn't kick up too much wind in the wrong direction. 

The Bahamas is suffering from a lack of American tourists.  Everywhere we go people tell us to bring back friends.  So think about it.

Much love from the Wind Mistress' crew,
Katherine, Jack, Savannah and Mary

Update 6/4/2012

Hey guys, just keeping the site updated with info as it comes in... hopefully Wind Mistress will upload some photos at the next sign of civilization, but who knows?

Text this afternoon: "East of Amelia. Heading south. 6.5 knots. Reefed main, full jib.
SPOT tracker still at http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=01NsIilO033qWgmSXnOS0VePs30vKJIKX

Weather offshore looks pretty rough tonight so hopefully they find some nice waters to anchor up: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?map.x=246&map.y=157&site=jax&zmx=1&zmy=1.

Video of the launch below...

Matt

Matt has recently given us a new SPOT tracker.  Now everyone can keep track of us as we sail through the Bahamas.  Here's the link:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=01NsIilO033qWgmSXnOS0VePs30vKJIKX

She's Ready to GO

With the help of Rusty and Karen, we fixed the fresh water system today.  The problem:  sediment at the base of the tank.  It was no easy task.  Lots of sweat, good-wholesome-cursing, and a few threats against Satan and humanity, and it was fixed.  Actually, we disconnected the line to the bottom of the tank, which was very hard due to access, stuck a saw blade into the tank an banged it around until the water poured out.  Then blew out the main line (also harder than it sounds) and then the water flowed.

Tomorrow we will pour a little bleach into the tank, run the tank nearly dry, and refill it.

Also, Erik Nordenhaug built us a sweet table that slides right into the wheel pedestal.  It is a simple peice of plexiglass that holds itself in place.

Wind Mistress is Home

We sailed her home on her new bottom. She is very fast. We had the fat three bladed prop replaced with a thin two bladed prop. That change, the new bottom and the new mainsail all seemed to have a positive effect on her performance. Under motor she reached 6 knots at about 1200 rmp's. Under sail she reached 6 knots with only a light breeze.

 We completed the Sail Harbor to Coffee Bluff trip in 2.5 hours, and that includes the 30 minutes we spent at the dock at Island of Hope Marina getting fuel and ice. This typically takes us 4-5 hours.

Other completed repairs:
 >Aft potty fixed.
 >Steaming light replaced - though I don't think this one will last long.  It really sticks out and his hanging on by two tiny screws.  The previous light was far stronger and was torn off by a flapping jib sheet.  When this one goes, we may just operate sans steaming light.
>Solar panels mounted, hooked up and charging the batteries. 

Last task:
>Repair the fresh water pump. We have until June 2nd to fix it. If we can't fix it, we sail with bottled water.

Wind Mistress on Wilmington

Saturday (April 23) Matt Hazard, Katherine, Savannah, Mary, Jack and Soki sailed Wind Mistress from her home at Coffee Bluff Marina to Sail Harbor Marina on Wilmington Island. 


We had Easterly winds, which meant we had to motor about half of the time. We stopped at Green Island on the way, anchored and swam ashore. There we saw a wild pig, walked about on the beach, and then swam back to the boat. The trip was mostly uneventful, which is always good on these types of trips.

MORE THINGS GETTING DONE

Things done last weekend (April 14-15)
1. Installed LED lights navigation and anchor lights on masthead.
2. Figured out the alcohol stove.

Matt is visiting this weekend. He will travel with us to Sail Harbor (about 3-8 hour trip, depending how we make it) to have the boat pulled for painting.

That just leaves:
1. Install Solar Panels
2. Replace Steaming Light
3. Clean Water Tank
4. Check Fresh Water Pump
5. Fix Aft Potty
6. Track down a source of Compressed Natural Gas. Until then, we will use the alcohol stove, which will come along as a back up anyway, and the barbeque pit.

The bottom will be cleaned next week.
Hopefully the mainsail will arrive soon.
We are also waiting on the Georgia registration to go through. That has been a fiasco.