Recently on Dream Odyssey....

April - May 2014

Okay so it’s been a little slow going keeping up to date on the blog. Although slow going seems to have been the theme of Dream Odyssey for the last 5-6 weeks. Have had a couple of mechanical issues arise that although not inherently difficult to resolve proved to be time consuming. First the language barrier but then after overcoming that, getting parts required shipped from the US to a town in Dominican Republic (DR), waiting for customs clearance and trying to avoid ludicrous import fees all came in to make it a bit of a frustrating time.

However with that being said it still isn’t a bad way to be spending my time. Amongst the waiting and frustration there have a been the good points too. 

While I was in the Turks & Caicos (TCI) got a few nice dives in over a couple of days. Clear water, great wall drop offs, no crowds and being able to anchor in sand within swimming distance of the dive sites. My week spent in TCI went quick, and there were a few days with a hefty breeze blowing through ensuring that the best way to spend the day was anchored up in the best lee protection I could find. And then before I knew it I was poised off the southern most island, which happened to have an awesome beach and no development, awaiting my window to make the trip to DR. Didn’t have to wait long though, the hefty breeze that had been up passed and a calm came upon the sea. Hence my 12 hour passage south to Puerto Plata, DR was spent largely underway under power of engine rather than sail and not a drop of water sprayed onto the deck.

Now the DR… that’s where the waiting and frustration took hold. I really don’t have a whole lot to report on my time there. The locals were friendly, and it was a bit of a change from the time I had spent in the country years previously. It was just difficult to fully enjoy it while knowing that even if I had wanted to I couldn't  move on until repairs were done. Needless to say, once the waiting was over and things were back up and running I pretty much high tailed it out of there and made way for San Juan, Puerto Rico (PR)

The same calmness of the seas was not experienced for this passage. Winds right on the nose and although not exactly gale force it was relentless and consistent for the just under 200 mile run. I was a pretty happy camper when the city of San Juan came into sight and I knew from a visit years ago that there was a large protected harbour to accommodate and welcome. A few days in San Juan, a little wondering about and getting to shops. A nice little novelty of being back in “civilisation” after the weeks spent sat in a small town. Since I have moved to the east coast of PR which is where I find myself now, just getting a few bits and pieces in order, doing the chores and will stock up a little before heading further east to the Virgin Islands.

The next update in the weeks to come will for sure have more glorious details to share, until then……

One Month In... Bahamas done!

So here I am once again having spent more time in the Bahamas. And although I'm about to move onwards to continue south, it could be very easy to spend a lot more time here. Such a great cruising area with so many choices and options, along with some of the clearest ocean waters out there.

The last month has gone by so quick, as mentioned in my last post I had my mate, Greg, with me up until just a few days ago. He is back home on Aussie soil now, back to the daily grind! Poor bugger. Sharing this experience with my best mate of the last 28 years or so though was awesome and hopefully there'll come a time again. 

Okay so I'm not going to go into detail of our everyday itinerary, that would just take too long. The short of it was that we found many a spot to anchor up and take in the surroundings, some places kinda busy with plenty of other boats about, some where it was simply just us. We had our share of windy days, some of which made for a great sail and sometimes meant standing by for another day or two before moving on. 

Having set off from Fort Lauderdale, and making the day trip over to Bimini to clear into Bahamas we set about spending a few days around the Berry Island group. The first time we got in the water for a little swim and we were greeted by a curious shark who came by to see what was going on. Welcome to Bahamas! 

From there it was down to Nassau for a couple of nights, nothing too special about Nassau but worth the stop to pick up a few items that I needed and a little re-stock of some fresh food stuff. The day we headed off for the northern Exuma's was a stunner, no wind which of course isn't ideal for a sail boat, but having had a number of rougher & quite windy days it was nice. Even managed a little playtime along the way getting Greg to tow me behind the boat using the SUP! Our first night in the Exuma Islands and we got an invite for dinner from our anchored neighbours, they were on their last night of chartering and had a heap of food so we were only too happy to take up the offer and help. Nice people, Canadians of which seemingly must like it down here as plenty of the boats we saw had the maple leaf flying off the back of the boat.

Over the course of a couple weeks we made our way down to the island of Great Exuma, to the town of Georgetown. This was to be the end of the road (so to speak) for Greg, after a couple of days/nights relaxing here it was time for him to head off to the airport and get on his way. 

So that was about 4 days ago now, and I'm still here. However that is all about to change tomorrow morning as I'm all set to continue on my way. It will still be a few days before I'm out of Bahamaian waters. I did debate the idea of heading out into open water and traveling day and night to reach the BVI's, but what's the hurry right. So I'll take it easy over the next 4-5 days to finish off and get to the Turks & Caicos. From there all being well with the weather I'll likely head direct to BVI (British Virgin Islands) bypassing Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Both great places that I've visited before, however with the time passing by so quickly I would like to get further along to keep options open as I'm still undecided when I'll look to transit the Panama Canal and get to Pacific waters.












Remember anyone out there that might want to come for a sail, just give me a bit of a heads up and maybe something can work out. Thanks for reading!

Day One of the Wandering

Well the day finally came, 12th March 2014, and it started off with a beautiful morning to leave the dock at Fort Lauderdale and weave the way through downtown. My crew for this leg of the journey is Greg, best mate from the home town of Adelaide since we were 9 or 10 years old. Will be sailing with me for the next few weeks until having to head off back home and to work.

With the outbound river cruise done, and a quick stop before heading out to the open ocean for fuel, it was down to a short wait for the last and final bridge to open and allow us to get on our way. Leaving the protection of the US inland waterways at 0830 and out to sea we went. The early morning calm soon gave way to a good breeze blowing up, and with the Gulfstream to contend with also it made for a bit of a choppy start once clearing the breakwaters. Although with the wind up it meant no delay for getting the sails up and finding our heading for Bimini, Bahamas.

The sail across was pretty standard, although it did have a little something extra for me with the knowledge that it was the start of my long journey. After a bit of a bumpy start conditions improved for a spell around midway of the crossing. Even managed to catch up and sail past another cruiser seemingly bound for Bimini too. These fine conditions though didn't hang about too long, as was forecast the wind continued to increase and as the afternoon came so did the swell. It was more of a wind driven chop to be fair but it was short, steep and close together making for a wet ride.

We sailed until within just a short distance from Bimini, where we had hopefully our one little bit of bad luck as the main sail didn't stow so well and flapped about until it was wrestled under control with some careful balancing on the boom with 25 knots and rolling in the swell. All good fun! Got ourselves sorted out and then made our way in to one of the marinas for the night, clear customs a good feed and now early to bed for an early start on day two to cross the Great Bahama Bank.

Bits & Pieces

So I've added a few things, removed a few things, and have made 'Dream Odyssey' my home. There's still quite a list of things I'd like to do, nothing that is really critical, but as with pretty much all boats this is a never ending list.

Some of the bits & pieces have been things like:

Compressor & Tanks

A personal touch

Adding an air compressor so that I can be self sufficient for my diving adventures,
A few of my own pictures taken a few years back on dive trips,
Renewing cushion covers,
Arranging my tool/spares room,
Acquiring new dive gear for myself & anyone that comes to visit,
Getting a kayak & paddle board for exploring and a little exercise.

New Coverings

And the list could go on... but for now I'm just plugging away bit by bit, and in about a months time from now should be all set to take off beyond the horizon and not look back

Dive Gear

Kayak & Paddle Board

More Dive Gear

Nemo!

Compressor Enclosed

Bahamas - Round two

October - November, 2013.

Was fortunate enough to get a good allocation of leave time from the boat I was working on as it was going into dry dock, and I wanted to make the most of the opportunity. Having left the boat in Florida over the summer period I had some cleaning up to do. The humidity had caused a reasonable amount of mildew through most of the interior, although it really wasn't too difficult to remove. The deck too had suffered from a bit of discolouration due all the leaves/pollen that had fallen. Again nothing to be concerned about, a good little mix up of cleaning products and a couple of scrubs later all was looking much better.

New Generator

Other than that I wasn't planning on doing too many jobs as such, it was all meant to be about getting out and enjoying time on the water. Unfortunately the generator had other ideas about that! After checking out all the fluid levels, belts, etc. it started up no problem. All good so far, but after running for about 15 mins there was quite a racket coming from the engine room. It had ultimately decided that it no longer wanted to be of any use and some of the internals had separated from where they were meant to be. The generator was getting on, and in it's history it had been re-built before. With this in mind, and the fact that I eventually intended to be out and away from it all I decided the best option was to go for a complete replacement. Sure it's not cheap, but my piece of mind was certainly worth it.

So with this having delayed me somewhat, I did manage to get away from the dock and made my way once again across the Gulf Stream to Bimini. A little bit of chop again on the passage, although had a good stiff breeze which got me across in pretty good time. With the delay in getting moving it meant I was only going to have just a little over 2 weeks. I looked over the charts and decided that I'd stick a little more to the north than I had the trip before, and why not visit as many different places as able.

Allan's Cay - Resident Iguanas

I did make a stop again at New Providence, another quick catch up with Chang & Terri, and went round to Nassau to get a few supplies to see me over. From here I was planning on heading to Eleuthera Island, but on clearing the Nassau port limits the wind was coming directly from where I wanted to go. I was looking for a relaxing days sail, and so instead I changed tact and set course for Allan's Cay at the northern end of the Exumas group. Had a great sail with a steady 15-18 knots on the port beam.

A couple of days later, with hardly a breath of wind, I then made my way north to head towards Eleuthera as originally planned. Found some nice quiet anchorages, and had a bit of a wonder about checking out towns and some old ruins on one of the cays. After a few days of this, and with my mind on keeping track of time, I started to make my way back towards Florida. Still had time to stop off in a few more places along the Berry Islands group. Found my way to an inland blue hole, which I dragged dive gear to just to see how deep it went... only 22 meters.

Stopped off in Bimini for a few days waiting for a good weather window to get back across to Florida. The wind was blowing in from the north quite strong, and conditions wouldn't have been nice with that going against the relentless current of the Gulf Stream. But it was good, several other yachties were hanging out in the marina too and got to chatting with them. Some interesting stories. By the time a window of opportunity came I had also picked up a passenger, a lady that had been with friends on their converted trawler but had had enough, just wanted to get back. And so with an early departure out we went, still a good breeze blowing, and I was back and docked in Fort Lauderdale by just after midday.

Time to pack up Dream Odyssey again, and head back to work in Europe.

Bahamas - Round One

March - April, 2013

After being at my dock in Fort Lauderdale for just a couple of weeks, I was ready to head off for my first real adventure over to the Bahamas! This time though I was not alone, a good friend, Kelda from back in Airlie Beach days was joining me for the trip.

Hawksbill Cay

Mast Top View

So after stocking up with supplies, we set off to make our way back down river, winding our way through downtown Fort Lauderdale to exit the waterways and get out into the Atlantic ready to cross the Gulf Stream. Our first destination was set for Bimini, a port of entry into the Bahamas and also the closest point being only roughly 50 nautical miles from the US. The crossing over went smooth enough, it was a little choppy as the breeze was opposing the current of the Gulf Stream, but again Dream Odyssey made her way along quite nicely. Kelda managed to to survive also! By late afternoon we were tied up at Brown's Marina at North Bimini, cleared in through customs & immigration, and all set to explore further into the Bahamas the next day.

I'm not going to go into detail about each and every spot we visited during the 3-4 weeks, but it was a great trip. Sure there were moments of frustration as not everything went exactly to plan. A ripped head sail, some short choppy seas but all in all I still consider it a success.

Some of the highlights.

Friendly Fish!

Made a stop off in the south of New Providence Island, where I caught up with old friends Chang & Terri whom I worked with years ago when I was based on Hamilton Island. Was good to see them, albeit fairly briefly as it had been something like 7 years. Managed to get out for a dive with Chang, we took my little dinghy out to one of the local sites where they do shark feeding. We weren't feeding but of course the sharks still come to meet you and follow about just in case.

Pipe Cay

Had a great anchorage down in the Exumas, alongside Pipe Cay. We had the spot all to ourselves, and after setting two anchors to keep us safely in the narrow, deep channel between the island and a sand bar were able to comfortably enjoy the surroundings. Even managed to get Kelda in the bosun's chair and lifted to the top of the main mast for the view and few photos. Would probably have been my favourite spot to anchor thus far.

Norman's Cay

Norman's Cay was another nice spot to visit. With a cruise about in the dinghy to explore where you just can't get to otherwise. Some great little stretches of clean white sand amongst the clear, warm waters. Some history to the place also from the days when the Bahamas was a popular stepping stone to the US for drug runners.

Having stopped off in Nassau and had the torn sail repaired, it was time to make our way back to Fort Lauderdale. Kelda had her next adventurous travels to get on with, and I had decided to get back and find some work. I knew I was going to have to do so at some point before I was ready to set sail without looking back and figured it was better to get it over with. Using Bimini again as our port of call to clear out, it was then a much nicer sail back across the Gulf Stream, this time running with the current a little. Safe and sound back to the dock before nightfall.

First trip of many to come

March, 2013

And so early in the morning I set off for my first voyage on Dream Odyssey. My first passage would see me travel from Palmetto, south down the west coast of Florida, around the bottom of the Keys, and back up the east coast to Fort Lauderdale.

Sunset - Day 1

It was a cool, crisp morning with hardly a cloud in the sky. Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of breeze about. But seeing as I had about an hour from leaving the marina before hitting open sea I hoped that it might start to pick up as the day went on.

Good Sailing - Day 3

It didn't! Upon getting out of the confines of the harbour waters, taking a turn to port to head south I got all the sails out and then found with the engine switched off found myself doing 3 knots. Not a good average speed, not that I was in a particular hurry, but from what I could tell from the charts there were only few places that seemed suitable to anchor up for the night. The first of which was far enough away that at 3 knots I wouldn't have been arriving until halfway through the night. Being that I had never been along this stretch of water, and I was just getting settled in I didn't want to chance too much coming into an anchorage in complete darkness. And so with the engine back on, I motor sailed for the rest of the day. This was much the same scenario for the next few days until reaching anchorage at Key West at the end of the third day. I did have some friendly dolphins come to play on my bow one of these days, not the first time of course I've had them do this in my travels, but it somehow felt different having them all to myself and being so close.

Anchorage - Day 4

The following morning however was a different story, as I made my way clear of Key West and rounded my southern most point of the journey the wind came in. It was a good south easterly blow, ranging from 10-15 knots early on before reaching 23-28 knots later in the day. And it was great, after a little fooling about initially getting used to things, I was soon making around 9 knots and had a good heel on. It was exhilarating, Dream Odyssey's not exactly a greyhound, but for my liking she was handling just fine. It got to the point that I had to reduce sail area as the wind increased, and still I kept almost the same speed. And as it turned out just as I was reaching my anchorage for that day, the wind all but died off, perfect timing and a good way to end the day relaxing in calm waters.

The fifth and final day of my first trip was once again with only a light breeze. Making my way up the coast passing by Miami, and then to the familiar waters of Fort Lauderdale. I had arranged previously before leaving a dock space up the New River, located at a private house, it's a good quiet spot.

Dock in Fort Lauderdale

The first few weeks

Getting ready for Anti-foul

February - March, 2013

Having taken ownership, and seeing as though she was already out of the water, I took the opportunity to get some initial work done.

The biggest job really was to have the bottom cleaned up and a couple of fresh coats of anti-foul put on. Although also had some of the thru hull valves replaced and ended up replacing the propeller and shaft too. These were jobs I got the shipyard to do for me. In the meantime I made a start with a few little bits & pieces on the interior. Nothing major just things like installing a new stereo, tidying up some wiring, and going through all the compartments to find out exactly what I had acquired with the purchase. There was a lot of stuff poked away in draws, cupboards and the bilges. Some of it quite handy to have, some of it I wasn't so sure about, and some of it was just plain rubbish. Suppose it's like taking over a back yard shed that's had years of accumulation.

Also seeing as though it had been sitting for a while there was a lot of general cleaning up, washing, and re-organising to be done. I managed to do alright with this, but of course being in a shipyard and having contractors coming in to complete their work it was a little bit of a losing battle.

Fresh Paint - Ready to go

Nevertheless, a couple of weeks later and I was ready to get her back into the water and move on board. After having the minor incident on coming into the lifting dock, due to stupidness on part of the hired help, it was comforting to now be on the helm myself and had a smooth departure. It was just a short trip up river from there back to the original marina where I first saw her. I wanted to have time to go over a few more things and get used to be being on board before heading out too far.

Ended up spending another couple of weeks in the marina, which was actually quite a nice spot. Not too busy and had all the amenities at my disposal including a pool. It wasn't the warmest of weather at the time and as far as I could make out I was the only one getting use of the indulgence. There were several others that lived on their boats in the marina, had a good little atmosphere. But for me I wanted to get moving, and so I said my farewells to those I had met and after topping of with fuel set off early one morning.

Where it all began

January - February, 2013

After years of saving and dreaming of things to come, and months of scanning the listings, I found 'Dream Odyssey'. It was located on the west coast of Florida, in an area called Palmetto, just south of Tampa.

After several phone conversations with the broker I arranged to get over to see it with my own eyes. And so with a hired mustang convertible I set out one weekend in early January 2013. The drive across the state of Florida from east to west is fairly uneventful, but with hopes of what I was going to see being what I was looking for it seemed to be over in minutes.

I found the marina and brokers office where I met with Gary. I'm sure he could sense my excitement, although I was trying not to seem too keen. Trying to play it cool! Then it was a short walk down the dock to finally see 'Dream Odyssey' first hand. I could pretty much tell from the moment of stepping on board that it felt right, the layout of the cockpit and down below fitting in with what I imagined. She's not a young boat so isn't all about being shiny and modern, but it felt like it could be home. Spent a good bit of time looking over everything, and didn't come as a surprise that at the end of it I was making an offer, pending a survey.

Now it was down to waiting for a reply from the current owners, an older American couple that had now settled in Panama after spending years sailing about the Caribbean. It was only a day or so later that the reply came through, offer was accepted! It was quite a feeling that everything I had been working towards was coming together. Now to organize a day for survey and hope that my initial success wasn't to be foiled by a blistering hull or the like.

With a survey date set, I shortly after finished up with the current job I was in at the time. Actually I was already set to finish up, but the timing of it all came together very well. And a few weeks later I was once again driving across the state. Arriving the day before survey was set to take place, I spent a couple of hours that afternoon just sitting at the marina with a thousand possibilities running through my mind of what may be.

The next morning I was up early, way before my alarm which was set for quite early anyhow. It was that similar feeling I get before I'm about to make a major change in life. The sun was shining and it was destined to be a good day. Survey started with going over the boat where she sat in the water at the marina. My surveyor was great, didn't mind me asking plenty of questions and pointing out areas of possible concern. After a morning of this, a little lunch on board, it was time for a short sail down to the haul out facility. Through the course of the morning a decent breeze had blown up, which made for a good chance to get a quick feel how she got along under sail. All going well so far. After a little incident docking into the lifting bay (by an independent skipper bought in for the move), she was lifted out of the water. Again some more thorough inspection and that was that.

All seemed to be in order and I found myself that afternoon, a year ago today, 12th February 2013 signing the papers to become the new owner!