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Bye Bye Georgia


rodheadlee

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We've been here in Brunswick, GA since July 6. We are starting our journey home to California. Our intended route is sail down the Florida coast to Key West then arond the west end of Cuba to the Grand Cayman Is and then south to Isla Providencia and finally to Panama for a run through the canal. Then we make the long trek up the west coast of Central America and Mexico. Then we'll have to decide whether to leave our boat in Mexico or sail up the Baja to Caifornia. It's a tough run called the Baja Bash. I have several job offers from Mexico up to the Bay area. So we'll see.

Prayers will be acepted for a safe journey :) Cruising in a sailboat has often been described as days of sheer boredom punctuated by hours of sheer terror.

Thank You Georgia and the Brunswick Ward for your hospitality.

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We've been here in Brunswick, GA since July 6. We are starting our journey home to California. Our intended route is sail down the Florida coast to Key West then arond the west end of Cuba to the Grand Cayman Is and then south to Isla Providencia and finally to Panama for a run through the canal. Then we make the long trek up the west coast of Central America and Mexico. Then we'll have to decide whether to leave our boat in Mexico or sail up the Baja to Caifornia. It's a tough run called the Baja Bash. I have several job offers from Mexico up to the Bay area. So we'll see.

Prayers will be acepted for a safe journey :) Cruising in a sailboat has often been described as days of sheer boredom punctuated by hours of sheer terror.

Thank You Georgia and the Brunswick Ward for your hospitality.

Thanks for dropping by...I will be staying a week in St Augustine in 3 weeks. I would love to get out for one day deep sea fishing with my son and son-in-law. Edited by Bill “Papa” Lee
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Hello Rodheadlee...

Yes, safe journey to you and your wife... will you be able to post occasionally to keep us advised on your progress? Sounds like quite a journey... will you face questionable weather? Are there safe harbors en route?

This reminds me of the hymn... Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy (No.335)

Sail safely and swiftly...

from the beach... GG

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Brightly beams Our Father's mercy

From His Lighthouse evermore.

But, to us, He gives the keeping

Of the lights along the shore.

Dark the night of sin has settled;

Loud the angry billows roar.

Eager eyes are watching, longing

For the lights along the shore.

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother.

Some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,

Trying now to make the harbor

In the darkness may be lost.

Let the lower lights be burning.

Send a gleam across the wave.

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman

You may rescue, you may save!

I'll keep my Lower Light burning for you, Bro. Rod. Prayers for a safe journey. :)

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Thanks for dropping by...I will be staying a week in St Augustine in 3 weeks. I would love to get out for one day deep sea fishing with my son and son-in-law.

Sorry, we're in Palm Beach now. We're kind of in a hurry as much as you can be in a sailboat. hang out at the marina maybe you can catch a ride.

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Hello Rodheadlee...

Yes, safe journey to you and your wife... will you be able to post occasionally to keep us advised on your progress? Sounds like quite a journey... will you face questionable weather? Are there safe harbors en route?

This reminds me of the hymn... Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy (No.335)

Sail safely and swiftly...

from the beach... GG

Yes we can post here and there as we make port. We madePpalm Beach in 48 hours which is great time for our boat to cover 300 miles. Our next port is Key West, we'll be there about 10 days (Dentist appointment, paperwork requirements for international travel by boat) The weatherman already lied to us, we were supposed to have an easy 15 kt winds with 1-2 foot seas on day one. We had wind up to a steady 20 knots and one rouge wave crashed over the top of our bimini and bounced off the solar panel. Then we had some great sailing the next day, then the wind died and it was a lake for some motoring. Here is a pic of our boat. We hope to leave for Key West Wednesday after the cold front moves through.

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I'll keep my Lower Light burning for you, Bro. Rod. Prayers for a safe journey. :)

Thanks for the poem! Thanks for the prayers everybody. We definetly travel with Heavenly Father and I'm reading the Discourses of Brigham Young compiled by John A Widtsoe as we go as well as our regular scripture study. It's really uplifting for me so far.

Edited by rodheadlee
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  • 3 weeks later...

We leave Key West tomorrow for Grand Cayman Is and then Panama. We're a bit nervous. We need a good weather break when we round the west end of Cuba. I'll be hugging the Cuban coast on the south side (12 miles off the 20 meter line) to break the seas. it'll 200 miles against the wind and then we can head south to Grand Cayman. See you all on the other side of 19*S 81*W It should be a 5-7 day sail but could be as long as 10 days.

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2 day delay on the departure. Our insurance decided no more Panama Canal coverage. So we have new insurance and unscheduled debt. :sad: We also found out it's real expensive to have your monthly medication shipped to you in the Cayman Is, so we'll wait another day or 2 for that to get shipped here.

I hope my weather window holds out.

Edited by rodheadlee
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2 day delay on the departure. Our insurance decided no more Panama Canal coverage. So we have new insurance and unscheduled debt. :sad: We also found out it's real expensive to have your monthly medication shipped to you in the Cayman Is, so we'll wait another day or 2 for that to get shipped here.

I hope my weather window holds out.

Let us know when you leave... GG

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  • 1 month later...

Hi all. We are in Portobelo Panama. We had to work hard sailing from Key West to Grand Cayman Island. We had the Gulf Loop current to get across and it runs all over the place. We sailed due west out of Key West until we were even with the longtitude of Cabo San Antonio, Cuba and then south around Cuba. We got caught in 2 wicked squalls on that run. 8 minutes of eternity with 40 kt winds and then another squall just as powerful. The first one we had 2 sails up. We heeled over so far I couldn't get to the main sail to let it out and stand the boat up. So in between squalls I ran up and dropped the mainsail. Then we just had a little 90 sq ft cutter sail up for the next squall. Second Chance stood up and flew on the wind gust. Then it rained about 3 inches in 20 minutes. The next day was good sailing, then the autopilot broke. :sad: We have windvane steering that we got hooked up and used all the way to Panama. It sails a wind course instead of a compass course. So you have to be on your toes for the wind shifts and the sails MUST be balanced It's a shame the things I made the autopilot do, no wonder it broke. We have learned to sail the boat a lot better since then.

The run from the west end of Cuba to Grand Cayman was miserable, 4 days of pounding into 20 kt winds 8-10 foot seas with much praying invloved. Grand Cayman was wonderful, the people were nice and we went to church there. Heavenly Father bestowed a wonderful weather window on us for the 700 mile run from Grand Cayman to Portobelo Panama. We had 13 kts of wind, mostly aft of the beam and 3-6 foot seas. It was heaven for sailing

We go through the Canal next weekend. We appreciate all of your prayers.

Edited by rodheadlee
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Sounds like a wonderful life, even the storms...you must get a pretty significant boost of adrenaline mixed with relief and satisfaction when you have managed to survive some of nature's more complicated and serious games.

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Sounds like a wonderful life, even the storms...you must get a pretty significant boost of adrenaline mixed with relief and satisfaction when you have managed to survive some of nature's more complicated and serious games.

It's days of sheer boredom punctuated by hours of sheer terror. :) It gives us a great sense of satisfaction to reach a safe port after a long passage. We really get close to Heavenly Father out there with constant prayer and daily Scripture study. I've been reading the Discourses of Brigham Young compiled by Widstoe. We study weather, navigation and the customs of the next country that we are to stop in. We also read way too many novels. In port we fix all the stuff we broke on the previous run as well as do general maintainence. We carry a lot of spare parts.

We go through the Panama Canal this Saturday and Sunday. We would appreciate prayers from you all, I'm skeered. I just want to arrive safe in the Pacific Ocean with no boat damage. I hear some wild stories and some folks say it's a breeze.

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I agree with Cal, you should write a book or blog here or create one. Very exciting even if it's living it through your words.

I have a couple of articles that I wrote on a previous voyage. I could dig them up and send them to you. I don't think I'm a very good writer but I was moved to put something into words.

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We go through the Panama Canal this Saturday and Sunday. We would appreciate prayers from you all, I'm skeered. I just want to arrive safe in the Pacific Ocean with no boat damage. I hear some wild stories and some folks say it's a breeze.

This isn't the first time through, is it?

I couldn't handle the life, need way too much mental stimulation including visual variety.

Edited by calmoriah
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This isn't the first time through, is it?

I couldn't handle the life, need way too much mental stimulation including visual variety.

Yes, it is our first time through the Panama Canal.

It really isn't boring out there, it's just a saying us cruisers use. We have radio net twice a day on the ham radio. We have multple sailing things to do, playing with the strings, ropes, sails and stuff. I'm always trying to sail flatter and faster. You try to anticipate wind shifts so you don't hang yourself out there and find `you need to go hard to windward. Then we have all of Heavenly Father's creatures that visit us, dolphins, birds, whales and fishes. At night the sky is totally awsome, no light pollution once you get 100 miles from the city/land. Then we have the general walk the deck and make sure everything is ok before sunset. The sunsets and sunrises are amazing, each one is different and believe it or not the sea looks different every day. We are always on the look out for ships, airplanes and falling stars. We plot our position every hour on our chart or at least log it and plot every 4 hours. It's also a real challenge to make food and take a shower heeled over at 22*. Some times dinner winds up on the floor.

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At night the sky is totally awsome, no light pollution once you get 100 miles from the city/land.
One of the reasons why we moved where we did was because it was the first place I had ever lived where I can see the Milky Way from my backyard, very, very few street lights and it is far enough from Provo/Orem that the glow is dim enough to see the sweep....not as good as getting up in the mountains themselves, but wonderful for being just ten to twenty minutes from anything you could need (but not "want", the Zoo and nice museums are much too far away for my taste).
Some times dinner winds up on the floor.
That is what the cat is for, right? (I think I remember you saying there is a cat among your companions.) Edited by calmoriah
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