Catch up Time!

First, a bit of official business:
For the entire month of February, we will be able to receive GUESTS, as well as mail and packages in care of:
Orchid Bay Yacht Club and Marina
M/V KINGDOM, Slip #43
Great Guana Cay, Abacos, Bahama
The marina phone is (242) 365-5175 FAX (242) 365-5166

Our cell phones are alive and active here, too, but roaming charges to us can run as high as $1.99 per minute.
The good news, is that we have a good WIFI internet connection thru the marina (free), and so PLEASE email us right away if you think you may be able to visit us here during February. The nearest airport is Marsh Harbor, Great Abaco Cay, Abacos, Bahamas. It is a short ferry ride from there to Orchid Bay, here on Great Guana Cay.

Susan reported on our trip across the Gulf Stream from Palm Beach, Fl. to West End, Grand Bahama. This is a photo of KINGDOM tied up at Old Bahama Bay Yacht Club and Resort. Old Bahama Bay is a gorgeous resort, full service hotel, marina, private beach, fabulous restaurants and entertainment, as well as the beach/poolside Tiki Bar! The boat in the background is KISMET; owned by Bill and Shelley Meissner, whom we met upon docking.

KISMET is also a 58' Hatteras Long Range Cruiser (of which only 44 were built) and is almost the twin of our boat. Bill and Shelly have done a beautiful job of updating, refitting, and remodeling their boat, and it is immaculate! We've become friends, and have been cruising in company since West End. Since they have been cruising the Bahamas for at least 7 years in their boat, we see them as mentors as well as friends. Their local knowledge of the islands and local conditions is extensive.

During our two days in West End, we were boarded by Cinderella (pictured below with Susan). Cinderella is a local legend, and has become the unofficial mascot of the marina there. Several years ago, she crossed from Florida to West End with her family. Apparently, it was a very rough crossing in a sailboat. She promptly abandoned ship at the marina! Her family tried for a week to find her, but finally had to depart without her. She eventually emerged from hiding, and the marina employees have looked after her ever since. She is a very well-behaved cat, with impeccable manners. She picks out a transient boat in the harbor, and then for a day or two she "adopts" the family on board as sort of a foster cat. We very much enjoyed having been chosen by Cinderella, and you may be sure that Susan gave her only the finest tuna twice daily in appreciation. Cinderella stayed overnight on our aft deck, since I refused to allow Susan to bring her in the Master stateroom to sleep with us. She made no attempt to stay aboard when we departed. She seems to like boats and boating families, as long as they don't go to sea.

Pictured here are our friends Bill and Shelley Meissner, owners of KISMET.

Pictured here is the bow of KINGDOM, following KISMET, as we made our way from West End to the anchorage off Great Sale Cay for the night. The weather was mild, the sea moderate.


Here is a picture of our pilothouse chart plotters in action. On the left is the MapTech unit, and the Garmin is on the right. It may be hard to make out, but on each screen is a representation of the position of our boat, followed by a dotted line representing the path we have taken. Projecting from the bow of the boat icon, there is a pointer which represents the direction the boat is currently heading. When we lay out the day's sail, we create little icons called "waypoints" at specific latitude and longitude locations. Then we can steer the boat toward the next waypoint on our itinerary manually or by autopilot. It is sort of like playing a very slow video game!


Stay tuned - Next installment: Great Sale Cay to Green Turtle Cay via Spanish Cay

There Be Dragons

Ahoy Mateys,
In spite of what Sherry Sheppard said on the "The View" a couple weeks ago, the world is not flat! We did not fall off the edge, and we are here! Columbus was right!
We left on time from Palm Beach at 4:00 a.m. Wednesday, January 23 with light winds from the east, slack tide and an almost full moon, gorgeous, peaceful and solitary. Spectacular skyline views leaving the harbor, but perhaps a bit of trepidation in our minds because we were about to cross the GULF STREAM! No sight of land in any direction, in the dark, and virgins at the game...Plus, the sea depths would reach far more than our depth sounder at 2000 feet and that's where the charts of old say "There Be Dragons". Oh well, it's true; ignorance is bliss! Out of the darkness the lights of several container ships approached us, and since steel beats plastic every time, we allowed them to continue on course without interruption. Since Flying Fish were our only companions, we have nothing exciting to report on dragons, whales, or even dolphin sightings. However, it was a perfect day; winds subsided after dawn about the time we reached the western edge of the Gulf Stream, and our passage was very "comfortable," considering we're such "ol' salts" now ... Kingdom performed perfectly!
We arrived in West End, Grand Bahama without incident about 1:00 p.m. right on schedule, and tied up at the Old Bahama Bay Marina & Resort. It's beautiful here, small groups of Caribbean style Hotel buildings, lush tropical landscaping, white sandy beaches, pool, spas, 5 star amenities, 3 restaurants, and a snug mooring. As Captain, Walt is responsible to clear customs, therefore he's the only one allowed to leave the boat...he spent a good hour filling out forms, even though we had made copies of everything they could possibly want including our ammo stores. It must be on their form! I spent a good hour rigging lines, setting fenders, cleaning up, and making lunch.
When we entered this beautiful marina, approaching the dock, Captain Bill Meissner gave a shout " Great looking boat you have there!" I glanced sideways, and there sat our boat's twin! Another 58' Hatteras LRC.. "Kismet". We quickly became friends, and they have graciously shared their 7 year experiences cruising the Bahamas with us. We plan to depart Old Bahama Bay with them tomorrow morning, heading to Great Sale Cay (pronounced "Key") and onward to the best Tiki Bar in the Universe - "Nippers" in Great Guana, Abacos, Bahamas. This journey may take a week or more, waiting for perfect conditions and lingering in the spots deserving of more investigation. Internet access may not be available.

Important Note: Yesterday Walt and I began living "The Dream"... we spent several hours on a white sandy beach, gazing on tranguil azure blue 75 degree seas, sipping rum drinks in the shade of a palm tree, reading novels, listening to the sound of the Caribbean band playing at the Resort Tiki bar... ALONE...(Off Season 'till April, and they have only have 9 hotel guests staying here). Paradise!!!
We have been enormously blessed, during every step of our adventure. Yesterday, once again Spirit brought us a special blessing: "Cinderella" . A couple of hours after we tied up, this beautiful female cat waltzed aboard, black and white patches all over, cute as a button and very well behaved, she adopted us. I fed her, much to Walt's dismay, and talked to her like she was a member of the family. We have now learned she is somewhat a prima-donna of the harbor, does not like life at sea, and is much loved and cared for here at Old Bahama Bay, and although we love her, we will make sure she's ashore before we depart in the morning. Plus, I don't do litter boxes!

Today, we lazed around, checking e-mail, reading, shopping in the hotel gift shop, making Coc-au-vin in the crock pot (uhmmm), going to the Managers' (free) Cocktail Party, and making plans for tomorrow with Bill and Shelley Meissner for the morning departure.
I would post a pic or two if we had the ability, but the Internet connection is troublesome. We have a part on order and when it arrives we should be able to show you all what a beautiful place this is. We'll be in No Man's Land for a few days, and completely out of touch, but know that you are never far from our thoughts, and always in our hearts!

We love you most,
Walt and Susan

Bahama Bound!

Tomorrow morning at 4:00am, we will cast off the lines here at West Palm Beach, and make the crossing of the Gulf Stream over to West End, Grand Bahama Island. We topped up our fuel tanks this afternoon, so we're ready to go!

We've been here in Riviera Beach almost two weeks, stocking up the boat's stores and waiting for a good weather window for the crossing. For 10 out of the 14 days we've been here, the wind has been out of the North, Northeast, or Northwest, blowing as much as 30knots per hour! Under those conditions, the Gulf Stream, which flows Northward along the Atlantic seaboard, builds larger and larger waves, typically 10 to 15 footers! Finally, today the wind shifted to the East and Southeast, and dropped to normal velocity. The weather forecast for tomorrow is good, with light winds and wave heights in the Gulf Stream dropping down to 4 feet or less by morning, and 2 feet or less by Thursday morning. Good conditions for the crossing!

The distance from here to West End is only about 54 miles, so it should take us no more than 10 hours. We should be there by early afternoon tomorrow, around 2:00pm. That gives us plenty of time to find the marina, clear customs, and have a good restful evening.

We're not sure how well our current internet connection will work in the Bahamas, if at all. So this may be our last blog entry for a week or so. Our current ISP is based on the Sprint network, and we just found out that it may not work outside the US. Yesterday, we ordered a new international wireless internet service from AT&T, but we won't have their device for a couple of weeks. Once that new service is active, we will have unlimited internet service pretty much worldwide, as long as we are within range of a cellular tower or network. That will enable us to browse the internet, maintain this blog, and send and receive email just as we do today.

Susan did order the international roaming program for our cell phones, so they should work just fine, but will be a bit more expensive. Basically, those calls will incur usage charges of up to $1.99 per minute. Our conversations will obviously be brief!

We'll do our best to keep everyone apprised of our current location, destinations, and travel experiences, through all means available to us.

Blessings to all from M/V KINGDOM

Love,
Walt & Susan

Stocking our larder for cruising the Islands

Today we made two trips to Costco. Thanks to Claire and Don Jones for loaning us one of their cars!!!
The first trip was for dry goods, canned goods, paper goods, and liquor. Coffee, tea, canned meats, dry pasta, potatos, rice, candy, butter, cheese, etc. etc. There was hardly any room for us in the car on the way back to the boat.




The second trip was for meat. We bought whole loins of pork and beef, a boneless leg of lamb shank, chicken breasts, chicken thighs, and ground beef. Then we spent a couple of hours cutting, dividing, and bagging meal-sized portions of steaks, chops, ground beef, chicken and roasts. We barely got it all into the refrigerator. However, our friend Claire found us a small freezer this afternoon. Tomorrow, we will install it in the companionway shelf belowdecks. So we will now have plenty of freezer space for a full six months supply of meat for us and our guests.

Our plan is to purchase fruits and vegetables locally as we find them, but beef, pork, lamb and poultry are both scarce and quite expensive in the islands. Our cruising guides all recommend that we take an ample supply of those items.

Tomorrow, we have to figure out where all this stuff goes!

A few random pix

Susan's post was pretty interesting, hummmmm?

Anyway, on the way down to West Palm Beach we stopped at St. Augustine. It was so pretty at night, I had to try a picture.
The result doesn't show up here very well at all.


Susan took this picture of me on our flybridge in my "horse blanket" overshirt and Greek fisherman's cap. It was a beautiful, sunny day, but quite cool on the bridge.

I REALLY need a haircut!!


Today (Sunday) a few rain squalls blew through, and I tried to capture the resulting rainbow over Singer Island. This was taken from our aft deck looking northeast.



We continue to work on maintenance and stocking up the boat for our crossing next week.
I am becoming more confident in trying to fix things that malfunction. Let's just say that "happiness is a fully functioning day head", and leave it at that.

Confessions of a First Mate

Hello Everyone, this is Susan, alive and well and making my first posting to our blog. Walt has often urged me to participate in our chronicles, however until now I didn't have an "adventure" to report. Frankly, I read the blog just as you do and find out what Walt has had done to Kingdom to make ready for our departure.
Trust me, we have the most up to date electronics and navigation thingamajigs available. I admit they are easier to learn to use than the sextant and compasses, parallels, paper charts, soundings and readings used by our fathers and uncles! Thank you God for GPS and transponders. My favorite display in the pilot house is "Water Temperature", so you know my priorities. We headed south from Brunswick Georgia on January 4th, a 6 day trip to arrive in Palm Beach by Thursday January 10th for a scheduled appointment with the Water maker technician on Friday morning. It was fabulous to be underway again, warmer and warmer as we headed south, but without the humidity that makes it so oppressive. We prefer to be "on the hook" rather than in a marina, but at our favorite Tiki bars and restaurants along the way we would opt to spend the night tied up and indulge our appetites.
After a lovely afternoon in Daytona Beach visiting with sister Ellie Rein and dinner at Chart House restaurant we took off heading south along the ICW to Titusville. This should have been an easy day, making our anchorage long before sundown. Unfortunately, about 2 miles south of the Ponce DeLeon Inlet we encountered a bascule bridge closed for the day to undergo sandblasting. They would re-open at 5:15 p.m. putting us a day behind schedule. So much for our local knowledge.
At that point we forgot our most important lesson: Prepare for the Worst and Expect the Best...We checked in with NOAA (the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration) and heard forecast maximum 15 kt. winds and seas 2-4 ft. out to 20 miles off shore. "Hey, no biggie, let's go for it" I said; we'll just make the run down the coast 3 miles off shore, clean out our blackwater tanks while underway, and head back in at Cape Canaveral Inlet.
Well, seas were 4-5', winds steady off our port bow at a minimum of 15 knots, Strike One!
Nothing that Kingdom can't easily handle, but something I had for dinner wasn't agreeing with me, and I would have much been happier inland. All the repairs and refits in the galley hardware worked perfectly, and the scooters rode the flybridge without budging from their cleats.
About midway to Canaveral, and late in the afternoon, I spent a little time with the charts I should have studied before. Shoals, lots of shoals, shallow little devils all the way from shore to more than 3 miles out. Strike Two!!
So my Captain changed course and out we headed...with seas 6-7' and winds to 20 knots. Then it got dark, rain squalls here and there... Strike Three!!!
The wind and seas eventually calmed a little, and the course change heading back toward shore helped. We knew where we were because it was as plain as day (and as bright) on the chart plotter glaring into our eyes right in front of us. (We now know how to engage the night vision screens on the plotters) About the time we expected to see the first channel marker for the port entry, Walt asked me to go out on the Portuguese bridge to have a look around...jeez, there it was about 20' off our port bow...those little suckers have little tiny lights! So I remained on the deck, closely watching as ships and ferries passed us in front and buoys to our port and starboard. It was absolutely beautiful, I wish I'd know what the heck I was looking at!!!
By this time I figured Walt could fend for himself and I should study the charts to figure out where we could drop the anchor...OMG! Bascule bridge just ahead!!! OK, no problem, I called the bridge tender, he opened the bridge, and gave us the channel to hail the LOCK tender!!!?? OMG!!! OK, no problem, I called the LOCK tender, and admitted that I've never been through a lock before, and didn't have the faintest idea of what to do. He was wonderful. He chuckled and said people do it lots of times and still don't have a clue what to do...so he talked me through the procedure; lines, fenders, stop, go...We did fine, and I blew him kisses until the lock closed behind us and we were once again clueless about where to drop the hook. Magically, a couple dolphins came by to head us to a little deeper water without snagging a crab trap, but by this time I'm on the verge of serious crankiness. My darling Captain, calm as always, not complaining, in a torrential downpour proceeded to secure the anchor while I poured him the very last shot of scotch. I'm a lucky woman!
The next morning we made a peaceful quiet run down the ICW to Melbourne Harbor Marina, and spent a far too short visit with our friend and Yacht Broker Jim Guin. I think he approves of the improvements we've made to the boat, and it's good to hear the boat market is doing better than the real estate market.
We are now in Palm Beach, and yesterday (Friday) the Water maker was declared "top of the line" and ready to make 800 gpd of the best tasting, cleanest water possible as soon as we get off shore. A trip to Costco for food and probably at least a couple to Boats-R-Us for stuff Walt needs, and we will be ready to make the 55 nautical mile crossing to Grand Bahama Island. We may need to wait a couple of days for perfect weather conditions because crossing the Gulf stream can be dicey even in moderate seas.
We're having dinner with friends Claire and Don Jones this evening (who graciously loaned us their car while we're here, Thank you Claire and Don!)
Walt and I were reminded of an important lesson, which we will never again forget: Prepare for the Worst and Expect the Best. We are grateful for the outside run which taught us much, and ended so well, and although we never feared for our safety, we were exhausted. So next time I come up with a "hey, no biggie, let's go for it" and fail to plan ahead, Walt will probably ask me to walk the plank.
Love,
Susan

Goin' South... At Last!

Today we finally are really headed South! We rose early this morning, hosed the Brunswick Birdshit off our decks, and loaded our scooters aboard. (See pics below) We got underway about 10:30 am, and ran for about 6 hours and 45 minutes south, anchoring in Alligator Creek for the night.



I'm including pics of some of the things we accomplished while in Brunswick...
We got the fybridge Deck Box wired, ran a new water line, so our icemaker and drinks fridge are now operational on the flybridge. This gives us the ability to have cold drinks and ice on the flybridge without having to run up and down the ladder to the galley.


I finally figured out how to hang the doors on the aft deck washer/dryer enclosure. Now we can relax on the aft deck without feeling we are in a laundry room!

We purchased and installed this major money, time and labor-saving device in the engine room. It is an automatic oil change system, which allows us to change the oil in both main engines and both generator engines at the touch of a button. I can select the engine I want to change, and whoosh! the old oil is sucked out and into a drum, and then replace it with new, fresh oil by reversing the flow to the selected engine. Since diesel engines require fresh oil at 150-hour intervals, this is a huge labor savings. If I took my boat to a yard to have the oil changed, they would charge me $80 per hour to do this, plus the cost of oil and filters. By doing this job myself, I will save about $600 per oil change!


Tomorrow evening, we will anchored off the old fort in St. Augustine, Florida!

Christmas and New Years

On Christmas day, Susan and I drove back to Brunswick from Savannah. Back aboard KINGDOM, we spruced ourselves up to go visiting.
We were invited by my second cousin, Mary King Flowers, to her dear friends' (Nancy and Weldon) for Christmas Dinner. Nancy and Mary's friendship goes back to their days in school, and they both have lovely homes on St. Simons Island.
Weldon had smoked a turkey overnight, and I must say that it was fabulous! Tender, juicy, and full of flavor. We dined with several other friends of theirs, along with Mary and John, her husband of 54 years. We were made to feel at home, and enjoyed ourselves and new friends immensely.
After dinner, Nancy led us around the corner to a neighboring house, where a huge Poinsettia bush was in full bloom. It seemed like the perfect photo opportunity!

Nancy and Weldon, our hosts for Christmas Dinner:

Nancy and my cousin, Mary King Flowers at right:

A thoroughly well-fed couple - Walt and Susan King:


We invited the group to come aboard KINGDOM for a New Years' Eve cocktail hour. It was a most convivial evening, and I think everyone enjoyed seeing our boat. Nancy and Weldon, Mary and John, and their delightful daughter and son-in-law Sherena and Bryan attended. They brought along fine home-made dips, gourmet crackers, and added to our boiled and peeled shrimp on ice, nobody went away hungry! We toasted each other and the New Year with a small glass of Champagne, and we were all back in our own beds by 10:30pm.

New Year's Day - I made two pans of cornbread as our contribution to New Year's dinner at John and Mary's home. This was the highlight of our stay in Georgia! It was a real Southern-style dinner, with a menu of Honey-baked Ham, roast Turkey, Weldon's 15-bean soup, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, peeled and boiled turnips, string beans, macaroni & cheese, flour rolls, cornbread, pinto beans and rice, a 15-layer chocolate cake, and Mary's old fashioned banana puddin'! Not to mention a snack table filled with chocolates, cookies, chips, nuts, and home-made dips! Thank goodness there was a much larger group for dinner; extended family, friends, kids, and grandkids and neighbors actually made a sizable dent in all that food!
After dinner, some of us gathered around the piano in the living room to sing some of the old gospel favorites. Adam played piano, and Red Flowers (John's brother) strummed along on his guitar. I felt right at home, since this was the typical after-Sunday-dinner activity for my sisters and I when we were growing up.
Another group gathered at the big table for a hotly-contested game of Mexican Train (a wild version of dominos).
All this, and football, too! Bowl Game after Bowl Game...
I ask you: What more could a couple of wandering retirees want, to start the New Year off right?

More on Savannah

I couldn't bear not to post a few more of the pictures we took in Savannah. As you can see, it was a chilly day on December 23rd.


The first cemetery in Savannah was established in 1735, and the last burials in this cemetery were a hundred years later, in 1835. When the Union soldiers departed their encampment in the cemetery after the civil war, many of the stones had been displaced. The townsfolk tried their best to reposition them where they were originally located. Those markers which could not be restored to their original location were arrayed on this wall for preservation.

It was sad to see how many young children did not survive their first year of life, and in some years, an entire generation could be decimated by cholera, yellow fever, or influenza.


Savannah was founded by General Oglethorpe, who petitioned Parliament to enable him establish a colony in Georgia to defend the Crown's claim to this territory. Spain also claimed the area, and occasionally made incursions from their established military forts in Florida. In the last of these battles, General Oglethorpe's troops ambushed and defeated Spanish troops at "Bloody Marsh", on St. Simon's Island, near current-day Brunswick.
General Oglethorpe recruited many of his new Colony's settlers from English debtor's prisons. He established several interesting government policies for his colony: No lawyers were allowed (probably to protect the interests of the emigrant debtors). No Catholics were allowed (for fear of Spanish sympathizers). Slavery was not allowed within the city of Savannah.
Today, of course, many of the oldest historic buildings and residences are owned and occupied by Irish Catholic lawyers and law firms. Savannah now also has a beautiful Catholic Cathedral.

There is also an African Methodist Episcopal church that was built before the civil war. It was constructed largely by slaves from the surrounding plantations. They volunteered their labor and meager resources to its construction. They walked into the city after doing a full day's labor for their owners, worked on building the church, and then walked back to their plantation in time for their next day's work. The exterior of the building is quite plain, but the craftsmanship on display inside the building is wonderful.

Travels in Georgia

Susan had never been to Georgia, and since my Dad's family has roots here, I wanted to show her a bit of my family history, and especially the beauty of the the old city of Savannah. So a few days before Christmas, we rented a car, and drove to Screven, Georgia, about 70 miles northwest of Brunswick.
Screven is the small town where my father, Leon A. King was born and raised. He and my mother, Texas C. King (T.C. to all her friends) are both buried in the King family plot in Screven, alongside my paternal grandparents, and many of their closest friends and relatives. I hope it doesn't seem morbid to you all, but I've included some photos of the family plot here.

My grandmother's home is still standing, is occupied and well maintained to this day by distant cousins. Susan was mildly impressed that Granny King's house is located on "King Street". It does provide some insight as to how long the family was there...

My Grandparents: Walter Berry King and Mattie Ritch King

My parents: Leon Ambrose King and Texas Cornelia King


Savannah was founded in 1733, and is the best-preserved of the old English Colonial cities in the South. It has the distinction of being the final resting place of four of the original signers of the Decalaration of Independence.
The Civil War is known here as "the War of Northern Agression", or "The Recent Unpleasantness". During that war, as General Grant's army was approaching, riots and looting broke out in the city, so a committee of leading citizens actually invited the Union army into the city as peacekeepers, thereby saving it from distruction by civil disturbance, or by the Union troops who would have laid seige to the place. The city cemetery was used by the troops as a campground, and unfortunately, some of the gravestones were defaced and/or uprooted. We found it a fascinating place. Savannah was laid out by its founder in a grid which included 24 parklike public squares planted with oak trees, which now provide shady areas for fountains, statuary, benches and walking paths.
Savannah - one of the 24 squares



The "Old Town" historic district is about two and a half square miles, bordered on the North by the Savannah River, which is still a busy seaport. The old waterfront district is fun, providing bars, saloons, and taverns, interspersed with shops and art galleries. Many of the old cotton warehouses, factor's buildings, and quayfront buildings have been converted to upscale offices and loft condominiums.
Susan and I had Christmas Eve dinner at Churchill's Tavern. They specialize in typical English fare, which is wonderful, as well as many varieties of European beers. We shared Bangers and Mash, a Shepherd's Pie, and Baked Brie, washing it down with Harp's light ale and white wine. We recommend the place for its hospitable staff and warm, traditional atmosphere.

Thanksgiving Pictures

December has been a very busy month! Here it is January 2nd, and I'm just now getting around to catching up on the old Blog! I'm going to try to make up time by making several postings over the next two days. Then, we are headed South!
First up - Pictures from our Thanksgiving trip to Phoenix, and our first opportunity to get to know our newest little grandson, Andrew...

We were treated by Ray and Pam to a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, and I gave Ray the opportunity to trounce me at chess! Again!

But I ask you; Have you ever seen a more handsome baby?