Bahamas

Anytime I find something new and exciting I am inclined to jump in neck deep. Liz says this is a serious character flaw I have since I also usually spend lots of money getting all the books and gear required to participate in the new endeavor. Sailing happens to be one of those activities that I fell in love with at an early age. I first learned to sail while a Boy Scout in Oklahoma. I know where do you sail in Oklahoma? A local lawyer donated a 16’ sloop to my scout troop but no one knew how to sail. I got all the books from the library and read the theory of sailing. I eventually got the scout troop leader to take the boat to a lake and we finally figured out how to sail the thing with no instruction at all.

I didn’t sail again for 30 years. I got the bug again after moving to Arkansas in 1987. Following my nature I bought several boats in succession each bigger than the last and started racing at both Lake Maumelle and Greers Ferry. All sailing enthusiasts have the dream of going to the Bahamas and renting a big sailboat and sailing around the islands. This is called bare-boating; not to be confused with sailing bare which also happens in the Bahamas. Bare-boating is the process of renting a large sailboat from a local company and they provide the boat and gear and you do the sailing. The problem is that nobody will just rent you a big sailboat without some assurance you know how to sail and won’t sink the thing on a submerged rock.

In 1994 I convinced a co-worker friend (Rick) to go with me while I rented a 43 foot Beneteau sailboat plus an instructor to get the experience needed to rent a bareboat in the future. We flew to Ft Lauderdale to hook up with the instructor (John) and get the boat from a local marina. At the time I owned a 1965 model 32 ft Islander that I kept at Greers Ferry. The 43 ft Beneteau was huge compared to my Islander. It had four cabins, full galley and diesel auxiliary engine. It also had air-conditioning but only while tied up to a dock where power was available. The plan was to sail South to Miami harbor the first day then spend the night at a local marina. The 2^nd day we would sail to Biscayne Bay and in the middle of the night, head across the Gulf Stream to Bimini Island in the Bahamas. Remember this was a training experience so I did all the navigation and sailing to include reading the charts and getting in/out of tight anchorages both at day and night. Rick was really just a deck hand but he quickly decided he didn’t like doing all the heavy sail handling so I eventually let him steer and I did the sails. I just had to make sure he stayed on course. The Instructor basically stayed below and ate all our food. I didn’t mention that John was 300 lbs at least. This worked for me because I wanted the experience and this meant that he was there just to make sure I didn’t do something stupid.

We had just sailed from Ft Lauderdale to Miami and were motoring into the Miami breakwater leading to the harbor when a large cigarette power boat (big, long and fast) came up behind us and started following within 10 ft of our stern. There were 3 guys in the boat and they just kept watching us. Suddenly they powered up to our side and two of the guys jumped on our boat, one holding a gun on us. The guy with the gun said “Just keep your hands where I can see them, we’re DEA and we are searching your boat”. We had no idea what they were looking for but all I could think of was that this was a rental boat and if the previous renters left drugs on this boat, we were going to jail!! Finally the 2^nd guy came on deck and said it was clean (to my great relief) and they then asked where we were going. We said we were heading to Bimini to sail the Bahamas for 5 days. This was the first that I learned that there was a mass exodus of refugees from Cuba trying to get to the USA using homemade rafts. They said the rafts were getting into the Gulf Stream and that the Coast Guard was picking them up as fast as they can but were sure to miss some. They were actually searching our boat for refugees. They warned us not to pick any of the refugees up because they could possibly have guns and would take our boat and possibly kill us. They said to call the Coast Guard if we found any rafts then they jumped back on the power boat and sped off. At this point we didn’t know what to expect once we got into open water.

We left Biscayne Bay in the middle of the night because we needed to be close to Bimini at early light in order to make sure we didn’t sail past it to the big Atlantic. I was not allowed to use any electronic navigation so did it all by dead-reckoning. This is working out headings and position by using navigation documents for current and estimated wind directions and strength. It is 65 miles from Miami to Bimini across the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream is a river that runs north along the coast of Florida and it is about 5-6 mph per hour. We were sailing at about 5-6 mph across this current. This means that I had to work out the course taking in consideration of the current and navigate to a position so that we would see Bimini early in the morning. We sailed all night and then the real excitement began as the sun came up.

We were still not in sight of Bimini but we started seeing small specks on the ocean. We were well out of sight of land at this point and couldn’t make out what they were. We headed to the closest one and finally determined that it was a raft. The DEA guys said the Coast Guard was sinking the rafts as they took off the refugees but we found out later that they eventually were overwhelmed by the numbers and just let them drift off. As we got close to what turned out to be a homemade raft made from re-bar and Styrofoam we couldn’t see anyone in the raft. We were afraid someone could be hiding in the bottom wanting us to get close so I climbed up the mast till I could see down in the raft and determined it was empty. It had water bottles and clothes tied to the re-bar but no bodies. We eventually saw a dozen of these rafts and would investigate each one with all of them being empty. It is important to note that the Gulf Stream runs along the Flora coast but if you are in a raft you will never reach land. You will just float by Florida and eventually be swept out to the mid Atlantic. Not a nice way to go.

We eventually got to Bimini by my dead-reckoning and spent the next 5 days sailing among the islands and having a great time. On our return trip we planned to sail direct from Bimini to Ft Lauderdale which is about 100+ miles. We would be going in the same direction as the Gulf Stream so would make better progress than the trip over. Of course things were going to good because the weather turned rotten on our return trip. The waves were big and I would have to slant off with each trough so as not to run full steam into the back of the next wave. In addition it was raining and lightening was hitting all around the boat. You have to thing about this for a moment. I’m on the highest object within miles, I have a 50 ft mast (lightening rod) sticking up and I’m holding on to a stainless steel wheel (helm). Both Rick and John stayed below in the dry cabin as I worked across towards the USA.

At this point I started thinking strange thoughts. A sailboat this size has a very heavy weight on the bottom keel to counter the force on the sail. If lightening hits the mast, it will follow it down to the bottom and could very likely blow a good size hole in the bottom. With the weight on the keel this boat would sink extremely quickly. Our only life raft was a zodiac rubber raft tied on deck. If I could actually get the raft untied before the boat sank, John is so big he will sink the zodiac as soon as he got in it. I was actually thinking that I would have to somehow leave John on the sailboat if Rick and I expected to survive. Dark thoughts for sure.

It was at this time I started seeing more of the rafts floating among us. I tried to get close to the ones I could and had already decided there was no way I would leave anyone on a raft in these seas. If we had found anyone in a raft we would have taken them on board somehow. Luck was with us and they were again all empty.

When we finally pulled into the Ft Lauderdale break water I was worn out. It was at that point I decided that I have no desire to be a blue water (open-ocean) sailor. Coastal sailing was great but to take a sailboat out into the open ocean takes nerves I don’t have. Another thing that happened on this trip really made me think. As we were sailing along in the open ocean with no land in sight a power boat came over the horizon and would have passed us several miles off if he had stayed on his original course. As soon as he saw us he turned and started powering up towards us. I asked John what he was doing and John was even concerned. He said we can’t have guns on board because they are against the law in Bimini. Our only option if they want to take this boat is to go below, lock the hatch cover as best we can and call for help. Help would never get to us in time if those guys in the power boat want this sailboat. Drug runners wanted these big sailboats to make a single drug run from South America. I never felt so vulnerable in my life. The power boat eventually turned back to its original course and sped off.

Summary – Blue ocean sailing is not for me. I would never get on another boat that far from shore unless I had some form of defense (gun) on board or a buffet line on a curse ship. Sailing among the islands is a way of life I could get used too but I will fly to the islands first.