Cruising

Soon the lure of Iowa called us west and we traveled out to see Chiara, James, and Norah Claire. Norah has progressed from sitting up to cruising, having skipped the lowly art of crawling all together. She gets on her feet with a little help, then makes her way around the house, holding on to whatever will take her on her chosen path. This makes for an interesting change in the nature of her surroundings. For Norah, open spaces are a barrier and furniture is her road.

The first Big Event

We returned to Grand Rapids for the wedding of Samuel Vanderwoude and Tammy Darby. They had a beautiful day for their ceremony by a gentle river. Unfortunately, our pictures of the ceremony were a disappointment. The marriage of these two wonderful people will have to be represented by this photograph of the Happy Flower Boy who threw blossoms as he marched like Sherman through the crowd and on to the playground.

Goodbye Fidelio

We enjoyed several pleasant days together. Jay and Sarah met every member of the Fort Pierce office of US Immigration, sharing enough quality time to remember their names and favorite hobbies. Once cleared, they were ready to make the long, but warmer trip back to Annapolis.

Time to Sail

Our short stay in the Bahamas was over and the relentless calender called us back to land. Sarah and Jay were also feeling the demands of their schedule. Early in the morning we joined Fidelio and began our sail back to the States. The winds were perfect for heading west.

Welcome back

A fast sail brought us back to Manjack in the late evening. Once settled in the anchorage, we heard the sounds of music and caught the faint smell of rum wafting from the shore. Quickly the dingy was in the water and we were off to investigate. There on the dock were Ben, Sarah, and Jay, working their way through the music of Dylan, Del, and Woody. Ben, from Oriental NC, had been living on the island for months. Jay and Sarah, from Great Britain, had recently arrived after a chilling January sail down from Annapolis. We sang, enjoying the stars and the night breeze.

Finally Sailors

Gradually the weather cleared, the winds moderated from abusive to lovely, and we had the sail that we had been dreaming about for days. It was just in time, before Peter and Ginny caught their flight back to real life and wwwwoorrr....

Best of all

The surprising high point of our visit was Peter's discovery of this STAINLESS STEEL JEEP in Marsh Harbor. All the rest of us could say was “be still my heart”.

What else did they do?

Peter and Ginny squeezed in many of the traditional cruising pastimes, crossing iron shore and gathering essential Vitamin D.

The Abigail

This lovely boat is one of Winer's children. Abigail lives on Manjack Cay and here is being taken out to her mooring by Ben. (More about Ben later)

Stumbling over history

In front of a tiny plain house was a small sign: “Can't accept any boat orders. Winer”. We had wandered by the home of Winer Malone, a descendant of one of the earliest settlers, Wyannie Malone, and a famous builder of traditional Bahamian sailboats. Winer, who is in his 90's, continues to make beautiful wooden boats using only hand tools. He hasn't stopped boat building; he has just decided that he already has enough orders to fill his remaining years.

Walking the towns

We really enjoyed walking in the small streets in the community of Man of War on Elbow Cay, one of the early Loyalist settlements in the Abacos. Not much room for cars here.

Fine dining

Peter and Ginny sampled Bahamian flavors.

Fine drinking

Despite the gales, we enjoyed ocean side life.

Problems with the weather gods

We were thrilled to see the Stacks, but disappointed that their visit came just as a cold northern front approached. Undismayed, even with the seas pounding, Peter and Ginny were in the water.

Company's coming

The passage to Marsh Harbor took us through rain and a few squalls. We were preparing for the much anticipated arrival of our friends from Rhode Island, Peter and Ginny Stack.

Grouper Lessons

Ben, a young man from the States was living on the island and taking the Manjack course of island life. The Grouper tutorial with Bill was a great success. Fortunately, Ben brought his guitar and gave us nights of music. While all the beauty of Manjack encouraged us to stay, we left with hopes to return.

Manjack Life

As usual, Leslie and Bill were tackling challenging and exciting projects. We always learn new skills when we have a chance to join them. This day's activity was replacing the worn out supports and re-thatching the palapas. Underneath its shelter, a table for drinks and seat swings make it a great place to sit on a hot day.

Another milestone

Some of you may have read our earlier post on the achievement of pony tail. Once back to the boat we discovered that Vinnie's hair had a new trick, the WAVE. His mother must have loved his little boy curls many years ago. We wonder what his dad would think of them now.

It all looks familiar

After George's funeral, our time ashore was longer than we had anticipated. It always seems as though we manage to arrive in time for all the major events of our family and friends. We also assume that they cruise along in a slow autopilot mode until our next return. How could their lives be so busy and full of important matters while we are gone? That would mean that we are missing ...

Somehow we tore ourselves away and returned to our boat, then the gulf stream, and finally the Bahamas. Once again we were sailing across the crystal water of the banks and reaching for Manjack Cay.

Goodbye

We gathered with family and friends in New York to remember George and attend his funeral. George was a man of intense relationships and Meg, his daughters, and grandchildren were the most important people in his life. He loved telling stories of softball games and fishing and good times and hard times with the people he loved. In his dying months, George was held in loving arms. Everyone in the family can testify that George was a unique person, there is no one who can replace him.

George's sunset

On February 28th, 2008 George Herrmann died after a long illness. We saw this beautiful sunset at Manjack Cay as we prepared to return to the states.

Return to Manjack

It is wonderful to be back to our favorite Abacos Island. Bill and Leslie continue to provide a gracious welcome to cruisers and friends of many species. Last year we found the bananaquits drinking Kahlua in the kitchen. On our recent arrival this lizard was enjoying a view of the anchorage from the cool comfort of their living room.

Join the Navy

We left Florida with good weather for crossing the gulf stream. It is great to be on the water again. With a happy captain and the flag flying, this could be a recruitment ad.

A new puzzle

Every morning we walk to the beach on the ocean side of Manjack Cay. While on the beach, we pick up all the plastic garbage that has floated in with the wind and tide. This item looked like it qualified in the plastic division, but on examination, it did not. Definitely a natural substance. What is it?

Finally, the Mystery Boat Revealed

Congratulations to Micheal Parente, who had the most accurate answers.

Cloudia is a prototype catamaran designed to test the tall red and white towers, called Flettner rotors, which were first describe 80 years ago The outboard motor is used as an auxiliary, to move the boat into position for the tests. A small electric motor spins the rotors. The spinning rotors then develop lift similar to the lift produced by a spinning curve ball thrown by a baseball pitcher. The lift produced provides the boat's propulsion through the water. The rotors need to spin at approximately 3 – 5 times the wind's speed. A beam reach is the best point of sail for this rig. Cloudia successfully completed her sea trial last month.

Cloudia's two Flettner rotors are built of carbon fiber and foam. The taller tower is approximately 18 feet and 300 pounds, the shorter is approximately 14 feet and 275 pounds. The pattern of interrupted red stripes was used to help film the towers' speed of rotation, which can be 180 RPM in 5 knots of wind.. The black scores on the horizontal base of the rotors were used to accurately measure the rpm of the rotor using a stroboscopic device. The metal fences in the cockpit were built to give the appearance safety for the film. Unfortunately the movie's narrator chose to stand next to the spinning rotors with the safety grids behind him.

Cloudia was built to only test the use of Flettner rotors, but her name refers to the environmental goals of a much larger project to combat global warming developed by Steven Salter, a professor and researcher at Edinburgh University. The goal is to have enormous, unmanned sail boats propelled by Flettner rotors in the oceans, generating clouds to cool the earth. Turbines dragged behind the boats and solar panels will produce the electricity needed to aerosolize sea water, perhaps using ultrasonic humidifiers. The cloud making technology for this project is being developed at other research sites. The next step in the project is to build a 60 foot catamaran with the capability to easily disable Flettner Rotors, perhaps using towers that can be inflated and deflated.

This research project is supported by the Discovery Channel and will be featured in their series on Global warming. Cloudia's sea trial was filmed by Impossible Pictures. We wrote this explanation based of a conversation with Captain Bill who was responsible for Cloudia's electrical engineering and captained her sea trial.

Question 4:

Does the name "Cloudia" have any significance?

Question 3:

Why did they paint black lines on the bases and red stripes on the columns?

Question 2:

Why does the boat have those fences in its cockpit?

Question 1:

What are those towers for?

The mystery boat

We returned to our boatyard and found a mysterious trimaran. Here Vinnie moves in closer to examine it.

The Challenge

After being embarrassed by our lame explanation for the previous marine challenge, we've been more serious in our research of this year's entry. If interested in competing, examine the pictures and respond to the questions.

Running to the boat

Perhaps it was the freezing temperature, or the piles or snow, or our lack of cold weather outfits; something sent us hurtling south and ended our 9 months of land life. We've had a wonderful time. Our recent adventures have not been of storms or islands. Instead we navigated our way on a map of the lives of our friends and family.

Stylish

It seems that another hip New Yorker is in the world. Ethan is already developing an acute sense of fashion and style.

Test Drive

Ethan also was exploring the world. He loves the swing.

Snow Angel

The family gathered to welcome Ethan. Chiara and James brought Norah, just in time for a snow fall and a chance for Norah to enjoy her new suit.

Welcome to the family

We're glad she chose the baby. She and Jim got the handsome Ethan James Bradford on January 11, 2008.

The dilemma

Alessia was faced with a difficult choice, keep the very handy snack shelf or have a baby.

New developments

We returned to Grand Rapids in late December as Alessia and Jim were growing great with child.

What's this?

Next we traveled to Cape Cod for a visit with Meg and George. There our camera decided to began its creative phase and we returned it to Canon for a tuneup and return to realism.

Christmas in New York

We traveled to New York for a Jasinski family Christmas. We each took numbers and waited for our turn to hold Thomas or William. Most photographs of the celebration includes a baby. Claire, Luisma, and Martin as usual made the record for longest distance to the party since they traveled from Spain. Here Luisma visits with Syd and holds William, or maybe Thomas.