A partial list of improvements would include: depth finder, knot meter, vhf radio, am-fm stereo w/inside and outside speakers, 12v fan, compass, extra interior lights w/ red & white bulbs (for night vision), additional shelves, bins, racks, etc., Bimini top, swim ladder, 50 hp motor w/ power tilt, pressure water system with 15 gallon tank and both inside and outside showers, mainsail luff slides, roller furling jib, racing spinnaker w/pole, trapeze w/harness (what?), custom pedestal guard w/ table, boom vang, 1 man mast raiser system, GPS, EPIRB, shotgun and about 800 lbs. of personal gear, an inflatable dinghy w/ 2hp outboard. Almost all of these items are now available as options on a new MacGregor 26x.
After all the effort to prepare for the trip, the actual drive to West Palm Beach went smoothly and with rigging, launching, and last minute provisioning readily accomplished we (my longtime friend and sailing companion Mark Svenson and me) were at last ready to depart.
Day One - Depart WPB Lake Worth inlet approx. 0930 course 105, speed 13-15 kts. Making good time in favorable conditions. Fuel consumption 6 gph, noon GPS fix 16 miles to go. Unfortunately, We are out of gas and the wind is on the nose, 5-10 kts. Now making 3-4 kts, sure wish I had brought 2 more 6 gal. tanks, but then we would have missed a pleasant if somewhat tedious sail to West End, arriving 6pm. After putting out the fire in the alcohol stove fuel tank cover, (remove cover before lighting), we fixed a killer dinner of steak, potatoes, onions and cheese noodles. Mark and I had planned to diet and lose a few pounds on this trip, (starting tomorrow).
As the anchorage was a little rolly, we deployed the "flopper stoppers", a device that looked like two stacks of witch's hats and hang over the side into the water. They worked somewhat like that, but better when we suspended one from the boom and the other from the spinnaker pole, as far out as we could swing them. All this fiddling was a pain, and we never bothered to use them again. It was much easier to simply anchor in shallow protected water, or even beach the boat if we wished.
Day 2 - (12/3/95) Motored into nearby West End marina for customs clearance. It felt a little strange to be back just 11 months after the 65' trip. Mark enjoyed the tour of the defunct Jack Tar Village resort, with its beautiful but deserted beach. I felt a bit like a tour guide. After clearing customs we attempted to sail to Xanadu but quickly were reminded we were not in the 65. The 20 kt S.E.wind slowed our vmg to 2 kts under reefed main and partially furled jib, turning the 20 miles into a potential all day ordeal. A quick about-face put us on a comfortable broad reach back to West End, where we tackled the protected but shallow northern coast of Grand Bahama Island. With about a 4' tide, the shallow areas get very tricky at low tide, and we found ourselves scraping the bottom with the prop several times. A spare prop would have been a good idea. We made it to the middle of nowhere and anchored, (Crissy-swash, an area of mangrove islands with no beaches). Enjoyed a bottle of white wine and spaghetti dinner w/ salad. (Tip - cook up all the hamburger at once; it will keep for days and you can add it to almost anything).
Day 3 -
Exiting the canal, we motored over to Peterson Island (part of the Bahamas National Park) for some excellent shallow coral snorkeling. Lots of fish! Had a great sail 2 hours to Port Lucaya, where the friendly folks at the Port Lucayan Marina offered us a free night's dockage. It was a brand new marina with beautiful showers and heads, (greatly appreciated after several days with primitive facilities). The free water taxi ran every 30-min. across to the quaint tourist area of Port Lucaya, with 21 restaurants and a casino. A Bahamian fish dinner w/ complimentary rum punch sure hit the spot after a busy day. The sounds of the bandstand faded as we nestled into our bunks.
Day 4 - Decided to rent a car and do the usual tourist stuff. Did 157 miles of not much. Read about three neat sounding restaurants. Two were closed and we couldn't find the other one. Visited two Bahamas Nat'l Park sites, both a 3 on a scale of ten. Wallace Groves Park (named after the founder of Freeport) was a beautifully landscaped area of 11 acres, well worth the visit. Had an unusual dinner of Southern ham hocks at " Fat Man's Nephew " restaurant in Port Lucaya. Foolishly gambled away $1.50 at the International Bazaar. Ended up watching a movie at "Cap't Kenny's, the local " meet market ", while Mark endlessly and fruitlessly chased women.
Day 5 - Lots of telephone calls to make further plans. Time consuming. Checked into shipping the boat back from Nassau, which would give us more flexibility. Bureaucratic BS and $800- $1700 est. Checked out of Port Lucaya Marina and into Lucayan Village Marina, across the harbor. Much nicer, with a beautiful pool w/ hot tub, and direct access to the beach and "mall" area. After the hassle of driving yesterday I was ready for some beach time! After a mediocre dinner at the "Caribe Club", we set sail for the Berry Islands (about 9pm) with a following breeze and full moon. Slow and lumpy, making 3-4 knots, saving gas, but not sleep.
Day 6 - Sailed all night, little sleep. Tried auto pilot, not good in the sloppy conditions. It worked O.K. motor sailing until winds got lighter, and then fluky winds caused problems with slatting sails etc. Finally gave up and hand steered. We saw several ships but no close calls. Beautiful sunrise, one of the most enjoyable facets of night sailing. Amazed by the sight of breaking schools of fish. Tried trolling for an hour but no luck. Arrived at Great Stirrup Cay @ 10.30, 62 miles from Grand Bahama.
Bullock's Harbor was the residue of a large, defunct, golf resort. The gorgeous beach on the other side of the island was just a short walk. This was one of the prettiest beaches I had ever seen, with a rustic snackroom to get a beer and burger at. A deserted beach house beckoned Mark and I to set up housekeeping. You could happily spend a week there, but we spent two hours, then back to the boat to cross the banks on a falling tide to Little Harbor Cay. Didn't make it. Too shallow even for us. So here we are, 4-5 miles from anywhere in 18" water, anchored next to a "sand bore", a sand ridge normally underwater, that dries at low tide. Although it's breezy, there is little wave action due to lack of water, so hopefully we'll get a good night's sleep to make up for last night.
Day 7 - Great night's sleep. We drifted with the rising tide toward Little Harbor Cay while fixing breakfast. Drifting is a most relaxing if somewhat sluggish mode of travel. After a quick visit to Chester at "Flo's Conch Bar", we found an ideal small beach with overhanging palm trees (a rarity) and had our morning swim and snorkel. Continuing on in the wake of the 65', we stopped at Frozen and alder cays (another swim, just couldn't resist the beautiful water), tried to sail (1.7 kts max.), and eventually motored to Chub cay. Our arrival at flank speed created a stir among the cruisers there, and quite a few comments about the boat, where we had been, etc.
The reef off Mama Rhoda rock is a popular snorkeling spot, and we joined several other dinghies anchored there. Of course, our "dinghy" was a little better equipped than most, and after our snorkel the fresh water shower, change to dry clothes, rum punch and stereo, did elicit an envious comment or two from the wet and cold rubber-dinghy yachties. Small boats do have their advantages.
While snorkeling Mark spotted two lobsters, almost invisibly tucked into crannies in the shallow reef. A woman nearby came over and speared one for dinner (her dinner). It seemed a shame because the lobsters are so neat to look at underwater, but they are too tasty for their own good!
We gassed up ($2.25/gal.) and looked around the small marina. There was a splendid sunset, and I took photos of two men sitting on lawn chairs in the water. The no-see-ums were vicious so we headed out for a rum punch and rock n' roll party (and dinner) aboard our boat in the anchorage. All in all a great day!
Day 8 - We departed Chub Cay under sail bright and early for Andros, about 18 miles away. The boat self-steered in 10-15 kts perfectly at 4-5 kts speed, about 60 degrees off the wind. In about 3 hours we spotted the island and confirmed our position with a quick GPS fix. Heading in the channel, a water tanker from Nassau was gaining on us from behind. A short burst of throttle quickly opened the gap back up, no doubt surprising the ship's captain as we had sails up at the time.
Morgan's Bluff, named after the pirate, was a quiet place with a decent beach with weird sand like quicksand along the water's edge. We sank in 12" walking in it. We motored inside the reef (Andros has the third longest barrier reef in the world) about 12 miles to the largest town, Nicholstown, but a nasty surge prevented us from docking at the town dock, and waves breaking on the beach discouraged us from beaching the boat. Besides, the town looked like dirt.
Back out through the reef we headed for Nassau but wind on the nose at 15-20 kts was too rough to make decent headway. The M-65 could go through pretty well, but most 30 -40' boats would have a tough time. After a bit of punishment I elected to head back to Chub, about 30 miles, which we did in 2 hours under jib and motor. The jib seemed to steady the boat, and may have provided some drive. Back at Chub we gassed up again (thirsty bugger!) and rented bicycles for a tour of the small one road island. Walking out to a rocky point, I felt the wind had dropped and when the no-see-ums descended at dusk and we escaped to the outer harbor, I decided to take advantage of the improved conditions and continued past the anchorage towards Nassau. Mark just laughed when he realized what I was doing, and 3 hours and 36 miles later we were drinking White Russians at 'Cudas bar.
Day 9 - After breakfast aboard, we gassed up (again) and found the M-65 I sold last spring which had been sailed to Nassau by a delivery crew for the owner. We rafted alongside and convinced the marina not to charge us, as we were the "dinghy". We had permission to use the 65' but after Mark and I looked at the work it would take just to get underway, decided against it. We just took off in the little boat and spent the day sailing around Paradise Island, anchoring at various beaches off Rose and Athol Islands, snorkeling, drinking rum punch, you know, the usual.
One of the boats at the Chub Cay anchorage, a 39' sloop, had left with us, heading for Nassau, the day we went to Andros. So we were a bit surprised to see them and learn that they abandoned the Nassau trip due to rough seas and poor headway, and anchored at Whale Cay, some 6 or so miles from Chub. When the wind shifted to the west overnight, they had a nice sail downwind to Nassau. We chided them a bit about making 6 miles in their 39' boat the day we made 95 miles in our 26'. I don't like to wait for better weather, but most of the cruisers refuse to sail upwind, and in the Bahamas the wind direction changes often so it's usually not necessary if you're not in a hurry.
We had dinner at the "Poop Deck" restaurant, then enjoyed watching a video movie on one of the M-65's two color TVs. Mark abandoned ship for the comfort of the larger boat, while I "toughed it out" alongside.
Day 10 - Much halyard slapping and a little dockline jerking but an O.K. night's sleep. (helpful hint: use bungie cords to pull docklines from their center towards the boat. This greatly reduces dockline jerk) Looks like a good day to stay put! Worked on M-65 in the morning and shopped for return trip to Fla. after lunch. About 3pm, with 25-30 knot winds, we ventured bravely (or stupidly) out the inlet. It was a wild ride in 6-8' waves with rolling whitecaps. Too much! Returned to port with one knockdown and some damage to shelf in galley (screws pulled loose). The boat handled much better under power than under sail, not surprising, as maneuverability and speed control are better under power. We saw no other small boats go out. Later that evening we walked over to Paradise Island for a tour of the "wonderland" and had hot chocolate aboard the bouncy M-26 to warm up when we got back. We both bailed out to sleep in the 65', much calmer! Hopefully tomorrow we can make it back to Chub.
Day 11 - Nice breakfast of pancakes. We took our time leaving Nassau. There was no rush and we weren't too anxious to repeat yesterday's adventure in the inlet. Happily the wind was down to 20kts with somewhat more favorable direction (more broad reach then dead down). The ride back to Chub was like " Mr. Toad's Wild Ride " at Disneyland. Some roundups in the 6-8' waves, some 15-20 knot speeds zooming down waves (but mostly 9-10). Took 41/2 hours, 36 miles. Our compass course and speed estimations were a little off and I had to do a GPS fix to find Chub as we were a little south of our course. I always feel a little guilt when I do an electronic fix, as if my seamanship is somehow faulty.
Gassed up at Chub and motored 7 miles to tiny Rum Cay, the only lee between Chub and Bimini, where we fixed another memorable spaghetti dinner, with Nassau coconut bread and a salad and dessert. We thought of having "Desert First" in honor of friends we had met with a boat of the same name. Tomorrow Bimini or Bust!
Day 12 - Lots of rain last night. The boat has been surprisingly dry, with no noticeable rain or spray leaking in. I had done plenty of caulking before the trip. We departed at 7am under reefed main and partially furled jib, wing and wing, making 5-7 kts in the breezy conditions. Passed real close to a nasty looking breaking reef. Brrr! Hit max. 12.8 kts 2x surfing down big waves. We needed to sail about 15 miles to get within fuel range of Cat cay, but we were making such good time that t we sailed about 20 miles before " shifting gears" to power.
Arrived Cat Cay at 2pm for a combined avg. speed of 10 kts. Had we sailed the whole way our ETA would have been around 9pm, a nervous nighttime approach, or an uncomfortable night anchored on the " Banks". As it was, after gassing up at Cat cay, we enjoyed a visit to "Honeymoon Harbor" where we inspected the hulk of an Islander 30 that had come to grief due, no doubt, due to anchor dragging in a storm. Then it was off to the " ferrocement ship wreck", a popular snorkeling place that boasts thousands of fish and colorful corals. You can actually swim right through the sides of the ship, where the concrete has disintegrated. We headed into Bimini about 4:30, in time for a leisurely stroll around town. The sunset, accompanied by a tasty snack of Island wings, was spectacular. After dinner at the "Red lion", we paid a short visit to "The Compleat Angler", Hemingway's hangout in the 30's.
Day 13 - Up at 4.30 and underway at 5:00. I tried to sneak out with Mark still in bed, and nearly lost our little outboard as I pulled out of the slip when we bounced off a piling, snagging the dinghy motor a bit. The outgoing tide was moving us sideways faster than I could get to the controls after releasing the dock lines. You always have to be careful, and crew is helpful even on a small boat.
We blasted towards Ft. Lauderdale at 15-18 kts, passing a couple of other boats that had left just ahead of us. We were lucky (again) on our Gulf Stream weather, as winds were 15 kts behind us. We soon had to throttle back, as the building waves began to exert their influence. We added the water ballast (after a near broach). No problem! Rock 'n roll to Ft. Lauderdale, arriving 10am. (47mi.).
After gassing up for thankfully our last time (and at a mere $1.25/gal.), we headed up the ICW toward West Palm Beach, some 45 miles distant. A couple of bridges later (and a mysterious malfunction in our VHF), we decided to drop the mast to speed up the process of passing bridges.
We also speeded up the boat, adding 3 mph to our top speed. There are many "no wake" and "manatee" areas where 6 kts is the limit, but even so we were back at Cracker Boy marina at 3pm, plenty of time to retrieve our van and trailer, pop on the boat at a nearby ramp, and return to their fenced storage yard before their 4:30 closing time. It was fun to pull the boat onto the trailer, then just drive off, because all the mast lowering and tie down work had already been done. Ramp time was less than 2 minutes! It was great to be back in "civilization" again (and $1. beer at the Crown and Anchor Pub).
Day - 14 - With the warm, sunny weather we didn't mind the part of a trip no one wants to talk about. Going home? no, cleaning up! The boat was a salt crust, and every surface, nook and cranny needed washing, rinsing, waxing, WD-40, etc.etc. There was laundry to do, misc. groceries to give away, fishing rods and foul weather gear to rinse and dry, engine and boat winterizing chores and more. We finished the final check at 3pm, and our rig was ready to tackle the most dangerous part of the trip, the 1000 miles of Interstate 95. All in All, it was a great fun trip, and the 26X came through with flying colors. With a modicum of common sense, (and more gas) I would not hesitate to explore all the Bahamas clear down to Great Inagua, where it's just 65 miles to Haiti, or 50 miles to Cuba, or...
The two weeks spent aboard moves the M-26X clearly into the "cruiser" instead of the "weekender" category. I wish everyone who buys a trailerable boat "to learn how to sail" would do a couple of real trips with it. They would feel sorry for the owners of larger boats, stuck in their expensive slips, instead of envious. Of, course, it was fun for Mark and I to fly back to Nassau and spend another week aboard the '65. There is something to be said for 32000 lbs. and a knifelike entry when sailing to windward. I wonder if MacGregor will ever build a water ballasted, accordion-hulled extendible/collapsible trailerable liveaboard???
Happy Sailing from Cap't Jim
