S/V L'ORIENT

It's been a while since our last post. As our loyal followers in Latvia and Eastern Europe would demand nothing less, it's time for an update........... First off, we still live on L'ORIENT. We have not bought a house, condo nor an apartment. We're a long way from being ready to give up our boat life. We've actually made some friends here in South Beach (we're usually not that social). B-Dock in the Miami Beach Marina is a little piece of Italy.........specifically, Bologna. Some Italian live-aboards have become our "besties". Allesandro (Italian plastic surgeon), Lucetta (gourmet cook wife), and Blu (adorable 4-year old daughter) are frequent guests and co-conspirators. They have exactly the same boat we do........an Amel Super Maramu 2000, so Allesandro and I share boat projects and ideas. A superbowl party, ski trip, and sailing are all planned. We continue to work on L'ORIENT to improve her, and the tempo is accelerating. Spare parts arri...

OK, so we're liking South Beach a lot. A stupid Tom moment...........I kept seeing "SOBE" on stores and shirts but thought it was referencing a Japanese restaurant chain (it means South Beach). Duh. We've spent zillions on the boat and are slowly making progress. Autopilot repairs underway, most of the lightning strike damage is repaired. The spare parts I was longing for in Bonaire are all now ordered. The boat is clean. All is good. Since we hadn't bought clothes for about a year and a half, we've been shopping. I can now go to sales presentations and look like an overweight businessman (hey, I was aiming realistically low). Kirstin has had a slower go of it on the shopping front.......she's found a dress to go to the ABC holiday party.........and 4 other "hottie" dresses. The typical couple doing dinner here consists of a guy in jeans and a tee shirt (usually saying something in English in a crazy font............"Interstate Transp...

Last sunrise of trip - over Bimini We left Bimini early last Wednesday morning.........it was cold (kind of like football weather). We muscled L'ORIENT out of the channel and into deep water.......finally.........hand steering towards Miami (autopilot still gone). The wind was completely missing (again) so we were forced to motor most of the way. We knew our next destination was different by the number of AIS targets that appeared on our screen as we approached. Freighters, tankers, many cruise ships.........dodging them as we approached Miami Beach was necessary as the rules of the sea are similar to the rules that apply everywhere else (big things eat small things). Miami - Here we come... We called the Miami Beach Marina and they cheerfully directed us to our slip........B-13. Their instructions for getting there sounded suspiciously simple. "When you see the large motor yachts, you're almost there". As we zig-zagged deeper into the marina channel, we...

Bimini Big Game Club - our marina We arrived in Bimini on Sunday morning, after another windy, wavy sail. Due to the distance (80 miles from Chub Cay Club- or as we affectionately called it, "Club Chub") and the necessity to arrive in the morning here, we left in the late afternoon and sailed all night. Bimini has no shortage of sharks We were worried about this part of the passage because of the depth of the water. We crossed a large bank of water that was only 10-20 ft. deep and prayed that we wouldn't hit a random coral head while going 8 knots. That would be game over for L'ORIENT as we need the bottom of our boat to help keep the water out. Once again, hand steering through big seas made us both tired. We dined throughout the night from our passage menu..........cookies, caffeine, Snickers bars.......basically anything to keep you awake and alert. Telling stupid jokes also keeps us awake.........."How many presidents have sexually inspired names...

 So our sail to Chub Cay, Bahamas was fun (and typical). Wind at twice the forecasted speed (revenge of Clint Parkhurst, weather router for the trashing we gave him two blog posts ago?) and big waves. We averaged almost 7 knots, which is fast for a boat although comparable to the speed a sugared up kid can achieve on a skateboard in his driveway. Need some tile? The half built clubhouse here with pallets of tile sitting outside Gone are our 26 restaurants from Paradise Island. In fact, just about everything is gone. Chub Cay looks like a ghost town, mainly because it is. Some banks and developers got the idea around 2006 to develop a large marina and 50 or so cute million dollar houses catering to wealthy individuals who can fly their private planes to a private island and sportfish on their private boats (I am sure it seemed like a good idea at the time). Then came the crash and construction stopped (suddenly, it looks like). A lot of things half built and abandoned. Typical...

Life in the Big City... Mayaguana,  Long Island, Cat Island, Eleuthera............as we bash our way northwest in very contrary winds we've become accustomed to the southern and central Bahamas offering much the same thing.......a whole lotta nothing. No food, no people- zero. Some breathtaking scenery, but not much going on. To get to our new luxury accommodations in Miami (the Miami Beach Marina in South Beach), the next stop needed to be Nassau. We decided to splurge and stay in the Atlantis marina. The fact that our mast might not fit under the two bridges between us and cheaper marinas made the decision easier. We definitely were not ready for the sensory overload of Paradise Island. It started with our arrival. You have to radio the harbor control just to enter the bay. Why ? The channel through the bay is about 50 ft. wide because of the cruise ships. One misunderstanding with a mega-yacht going the other way and it's game over for L'ORIENT.  So that was quit...

OK, the gloves are off- It's Tom and Kirstin vs. the Bahamas. Game on. We have found the Bahamas to be singularly difficult to date. Storms ?.........check. Wind out of whatever direction you need to sail ? Check. Super shallow water, not suited to a deep draft boat ? Check. Absolutely ZERO protected anchorages ? Check. Oh, and the autopilot is shot due to the lightning strike. Hand steering the whole way. Like driving an 18-wheeler with no power steering. 21 Tons of boat in big waves with just your biceps and white knuckles. Of course no protected anchorages.................15 degrees roll throughout the night........crash, bang, creak............gosh, we're really glad Dr. Prescription in Bethesda gave us those amazing sleeping pills. Snooooooor. It's also off season..........we find a restaurant (finally). Tom- "You guys open for dinner ?" Bahamian lady- "Yes, come right in." Tom- "Super. Can I see a menu ?" Bahamian lady- "I...