Chapter 13
A Perfect Boatyard
February to May 1993
We did not spend long in the beautiful Exumas this time as we had a date with Europe coming up the following summer
and a lot of things to do first. We left George Town and our friends Jens and Lisa on their trimaran Sand Key February
4th, heading north. By the 15th we were in Nassau where we stopped to buy a new galley stove: a two burner propane
stove with oven, made in Brazil it sells for $200. In Nassau we found Jim, Chris and Nicholas on Milliwaves and Joy and
Howard on Aslan and had a good time together before they headed on south.
In Nassau they have changed the regulations and severely restricted the areas in which yachts may anchor, however in
practice there is just not room in the space allotted so everyone anchors pretty much where they always have and no one
seems to object. The mixed fruit and vegetable carton at the produce exchange is now $10 but still excellent value for
money.
We sailed overnight from Nassau north to the Abacos on a Saturday night. This is when all the cruise ships leave Miami
for the Caribbean and there was a continuous string of them
sailing through the Northeast Providence Channel a couple
of miles apart. At one time we had seven in sight at once; it
was like trying to cross Yonge St between lights!
Our trip west through the Abacos featured a lot of light
winds and motoring, as did our crossing back to West Palm
Beach where we arrived on March 8th. We made a detour
twenty miles south to Delray Beach to see Roly's mother
who was staying there, and then back up to the St Lucie
River and the Okeechobee Waterway and it was here, just
above the first lock that we weathered what is known down
here as "The Storm of the Century'', certainly the strongest
non-tropical storm to hit the south in a hundred years. On
much of the west coast of Florida it did more damage than
hurricane Andrew. We were tied between two piles in the
canal designed to hold tugs and barges and were unscathed,
but when we got to Sarasota two weeks later we found that
over two dozen yachts had dragged anchors or moorings as
five foot waves and and winds gusting to 100 knots had
swept through the harbour. Half of them were still ashore
when we got there.
I am getting ahead though; back to the Okeechobee. In LaBelle, our favourite town on the Waterway we met friends from
Toronto who had sailed a year after us, John and Karen on the 29' Cheoy Lee Here and Now. They were vague about
where they wanted to go—perhaps Venezuela.
“Why not come to Europe with us?''
“OK''.
It was as easy to persuade them as that!
In Sarasota our friends David and Neila baby sat Oborea and our cats for two weeks while Iris and I flew back to Toronto
to see friends and relatives. After two years at sea without a day of illness we both came down with severe cases of the flu
within hours of reaching Toronto which curtailed our visiting somewhat, in fact it took over a week back in the sunny
south before I was fully recovered.
We returned to a month of hard work getting Oborea ready for the ocean. Iris repainted all the decks, sewed new sailbags
and extended the second-hand awning we had bought to fit our full width. I did some repairs to the rubrails that had
suffered in the canals, beefed up the tillers which were showing signs of weakness and installed a new head, GPS and
EPIRB (Oborea is getting pretty high tech!). Only one thing left to do: haul her to do the bottom and topsides.
Many people bringing their boats south decide to leave them here and fly home
for the summer rather than making the long trek back up the ICW, but boats
have to be hauled eventually, especially if you leave them in Florida, the barnacle
capital of the world. The question is where do you haul a multihull? Most yards
can't do it without bringing in a crane at vast expense; those actually equipped to
haul multihulls are few and far between. But David & Neila had found a great
one, Bob and Annies Boatyard in St James City.
St James City (no relation to St James Town in Toronto) is a sleepy little village
on Pine Island on the west coast of Florida. Not far from Ft Myers, the western
exit of the Okeechobee Waterway. The island is separated from the mainland by
Matlacha Pass, and from the barrier islands of Captiva and Sanibel by Pine Island
Sound. St James City consists of unpretentious homes scattered along a network
of canals, bait and tackle stores, a hardware store, a couple of excellent little
restaurants (and not a fast food joint in sight) a general store and Bob and
Annies. After the hustle of the east coast it is hard to believe you are still in
Florida. Every morning I would take an early morning leisurely bike ride through
the community and rabbits sitting along the edge of the road would hardly notice
me as I passed. Residents would actually stop me to chat. Bob and Annies fits
right in.
Bob Conover is a multihull freak with files on almost every design on hand and he
will talk about them at the drop of a hat. His marine railway will haul boats to 40'
beam (he claims, but the mile of canal you have to travel to get there seemed
awfully narrow to me) and on the way in there is over five feet of water at high
tide. Bob and his crew will do the work for you or you can do it yourself, you can
buy materials through him or bring them in. When we were hauled (it took us
four days to do topsides and bottom) there was no paperwork and strictly cash.
Bob lost the key to his office three years ago, and now keeps a kitchen knife in a
slot beside the door to jimmy the lock—that's the kind of place it is!
We were scheduled to go on the ways right after David &
Neila, but when we arrived they were not out yet. We
rafted to a Prout catamaran and the next day took
Windchime's place on the wall as she was hauled. Two
days later it was our turn. We walked Oborea round to the
railway with the dock lines, Bob's two sons went into the
water to hold her steady while Bob in his white straw hat
carefully lined her up, then he put the massive old winch in
gear. The big Buda diesel continued to idle with no change
in its thump-thump-thump as Oborea bumped and
groaned her way out of the water.
It was Mother's Day weekend and we spent long hours
sanding and painting, thinking of the same thing going on
at the TMCC on launch weekend. On Pine Island though
the temperatures were hitting 90°F every day. Our only
relief was the huge shade tree right beside the boat with a
couple of benches and a table where we would sit and down great tumblers of juice and
iced tea while above in the branches mockingbirds poured out their ever varying song
the whole day. Diane, a friend from Québec, had flown down to help us and without her
we could not have done it all in the time. Can you imagine: voluntarily spending your
vacation sanding and painting?
Our cats had a ball there. Spike made friends with the boatyard kitten, Spock, and they
roamed around together all day getting into mischief like a couple of kids. In fact he was
depressed for a week after we left.
Back afloat, Diane flew back north from Ft Myers and we continued on to LaBelle where
we stocked up with groceries for the trans-Atlantic trip (the U-Save will deliver right to
the boat) and the cats got their annual shots. Continuing on through the Okeechobee we
passed Sand Key heading west for their home in the St Petersburg area, and now we are
in West Palm Beach.
We spent a week doing all the last minute things which always crop up and during
which the weather was perfect; now that we are ready to go it has taken a turn for the
worse. The first tropical depression of the season which had the effrontery to form a day
before the official season begins is passing to the south of us bringing lots of rain and
gusty winds so here we wait in enforced idleness after over a month of (for us) unusually hard work. Here and Now has
gone down to Ft Lauderdale to get her refrigeration fixed and we are expecting them back at any time. We have already
agreed that when the weather is right we are leaving with or without them and we will see them in Bermuda.
Now if only the rain would stop...
Rafted to Here and Now at LaBelle
At Bob & Annie’s
Drifting down Pine Island Sound