Got up around 6 to a beautiful morning on Bimini island. After a quick shower, we went to get diesel for the boat. We learned that they had diesel in the marina, the one we could not find yesterday. We hired a local guy to give us a lift so we could fill up three 5 gallon jerry cans.

When we came back, I noticed that our dinghy was stuck under the wharf. I jumped in and pushed down on it to free it. Then I had to bail the water out. Derek rinsed the deck with the hose, and we were ready to cast off.

We got our latest weather report on VHF. They were calling for 12 knots NE wind. We heard that nobody should cross the Gulf Stream with northern winds in the forecast, but then we heard a lot of lies before. We decided to go for it and set the course for the Florida coast.

We left the harbour at 9 am. After we set sail, we relaxed with our breakfast. Within one hour, what was a beautiful morning changed into heavy rains and wind squalls. I didn’t bother with my jacket: just put my swimming trunks on and steered the boat in the rain.

After another hour, the rain stopped, and as the sun was coming out, a pod of dolphins came to play in the wake of our bow.

We were averaging 7 knots and by 3 o’clock, we were 12 miles off the Florida coast, gripped in the gulf stream current pushing us north. We were planning to reach the coast and sail along overnight toward Key West. That would be our first overnight sail.

At 17:30 I noticed the coastline of Florida. As we passed Biscayne Bay, the night settled and our night sailing began. It was the darkest night we could have had for our night sail. There was no moon or stars, only a cloudy sky. Our first mistake for that night was to set our GPS zoomed out for too far: we almost ran over some navigation buoys. At the last minute I changed setting, looked at our course on the GPS and turned the boat in a different direction. As we settled in on the new course and discussed this new learned lesson, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, someone turned on a disco.

We saw flashing lights and a long beam of light was pointed at us. WTF?

It was a 1200-horsepower US Coast Guard boat requesting to board our vessel. Two uniformed guys with guns jumped in our cockpit while the boat was still moving at 7 knots. They asked us twice if we carried any guns or if there was anybody else in
the boat. Then they ordered us to stay on the deck with one of them while the other one went down to search our boat.

After he was back on deck, the guard asked me to bring our documents and papers for the boat. After the inspection, they became friendly and had a chat with us. They also allowed me to take  some pictures. Half an hour after they left, we heard the noise of a chopper and could see the beam of light searching the the surface of the water. They were about half mile away from us. These are busy waters at night. It must be because of drugs being smuggled to the Florida coast.

After the exciting time with the USCG, it was time for one of us to rest. Derek was tired, so I told him I would take first 4-hour watch from 10 – 2 am.

I woke up hearing rain pounding on the deck of our boat. After sizing up the weather, we decided to stay for another day on Grand Bahama island. In the afternoon when the rain stopped, we hired a local guy to take us to town to do some grocery shopping. We got some fresh fruits and food. Later in the evening, we visited another watering hole in town, had a few drinks and pizza before returning to the boat.

February 7

Got up at 5 am. The weather looked good, so we started getting ready to cast off. Had to bail out water from the dinghy and fill water tanks in our boat. We left the dock at 7.

As we cast off, Derek realized he left his shoes on the shore. At first, he said he didn’t like them so much, but after few minutes…”F*ck it, I paid 80 dollars for them. I can’t just leave them.”

We didn’t want to repeat entire docking procedure, so we tied up to the dock at the exit of the harbour, and I ran out to get his shoes. As we left the harbour, we set the course 220′SW for Bimini Islands. The winds were blowing 12 knots SE, so we set the sails for close reach.

The trip was bouncy with the wind picking up to 14 knots and couple of times, we had to reef the sails ahead of approaching wind squalls. This was the first time I used my brand new West Marine jacket to stay dry. And thank God for self-reefing mains: manually reefing the sails in the high winds wouldn’t have been much fun.

At 5 pm, we were getting close to the island but had difficulty locating marina and couldn’t reach anybody on VHF. We could see the island on the GPS but couldn’t make visual contact. The depth of the water was another consideration since our boat draws 6 feet of draft.

Finally, we decided to go through a narrow passage around the rocks to moor the boat in a beach club. It was 6:30 pm and getting dark when we could finally relax and grab something to eat.

When we entered the restaurant, I  noticed that place looked very familiar. Just then, I realized I was in the same bar and island two years ago with my wife. We were on a Blackbeard diving cruise, and it was the same spot where we stopped.

We were back in bunks two hours later, ready to start new sailing adventure following day.

Got up at 3 am to start the first leg of our voyage: Berry Island to Freeport.

We decided to leave early so we could arrive at our destination during daylight. What we forgot was to check tide tables.

After leaving the dock and before reaching the channel to get us out from the harbour, we grounded the boat. Good start to the trip.

It took us few minutes to shake the sand bar off our keel with the engine roaring at high rpm. Finally managed to leave our safe harbour and clear the shallow waters of Berry island to set the NW course to Freeport, Grand Bahama.

At 6:45 am we were watching the beautiful sunrise on the open sea. The winds were less than 5 knots, so we had to use motor sail to make our crossing. I took advantage of the light weather to walk around the boat checking all the sheets, setting up the jacklines, and walk around hooked in with my harness to make sure I was clear and ready for heavy weather. The day before, I was given some bait from my conch fishing friend, so I also set our fishing rod for some action.

At one o’clock, 9 hrs after leaving Berry Island, we could see the land of Grand Bahamas. A few minutes later, I heard the line being pulled out of my fishing rod. Something big was at the end of the hook!

As I started reeling the fish towards the boat, I realized that our dinghy was in the way of my line. I  shouted to Derek to move the dinghy to the port side, so I could bring the fish to the stern of the boat. But by the time he did it, it was too late. The line got hooked around the outboard motor of our dinghy and by the time I jumped to unhook it, the fish was gone. I figured I just lost a 40-pound dolphin fish.

We arrived in Freeport at 4 pm. On the way to our assigned dock, sailing along the beautiful channel. We fueled up the boat and after final docking, we showered and went to check out the town. I remembered Freeport from having been there a couple years ago. After a few drinks at a local watering hole, we started making plans for the next leg of our trip.

We decided to go to Bimini Islands before reaching the US coast. With a distance of less than 70 nautical miles, it would give us a chance for another training day, a trip we could do in a reasonable amount of time and without the risk of sailing in the night. After this crossing, we would be making the more challenging overnight sail along the east coast of the US without stopping until we reach Key West.

We arrived  in Nassau at 12pm. Then we had to wait 4 hrs for a connecting flight to Berry Island. Had few glasses of wine at the airport before we boarded the flight at 4 pm. We arrived half an hour later and took a taxi to the boat. The boat was a beautiful 48-foot Beneteau named Cherokee 4.

It was getting late, and we were tired, so we decided to get the boat ready the following day. We left our bags on the dock and went to visit the watering hole at the local marina where we had few more drinks and chicken wings. We were hoping to meet some other sailors, but nobody was in the bar. Couple hours later, we loaded our bags on the boat and went to sleep.

February 3

Got up early and started preparation. As I walked down the pier, I noticed a family of manatees lazily chomping on the weeds in the marina’s waters. Where was my camera when I needed it?! I remember being in Egypt a few years ago going shore diving, hoping to meet their cousins, the dugongs. And here I see them walking on a pier in the Bahamas.

We rented a car to get us around the town to get supplies. We had breakfast in the local bar and did some shopping for food and things needed for the boat. Then we had lunch in a nice restaurant on the beach.

Derek could not get any service on his cellphone, so after lunch, we had to go to local telephone company in order to fix the problem. A couple hours and a few long distance calls later, the problem was solved. Derek had prepaid telephone package for making calls outside Canada. He decided to buy it after being nailed over $1,800 with roaming charges after his previous visit to Bahamas. We were back on the boat by 1 pm and decided to get diesel and water. The fuel dock was at the opposite side of marina, so we had to cast off to sail there. There was no wind, but we managed to get to the fuel dock and back without any problems.

When we get back one of the guys on the fishing boat docked next to us came for a chat. He was originally from Freeport and recently got a job on a sport fishing boat. He asked me to go conch hunting, so I took our dinghy  and motored outside the harbour in search for conch. We motored about half an hour before we reached the spot that looked promising. The wind was blowing toward the harbour, so we decided to jump in the water and swim next to our drifting dinghy. I think all the conch was picked since I could not find a single one. After breath hold diving for an hour, we decided to go back to the harbour.

I tried to start the motor, but it would not start. I grabbed oars and started paddling. The day was coming to an end, and we had long way to go using oars. What you can do in half an hour using an outboard motor can take a few hours using oars. After an hour of struggling, we were finally picked up by local fishermen who towed us back to the marina. Next time, I will remember to take my handheld VHF radio with me and also make sure that in addition to gas, there is an oil in the engine. When I returned to the boat, I checked the weather forecast for the next day. The forecast was bad, so we decided to relax and have a small party to celebrate the start of our sailing adventure. My new fishing body joined us for some drinks.

Plotting and Planning

Sometime in January, I received a call from a good friend of mine, Derek. We’ve been friends from the time I first arrived in Newfoundland 22 years ago.

Despite 13 years of age difference, we had a lot things in common. Derek at the beginning of his career was diving instructor and ran diving school in Ottawa. Later on, he opened a recreational complex with a gas station and a Mary Brown fried chicken restaurant in Newfoundland. That was about the time when I met him.

I was interested in seafood harvesting and talked to Derek about it. Soon after, we were both involved in building the foundation and infrastructure for a sea urchin harvesting program in Newfoundland. That led me to opening up my first dive centre, Terra Nova Diving Services in Gander.

I stuck with diving while Derek, being a true entrepreneur, always searched for new business opportunities. Eventually, he ended up like most Newfoundlanders – in Fort McMurray, starting a lucrative business in the oil industry.

At the age of 58, Derek decided that it was time for a new challenge. He bought a 48 foot Beneteau, a beautiful sailboat, and decided to became a sailor. Then, he made that call to me back in January, “Norbert, I have a boat in the Bahamas, and I don’t know shit about sailing. How about we take her to Mexico?”

The most experience I had in taking a sailboat across the ocean was having a father who was a captain. I figured it was enough, so I said, “OK, let’s do it. We can always call my dad for some pointers.”

We set the date for February 2, a with finish date for February 16 since that I had to be back in Toronto to take a group of divers to Cuba. We decided to sail first among the islands of Bahamas to get our sea legs before trying to cross the gulf to the Florida coast. Then the plan was to sail along the Florida coast down to Key West and then cut across to Havana, Cuba. If we still had time left, we would continue to Cancun, Mexico.

Another great dive trip.

1. Get your gear serviced. Annual servicing of your gear is important even if you haven’t used it very much. O-rings and other parts can become dried out and need to be replaced. Not to mention most manufacturers require annual service to maintain the warranty.
2. Test it out. I know of one guy that just grabbed his bag of gear from his basement and headed for the airport. When he pulled it out on the dive boat he found that some mice had been dining on the reg hoses. Not a great way to start a trip. Don’t be this guy! Book a spot in the pool to hop in and make sure everything is working well.
3. Take a scuba review. If it’s been more than six months since you’ve been blowing bubbles you should sign up for a scuba review and most places will require it. Instead of having to use up a day on your trip to do it give AquaSub a call and do it before you go. (905)883-3483

Now all you’ve got to do is book the trip and pack! We can help you with that too! Booking the trip that is. You’ll have to pack for yourself. But stay tuned for some packing tips for divers.

The year 2011 was full of dive travel. We’ve done several dive trips around the world but my favourite for biodiversity was trip to Indonesia.

5 Things I Wish I Knew About Scuba Gear As A New Diver!

By: Diane Francis

 I often run into people who are new to diving and are completely overwhelmed with their options for equipment. With technology continually advancing and airline weight restrictions getting tighter, it’s no wonder a lot of newer divers eyes glaze over at the thought of buying their own equipment.

 When I first started diving, I was apprehensive about what I wanted to get, and often went by looks before quality. Call me foolish, but I was in college! Ultimately, this left me with a high volume mask that looks as though it was glowing underwater. I also wasn’t pleased by its constant leaking; little did I know that the mask—although a lovely shade of pink—was too big for my face. I did the “suck” test! It seemed to work well enough! How could I have gotten it so wrong?

 Well, there are a number of ways. First, I went in uneducated. I didn’t know what I wanted, and once confronted with the range of choices, I was befuddled. I didn’t know how to choose, so I went with whatever would match my bathing suit rather than what would match my face shape and dive style. This can extend to more than just a mask; it can extend into fins, snorkels, BCD’s—you name it.

 So how do we avoid making the same mistakes? Easy. You need to learn about the equipment, and you need to take a realistic look as to what your body and your dive style require from your gear.

 Here is a quick breakdown of questions you should ask yourself:

 1. Where am I diving?

If you’re diving in Canada, you may want to look ahead at what equipment will be useful for your future dives in our northern lakes: e.g. drysuit, spring straps, open heel fins, hoods, gloves or mitts. Once you have an idea of what you plan to do, you’ll be better able to choose your gear to meet your needs.

 2. What do I need?
Do you have a prescription that you want put in your mask? Do you want something that travels light or something made for colder water (like a drysuit or drysuit fins). Do you need lots of d-rings? Or maybe you want something that you can customize depending on where you’re going. You should make a list of your major needs when looking at equipment. Remember, be realistic!

 3. What are my abilities?

Do you have any medical issues that may make it difficult to wear full foot fins? Are you prone to leg cramps or have had any surgeries that might make it uncomfortable to kick with a full blade? If you’re new to diving, you may want a dry top snorkel to make it easier to clear any water out. If you’re prone to cramps or have joint troubles, a split fin or hinged fin may be more comfortable for your kick and add propulsion to your dive. If your eyesight isn’t the greatest, you might want to look into an LED dive computer, or one with a wide face like the Mares Nemo.

 4. Does it fit me?

Time to be honest! Does it fit me, my abilities and my dive style—or does it just look really cool? Don’t be drawn in to the “but it’s so cool!” idea. Just because it’s cool doesn’t mean it’s going to work for you. Compare it to your list of “Where am I diving, My abilities and My needs” list before you jump the gun on the new fangled piece of technology. Make an informed decision and talk to your local dive shop about what their experiences are on regarding the item, the warranty and so on. Ultimately, it’s not worth having if you’re not going to use it, right?

 5. Do I have the right training?

Not every piece of equipment will require a course to use it. But you should have an orientation and some time in the pool before you take it into open water.

 Some equipment, however, do require an orientation in to using it (e.g. drysuits). You might find that taking that extra step with an instructor vastly changes your knowledge on how YOU use YOUR equipment and what works for YOU. You might also find that taking that course with the instructor will leave you with a better sense of accomplishment, especially if you’re headed into the area of photography. Learning how to take one picture that really makes your trip will really set the bar and inspire you to do and dive more.

 I hope this list of ideas has shed some light on how to pick gear. Having your own equipment will make you and your dives that much better and ultimately make you more efficient and knowledgeable about yourself.

 In my next post, I’ll share a few tips from other divers about what they wish they knew when they were buying their first piece of equipment.

Until next time..

Happy Diving!