Journal - 02/27/11 - Abaco to New Providence

Here's another long overdue trip update going all the way back to before New Year's. December 15th-Feb15th.

After holing up at Man O' War cay for about ten days, I met up with Yosef in Marsh Harbour just before Christmas time. We met some good people in Abaco and ended up befriending a family from Calgary which we saw again in Nassau. Calgary is in Alberta if that helps you at all.

After weathering a gale at Guana Cay, Yos and I sailed down to Nassau for New Year's. Fortunately we missed the golf cart parade on Guana Cay, but who knows.

The plan was to sail to Northern Exuma, anchor the night at Spanish Wells, and continue onward to New Providence. Turns out the GPS was wrong and the passage to the harbor at Spanish Wells did not exist. Two trips turned into one 22hr 100mile+ over night sail. Auto pilot made the trip easy, I half slept all the way. You could see Nassau on the night horizon by the city lights which also made navigation easy.

For New Year's, Yosef and I gambled at Atlantis until meeting the Canadians to go celebrate Junkanoo which started at 3am. Junkanoo was great--an elaborate Bahamian street parade with decorated floats, choreographed dancers, and well rehearsed brass bands. Around 5 to 6am everyone could barely keep their eyes open and we all called it a night. I was hearing tuba and trumpet for the next two days. Maybe that was the hangover.

(Also, felt like a degenerate sitting at a blackjack table as the ball dropped, but a good night nonetheless)

Yosef left a grizzled sailor and over the next month more friends came to visit. Between Mason, Chris, Joe, Erica, Kristi and Sven, we drank well, gambled a healthy amount, and had a pretty good time. Whether it was playing volleyball on the beach, sailing over to rose island, or sneaking into the lazy river at the Atlantis water park, I'd say it was a Winter month well spent.

Thanks to everyone that made the trip. It made my experience better and I know I'm looking forward to adventures in the future. Erica I sold your I-pod to buy Kristi a straw bag, sorry.

Now the question is, do I go back to New York, or do I go farther?

Ian Graham

February 28, 2011

P.S. The next boat over is called the 'Irish Hooker.' A real classy section of the marina for sure.

Journal - 12/14/10 - Epic Sail

So I've decided to resurrect the travel/gambling blog. Much has happened since my last entry, most notably a trip to Australia, and some long poker hours in NYC, but here's a quick play by play of the last Month.

I didn't touch land from Indian Harbour Beach to Spanish Cay, minus a 15 minute refuel in Palm Springs (two weeks and over 200 miles). I took the Northern route over Grand Bahama to get to the Abacoes. Electricity and bathroom fully functional… So much easier with a little bit of experience from last trip.

No weather reports for a week once I got to the Bahamas. Did a decent job reading the clouds and predicting the wind direction to shift clockwise with a faster transition from S to NW.

Tried to sail into a 25mph head wind from Mango Cay to Grand Sail Cay and had to turn around. Made the distance hallway in eight hours and made the return trip in two hours just before sunset. My bow'lin knot came undone on the jib and I had to control the wildly flapping sail in 4-6 ft waves open water and quickly retie the knot without falling overboard. A bit scary but nothing serious.

Was anchoring just outside of Fox Town when the water went from calm to 4-6 ft in a half hour as a strong NW front rolled in (30mph range). My anchorage had no protection from the NW so I trusted my depth sounder and almost beached myself intentionally behind some small rocks, the Parrot Cays I think. The plan was to let the Anchor line out if the tide went in or it got to shallow as the wind would push me into deeper water. I dropped both anchors and survived the night relatively comfortably, low tide with less than a foot under the keel (depth sounder read 0.0). Never touched bottom though.

Finally found land at Spanish Cay. Had a warm shower, Kalik beer at the Bar, and a good meal with some good people. Met the crew of the Innovation from Alabama. Serious vertigo in the shower after being on the water for so long.

Went through 'the Whale' in order to get to Guana Cay to meet Cat and Liz. If I waited the passage was only getting worse for the entire next week. It looked a bit hazardous but I was going to give the passage a try knowing I could always turn around. Put that 6 feet of keel to work. The passage had some 'rage' as the locals call it… 6-8 ft rollers with occasional 10ft-ers… 4-6ft swell… big breakers but only close to shore which I avoided.

This leg got somewhat worrisome, but turned out to be ok. The waves were bigger than anything I had been in before, including the swell, but the sail itself actually became enjoyable after I realized the boat was ok.

A fully geared crew on a Catamaran caught up with me towards the end of the passage. I thought it'd be funny if I took out a book and pretended to be reading as they passed me--considering the conditions were really rough. As they passed I looked up from my book trying to act somewhat surprised. "Hey!" with a friendly wave. Just leisurely enjoying my book and going for a pleasure daysail.

Made it to Guana Cay, met up with Cat and Liz, and was sipping Goombay Smash and other frozen rum drinks before sunset… after the roughest sailing I'd ever been in… crazy day.

The visit was great. Cat, Liz and I found some amazing beaches on Guana Cay. Played in a Bacci ball tournament with a crew of retirees--there was a friendly amount of trash talk. Went for a great daysail around the sea of Abaco. Failed at fishing. Got a tour of Guana Cay from the golf cart of essentially the Mayor of Guana Cay. I got the pleasure of swimming with a four foot Barracuda, which supposedly are OK to swim with as long as you don't wear anything shiny. I did have a shiny spear, but it was a spear, so up the ante a bit. Drank a lot of rum drinks, ate lots of grouper, dolphin (fish), conch, lobster and fresh produce which we found around the Cays (coconuts and the best limes I've ever had).

Unfortunately, I left my camera battery charger at home and Liz fell into the marina with her camera (but her arm isn't broken!)… so no pictures which is too bad. Oh, well.

And now I'm holed up at Man O' War Cay. Nice protected anchorage, internet, showers and cheap mooring. I've been playing poker for a couple days getting ready for the PCA at Atlantis in early January. Doing well so far.

For entertainment I downloaded and starting playing the new World of Warcraft, Cataclysm from the boat. The first few levels are all Ocean themed and I was playing during a Gale (30-40mph winds) in a rocking sailboat.

So much fun on a boat,

Capt. Redbeard

Journal - 4/02/09

Grinding it out...

Cat Cay has blocked facebook on their wireless network. So, no facebook e-mail for the week. Sorry for not responding to those people who wanted life-watch updates... not the best type of e-mail to leave unanswered... April fools?

I'm docked at Cat Cay (Bimini) waiting on calm seas for another Gulf Stream crossing--this Sat night into Sunday looks flat. For the last couple weeks I've been marathon sailing and then playing poker for a couple days at the marinas... grinding out the miles and the tables.

The sail from Chub Cay to Cat Cay (Bimini), was both beautiful and tiresome... open water only 20ft deep, aqua green, and clear. I putted along at about 5mph for most of the 80 mile sail. Which gave me more than enough time to take in the view.

Slow on flat water still feels more comfortable than going faster in rough seas. The sail from Nassau to Chub in 5-8ft seas was not as fun as I had anticipated. I remember leaving Nassau Harbor and seeing these giant breakers in the distance that were splashing well above the palm trees... "Those can't be waves... Oh shit." Turns out they were waves. New 'speed' record for the trip though: 13.4mph!

Thus, I wait here in Cat for the projected calm seas of this weekend... Solo sailing is an experience--that's all I have to say about that.


Ian Graham, April 2, 2009


Note to self: do not leave auto pilot at home for next sailing trip.

Journal - 3/26/09

Thank you to everyone that came down to visit. And thank you to the crew. This trip has been a great success so far and I already have ideas for future sailing adventures. For all friends that missed this trip, I hope you will be there for the next one.

The trip blog deteriorated into a montage of pictures... no apologies.

The time has come to return to Florida continuing onward to New York. I leave tomorrow morning for Chub Cay--the first leg of my 1000+ mile solo sail. If anyone is interested in sailing up parts of the east coast over the next month, let me know. New York people, I will see you in May.

Ian Graham, March 26, 2009

Journal - 3/18/09

The last few weeks have been special.

And this blog needs a montage...







Ian Graham, March 18, 2009


Time slips away.

Journal - 3/11/09

Falling behind on Blog... having too much fun.

I wanted to assure friends and family that all is going well. We spent a week in the Berry Islands and we are now safely docked in Nassau. I plan on throwing up a few posts soon and a bundle of pictures... Beach before blog.

Having a great time,

Ian Graham, March 11, 2009

Journal - 2/23/09

Gamble before ramble…


The one casino in Port Lucaya, Isle of Capri, held it’s first ever poker tournament this past Saturday. The buy in was $100 and the game was none other than the ever popular no limit Texas Hold ‘em. After another week of fun in the sun the time was right to put in some work. The tournament was shootout style with only two rounds of play: win your table and move on to the final table. First place was $5,000.

I played in the morning session and eventually caught a bad beat for all my chips when the table was three handed. However, there was an afternoon re-buy opportunity.

This tournament was a complete joke. The field consisted of older tourists, most of whom had little to no idea how to play the game; people were folding their big blinds; one guy at my table just talked the entire time and never played a hand—not once. "I got bit by a shark. But I got its tooth! True story!" He got blinded out. Even the dealers would take a minute per showdown just to figure out which hand was best. The only thing serious about the tournament was the fact that real money was on the line.

Anyway, after getting knocked out on some bad luck, I dusted off my shoulders and bought back into the afternoon session. For the next couple of hours I played some mean poker and stressed out the entire table of happy-go-lucky tourists. They had no idea what was happening but after the dust had settled I had accumulated all of the chips; and to my amazement I ended up winning my table showing down a seven high. (Almost the worst hand possible.)

One of the tournament directors tells me to be back by 5:00 for the final table although the game wouldn’t start until 5:30. I’m taking my sweet time back by the boat when I hear Andrew’s voice in the distance, “They’ve already started!”

We both run back into the casino to find the final table underway with the first round of blinds halfway over. While trying to catch my breath, I take my seat still managing to talk some trash to the unsuspecting guy next to me who had won the morning table: “Thought you got rid of me, huh?” To my delight this table was just as clueless as the previous one—let the magic show begin.

A couple hours later we were back on the boat celebrating with some box wine—and an extra $5,000. Seven days docked in Port Lucaya: $290 total.
We just bought a harpoon gun for the Berry Islands and we plan to use it.

Will post again from Nassau... more pictures... more stories...

Ian Graham, February 23, 2009

Journal - 2/20/09

A true open bar... Shelter from the storm...


So we ended up staying four nights at Old Bahama Bay Yacht Club to the tune of $200 total. Not bad considering we absolutely crushed the Friday night open bar from 4-5pm.

A true open bar is hard to find these days. Most open bars restrict patrons to a couple drinks and the service is generally slow. Getting more than a few free drinks becomes an operation. This wasn’t the case at Old Bahama Bay—multiple hot plates of o’dourves, platters of cold beer, any drink on the menu—and speedy service: a deadly combination. Did I mention this was all completely free?!

Needless to say, we really got after it for an hour. Our bill would have easily been in the hundreds of dollars, not to mention the backpack full of beers.

Did we feel guilty? Shit, no. The staff was actively encouraging us to take as much as we could—so we did. I almost felt we would be letting them down by not maintaining the aggressive pace with which we began. Towards the end of the hour I wasn’t even enjoying my drinks…

We topped off the night by stumbling around the property amidst games of bocce ball… bickering over whose ball was closest… finding twigs to measure the inches.

Rest and relaxation was just what we needed after a couple rough nights. By day five at Old Bahama Bay we were ready to set sail once again. Onward to Port Lucaya… in good spirits.


Ian Graham, February 20, 2009

"Today we sail unto the sea, raise a drink for ‘ole Whisky!"

Journal - 2/19/08

A rough night... Eats for a day…

After clearing customs at West End we sailed to the nearest excuse for a cove and dropped anchor. “This will do” we speculated. Initially the waves were calm enough to lull us to sleep, but as the sun went down the boat began to rock.

The boat rocked hard, ninety degrees from left to right the entire night. People were falling out of beds, pots and pans were rattling around the cabin. Throughout the night I would yell out in disgust: “I hate this anchorage!” But there was nothing we could do; we were too tired to move and it was night. The waves would stop for a couple minutes here and there—just long enough to keep us comatose.

The next day…

A couple local fishermen took pity on us when they saw Andrew and Van struggling to prepare a ten-inch fish. We ended up grilling fresh Mahi steaks—best meal we’ve had on the trip…

At the moment we are safely docked in Port Lucaya. Our tasks the last few days have been few: read, sit by da beach, be on time for happy hour specials, and cook. The plan is to continue our stay in Port Lucaya until Sunday when we will sail into the wild of the Berry Islands.

Just wanted to throw a post up. I’ll write about our stay in Lucaya before we head south to get grizzled in the Berry’s.

-Ian Graham, February 19, 2009

“Whiskey Deck, somewhere between a dream and a wreck.”

Journal - 2/10/09

We made it to the Bahamas: feelings of jubilation mixed with post traumatic stress.

I can imagine a casual 30 min plane ride from West Palm Beach to Freeport. We chose to sail-- 60+ miles ocean...

At no point did I fear for my life; the crossing was more like a 16hr bull ride with somebody occasionally hosing you in the face with salt water. When we arrived at West End I hadn't slept for about 24hrs and had flecks of salt caked to my skin and clothes... Upon stepping onto land I couldn't help but bust out a jig/crip walk with my remaining energy.

Probably the scariest moment of the trip was when we were floating 25 miles off shore and lost both power and the engine for about ten minutes... That and the first time we lost sight of land in all directions... and it being night time... Or the huge waves in general.

The best part of the trip besides stepping onto land again, was when we saw land for the first time. I've always wanted to yell, "Land Ho!" under it's intended definition and really mean it (almost tears of joy).

There were also a few moments when we took a breath to enjoy the surroundings: the night sky, the sunrise, or being the only people in sight.

When we asked about the current conditions most experienced sailors said, "I wouldn't do it." We were also told it would be a good idea to go with other boats as a safety precaution.... But after a chat with one brazen sailor who had crossed from the UK, we felt inspired. "Let's do this!" (He said he might cross if he were younger.)

All in all, the crossing was one crazy trip, but we survived. Now time to cruise the shores of the Bahamas...

Oh, and probably the craziest piss I've ever had to take... probably.

-Ian Graham, February 10, 2009

"Whisky Deck, hasn't sunk yet."