Wolperts Blog

I am ready!

Kinkos laminating fl registration. Still no yellow quaranteen flag...

At greater yamaha with carrington. He is custom welding a gas rack

Radio shack. Memory for helmet cam and batteries

On Plane-Agenda for the first few days

on the plane as i write this.  i am very excited.  i am also nervous.  but mostly in a good way.  based on conditions in the ocean, air, me :-) etc the schedule will not be exact.  Here is the outline for the next few days keeping in mind it is best to depart from FL into the GulfStream for the crossing as early in the am as possible

 

Sat 5/30

arrive MIA at 8p

Rent Car at Hertz

Drive to Palm Beach Fl

Stay in Palm Beach

Check on weather

 

Sun 5/31

Day in Palm Beach preparing supplies and wave runner for trip

Check Weather

Need to pick up a few things including a square yellow quarantine flag that must be raised when i first pull into immigration in the bahamas, 3, 2 gallon gas containers(easier to use out in the ocean than a 5 gallon container), etc

Meet with Carrington at Greater Yamaha late morning.  Fully load and prepare ski.  All equipment Gas etc

Spend a few hours with Capt Dave of Starboard Yachts reviewing all of my routes and fuel stops for the entire trip-still a little concerned about fuel between West End Grand Bahama and Spanish Cay (90 miles)

Reread guide  to Abacos, re-review MapSource way points routes etc.  Make sure all GPS units updated with the latest update

Get some rest

Check Weather

 

Mon 6/1

Check Weather

recalibrate gps compasses

Meet Carrington from Greater Yamaha at the launch ramp at 6a.  Please note Carrington lives 30 minutes from the shop and the launch ramp and offered to drive the ski over and help me launch it at 6a.  He has been amazingly helpful

Hopefully depart Palm Beach Harbour by 6:30 at the latest all loaded up.  The equipment will be spread something like this

 

    Mounted on the ski Primary GPS unit, Spot personal satellite tracking system.  Attached to my body, second gps unit, Epirb, satellite phone, marine radio and rhapsody sansa player. 

 

In this way even if I am fully seperated from the ski I will have a satellite tracking unit, phone, radio, etc etc

 

The ride from Palm Beach to West End Grand Bahama is about 60 miles.  If conditions are really good this could be a very straightforward ride and take 3 hours.  If conditions are not so good could take 4-6 hours and be much harder on my body (I will be on the 5th day of my steroid treatments Monday so they should have kicked in by then and helped my neck and arm)

I should be able to see FL behind me for about 10-15 miles.  West End is not visible until you are about 8 miles away.  This means I will have about 35 miles with no land in sight. 

 

In GPS you must trust.  Anyone who has done significant boating or flying knows IN GPS U MUST TRUST.  There are numerous situations when your eyes and your brain want to tell you to go in a specific direction.  NEVER let that override what the GPS is telling you.  The GPS is not tired.  It is not excited.  It is not nervous.  I has no emotions.  I just knows where it is and which way to go to get where you are going.  Don't worry about the fact you cant see any land.  Don't meander looking for land.  Trust the GPS

 

My guess is that I will be pretty tense for the first 30-40 miles.  It is ocean that I have never been in before.  The ocean is unpredictable even if you are familiar with it.  I will have more than half of the ride ahead of me.  I will be on high alert watching everything around me intensely and listening to everything intensely (the sound of the engine, the water, noises in the distance etc).  Once I reach about 35-40 miles I believe I will relax quite a bit.  I will be coming to the end of the main current of the gulf stream, i will have less than half of the trip to go, i will have become comfortable in the waters there (lets hope) and i should relax pretty well from there

 

When I arrive in Grand Bahama I have to clear customs.  As I pull into the harbor I must raise the yellow quarantine flag and pull up to customs.  Secure my craft and proceed directly into customs with my passport, vessel registration etc etc and purchase a cruising permit for the Bahamas ($150 for up to 30 days).  Once I do this I will be good to go.  I am going to spend the first night at the Old Bahama Bay which is right there at west end. 

 

I have no other hotel reservations for the entire trip as I cant be sure where I might end up on any particular day.  This is one of the wonderful parts of the adventure.  If I love somewhere I am I can stay a little longer.  If I don't like it I can just stay one night, or even ride through.

 

I have contacted and know all the possible places where I will stay and get fuel.  The hotels are not full and they told me to call them the day before and they should have room.  If one place is full I will try the next. 

 

The plan for 6/2 is to go from West End Grand Bahama to Spanish Cay.  This will be the longest day miles wise (about 90) but not across the gulf stream so should be pretty smooth and beautiful waters. Gas will be the big focus this day

At lax airport. About to board flight to mia. Early for my flight!!

At kinkos laminating copies of passport etc

Bahamas Routes, Waypoints Fuel etc

Spent about 8 hours today planning out the exact course for the bahama trip.  Biggest issue right now seems to be fuel between West End of Grand Bahama and Little Abaco.  All the rest looks well planned

Sun May 17th Miami to Palm Beach...Most physically grueling day ever. Lots of lessons learned

Today was the fourth and final day of my training for the Bahamas.  The ride was to be about 70 miles.  The ocean conditions were not good and there was a small craft advisory so I had planned on taking the Inter coastal.

A few important things I didn't know about the inter coastal.  It goes through many residential neighborhoods where the speed limit is 5mph.  There are dozens of protected Manatee zones where you must also go 5mph.

I also learned there are numerous police boats and they are very active.  The waverunner I am on is new as I just purchased it last wednesday; as such I don't have official stickers. Between the 5mph zones and getting stopped 3 times by police boats wanting to see my proof of ownership (which I had but a 20+ minute ordeal each time) It took me about 2 hours to go about 10 miles.  At that rate it would take me another 8+ hours.

In addition to 8 hours just being ridiculous I was trying to make a 5:55 flight out of Miami.  Logistically a pain as I needed to ride up to palm beach, get the waverunner picked up, get a rental car, drive back to Miami beach (only nonstops to LA) and get on the plane.  I had figured if i could get to palm beach by 2p the plan should work.  I left Miami around 9:30 so I thought 4.5 hours for the 70 miles would be fine.  Thought wrong I did.

So a few hours had gone by and I had only gone about 10 miles.  I mentioned to one of the police officers that I keep getting stopped and asked if there was anything I could do to stop it from happening over and over again.  He gave me a form showing that they checked me out and everything was good.  However he said that the next time I get pulled over (because as he informed me it would keep happening) show them the form and they wont have me go through the entire inspection.

So tough choice.  Do I stay on the inter coastal and have it take forever and keep getting stopped or do I go out to the Ocean in a small craft advisory  with winds at about 25mph and seas at about 6ft and try and muscle through it.  You can go back and forth but there are only cut ins/outs about every 10-15 miles so you have to commit for at least a bit.

I couldn't take the 5mph and the stops so at the next cutout I ventured out into the ocean.  It was rough.  It was uncomfortable for sure.  I didnt feel it  was dangerous, just tough so I thought I would go until the next cutout in about 11 miles and then go for some refuge.

After the first 11 mile ocean run, the thought of getting caught  on the inter coastal again seemed much worse.  So I went and went and went.  I stopped every 5 miles to rest a bit and then tackled the next 5 miles.  I kept this up for about 45 miles and then with about 10 miles to go to Palm Beach I took the last cutin where there are very limited 5mph zones. 

All in all the 70 miles took me about 6.5 hours.  I only got off the waverunner once in that 6.5 hours and it was in the first hour to get gas.  At one point my hands hurt so bad I wasn't sure I could stay out there.  Then my lower back hurt and I forgot about the hands.  Then that area on my arms just above the elbow, felt like someone was jamming their thumb into a pressure point right there.  But I realized that these pains would subside over time as I remain focused entirely on working the waves and the swell.  It became very zen like.  I would go into a mode where I wasn't thinking anything.  My mind did not wander.  My focus was on the task at hand.  I was 1000% consumer by it and although cliche the best way to ride it out was to relax and become one with the waverunner. 

By the time i finished I was physically exhausted in a way that words cant describe.  I was right on the verge of pushing myself too far.  I was having a little trouble concentrating and was beginning to not feel quite right.  I pushed to the edge and I realized that I shouldn't push quite that far.  Some of it was simply how strenuous it was, some was imperfect planning on my part which I hope to learn from

I did learn several lessons including

1. Bring a packed lunch.  Gus from the Miami yacht club had provided me with one for the two previous days.  Not for today and i was not wise enough to prepare one.  I had some snacks (some almonds, an energy bar etc) but no meal.  Being out there like that all day without a meal is a bad thing
2. When I do these trips I should not travel far distances every single day.  I traveled each of the 4 days I was here and about 275 miles overall.  Each day I needed to pack everything and get it in the waverunner do the ride then unpack everything.  Never spent two nights in the same place.  This is just too much.  Should spend a few nights in the same place and have an off day for some recuperation
3. The Manatee is all powerful in Southern Florida.  In addition to all of the Manatee zones, one of the police officers told me that if you hit one and kill it (which he said is easy to do if you hit them as they float with their rib cages up and exposed) its a $50,000 fine and a mandatory 1 year in prison.  I did not look into this so not sure if its factual-seems odd that hitting a manatee would get you more jail time than OJ got for two murders
4. If you are doing an adventure like this you MUST have a flexible schedule.  Much of the situation I got in today was due to the fact that I was trying to catch a flight (which BTW I was not able to make so have to leave in the am).  You cant expect yourself to physically perform like this and do it on a tight schedule.  Imagine a marathon runner thinking they need to finish in 1 hour 40 minutes because the have a flight to catch.  Just was not smart on my part.  Travel days should not overlap with ride days.
5. I would love to document these trips with photos and video as I previously mentioned.  However when you are out there and its that intense, getting out the camera to snap some photos or video is just not top of mind.
6. People on personal watercraft (PWC)really are treated like 3rd class citizens.  I went to a fuel dock today in miami beach that refused to sell me gas.  I purchased gas at a different one the other day that charges PWC $10/gallon.  Yes I had no stickers on my waverunner yet but being pulled over 3 times in 30 minutes, c'mon
7. While today was grueling it made me feel a bit more confident about the Bahamas crossing.  While I was pretty close to shore today (a few miles offshore) the conditions were tough and I did have to plow through them for quite a distance.  That being said, in a funny way, the challenge today made me both more and less confident all at the same time.  You just cant predict what is going to happen and you cant control the weather.  I guess that'ss partly why they call it an adventure

Sat May 16 Key Largo to Miami....Close Encounters

I woke up this am to see that the storm had passed!  I had a quick breakfast and packed up my stuff to take off as i learned you cant rely on the weather

the winds were still blowing about 20mph so it wasnt calm but much better than friday.   The ride was nice.  Given that I was going back over thr same waters i traveled yesterday i was much more comfortable and listened to music almost the entire way.  I did have a few close encounters

1)  Rookie Maneuver-The Rope.  I am getting this loading and unloading of the ski thing pretty down.  I put all my equipment and bags down somewhere with easy access like a beach.  then i go get the ski and bring it to that spot.  this morning i pulled such a rookie maneuver....i let the rope dangle in the water and it got sucked up and jammed the prop. 

I tried to turn the ski on its side but at 800+ lbs no go.  I was able to get a guy named Sean to help me turn the ski on its side.  Yep rope all around the crankshaft and in the prop. Spent about 20 minutes unwinding the rope (its hard to get your hand in there) to find that the rope was really jammed in the prop. I pulled and pulled but nothing. Sean who was much beefier than I am pulled with all of his might but it wouldn't move.  Then Sean suggested we call a mechanic and one couuld come by.....tomorrow.  With that I planted my feet and pulled with more than all of my might and the rope came free.  Made me think "strength is the mother of necessity".

2) Biscayne National Park.  There is a 15 mile long stretch of the Intercoastal just sooth of Key Biscayne which I learned is off limits to personal watercraft. I know this very well as I was pulled over by a national parks service boat, siren blaring, blue lights flashing etc

He explained to me that this 15 mile long part is not ok for wave runners and that the no waverunner zone (waverunners are the snow boarders of the ocean, the coolest but dissed by older dudes :-)) extends to about 20 miles offshore.

Problem is I was about in the middle of it heading N.  He asked where I came from and I told him Key Largo.  He told me i needed to turn around and go back.  Really.  No Shit.  Then he gave me an opening, he said hook back up to your trailer in Key Largo and drive past this area.  I explained, but Ocifer, I  don't have a trailer or a car.  I am just on this lil ole waverunner and I need to get to Miami today

He then noted I didn't have the registration stickers on my waverrunner and asked for identification.  Luckily I was prepared and showed him a copy of my bill of sale, my insurance, and my drivers license (just for ID-you don't need a license to drive a boat in the US-scary huh).

He reviewed everything and asked what I was doing in FL with a 2 day old waverunner if I live in CA.  Door # 2 opened.  I explained about the fundraiser and that this was practice.  He nodded his head as he listened and I saw him beginning to weaken his stern tone.  After about another 5 minutes of conversation he instructed me to head N to Miami. Stay on the Intercoastal.  Don't get too close to any boats.  Don't jump any wakes.  Don't do any donuts and don't ever get caught coming  through there again.  I thanked him very much for his understanding and I took off, jumping every single boat wake on the way back (just kidding :-)