Travels of SV Far Niente

2011-04-19T09:00:00.002-04:00

We have decided to sell our beloved Far Niente. Not an easy decision. We've sailed her from Maine to the southern Bahamas. She is outfitted with the best of everything and is being offered "turn key", just add crew and go. The equipment list (two pages long) and vessel description are available to interested parties.
Email jayjumentos@gmail.com

Dinghy Chaps by Diana

2010-08-07T13:09:00.008-04:00

Endless days and years of sunshine breaks down the best of fabrics. Our 10'6" AB Lite is the best dinghy we've ever owned and we want it to last a long time, so Diana decided to undertake the project of making covers for the dinghy tubes.

Note the custom drink holders and the anchor and rode bag in the bow!

Blue Hole on Long Island, Bahamas

2010-01-29T08:32:00.001-05:00

This is touted to be the deepest blue hole in the world at 600+'. It's unusual, not only because of it's depth, but you can wade out from the beach in knee deep water to it's edge and then...WOW!

There are international freediving championship meets held here every year. It's interesting to watch these young men and women from all over the world (without an ounce of body fat) compete.

We watched a young fellow with one fin attached to both feet (think mermaid tail) free dive to almost 400'! Most impressive.

Bahamas!

2010-01-09T12:07:00.000-05:00

We are currently anchored in Thompson Bay, Long Island, Bahamas. I discovered this washed up on shore and decided to investigate. As I approached it began to "hum" causing me to turn and run! Today I charged up my Phaser and returned to the scene. I called out for ET but he didn't answer and I went in for a closer look. What I assumed was an alien spacecraft turned out to be a small submarine. Sadly it was anchored when a storm blew through and smashed upon the rocks.

It has been a cool and windy season so far this winter season with many cold fronts. Another is due to arrive tonight with winds forecasted 20 to 25 gusting 30+ with squalls. I expect we'll be "boat bound" for a couple days then hopefully we'll head over to the Jumentos for a month or so.

2009-12-06T13:12:00.000-05:00

We departed Vero Beach on Saturday, November 28th around 8 AM headed towards the Ft. Pierce inlet. Within minutes of entering the ICW, I engaged the autopilot and it immediately blew the breaker.

As we hand steered to Ft. Pierce, I wracked my brain as to what could be the cause. Shortly before we arrived the lightbulb in my head lit up. The old adage "what did you work on last" hit me. While installing the AIS system I had upgraded the buss bar that provides connecting points for several wires.

We dropped anchor in Ft. Pierce and I dove back into the aft cockpit locker to re-check my work. It didn't take me long to discover my mistake! I had inadvertantly misconnected one of the wires which supplies power to the autopilots drive unit. I corrected the wiring and we raised anchor and went out the inlet into the ocean. Our original plan was to proceed to the Lake Worth area and turn east and cross to Luycaya, Bahamas. Once in the ocean I engaged the autopilot and it blew the breaker again! Not good.

As we again hand steered south I read the manual and discovered a warning. "DO NOT ground the course computer"! It seems that when I mis-connected one of the wires that provides power to the drive unit, it in fact acted as a ground, frying the circuit board in the course computer. Not good!

Along the way we decided we were not going to cross until we had the autopilot working. We arrived at Lake Worth that evening in the dark and picked our way into the anchorage and dropped the hook. The next day my friend Bill from Veranda came over and doubled checked what I thought to be the problem and confirmed I was about to pay the price for a self-inflicted wound! I hate that.

I called Raymarine (the manufacturer) and discussed getting the computer repaired. They said "sure, send it in and within 4-6 weeks we'll get it back to you". 4 to 6 WEEKS! That won't work for us. I then attemped to buy a new replacement mother board only to find out they didn't have one. They only repair, not replace. CRAP!

Winding up this tale of woe, West Marine in Lauderdale had a new upgraded computer in stock...the X-30. The X must stand for Xtra expensive! Good fortune finally gave us a break as we learned that a friends son, who crews on a Mega Yacht was in a marina about a mile from where we were anchored....and he had a car!

Brian graciously loaned it to us and off we went. We returned to the boat with the new computer and a much lighter wallet. A weather window presented itself on December 1 and rather than install the new computer we headed for Ft. Lauderdale. We picked up a mooring ball that afternoon and said hello to our friends Bob and Mary Lou on Cygnus who also were there. The following day I installed the computer and did the basic programming. We were finally good to go.

Thursday morning we caught the 5AM opening of the 17th bridge and head for Bimini. Seas and winds were light in the morning but steadily built through out the day.

We arrived in Bimini On Thursday, December 4 about 4:30PM. It was our first time here and clearing Customs and Immigration has never been easier. We took a slip at Bimini Blue Water marina which is also a very nice facility. I expect we'll depart here tomorrow, December 7 and head for the Tongue of the Ocean and then proceed south.

2009-10-24T07:41:00.000-04:00

After six months on the hard, Far Niente is in the water again. She's a happy lady sporting all new canvas (by Diane), fresh bottom, all shined up and is anxious to head over to the Bahamas for the winter season.

A real fish story.

2009-08-26T12:04:00.001-04:00

We were sailing in the southern Bahamas this past spring, having left the Jumentos headed for Long Island, Bahamas. Our charts showed that the water was several thousand feet deep and I had two rods rigged and fishing. I heard one reel start screaming as line was running out and I jumped up and began to increase the drag. Of course the fish hit on the rod with the smaller of my two reels. I tightened the drag as tight as it would go and finally slowed the outrun of line and began to work the fish. I didn't know what it was, but I knew it was big! We slowed the boat down and I began to slowly work the fish back towards the boat. Then, surprisingly, it started trying to circle behind the boat! I never had a fish do that before. Diane was at the helm and I told her "give me 90 degrees to port". As she turned the boat, the fish continued trying to circle the stern. For the next hour and a half, I fought the fish and Diane drove the boat in circles! I finally got it along side and grabbed the gaff. The fish, a Mahi Mahi, was on it's side and I was not aware of the girth of this monster. I have a medium sized gaff and when I gaffed him and got him on the foredeck, the first thing I noticed was the gaff did not go all the way thru. About the time that Diane was handing me the rubbing alcohol to squirt in his gills, he literally exploded! Violently thrashing on the deck, I mean 3 or 4 feet off the deck! The power he had amazed me. I jumped up on the cabin top to escape his trashing and in a flash he was free of the gaff and escaped under the lifelines. He then broke my 100# steel leader and was gone (along with my cedar plug). Diane estimated that he was at least 5 foot long and I figured he went a good 75#. What an adventure! I realized, afterwards, that I was totally unprepared to land a fish of that size and strength. The good news is he probably lived. I hope so. He left not one drop off blood on the deck, so the gaff had not done any major damage. I'm going back this winter and will attempt to make his aquaintence again.

2009-08-25T05:35:00.000-04:00

Retirement is wearing us out! We've never been so busy. We drove to Dallas in June to see the kids and so I could have shoulder surgery to repair an injury I suffered after chasing a pop fly during a softball game in the Bahamas a couple years ago. I've been rehabing back in Vero for almost 10 weeks now. Progress has been pretty good, although sometimes painfully slow.

Diane has been sewing a new set of "clothes" for our lady. New dodger, bimini, and complete enclosure. 30+ yards of Sunbrella, 75+ zippers, and about 150 yards of bias tape! She's almost finished! In her spare time she's made new covers for our diesel, gas and water cans. She also intends to make new covers for all the winches. We must be color co-ordinated you know!

In October we'll move the boat to the "work area" of the boat yard to prep and paint the bottom, wax the hull and prepare her for launching. We'll then return to her Vero's marina and begin re-assembly and provisioning. We're looking forward to returning to the Bahamas for the winter. It may be our last visit as we're seriously considering doing the ARC Europe in 2011.

This year, two boats from our Texas marina will be joining us in the Bahamas. Good friends Bob & Bev on Savage Son and Keith, Carol and Mike on Prevailing Wind are shipping their boats to Fl in Novemeber and will cross to the Bahamas in December. It will be so much fun sailing with them!

Finally, the condo is shaping up nicely as well. We "bit the bullet" and had granite counters installed in the kitchen. Also went with a nice large and deep double sink (stainless), a high tech faucet and a high power (but quiet) disposal. What a difference! We also have a standby generator now which will guarantee no hurricane will pay us a visit!

We're C.L.O.D.S!

2009-06-01T17:07:00.000-04:00

Yes folks, we're swallowed the anchor for a while and are now CLODS (Cruisers Living on Dirt)! We stopped in Vero Beach, FL around Thanksgiving in 2007 enroute to the Bahamas and were very impressed with the community. In 2008 our friends, Jim & Nancy, told us about the real estate situation in FL and that they had bought a condo. Diane & I had oft discussed where we would want to live when "the day" came. We were also pretty sure that "the day" was still years off. Well, guess again! We found a very nice (we think) 3/2.5 condo/townhouse with a 2 car garage (Jay's gotta have a garage). We closed in November 2008, moved a few things from TX (when I say few, I mean few as we had sold almost everything prior to moving aboard!) We visited the Bahamas for just 2 months this year and now, for the first time in nearly 5 years, Far Niente is on the hard, lashed down and prepped for hurricane season here.

I'll try to udate a few things in the weeks ahead.

Junkanoo film clip

2008-04-14T13:38:00.000-04:00

Not great, but you'll get the idea.

http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/bottleinamessage/?action=view&current=GeorgetownJunkeroo069.flv

George Town Junkanoo

2008-04-14T13:01:00.001-04:00

We'd never been to one of these before and it was a hoot! Got up at 2:30 AM on December 26th (boxing day) and took the dink across the harbor to town. At 3AM it was in full swing. We left at 6:30. Most enjoyable. The locals take these very seriously. There are judges brought in from other islands. All materials and floats are only used once. They even sent someone to Canada to buy feathers!!!

A few more pictures of the Hermatige

2008-04-14T09:36:00.000-04:00

Cat Island

2008-04-14T09:21:00.000-04:00

Our visit to Cat Island was also very nice. The remants of the old plantations are impressive, but Father Jerome's "The Hermitage" stole our hearts. After ministering on Long Island, he traveled "down under" where he served as a "bush priest". When he was finally ready to retire, he came to Cat Island and constructed "The Hermitage", a minature replica of a Fransican Monesary, atop Mt. Alverna where he lived until his death. He is buried there.

Father Jerome

2008-04-14T09:11:00.000-04:00

Father Jerome was first educated as an architect. He later became an Anglican minister and built a very nice church in Clarence Town, Long Island, Bahamas. Some years later he traveled to Rome, where for 3 years he studied for the priesthood. He returned to Long Island where he built a wonderful Catholic Church. It has been recently restored.

Wintering in the Bahamas

2008-04-14T08:13:00.000-04:00

http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/bottleinamessage/?action=view&current=MVI_0017.flv

We've had such a great time since arriving in the Bahamas in early December. So I'm just going to post a few items that were very special to us. The first is a short clip of a on-water concert we attended. The group was made up of several cruisers (from different boats) who called themselves "White folks on Boats"!

Oops!!!

2007-11-07T14:24:00.000-05:00

We, and about 20 other boats were waiting for a bridge opening south of Norfolk on the ICW. I began slowly backing up to gain clearance from another vessel when CRUNCH!!!

I had collided with an underwater object (tree stump?) with the trailing edge (think weakest spot) of the rudder. We continued on for a few more days. The boat steered differently and the steering effort had increased.

I decided to go Jarrett Bay Boatworks near Beaufort, NC. We arrived on a Monday and they hauled the boat that morning. Pictures tell the story. They put me in touch with an on-site sub-contractor who started work immediately. A week later it was repaired as good as new. We were back in the water and continued on our way south.

This summer, after the bow thruster was installed, we decided to stay in Annapolis and work on "boat projects". Boy, did we ever!

Rigged a topping lift for the whisker pole.
Had mainsail recut to correct the luff.
Re-wired instrument panel, replaced panel glass cover and added a power port.

Re-wired solar panel and wind generator negative cables to enable the Link 2000 to show their charge.

Rewired refrigerator with #6 wire. Installed an amplified wifi antenna. Had the salon cushions recovered in Teal Ultra Leather. Replaced 2 fire extguishers w/5# Halon models. Replaced the faucet assy. in the "master's head". Install water tank gauges on all 3 water tanks. Replaced VHF antenna at masthead. Cleaned and repainted the front of the engine and replaced the water hoses and clamps. Replaced both solar panels with 130W Kyrocera panels. Removed bimini and dodger so Diana could resew (rotting threads) and replace worn zippers. Replaced glass and latches in all 6 deck hatches. Sold Mercury outboard and bought a new Yamaha 15HP two stroke. Traded the Avon (West Marine) HP floor dinghy in on a new 10'6" AB lite. Had diver clean boat bottom. Installed new depth transducer and Tridata reader. Changed engine oil and filter, changed trans oil, replaced Racor fuel filters. Cleaned all raw water strainers. Washed and wax hull sides. Replaced all zincs. So you can tell we were very busy, but the boat is in tip top shape and ready for the Bahamas!!

Everything installed!

2007-08-09T07:07:00.000-04:00

After the install of the bow thruster, I placed a 4D AGM battery near the thruster. It's also connected to the house batteries (big cables) which brings the total to approx. 650 amps. I then re-installed the Village Marine Tech LW 160 watermaker. It really filled up the compartment under the forward berth!!

Bow Thruster

2007-07-05T14:30:00.000-04:00

Diana & I decided that, after a couple seasons of sailing and encountering some difficult docking situations, it was time.

She also said I had a bad case of "bow thruster envy" She was so right!

Anyway, next week I will finish the installation and we'll see how it works.

Our Blog has grown so...........

2007-05-14T09:09:00.000-04:00

IN ORDER TO SEE IT ALL, IN THE ARCHIVES SECTION, CLICK ON MARCH, 2006 TO START AT THE BEGINNING. THANKS

The Master & Commander

2007-05-12T16:09:00.000-04:00

I'm Tinker Belle, AKA "Master & Commander" of the s/v Far Niente. I'm a 4 year old, 6 pound Yorkie, Cairn Terrier, Chihuahua mixture. The crew, says I'm a pure bred "SPOILED"! Whatever!!

Rule number one...I do not get out of bed before I'm ready. GOT IT??

Sometimes, when the seas get rough, the crew puts me in this bag so I can BARK orders and not get stepped on.

But my favorite thing in the whole world is "beach running". There are so many cool things to smell, chase and roll in. Plus it makes my lazy crew get some much needed exercise. This is me on the fly. I think I look like a greyhound only smaller....and much better looking.

Most of all I like hanging out with my crew and all the great friends they've made!

Enjoying the Abacos

2007-05-06T19:37:00.000-04:00

We anchored off Manjack Cay for several days with our friends Robin & Nancy. Robin & I fished some (he's a better fisherman than I) and worked to keep the sharks from taking our bait. We all walked the beaches and dined together. They introduced us to "Mexican Train Dominos". What fun! There are a few small "tame" Rays there. Diana had great fun feeding and petting

"Reggie the Ray".

Hooked one

2007-04-24T11:24:00.000-04:00

Caught a rather nice Mahi Mahi while sailing from Black
Point to Eluthera in Exuma Sound. It measured almost
4 feet long. I don't know what it weighed. It took me over
an hour to land him! I was pooped! We ate filets for 5 days.

It was good eating!

UPDATE

2007-04-24T07:35:00.000-04:00

Alot has happened since my last post. Last year, after cruising from Maine to the Bahamas, I decided to retire. Diana and I returned to Dallas, and in a couple of months, we got married, sold the house, my street rod (that hurt), our regular car, and had an estate sale to empty the house. Gave my kids what they wanted and stored a few things at my oldest daughters home. December 5, 2006 we officially moved aboard! Now we're homeless, carless (some might say brainless), but very, very happy. We sailed south from Norfolk, VA, to Ft. Lauderdale where I installed a watermaker and added a Pactor III modem to the SSB for email capabilities. We visited Key West, FL for a few weeks, the crossed to the Bahamas. We made Georgetown for the end of the "cruisers rally" and are now in the Abacos. Our long range plan was to do the Caribbean 1500 this fall and stay down there for a few years but that has now changed. We have had such a good time in the Bahamas, and have seen so little of what they have to offer, we've decided to come back this winter. The boat has performed well and is a comfortable liveaboard vessel. I wish everyone could experience this lifestyle. Why didn't I do this sooner??

Arch w/ davits

2006-10-22T15:47:00.000-04:00

While in Maine this summer, we visited the yard at Morris Yachts in Bass Harbor. I had them fabricate and install this custom arch and davits. It incorporates a mount for the life raft and stern anchor as well as the pole for a wind generator. It sure makes launching a retriving the dinghy easy.

Radar Pole

2006-06-14T15:29:00.000-04:00

This was another big project. I couldn't find a commercially made pole that I liked, so I decided to build my own. At the annapolis show I saw a very nice base that has a ball socket, so i didn't need to worry about welding on a precisely angled base plate. Also, it would enable me to lay the pole down to service the electronics. I added an antenna array on the top, incorporated a Questus mount for the radar dome, put an outboard engine lift on the side and a flood light to illuminate the aft transom at night. It works great!

Solar Panels

2006-06-14T15:19:00.000-04:00

In an effort to keep the house batteries charged up while at amchor, I've added two, 130W, solar panels on top of the bimini. They are rated at 8 amps each. So far I've seen 12 to 13 amps. I can now keep the refrigerator, freezer, stereo, fans etc. running all day without depleting the batteries (as long as the sun shines!). I'm considering adding a wind generator and perhaps a radar arch.

Wine anyone?

2006-04-01T07:41:00.000-05:00

Here's a shot of the cockpit table I built using Starboard. It folds down and holds two bottles of wine securely. No more spilled wine or bottles rolling around!

Cockpit doors

2006-03-31T10:08:00.000-05:00

I didn't care much for the original "lift out" panels. They were heavy (to me) and I couldn't figure out a way to store them securely. I made these with lift off hinges and I can still use a drop in panel with the doors open. Inside the doors I made removeable screens and drop in plastic panels to defeat air flow if necessary. Since the picture was taken, I've added hooks to hold them open.

Electrical panel

2006-03-31T09:49:00.000-05:00

The factory electrical panel had very few breakers. Only 3 AC and about a dozen DC breakers. I purchased two panels from Paneltronics in Florida. They are well made, high quality panels. The center filler panel now hosts the generator control. I also fabricated a new, larger instrument panel out of black Starboard. It currently holds the Icom 502 VHF and an Alpine stereo which has a XM radio tuner built in and and will also (with their optional adapter) enable you to plug in your Ipod too! There is space available for a future SSB.

Another fuel tank.

2006-03-31T09:24:00.000-05:00

When the water tank under the port aft berth split open I decided to replace it with a fuel tank. Doing so would double the fuel capacity to about 90 gallons. I was able to obtain a bluprint of the water tank from the factory in France. It was not going to be an easy project because the bottom of the tank must conform to the hull which slopes up to the rear and to the side as well. I have a friend whose father-in-law runs a large factory in (of all places) El Salvador. He said he could have it built there. It turned out wonderful! I don't call it the "port" tank, I call it the "Carlos" tank!

Cabinets in the cabins.

2006-03-31T09:04:00.000-05:00

I saw this type of cabinets on a Valiant and thought, "what a great idea"! So I built two of them in the forward cabin and one each in the aft cabins. Top picture is the forward starbord and lower is the port aft cabin.

Redoing the galley

2006-03-28T12:38:00.000-05:00

The formica counter tops were showing their age and wear, so I purchased granite tiles (3/8" thick) and covered the formica. I added a new stainless double sink, microwave, Force 10 stove and oven. Finally, I replaced the refrigeration with an air & water cooled large Waeco system.

The interior make over

2006-03-28T10:27:00.000-05:00

One winter evening, I arrived at the boat and proceeded to take my chopsaw and remove the entire salon. I cut it several pieces and threw it in the dumpster. No going back now! The original salon had large circular seating, of which you couldn't lay down on, and almost no useable storage. I proceeded to install 2 twenty gallon water tanks ( I discarded the original tank), re-located the main AC unit, installed an 11 gallon hot water heater and a Fridge Freeze freezer. I then, with alot of help from my friend, Darrel Cole, fabricated a new salon. We cut the table down and hindged it, added cabinets and a bookshelf on the starboard side and built a compression post cabinet which has eight doors that open into the galley. It has proven to be worth the effort. The photo with the large round table is the original design.

The beginning of the great adventure

2006-03-28T10:01:00.000-05:00

Far Niente (Italian for "without a care") is a 1991 Jeanneau SO 42.1. I located and purchased her in 1999, in Charleston, SC. After her re-location to Texas, I began the preparation to make her into a blue water, liveaboard cruiser. In the spring of 2005 the work was mostly completed and I shipped her to Oriental, NC for re-commisioning. My friend Dyan and I visited Portsmouth/Norfolk, VA, Annapolis, MD, Charleston, SC, St. Augustine, Daytona and Ft. Lauderdale, FL over the past year. As I write this we are preparing to visit the Bahamas in April, 2006.