Isaac Prep

The Star of the Sea was just minding her own business resting from her recent Haitian trip and along comes Isaac. Thankfully all we got was some wind and high tides. It still takes a full day of storm prep to get her ready. Many thanks to Luis Acevedo, my Mexican friend and fishing mate from years past who was in town for a few days and spent the day before the storm helping me set anchors and extra lines. Change is in the air for the 'Star'

Back to Florida!

We set sail on Thursday afternoon after a morning of make ready and stow. Our friend Joseph the spearfisherman stopped by with one of his children and gave us three octopus and four lobster for lunch. Yum! The sail home was subject to contrary winds, squalls, and way too much motorsailing. We arrived in Marathon on the morning of July 4 and back in Naples the following morning. The schooner had been taking on water from an unknown source for the past three weeks and Shaquille and I took to Ft. Myers for a haulout on July 6th. I'll be driving up to the yard today to try and find the source of the intrusion and hopefully a quick fix. Attached are some pics from the past couple weeks. Thank you for all your prayers and support for this voyage, hope to hear from you soon! Capt. Bob

lle a vache offload

The trip down from Inagua went smoothly until we arrived at the west tip of the southern arm of Haiti. Wind went from 15 knots to 35 on the nose and seas from 2-4ft. to 8-10ft.
Being fully loaded and discretion being the better part of valor I reversed course and we hid out in a small cove northwest of the village of Tiburon until the sun set and the wind died down to the point of being manageable. I like to arrive in the dark so as to not telegraph our arrival and because of the delay we didn't drop anchor until 0630 at Port Morgan. Sister Flora's boat came immediately and we offloaded all the Meals of Hope by the end of the day. The orphanage is doing well and our cargo of food, medical supplies, and the dresses and shorts that were made by Sewing Hands were well received. Our Naples contact that supplied 1,000 used tennis balls from Collier's Reserve would have smiled if he could see the joy of the children upon receiving tennis balls! What a hit the balls make and it's fun to see the kids happiness with such a simple thing. Bill Clinton is due to arrive to the island for a visit tomorrow and I had a long talk with a couple of the Secret Service agents assigned to his detail. Things are changing in this part of the world, for the better? only time will tell. We are hoping for the weather to break tomorrow and we will depart for Florida. The schooner is having a few issues of concern and I will be relieved to be back in Florida waters soon!!

Inagua loadin

After enjoying the wonderful hospitality at Bob Pratt's Southside Marina and an uneventful sail from Provo we arrived at Great Inagua early in the morning. Customs went fairly smoothly and once again Brother Carl helped with the money for the transshipment bond. The little harbor was full with captured drug freighters and other local boats so we moved boats around so we could squeeze in for the loading process. We got all the cargo aboard and secured by 1830 and then stood offshore while we made ready for sea and ate dinner. Underway by 2100 for the Windward passage and Haiti!

Land Ho! Cat Island

We had a very calm crossing from the Exumas to Cat Island arriving at 0600 to the Port of Smith Bay. The children from the Old Bight Mission Home arrived to offload cargo in the afternoon when school had let out. Five pickup truck loads later, all cargo was delivered to the home. To our surprise our former shipmate Shaquille Moss who had traveled to Haiti with us last summer had decided to postpone his pilot training for a month and will accompany the crew for the rest of the voyage. On June 8 we had the pleasure of attending Shaquille's high school graduation ceremony! On June 6 Zach was able to make the first delivery of over 500 lbs. of medical supplies to the local clinic here on Cat Island. His charity, Open Vessel Missions, has another thousand pounds of medical supplies aboard that will go to Sister Flora's mission on Lle a Vache, Haiti. We have spent the past few days with some boat projects and a much needed nap and also a little sightseeing on the island. We will leave for Provo. in the morning and after taking on fuel and water there we will sail to Inagua to load in the Meals of Hope that were donated by Estero United Methodist Church. Oh yea... fuel is $6.45 a gallon here.....Yikes

Fair Winds and Following Seas

The ship and crew had a fair weather crossing of the gulf stream on our way to the Exumas where we spent time with old friends and made new ones. "Summer crabs" were in abundance this year and I'm happy to report that there was fewer lion fish to shoot this year than in the past. Zach and Javier were able to visit the beautiful Thunderball Cave in Staniel Cay and we spent a couple days at Little Farmers Cay where we attended a very uplifting Sunday service at the local Baptist Church. On the way to Cat Island now, we should arrive on June 5. Capt. Bob

Summer Orphanage Sail

The lists are done (are they ever done?) the first load of cargo is loaded and secured, the weather is going to cooperate for departure, I think it's time to go!
Our first stop will be the Old Bight mission home on Cat Island, Bahamas where we will deliver cargo and spend time with the kids. We will also be attending the high school graduation of Shaquille Moss who crewed last summer on the trip to Haiti. Many thanks are extended to all the supporters who have made this trip possible, most notably the Estero United Methodist, the Fountainhead Foundation, and John and Mary Barrett whose financial help made this trip possible. Special thanks to the Call to Adventure crew, first mate Zach Griffen, and artist Marvin Rouse who provided lots of labor in painting and other maintenance. As always please keep the crew in your prayers, we need them and always feel them when things get interesting.
Capt. Bob