Whew!

3.18.11

We are finally getting a breather after almost 3 weeks of whirlwind activity! We had a great time in Long Island and rushed back to be here in time to collect the first of our guests, Jeremy and Jon. They were here for most of the Regatta events and had a blast just swimming in the crystal clear waters and hanging out with the other cruisers. They played Sand Trap golf on the beach, went snorkeling, played volleyball and we even had a bonfire with a bunch of our friends.
Towards the end of their trip, Chelsea flew in so that at one point, there were 5 people on our little boat! It was much better than I had anticipated. No one complained about sleeping accommodations (thanks in part to extra Bahamian Rum Drinks!) and everyone kept their stuff tidy enough that the boat wasn't too cluttered! We all had a blast and were sorry to see Jeremy and Jon leave.
With just the 3 of us left, we had more relaxed beach days. We attended the closing party of the Regatta and had a blast listening to some of the cruisers playing in a pickup band.
We went to sundowners with some cruisers we met in Marathon who finally made it down to Georgetown. And we all learned how to play a conch horn! It was a blast! I of course, was a natural...haha.
Chelsea and I spent a day on the East beaches searching the sand for Hamburger and Heart beans - large brown beans that float all the way across the Atlantic from Africa. They are supposed to be good luck for sailors since they have endured the long journey. But we had no such luck, hopefully we will find one before the end of our travels!
One of the couples we met here in Georgetown decided to upgrade to a larger boat and purchased one here in town. We went over with a few other couples to be witnesses for the christening ceremony - a superstitious ceremony for renaming the boat that involves lots of champagne and invoking the spirits of the wind. It was great fun and awesome to be part of such a big moment in their lives!
After a week full of fun and sun, we said our goodbyes to Chelsea and sent her back to the States.
Although we have had lots of fun sharing our lives with our friends, it is equally nice to have peace and quiet back on our little boat. It is time to get back in the swing of things and get the mothership back in sailing condition. She has had plenty of rest and so have we. We are all eager to be out in the open ocean again.

Visitors

3.7.11

Jeremy and Jon flew in from DC this weekend and they couldn't have picked a better week! We have just had a large and long-lasting blow of up to 25knots for a few days and the weather has finally laid down. The water is crystal clear and the skies are a brilliant blue.
Brad played in the Cruisers vs. Bahamians softball game last night and we went along to cheer him on. There was a great turnout and the cruisers were loud and rowdy as usual. I met up with some old friends again and also met some new friends as well. Brad played great in the game and was the only player they kept in the whole time!
The whole game was quite entertaining, as the Bahamians are much better than the cruisers....by a long shot! They play competitively and are much more experienced than our team of miscreants. To make up for this, the cruisers get to provide the referees who are more there to handicap the Bahamians than anything else. The referees provided a great source of entertainment as they put a ball and chain on some of the runners, allowed the whole team of cruisers to run around the bases for an 11 run homerun, made the Bahamians run the bases backwards and bat with their bats upside down! It was quite pathetic how much better they were than our team, but the game is a yearly charity event that is all played in good fun. Everyone had a great time, and I think the final rigged score was 26-26.
More Cruisers Regatta events commence tomorrow and with the winds being so low, there is a good chance of snorkeling in the near future!

Surprise Sail

3.3.11

We woke up this morning planning on spending a lazy day on the boat since a front was moving through the area, we expected some rain and high winds. However, when we checked the GRIBS that morning, we realized the front had stalled a bit and although it had rained yesterday, it was supposed to be clear today with winds up to 20knots. The following day the winds were supposed to build and the rain was to hit again. Well, I hate sailing in the rain, so our mind was made up. We quickly got our butts into gear and readied the boat for sailing. We were on the water with our sails raised 45 minutes later!
We were on a beam reach, flying along the water at 6knots. And it only got better, or worse, depending on which way we chose to look at it. We were traveling in the right direction to harness all the power of the wind and as the day wore on, we reached 7, even 8, knots, which is our max speed in our little boat! But with the speed came the wrestling of the wheel. This is where we are a bit different from other boaters. We currently don't have an autopilot – it is under construction, kind of. So, we had to wrestle the wheel to keep the boat straight for the whole 5 hour trip. When you are slicing through waves that are 5-7 feet tall that are slamming into your beam and the boat is trying with all its might to turn you straight into the wind, things can get a bit dicey. And that is exactly what happened. We had to take shifts behind the wheel because it was such a workout! The waves built steadily throughout the day until they were just picking us up and tossing us around.
Needless to say, we were happy, relieved and exhausted when we finally reached the cut and made it behind cover of land. We had made the best time ever, having covered 35 miles in a bit under 5 hours! But we had paid the price.
Georgetown was even more crowded than when we had left, due to the regatta being this week. We had trouble anchoring and the over 20knots winds were not making our job any easier! We finally squeezed our way into a spot and were so thankful to drop the anchor and be back in a safe harbour.
Tomorrow starts the deep cleaning of the boat and the parade of guests starts in 2 days! Can't wait!!!

Driving on the Left!

3.2.11

Two days later, we rented a car and, taking extra caution to drive on the left side of the road, headed off in search of tourist spots. The wind was calm and the weather was gorgeous so we opted to start out snorkeling on the East coast. Brad and I had never snorkeled the ocean side before, usually the tradewinds in the Bahamas cause large Eastern swells that make snorkeling impossible. Our first stop was a reef about 100 yards out from the beach. The reef was pretty and we saw some gorgeous fish, although nothing we hadn't seen before. The coolest part about this reef was that since we were on the ocean side, the reef was right along the ledge of the ocean. So, when you reached the other side of the reef, the sand dropped down about 50feet and you were staring at an endless expanse of deep blue water. It was a bit eery, knowing that larger animals were out there watching you. I now know what lobsters in a tank feel like. Sure enough, as we swam along and our eyes got a bit used to the shadows along the ledge, we could start to make out shapes a ways out – luckily they were only large barracudas, but it was a bit spooky nonetheless.
This reef didn't hold our attention long and we were soon all back on the beach deciding where to go next. A couple who lived on the island recommended a reef a bit farther back, so we all piled in the car and headed that way. This reef was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life. There have been steps carved into a rock ledge and when you lower yourself into the water, you are only 2feet above some of the most beautiful reef you have ever seen.
The water itself was some 30 feet deep, but the reef has grown almost all the way to the surface! We swam over top of it for about 30yards, peeking down through the crevasses into the lives of the colorful fish below, until the reef opened up into deeper water. We swam along the edge of the reef, surrounded by reef and fish on all sides. We even saw a sea snake and encountered a large eagle ray (with a wing span almost as large as my arm span!) who was very curious about us – he circled around us for quite a bit before getting bored and moving on. I cannot even begin to do this reef justice with words, but suffice it to say it was absolutely breathtaking and I cannot remember ever seeing anything as extraordinary.
The guy that we were with turned out to be an avid diver and was digging in and around the reefs looking for lobster to spear. He only found two, but we hoped to get more later so we could all have a great feast later!
We decided we had done enough snorkeling and opted to head farther south to see some of the other great tourist spots on the island. The first stop was lunch at Max's conch bar – and we were in luck, Max was working! He was an older gentleman, who acted as if he was 18 and made fresh conch salad right in the tiki hut while we sat around the bar watching him. It was delicious and he was quite entertaining! He recommended some good spots for us to check out, so we headed farther south.
The next stop was Dean's Blue Hole – google it. Although it is not well known amongst world attractions, it is a must see among cruisers who frequent the island. It is just as the name implies – a 150foot wide blue hole that drops down to 690feet. It is in the corner of this small, shallow cove and the sand falls off suddenly into a great abyss of cobalt blue water. The free divers gather here yearly for a competition to see who can go the farthest. It was pretty spectacular!
We also headed down to Clarencetown where we saw two of the churches built by Father Jerome. Father Jerome was an architect turned priest who has built multiple churches here in the islands that are of the finest architectural design of the 1800s. We even climbed one of the spires and were able to get a great view of the city, although it was quite treacherous getting up there, with steep ascending ladders and narrow holes to pull yourself up through at each level. Brad almost didn't make it! Haha!
The front that was scheduled to arrive Thursday night showed up a bit early and we could see the approaching rain. We hurried back down the spire, got in the car and headed to Rowdy Boys – a local pool bar recommended to us by some other cruisers. We pulled in right as the downpour started. Although we had only planned to have a look around, we decided to order some beers and wait out the storm. We stayed for almost an hour, enjoying the company of the owners (the only other people in the place besides us!) and met almost their whole family! They were very generous and welcoming and we had a great time!
Finally, at 1600, after a full day of exploration, we headed back to our boats. We said our goodbyes, they gave us the two lobster tails since it wasn't enough for a full dinner and we had never had fresh lobster before. We were traveling the same track, so we knew our paths would cross again in the future. It had been an excellent day and we were exhausted!

Small town Simms

3.1.11

We have spent the last week in Long Island and have loved every second! It is another of the beautiful islands just south of the Exuma chain. It has been so nice and refreshing to get out of crowded Georgetown for the week.
After we left the Northern part of the island, we headed South about 12mile and tucked up close to shore right outside of Simms. We dinghied in and made a quick trip to the local mini mart. We met a charming man named Bill, who was born in Simms and then moved to the US to get his Bachelors Degree and to teach in the state schools. He was there for 20 years before coming back home to Simms, where he runs the mini mart out of the front of his house just for something to fill his days. He was wonderful to talk to and has been to many places in the US that even Brad and I have never been. We stayed and chatted with him for about 30 minutes before heading back out to the boat for sundowners. Despite Bill's charm, this sleepy town lacked anything to do so opted to head out the following day.
We finally made it down to Thompson Bay, the cruisers favorite spot. There is protection from almost all wind directions here and there is a local place, Long Island Breeze, that has a dinghy dock, free wifi and a pool. The grocery store is also conveniently located across the street. We were sad to have just missed the Farmer's market the day before.
We tuned in to the local cruisers net, run by the Breeze daily, and made reservations with a local restaurant that was doing a buffet with native cuisine. It sounded as if many of the cruisers in the Bay would be there and we were excited to meet more people. We took Koa for a walk to the beach and then headed to the grocery store to replenish our supplies. This store was like heaven on earth for us! I was huge and had a bit of everything. We even bought a set of Dominos. The locals play Dominos and backgammon here all the time and we are eager to learn so that we can join them next time! The owner of the grocer checked us out and then, when he learned we didn't know how to play, he shut down his checkout line and he and the bag boy taught us how to play! Right there in the store!!
Dinner was excellent and we met another cruiser couple who we really hit it off with. They have a large Catamaran that they have sailed partway around the world. They are so young at heart and so friendly and eager to share all their stories with us as well as invite us to their summer home in Canada! We had planned on renting a car to see the parts of the island that we couldn't see by boat and invited them to come along.
The following day we headed into Long Island Breeze for some R&R and to make use of their wifi. We had hoped that the bar and grill on the pool deck would be open, but for some reason it was not. We headed upstairs to the restaurant and sat at the bar. The place was gorgeous – overlooking the Bay, with beautiful woodwork and all the doors were open allowing a cool breeze to come through. We were greeted by the owner who got us our drinks and stood there staring at us while we perused the menu. When we asked for the pizza, he told us it would take 50minutes for the pizza oven to heat up and 10 minutes to cook the pizza. When we told him we would wait, he said that cooks wouldn't be able to do it. Hmmm....ok?! So we split a burger and sat there playing on the internet until it came. Several times we tried to strike up conversation with the owner, asking about rental cars and things to see in the area but were only rewarded with concise, terse, yes or no answers. After eating a burger that was less than great, we decided that although the atmosphere had the potential to be amazing the ownership was sadly lacking. Perhaps we should buy them out and run it ourselves...

Long Island Bound

2.25.11

We left Georgetown yesterday, a day after our weather window. The wind was supposed to still be cooperative with the direction we were heading, but as we motored out of the harbour, we soon realized that was not to be the case. We were heading due East and the winds were right off our bow. We realized we would be motor-bashing all day if we stayed with our original travel plan.
No fear! Thanks to my excellent navigational skills, I directed us onto a different route where we would be able to use the wind to our advantage. So, we hoisted our sails, cut out of the main channel and headed to the North end of Long Island. The day was gorgeous! Beautiful blue skies with enough wind to fill our sails and send us in the right direction. We were at our destination right around sunset , had the anchor in just as the sun dipped below the horizon and were treated to an elusive green flash! We were tired from the long day, so we had a filling dinner of steak and rice and then headed to bed.
The next day, we opted to move in closer to the shore. We hauled the anchor back on board and found what we thought to be a suitable anchorage closer to the beach in beautiful sandy-bottom crystal clear blue water. We made sure the anchor was set, loaded up the dinghy and took Koa in to land for a hike around the town.
We soon learned that the town was little more than a few residential houses. There wasn't even a mini mart. I guess when the island is only 50miles long you don't have to have a grocer in every town. As we were walking through “town” we did noticed that every yard had at least one, if not two, goats. They were tied up like dogs in all the yards. They were oblivious of us, but were very interested in Koa. And, as I'm sure you can guess, our dumb dog was also very interested in them!
The people of Long Island are purported to be among the friendliest in all the islands. They offer walking cruisers rides and not a single one goes by without honking and waving. We heard more car horns on the stretch of road than when we were in Miami!
We hiked on. On the Northern-most tip of the island is a Columbus moument. The statue is so worn down that you cannot even read the inscription anymore, but the monument sits atop white rugged cliffs and is supposed to offer amazing views. Well, we didn't realize it was over 5 miles to get there and since we had Koa and it was the middle of the afternoon with no shade trees to be seen, we accepted defeat and turned around. We prefer the coolness of the water and the beachside winds to the sweltering heat of the land. We were all exhausted and had a very low key evening before retiring for the night.
Unfortunately, being so close to the Northern tip of Long Island doesn't offer much protection from the waves. The waves from the Atlantic rolled in around the tip and over towards where we were tucked up against the shore. We spent the night rolling from gunnel to gunnel, and since our bed is perpendicular to the boat, that meant we were rolled from head to toe all night – not exactly what we had in mind when we thought about being rocked to sleep by the waves.
Tomorrow we will head farther south down the island.

Georgetown Gem

2.20.11

We have found a gem here in Georgetown. Apparently the secret is out though, as we are only one of 250 sailboats in the harbour. When we were in Marathon we were introduced to our first “cruising community”, where the sailors organized a cruisers net every morning and group activities on some days. That was small scale compared to this! The cruisers here are gung ho about getting together, drinking, singing, dancing, playing games, and fixing things. Every day of the week there is something going on – volleyball everyday, softball twice a week, poker twice a week, discussions on battery usage and care, and most importantly, the upcoming cruisers regatta.
A regatta is, in history, a party centered around the racing of boats. Well, this is more of the racing of boats and other games, centered around the party. There is drinking encouraged at every event – kayak races, tug of wars, competitive volleyball, small boat sailing races. There are 2-3 events everyday for two weeks. I don't know whether some of these people will make it out alive! The regattas in the Bahamas usually center around the racing of the Bahamian boats, but the cruisers in Georgetown apparently wanted to have a really big bash before they all head back to the states and Canada, so they came up with this regatta idea. There is really not so much racing involved as there is drinking and laughing. Although we are not as gung ho about this event as some of the people, we have gotten kind of involved and are going to be there for the second week.
Brad has been going to the Poker Tournaments and hopes to play in the final tournament next week. He has also been playing softball with the cruisers twice a week. The practices all lead up to the big event – playing a competitive game of softball against the Bahamians. It should be fun and apparently the Bahamians in Georgetown dominate all the other teams in the Bahamas. After watching our cruisers play, I think that there's a good chance they will not be coming home with the trophy this year.
The real gem behind this cruising community is the level of friendliness and helpfulness. We have had so many problems on our boat since leaving Florida and we have been able to fix all but one thanks to the help and knowledge provided by all the boats in the harbour. Everyone is so generous, lending out parts, selling parts on their boat if they have extras, or just giving general recommendations for what we should do to fix the problem. Thanks to them, we were able to revive our old batteries, get a new battery charger for 1/5 the cost that it would normally be, and we now have hot water for showers!
The Bahamians are also extremely friendly here. They know that the cruisers are most of their yearly income so they bend over backwards to make sure that we all have a great time.
Although we do love it here, we are getting antsy and are ready to move on. There is still so much of the Bahamas left to see!
We are heading over to Long Island in a few days and then will be back in Georgetown for the end of the regatta and to pick up some of our friends who are flying in for a visit. We will have five people sleeping on this boat at one time – it's going to be a bit cozy!!