We have been here in Compass Cay for a few days now. I guess that not knowing the exact number of days is a sign that I am now getting into the “cruising mode”. I am also becoming more comfortable with the SSB and am now testing the waters with “traffic” on the Cruiseheimers net in the morning. This “net” is designed to keep boats in touch with each other and to facilitate help with problems. I generally check in on a fairly regular basis to let folks know where Pandora is.
Another advantage of the net is that when others check in I can request “traffic” and make contact with a particular boat that is monitoring the net. Unlike VHF, where most boats monitor channel 16 when they are aboard, SSBs are generally not left on all of the time, at least not aboard Pandora. Unlike VHF radios, SSBs use a good deal of power, even in the standby mode and there are dozens of channels with no dominant hailing channel unlike 16 with the VHF.
My first experience with requesting traffic with another boat was several days ago when I spoke with Sea Schell, a boat that we spent a good deal of time with in the first month aboard in the Bahamas. Harry and Melinda, liveaboards, are headed to the western Caribbien and are currently in the Dominican Republic. It was fun to catch up with Harry on the SSB yesterday and share stories. In spite of their being so far from us, we were able to hear each other perfectly.
Some folks I spoke to when I was considering whether or not to purchase an SSB suggested that the technology was not “modern” and that with a sat phone you didn’t need a long range radio. Perhaps that’s true, but being able to easily speak with someone who is very far away is a great thing and I am enjoying using the radio more often. I’d like to get my HAM license and will likely work on that this summer. Being a “Ham” offers some additional benefits and is certainly sets you apart from others on the sideband. An important benefit is that you have greater knowledge about these radios that are certainly pretty complex. More to come on that.
Yesterday Brenda and I took our dink for a tour into the mangrove swamps nearby here at Compass Cay. There was a winding channel into the swamp and we were able to navigate quite a way in in spite of it being low tide. Along the way we spied a good number of bone fish, a highly prized game fish here. I understand that they give a great fight for their modest size. We also saw a massive ray, perhaps as much as 6′ across. While we have seen plenty of rays on this trip, none have come close to being that large. It was impressive to see such a large fish in a narrow creek that was only a few feet deep. I understand that rays eat conch which are abundant in these creeks.
We stopped on yet another beautiful deserted beach to look for shells. It’s interesting that each beach that we have visited has it’s own characteristic and the sorts of shells that we find vary tremendously. Some beaches have a wide variety and others lots of one or two types. The slope of the beach along with the sorts of coral heads or reefs that are off of it has a lot to do with what we find. It’s fun to visit a new beach as you never know what you will find.
This beach was particularly pretty but alas, not a single shell.
We were greeted by this curly tail lizard. There are lots of lizards in the islands but this particular type is uniquely curious and often run up to greet you. Most lizards run away but these guys, about a foot long, seem fearless. It’s pretty funny to see how close you can get. In this case, it was about four feet away when he finally took off.
We expect to be here for another day while we wait for the fairly strong north winds to shift more to the east which will make heading up the chain easier. I don’t particularly like motoring into the wind but perhaps that won’t be too bad if the wind is light. Perhaps that means I am not totally into the cruising thing yet. Hmm…
Fingers crossed for more easterly winds. Ever hopeful…