February 2014

It’s Wednesday morning and we are anchored off of a lovely beach at Highborne Cay near the top of the Exuma chain of islands.  This part of the Bahamas is referred to as the central Bahamas with Highborne near the northern portion, not to put too fine a point on it.

The water is crystal clear and the most amazing color of blue.

Our run on Monday from Nassau took us a bit over 30 miles and with winds out of the north east, we were able to sail the entire distance.  The wind was a bit strong so it was a pretty energetic run and I am happy to report that Brenda did very well.  Actually, it seems that her tendency to be seasick seems to be less each year with this year the best yet.  Yahoo!!!

Our first stop on Monday was at Allen Cay, the home of a wonderful population of native iguanas that, for all the world, look like props from a “B” Japanese Godzilla movie.  As you come onto the beach, the lizards come out to look for handouts.  It’s pretty amazing to see 30 or so 3’ long “mini monsters” come out of from the brush.  And sometimes they come pretty close.  Here’s Chris with some admirers.Yesterday we motored a short distance from Allen to Highborne Cay because this island is a bit taller and breaks the wind a bit more.  The currents at Allen are strong challenging and make the boat orient itself oddly to the wind as the tide ebbs and flows against a strong wind.   Here at Highborne, the currents are a lot less so Pandora lies more calmly at anchor, which is much more comfortable.

We are expecting stronger winds, upward of 20kts, tomorrow so we will likely head a bit further south today to take advantage of the mostly favorable winds from the east today.   We will be entering a national park area and “no take zone” which is protected against any fishing or hunting, which is good.  As a result, you see all sorts of fish that you might not see in the other areas.

The winds in this area tend to be from the south east so getting south can be a bit challenging.  In order to sail the wind has to be 40 or so degrees off of the bow.  Otherwise, we have to motor into the wind.  And, if the wind is over say 15kts, it takes a lot of power to push against the wind.  Needless to say, those who have sailboats would prefer to sail.

Chris will fly out of Staniel Cay, a bit south of here, Wednesday of next week so we have to be aware of wind conditions to be sure we are able to get there in time for his flight.   As you might have surmised, we have to pay very careful attention to the weather as picking weather windows correctly when we need to head somewhere can make for a good day on the water.  Pick incorrectly and well, not such a good day.  With the next few days calling for unfavorable winds, we probably should head south today and hang out for a few days while we wait for more moderate conditions to return.

It’s Sunday morning and we are STILL in Nassau harbor.  It’s been nearly a week and I have to say that being here is getting a bit old.  However, at least it’s not snowing.

Our son Christopher arrives today and we are doubly excited as we have not seen him in a month.  I am sure that his trip to Thailand has been terrific and we can’t wait to hear the poop.  Brenda is so excited about seeing one of her “boys” that we rented a car so that she could greet him as he exited the airport.  No way was she going to let some random taxi driver bring him to the dock.

Well, we’ll see how I do at driving on the “wrong side” of the road.

In spite of the fact that Nassau is in the Bahamas, it’s not the reason that we visit.  The water is very clear in the harbor by US standards but we are looking forward to heading out into the more rural areas on Monday where the water is remarkably clear.  Fortunately, the weather looks good for a run tomorrow.

Actually, many boats have been pinned here in Nassau for much of the week as the winds have been very strong and from the west, an unusual direction for this part of the world.  And, westerly winds are not good in the Exumas as there are only a few anchorages that are protected from that direction.  So, it’s great luck that more “normal” winds are in the offing now that Chris is arriving.  While the US east coast has been dumped on by Mother Nature, the effect on the Bahamas has been winds that are uncharacteristically unfavorable.  

One good thing about being here has been dining out as there are some very nice places to eat in Nassau.  Last night we capped off our visit with a visit to a very nice Tapas place on the water.  Very good.

Many of the local eateries serve seafood, as you can imagine, and yesterday I visited the docks in Potters Cay where the fisherman sell their catch.  I have to say that it’s pretty seedy and not a place that you’d want to visit in the dark.  Well, not the sort of place that someone as “non threatening” as I am should ever be.  Even during the day I am an easy mark with my goofy hat and camera bag.

Everywhere you go in the Bahamas there are conch for sale.  It is quite amazing that there are any conch left to catch.   If you look closely, you can see a piece of rope going from one shell to the other.  This way, the fisherman can toss the conch into the water to be stored till they head to market.   This way the conch can’t get away.   In Potters Cay there are also food vendors selling all sorts of produce, some of which I even recognize.One popular item on the local’s tables is land crabs.    You can see them in the cage to the lower left of this photo.  These guys smell as nasty as they look. I don’t think Brenda will be scarfing down any of these in the near future.

Anyway, I have to head over to the grocery to do some provisioning for the next week as there are really no groceries, as we know them in the US, here in the more remote areas.

It’s Sunday morning and it’s been a long time since my last post.  So why is that Bob, you ask?

Well, it’s a long story of computer neglect and I won’t bore you with the details except to say that it’s all better now, mostly.   It seems that my computer, in spite of virus protection etc, had accumulated it’s share of problems over the last few years so I finally “bit the bullet” and took it to a repair place here in Nassau.  Yes I know, it doesn’t sound like a good idea to let someone “have their way” with my life in a country where the video stores openly sell pirated copies of first run movies for $5.00.  Oh well, I left my computer for a few days and magically, all seems to be better now.

So, we have been here since Wednesday I think (time seems to be a bit less well defined here when the water and air are in the low 80s) and we have been touring the area.

On Monday, we expect to head east to the Exuma islands, about 35 miles from here.  Our son Christopher is also due to join us tomorrow for ten days.  We are very excited.  His flight from Thailand, where he has been for the last month, takes him half way around the world and will take something like 75 travel hours, including layovers, some 12 hours long.  His itinerary takes him to these hotspots beginning in Chaing Mai then on to Bangkok, Taipei, Osaka, JFK NY,  Washington DC, Miami and finally here in Nassau where we will meet him in a rental car at the airport.  I wonder how jet lag feels after three days of travel? I hope I’ll never know.

Imagine what fun it is to sleep on planes and airport chairs or three days or more?  Oh, to be young…   I expect he will catch up on a bit of sleep when he’s aboard Pandora.

Nassau is a fun place to visit and we have enjoyed our time here.  Although it’s not, in my opinion, the “real Bahamas”.  For my money, to be out in the more rural islands is preferable to the bustle of the city, here in Nassau.   After a few days “on the hook” or anchor, we opted to come into a marina, where we have been for the last few days.  Amazingly, we ran into a few other couples that we have known for some time and met elsewhere.  It’s a small world.  

Nassau is a city of great contrast from the large poor local population to the constant stream of cruise ships and private yachts that come and go constantly.  However, if you are looking for a glitzy spot to visit there is nothing better than the Atlantis casino across the harbor from our marina.

Brenda and I took our dink over to Atlantis a few days ago to have lunch in one of their restaurants and and enjoyed our visit.  The places was mobbed with tourists from all walks of life and the casino floor was as gaudy and noisy as any I have been to over the years.  I have to say that to be walking through a huge hotel did remind me of my working days.  I can’t say that I miss it at all.

Anyway, it was fun to see something so different.  The outdoors area of the hotel is so polished that it was quite a sight.  This shot shows just how “over the top” the place is.  The huge yachts were a sight as well.  The market umbrellas really set the mood.Brenda and I also got a Bahamas cell phone yesterday although it took a pretty good walk to find the BATELCO store.  After what seemed like FOREVER we now have a working cell phone.  I plan on using it to call my mother.  It was ironic that the store was on Shirley Street as that’s my mom’s name.  Perhaps someone was trying to tell me something.  This sign make it clear to me.  “Bob, call your mom!”.  Will do.  I did.The other night Brenda and I had dinner with the son of the chef at the Essex Yacht Club.  Brent is in the Marines and is stationed at the American Embasy here in Nassau.  It was fun to hear about his life here and he also took us for a drive around Nassau and to see where he lives.  His post here will last a year and then he will transfer somewhere else.  It will be fun to stay in touch.    He’s a nice guy.    He even brought us “official” American embassy shirts?  Double nice guy. Yesterday Brenda and I went for a long walk, longer than we planned and WAY longer than Brenda planned, and visited a number of great spots.   Along the way we stopped at Greycliff hotel in Nassau.  It’s a beautiful historic hotel, supposedly some 200 years old.  We spent some time around the pool.  What a beautiful oasis in the bustling city. While we were there we met this very nice young women, from South Africa.  She had some time off from her job on one of the big cruise ships.  She had grown up on a farm in South Africa.  Very interesting.

We also visited a local distillery for a rum tasting and some lunch.   Yes, it was early in the day so we had just a small taste of their rums.  You must believe me…  What a beautiful spot.  I guess the rum business is going well.  Wonderful colorful buildings. And, yet another picture of me and Brenda.  I guess the above and this shot are sort of like “before and after”.  Now you see us. Above you don’t. The government buildings are pretty here.  Grand, actually. However, once you are out of the “down town” area, it gets really poor very quickly.  I understand that tourists have no business wandering out of town.  Not safe.  However, in town there is substantial police presence.  And, they are very natty.   Internet coverage is a bit challenging for us here.  I signed up for a service here in the harbor but it didn’t work well at all.  To get this posted, Brenda and I visited a local Starbucks (yes, they have them even here) and used their internet connection.   With a purchase, you get an hour of time on the internet. Quick, finish the post.  No time for distractions.  Actually, as I am finishing up I had to buy another coffee as my time had run out.  At least I can type faster with more caffeine.  Faster but with more mistakes. 

As you can imagine, they do a great business selling coffee so folks can check their e-mail. 

So mom, are you there?  We’re still here…

It’s Monday mid morning and we are sailing along with a gentle breeze on our way to Nassau from Chub Cay, a distance of about 50 miles.  Actually, the engine has gotten a good workout since our arrival back in Florida and today is the first time that the sails have been out since my arrival in Florida way back in November. 

Since arriving in the Bahamas a few days ago we have hung out in Chub Cay, about 40 miles NW of Nassau.  We decided to stay put for a few days to wait for a weather window to make the run and stop in Nassau, along the way, in part because our son Christopher will be joining us there for a ten day visit.

Christoper is currently in Thailand decompressing from his graduate studies at Columbia.   It seems that he spent, by his count, something like 500 weeks on physics and is now ready for a change.  Yeah, no kidding.  So, how about heading to Thailand from New York City for a change of scenery?  Yep, that’s a change.

Anyway, he’s still not quite ready to re-enter the real world so is flying from Bangkok to JFK in NY and then on to Nassau where he will hook up with us.  That’s three non stop days of traveling so it will be interesting to see just how cranky and pooped he is when he arrives.  After he arrives on Thursday, we plan on making a run to Allen Cay at the northern end of the Exuma chain, home of ancient iguanas, the only indigenous population in the Bahamas.  This island was one of our first landfalls in the Bahamas last year so it will be fun to go back.  I have been using this photo as my Facebook photo since last year.  These critters are pretty fierce looking but they are quick to run away if you approach them.   They love to get handouts from visitors.  So much for wild but I wouldn’t want to try and pet one.

The closer you get, the fiercer they look.   I’ll bet that Christopher will love to see these guys. Yesterday we moved from one harbor on Chub to another and visited a little marina on the eastern shore.  It’s run by a Bahamian named Howard.  It’s clear that he works hard at keeping the modest place up and I have to think that running a business like that must be pretty challenging.  The place is simple but well kept.  I would have a tough time being in such an out of the way spot year round.   Like so many building in the islands, it’s brightly painted. We dropped by for a drink at the bar and took a mooring for the night.  We were the only folks in the bar and only one of three boats visiting.  We generally don’t take moorings as we prefer to use our own anchor.  However, the bottom there is pretty grassy and my Bruce anchor hook well into weed.  I haven’t run into much of a problem in the Bahamas south of Nassau but the northern areas are pretty weedy.  Perhaps it’s time for a different anchor. 

In the early evening a small skiff with some locals came by and began diving just off of his dock.  They had hand spears and kept swimming down, time after time.  After a few tries they came up with a good size lobster and then another.  Howard told me that some years ago a few pieces of machinery had been sunk off of the dock to provide hiding places for fish and lobsters.  These artificial “reefs” were actually an old pickup truck and a few pieces of heavy equipment.  Great idea as any sort of obstruction attracts plenty of sea-life. 

Had we stayed for another day I would have had to try my hand at spearing a lobster.

Speaking of diving, yesterday I dragged out my “hooka” compressor, an electric air compressor and long hose that allows me to stay underwater as long as needed.  I hook this unit up to my portable generator  for power.   By having this unit and long air hose, I can dive under the water to clean the bottom, something that has to be done periodically.  The process took me about an hour as it hadn’t been done since leaving Essex CT back in October.

The water here is so clear that you can see at least 100’ so it’s easy to see any “wildlife” that comes near.  Generally you don’t see much but yesterday there were two large 8’ long sharks that kept cruising by.  This is a not-so-great shot of one that kept coming very close to the boat.  Trust me when I say that he was really close, and BIG!  I am pretty sure that they weren’t the harmless nurse sharks. i say this becaues,  at one point, he/she came up to the surface and opened his mouth, I guess to take a gulp of air.  I saw lots of teeth, something that nurse sharks don’t have.  Anyway, I decided it would be prudent to wait a while before getting in the water to clean the hull.  After a while they wondered off so I decided to go in.  However, I did ask Brenda to stand watch and to tap on the deck if she saw anyone coming toward us.  Just in case, of course.

Alas, I was able to get the hull cleaned with no loss of fingers or worse.   However, I was still surrounded by plenty of observers.   A barracuda, perhaps 3’ long kept an eye on me the whole time, albeit from a discrete distance.  A 2’ remora, those fish with a sucker on the top of their heads, kept me company the entire time and he was never more than two to three feet away.  Pretty neat, actually.  A small ray with a larger fish tagging along kept cruising nearby and a very small and colorful puffer fish was also hanging around the entire time.

Happily, no sharks.  However, I must have stopped scrubbing at least 100 times to do a 360 scan to be sure that there wasn’t anyone thinking of making a snack of me.

After I finished I spied this beauty passing by to head into the marina.  We were too cheap to spring for the marina and anchored outside.  I expect that the owner of this yacht isn’t cleaning the bottom himself.  Actually, they had a “scout” boat heading in front of them to chart the depth to be sure that they wouldn’t run aground. Well, I am not totally cheap as Brenda and I did go into the marina to have lunch one day.  It was pretty good.

While we were ashore enjoying lunch, I took this photo of Pandora anchored off of the resort beach.  What a beautiful spot.  We’ll have to come back next year.  Perhaps we will spring for a visit to the marina too. So, here we are today making our run to Nassau where we will hang out for a few days.  Interestingly, the chef at Essex Yacht Club, Michael, has a son in the Marines, Brent, and he happens to be stationed in Nassau at the American Embassy.  We hope to connect with him while we are there.  Fingers crossed.

Our plan in Nassau will be to spend a few days till Christopher arrives.  We will rent a car to tour the island.  Meeting Christoper at the airport as he exits the terminal is also high on our list.  Nassau isn’t really that great a place to visit compared with everywhere else in the Bahamas but we are very much looking forward to a few days there.  Besides, one of the best groceries in the Bahamas is there so that’s good too.

For now, I think I’ll go back up into the cockpit to watch the water go by.  Oh yeah, the water here is really deep, over 7,000 feet actually.  And the color, the most perfect color of indigo blue.   Indigo water with the sun sparkling and an easy breeze.  Perfect.Yes, indeed, it’s good to be under sail again.  

It’s Saturday morning and we are here in the Bahamas at last.   We are anchored in a little harbor on the western side of Chub Cay,  an island in the Berry Island chain, about 40 miles northwest of Nassau.  It’s a beautiful cove with clear water.  It’s great to be here, finally.

We left Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday afternoon and headed out into the Atlantic and Gulf Stream headed over to the Bahamas.  The conditions were very benign with calm seas and only a light wind on the nose.  I would have preferred to sail and avoid 19 hours of motoring but it’s hard to get good sailing conditions that aren’t a a bit too exciting for Brenda.  Further, we would have likely had to wait a week or more to find an opportunity to cross with favorable winds.  Given those options, we bolted.  Good choice as here we are.

Last year, we were able to sail and it turned out to be a bit much for our first run to the Bahamas with fairly rough conditions and certainly more than Brenda had signed up for.   We had too much wind much of the time and were hit with a number of thunderstorms overnight.  Not great.  So, this year I promised her that we would try for an easy crossing and that’s what we got.

In crossing the Gulf Stream, you have to compensate for the current that pushes you north by steering toward a point south of where you want to end up and let the current sweep you north.   That point is calculated based on how much time you expect to be in the gulf stream and then estimating the average speed of the current.   So, I calculated a spot and adjusted our compass heading and off we went.

“So, what happened, where did you end up when you exited the Gulf Stream?”  Thanks for asking.  Actually, we came out within a 1 ½ miles of where I had hoped, just about perfect.  And, that’s after running about 8 hours and about 50 miles.  Pretty good, I think, actually.  At the center of the stream the current was pushing us north at about 5 knots.  That’s a huge amount of water moving north.

After crossing the stream, we entered the Grand Bahama Bank around 9 pm on Thursday.  It’s pretty amazing to be running along and see the depth go from about 2,500 ft deep to 25 in less than a mile which is what happens as you enter the banks.  So, after crossing onto the banks, we headed the rest of the way overnight in water that varied from 25’ to  15’ deep, typical depth for much of the Bahamas.  The water is so clear that you can easily see the bottom much of the time.   The moon was half full so the night was bright.  However, once it set, the stars were out in full splendor.  With no city light around you could see many more stars than what you’d normally enjoy.

We were also treated to a wonderful sunset and sunsets are typically pretty amazing here in the Bahamas, as we crossed the gulf stream.   Of course, we were out of sight of land so to see water all around you and these amazing clouds was a treat.

A very important event for us, especially for Brenda, was to spread her father’s ashes in the Gulf Stream.  Brenda’s father died three years ago this May and it was his wish that his ashes be spread out on the ocean.   Jack, Brenda’s father, loved the sea but he really didn’t like cold weather so it was very fitting that Brenda released his ashes in 80 degree water on such a beautiful day.  Brenda wrote a very touching post that says more than I can say about this special moment.

On a more pedestrian note, along the way we spied many Portuguese Man-of-War jellyfish.  These are very unique jellyfish are about 6″ long and float along with a “sail” that pokes above the water.   I am unaware of any other jellyfish quite like these.   As pretty as they are “don’t touch” is the word as they are quite venomous.  The “business end” is below the surface with yards of poisonous filaments that catch small fish and other little creatures that the MOW feed on.  Even washed up on the beach, to touch one of these will cause a nasty sting.  Here’s what they look like drifting along.  Quite pretty actually, like a translucent bubble. The entire run from Ft. Lauderdale to here at Chub took about 19 hours and Brenda and took turns keeping watch as we motored along.  We took turns throughout the night but there wasn’t much to watch for as we didn’t pass a single boat overnight once we were on the banks. 

We checked into customs in Chub.  I took our dink ashore to a local marina where I retrieved the paperwork.  After filling it out I got a ride in an old pickup truck to the airport where I met with the customs and immigration officers.   To call it an airport is different than what we have in the US.  The “terminal” was a very small building on a single runway.   There is no control tower and the terminal is just for customs.  No snack shop or Starbucks here.  The process of clearing in was pretty straight forward but did involve lots of forms and plenty of loud “stamping” with ink pads and official looking seals.   $300 later we had our cruising and fishing permits and our three month visas and I went back to the marina with my “guide” Dave, a local Bahamian.  Pretty simple actually.   I should also mention that the airport has only one paved strip and its only long enough for small planes to land.  While I was there a great looking float plane landed.  The owner came in to clear customs too and then flew out again to head to his own private island in the Exumas, about 75 miles south.  We have visited near his island, Over Yonder Cay.  A pretty wealthy guy I’d say.

Last evening as Brenda and I were sitting up on Pandora’s fore-deck enjoying  an “adult beverage”, a gin and tonic, actually, a small boat with two Bahamas fisherman motored up to sell freshly caught lobsters and conch.   The Bahamas lobsters are very similar to our Maine lobsters, but without the big claws and conch are a really big snail.The fisherman stay out for weeks at a time and live on a somewhat larger boat while fishing during the day.   They catch lobster and chonch buy diving down in the clear water to find their catch on the bottom in the clear water.   They don’t use air tanks, just free dive down to grab their prey.  Believe me when I say that this is hard work.    Pretty tough guys.   We were happy to buy three lobsters and baked them for dinner.  They were delicous.

Having not gotten much sleep the prior night during our crossing, Brenda and I crashed early.  We were plenty tired.

Well, we’re finally here and the weather is terrific.  Our plan today is to visit the BATELCO (Bahamas Telephone) office today and sign up for a Bahamas cell phone to use for the time we are here.   Land lines are not used here and everyone has cell phones.  In many ways, the service here is better than in the US.  We will also get a chip for our i-pad so we can receive and send e-mail.

I had better sign off now as I think I need some coffee to wake up

Oh yea, as I was finishing up this post we had a mild rain squall that lasted all of 10 minutes.  The squall featured a neat little funnel cloud, sort of like a miniature tornado but over water.  They are generally harmless.   The rainbow left behind after the squall lasted longer than the rain. Perhaps we should head over to that island to retrieve our pot of gold.  If you believe that I have a bridge to sell you.