Sail Pandora

As I sit here working on this post, I am in the offices of a BATELCO “store” here on Rum Cay.  To say that this is a remote outpost doesn’t begin to make the point.   We hitched a ride on a golf cart to get here as the marina we are visiting is over a mile from this spot.   We paid our $5 to use the service and are rushing to be done prior to the time running out.  Hopefully, a Bahamas half hour is longer than a New York half hour.  I expect that it is.   One good thing is that their offices, and there are spots on all the major islands, are well air conditioned, something that you see little of here in the islands.    Yes, it’s been a while since my last post but getting time on the Internet here is tough.

After several weeks in George Town Brenda and I were ready for a fix of “real” Bahamas life.  After leaving George Town we headed over to Calabash Bay, on the northern tip of Long Island.  The spot was very pretty with a great beach.   It was fun to actually sail again after weeks of sitting around and to do so over water that was a deep indigo blue with shallow reefs everywhere.   Piloting around all of this is a challenge.  Thank goodness for great charts. 

After Calabash Bay we headed out to Conception Island, a National Trust Park and as unspoiled as most any spot in the Bahamas.   The water was so clear that I believe the visibility was about 100′.  

This is our dink when viewed from a less common angle.  That’s clear.  As soon as we dropped anchor in nearly 20′ of water I looked over the side to see a school of fish swimming by followed by a ray and then a large puffer fish that was looking for a handout.  It was like Wild Kingdom.  What a spot.   Speaking of less common views.  How about this one of Pandora.  While it doesn’t show here, I could see the anchor chain and anchor from here.The crescent beach was nearly two miles long and was an unbroken snow white sort that you dream about.The snorkeling was great too and I was thrilled to swim with my first nurse shark, I guess about 4′ long.There are loads of fish on the reefs.  It’s great fun taking photos although they never look as good as the real thing.  The colors are more vivid than the photos show.The scenery was quite dramatic with great white cliffs around much of the island.

I scaled up onto one and had my picture taken by a friend.Brenda opted to stay on board that morning as it was pretty rough getting onto the beach from the dink.  With a moderate surf running onto the beach you had to time your arrival so that a wave swept you onto the beach and left the dink dry while you scramble out and move it higher before the next wave rolled in. Getting back out was a bit of a trick as you pushed out between waves with the hope of avoiding one filling the dink with water.

There was the remains of an old ship wreck and all that was in evidence was a massive anchor windlass and loads of iron fittings piled into great rusting heaps on the shore.I’d guess that it was a wooden steamer based on the shape of some of the iron and one that looked like a great drive shaft.   I can only imagine what it must have been like to be wrecked on this island.  The harbor is only protected from east winds.  Any other direction and it could be downright dangerous. 

When we arrived the weather was about perfect allowing us to sail from Long Island.  There were about 20 boats anchored in the bay and someone went from boat to boat and arranged a BYOB cocktail party on the beach.  It was fun to bring the dink onto the beach with nearly 20 others to meet and compare stories.   Two days later every boat left and we were nearly the last to leave as the forecast wasn’t a good one for such an exposed anchorage.  

One evening we were invited aboard a massive cat, nearly 80′ long for cocktails.  The owners were very gracious and told us all about Rum Cay, a place that I had wanted to visit for a while.  This is a really big boat.  Just one of the hulls could swallow up Pandora and one of her sister ships. Since we have arrived in the Bahamas we have been able to time our trips with the winds and avoid long motor passages.   With pretty nasty weather in the forecast for later this week we had to find a harbor with protection from north west winds, something that is not common in these waters where most harbors are wide open from that direction. 

We decided that our best option was Rum Cay, another remote outpost and although it was a nearly 20 mile motor into the wind it was our best option to ride out the coming strong winds.  There is only one harbor on the island of several hundred residents.   It is really remote and the grocery, such as it is, is  a one room shanty with a very limited supply of provisions.  When I visited they had zero fresh food and only a handful of canned goods.   The mail boat with provisions only visits once a week and that day had come and gone with all fresh food selling out in a single day. 

The only marina on the island was badly damaged hurricane by Sandy and has not officially reopened.  However, the docks are in good enough shape to use if you can wind your way through the coral heads and get into the channel.  If you make it that far you had better be there near high tide as the hurricane silted in the channel so that there is only enough water to get into the harbor at near high water.  When we arrived the place was packed and the only slip left didn’t have enough water for us to float at low tide.  We went in anyway and when it was low tide about 18′ of our bottom was showing above the water and we were standing on our keel which supported the entire boat.Yesterday a bunch of boat left and we moved to a better spot with adequate water to float us all the time.  That’s better. 

As the marina is not up to snuff you can stay there for free as long as you like and the local “owner” Bobby, will sell you water, ice or a place to take a shower.  He’s also an artist and carves sculptures out of coral and other natural items.There is also a kitchen from the old, now closed, restaurant that is available for cruisers to stage their own potluck meals.  It’s a pretty building with a great view.Someone that we met prior to coming here described this marina as a “jungle marina”, not far from true. There is no staff to speak of and any time you enter the marina the other cruisers help out with lines.  There is usually some wind at the entrance so it’s a bit tricky on the way in.  It’s good to have a few extra sets of helping hands at the ready.  And, along with the hands are plenty of docking “advice”.  Happily, the group is good natured as nearly everyone has a tough time at one point or the other with the docking. As this place is so off of the beaten path, a fishing charter is very good with a seemingly endless supply of lobster and fish to spear on the nearby reefs.   And with fish come sharks who show up each evening in the marina for handouts from the fish cleaning station. 

This is a small harbor and certainly not one where you would want to dip in your feet.  Not 50′ from Pandora this scene took place the other evening.There were 7 sharks including a number of nurse sharks and lemon sharks, some in the 8′ range looking for a handout. 

I was also told that bull sharks are common here.  While nurse sharks are harmless, the lemon and bull sharks bite plenty so you want to be sure to stay away from them. The cruisers who were feeding them made quite a sport out of it by tying a fish head to a rope and teasing the sharks.  It’s sobering to watch one of these lemon sharks take a swipe at the fish bait.   It happens so fast that your eye can’t even follow it when the strike occurs.One of the local kids enjoyed putting a piece of fish just out of reach of the nurse sharks in really shallow water so that they had to practically swim out of the water to reach it.Swimming anyone?  Note moi, that’s for sure.

Some of the guys go out spear fishing every day and always come in with something to show for their efforts.   This lobster looked really big to me but I am told that they find some that are even bigger on a regular basis.  I think that I’ll have to give that a try.How about this strawberry grouper?  One of the guys told me yesterday that he had been chasing a really big grouper, perhaps 20-30 lbs but couldn’t get close.  I wonder how you would even get a fish back to the boat before one of the reef sharks showed up to claim the prize.  Perhaps I don’t actually have the guts to try.  Probably not.There is an interesting mix of folks here from all walks of life.  A young couple arrived yesterday on a small 32’sailboat.  They are married and both crew on a salmon fishing boat in Prince William Sound in Alaska in the summer.  For the winter they are sailing the Bahamas   At 22 and 26 they are really youngsters.  The women, more of a girl actually, Tonya, the younger one, is very petite and it’s hard for me to imagine her working on a fishing boat.  It seems that she grew up aboard their parent’s boat while they sailed around the world.  She “joined” the crew in Cypress when she was two months old and was aboard as they completed the rest of their journey. 

Tonia is going to visit her family in Norway prior to heading back to Alaska and a summer of fishing.  I can’t even imagine how that sort of experience would shape your life and to have all of that experience by the time you are in your early 20s.

We are expecting some nasty windy weather over the weekend and the wind is supposed to run up to 30 knots for several days. Here in this little harbor we should be well protected.  After that and a return of favorable winds we will decide where to go next.   For now, we are enjoying the local color.   We expect to rent a gas powered golf cart today or tomorrow and go for a tour of the island.

Tonight we hope that there will be a cruiser pot luck. I understand that it’s the owner,Bobby’s birthday and perhaps a cookout is in our future.  Perhaps we will have an opportunity to sample some of that lobster that has been arriving daily at the docks.

I don’t think that there is much point in putting up yet another beautiful sunset shot.  However, a moment after the sun set we saw the elusive “green flash”, a fleeting green light that peaks over the horizon just as the sun drops below the horizon.   Pretty amazing to see and harder to photograph, I would think. 

It has been nearly three weeks since we arrived in George Town.  Yes, it’s a great spot to visit and the folks there are very nice, but…

To paraphrase a friend, “there’s George Town and there’s the Bahamas”.   I agree.  To visit George Town is like visiting some sort of retirement community and when you get 600 retirees in the same place for months at a time.  Each morning there are announcements on channel  72 and by the time they are all done an hour has come and gone.  That’s a lot of announcements, and activities.

Activities include, dinghy parades, pet dress up (no I didn’t make that up), dinghy poker runs, volleyball, softball and a blur of other activities.   And, the highlight of the season is the Cruiser’s Regatta, beginning this week that is a series of events that takes place over a period of nearly two weeks with some 300-400 boat participating.

Someone described the George Town scene in this way.  “Imagine getting some 500 successful A type retirees together for 5 months and have them organize activites.”  Yes, it’s a lot of activities.  Fun,  yes, but not for 5 months.

Well, on Saturday, yesterday, we got a weather update from Chris Parker and headed out of Dodge.  The winds were a bit heavier than predicted with 20-25kts on a close reach, and some “meaningful” seas.  After an hour we decided to head back in and wait for better weather.  We didn’t know how long it would take to get better weather but, Eureka!!!  Today, when we woke up the weather looked perfect, and it was.

So, we headed out to Long Island and had a great, relaxing sail over to the northern tip of Long Island and are now anchored along side a beach that I understand is ranked as one of the top ten in the world.  Yep, it looks pretty good.

While Brenda enjoyed a short nap, I headed ashore for a visit with some friends that are here too and shared their rum punch.  Pretty good to anchor the dink in knee deep water, wade ashore and be handed a glass of punch.

The water is really clear and on our way in we saw coral heads all over the place.  However, these reefs were nearly 20 feet down but because the water was so clear, they looked like they were going to rip the bottom out of the boat.  Alas, the charts said otherwise and we coasted easily over them.

I am told that the snorkeling is great here so hopefully, we will have our first lobster dinner.  Wish me luck.

This is the view from Pandora’s cockpit to the nearby beach.  Yes, looks like a “top ten” sort of place to me too.

Indeed, this is the “real Bahamas”.  Miles of soft sandy beaches and palm trees.  Hmm… I could get used to this.  No wait, I AM USED TO IT!!!

Hopefully, we will be on our way to Long Island on Saturday and from there on to the Jumento’s  which is very remote with no services but lots of good shelling and fishing.   A friend of ours who’s visiting from Canada stopped by today to talk about his recent visit there.  It sounds like great fun and we are hopeful that the weather will cooperate for a run to Long Island although it may be a motor boat ride.  Getting good winds to get there are few and far between so perhaps the “iron jenny”, will have to suffice.

In town for some fuel today and other essentials, including more rum.

Yesterday we had a short squall  come by and it left this most amazing double rainbow.   Now, this isn’t something that you see every day.   The mast looks a bit odd as the photo was taken with a wide angle lens on my GoPro.

Sunsets and sunrises here in the Bahamas are quite something to behold and the sunset two nights ago was particularly beautiful .  It’s hard to say which moment was the best but this shot should give you an idea of what we saw.  To share an “adult beverage” in Pandora’s cockpit with Brenda while enjoying a view like this is a remarkable experience.

Last evening we also visited “Hamburger Beach” to listen to a jam session of cruiser musicians.   The musicians included the usual guitars a fiddle and some great vocals.  Of course, the repertoire tended toward the 60s and 70s, which tells you something about the age of the group that hangs out here in George Town.  For better or worse, Brenda and I fit in just fine but I am happy to say that we skew to the youngish side.  Yes, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  It was fun to meet some new folks as well as see old friends again.  For me, one of the highlights was a massive bonfire on the beach.  It was fueled by a lot of driftwood and was a sight to behold.  I doubt that such a conflagration would be possible in the States with the constant fear of litigation there.  Not so in the Bahamas where “don’t worry, be happy” is the way they like it.

It looks like we will be here for a few more days as we are waiting for a good sailing day to head out to  Long Island.   However, the forecast isn’t clear with some complex weather patterns in the area.   Hopefully, the weather will be favorable for a run by the weekend.  The problem is the island is nearly due east from here which is directly into the prevailing winds so getting a fair wind is against the odds.

Today we went for a hike on Stocking Island, a picnic lunch on the top of Monument Hill, and a walk on the beach.  Brenda was a happy girl as we found lots of tiny shells. As this is such a popular area, there aren’t many big shells to be found but we found some great little ones that I expect she will make into jewelry.

The water colors were breathtaking today.  What a beautiful day to be on the beach.
We are going to talk to another couple who has a lot of cruising experience this evening about heading to the Jumentos, a remote chain of islands that we’d like to visit.

It seems like we have been in George Town FOR EVER, two weeks as of today.  I don’t believe that I have ever been anchored for two weeks in one place.

From the perspective of folks that spend the season here,  two weeks is about how much time it takes to get an anchor well set.   But, that’s from folks that anchor here for the entire winter.  Yikes!  It’s a nice place but we are about ready for a change of scenery.  Perhaps that’s because I am still coming from the New York perspective, home of the world famous “New York Minute” and two weeks is a lot of those.

Speaking of New York, a neighbor sent me this photo of our home in CT following the blizzard.   Perhaps this is old news to you northerners…I guess I prefer this view taken on the same day.    Yes, there’s a bit of white in this photo too, but a different sort of white.  Me, I prefer a warm white.So, when will we leave and head elsewhere?  Soon, I hope, as the blue horizon beckons.

It’s Monday afternoon and Brenda and I enjoyed a quiet day aboard Pandora.   Now that the boys have been gone for a few days, it seems that things are getting back into a pleasant rhythm.   We do miss them terribly but it’s nice to be rested again.
It’s been very windy so we have basically been boat bound for the last two days.  Happily, the heavy winds held off until after we delivered the boys ashore but it’s been screaming pretty good since then.   As you can imagine, sleeping hasn’t been that easy as we have been constantly listening to the wind in the rigging as she sails back and forth on her anchor.  Because of the twin head stays and mast set fairly far forward, Pandora isn’t docile at anchor and tends to be more restless as the wind picks up.
Happily, the sandy bottom and shallow depth makes it easier as there is only about a foot under her keel at low tide and that means that even if she moves around a bit, it’s not much given the very short scope on the anchor chain.  After years of dealing with double digit tides in Maine the 2-3′ tides here are a treat.  Also, we are getting pretty good at reading the water depth based on the color of the water.
Today, February 18th, marks the one month anniversary of our arrival in the Bahamas and I am happy to report that we are getting used to the warm weather.  (Yes, I know that you have been concerned that we’d never adjust to warm in February)  I can’t say that we are crazy about the often very strong winds but on balance, it’s a very pleasant place to spend time.   The good news is that after some three days of strong winds we will be treated to a good stretch, perhaps five or more days, of reasonable winds.   I guess that it’s better than snow and ice.   Let me think about that for a momentů  Yes, better.
It is our hope that we will be able to make a run out to Long Island or Conception, a 25-30 mile day sail, later in the week and have our fingers crossed that the weather and winds will cooperate.  Chris Parker suggested this morning that we might get a good sailing wind by the weekend.    I am hopeful that we will catch a mahi-mahi as they are great eating and common on the ocean passages.
This afternoon I was suffering from a bit of cabin fever (it doesn’t take long for me to develop an acute case, actually) so I took the dink out and went to the beach for a walk.  After a morning spent changing the oil on the main engine transmission and the oil in the generator, I needed a break.  I also have spent hours trying to hunt down a persistent fresh water leak on the pressure water system.  I can’t find it but know that there is a leak as the pump runs periodically, even if we aren’t using water.  It’s making me crazy that I can’t find it and frankly, I have exhausted about every option in trying to find the source.    I have torn up much of the floor, aft cabin and under the cockpit to no avail.
Oh well, I’ll just make more.  Did I say that I LOVED our water maker?   Yes, indeed.
When  I visited the beach today,  I brought the dink ashore in a nice little mangrove stand.

Perhaps I’ll close with a nice scene that greeted me as I walked across to the beach.

Yes, I like this “new normal” of winter in the Bahamas.  Pretty niceů

It’s hard to believe that the boys have come and gone.   After so many months of anticipation of Rob and Chris visiting with Kandice, the week is over and they have flown home.

This morning the alarm went off at 05:15 so that they could catch the cab to the airport at 06:00 and head to Nassau and their connecting flight to the states.  They planned to spend an extra day in Nassau and used some of their travel points to get a suite at the local Hilton.  I’ll bet that they will enjoy taking long showers.  It’s been a month since I have had the luxury of unending hot water for showering.  How nice that would be.

I have to say that having the “kids” with us for the last week was perhaps the best visit we have ever had with them.  Everyone got along well and I even kept myself out of trouble, mostly.   We were on the move constantly so I find myself a bit winded today but missing the constant activity as well.  While it’s nice to have things aboard Pandora back in order from the chaos of five adults sharing such a small space, I had to choke back my emotion this morning as I hugged each of them goodbye.  Funny, but the cab driver must have sensed my emotion as she said “don’t worry Dad, I’ll take good care of them” prior to motoring off into the dark.
Happily, the weather cooperated fully over the last week with moderate winds most of the time.  We had worried about strong winds getting in the way of fun but that didn’t happen.  Actually, while it was dead calm last night, today a cold front is coming through so by Sunday morning we will have winds perhaps in excess of 30kts.  That’s a lot of wind and I shudder at the thought of what it would have been like if we had to get them to shore in those conditions at o-dark-thirty this morning.

While we anchored near town last night we came back to the secluded anchorage a few miles from town where we had spent some time with the kids again today.  With the several days of strong winds forecasted, we wanted to be sure that we are protected from all directions.  If we are going to be boat-bound for several days, I want to be sure that we aren’t bouncing all around from wind and seas.  However, it seems that we are not the only ones to have thought of this idea as there has been a steady stream of boats coming into the harbor since yesterday afternoon. When we first arrived earlier in the week, we were nearly alone and now there must be two dozen boats here.  Happily, there is a large sandbar nearby cutting through the middle of the harbor, so the boats are quite spread out.   We’ll see if we anchored too close to the bar when the wind shifts direction as it clocks around in the next two days.    If so, we’ll find ourselves on the sand at low tide for a bit.  Fingers crossed.   The spot that I really wanted is now occupied by another boat took it the moment we pulled anchor yesterday.   Happily, there was another spot nearby, sort of, where we are anchored now.

As I mentioned in my last post, I used my Hawaiian Sling, a sort of spear, to catch my first fish the other day.  Rob and I went out and were able to spear two lion fish.  This species isn’t native to the western hemisphere as they are from  South-East Asia but are prized as a fish for home aquariums.  It seems that a shipment of these fish were released into the wild off of Florida, by mistake or on purpose, some years ago and have taken over much of the Bahamas and Caribbean.  This is very unfortunate as they are voracious eaters and are making a mess of the native reef fish population.  The good news is that they are very easy to spear and while their spines are venomous they are very good eating.  The two that Rob and I caught were a bit less than a foot long.

They look quite dramatic, that’s for sure.   Good thing that they are such good eating as that should make some progress in keeping the population in check.  With all those big fins, they don’t swim very fast, unlike most of the fish on the reefs.   Being very careful not to be stung by the fins while cleaning them,  I gutted them and prepared them for cooking.  Then I pan-fried up the filets with breadcrumbs and herbs.  They were terrific.  Brenda hasn’t quite come around to eating something that looks quite that aggressive as of yet.  However, I expect that she will end coming around if I am able to make a tempting enough dish.  Wish me luck.
Does this look like something you’d like to eat?  Looks can be deceiving though.   Trust me on that.

We were all fascinated by the conch salads and remaining shells.   Blowing the conch shells at sunset is very popular here and everyone went home with a shell to show off once they learn how to blow one.  You cut off the smallest whorl at the top of the shell and blow into it like a trumpet.  It makes a very satisfying low tone.   That’s of course, if you know how to do it.  Me, I am still learning but am determined to master it, or at least get as proficient as a little middle aged guy from New England can be.  Here’s Rob giving it a try.

The wind is picking up according to Chris Parker’s forecast so I expect that it’s going to be a wild night.  Glad that we are in a secure harbor.

So, now Brenda and I will have to readjust to being alone and continue on our journey.  Perhaps I’ll have a rum punch tonight.   It will remind me of this great moment as we headed off to a beach cocktail party a few days ago, punch in hand.

Yeah, that’s the ticket.

It’s Friday and we are back anchored near town in George Town.   Rob and Kandice are shopping while Brenda and Chris are aboard Pandora cleaning some shells that the kids plan on taking home with them.   The last week has been a blur of fun and I have to say that keeping up with this group of 20 somethings has been a lot of fun but a bit much even for someone with high energy like Moi.  After a lifetime of decaf coffee, I have had to resort to a bit of high test to even come close to keeping up.

Snorkeling, beach combing and evenings of rum and wine have left me feeling a bit worn but just so happy to have been able to spend time with them.   The views of the ocean are just spectacular.  Lots of limestone outcroppings to explore.Pandora looks like she belongs in this lovely blue water?  Hard to believe that it’s really this blue. The colors in every direction are just amazing. For the last few days we anchored in a lovely secluded harbor nearby but a bit off the beaten path, Red Shank.   After several days immersed in the hubbub of Hamburger Beach and Volley Ball beaches, we decided that we needed a break from all the boats, there are something like 250+ in the harbor.  Yes, the harbor is big but that’s still a lot of boats no matter how y0u count em.   Some drop the hook and stay put for the entire winter.   There is a very involved social scene there complete with morning announcements on the radio that sometimes take nearly an hour to go through.

Red Shank was such fun that we decided to say there for a few days.  Nearby there was some great snorkeling complete with lots of fish, sea turtles and even a few rays.

Brenda and I have really enjoyed being here with the kids and are certainly a bit sad now that they are heading out and we plan to veg out for a few days while we recover for a few days to recover from trying to keep up with this herd that have kept us on our feet since their arrival on Saturday.

Red Shank is one of the nicest that Brenda and I have been in so far and yet it is only a short distance off of the beaten path.  In spite of this it still feels like it’s somewhat remote compared with the more popular local anchorages.

Yesterday, when a small pod of dolphins arrived to check us out, Christopher dove in to swim with them.   While they didn’t pay much attention to him, he was able to get quite close and one swam right under him.  How exciting it was.

The other evening we were invited over to a large trawler powerboat that was from Louisiana by a very nice guy who was traveling with his two young children, a boy and girl seven and nine.   We really enjoyed being shown his boat including the engine room, which had more space than the entire living space aboard Pandora.  I wish that I had brought my camera along so you could see how nice the engine room was.

Having the kids aboard has been so much fun and one thing that has made the visit even more enjoyable is my watermaker.  I installed the unit last winter and boy and I glad that I did.  Having five aboard and in and out of the water all day long combined with elaborate meals each night with tons of cleanup has dramatically increased our water consumption.   While I am not sure what our consumption has been, it’s probably about three to four times as high as normal.  While Brenda and I are not that stingy with our water use, we still don’t use much more than 10-15 gallons on a  “good” day with moderate use.  However, with the gang here, I expect that our consumption is more like 40-50.  That’s hard to imagine and wipes through most of our water in three days or so.

So, how much do I like the watermaker?  About 40 gallons per day of like.  While I ran the unit off of the generator for a few hours in the morning today, I continued to run it off of solar for several hours too.  Happily, we have been able to keep things all topped up each day and ready for massive showering.   I am so happy not to be the resident “water Nazi” aboard Pandora.  It surely makes for more comfort and less concern about use makes for a happier life for all concerned.

With bandwidth so limited on our Batelco data plan, about 1/3 of what we really need to keep up with e-mail and blog posts, I will have to keep my photos to a minimum.

As soon as Christopher is back in the US, I’ll be able to resume sending posts to him via Sailmail and will be able to stretch my data allotment.

It’s hard to believe that our visit with the kids, if 26 and 28 are kids,  is about over.  It’s been just so much fun.

We didn’t have any luck catching lobster but did have some success spearing a few lion fish and cooked them up for dinner last night.  More on that with some pix soon.

Oh, BTW, the 15hp engine is just so great.

This photo of Rob and Kandice say it all.  What fun we have had!!!

Too much of a hurry to be sure that this is edited, even a little bit.  Forgive the sloppiness.  Got to try to keep up with the 20 something set.   Whew!!!

First of all, I have been remiss in doing a post since the gang arrived on Saturday as we have been so busy running around, cooking, lugging fresh water for showers and trying to keep some semblance of order on a boat with five aboard.  It’s funny, but you can actually spend time in a space that’s about the size of a large bathroom with five people and somehow adjust to the limited space.  Having said that,  when everyone is jumping into the water, coming back aboard all salty only to jump in again it does seem like keeping the boat somewhat salt free is a loosing battle.   And, there is plenty of rubble everywhere out in the cockpit and on deck.  I am happy to say that in spite of my anal need for cleanliness, I haven’t been too much of a jerk at all about all of this.  Brenda, I believe, would corroborate this as well.

So, on Saturday evening, as the snow was falling in the US, our boys Rob and Chris along with Rob’s girlfriend Kandice arrived for a week aboard.  Believe it or not, they actually arrived an hour early.  How great is that?

It is so great to have them here to enjoy our time in George Town, we can hardly stand it.   It’s Tuesday evening and I thought that I would finish up on my post prior to heading to dreamland.  Today was a fun if long day with a trip ashore for lunch and  a bit of provisioning.  I also purchased a new outboard motor for the dink.  “A new outboard you say?  Do tell as I thought that you already had one Bob.”  Well, yes, (sheepish admission) I do have an 8hp, one that came with Pandora.  However… well… it can hardly get up on a with two of us aboard and with the boys… well, that just won’t do.   As my dad has always said, “you can prove nearly any decision is a good one if you work at it hard enough”.  Yes, yes, that works for me so this is indeed a GOOD DECISION.  Besides, I have wanted one for, as my youngest once said ” I have wanted this for my WHOLE life”.  Indeed.   I should also mention that in spite of everything being so expensive here, outboards are exempt from duty so they are actually very reasonable.  Actually, you can’t even purchase a two stroke outboard in the US any more due to environmental regulations so everyone I know that wants a new one has to come here to make the purchase.  So, they sell plenty of them here and the 15hp Yamaha is the model of choice. 

So now I will have a 15hp brand spanking new Yamaha outboard, the gold standard here in George Town.  If you don’t have one, well, you just…don’t have one.  Now, I have to find a way to get rid of the old 8hp one.  There is a morning radio net here where you can offer items you no longer need for “sale” so it will be interesting to see what happens when I mention that it’s available.  While 8hp wasn’t enough power for me, there are plenty of folks that have that size or one that has even less power.   I expect that I will get a taker pretty quickly having already gotten one offer from someone at the town dock prior to my even getting back to the boat with new engine and cast off 8hp.    Happily, with the 15hp, there is plenty of power to zip around and hold my head high.  Ok, ok, enough of the self congratulations about this stupid outboard, how has it been going since the kids arrived?

It’s been great.  We have done walks on the beach, hand fed some giant, 4′ stingrays, snorkeled on some reefs and have been having the best time together.   Meals have been terrific as Rob and Kandice brought two coolers of frozen food from home.  Good meat is tough to get in the islands and it’s very expensive to boot.   We have have been pigging out on the great steaks that they brought with them.  How about shrimp and NY strip steaks?  Hmm…    Oh yeah, the local rum punch is terrific too.  Along with pineapple juice you mix in a bit of orange juice and a splash of grenadine plus a good amount of dark rum and coconut rum.  You have to try coconut rum.  It’s really good stuff.   And, rum is another thing that’s pretty cheap here, much less than in the states.

They arrived via the harbor water taxi on Saturday evening just at sunset.   Brenda was so excited that I thought she was going to jump overboard as the taxi pulled up along side.We went for a hike up to the top of monument hill yesterday. Always one to stage a photo shoot, the three of them mugged off for the camera.

But, that wasn’t enough of a show.  How about this for a shot.   Happily, no bruises.When Rob and Chris were little guys, I used to pull them behind the dink.  How about a redo now that they are all grown up.  They will always be the “boys” to us.  Some things never change.   So, what’s that thing poking up on Rob’s back you ask?   It’s a video camera on a rig that he put together to get unusual shots.   I expect that some of the videos will end up on YouTube.  Stay tuned for that as lots of time has gone into shooting video. We had a few great hikes to the beach too.  The color of the ocean was spectacular.

It is just so great having them here.
Into every life a little rain must fall but in the Bahamas the emphasis is on the “little” as there is way more sun than rain.  However, yesterday was a bit out of the ordinary with a waterspout followed by a number of impressive squalls and plenty of heavy if very brief rain.   This impressive scene was gone as quickly as it began. Tomorrow we will be moving a few miles to be closer to some great snorkeling spots.  Happily, the weather is going to be very calm so the heavy winds we have had will be in remission for a few days.  I can’t believe how fast the week is going.     Brenda in particular, is going to be in heavy duty withdrawal when the kids leave.    Me too.

As promised, we headed to volleyball beach and Chat ‘N’ Chill, the local beach bar, last evening for an “adult beverage” and were not disappointed by our first visit.

It was quite a sight to see so many dinks pulled up on the beach with lots of folks having fun as the sun set over George Town harbor.

There is something about beaches all over the world that have a post with signs saying how far it is to various cities.  Volley ball beach was no exception and it even included a sign for New York.  If you are interested, the sign said New York was 1,198 miles as the crow flies.  No, make that as the sea gull flies.The bar itself, that’s Chat ‘N’ Chill, was a riot of t-shirts hung from the ceiling along with lots of other “stuff” including one that Brenda particularly liked.  Works for me after over 30 years living in the Garden State with her.   As much as I liked living there, I am still a CT boy at heart.This beach has everything.  When we first began talking about making the run to the Bahamas, we asked a friend what folks do all day to keep themselves occupied.  One of the answers was playing games.   Brenda really wrinkled her nose at that one and said “no way, I don’t like games”.   Not so, it seems.  Dominoes and Mexican Train, in particular, is one of her favorites.   These are some of our friends going at it on the beach.  We joined in the next hand.  What fun.  I guess it’s popular with the old folks.  What does that say about us?  Hmm… Not a bad spot.  Better than standing in the middle of a blizzard.   We still can’t quite get used to this weather in the middle of February but we are working on it.  So far, so good but perhaps another beer will help.For now I am going to have to remain enrolled in the local chapter of ARG, that’s the (alcohol research group).