It’s Tuesday afternoon and Brenda and I are taking it easy aboard Pandora after ten days with Christopher aboard.  It was great having him with us and hearing all about his trip to Thailand but having three aboard a vessel the size of Pandora and moving the boat nearly every day to a new spot tired us out.    I guess we are getting old or perhaps soft from winters in the tropics.  Whatever the cause, I’m tired.

So what’s on the agenda?  Here’s Brenda winding a ball of yarn for a tapestry she’s working on.  Not too strenuous.  That’l do for today.  Not a bad backdrop.It was great having Christopher with us.  For the first two days of his visit he slept about half the time.  That’s what 80 hours of traveling will do to you, even if you’re in your 20s.  Actually, for those two days, I think he slept more than he was awake.  Now that he’s gone, perhaps I’ll do the same.  Did I say that I was feeling a bit tired?  Thought so.

Today Christopher flew out of Staniel Cay on a small plane that left around 8:45.  I had booked the flight online last week and was a bit apprehensive that something might go wrong with the reservation.   Alas, all went just fine.    Here’s the “waiting room” at the Staniel Cay airport.  Chris’s flight was just to Nassau but this is also an international airport as some charters come in from Miami.   I wonder who the architect was?  Never mind.

After a bit the “gate agent” arrived to check in the passengers.  Not to fancy.   No security checkpoint here, it would seem.Finally, the airplane arrived.  My brother Bill hates to fly. I’ll bet he’d take one look at this “toy plane” and would opt to swim to Nassau.

Not a big plane, that’s for sure.  Chris mugging at “his” plane.  I wonder if someday he will actually have one of his own?   Hmm…Of course, no departure is complete without a going away shot of the “traveler” from his Mother.   It was a bittersweet good by as we probably won’t see him till June.      So, where’s Christopher going now?  Today he flies to Houston for a visit.  Then on to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and a visit with some college buds.   After that, to Baltimore to see his brother Rob and then on to Providence RI.   He may cap this off with a visit to San Francisco for a month of work and networking with the computer set out there.

Whew… I am getting tired just thinking about all that travel. Me?  Perhaps it’s time for a nap.

It’s Sunday morning and we are sitting in one of the most beautiful harbors in all of the Bahamas.  As part of the Bahamas National Trust, certain areas are set aside as protected national parks.  This approach protects wildlife from overfishing so these “unspoiled” areas can act as nurseries where fish and wildlife can grow unmolested.   Studies have shown that wildlife from these areas tend to migrate and populate other more heavily fished areas. 

Anyway, we are on a mooring here in the heart of the park enjoying the soft morning light.   This view from the ranger station says it all.Each Saturday evening all visitors are invited to a BYOB cocktail party on the beach near the park headquarters.  Brenda, Chris and I decided to join.   Actually, I said something like, “let’s go.  It will be great”.  Getting them to join me was easy.    The group was quite international with a few folks from Australia and others from various spots in the US and Canada.   All and all, a very nice group. While we were on the island, we spied some local wildlife.  This is the only island in the Bahamas where I have seen snakes.   We saw a pretty good one, some 3’ long.  I didn’t get a photo of it.  Brenda was very brave and walked right by it.  However, she did have her hands held up and arms tight to her side.  You know the look… Something like “ew, get me out of here”.  She was very brave.

And nothing speaks “brave” quite like a hermit crab.  These guys don’t make shells of their own and as they grow they find an abandoned shell from some other creature and make it their own.  This one was pretty big, with perhaps a 3” shell.  He was none too happy with our attention.  He could cover distance pretty quickly.  Funny guy.The view of the harbor is very beautiful and with an unusually windless night very peaceful.   Here’s chris retrieving our wine, chips and salsa to share with the gang.All and all, a very nice evening.   Today off for a short hike on the island and then on to our next stop.   We have to keep moving as Chris flies out of Staniel Cay on Tuesday morning.   

It’s Friday morning and we are anchored off of a lovely little cay, Hawksbill Cay in the Exumas.   The wind has been howling all night long and it looks like the best plan for today will be to stay put for another day.

This morning when I went into the aft head I was greeted by a very alarmed gecko, a small lizard about 3-4” long.   As I picked up something from behind the water spigot this little guy jumped and ran for cover.  He ran up the wall of the shower trying to find somewhere to hide.   Unlike most lizards, geckos have little suction cups on their feet that allow them to crawl up slick vertical surfaces.

So, exactly where would a gecko find his/her way aboard Pandora?  I doubt that geckos swim and we haven’t been anywhere near land since leaving Nassau.  But wait, we were tied up to a dock for nearly a week in Nassau so he might have come aboard there.  Perhaps he came aboard in Ft Pierce where Pandora was tied up for several months.  One way or the other, he must have run along the dock and then did a tightrope walk along one of the dock lines to his new home aboard Pandora.

Well, as “stowaway” critters go, I can’t think of one that is more appealing to have aboard.  On the “less appealing” side, it could have been a spider (we’ve had those before), or a rat (now that would send Brenda screaming), or perhaps a roach or other nasty little bug.

To date on this trip, the only wildlife we have only seen on the good ship Pandora has been a few fruit flies hovering above a bruised tomato in the galley.   So, now the question is “what to do with our newest guest, Gecko?”.

As one would expect of a “girl”, Brenda has a strong opinion on the subject.  It went something like this…” I WANT TO TAKE A SHOWER AND I AM NOT TAKING IT WITH A LIZARD!”.   Well, I guess that about sums it up.  GECKO GOES!

Me, I’d love to have him become a permanent member of the crew.  Besides, he’d surely put a dent in the fruit fly population and so much easier than patrolling the fruit basket for signs of spoiled produce.  However, it would be a shame if we were to squish the little guy by accident.  Sitting on a gecko wouldn’t “sit” well with Brenda, that’s for certain.  Besides, Gecko is very little and we are so BIG.

Ok, so now that I have thought it through carefully and Brenda has hinted at her position on the whole thing I guess our friend gecko headed for shore.  Christopher and I found a spot, a sort of semi-damp microclimate in the middle of the island and let him go.

I do so hope that he is able to find other likeminded critters to be friends with.   Having said that, perhaps I will be arrested for importing invasive species into the Bahamas.  I sure hope that I didn’t upset the ecosystem too badly.  My guess is that Gecko won’t survive too long as it’s a lot dryer here than where he came from, wherever that might have been.

However, I did have to “liberate” Gecko as Brenda had made her position pretty clear and, as far as pets on board, I had a pet aboard when we cleared customs in Chubb Cay.  Who knows, he may actually be a legal resident of the Bahamas.

In any event, he’s “free” now.  Hope it goes well.

A highlight of our visit to Hawksbill was a visit by a seaplane that landed just along side Pandora.  I went to the  beach to talk to the pilot who was waiting for his passengers that were delivered from a nearby island by boat.  It was a pretty neat plane.  I wish I could have gotten a ride.  The pilot was nice but not that nice.It’s now Saturday morning and we are headed, under power as the wind is right on our nose, over to Wardwick Wells, in the Exuma Park.  This is a little jewel of a harbor in the center of the park and the park’s headquarters.   It’s a great spot and was where Brenda and I spent Easter last year, as guests of the ranger and his girlfriend.  

As an aside, if you follow this blog, that I was having some problems with vibration in the propeller shaft.  After much back and forth with the yard in Deep River, CT, and a number of trips in and out of the water, we were unable to pinpoint the source of the problem.  I even had my Maxprop reconditioned by the factory.   Some weeks ago I was speaking with my friend Chris and he wondered if perhaps it had something to do with my shaft zincs.  These are sacrificial metal anodes that are designed to dissolve and attract any stray electrical current so that the propeller and shaft are not damaged.  Anyway, having exhausted every possible solution to the problem, I took a look at the zincs.  They were attached to the prop as normal but I decided to loosen them and move them closer to the propeller and shaft strut.   I also opposed the seams on the zincs so that any inconsistency in the weight distribution would be canceled out by the other.  I also replaced the zinc on the prop itself that had corroded away.    So, what happened?  Amazingly, the vibration is gone.  After investments of well over $1,000, now much I don’t want to be too specific about, the problem was solved by repositioning the zincs.  Thank you, Chris.  Nice idea and it worked.  It’s not the first time that Chris has offered up a solution to a vexing problem.

Frankly, I do wonder why the yard didn’t mention this as a possible solution.  It seems so logical now.  With a few pieces of metal bolted to the prop shaft the idea of repositioning them is just so simple.  Oh well, live and learn.

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.