{"id":1533,"date":"2013-02-05T15:27:19","date_gmt":"2013-02-05T15:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=1533"},"modified":"2013-02-05T15:27:19","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T15:27:19","slug":"getting-into-the-bahamas-cruising-routine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=1533","title":{"rendered":"Getting into the Bahamas cruising routine."},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Tuesday morning and we just finished a breakfast of French Toast made from Corene’s, that’s Corene of Black Point fame, coconut bread with real maple syrup. \u00a0If you think that you have had great French Toast I am here to say that this is better, you will just have to trust me on that.<\/p>\n

We are anchored off of the Caribbean Marine Research Center on Lee Stocking Island which puts us within a day sail, about 25 miles, from George Town our destination for this week. \u00a0While the facility is closed right now, there are plenty of trails on the island to explore. \u00a0Our plan is to head out to the ocean side for some shell collecting and perhaps some snorkeling too. \u00a0\u00a0We were told that these beaches don’t get much traffic and as they are on the ocean side, there might be some good shells to pick up.<\/p>\n

So how about a weather report? \u00a0I hate to break it to you all but it’s warm and sunny today, not a big change from yesterday or last week for that matter. \u00a0Having said that, today the weather router that we use, Chris Parker, opened his 06:30 broadcast with a statement that he hadn’t seen such a great stretch of weather as is in store for this week in a long time. \u00a0So, that sounds like things are going to be even better. \u00a0I can live with that.<\/p>\n

We are hopeful that we will get a good sail in on Wednesday as we make our way the final 25 miles to George Town and Chris’s report today bodes well for a fun time.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I tried my hand at fishing when we were offshore. \u00a0However, I didn’t get a bite. \u00a0Bummer. \u00a0Actually, I wondered if I was using the correct lure, one that is supposed to be good for Mahi Mahi, as it just skipped across the surface of the water. \u00a0We did see some flying fish skip across the water but nothing bigger. \u00a0Even though we were on a close reach and pretty close to the wind, we were doing up to eight knots in quite lumpy conditions. \u00a0Perhaps that was too fast. \u00a0I don’t know enough about fishing to know if that’s good or bad. \u00a0\u00a0Pandora was a champ and really moved along catching up and passing another boat that was a good deal longer than and we are and nearly caught two other boats that were in front of us. \u00a0\u00a0Had we been out for a longer time we certainly would have passed everyone. \u00a0\u00a0I like this boat.<\/p>\n

Brenda didn’t appreciate the lumpiness but did all right in spite of the rocking and rolling. \u00a0\u00a0She was just stunned by the color of the water, a deep cobalt blue. \u00a0One of the most interesting parts of sailing here is the constantly changing water color, dependent on the depth. \u00a0\u00a0The shallower the water the lighter the color going from robin’s egg blue and lighter to the cobalt of the ocean. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0However, it’s always really clear, that’s for sure.<\/p>\n

Yesterday was a milestone for us as we did two ocean cuts in the same day. \u00a0These cuts can be treacherous as a massive amount of water flushes in and out twice a day with the turn of the tide. \u00a0On top of that, there are often breaking waves and confused seas, more so, sometimes way more, if the wind is opposing the tide. \u00a0\u00a0In some cases, the passes are too dangerous to navigate when there are big ocean swells, strong winds and an outgoing tide. \u00a0In this case, you can’t go out at all or risk losing your boat. \u00a0These conditions are called “the rage” and it’s not something that I ever care to experience.<\/p>\n

As so much water goes in and out of these cuts, they can be quite deep and often have dramatic cliffs on each side. \u00a0\u00a0Brenda took this shot as we exited Cave Cay Cut. Pretty amazing view. \u00a0\u00a0And those white cliffs were a dramatic contrast to the deep blue water.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nPerhaps I will close with a shot from our cockpit this morning. \u00a0Not a bad view to accompany our French Toast. \u00a0\u00a0For the observant among you, yes those are indeed Christmas lights. \u00a0We strung them up in the cockpit last evening to set the mood for our candlelight supper. \u00a0\u00a0Brenda outdid herself with a great menu. \u00a0\u00a0We started with a fabulous tomato mango salsa that she whipped up, scooped up with chips, baked of course. \u00a0Followed by saut\u00e9ed chicken breast and apple sausage ith broccoli with garlic, lots of garlic over pasta. \u00a0\u00a0This was washed down with champagne to toast the close of her birthday celebratory month. \u00a0\u00a0Yes, Brenda gets a celebratory month beginning shortly after Christmas. \u00a0Isn’t that the same for all girls?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nWith less than three weeks into our trip, we are getting into the Bahamas cruising life rhythm. \u00a0Has it been an adjustment? \u00a0Indeed. \u00a0Fun? \u00a0You bet.<\/p>\n

So, off for a hike, picnic lunch and a bit of shelling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s Tuesday morning and we just finished a breakfast of French Toast made from Corene’s, that’s Corene of Black Point fame, coconut bread with real maple syrup. \u00a0If you think that you have had great French Toast I am here to say that this is better, you will just have to trust me on that. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1536,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533\/revisions\/1536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}