{"id":2734,"date":"2014-02-11T02:54:16","date_gmt":"2014-02-11T02:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=2734"},"modified":"2014-02-11T02:54:16","modified_gmt":"2014-02-11T02:54:16","slug":"sailing-again-at-last-on-to-nassau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=2734","title":{"rendered":"Sailing again at last. On to Nassau."},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since arriving in the Bahamas a few days ago we have hung out in Chub Cay, about 40 miles NW of Nassau.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Christoper is currently in Thailand decompressing from his graduate studies at Columbia.\u00a0\u00a0 It seems that he spent, by his count, something like 500 weeks on physics and is now ready for a change. \u00a0Yeah, no kidding. \u00a0So, how about heading to Thailand from New York City for a change of scenery? \u00a0Yep, that\u2019s a change.<\/p>\n

Anyway, he\u2019s 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.\u00a0 That\u2019s three non stop days of traveling so it will be interesting to see just how cranky and pooped he is when he arrives.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 This island was one of our first landfalls in the Bahamas last year so it will be fun to go back.\u00a0 I have been using this photo as my Facebook photo since last year.\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>These critters are pretty fierce looking but they are quick to run away if you approach them.\u00a0\u00a0 They love to get handouts from visitors.\u00a0 So much for wild but I wouldn’t want to try and pet one.<\/p>\n

The closer you get, the fiercer they look.\u00a0\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>I\u2019ll bet that Christopher will love to see these guys.\u00a0Yesterday we moved from one harbor on Chub to another and visited a little marina on the eastern shore.\u00a0 It\u2019s run by a Bahamian named Howard.\u00a0 It\u2019s 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\u00a0<\/span>challenging. \u00a0The place is simple but well kept. \u00a0I would have a tough time being in such an out of the way spot year round.\u00a0\u00a0 Like so many building in the islands, it\u2019s brightly painted.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>We dropped by for a drink at the bar and took a mooring for the night.\u00a0 We\u00a0were the only folks in the bar and only one of three boats visiting.\u00a0 We generally don\u2019t take moorings as we prefer to use our own anchor.\u00a0 However, the bottom there is pretty grassy and my Bruce anchor hook<\/span>\u00a0well into weed.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t run\u00a0into much of a problem in the Bahamas south of Nassau but the northern areas are pretty weedy. \u00a0Perhaps it’s time for a different anchor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the early evening a small skiff with some locals came by and began diving just off of his dock.\u00a0 They had hand spears and kept swimming down, time after time.\u00a0 After a few tries they came up with a good size lobster and then another.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 These artificial \u201creefs\u201d were actually an old pickup truck and a few pieces of heavy equipment.\u00a0 Great idea as any sort of obstruction attracts plenty of sea-life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Had we stayed for another day I would have had to try my hand at spearing a lobster.<\/p>\n

Speaking of diving, yesterday I dragged out my \u201chooka\u201d compressor, an electric air compressor and long hose that allows me to stay underwater as long as needed.\u00a0 I hook this unit up to my portable generator\u00a0 for power.\u00a0\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The process took me about an hour as it hadn’t been done since leaving Essex CT back in October.<\/p>\n

The water here is so clear that you can see at least 100\u2019 so it\u2019s easy to see any \u201cwildlife\u201d that comes near.\u00a0 Generally you don\u2019t see much but yesterday there were two large 8\u2019 long sharks that kept cruising by.\u00a0 This is a not-so-great shot of one that kept coming very close to the boat. \u00a0Trust me when I say that he was really close, and BIG! \u00a0I am pretty sure that they weren’t the harmless nurse sharks.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>i say this becaues, \u00a0at one point, he\/she came up to the surface and opened his mouth, I guess to take a gulp of air.\u00a0 I saw lots of teeth, something that nurse sharks don’t have. \u00a0Anyway, I decided it would be prudent to wait a while before getting in the water to clean the hull.\u00a0 After a while they wondered off so I decided to go in.\u00a0 However, I did ask Brenda to stand watch and to tap on the deck if she saw anyone coming toward us. \u00a0Just in case, of course.<\/p>\n

Alas, I was able to get the hull cleaned with no loss of fingers or worse.\u00a0\u00a0 However, I was still surrounded by plenty of observers.\u00a0\u00a0 A barracuda, perhaps 3\u2019 long kept an eye on me the whole time, albeit from a discrete distance.\u00a0 A 2\u2019 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.\u00a0 Pretty neat, actually.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Happily, no sharks.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

After I finished I spied this beauty passing by to head into the marina. \u00a0We were too cheap to spring for the marina and anchored outside. \u00a0I expect that the owner of this yacht isn’t cleaning the bottom himself. \u00a0Actually, 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. \u00a0It was pretty good.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>While we were ashore enjoying lunch, I took this photo of Pandora anchored off of the resort beach. \u00a0What a beautiful spot. \u00a0We’ll have to come back next year. \u00a0Perhaps we will spring for a visit to the marina too. \"\"<\/a>So, here we are today making our run to Nassau where we will hang out for a few days.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 We hope to connect with him while we are there.\u00a0 Fingers crossed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our plan in Nassau will be to spend a few days till Christopher arrives. \u00a0We will rent a car to tour the island.\u00a0 Meeting Christoper at the airport as he exits the terminal is also high on our list.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Besides, one of the best groceries in the Bahamas is there so that\u2019s good too.<\/p>\n

For now, I think I\u2019ll go back up into the cockpit to watch the water go by.\u00a0 Oh yeah, the water here is really deep, over 7,000 feet actually.\u00a0 And the color, the most perfect color of indigo blue.\u00a0\u00a0 Indigo water with the sun sparkling and an easy breeze.\u00a0 Perfect.\"\"<\/a>Yes, indeed, it\u2019s good to be under sail again. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s 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.\u00a0 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 […]<\/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-2734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2734","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=2734"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2743,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2734\/revisions\/2743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}