{"id":2851,"date":"2014-03-20T16:11:43","date_gmt":"2014-03-20T16:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=2851"},"modified":"2014-03-21T16:14:24","modified_gmt":"2014-03-21T16:14:24","slug":"no-wind-a-novel-concept-really","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=2851","title":{"rendered":"No wind. A novel concept, really!"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s 08:00 on Thursday and we are anchored, again, in Big Majors Spot; the home of the Bahamas piggies. \u00a0You recall, this island is the one that has “wild” pigs. \u00a0Wild is a relative term as they were clearly put here by someone as this is the only island in the Bahamas that boasts it’s own “native” population of swine. \u00a0I should also note that there are chickens and roosters here too so if you like to waken to the sound of a crowing rooster, Big Majors Spot is your kind of place.<\/p>\n

What’s so unique about this morning, following a particularly beautiful sunrise, is that it’s completely calm. \u00a0With cold fronts coming through on a weekly cycle, and bringing strong winds from a variety of annoying directions, a day without wind is something to talk about.<\/p>\n

The early morning light is a lovely soft yellow and to see all the boats, and there are plenty here, gently rocking on the water, is a calming sight.<\/p>\n

I listened to Chris Parker, the weather router, today, as I always do, at\u00a006:30and his forecast is for winds to be from the northeast for the next two days, perfect to send us down to Georgetown, our next destination.<\/p>\n

I am hopeful that we will get there before the winds turn against us, which will happen this weekend or early in the week, but that depends on FedEx and Watermakers Air and getting our iPad delivered to staniel Cay, just around the corner.<\/span><\/p>\n

It will actually be fine for us to wait here for a while if we miss this weather window as it’s a lovely place. \u00a0However, having been in the Bahamas for more than a month now, I am anxious to put some more miles on Pandora and head south.<\/p>\n

Speaking of sailing, we had a wonderful sail yesterday from Warderick Wells, about 20 miles north of here. \u00a0The wind was in the low teens from the northeast, a perfect direction to head here. \u00a0It was nice to be able to set the autopilot and read a book. \u00a0A very nice sail indeed.<\/p>\n

We had spent four days in Warderick Wells, which is very protected, to ride out the adverse winds from the last frontal passage. \u00a0Just as we were getting underway and Brenda was preparing the lunch that we would have while sailing to Big Majors Spot, I tossed some vegetable scraps over the side. \u00a0A moment later I heard some splashing just off the side of the boat. \u00a0 I came up on deck and was amazed to see a number of really large, about 4′ long, ramoras eating our cast-offs. \u00a0They were darting this way and that, competing for onion skins and bits of broccoli. \u00a0Ramoras have a distinctive patch on the top of their heads that they use to “stick” to sharks and sometimes boats, going along for a free ride. \u00a0They eat most anything and by “sticking” with a larger shark “host”, I am sure that they have plenty of options. \u00a0 Legend has it that if a remora stuck to the bottom of a sailing ship, that their presence would stop a boat dead in the water. \u00a0 If that’s true, I hope that we don’t pick one up.<\/p>\n

This shot clearly shows the “sucker”. \u00a0 An amazing creature, the Remora.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So, today we will find out if there is room on the plane for our packages and if FedEx delivers early enough to make the afternoon flight from Ft Lauderdale. \u00a0Fingers crossed. \u00a0If not, perhaps\u00a0Friday\u00a0morning. \u00a0One way or the other, it will be good to have an iPad, a backup for navigation again.<\/p>\n

We are anchored very close to the beach where the pigs congregate and it is fun to watch them through binoculars as they trot down to the water as boaters come by to feed them. \u00a0It’s pretty funny to see them wade into the water and swim out to the dinks for handouts. \u00a0I am pretty sure that pigs don’t fly but it seems that they do swim. \u00a0Who knew? \u00a0 I guess that fat is lighter than water. \u00a0Speaking of fat, I wonder if pigs suffer from cardiovascular disease. \u00a0They say that eating too much bacon can lead to heart disease. \u00a0 I wonder if “being” too much bacon does the same thing. \u00a0For inquiring minds\u2026<\/p>\n

So, today, what’s in store\u2026<\/p>\n

Brenda has wanted to do some snorkeling but has been a bit timid about it given the 8′ sharks that always seem to be cruising by. \u00a0However, I suspect that this fear (a legitimate concern) is giving way to a desire to see the sights. \u00a0We did see that there is a nice little reef very nearby that is well protected. \u00a0 We took our glass bottomed bucket (look bucket) there yesterday and took a “look”. \u00a0I expect a visit will be on the agenda today.<\/p>\n

Well, it’s nearly time for Cruiseheimers on the radio. \u00a0That’s an SSB Net where folks check in each morning. \u00a0It’s a great way to hear where everyone is and to connect with friends. \u00a0It’s also a good way to learn about important issues such as what day of the week it is or if it’s time to move our clocks forward for daylight savings time. \u00a0As you know, folks who live aboard small boats often forget what day of the week it is. \u00a0Perhaps we should get one of those tear-off calendars, the type you see in hospital rooms, so we can always know. \u00a0 But, we’d probably forget to tear off the pages each day. \u00a0As you may know, not knowing what day of the week it is can be a symptom of greater ills, or “cruiseheimers”. \u00a0 Right?<\/span><\/p>\n

So, now you know why I always begin my posts with something like “It’s Thursday morning and\u2026”<\/span><\/p>\n

Quick\u2026 What day of the week is it? \u00a0Thursday!!! \u00a0However, don’t ask me the date as I have absolutely no idea.<\/span><\/p>\n

OK, OK, I checked. \u00a0It’s the 20th of March. \u00a0That’s what computers are for. \u00a0Right?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s 08:00 on Thursday and we are anchored, again, in Big Majors Spot; the home of the Bahamas piggies. \u00a0You recall, this island is the one that has “wild” pigs. \u00a0Wild is a relative term as they were clearly put here by someone as this is the only island in the Bahamas that boasts it’s […]<\/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-2851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2851","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=2851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2853,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2851\/revisions\/2853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}