Shark Girl Speaks
I have been asked to submit an entry to the blog about our trip with John and Pat in the Bahamas...so here it goes. I was initially very worried about spending 10 days on a sailboat. My previous experiences on ocean going vessels basically involved hanging over the edge of the boat while getting sick. The lure of being surrounded by blue skies, warm weather and crystal clear water, even if while throwing up, was still better than cold snow/rain in Ohio. Our plan was to meet John and Pat in Nassau, then from there sail to the Exumas. The trip there didn't go as planned and we had a VERY stressful first day. Something about missing luggage/passports/credit cards...I can't quite remember (ahem....you're welcome Dad). Thanks to the kindness of the Bahamian people we managed to get everything in order by sunset of the first day. Day two we stocked up and set sail for the Exumas. I had this theory that if I had a couple beers before we set sail I would expect to feel a little off balance and therefore wouldn't get seasick. Well...it worked. Putting my theory to the test, I was fine the entire 10 days. The Exumas were amazing, as you can see from the pictures. The islands and beaches were basically deserted. I think we saw 1 restaurant and maybe 3 houses on the entire trip. It was incredible being able to dinghy up to the beach and have it all to yourself. Pretty much like a Corona commercial...with much older beer. (We cleaned out their fridge by drinking the beers they've had in there since 2004). We hopped along island to island, visiting beaches, making our way south down the Exuma island chain. The highlight for me was swimming with the nurse sharks at Compass Cay. I’ve been somewhat obsessed with sharks since I can remember. Swimming with them was something I’ve been dreaming about for years. The sharks there are fed on a regular basis, so they stick around. The owner of the cay calls them his pets and even has named the sharks. I was very nervous and my heart was racing the whole time, but it was definitely one of the best moments of my life. It made me want some pet sharks of my own! After our shark adventure we made our way slowly back up towards Nassau. We stopped at the Exumas Land and Sea Park and did some snorkeling. I burnt the boat name onto a piece of driftwood with a magnifying glass and the sun that we left at Warderick Wells Cay (as is the custom). We revisited the beach at Hawksbill Cay, which we all agreed was the nicest. Then it was back to Nassau to go head home. All in all it was a great vacation. I can definitely see a return trip to the Bahamas in my future. I am even looking forward to sailing again on Live Now. Turns out I was able to find my sea legs after all…who knew? Thanks for the great trip John and Pat!!
Dolphins On the Bow
While sailing along the coast south of St. Augustine, we were accompanied for about 1/2 hour by a pod of dolphin. You can't help thinking that they're really enjoying themselves!
Little Harbour Slide Show
Click on Picture for Slide Show, then, click on "View Map" to see location
Elbow Cay Lighthouse
Kerosene Lamp Lighthouse at Hope Town. Locals attempted to keep this from being erected because it eliminated the chance of salvaging wrecked ships.
Buddy Boating to Spanish Wells
On Monday, March 24, we left Little Harbour for Royal Island, a good, safe (no dragging!) anchorage that will serve as kind of a pit-stop for us on the way to Nassau. We 'buddy-boated' with a very nice couple we met in Little Harbour from Vancouver on a sailboat named Our Little Chicadee. When you 'buddy-boat', it is just traveling in sight of another boat or two who are all going to the same place. You keep an eye out for each other, talk by radio a few times, commiserate about the weather, etc. It is a nice, safe way to travel. We had thoroughly checked out the weather report and it looked beautiful. It was supposed to be 10-15 knots out of the north (perfect to drive us southeast) all day with higher winds coming that evening (after we supposedly were safe in our little anchorage). Tuesday's forecast called for high winds and squalls. Well, of course, the higher winds and squalls decided to make their appearance by late morning, Monday. We had 28 knots, all the sails were up, and our caprail was in the water! Trying to bring in sail in those kinds of winds is not easy, and lines got all tangled up, but it got done. At some point, Al and Gail on Chicadee thought they might turn around and go back, but when we said we were going on, they persevered, and we both made it to Royal Island just at sunset.
The next morning, John noted that the two couples on the German-flagged boat next to us went 'skinny-dipping'. Later on, we talked to the two men who had been anchored on the other side of the German boat who discovered when they dove down to scrape the bottom of their boat (a perennial must-do), a 'nest' of jellyfish. There was about a 10 foot depression in the sand about 15 feet down FILLED with jellyfish. Makes me shudder just to think about it!
From Royal Island we made a short hop to a town called Spanish Wells. High winds were predicted so we splurged and got a slip in a marina and met up again with Chicadee and the two men with the jellyfish story, Mike and Bill, from New York. Spanish Wells, we felt, was the nicest town yet. It had two grocery stores, a dive shop, two restaurants (one with ice cream!), a pay phone, and a couple of marine stores. They also had a woman who had a shell shop in her garage and sold conch (properly pronounced 'konk') horns, a must-have for the Bahamas. Every night at sunset, people salute the setting sun from the deck of their boats by blowing on conch horns. Well, we bought one which was kinda different from the rest, and while admiring it at lunch, John starts to tell me the story about how the ancient Bahamians began blowing the conch shells at sunset in order to create a vibration to make the fish come to the surface so they would be easy to catch. Okay, l'm buying that. Then, he said, our shell was not that kind of shell. It was designed to attract women. It was a "conk-u-bine" shell...Well, you'd think after all these years (we've been married 39 years this June) that I wouldn't fall for these things.
The next morning, John noted that the two couples on the German-flagged boat next to us went 'skinny-dipping'. Later on, we talked to the two men who had been anchored on the other side of the German boat who discovered when they dove down to scrape the bottom of their boat (a perennial must-do), a 'nest' of jellyfish. There was about a 10 foot depression in the sand about 15 feet down FILLED with jellyfish. Makes me shudder just to think about it!
From Royal Island we made a short hop to a town called Spanish Wells. High winds were predicted so we splurged and got a slip in a marina and met up again with Chicadee and the two men with the jellyfish story, Mike and Bill, from New York. Spanish Wells, we felt, was the nicest town yet. It had two grocery stores, a dive shop, two restaurants (one with ice cream!), a pay phone, and a couple of marine stores. They also had a woman who had a shell shop in her garage and sold conch (properly pronounced 'konk') horns, a must-have for the Bahamas. Every night at sunset, people salute the setting sun from the deck of their boats by blowing on conch horns. Well, we bought one which was kinda different from the rest, and while admiring it at lunch, John starts to tell me the story about how the ancient Bahamians began blowing the conch shells at sunset in order to create a vibration to make the fish come to the surface so they would be easy to catch. Okay, l'm buying that. Then, he said, our shell was not that kind of shell. It was designed to attract women. It was a "conk-u-bine" shell...Well, you'd think after all these years (we've been married 39 years this June) that I wouldn't fall for these things.
And, Then...She Left Without Me!
Leaving Man-O-War behind, on March 20, we sauntered slowly south to Hope Town where we anchored in between two islands. We had tried for days to get a mooring inside the harbor, or even a slip at a marina, but none were to be found. Too much going on in town. It is a more touristy place, with lots of cute little cottages along the shore, several nice shops and restaurants. They were having dinghy races, planning for an Easter Egg hunt (in the reefs), and the town was hoppin'. We spent the day in town, walked all around, went to some shops, ate at a couple of nice places, and got groceries before dinghying back to the boat. All was well and we spent the night with several other boats anchored outside the harbor. The next day, we were going to be out all day in the boat sailing, so we decided to have breakfast on shore before heading for Little Harbor, about 30 miles away. Had a nice breakfast at a beautiful resort called the Abaco Inn overlooking the Atlantic, took a walk on the beach, and began to dinghy back to the boat, and dinghied and dinghied and dinghied.... The boat was not where we left her. She had decided to leave without us. The anchor had given way and she had drug anchor for about 100 yards towards a sand bank. It could have been worse, however. She decided to stop in 7 feet of water and no harm done.
After making sure everything was okay, we got under way again towards Little Harbor, which is nothing but a little harbor (duh!) with moorings and Pete's Pub and an art gallery. Pete, like his father before him, is a sculptor, and has a beautiful little art gallery and an outdoor pub in this little unassuming harbor. We were able to pick up a mooring here, enjoyed lunch at Pete's, long walks on the beach, and through the little settlement.
On Easter morning, we went in early to beach comb, picking up shells, coral, etc., and came back to the boat for lunch. We had just finished an early lunch and I was relaxing on deck when an airplane flew over pretty low. It circled and came back again and I saw that it was a seaplane. I went back to my book until a very loud noise rousted me from my perch to find that the plane had landed behind us and was taxing into the harbor, just like a boat. When it went by, there was a Miami Dolphins logo on the tail. The plane taxied right up to the dock, turned around, docked in a space Live Now couldn't get into, and the team, or members of it, got off, had lunch at Pete's, got back on the plane, and an hour later they were taking off. Don't see that everyday.
From here, we are making our way to Nassau to pick up John's brother, Craig, and our niece, Eleni, who plan to spend 10 days with us here. We will also be leaving the Abaco chain of islands and making our way to the Exumas.
After making sure everything was okay, we got under way again towards Little Harbor, which is nothing but a little harbor (duh!) with moorings and Pete's Pub and an art gallery. Pete, like his father before him, is a sculptor, and has a beautiful little art gallery and an outdoor pub in this little unassuming harbor. We were able to pick up a mooring here, enjoyed lunch at Pete's, long walks on the beach, and through the little settlement.
On Easter morning, we went in early to beach comb, picking up shells, coral, etc., and came back to the boat for lunch. We had just finished an early lunch and I was relaxing on deck when an airplane flew over pretty low. It circled and came back again and I saw that it was a seaplane. I went back to my book until a very loud noise rousted me from my perch to find that the plane had landed behind us and was taxing into the harbor, just like a boat. When it went by, there was a Miami Dolphins logo on the tail. The plane taxied right up to the dock, turned around, docked in a space Live Now couldn't get into, and the team, or members of it, got off, had lunch at Pete's, got back on the plane, and an hour later they were taking off. Don't see that everyday.
From here, we are making our way to Nassau to pick up John's brother, Craig, and our niece, Eleni, who plan to spend 10 days with us here. We will also be leaving the Abaco chain of islands and making our way to the Exumas.
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