Goat coming in and out of the cave near where we are anchored at Staniel Cay

A marina in the Bahamas

The back of the boatel looks like a dinghy dock

The blowing of the nightly conch horn by our friend Marge

Marge & Ed take our kayak for a spin

A sunset complete with sun rays at Conception Island

Boatel at anchor at Conception

Another beautiful sunrise

 

Boatel at anchor in the background

Ted climbing the white sand cliff at Conception Island with the rope that someone has attached

Ted spearing a yellowfin grouper

A fish on the reef

A lion fish before we speared it

Where are all the people on the beach at Conception! Priceless

Random photos of the Bahamas

This is a close up of Neva underwater.

Ted playing in the waves on the ocean side

The underwater life on the reef

Me swimming with the dolphins

Fishing boat in Nassau towing 3 other boats

Cruising along the islands. Note the rocks above the water.

Pig on the beach at Big Majors Spot

more picture to come soon

Varied Photos of the Bahamas

Us in front of some Bahamian fauna and flora

Tree angel at beach church

View from the plane flying out of the Bahamas

Beach Church

Anodes last long in fresh water but this is what happens in salt water.

The picnic table we brought from Canada and donated to Sand Dollar beach

Getting sick in the Islands

Saturday January 22 – Monday January 24

I wake up at 02:00 am with chills and a burning fever. At 03:00 I wake Ted who finds the thermometer and we realize my temperature is at 103 degrees Fahrenheit.   By 6:00 am my fever is down to 100 thanks to advil and cool towel and tepid bath.  Later in the day Dr. Bruce from Hairball pays a boat visit but is unsure of the diagnosis.   I remain in bed sleeping and lethargic for the next 48 hours.  By Sunday although the fever has gone, I am weaker and the Doctor Bruce comes to visit again. He is still puzzled by the connection of symptoms and suggests that we go to the medical clinic on Monday and prepare to go to fly to Nassau or the US if I do not improve in the next 24 hours. He has ruled out alot of things including Malaria and Dengue Fever  (and pregnancy haha).  The doctor announces that this is not a good place to get sick. Things start to improve slightly after dinner. I manage to stay awake to watch a movie and head directly to bed to sleep through the night without a fever.

 On Monday morning we head for the clinic. The clinic is a yellow building, beside the pink building, with several doors that resembles a strip mall with wooden benches outside. The reception and waiting room is air-conditioned and seats 15 at capacity. The second waiting area is on benches along the building. Ted checks me in at reception. No computers being used here only a black notebook to register the patient details. Once you check in with reception you sit until a nurse calls your name, then you follow the nurse to door number one in the strip mall, where she weights you and takes your height. She writes this on a slip of cardboard and hands it to you and leaves you confused as to what to do next. She them informs you to sit and wait. A few hours later the room fills up and once again someone calls my name and I head to door number 3 where I am uncertain if this is the doctor or another nurse since no one introduces themselves. As it turns  out it is a nurse. She asks me for the cardboard cut-out of my height and weight and notes it on her chart. She  takes my temperature, blood pressure, asks questions and takes notes.  She tells me that I now have to sit in the waiting area, which I am unclear if this is the outside bench area or the inside air-conditioned area. I am not the only one unclear of the process, it seems like the residents don’t know where to go or sit next. We opt for the air-conditioning. During this time a Bahamian comes in bleeding with a head wound and within ½ hour he is seen. After a few hours wait my name is called again, this time I head to another room off the main reception. A white sheet covers the bed and I would guess that this is not changed with each patient. The doctor, whom I am barely able to understand because of her Bahamian accent, gives me antibiotics for the infection and tells me that I will feel better in 24 – 48 hours. I ask her where the pharmacy is and she tells me to pay at the front reception. Once I pay they give us a receipt, that would like not be accepted by Blue Cross because of lack of details. When I ask for more details on the receipt such as the name of the prescription she tells me she is not authorized to add that. She sends us to door number two which is the pharmacy. The pharmacists tells me to wait and hand writes my name on the prescription box, no label as you would expect in Canada. When asked about side effects, she responds “oh the usual, heartburn, nausea...” We never visited door number 4 so we can’t tell you what was behind that door. So was our visit to the George Town Medical Clinic definitely an island experience. The other option is to go to the private clinic with Dr. Fox who comes in from Nassau if you are fortunate enough to get sick on Thursdays. I will add pictures of the clinic to the blog soon.

We have a rough dinghy ride across the harbour I am not longer sleepy having slept 50 out of the last 56 hours. 

Update on Wednesday. Having slept for the past four days I am well rest and the antibotics have now taken effect. All is well.

We found paradise on Conception Island

We’re up early and watch the sunrise as we prepare for our cruise to Conception Island.  We secure everything that could move or get damaged if the sea swells are great than expected. We have learned to always prepare for the worst. We depart from the North Canal rocks at the south end of the harbour at 09:10. About 6 or 7 sailboats exited the harbour with us for Long, Conception and Rum Cays. This is another cut that you only do in good daylight conditions because of the reefs both east and west of the channel. We exit onto the sound and have a lovely calm cruise to Long Island. Our first waypoint leads us to the northern most tip of Long Island at Cape Santa Maria which is 1 hour and 45 minute cruise. Long Island is 76 miles in length and 4 miles wide. Long Island was the third stop for Columbus in the New World after San Salvador and Rum Cay, which we hope to visit as well.  In fact, Columbus’s flagship the Santa Maria, went aground on a reef at the northern tip earning the name Cape Santa Maria. 

Our friends Marge and Ed on Margaret Lee hail us to tell us that they spotted whales at the tip of Cape Santa Maria. We watch but see none. We overtook Margaret Lee and had the opportunity to get some great pictures of them underway, which we give them later at anchor. Our payment - some freshly Mahi Mahi that they caught while underway. We arrived at 14:55 at Conception Island. I dove to check the anchor and recover a piece of our retaining chain that broken off while we were anchoring.  I quickly discovered that we had a curious barracuda visiting our boat. He wasn’t much interested in me as he was looking for scrapes.  Once settled  we headed out to the lagoon in the dinghy with our kayak in tow. Conception Island is a National Park and is under the protection of the Bahamas National Trust. This means that nothing on the island can be disturbed, removed or damaged.   We carefully enter the entrance of the lagoon watching out for rocks just below the surface of the water. Once inside we anchor the dinghy and explore the creeks  by kayak watching the sea turtles whip past us. People are asked to use paddles and not use outboard engines as not to scare or damage the turtles. We paddle the kayak deep into the winding creeks till we reach the mangroves and enjoy the peace and serenity. The only sound is of the nesting birds. We turn back to arrive back to the dinghy just as the sun is beginning to set. With the sun low it is difficult to navigate the exit of the lagoon. We approach at low speed and pass through with inches to spare from the protruding rocks below us. Back at the boat we hail Margaret Lee that we have returned so that they do not send out a search party for us!  We watch as the sun sets and the moon rises. After dinner we are rewarded with beautiful calm winds and a full moon  At 10:00 pm we can still see the sand on bottom around the boat and it appears just like we are looking into a swimming pool.

Wednesday

We have one other trawler and 7 sailboats in the anchorage with us, which is a far cry from the 150+ boat in George Town.  No city lights and only the occasional chatter on the VHF radio, and water so blue is seems surreal. We think we have found paradise. If only Conception Island offered more protection here against winds and fronts, we would stay forever, but then again so would everyone else.

After breakfast we prepare to go out spearing lobster but we were not lucky to even see one. We did however spear a Lion Fish and a large 17” Yellowfin Grouper.  Back to the boat to clean our catch and have lunch before heading out again to another section of the reef. We make three different stops along the reef extending along the west tip of the island and manage to spear two more Lion Fish but we see no lobster.  The reef was damaged by a hurricane a few years ago however we are pleased to see the  new growth of elkhorn, staghorn, finger and pillar coral along with the multitude of reef fish. Back at the boat we clean the remainder of our catch and drop the unwanted parts overboard, which is quickly eaten up by the other fish lying in wait of a meal. It does however also attract a nurse shark, or two, or three but really four! Now we have some smaller fish, a couple of Jacks, and four sharks circling around the bottom of the boat looking for food. This is not something that we usually do in George Town because we do not want to encourage sharks to visit the harbour but here it seems that they all wait to be fed by visiting boats. 

Plans are to have a cocktails and appetizers (this is after all a ritual here)  with the other boats in the anchorage on the beach however with no table and no-see’m we decide to host the party on the Boatel. Everyone (all eight boats) in the anchorage comes except for one boat are invited. That is certainly not something we could do in George Town with 30+ boats at Sand Dollar alone. Within minutes everyone has the invitation and the party is on. Our four sharks and the stingray swarming around the boat are a big hit with our visitors. Two of the boats were from my home province of New Brunswick.  Six of the eight boats were from Canada so Conception Island was taken over by Canadians for a few days. We all watch the sunset on the bow of the Boatel and watch closely for a green flash. The sound of the conch horn welcomes the end of another wonderful day. After everyone leaves we head over to Margaret Lee for a delicious dinner with our friends. We return to our boat with the anchorage fully illuminated under a full moon.

                                                                                                         

Thursday January 20

Today we prepare to do a dive with Brian from S/V Jambi along the Conception Island Wall. This has previously been the highlight of our trip to Conception. There are suppose to be ten mooring balls along the wall so we head out in the dinghy to find them unsure if we will find any at all, but we are lucky to spot a brand new white 18 inch fender bobbing in the clear blue waters. We tie off to mooring line and are pleased that it is the same spot we dove at in a previous visit.  We do a 35 minute dive to a maximum of 90 feet with good visibility, large reef fish and healthy coral.  We were greeted by the resident barracuda who escorted us through our whole dive. We spot a couple of large 10 inch Queen Angelfish, Grey Angelfish and a pair of beautiful French Angelfish.  I have never seen French Angelfish except for this location and these were exceptionally large they grow to a maximum 18 inches and I would think these were about 14 inches. As I swim towards them they appear to ignore me.  They have a grey face and fins with spots of yellow on their sides and yellow rings around their mouth and eyes.  Ted had the camera but missed taking a picture of the pair.  He did however managed to capture the black tip reef sharks on film. I had not calculated my weight correctly so near the end of the dive I was having problems with my buoyancy and floated up to the top rather than do our safety stop at 25 feet. I cut the dive short but irregardless  we all enjoyed the dive. Next time I will need to add another few pounds of weights to my weight belt. Back to the boat to enjoy pumpkin seed-coated Yellowfin Grouper for dinner and then head over to Jumbi for drinks after dinner with Swell Horizon (Kinsport TN) and Toberua II from Toronto.

Friday January 21^st – The forecast has changed and the winds clock to SW 10 and are expected to increase before Saturday night .  Two mega yachts arrived at the West Bay anchorage as all of the sailboats lift anchor early in the morning and depart for the safety George Town harbour or the marina at Rum Cau.  We decide to leave as well and head to Long Island overnight but first we plan a trip ashore to do a beach walk and get some photos. We dinghy to the beach and set the anchor our to stop the waves from washing into the dinghy and also secure a line to shore. It’s a short walk to the other side with a protected cove and white sand cliffs. Someone had attached a climbing rope, which was likely debris that washed up on shore, to a rock at the top of the lookout. This climb has become a routine visit to the island and we are once again rewarded with a breathtaking view of the harbour.  I couldn’t resist going for a swim after our hike along the beach and the cliffs. The water is warm here because of the protected cove. The only footsteps we see on the beach are our own. Back to the dinghy we meet up with a couple from S/V Skye (Saint John, NB) who arrived yesterday. We chat with them and find that they are head south to Grenada. All the other sailboats have left but they have opted to stay at this anchorage and wait out the front here. All documentation warns against staying here if the weather gets rough, but their thoughts were that the winds be too bad. We head back to the boat and pull up anchor.  We cruise to Calabash Bay on Long Island to anchor for the night but decided to keep going back to George Town once we see the four boats at anchor rolling in the SW winds and the swells in the anchorage.  The sea state settles once we head to our waypoint for North Channel Rock and we enjoy a 2 hour and 30 minute cruise back to George Town from Long Island. Just before sunset we are back at anchor at Sand Dollar in George Town.  We  have only been gone for four days but alot of the boats are new. And so the neighbourhood changes as boats come and go.

The good and the bad (no ugly)

Monday January 17^th – Our last day and the testing for our Total Immersion class. Ted has done wonderful and picked up the new technique like a pro. He completes his swim in 19 strokes compared to 32 strokes in his original test. Ben aboard S/V Whisper is one of our coaches who has been doing TI for 3 years now did the test in 17 strokes so that was what Ted was trying to achieve, not that Ted would be competitive!   I was not feeling great this week and decided that I needed more practise to master the techniques and opt not to do the test.

Half way through the class, our friend Doug on S/V About Time from Oakville suffers a stroke while in the water. This is where the power of our community comes into play. Sylvia aboard S/V Whisper takes charge of the VHF radio and within minutes the doctor aboard Dream Weaver comes whipping into Honeymoon Bay on his dinghy. Sylvia is off in her dinghy to get aspirin and back even before the doctor get there. Sandy on S/V Ananya is flagging down the doctor as he approaches and takes the line of his dinghy to anchor it off. A houseboat anchored close to the beach offered to move Doug aboard their boat and also offered their whaler boat to get Doug across the harbour to the clinic. Next Bad Boy’s dinghy comes flying into the beach to drop off a de-fibulator because it is originally thought to be a heart attack.  Once Doctor Frank has assessed the situation and determined that Doug is ready to travel, the tender is ready and the taxi is waiting on the other side to transport him to the clinic. They left the beach in bathing suits and no shoes. Someone went to their boat and packed for them and got their passports. They need not to worry about their boat or their dinghy because someone arranged to have a visiting cruiser stay on their boat. They had planned to leave for a trip back to Ontario on Sunday so as planned they will leave knowing that everything else has been taken care of for them.  We all fear that this could happen to us but we are fortunate to know that friends and strangers come together to offer help and support. As our class comes to an end we stop and have a moment of silence for Doug and Sharon with prayers for a full recovery.

After the class we head across the harbour to town to pickup  cruising regatta t-shirts that are on sale, before they run out of the colors and sizes we want. This is the 31^st annual cruising regatta that will be happening at the beginning of March, but more about that later.  Somewhat still in shock about the events in the morning we stop and talk to Bob & Gail on S/V Star looking for news about  Doug.  We get an update that he was flown to Nassau and was recovering in the hospital and the prognosis was good. For this we are grateful. We also stop and speak with new friends Jana and Mike aboard Trawler Second Star and are introduced to their friends Gerry and Linda aboard a 36 foot Monk Trawler called Monk’s Ministry. We are sad to hear that they are leaving George Town and heading up island before we return back from our trip to Conception.  We invite them over for drinks before the dance tonight. But first we finish our errands. We hang around for another hour waiting for our replacement satellite phone to arrive from the airport and  finally catch up to us. It was shipped to us in Florida but only arrived after we left and then was forward onto us but once again had to be traced. A very long story which I will not elaborate on except to say it is not easy or cheap to ship anything into the Bahamas.  One of the few downsides of living in the Islands.

Second Star and Monk’s Ministry come over for drinks and together we head over to Volleyball Beach for the Rockin’ Ron’s dance party at Chat n’ Chill Bar. We dance up a storm on the deck under the stars.  Ron and Karen aboard S/V Sea Dancer are the resident cruising DeeJays and have a great selection of music to entertain us all. A special guest appearance by Sonny & Cher and the Supremes completes the evening’s entertainment. Our goodbyes to our new friends as we dinghy off into the darkness to our own boats.  Perhaps we will meet up again in another harbour. Mike aboard Second Star ends the night with his favourite line “I am so glad you had the opportunity to meet me”.  We follow them to make sure they get safely back to their boat and as it turns out they took and wrong turn!

Photos of our trip

At Staniel Cay

Nicky and her baby Neva up close

The colors of the spectactular waters of the Bahamas

Life on the little reef in our anchorage

a view of the neighbourhood at sunset

This week in paradise

There is lots to do in George Town or you can choose to do nothing. Alot of the cruisers meet at Volleyball beach at 14:30 every after for social time. This includes daily activities including but not limited to: basket weaving, fun and regulation beach volleyball, dominos, bridge ect. We like to call this adult day camp! We rarely go to volleyball beach in the afternoons because their simply isn’t time to get everything done.  We try to include exercise and water based activities into our daily schedule. Whenever possible we will kayak to where we need to get to rather than taking our dinghy. 

Here is our schedule this week;

Sunday -  We kayak over to volleyball beach in our bathing suits and quickly pull on a dress and shorts and we are ready for beach church in the morning.  Beach church is a non-denominational Christian worship service where people come in shorts and bare feet.  Dogs are always welcome and kids are encouraged to climb the cassarina trees to watch from above, we call them our tree angels.   Many of the songs and sermons are geared towards our cruising philosophy.  People volunteer to give sermons, sing in the choir or read a pray. At the beginning new people stand up and introduce themselves. Unlike traditional churches, it is a custom to introduce yourself to everyone sitting around you if you don’t know them already. Only first name and boat names, seems like no one has a last name here. Ofcourse  you extend a welcoming hand to those that are new to welcome them. Everyone plays a part in the welcome wagon.    The coffee social lasts for longer than the actual church service with everyone lingering around enjoying homemade baked goods!  On the morning net people often stop to recognize others who has given a helping hand either in something as simple as lending a helping hand fixing a boat part or rescuing a floating dinghy  or more importantly a medical emergency.  The community spirit truly is infectious. A good day is when you have caught a lobster, nothing on the boat has broken and you have gotten an opportunity to help someone. It sometimes feels like another world.

In the afternoon we were swimming with the dolphins and also snorkelled the nearby reef. We took underwater pictures of the reef fish, a stingray and ofcourse our dolphins! The swim with the dolphins was indeed a special event for us. In speaking to others cruisers we realized that we are among the few that have had the opportunity to swim with these dolphins.

Monday –Ted & I are taking the Total Immersion swimming class on Honeymoon Beach being offered by Bob & Gail on sailing vessel Star this week. They refer to it as “swimming with the Stars”! This is a four day course which is usually about $2000 but it being done by Bob & Gail for free here in the islands. This program teaches you step by step a how to swim 2 miles and not get tired. This takes time and practise to learn the technique but I have set a goal to swim the 1 mile across the harbour by the end of the season.   Ted picked up the technique right away but I have lots of work to do. We have about 20 people in our class and are fortunate to have 7 coaches and 1 instructor working with us. We return to the boat for lunch and to run the generator to charge our batteries.  After lunch we go into town to drop off our garbage, pick up groceries, get fuel for the dinghy and get on the internet.  I dropped off some more school supplies and crafts to the local school here in George Town.  I discuss recycling with the principal and find out that there is a recycling program here on the island for glass and plastics although it is not evident. I decided to take this on as a project to get a recycling program working here for the cruisers. I just hate putting plastic and bottles in to the garbage bins.

Tuesday – Second day of Total Immersion swimming from 10:00 till noon then back to the boat for lunch and some maintenance work in the afternoon. Marge and Ed aboard the Margaret Lee drop by for a visit and to see our dolphin pictures.

Wednesday – Total Immersion in the morning and lunch at St. Francis Resort on the patio. They provide internet access and a fantastic view of the harbour. After lunch we kayak to Sand Dollar Beach with our snorkel equipment. We hike through the trails and up to the beach on the ocean side. With a bit of difficulty and alot of laughing we manage don our fins, masks and snorkel s and enter the water. As we sit on the beach trying to put everything on we get bowled over by the incoming surf from the Sound. We grab our spears and manage to swim out about 250 feet to where the shallow coral ledges are. The swim is difficult but once you get the timing on the incoming surf it becomes easier. Once we get to coral ledge I look down and spot a lobster with his antennas hanging out. This is unusual because usually they are hiding further in the holes at this time of day. I prepare myself, take a deep breath and go down about 20 feet and spear the lobster. I start to pull him up to the surface but he struggles at the end of my spear, falls off and drops into the sand. I swim up for a gasp of air and go back down to grab him with my gloved hand but I do not quite reach the bottom and need to go back up for air. I realize I should be wearing an extra 3 pounds of weights to help me get down to the bottom quicker.  I watch the lobster start to crawl backwards as I try to relax my breathing and prepare to go down again. There is really no where for him to go and injured he can’t move quickly. He watches me and I watch him. I signal to Ted for help and he comes to the rescue. Ted goes down and spears the lobster again and finally brings him up to the surface. There is a dinghy near us with people spearing fish in the same area. They all cheer as we bring the lobster up out of the water. We now have to swim back to shore through the surf with the lobster up over our heads out of the water. It’s a long swim back through the 4 foot waves.  We finned for 15 seconds and do not move but then the flow pushes us forward. If we do not fin then we go backwards and make no progress. The final surge of the surf deposits us onto the beach as we hold on not to get swept backwards. Full of sand we exit the water, tired but happy with my first lobster catch. We hike back to the kayak on the other side of the cliff and paddle back to the boat. Usually Ted is the one that spots the lobster so I am very pleased with myself, I have earned by stripes as great hunter.  Back to the boat the lobster weighs in at 4 ½ pounds. The body is large so the tail is put in the fridge and we boil the body to extract the meat for dips and soups. Dinner and a movie on board. We sleep well after and active day until the front comes through overnight.

Thursday –After the net we have breakfast, run the generator and head to our TI swimming class early. The class is optional today because of the winds associated with the front that came through early in the morning. Like many others in our class we battle the waves in the harbour and go to class. We leave class early and head back to the boat to get ready for the ladies luncheon at St. Francis Resort.  The luncheon is attending by 45 women of various ages hailing from ports throughout the US and Canada with 2 women from the UK. A count revels that about ½ are from Canada with the largest contingent of Canadians being from Quebec.  We have assigned seating so as we introduce ourselves the noise level in the small room becomes a dull roar. My fresh tuna wrap is delicious and the company is wonderful.  Back to the boat for dinner.

Friday – We don our rain gear and head across the harbour to town for internet, fuel, and groceries.  NE winds make it a wet return ride back to the boat with 3 foot waves in the harbour. At 16:30 we head to Sand Dollar beach for appetizers with about 40 other cruisers. We meet people visiting from the UK, cruising from New Brunswick and sailors from cities in the Cheaspeake that we visited. New friends are made  and promised of dinners are extended.

Saturday -  We go to the beach for AquaFitness but get a poor turnout on this last day of windy weather. We return to Sand Dollar beach to pick up something we forgot on the beach last night. Before we return to the boat, we hike up the hill to get a breathtaking view of the waves and surf on the cliff top. Back to the boat for an afternoon of maintenance and cleaning. We have a great lobster dinner and watch a movie before an early bedtime.  

January 16^th - So ends our busy week afloat in George Town.  Today the winds clock around to give settled weather for the next 7 to 10 days. After having been at anchor in the same spot since December 16^th it is time to lift anchor and go for a cruise.  Our plans are to leave to harbour to cruise to Long and Conception Islands this week. Guaranteed there will be new adventures awaiting us.

Today we stopped at a boat named Second Star.  We hadn’t met them but we were curious about their type of trawler. We introduce ourselves and within minutes we are invited in for a visit and like old friends we share ideas and plans. What a wonderful world we live in that is so welcoming and accepting.

We get back to the boat and immediately spot the dolphins beside the boat again. A quick change from church wear to swimming gear and I am back in the water.  Ted spots the dolphins near our neighbour High Steeper , so off I go to join them in the water. Once again I am bestowed the grand honour of swimming with Nicky and her baby. I was told that the baby had not been yet named and that since I swam with her that I could name her but that the name had to been with an N. Nicky’s other babies were Nova and Noodle  and this I am pleased to announce is Neva (meaning snow in Spanish). Neva takes and burrows her snout in the sand and pushes it around like she is making a snowball and by the time she is done it looks like a snow storm down on the ocean floor. Also our dog friend Neva in Canada would be pleased that I have named a dolphin after her.  The people on High Stepper and on sailing vessel Mystic watched us swimming and cheered us on. The baby seemed to want me to dive down with her and when I did rolled around for me and smiled at me. When I swam back to the boat once again they followed me. Simply amazing.  High Stepper came over to our boat with pictures.

Tonight we head to hamburger beach for a beach party at the Sand Bar. Those that have instruments will bring them and provide the entertainment.  It’s a cash bar but you bring your own appetizers. You also bring along your boat cards (like a business card) where ever you go because this is the only way you can remember people’s names and boat name. Back to the boat I have found it helpful to make notes behind the card for future reference.

Daily life in George Town, Great Exuma

January 13, 2011

The boat count is 157 boats in George Town harbour this week. Five or six are at the marina, about 20 on mooring balls and the rest are all at anchor. Some, like us stay but in their favourite anchorage others move around every few days or some even daily. This morning there are 32 boats at the Sand Dollar anchorage up from the 12 a few days ago. With more boat come more activities in the community. 

Ted is usually up between 05:30 and 06:00. He makes coffee and studies for his Ham Radio Course which he is taking down here to get license. In a few weeks he will begin in weekly Wednesday Ham lunch.  At 07:00 I awake and Ted brings me a coffee in bed- yes some girls have it good! The one thing that remains a constant part of our schedule is the 08:00 cruisers net on the VHF radio on channel 72. Every week someone in the harbour volunteers to moderate the net. This week Chris on Toucan Dream is the moderator. The net starts off with the very important “weather” report which is the main reason we all listen. Usually it’s a five forecast and we plan our activities, sides trips and our lives around that forecast. Next is the” local business” section where the business get to announce to us what’s on and who has what services. This is followed by “community announcements”.  This is anything and everything happening in our community. Today for example:

·         Cruising ladies lunch today at St. Francis at 12:30

·         Final day of Total Immersion swimming workshop update

·         Regatta T-shirts on sail from 9:30 to 12:00

·         Art in the park class from 9:00 – 12:00 today

·         Texas Hold’em poker tonight at St. Francis at 6:00

·         Luncheon sponsored by the Bahamas Tourism next Friday

·         Aqua fitness class (taught by me) on Saturday at 8:20

·         Yoga classes at 9:00 am Friday

·         School looking for books on AIDS/HIV

·         Rockin Ron announced the first dance on the season at Chat n Chill on Monday night

·         Choir practise meets today

So as you can see from the list above our activity schedule continues to build as more boats arrive in the harbour. The last section of the morning net is “boaters general” which is the opportunity for anyone to ask for help or to announce something they need or want to get rid of.  The net ends with announcement of arrivals and departures and the thought for the day. 

Swimming with the dolphins

A few years ago Ted drew a birthday card for me with me in the water swimming with the dolphins. It was a dream of mine and in fact after seeing the movie the Bucket List, it was put on my Bucket List. On sunday we were heading out to go spearing when I spotted the dolphins in the dinghy beside us. I made Ted go back to the boat and I hopped into the water and swam over to them. When I swam back to the boat to get the underwater camera they followed me. Ted captured the next picture from our boat of me in the water with Nicky and her baby and then I got a great picture of the baby. What an amaze thrill for me. Ted joined us in the water as we dove and swam with these wonderful creatures.

Diane in the water with the dolphins

 picture of the baby coming to play with me underwater.

The great mighty lobster hunters

Wednesday January 5, 2010

Now that the east winds have settled we head out to the reefs along the Exuma Sound to hunt lobster with our friends Ed & Marge from the Margaret Lee. Our first stop yields nothing so we swim back to the dinghy and motor to another spot. Spear guns and scuba tanks are not allowed when you spearfish. You must free dive and hold your breath down to about 20 - 30 and look under the ledges in the coral to find lobsters. Sometimes all you see is their long tentacles moving and when you do you use your hand spear which is 7 feet long with an elastic band to launch the spear into the lobster. Sometime it takes 2, 3 or even 4 tries to nab the lobster because you need to come back to the surface for more air. If you’re lucky you get him on the first shot. Then you must get the lobster above the water fast or risk having a barracuda snatch your catch.  We have learned that the barracuda is really not very interested in us but rather is lazy and looks for an easy lunch after we have done all the work. The swim back to the dinghy is tiring while holding the spear in the air but it is well worth the effort. Today our efforts yield our first lobster which is 5 ½ pounds. Spiny or Caribbean lobsters as they are known have no front claws but their large tail is delicious especially when done on the BBQ. The best time to spearfish is early in the morning when the lobster are still walking around or looking for a hole to hid in for the day. The early bird does catch the lobster. On Saturday  January 8^th we are out on the reef by 7:00 just after the sun has risen and we are rewarded with another lobster. This time Ted missed his first shot, then I go down and miss and Ted tries again and misses. The lobster then emerges from his hole looking for another place to hide. I got down to grab him by hand but I run out of air and come back up. Ted finally goes down to the new hiding place and gets the critter.  Our team effort means we’ll be eating lobster tonight. We keep looking but spot no more lobster. I do however spot a Lion fish but when I go to spear it I notice a barracuda nearby. I decide not to spear the fish but rather keep an eye on it. I swim over to Ted and signal to him to follow me. By then the barracuda has disappeared and Ted successfully spear the Lion fish. Lion fish have poisonous spines on the top of their backs but properly cleaned they are safe and delicious to eat. They are not native to the Bahamas and infact Lion fish were not here the last time we visited the Bahamas. They have no natural predictors and have been taking over the reefs and eating their share of reef fish quickly multiplying and depleting the reef.  The Bahamians have issued an open season on Lion fish and in some areas of the Bahamas they have had tournaments where they have caught 6000 to 10000 of them and also taught people who to safely clean them. Once back to the boat we call Margaret Lee to provide us with detailed instruction on how to clean them. And yes they are indeed a white, mild delicate fish. We look forward to catching more. The good news is that in two outings we have only seen two Lion fish on the reefs so they appear to be under control at least here for the time being.

Christmas in the Bahamas

Christmas in the Bahamas.

I awake to the sound of the waves lapping gently against the side of the boat.  I’m home but it does not feel like Christmas so I dig out the Christmas light, don our Santa hats we install lights along the railings.  For the next few nights our anchorage comes alive with Christmas lights on the neighbouring boats. I hang our Christmas stocking and make Ted’s favourite short bread cookies. On Christmas Eve we dinghy to the north part of the anchorage to enjoy a Christmas Eve service and  carols around the campfire.  We prepared the turkey on the BBQ for our cruisers Christmas luncheon on volleyball beach.  One hundred and twenty five people gather at the picnic tables on the beach to share a Christmas meal together. What an amazing way to make new friends from far and wide.

Rather than try to catch up with the time that I have missed during the break in my daily writing, I will simply mention some of the highlights and move to the present.  Even though we have been in the Bahamas for almost a month now, I walk upstairs and look outside a window and the color of the water takes my breath away. I go outside before I go to bed and look up at the millions of the stars in the sky and I can’t image being anywhere else right now. I look outside my window at the neighbouring boats and consider myself extremely fortunate to be living in the midst of this floating community. 

Family matters in New Brunswick

Monday December 13^th

Unable to sleep I get up at 04:30 after a restless night and dreams about my father. At the same time 2500 miles away my father is also having a restless night, his final one before he passes away later that morning.  The storm continues to surge and roll us in our anchorage. We remain on the boat and wait out the storm. Because the boat is rolling we do not have satellite phone coverage and we can not get internet access. At this time my family tries to reach me to tell me the news of my father without success. We remain on board for the day on watch as the winds continue to howl. Our neighbour at the resort at Fowl Cay comes by the boat twice in his tender to check on us. The island behind us is named Big Majors Spot and is inhabited by goats, cats and pigs. We spot the pigs coming down to the beach for food. We hear the baby goats crying for their mother. With the large zoom lens on my camera I am able to capture them coming in and out of their cave. We spot them numerous times as we sit and wait out the storm. In the evening we teach Paul to play some new card and dice games to distract us from the rolly motion of the boat. We had not chosen our location well but at this point we just sit tight and ride out the remainder of the storm.

Tuesday December 14^th  through  Tuesday December 20th

  Another rolly night but as dawn breaks the winds start to decrease and more to north bringing a calmer sea state. We dinghy into Staniel Cay for a walk about town, lunch at the Yacht Club and internet access.  What awaits me is 20 messages from my family that say “call me”.  Within minutes I am making plans to fly home and tend to funeral arrangement for my dad. Our friend Paul agreed to travel with Ted to George Town, Great Exuma and fly out of there on Friday allowing me to fly home, for which I was extremely grateful.   I make arrangements with Watermaker Air to get the last seat from Staniel Cay to Fort Lauderdale the next day. From Fort Lauderdale to Charlotte, NC to Boston, MA to Presque Isle Maine where someone will  pick me up to drive to Grand Falls, New Brunswick.   I missed my connection in Fort Lauderdale because the Watermaker Air flight lands at 1:05pm rather than 11:30 am. When I questioned our pilot as to why I was told an 11:00 or 11:30 arrival, he simply said “not sure why they told you that”.  This is after all their daily flight why couldn’t they get the details right? Their mistake caused me to miss my first flight which through off all the other connections and I had to spend the night in Boston with the final flight on Thursday.  While waiting for my flight to Charlotte I discovered that the arrangement had been already made and that I would be arriving the day of the funeral.  It was wonderful to see my family and especially nice to spend time with my niece who I had not seen in about 12 years.  As difficult as funerals may be, they do bring families together. 

Tuesday December 21^st

Winter Solstice marks my arrival back to the Bahamas on the day the days start to get longer. I left Presque Isle Maine the day before and landed in Boston in a snow storm but manage to catch my next flight to Pittsburg, PA that night. After a layover in Pittsburg I catch the next flight to Nassau, clear customs in the Bahamas and wait three hours for my final flight to GeorgeTown. Ted greeted me at the dinghy dock. I shed my sweater, socks and shoes and enjoyed my first dinghy ride across the harbour to the Boatel at anchor just off Sand Dollar Beach. After a world-wind trip to New Brunswick and back it felt great to be home!

The passing of a cold front.

Sunday December 12, 2010

We catch the cruisers net offered by Highbourne Cay Marina with the local announcements and the weather report.  We have a front coming in later today so we know that we must be in a secure location by the end of the day.  At 07:48 we are under way. We set a series of 30 to 45 minute courses to navigate along the shallow Banks to guide us through the sand bars on the way to Big Majors Spot.  We have a number of options where to go but we opt to be on the west side of the island and tuck up in close to get protection from the NNW from Fowl Cay and the upcoming front. We pay out 130 feet of anchor chain in 8.6 feet of water in preparation for the front. We use the hand bearing compass to check the protection from the surrounding islands based on the projected wind direction. We are protect from WNW to North to South East however we remain exposed from the South and West which is okay based on the wind predications.   

We drop the dinghy and go out to try our hand at spearing lobster on the Sound. We take a copy of the charts with us to help guide us through the numerous little islands that dot the area. The water is a bright deep blue colour as opposed to the lighter blue colours on the banks. We ride on top of ocean swells left over from the higher winds. We use our “lookie bucket”, which is a 5 gallon pail, with a clear Plexiglas bottom, to check out the ocean floor.  No luck to find a good spot to drop the dinghy anchor with the rollers in a depth good for us so we head back in through one of the “cuts”. A cut is an opening between two islands to travel from the sound to the bank. It is easy to loose your way because the openings all start to look the same when you are looking at them from a different direction.  Some openings may look okay but in actual fact they are littered with sharp rocks just below the surface which will rip a hole in the bottom of the dinghy.  Ted has mastered dinghy navigation even after a few years away. His survival skills continue to amaze me.  He gets us back safely on the inside.

We cruise by dinghy  around the anchorage between the islands and count the number of boats who have like us seeked shelter from the upcoming storm. Most of the boats are on the east side of Big Majors Spot where we remain the only boat of the west side. We figured that we are tucked up enough to the  north end of the island where the Fowl Cay wraps around to give us protection. We later learn that we would have been better off to seek protection on the inside between the islands with the other boats. We pass Thunderball Grotto but it is too late and too rolly to stop for a swim at our favourite snorkel spot. The grotto is home to the 007 movie of the same name filmed in the 1960’s. We try to plan our entrance into the grotto at low tide and today the entrance is exposed and choppy. We return to the boat for a swim. Paul goes in first and spots a small shark under the boat but the shark quickly moves away. Ted & Paul swim out to the anchor to check to make sure it is properly set and soon realized that the anchor was nice buried deep in the sand. Winds picked up in the evening and by 02:00 the winds pick up to 30 knots. The anchor holds firm. We strain on our anchor from the winds and the waves bypass the island and wreak havoc with us causing the boat to roll.

Monday December 13^th

Unable to sleep I get up at 04:30 after a restless night and bad dreams about my father. At the same time 2500 miles away my father is also having a restless night, his final one before he passes away later that morning.  The storm continues to surge and roll us in our anchorage. We remain on the boat and wait out the storm. Because the boat is rolling we do not have satellite phone coverage and we can not get internet access. At this time my father tries to reach me to tell me the news of my father without luck. We remain on board for the day on watch as the winds continue to howl. Our neighbour at the resort at Fowl Cay comes by the boat twice in his tender to check on us. The island behind us is named Big Majors Spot is inhabited by goats, cats and pigs. We spot the pigs coming down to the beach for food. We hear the baby goats crying for their mother. With the large zoom lens on my camera I am able to capture them coming in and out of their cave. We spot them numerous times as we sit and wait out the storm. In the evening we teach Paul to play some new games to distract us from the rolly motion of the boat. We had not chosen our location well but at this point we just sit tight and ride out the remainder of the storm.

  

Cruising South in the Bahamas

December 9^th, 2010

We woke up at dock Wednesday morning at Lake Park Harbour Marina to prepare to leave dock and go out to Lake Worth to anchor till our planned departure on Saturday.  We made two precise turns to carefully manoeuvre the boat out of the marina. Once at anchor Ted started to work on replacing some of the strainers on the boat and I sat down to  plan our crossing to the Bahamas.   After a few hours of studying all the forecast models I came to the realization that the calm weather on Saturday was simply the dreaded  calm before the storm.  With a strong front coming through on Sunday, I couldn’t find a shelter place to wait out the front in the Bahamas in the timeframe that we had.  I turned on the VHF radio to see what others were planning on doing and discovered that a few boats were just leaving to do an overnight cross. I looked at the forecast in the Bahamas again and realized  that if we left now we had a window to cross.  The winds were from the North but they would be very  light overnight and until Sunday.  So within an hour we were preparing to leave for an overnight crossing. We hadn’t planned to cross the Gulf Stream on Wednesday night  to the Bahamas but those that know us well would not be surprised by the spontaneous change in plans. We called Paul and made arrangements to pick him up a dock at 17:00 and prepared to depart once the dinghy was lifted and everything was stowed safely away. At  19:30 we were lifting anchor and leaving the safety of our anchorage to   enter the darkness and north swells of the Gulf Stream. With a new moon we had no moonlight to guide our way this time. We were prepared to turn back if the seas were too rough. It certainly wasn’t the smoothest crossing of the Gulf Stream but it tolerable and we were headed to the Islands!  The winds were not as light as they had predicated in fact they increased during the night. At that point we had no choice but to continue and pray that things did not get worse.  We took turns trying to sleep but we didn’t get much quality sleep time.  We kept a close watch on all the big ship traffic during the night.  At daybreak we were relieved to see islands and the swells of the ocean decrease. We had made the crossing safely once again.

By 14:30 the following day we were prepared to anchor in the middle of the Great Bahamas Bank. We could not make it to our destination before night fall so we planned to anchor and get some rest before continuing our journey to Nassau. Coming into anchor I spotted a dolphin in the distance and shouted for joy as the dolphin came to great us. She took a couple of turns around the boat to check us out and came up to smile at us beside the boat.  What a great welcome committee to the Bahamas.  The water temperature was only 78 degrees but it felt so good to go for a swim off the back of the boat. Here we sat at anchor surrounded by 360 degrees by aquamarine water with no land in sight and  one other boat off in the distance at anchor.  

Before first light we were up and ready to lift anchor. We watched the sun rise as we enjoyed breakfast at the helm. What a breathtaking view to look out over the vast expanse of swimming pool blue shallow waters. The Great Bahamas Bank separates the deeper waters of the Gulf Stream and the Tongue of the Ocean. Average depths are 10-12 feet giving the waters their light blue colors because of the sun refracting through the water and bouncing off the white sand bottom. The rule is - the deeper the depths the darker the color of the waters.  Browns or black colors are warnings of either turtle grass or coral.  You need the sun overhead to read the colors of the waters. We needed to plan our crossing of the North West Channel Light which is a narrow reef covered passage with a light that may or may not be lit. It happens to be lit this time however when it burned out it sometimes takes time for the Bahamians to replace the light. With the protection of Chub Cay and the Berry Islands to our North we start the final leg of our passage to Nassau. After a few miles we start to loose the protection of the islands and the waves continue to increase. We still have a few hours to cruise and the direction of the waves were not favourable so we opt to turn back to the Berry Islands and wait for tomorrow to cross.  We head to an anchorage  between  Whale Cay and Bird Cay for lunch and plan our revised route. This time rather than a dolphin greeting us at our new anchorage it is a small nurse shark to passes by our boat. Paul quickly decides that he is not going to jump in for a swim. Whale and Bird are small privately owned islands so we do not go ashore. We winds and waves are settled here in this little protected anchorage however we know from a previous visit that the surge from the current running between the islands can make this anchorage very uncomfortable at night.  

After lunch we decided to pick up anchor and move a few miles to Chub Cay Marina to clear in to customs and use the internet at the marina to check the weather forecast. We arrived at dock at the same time as another boat coming from the US.  After filling in the appropriate customs forms I board a small bus to the local airport with the other boat to clear into the Bahamas. The other two “gentlemen” from the other boat barge ahead of me and clear in first. I look at my watch 1 minute after 5:00 on a Friday afternoon and I pray that they do not tell me that I have to come back Monday morning because they are closed. But as luck would have it the two gentlemen quickly and extremely efficiently process my application. No guns, no weapons...no problem. I thank them and head out to find that my bus driver is gone back to the marina without me! Not to worry another Bahamian tells me “he’ll be back”. I hope so otherwise I am walking back and I didn’t even pay attention which direction we came from.  Shortly afterward I see his little bus coming back for me. He tells me afterwards that the other gentlemen rudely requested that return to the marina right away rather than wait for me.  He tells me they were not gentlemen.  I learn that there are no children living on Chub Cay which I find very usual. My driver said that all the people on the island are “workers” and that they come from Andros Island where all of their families are. They just come to Chub to work and go back on whenever they get time off.  Later we meet the bartender and he tells me he is from Nassau.  Back at the boat we can now buy fuel since we have cleared in. Let check out the menu at the restaurant and decided we do not want to spend $200 for dinner which probably explains why the restaurant is empty. We enjoy dinner on board in our second night in the Bahamas. The internet goes down as soon as the staff leaves so we have no internet access to check the weather reports.

We fuel up at $4.80 per US gallon (ouch) compared to $2.95 a gallon in Fernandina Beach, Florida.  The marina is almost empty and we have heard that the US recession is greatly affecting the Bahamas as well but it also has to do with their ridicules rates. Their $2.75 per foot rate(which is suppose to include wifi internet access) plus water plus hydro (both based on consumption) are high even by Florida standards. Chub Cay Marina would do well to reduce their rates during the off season and fill their marina.  At a $179 per night (without water and hydro) we move on!  

Saturday December 11^th

At first light we depart from dock at Chub Cay Marina headed 34 nautical miles to Nassau.  The wind direction has shifted slightly so the waves are from a slightly different direction. Once past the safety of the Berry Islands we decide to proceed and tolerate the bumpy ride to Nassau.  ETE is 4 hours and 15 minutes.  We adjust our heading to take the waves now 6 to 8 feet more on the bow, however this takes us off our course, so every few miles we would adjust course to compensate and then head back into the large swells so as not to take them broadside. The seas are confused with waves on top of sea swells. We listened as the cruise ships and the freighters cleared in with Nassau Harbour control and were given a number to come into the harbour. Paul & I both watch the wave patterns off our port side and when a large wave builds then we advise Ted in time to turn into the waves. We bide our time and wait our turn to enter the harbour after the commercial traffic as we battle the wind and waves. We receive clearance from Nassau Harbour Control and make our entrance into the harbour. Once inside we can relax because we have calm protected waters from the inner harbour. Captain Ted has once again done an amazing job steering the boat through some difficult waters.  

We proceed slowly in the harbour take in the sights and sounds. It feels like coming home again. We do not drop anchor but proceed all the way through the harbour and exit at the other end to head south down the Exuma chain. Not many boats are anchored in our usual anchorage which is not surprising because it is still early in the season and with the front coming alot of boats have likely moved on. We are thrill to spot some old friends aboard the trawler Margaret Lee.  We first met Ed & Marge in 2005 and have kept in contact with them over the years.  They are in their 20^th year of cruising to the Bahamas and you would think they were still newlyweds traveling for the first time with the enthusiasm that they exude.  At 65 and 70 I hope to still be cruising like our friends Marge & Ed. We hail then on the VHF radio and with promises to get together soon we press on.  Atlantis Resort is still impressive as ever and we notice a few more new pink and yellow homes along the harbour, otherwise everything feels the same as if we haven`t been away for long.

We spot a fishing boat coming out of the harbour behind us but he slows down as a smaller boat approaches and boards the boat. Then another boat approaches and does the same thing. Next thing we look back and the large fishing trawler is towing three smaller fishing boats.  Guess that is one way to on fuel!

After a hectic morning we can now we can sit back, relax and enjoy the rest of the days cruise. The seas are now on 2- 3 foot waves we approach the protection of the Bahama Bank as opposed to the 6-8 foot waves from this morning`s trip from Chub Cay. We exit the hustle and bustle of Nassau harbour and start our cruise south along the 365 islands that make up the Exuma chain of family islands. Our stop for the night is Normans Cay having now travelled 2014 nautical miles from Toronto.  The  Bahamas are made up of more than 750 islands that are grouped as Family Islands.  The largest group of family islands are the Exuma island chain, 365 of them, one for each day of the year. The islands start just south of  Nassau and run 150 miles south to the Tropic of Cancer where they separate  the shallow Bahama Bank and the deep blue Bahamas Sound.  For the most part the travels are easily done on the ``banks`` except for a few exceptions where prudent watch is necessary.  Our first obstacle is the Yellow Bank, a land mind of coral heads. You must travel this area during the day and with the sun clearly overhead to highlight the many coral heads that cover this area.  Paul quickly masters the eyeball navigation technique and is able to pick up the dangerous coral heads which we manually steer around.  Within an hour we are across the Yellow Bank and clear of obstructions. We anchor at Normans and relax after a long days cruise.