Cruising on Nice Butt

2009-07-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

Captain’s Log

Port Stanley, Ontario

July 17 2009

The Butt is back !! (home)

We arrived in Port Stanley last night on a 18:30 bridge. Our slip was ready and several members on hand to greet us. In our absence the clubhouse renovations have been completed and with the renovations a new sense of pride and enthusiasm among the members was evident. We always liked our little sailing squadron and now the facillity we have is second to none.

We were able to get underway from Lyons last Saturday morning (the 11th) and made it to Fairport before torrential rain started at noon. Fairport is a nice place to stop with town docks in the centre of town for I think it was $9. a night with electric and water. The rain stopped mid afternoon so we toured the town, bought some more books and had a nice meal in an authentic Mexican restaurant. Dessert was at the local ice cream parlour and Niki will be dismayed to learn the flavour of the day which she missed was called “Panda Paws”.(LOL). Sunday got us to Medina. Monday we reached Tonnawanda in the early afternoon and at 15:00 we were tied to a dock at Anchor Marine on Grand Island in the Niagara River. Our mast was waiting for us. By 14:00 Tuesday we were a fully rigged sailboat again and heading for the Blackrock canal and Lake Erie. Canal transit was very slow so when we reached Buffalo at 17:00 we found a dock for the night. Wednesday afternoon we sailed into Port Dover and enjoyed the Customs’ Officers’ “Welcome back” when we checked in. And of course Thursday we sailed from Dover to Port Stanley with 15 to 20 knots of wind out of the west. Why should our last day be any different than all the others?

So we are back home, our trip is complete and today is our 44th wedding anniversary. I’m glad we didn’t leave this adventure to do any later in life.

What are the most poignant memories? This is tough but surely the big one is the joy of sailing on the Bahama Banks. The clarity of the water and the wonderful shades of blue (from the deep blue of the Gulf Stream to the azure blues of the shallow banks) is simply undescribable.

And the Bahamian people were wonderful hosts. Being there with other sailors from home was great. Meeting so many new sailors that also became friends was equally great. The snorkling was incredible. The leisure to take one day at a time with few demands from society is a treat I must learn to practice back home.

For Niki the key to the trip was social for when asked for the one outstanding memory her response waivered. Was it Junkanoo in Georgetown, or happy hours on the disappearing beach at Cambridge, or the memorable lunch on Long Island prepared by the absent chef’s sister? Or the snorkleling at Rocky Dundas? Maybe the Bananaquites (sugar eating birds), the pigs at pig beach on Big Major. Or the stars that surround you when anchored on the Banks? For Niki it was definitely the people and the variety of social customs and, well, the people !!

Maxine agrees # 1 is definitely the water. Water defines the Bahamas. Hopefully Niki will find some time to post a few more pictures of our time in the Bahamas for pictures can speak so much more clearly than words.

In a nutshell, it was a wonderful year !!

Wayne

2009-07-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

Captain’s Log

Lyons, N.Y.

July 8, 2009

As planned, we left the Hudson River and entered the Erie Canal at Waterford, N.Y. a week ago today. The ‘free’ dock at Waterford was reserved for a steam boat festival so we simply carried on through the flight of 5 locks and tied up at a dock several miles west along the canal. We secured ourselves about 15:00 just before the heavens opened and poured for the rest of the night. The Macaulay’s’ arrived around 21:00 to drop Larry off.

We made good time each day since then till Saturday. We planned to cross Lake Oneida Saturday afternoon and stop in Brewerton to refuel and recharge. Ma Nature had different plans. The wind was blowing stink out of the west and Lake Oneida looked a lot like Lake Erie at its worst. At the entrance to the lake, Sylvan Beach, we sailed past Whippoorwill. One look at the Lake and we did a 180 and tied alongside the wall ahead of Whippoorwill. Abe and Karen were there to take our lines.

About 11:00 Sunday the lake had settled enough that we crossed and stopped in Brewerton 4 hours later at Ess-Kay Yards where we had stayed last fall heading south. Grace C had a new transmission installed there and we repaired our ignition and replaced a leaky hatch. They remembered us; called us by our first names, inquired about Niki and generally made us feel like it was only last week that we had been there. How nice is that !! We refuelled, filled water tanks, used their courtesy car to get groceries at Walmart, spent a relaxing night and got underway next morning, all for a dock fee of 95 cents a foot.

Whippoorwill chose to go on to Lock 23, three miles on for the night. We caught up to them Monday morning at Lock 24, Baldwinsville, to learn that the canal has been closed at Lock 28B at Newark, N.Y. A dredge had sunk in the canal ! With no idea how long the lock would be closed or how crowded the docking facilities would be Whippoorwill chose to stay at a comfortable dock with facilities in Baldwinsville and we chose to carry on the 50 odd miles we could still travel in hopes the lock would reopen by the time we reached lock 27, Lyons, the last practical place to stop before the closed lock 28B. We arrived at Lyons Tuesday mid morning to find the courtesy dock empty but lock 28B still closed for an indeterminate time. So here we sit. We have shore power and, courtesy of the Lyons Fire Department which we are beside, we have clean showers and fresh water as required.

We are hoping the canal will reopen in time for us to get Nice Butt back to Port Stanley before our family reunion in Huntsville on the 19th.

Wayne

2009-06-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

Captain’s Log

June 27 2009

As I type this log we are motor sailing up the Jersey coast. We expect to spend tonight in Great Kills Harbour by Staten Island in the Lower Bay of New York Harbour. It is a clear sunny day with what little breeze there is pretty much on the nose. We’re running just a little east of our rhum line so that we can carry our jib. The ocean is relatively calm, but undulating as oceans do . It is a feeling I always enjoy.

Yesterday was full of surprises. But I’m ahead of myself. We left Solomons Island and Banshee on Monday morning. The wind , the current and the waves were all out of the north bang on our bow and we got beat up pretty bad. Our best speed forward was 4 kts and when the bigger waves slammed our bow we stalled at 2.5 kts. Wisely we put in at the first available harbour which was Harrington Harbour South in Herring Bay, about 3 hours south of Anapolis.

This is probably the nicest marina we’ve ever stayed at, complete with several beaches and picnic areas, swimming pool, tiki bars and restaurant, manicured lawns and flower gardens. Several years ago when we helped Larry and Kathy bring Sinn Fein north they stayed at Harrington North but brought us to this restaurant for a meal. The laundry facility was good and so putting in at noon allowed us the luxury of doing laundry , having a walk about, a relaxing happy hour and a good night’s sleep.

We were off again Tuesday morning shortly after six and made such good progress that Maxine continually updated our destination. We spent Tuesday night in Chesapeake City which took us out of the Bay and poised to enter the C & D canal at first light Wednesday morning. Skipper Bob (our guidebook and Bible) advised leaving one hour before high tide at Reedy Point which would have meant a noon departure and the impossibility of transiting the Delaware in daylight (this is to catch the currents in the Delaware River on a favourable basis. So against the best advice we left sharp at 6 am with a “damn the torpedoes’ attitude. Amazingly the currents still worked in our favour for about 2 3rds of the day . We were at our dock at Uuch`s Marina in Cape May fully fuelled at 18:00. Maxine however was too whipped to do anything. It was my turn to cook (read plastic card buys restaurant food) but not only did I have to cook, but I also had to fetch and deliver. The pizza I procured turned out to be excellent.

With the weather still on our side but threatening afternoon T storms for the next few days we decided to keep moving early each morning. So Thursday we moved north to Atlantic City and put in at noon at a dock ($1.50 foot can you believe). We toured Trump City, had a nice meal out and early to bed. Ditto Friday and we put into Barnaget Inlet around 13:00 Friday (yesterday). Well there is much debate about transiting this inlet at ANY TIME. We chose to do it on an ebbing tide with 3 to 5 foot rollers coming in from the ocean. The ebbing tide creates a rip with the waves and simply put one damned confused sea. The buoys marking the channel aren`t charted since they are moved regularly to deal with the shifting shoals. And, we were greeted in mid channel by 30+ cigar boats in a poker challenge race coming out the channel all at once at speeds that must have been 60+ mph. Holy shit !! And to add insult to injury with the ebbing tide they had the legal right of way over our upstream bound vessel. Every one of these 30 odd boats passed us in rapid succession within several boat length`s of us on both sides of us simultaneously. The noise sounded like being on the run way at Pearson International. The wake added to the already excited sea state in the narrow channel. Well, thinking back it was a one of a kind experience. (We really missed Niki here since she would have videographed this nightmare and possibly come up with award winning footage !! ). Again we took a dock because the forecast was for severe T storms and high winds. The forecast was right. It came about 20:00 hours and never have I seen such a black sky. Our dock cost $3.00 a ft (can you imagine !!) but when the wind hit I didn`t begrudge a single cent. And the swimming pool and showers were wonderful in the afternoon. And the early arrival allowed me to change fuel fitters, oil, and all that good stuff that keeps our Yanmar humming.

As I type this I have heard two reports from N Y sector US Coast Guard. One, expect 150 swimmers swimming across N Y harbour today plus 50 odd sailboats in a race plus a whole bunch of Kayaks traversing the harbour. Well after yesterdays cigar boat poker run, these slow moving obstacles should be a piece of cake. Two, there has just been a sighting in Long Island Sound of a pod of dolphins numbering over a hundred moving through the Sound. Wouldn’t that be something to see.

June 29 2009

We did take a mooring at the Richmond County Yacht club Saturday about 16:00 and were content to have our happy hour and supper on board. We had a relaxing night, turned in early and at 6:00 Sunday morning slipped our mooring. Up the Hudson from New York Harbour’s lower bay through the narrows, past the Stature of Liberty, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Yonkers. We left New York behind and finally settled for the evening 12 hours later at Newburgh. At Staniel Cay, Exumas, we saw a large yacht named “Le Grande Bleu”. She was so “Grand” she had a full size patio on her stern and both a sailboat and power boat on her mid decks. Both were likely in the 60’ range. We sailed past Le Grande Bleu in N Y Harbour.

Today we travelled to Catskills where we will dismast in the morning and become a power boat again. Tonight we have stripped sails and rigging and are ready to pop the stick fist thing tomorrow We will head to Troy Wednesday morning and enter the Erie Barge Canal for the trip home to Lake Erie.

June 30 2009

We moved into the crane dock at 8:00 this morning. The mast is down and ready for transport to Anchor Marine on Grand Island and we have the boat scrubbed, fuelled and ready to move first thing tomorrow. We will complete our transit of the Hudson and enter Lock # 1 Wednesday afternoon.. Larry McAulay will meet us in Waterford N Y to help us through the locks of the Erie canal. The tripm is close to over.
.
Wayne

Captains Log

2009-06-22T13:36:00.000-07:00

Solomons Island, Maryland
June 20 2009

We have completed our first week on our own without Niki. It has takensome getting used to only 2 persons on board. We can only carp at eachother (LOL as Niki would say). We miss her but she is busy back homemaking school arrangements and catching up with family and friends.

We didn’t leave Hampton Roads last Sunday as planned. We got lazy (plusBay was fogged in) and stayed till Monday. Plan was to work up the westside of the Bay and perhaps stop at Deltaville, a relatively short day ofmaybe 40 knots. By noon Maxine didn’t think it was respectable to quit inthe early afternoon so we consulted the charts, and changed course forTangiers Island on the east side of the Bay. We got in a little after18:00 hours (another 70 Kt day) and tied up at Parks Marina, the onlyplace there and necessary since strong currents make anchoring unwise. Milton Parks took our lines and immediately offered us a golf cart tour ofthe island. “It’s part of the package” he said. His sign reads “Briefstays $5., Overnight, boats to 30’ $25., boats over 30’ $30. Plus $5. Forshore power. This is extremely reasonable. The washrooms and showerswere quite respectable, the docks in excellent condition and Milton’sconversation excellent!. There are only a few cars on the Island, mostlygolf carts and motor bikes. The habitable part comprises only a fewhundred acres, the rest being canals and marsh, although they have a nicebeach. Population is about 600 and life is slow paced, based on fishingfor the economy and a strong Christian ethic for morals and lifestyle. Wewanted to stay Tuesday and see the museum and walk about more. Wednesdayand Thursday the wind was blowing stink so we ended up staying tillFriday. Friday, I didn’t even check the weather, I just knew we had toslip our lines and move on no matter the weather.

Tuesday the troller Barbara arrived with Ken and Barb, (For all you dollfans this is the second “Ken and Barb” couple we have encounteredcruising). We met them in the Bahamas and again at Hampton Roads. Theyare returning home to New Jersey and are a delightful couple. They coaxedus to join them on Wednesday to visit the dock and buy soft shelled crabsfrom a local fisherman. Barb showed Max how to clean and cook them. Whata wonderful meal!! Between chatting with ‘Barbara’, chatting up MiltParks, reading and loafing the week went quickly. Parks Marina andTangiers Island are a definite ‘must do’ for anyone in the Chesapeake.

Friday the wind was northwest 15+ and that’s where we headed. Naturally. We crossed the Bay and moved north to Solomons Island. We went back to theHoliday Inn Marina since it was very close to a gourmet food store and aWest Marine store. And the Happy Hour is cheap and serves great snacks. We had planned to move today (Saturday) but decided again to slow down. We got some cleaning done on the boat, inside and out, and about 13:00hours Banshee arrived and docked right next to us. We met Jan and Bob onBanshee right here last fall and travelled with them a bit. We stayed intouch over the winter by email since they wintered in Florida. It’s greatto renew acquaintances. Home for Banshee is Tighman Is. so she is but 30kts from home.

June 21 2009

We finished our chores, got cleaned up and spent the afternoon chattingwith Bob and Jan, catching up on our respective journeys (both waterwayand life). We had happy hour with them, dinner with them, andconversation after on Banshee. Suddenly it was past midnight. Ascruisers, midnight only exists as a middle of the night timeline when youget up to check the anchor or the head. Bedtime is always hours sooner. Bob and Jan are one of the couples we took to immediately and hooking upafter 6 months seemed more like it was only last week since we saw them.

The realization is starting to set in that in a few short weeks thisodyssey will end and we may never again see some of our many new friends. We have decided to stay here with Banshee another day. Perhaps we’ll movenorth again tomorrow.

Wayne

Day 281

2009-06-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

Captain’s Log

June 14 2009

Niki is gone !! They say when the rats jump overboard the ship issinking. Well relax. Niki isn’t a rat and the ship’s not sinking. Besides she didn’t jump overboard. She stepped gracefully from the boatto the dock, a well seasoned (and tanned) sailor. She’s back in St.Thomas to have a long overdue adjustment from her orthodontist on thosebraces. She has been in pain for some time now since the usual 6 – 8 weekadjustments haven’t happened since Christmas.

Like all other things for ship captains (and housewives) I get to pick upany unfinished tasks which in this case is her Blog. I’m not much of ablogger. More a factual reporter of events (slanted perhaps toward myperspective). So I won’t be giving you a daily play by play but I willendeavour to keep you abreast of our whereabouts and wellbeing till wecomplete the voyage.

We arrived at Hampton Roads Public Piers across from Norfolk VA onThursday. Saturday we rented a car and drove to I95 to meet up with Kathyand Larry MacAulay and Maria. Niki is driving home to St. Thomas withthem. They have opted to leave their boat in Florida and return for moresailing in the fall.

We planned to leave early this morning to head up the Bay but the Bay wastotally fogged in. By the time it clears it makes for a very late startso we decided to relax one more day.

As we move around we are continually bumping into boats we’ve seen before.Last night a dinghy stopped by our dock to say hi. They are from theHudson River in a trawler and we last saw them in Georgetown, the Bahamas.

On the trip down I expressed wonderment at the number and size of riversin America. So at fort Pierce I thought i would start listing the riverswe travel on. Although the odd one is called a creek it is a river by anystandard we might have in Canada. These are only the rivers we actuallytravelled in the past month and do not include ditches that are simplylabelled on the chart as ‘Intra coastal waterway’. For the most part theyare wide and long but often shallow. I have also omitted the vast‘sounds’ we cross. These are bodies of water that lie between mainlandAmerica and the barrier islands, reefs and sand dunes that separate thesound from the north Atlantic Ocean. Here’s the list as far north asNorfolk/Hampton Roads.

Indian River
Halifax R
Matanza R
Tolomato R
St John’s R
Sisters Creek
Sawpit Creek
Nassau R
South Amelia R
Amelia R
St Mary’s R
Cumberland R
Jekyll Creek
MacKay R
Frederica R
Altamaha R
Little Mud R
Darien R
North R
Old Teakette Creek
Front R
Sapelo R
South Newport R
Johnson Creek
North Newport R
Bear R
Ogeechee R
Burnside R
Skidaway R
Wilmington R
Savannah R
Wright R
New R
Ramshorn Creek
Skull Creek
Chechesseer R
Beaufort R
Coosaw R
Rock Creek
Ashepoo R
South Edisto R
North Creek
Dawho R
North Edisto R
Stono R
Cooper R
Ashley R
Harbor R
Winyaw R
Waccawmaw R
Little R
Cape Fear R
New River
Newport R
Core Creek
Adams Creek
Neuse R
Pamlico R
Goose R
Pungo R
Alligator R
Pasquotank R
North R
North Landing R
Elizabeth R
Hampton R

And the sounds
Cumberland, St. Andrews, Jekyll, St. Simons, Buttermilk, Doboy, Sapelo,St. Catharines, Calibogue, Port Royal, Myrtle Grove, Masonboro, Topsail,Bogue, Albemarle, Currituck,

Wayne

Wayne Kentner
wkentner@amtelecom.net

Day 280

2009-06-12T16:22:00.001-07:00

It was so nice to wake up on my own rather than waking up to the roar of the engine or any of the ways Grama attempts to wake me up in the mornings. Once up and outa bed i had a ton of things to do. I cleaned out my berth and organized and we went out for lunch and we relaxed =]. It was such a busy day.

Niki

Day 279

2009-06-12T16:20:00.002-07:00

I feel bad that lately all I seem to be able to do is navigate for a while and then sleep some more...but my mouth has been really bugging me... Grama and Papa made it from our anchorage, through 5 bridges and a lock to Hampton Roads. It was a long day from around 6am to about 6pm so we decided Papa was cooking dinner. He went out and came back with pizza.

Niki

Day 278

2009-06-12T16:20:00.001-07:00

Again we had an early start leaving around 6am and heading north. We pressed as far north as we could...well i guess I should say ‘they’ meaning Grama and Papa... As the light started to fade we anchored south of Buck Island. We are now only 57.8 miles from the top of the ICW at Norfolk VA. We hope to make it to Hampton Roads tomorrow but it’ll be another long day.

Niki

Day 277

2009-06-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

We left this morning at the crack of dawn, moving out the creek and trying not to run over any crab pots. Again i slept most of the day...the Tylenol 3s make me soo tired and I’ve had trouble sleeping at night =[. Grama and Papa piloted up through narrow sections of the path and up the alligator river past Belhaven to Dowry Creek and its Marina. Here they have a pool, nice showers and nice people, and it’s not very far to Belhaven. Grama and Papa went with the couple docked next to us and headed to town for groceries. I stayed on the boat trying to update the blog but internet wasn’t strong enough and I only got a few posts done before a storm hit and I lost the internet connection.

Niki

Day 276

2009-06-12T16:17:00.000-07:00

We didn’t have as early a start as we had planned but were underway before 7:30. It didn’t take us long before we were passing Oriental. We decided to keep going until we were too tired to go any further but then Papa got worried panning for the next few days. We decided to pull in early into Broad Creek...now there were a few navigational errors that I would be embarrassed to go into detail about but it took a little bit longer to get in and settled. All in all it was a nice night. A quiet anchorage and I got to just crawl into bed. It was nice.

Niki

Day 275

2009-06-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

Today was painfully long and for most of the day I tried to sleep and lay down because my mouth was so sore I had migraines and felt like crap. We made it to Dudley’s Marina in Swansboro. Here the people are friendly and they charge $0.75/foot which is ridiculously cheap considering they provide a courtesy car, showers and hydro..wait no its called electric in the states. If you say hydro they look at you as if your speaking Chinese. Grama and Papa took the car and went grocery shopping and then the marina drove them out to a restaurant for supper.

Niki

Day 274

2009-06-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

This morning we departed Barefoot Landing. We headed up the ICW in hopes of making it to South Port NC. We made good time and just before we were in South Port we made a quick decision that since the timing with the tides were right we’d carry on up the Cape Fear River. We made it to Masonboro and luckily called ahead to a marina and were given directions into a slip. By the time we got there everyone had gone home. They had a cheap laundry mat and Grama and I...even though we felt dead and wanted to go to bed...went up to do several loads of laundry. As soon as the office opens tomorrow we’re going to pay for the night on the dock and head out for another day of travel.

Niki

Day 273

2009-06-09T16:41:00.000-07:00

This morning we started cleaning up the boat....and that turned into hard manual labour and we scrubbed the boat clean. After we were done we decided not to move for the day and to have fun. Grama and Papa went shopping and since my braces have been bugging me and really starting to pain today i stayed onboard and watched tv, tried to chat to friends online and read. We went out to supper and Grams and I went shopping afterwards. Grama got a new wardrobe! Lmao.

Niki

Day 272

2009-06-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

We had a good run Barefoot Landing. It was another long day but we were in and docked before suppertime. Grama decided that Papa was cooking tonight so he went off in search of a place to eat. When he came back he informed us that we were to cook supper and we needed to be done eating by 7 lol. He got us tickets to the Alabama Theater and their show called ‘One’. When we asked him what it was he told us that it was a 3 hour event...ok but what’s it about? He didn’t know lol it was going to be a surprise.

At 7 we headed up to the theatre. It was a good show with a variety of different acts but my favourite was the comedian. He had everyone in the audience laughing so hard that we were all almost crying. After the show I headed back to the boat to try and get internet while Grama and Papa went for a walk. When they got back to the boat they were both holding a few shopping bags lol.

Niki

Day 271

2009-06-09T10:58:00.001-07:00

This morning was beautiful. We were in a quiet secluded anchorage and I missed the morning swims we had off the back end in the Bahamas. Today’s section of the ICW was very shallow and narrow and we had to constantly be on our toes. Unfortunately we had the current against us for the whole day and everyone was a little crabby. We saw the normal amounts of dolphins, pelicans, turtles, and for the first time on this trip we saw alligators. We planned to go as far as Georgetown SC but when we looked at the tides for tomorrow we thought we would carry on for another hour or two. We called two marinas and inquired about a third due to the lack of good anchorages but no one could accomidate us so we reverted back to the original plan and are in Georgetown for the night. At the moment Grama and Papa have gone over to a shrimp boat to get some fresh shrimp for the night and we plan to start tomorrow at first light in hopes of having the tide with us for part of the day.

Niki

Day 270

2009-06-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

We left early this morning and headed north. We planned to make it to Charleston and thought it would be a long day. Luckily we had the current with us for most of the day. When we arrived at the Wappoo Creek Bridge we needed to anchor for an hour to wait for an opening. In that time I cooked supper while Papa and Grama debated whether or not to move on and try and make the next bridge whos restricted hours would make tomorrows travels difficult.
We decided to try for it and attempt to make the 8pm bridge. The current was flowing in our favour and when we rolled out the jib we flew across the Inlet at about 9 knots. We made the bridge with time to spare and kept pressing on until we reached Dewy Creek. By the time we made it into the anchorage the sun had set and the last little bit of light was fading quickly. We sat in the cockpit enjoying taking a break after a long day. Then we heard several splashes and dolphins exhaling. We could hardly see them because the moon hadn’t risen yet but for a good hour they played around the boat.

Niki

Day 269

2009-06-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

We got an early start and flew up the ICW. We had the current with us for most of the day and made great time. A few parts of the ICW had uncharted shoaling and for the first time on this trip I was at the helm when the boat went aground. I backed her off easily but quickly handed over the helm to Papa lol. We attempted to navigated the cut 3 more time and went aground each time. Luckily a local tug came by and agreed to lead us through. The tug went aground twice and ended up dredging an 8’ ditch by forcing his way through.

We made it to Beaufort, SC (thats Be-Ewww-Fort not Bo-Fort). When we were here before we stayed on the dock at Gail and Meindert Wolff’s home on Ladies Island and they invited us to stay there again when we were on our way home. So we docked out on their floating dock and were disappointed that they were not home but left a note for them. It was a nice quiet night and we did practically nothing.

Niki

Day 268

2009-06-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

It was sooo nice to have a lazy lay day where we didn’t have to do anything! At 8:30 we got the courtesy car and headed to a Wallmart. By 11 Papa had his hair cut and Grama and I had bought all the food we had ever had a craving for when we were down south and we headed back to the marina.

In the afternoon Papa and Grama went back to Savannah to tour around and I did absolutely nothing! Lol. It was a good day =].

Niki

Some More Pics

2009-05-31T13:34:00.002-07:00

Shuttle Launch Station

Light house...obv

In a little Creek

Sub

Dolphin

Eagle

Savannah

Suicide Stairs

(thats seriously what they're called)

A Fireman Got Married

Day 266

2009-05-31T13:34:00.001-07:00

Today was a short 30mile stint. We left the creek and headed north although most of the time we were heading east or west. Georgia’s section of the waterway twists and turns and most of the time we’re either heading east or west. We were at Isle Of Hope around 1ish but had to stand off for quite a while before entering the marina. We chose to stop early today because while in Fort Pierce Papa ordered a new chart plotter and had it shipped here.
Once we were in and settled we decided to head into Savannah to tour around. We got on an Ole Savannah tour bus and actually had a nice tour...now I enjoy some history but I’ve been on some really boring tours... but it was fun. We got off the bus by the river and looked through shops, had a great supper and shopped some more =]. By the time we were back onboard we were tired and flaked out in front of the tv! lol

Niki

266

2009-05-31T13:33:00.001-07:00

We saw soo many dolphins. More than we’ve seen on this whole trip and many of the pods had a few babies. We traveled all day and anchored in Kilkenny Creek for the night. Not long after we anchored a storm moved in and we had a nice lightening show...all night -_-.

Niki

Day 265

2009-05-29T02:53:00.000-07:00

We were going to get an early start today but it was foggy so we were forced to stay put. Papa worked on the engine, changing the oil and fuel filters. By the time we were underway it was noon. On the way we had to pass a government navy dock and saw patrol boat circling for quite a while before we saw a submarine tied alongside the wall. We crossed into Georgia and went past Cumberland Island. Papa was the first to notice a small herd of the wild horses. We pulled in at the Jekyll Island marina for the night and made good use of the facilities. It was such a hot day so it didn’t take long before we were up enjoying the pool. Tomorrow we’re hoping to be able to get an early start and get several miles behind us.

Niki

Day 264

2009-05-29T02:51:00.001-07:00

I wanted to get internet in the morn as soon as the office was open so even though we weren’t leaving early I didn’t get to sleep in. We were underway before noon and made it to Fernandina Beach by 4. We picked up a mooring just before it started to pour. When the rain cleared we headed into town and walked about the little shops and picked up some grocery items. Travelling the ICW doesn’t really give me many good blog topics =[.

Niki

Day 263

2009-05-29T02:48:00.000-07:00

It was another long day. We made it to Jacksonville Beach and took a dock for the night. Umm I can’t really think of anything eventful that happened today =/. We got in just before it started it rain and Papa decided he was cooking tonight so we went to a restaurant not very far away for supper.

Niki

Day 262

2009-05-27T06:58:00.001-07:00

..Ok maybe we weren’t as spry and ready to get moving in the morning as we though... we planned on leaving at first light, but who needs plans? At 7am Grama woke up and was hollering for me to get my...butt... out of bed and by 7:15 we were well underway.

It was a long day and there were a few stressful moments with the amount of traffic since it was the last day of the holiday weekend. And you can’t have a long day on the ICW without going hard aground. Those are just rules. If you travel the ICW you need to be prepared for:
1) Power-boaters who think it’s funny to see how fast they can pass you and how much wake they can create.
2) You need to be ready to dodge tons of crab pots.
3) You need to be ready for the invasion of a million freaken horse flies that cover every inch of canvas onboard.
4) And most of all you need patience. This is for when you think you’re done for the night after more than 10 hours underway and are looking for an anchorage... then you go so hard aground that there is nothing you can do to get off. You try lowering the dingy off the foredeck and putting the motor on and trying to pull the boat off...and push the boat off...and then call Tow Boat US to come save the day. Then when all that is done and your finally free you get to travel another hour to find the narrowest anchorage that unless desperate (since the sun was setting and a storm fast approaching we qualified for desperate) it is said no one anchors there anymore. It is now that everyone onboard needs extreme patience to get the hook down without killing each other.

Traveling the Inter Coastal Waterway is not for the faint of heart lmao. I’m alive to type this out at 10:31pm so I think all in all it was an ok day. We travelled 70miles (statured not nautical unfortunately) so now we only have 809.2miles left in the ICW (Norfolk, VA is the end of the ICW).

Just reading over this I realize how sarcastic and pissy it makes me sound lol. I would never say I’m not sarcastic or pissy (Grama calls me pissy all the time) but tonight’s turned out to be a nice night, hot as hell, but nice. We’re all in good moods and feel like we’ve accomplished something today, but looking back...well when I think about all the things I ‘endured’ it really amounts to nothing other than constant annoyances, mainly due to the amount of people and I don’t remember it driving me so over the edge on our way down. The Bahamas had been isolated...the exumas atleast... and now the constant buzz of people is exciting yes but there is no more peaceful nights with no unnatural noise, there is no more turquoise water, no more watching for starfish and sharks, no more Bahamas time and (don’t let papa read this or he will be dancing around saying ‘I told you so!’ lol) I kinda miss it. I feel like a horse that’s headed back for the barn, pulling at the bit and traveling as fast as we can, and I’m dying to get home...but I’ve made up my mind that at some point I have to go back to the Bahamas, step back out of the busy rush north Americans live for and get back on Island time =]

Niki

Day 261

2009-05-27T06:57:00.000-07:00

This morning started out slow with coffee in the club house/ Mike’s workshop. Eventually after several goodbyes we headed out with Southern Cross. It was a nice day up the ICW and uneventful. I think from now on my posts are going to be short and basically just stating from where to where every day. Sinn Fein has made it as far north as they are going and today as we pulled into Titus Ville it really hit home that this is the end of the road for Southern Cross. We have been told that Ab and Karen might be in Belhaven NC (the place with the human foetuses in formaldehyde and we had our first crab dinner). Vertigo is thought to be a bit north of there. So we have a few lone days ahead of us. We toyed with the idea of staying, borrowing a car from friends we made in the Bahamas, and checking out the Cape Canaveral Space Center. I thought it would be fun but we’re itching to get north and hopefully catch Wipp or Vert before they make it back to Port Stanley. Tomorrow we depart at first light and we plan to go till dusk...the long trek home has begun.

Niki

Day 260

2009-05-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

Well last night after the blog I headed out to the camp fire and then headed back to Sinn Fein for a movie night with Maria.

This morning Maria and I were lazy. The boys were off to marine stores and the ladies were off shoping so we laid in bed watching movies. By the time we got up it was into the afternoon and Grams told me I needed to clean up my berth...lately I have just been spending the least amount of time I can on the boat and...well it looks like a hurricane went through the V berth...

At 6 we headed up for a dinner/club party and had sooooo much food! We talked and Maria convinced me to play ping pong with her and then it was time for smores!

Niki

Day 259

2009-05-22T17:35:00.000-07:00

Today we had some nice weather and made it to Melbourne. Just as we were heading in the channel a big black storm cloud hovered overhead and we were worried about a big storm just as we were going to dock. Luckily the storm blew over and we got only a few drops of rain.

Melbourne is where Sinn Fein is being left for the summer and Kathy has continually told us how great it is...we weren’t too excited and planned to move tomorrow but now that we’re here and enjoying the people we’re going to stay another day if not a week lol.

We got off the boat and we’re invited to have a happy hour. It’s been fun and at the moment there’s a camp fire going that maria wants to drag me off to. It looks like it will be a late night with lots of laughs.

Niki

Day 258

2009-05-21T21:38:00.001-07:00

We were suppose to leave this morning but with it down pouring and a ton of wind we decided to stay put on the dock. I can’t say we did anything of significance today but I hung out with Karen and Maria. Grama, Papa, Kathy and Larry took the car and went to Walmart and Kmart and Denis...I didn’t really see Denis today. We plan to leave tomorrow morn and hopefully the weather will be a little nicer.

Niki

Day 257

2009-05-21T21:34:00.001-07:00

Sinn Fein made it here this morning! They have been down in Miami and are going to travel with us as far as Melbourne (a day away) where they will be leaving their boat. We hung out and got caught up and Maria and I did laundry lol. It was an uneventful day but we went out for pizza and this time the pizza place was open. It was fun and our group was loud and rowdy and we had a great time =].

Niki

Day 256

2009-05-21T21:17:00.002-07:00

We’ve been in need of a girls day out so today Grama, Karen and I went shopping and to get haircuts! I have been dying for a haircut! We got our haircut in the morning and then headed to a very good Tai restaurant we went to back in Jan. It was great and once the rain cleared up a bit we headed from little shop to little shop.

I couldn’t tell you what the boys did all day but when we got back to the boat Papa was sitting down below playing with his Blackberry. I can’t wait to get back to Canada and to get my cell turned on! We watched tv tonight for the first time in I don’t know how long and enjoyed the free wifi =]. As much as I miss the natural beauty of the islands civilization feels nice!

Niki

Day 255

2009-05-21T21:17:00.001-07:00

Today we had to deal with immigration and I was nervous about it. Who enjoys government offices? We rented a car and headed over. Surprisingly it painless and didn’t take very long. On the way back to the boat Grama and I went into a Publix... We aren’t use to the huge grocery stores anymore and kinda went overboard buying things we couldn’t get in the islands. Chips and fresh fruit and pop and non sweet bread and milk!

When we got back to the boat we had lunch and then Denis, Karen, Grama, Papa and I headed out shopping. We went to West Marine and got looking at condos all afternoon. We decided to go out for pizza tonight and at suppertime we headed to the Italian place we had seen. It was closed =[ but we went next door to a Greek restaurant =].

Niki

Day 254

2009-05-21T21:08:00.001-07:00

We pulled out of the anchorage and were underway at 2am as we said. The moon was beautiful in the sky with Venus next to it. I couldn’t help but to think about Wendy from Say Yes =] Venus is her star. It was a long night and day.

We arrived and were docked in Fort Pierce Florida at 5:45pm...we got off the boats and Southern Cross and ourselves went out for dinner, had showers and headed to bed.

Niki

Day 253

2009-05-21T21:06:00.000-07:00

It was a nice calm day. We once had a bit of rain but other than that I laid around reading. We saw fish muds, where the fish stir up the sand and it looks like a huge several hundred foot sandbar and in a little over 10 hours we were in and anchored. We talked to the other boats and agreed to leave at 2am to head across the Gulf stream... I put my bikini on and went for a swim. By the time we had supper and started to try to fall asleep it was maybe 4h before we were suppose to haul anchor and be leaving. I watched the clock and counted down the mins until we had to be up.

Niki

Day 252

2009-05-21T20:59:00.001-07:00

This morning Toucan Dream came by after looking at the weather and called a weather meeting. It looks like the front will allow us a crossing very shortly but if we miss it we may be stuck for a few weeks. Lol stuck in paradise some might say... This trip has been amazing and an incredible experience and i wouldn’t trade it for the world...but it’s lonely and I’m looking forward to seeing my friends and family again. Physically this is paradise but you need the people you care about to truly make it paradise.

That said we headed out to Allens-Pensacola, a day sail and one day away from what will be our jump off point. We could be 2 days away from our destination I thought... I was soo excited...but then you think about all the responsibility and work back home lol...I’m going to miss the colour of the water, the amount of stars, the sea life, the little towns and times like Black Point and the mac and cheese!! I knew I would probably have only one more time to snorkel because we were suppose to have a layday tomorrow and then start to cross.

We made it to Pensacola and were anchored and invited over to Confluence. It was nice and we talked for a while before supper. When we got back to the boat we ate and then Grama and Papa headed over to after dinner martinis on Toucan Dream while I decided to skip and stay onboard and read.

When they came back I was told we’re doing a 10h sail to Mangrove Cay tomorrow and then crossing the next day so we should get to bed.

To be honest (as I’m typing this out after the fact) I really didn’t believe I would be in the states in 2 days... I thought we would get storm stead and I’d have more time to snorkel and explore and escape reality lol. Living in a world with limited news and isolated islands has its ups and downs but as much as I wanted to see people I enjoyed the beauty of the islands and had trouble leaving them.

Niki

Day 251

2009-05-21T20:58:00.001-07:00

Today is some sort of deal day at a marina here where any food or drinks you buy will be credited to your dockage and they advertise you drinking your dockage away. So quite a few of us decided to head into the dock and do just that lol. Ourselves, Southern Cross, Sea Dancer and Toucan Dream decided to lay by the pool for the day and later have supper at the marina restaurant. It was fun and soo nice to lay by the pool (although I burnt =[. I was doing so well and I’m more tanned then I’ve ever been!). We talked about weather windows and when we might be able to cross to the states and what this tropical wave might do... We’re going to have quite a crossing party as boats began to talk and agree about crossing times. So far we have ourselves (obviously) and southern Cross, and then Sea Dancer, Southern Estate, Confluence, Toucan Dream and possibly another cat to make up our flotilla.

Niki

Day 250

2009-05-21T20:57:00.000-07:00

We slept in this morning and eventually decided to go tour New Plymouth, the settlement on Green Turtle. We headed over in the dingy and on the way looked at a boat Bob asked Denis to check out. When we arrived we checked out several little shops and walked some of the town. The towns in the Abaco are huge cities compared to the towns farther south in the Exumas. It’s like trying to compare Shedden to London. The town was very cute and surprisingly there were no dirt roads. They had a museam and a memorial sculpture garden. We scouted out places to have lunch and went to 3 recommended places to find they were closed and eventually made it to a place called Macintosh. The food was incrediable and we were soo stuffed we didn’t even eat dinner when we finally got back to the boat. We agreed to go into a bar to hear a local musician around 9 but we could hear him from the boat and decided to stay onboard.

Niki

2009-05-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

Hope Town

Me climbing the mast

And Climbing

Still Climbing

Woot finally at the top

taking pics x]

Green Turtle Cay

Well I've been up the mast and got pics so we had to get me sitting on the Keel

Day 249

2009-05-17T18:14:00.000-07:00

We were up in good time to have showers and get ready to head over to Green Turtle Cay. Once underway we only part way out the channel before Southern Cross’s engine died and they started to head back under sail. We turned around in case they needed assistance and once we were in the lee of the land there was too little wind to give them steerage and we towed them into the anchorage.

In no time we were underway again, Denis having patched up a leak in his diesel hose. The trip was short and we made it into the anchorage in good time...although we had some trouble getting the anchor to set. 1) the anchor doesn’t set well in weed, 2) no one was really communicating 3) our anchor caught a 6’ loose pipe on the bottom that we were unaware of until we pulled up the anchor after dragging it across the anchorage. Needless to say we were happy when we finally got it to set.

It was such a hot night and Grama made up some great stir fry but the cooking almost made the cabin unbearably hot! We went to sleep with the hatches open so of course it had to rain lol.

Niki

Day 248

2009-05-17T18:13:00.000-07:00

This morning we felt lazy. Running the genny (a.k.a the generator or Grama’s red baby) and we had some light rain. Unfortunately the hatches in both the head and the aft cabin were open and we had a bit of water to clean up.

After lunch we headed into land and I had some more online time before talking to a guy I met and went spear fishing...now I was nervous, someone being as accident prone as I shouldn’t swim with a spear! But it was fun. We went to a sunken barge and really didn’t see anything edible. We gave up on that location and headed towards a cove... not realizing that a large shallow patch ran quite a ways out before we could get back in and when the bottom came abruptly up we had to get the motor up and had a time using the oars to push against the waves and into deeper water (neither of us had shoes and the coral was too sharp to just get out and push it). Oh well we called it an adventure. Back in deeper water we still didn’t see any game fish and started to head back. We checked out a little island and found some creepy stuff (a stuffed duck and jars of god knows what). We decided to try one last spot (well he did because he had bragged that we would catch a few fish at the barge and had nothing) just outside of the channel he got out and looked around and when he said there were fish I got in. There were fish but here the water was murky and after a few boats came flying in the no wake channel we decided it was too dangerous to be in the water there and headed back.

Southern Cross invited us to supper and at 6 we were ready to head over when it started to rain. We thought oh well rain lasts like 5 mins so we waited...and waited and waited some more lol. Finally we got over there a half an hour later and Denis cooked up some great pork tenderloin and Karen did some sides and it was delicious.

I went to Blue Runner at 730ish and had to show Nick how to use a vacuum sealer lol and he tried to teach me to prepare the ballyhoo (a type of fish) to be used as bait. You had to poke the eyes out and literally squeeze the crap out of them and I told him he was nuts and went to post some stuff to the blog haha. When I got back we went to one of his friend’s boats and watched hockey! Lol I haven’t watched hockey since I was home for Christmas and went to a Knights game with my dad.

Niki

Day 247

2009-05-17T18:12:00.001-07:00

Today started out great! I went and sat online for most of the morning lol. I miss talking to everyone and hearing about prom and my cousin was telling me about the dress she got...
In the afternoon the internet died and I had two guys come try to help me. We talked for quite a while and I was invited back to the Blue Runner for dinner. Grama and Papa liked the idea and quickly made plans for a romantic dinner alone lol. I couldn’t have giving her a better mothers day present.

Grams and I laid by the pool and kinda napped on and off until dinner time. They headed to the restaurant and I headed for dinner and we both had a fun evening.

When I got back onboard that evening I had to tell Grams and Papa about the Blue Runner. It’s a 61’ sport fisher that is quite impressive. When I first got onboard I think the first thing I noticed was a HUGE flat screen tv that at the push of a button disappeared into the cabinet below it. It had a large kitchen that i was completely jealous of, it had several rooms and 3 heads with glass showers. When you’re in the stern and open a door to go below there were two of the largest engines I have ever seen and was immediately thankful of our motor. These are probably more than 30x the size of ours and looking at one of the filters that weighs a little more than 40lbs ours seems simple. I mean on our motor Papa can easily change the oil and do most repairs on his own, on these it takes 2 people and quite a few hours to change the oil. I have a new appreciation for the Butt and if I were ever to get a large power boat it will be large enough to have mechanics to take care of any of that crap!

Niki

Day 246

2009-05-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Treasure Cay. It was a short trip like all the others and we were nicely anchored in the afternoon. Tomorrows Mothers Day so when I found there was good internet here I quickly made use of it and made several skype calls home =]. At 9pm there was a band playing at a local bar and Grama and Papa went... I had alot to catch up on online =]

Niki

Day 245

2009-05-11T17:52:00.002-07:00

We lazed around in the morning. Papa and Denis headed into town to go to the bank and pick up a few things at the grocery store. Grama and I sat in the cockpit and did nothing. We did see a turtle and when Grama started to throw bread crumbs overboard we had several schools of fish and one large mutton snapper swimming around the boat.

In the early afternoon we hauled up anchor and headed over to Man-O-War Cay. It was a very short trip (only 8 or 9 miles) and within no time we were in the harbour and tied to a mooring ball. We went ashore and did a walk about the island, had ice cream and Grams, Pops and Southern Cross enjoyed the pool.

Niki

Day 244

2009-05-11T17:51:00.000-07:00

This morning the mechanic came aboard and confirmed our alternator was toast from the start. He said it was definitely faulty from the factory. So we called up the supplier we got the alternator from and he called the factory several times for us and then told us that he was getting nowhere with them and we should call the factory ourselves. We called and the manager answered right away and would not listen to the situation and cut papa short and told him to look in his warranty manual on pg25 and it clearly states that we would have to send our alternator back to them and wait for the factory to determine that it was faulty (although regardless of whether it was faulty from the start or not it’s less than 3 months old and is covered under warranty anyways!). They refused to even send an alternator, give us a time frame to send our alternator back and if they find its fine they could charge it to papas credit card.

We tried to explain that the belt that runs the alternator is also the belt that runs the cooling system in our engine and to remove it would make us immobile. The manager commented back that if we were any kind of sailors we would have spares. We said we did have a spare, we have two Power line alternators and they both died on us! Needless to say we did not get a new alternator shipped to us and looking at the weather forecast we can’t stay put here or else it will be several more weeks before we get a good window to cross back to the states. Grama and I wanted off of the boat. We took the dingy and headed over to Southern Cross, picked up Karen and headed into town lol.

When we got back to the boat we decided to have Karen and Denis over for dinner and we had a nice night. They only condition was no one was allowed to say alternator >_>

Niki

Day 243

2009-05-11T17:50:00.000-07:00

This morning we decided it was calm enough and the fact that we haven’t had a wind instrument (tells wind speed and direction) since we left Nassau on day 156... basicaly that day Grama was mad and said she didn’t want to see any more 30 knot winds and the wind instrument quite working and we haven’t had it since. So I was going to go up the mast and see if there was any obstructions blocking the instrument from spinning and working and I took up some corrosion lock to try and see if that would help.

In going up the mast I have the bosun’s chair but it would be hard for papa to grind me all the way to the top so I have to literally climb the mast. By the time I got to the top I was exhausted! I played with the wind instrument for a while and applied a ton of corrosion block but it was still stiff and we think it has permanently seized and we’ll need to replace it when we get home. When we determined that I stopped and just looked around at the view. From here I could see over to the ocean, all of hope town and alot of boats lol. I said to Grama that I should have brought the camera up and she agreed so I told her to attach it to the spinnaker halyard and send it up...well there was another little problem with that, the spinnaker halyard doesn’t come to the top of the mast it goes to about 4’ down from the top. So I had to stretch and struggle mostly out of the bosun’s chair and grab it with my toes and hoist it up...in doing so the straps on the bosun’s chair were moved to awkward spots and I no longer think I have a right boob but I did get some nice pictures.

By the time I was back on the deck we had to get ready to move to marsh harbour. We got everything ready to quickly go into the fuel dock before we were to head out and then we found out there was a long line up for the fuel dock and we had to sit and wait for quite a while. So we decided to run the engine so we would be ready to slip our lines and go...and the engine over heated and the alternator started to smell...like it did when we first put it on. Papa played with the engine but couldn’t find anything wrong or different but the alternator wouldn’t do its third step up and was making a squealing noise =/.

We finally got to the fuel dock and filled our diesel, gas and water tanks and then we headed to Marsh Harbour. It was an easy sail and we were in and anchored and off the boat in no time. We went looking for a mechanic and booked a guy to come out tomorrow morning.

Niki

Day 242

2009-05-11T17:49:00.001-07:00

We walked Hope Town and shopped =]. We hit an ice cream place and when we decided that it was too hot going around town we headed over to the marina pool.

For supper it was dinner movie night at an inns bar. We sat outside under the stars and watched Australia. It was a good movie and with the blowing wind we had real sound effects.

Niki

Day 241

2009-05-11T17:44:00.002-07:00

We sailed almost all the way to Hope Town. Today’s sail was how I envisioned the Bahamas. We only did about 3-4 knots but it was nice. We had several tacks and jibes but the boat was perfectly still and the water was a mill pond.

Getting into Hope Town we picked up a mooring ball and though wow this is crowded. It was getting later so we stayed onboard... Im not sure how I’m going to do when we get home because there was a bit of traffic noise and it bugged me..

Niki

Day 240

2009-05-11T17:44:00.001-07:00

At slack tide we went snorkelling. The snorkelling was right out in the open by a large cut. The waves were rolling in and I decided to stay in the dingy and lay in the sun. The ride home we were beating into the swells and by the time we got to the beach we looked like drown rats.

At the beach we collected shells and once we were back onboard we showered off, got in dry clothes and put on our wet gear to go to town. We wanted to see the art gallery and we heard of a fish fry. When we got there the gallery was closed (it was suppose to be open till 4 and it was 1) and we were told the fish fry wasn’t happening. We decided to make the best of it and walked to the ocean side beach and got drinks at the bar.

Niki

Day 239

2009-05-11T17:43:00.001-07:00

I was up early to have a last LONG hot shower... mainly just to prove Grama wrong that i could get up early :P. We slipped our dock lines at 7:15 and headed over to the
It was a looonnnnggg day but i managed to only get seasick once and only for a short time.

Got into the Abaco and nicely anchored behind Lynyard Cay. It was calm and nice. But it took a few tries to get the fortress to set. We had a lazy night and stayed aboard making plans for tomorrow

Niki

Day 237

2009-05-11T17:42:00.000-07:00

We’re possibly leaving tomorrow so I went up to the golf cart rental place where I can get free internet and spent from 10:30am to 4:30pm downloading the blog and putting up pics and videos. When I got back to the boat we left for southern cross who had invited us over to dinner. It was delicious and we had a great time.

Now today I would like to point out that things do go on and I have to omit them from the blog as to be politically correct. Today was interesting sitting at the golf cart place and when I’m not posting it online it’s a funny story...

Niki

Captain’s Log

2009-05-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

Spanish Wells
The Bahamas

April 25 2009

I last wrote on February 5 in Nassau. From Nassau we made our way downthe Exuma chain to Georgetown on Great Exuma Island, southeast to LongIsland, back to Georgetown and retraced our steps up the Exuma Chain. Last week we crossed the banks back to New Providence, but rather thanentering Nassau harbour we chose to anchor off Rose Island, just minutesfrom downtown Nassau, yet a tranquil beach (except when the cruise shipsoff loaded passengers to the beach in their bum boats) with reefs tosnorkel right off the stern of the boat. We have been with SouthernCross, Windswept and Sinn Fein. Windswept and Sinn Fein are enteringNassau harbour and heading back to Bimini and then Miami. We have crossedthe North East Providence Channel to Spanish Wells, just north ofEleuthera and are waiting out yet another cold front before we move northto Great Abaco. We have just extended our visas enabling us to remain inthe Bahamas till May 24 2009.

Let me elaborate on the ‘cold fronts’ we have experienced down here. Acold front does bring cooler but also more stable air. That means aslight dip in temperature from the mid 80’s to mid 70’s if you are on theboat. On land it’s still typically much warmer. I haven’t worn longpants since Miami and only seldom do you add a sweater over a shortsleeved T shirt. The ‘cold front’ problem is the high winds that comefrom the North to East quadrant (00 – 90 degrees). Depending where youare it’s difficult to impossible to move a boat to a new destination inthese conditions. Consequently we spent a lot more time in Georgetownbecause we couldn’t get out. Right now in Spanish Wells the weatherforecast suggests it will be next weekend before we can head north to theAbacos. We plan to spend perhaps two weeks in the Abacos and then crossback to Florida mid May.

Over Easter David and Karen Kentner flew in to join us at Staniel Cay. Wehad a great time snorkelling the Thunderball Cave (as in 007 movies) aswell as great reefs in Cambridge Cay which is part of the Exuma Cays Landand Sea Park, My favourite was the reef and two caves at Rocky Dundas. Their visit was a great boost for us and a chance to share our Bahamasexperience with family.

Several nights ago in Spanish Wells we enjoyed ‘the hour of the swallow’(actually it was a pleasant two hours) at the home of Tom and JeanGoldson, with our hosts and locals Jock and Hawk and their wives and ofcourse Dennis and Karen from Southern Cross. The get together was theresult of a chance meeting between Southern Cross and Tom and Jean. Assoon as Port Stanley was mentioned they wanted to know if we knew Marv andMary Nethercott. Of course we do. Well they cruised with them over 10years ago on their first cruise south. Since them they bought a differentboat, sold their home in Rhode Island and bought property in SpanishWells. Although its been a long while since they cruised together theyremember Marv and Mary with great fondness. Being from Port Stanley andknowing those that have cruised before us (Nethercotts, Rands, Don Wilson,Lesaks) has become a badge of honour to be worn proudly. It has been thepassport to many memorable encounters with long term cruisers.

We have been cruising now some eight months and I sense my crew is readyfor a vacation from the vacation. They are ready to step back into theold familiar life. “The sea faring rat”, a character from one of myfavourite books “Wind in the Willows” talks about going to sea, steppingout of the old life and into the new as a simple transitory action that ina moment of time changes you forever. Not so for my crew. The odyssey iswinding down. When we hit the Florida coast it will be a hurried treknorth and this passage will become but a warm memory.

Luckily for me it will be a part of me forever. ‘Though it has been farmore enjoyable for me I couldn’t have experienced this on my own. I willalways be grateful to Maxine and Niki for living my dream and making it areality.

Wayne
S/V Nice Butt

Pics!

2009-04-30T08:05:00.001-07:00

The Sand Castle in Blackpoint

Blackpoint Group Pic

Bitter Guana Cay

Staniel- Dave and Karen!!

Papa in da Dink

Thunderball

Pig Beach

Cambridge

Back to Staniel- Dave and Karen's Last Day

The Clock

The Sharks

:'(

Easter

Our Fire on Pig Beach

Warderick Wells

Papa's Birthday

The Lobster Quasadilla!!

sweet nothings :P

Day 235

2009-04-30T08:04:00.001-07:00

We were up first thing in the morning to take a ferry over to Eleuthera and get the rental car to tour the island for the day with Karen and Denis. Eleuthera is one of the most east islands in the Bahamas and is HUGE. It’s 110miles long and has quite a lot of vegetation. They farm the in the north part of the island, but not as we think of farming. The terrain is rough and there is very little top soil. Here they grow all sorts of citric trees. We found out from a local that several years ago a hurricane that flattened everything on the island had destroyed all of the trees and just now are the new trees producing fruit.

As we were driving down the road all that was visible in the north were walls of thick rough looking native Bahamian bushes. Every once and a while you would get a glimpse of what looked like rows of fruit trees and maybe a house just off the road but it seemed to be like driving down the 401 back home. Then out of nowhere we would be in the middle of a town.

As we ventured south we went over hills and the rock was cut away for the road. It kind of reminded me of being up near the Georgian Bay. Just as we were looking at the more barren landscape we came to the glass window, a must see on Eleuthera. We had heard of this spot and were told that it was where the island almost split in two in about a 80’ gap. There was a bridge to continue down the road but you need to take some time and look at the sight here. Here the sound and the ocean met and directly under the bridge was a line that divided night and day. We were at first sceptical but as we neared the bridge we could see what he had been talking about. The ocean was whitecaping as far as the eye could see and beating the cliff sending spray up everywhere. The sound was a beautiful turquoise mill pond. The ocean was the colour of dark navy velvet and looked so forbidding and nasty where the sound was a marbled of all shades of light blue and clear as glass. It was night and day. Here as we looked out across the ocean it hit me that there was nothing across the deep boiling water until Africa.

We moved on and found a little town and did a walk about. We looked in little shops and the boys got anxious to go. We moved on and drove for another while, most of the way having a nice view of the banks and then suddenly we were back into what looked like the farm area on the north end. We saw several silos and we tried to guess what they were for but Papa found in a guide book that they were rain silos...now what a rain silo does I’m not sure.

We found a cave and did a detour to go see it. This cave was smaller (well what we saw of it) then others we have visited but every available inch of the walls and ceiling was covered in graffiti. Denis had the only flashlight and him and I ventured farther into the cave than the rest of the group. We found stairs heading down into what we think would be another chamber but we decided with our footwear and dying flashlight that it wasn’t a good idea to go farther. But first I had to take a pick of what was spray painted above the hole down.

We drove through several more little towns and decided it was time for lunch. We were all talking about food while we were between towns and we noticed a sign advertising an ocean view lunch and we decided to check it out. We found a little Italian oasis in the middle of nowhere. I couldn’t tell you the name of it but it’s located on alabaster bay and served a lunch menu that was more than enough for dinner and we aren’t sure how in the Bahamas they can support their menu. They offered bow tie pasta in a black truffle sauce any type of pasta you could dream of, foccacia bread with salami and an Italian cheese, and a variety of other foods that I probably couldn’t pronounce if my life depended on it.

While there we met up with some cruisers that Karen and Denis were acquainted with and we had heard in Georgetown. They told us that the beach the restaurant was on had tons of milk conch shells. After we ate we walked the beach and there were more shells then we could have imagined. We filled a grocery bag with shells and had a good time walking in and out of the warm water. We saw starfish and for the first time in the Bahamas I saw tiny jellyfish.

Back on the road we wanted to get farther south so we drove for a while deciding that we didn’t have enough time to stop and shop in every little town. We made it a little farther south than Rock Sound and saw the ocean hole. This hole is as deep as the ocean, is almost a perfectly round circle and is inland quite a ways from the sound and the ocean. While we were sitting looking at the fish in this bottomless hole an ol’ local came by and was chatting with us about the hole as he broke up stale buns and threw them to the fish and birds. He told us that there use to be rainbow parrot fish in the hole and they kept the sides clean and free of growth but they had all died out and the locals are going to try and repopulate it. He said that in the hole right now there are 5 turtles and several thousand fish. We only saw grey snappers. When it was time to move on we thanked him and said by and headed back to the van. On our way back we noticed several cotton plants and went over to take a look.

Back on the road we tried to find another cave that was mentioned in the guide book but we ended up giving up and heading north on our way home. We made a stop at a grocery store and picked up a few items and then boogied on home...until we all decided that we should have ice cream x]. We stopped off at an ice cream place and went in and were very disappointed to hear that she was out until thurs when the mail boat comes in. She told us that if we wanted the gas station sells ice cream bars. We went just a little down the road and bought drumsticks and headed back the rest of the way north. We arrived at James Bay and called Knight Rider to come pick us up around 7:30 and we headed back to our boats.

Back on the butt we watched Pirates of the Caribbean lmao and Papa decided it wasn’t as horrible as he thought :P.

Niki

Day 234

2009-04-30T08:02:00.002-07:00

Papa and Grama left early for a walk about the island and I (not being out of bed yet) decided to pass. I had the boat to myself almost all day because it was after 3:30 when they returned. They said they had a nice time but they were tired and Grams said there were a few shops me and her would have to go visit another time. The rest of the day was uneventful but of course we took advantage of being on hydro and had to watch a movie again tonight =].

Niki

Day 232

2009-04-30T08:02:00.001-07:00

Today we had a boat chore and laundry day. It was pretty boring until Grama decided that we should have Denis and Karen over for dinner tonight. We called them and decided they would come over at 5:30 and bring dominos and movies. Grams made up some spaghetti and after we ate we tried to teach Grama and Papa how to play Mexican train beach rule dominos. Grama said the more wine she had the more sense it made and we had a ball. It was pretty late after dominos but we decided to watch a movie anyways. Denis really wanted to see kung fu panda and reluctantly Grama agreed lmao. Near the end of the movie Grams admitted that it was an ok movie.

Niki

Day 231

2009-04-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Papa is now an older man lmao. I was up before the grandparents this morning and had to wake them up. Today we’re going with Karen and Denis over to explore Harbour Island. We took a ferry over to Eleuthera, then a taxi to North Eleuthera and then another ferry to Harbour Island.

Once there we went to a place called Sip Sips and had the best Lobster Quesadilla! There was at least 2 lobsters per quesadilla and one would feed 2 people. From there we walked the beach and ended up talking to a local who showed us a little 2bedroom cottage that her employer rented out to tourists. We continued walking the island and ended up at a little bar on the water. They had a $5 vodka special so we had to go in lol.

After a while we decided to continue our walk and while looking at a house with a for sale sign on it we got a tour. The house was a 4 bedroom/3bath with Dock and pool and was located on the water (obviously, it has a dock!). It was up for 2.something (the guy couldn’t remember what the .something was) million.

We continued to walk around and back towards town. We went in little shops and eventually found the ice cream parlour. We each had a cone and then walked for a little while longer before catching the ferry back to Eleuthera and a taxi back to the other ferry dock and another ferry back to Spanish Wells. Back on the boat we lazed around and did nothing. We were still too full from lunch to have supper and too tired from walking around all day to do anything.

Niki

Day 230

2009-04-30T07:59:00.000-07:00

By 9 we were all up, had showers (HOT SHOWERS!) and breakfast and were ready to go to Lower Bouge and find Officer Gordon. We found a ferry to take us to Eleuthera and the driver called us a taxi to meet us at the ferry dock. We got our extension extended and we picked up some booze at the liquor store before heading back over.

Back in Spanish Wells Papa went to get the dingy so we didn’t have to carry the box of wine and the cases of beer back to the boat. Unfortunately when he was getting the motor on the dingy the cell phone fell out of his pocket and sunk to the bottom of the creek.

When he came around to get us Grama wanted to get some seafood for Papa’s birthday tomorrow and they went off leaving me to watch the dingy. When they came back there as no seafood but they had found some dessert.

Back on the boat we unpacked our stuff and I went up to the office to try and get online to post to the blog. The phone tower was down and there was no internet. Meanwhile Papa and Grama went to get a new phone and groceries.

We went to have a drink and meet some people Denis and Karen met. We went to Tom and Gene’s house and had an interesting time. We were told about a robbery that went on in this town. A group of guys planned the robbery for when all of the fishing boats were back at the end of the season and the most money would be in the bank. The routine of the bank was that the money would arrive by plane on a date no one knew. So the robbers were forced to guess when the money would be in. On the day of the robbery the manager of the bank went to pick up the money from the plane but instead of going directly to the bank was driving in his golf cart and was chatting with friends (it’s a really small town).

When he was arriving at the bank he saw the robbery taking place through the window and hid in a house across the street. The robbers were told that the money was not in yet and only got $8000. In their escape they took a hostage but when they got to the boats they ended up forgetting their hostage (now there were a few theories about why or how). All of the guys were caught because the cut they would have to go out was quickly blocked and the money was recovered. It’s such a small town that everyone knows who does what and they laughed and said everyone knows if a kid is going to try and shoplift something before the kid knows.

On our way back to the boat we noticed a guy cleaning a fish and we walked over to be nosey. He said he had tried to save the fish and had been swimming around with him trying to keep it alive but since he died he’d be supper. His name was Captain Ron and his wife was Lorraine and we chatted with them for a while. Lorraine was a Bahamian and her mother’s family dated back to the Eleutheran adventurers. We asked about the netting and why they had fish and a lobster in there and they said that they were their pets. It started out with their son. He found some injured turtles and kept them to nurse back to health. Now they get different fish and keep them as pets. Just before we were leaving captain Ron came over and handed Grama a bag full of fish! We hadn’t even known this couple for 10mins and they gave us enough fish to feed 5 for supper.

Back on the boat we barbequed half of the fish and fried the other half and had a great supper.

Niki

Day 229

2009-04-30T07:57:00.001-07:00

Last night we rocked and we rolled and this morning we were up and ready to get out of the anchorage. At 7am we departed and headed for Spanish Wells. It was a rolly day and I was very happy to get into a quiet dock at Spanish Wells. We needed to get an extension in our permit to remain in the Bahamas so we rented a golf cart and headed to the immigration office.

While driving through town we realized that Spanish Wells was nothing like any Bahamian town we had ever been in. Most of the population here is Caucasian and the houses are very well up kept. The town has a sense of pride about it...but not in an arrogant sense. They are grateful and proud to be where they are.

We found the immigration building and entered into a little room. Papa had called ahead to make sure they could take care of us and we had been assured they could so we entered expecting to have this over within half an hour. Unfortunately the officer who is posted there was ill and they could not help us. The man tending to us offered to call around and find someone who could help us and we said we would appreciate that. 15mins later we left felling slightly annoyed that we would have to make a long trip tomorrow to Eleuthera and to a town called Lower Bouge.

We decided to drive around the rest of the island in the golf cart. We drove along the waterfront and found a grocery store and decided to go in and pick a few things up. We came out and pilled the bags in the cart and started to drive back towards the marina. On the way there Papa commented that he didn’t see any beer or liquor. As we passed a little corner store Papa went in quickly to see if they sold any...and came back to the cart chuckling. No one on the island sells alcohol! We all laughed at that. We were on an island in the Bahamas that didn’t sell rum!
Back on the boat we unpacked the groceries and flaked out. Into the evening Papa went to a little take out place and picked up some supper for us. It was good but both Grama and I really weren’t hungry. We went to bed early and enjoyed the stillness of the boat.

Niki

Day 228

2009-04-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

Well this quiet peaceful anchorage was invaded today! First came a snorkelling tour boat, and then came another and another and then a huge cruise ship anchored a couple miles away and brought over load after load of passengers to the beach. Then a large powerboat came in to anchor and started to jetski around between the boats waking us and not being careful of the snorkelers.

We went out snorkelling after lunch at on outer reef and it was neat. I was disappointed that there were no sharks around but with all of the people and commotion around I wasn’t surprised.

Around suppertime we noticed the crew from the cruise ship herding the people back into the shuttle boats to carry them back to the ship and a large storm front quickly moving in. We had the Longest heaviest rain I have seen thus far in the Bahamas. It lasted about a half hour and came in a constant downpour. The partiers from the large powerboat started out unsure where to go to stay dry but finally resolved the problem by all getting into the water and swimming.

The Canadian Flotilla had a small get together on the beach at 5:30 but headed back to the boats for supper. We ate and treated ourselves to a few episodes of Two and a Half Men, thanks to Kathy loaning us her DVDs.

Niki

Day 227

2009-04-30T07:55:00.001-07:00

8am departure from Shroud Cay. It was an early morning and a vigorous sail to Rose Island (just north east of Providence Island). In case you didn’t notice I said SAIL in the previous line! We actually sailed someplace! Unfortunately we had following seas and Grama and I weren’t very comfortable for most of the trip (a.k.a. I went below and slept in order to not be completely sea sick). When we were going past Nassau I was ready to jump overboard and swim to it!

Coming into Rose Island was fairly easy...we just followed Bob lol. We went around a reef and are currently anchored 100’ from a beach in about 15’ of water. Tomorrow we’re planning on swimming off of our boats and snorkelling the reef behind us because we watched 4 snorkelling tour boats leave here just as we arrived.

When we were in and got comfortable Southern Cross came from Nassau to join us along with another boat they had met called ‘Don’t Look Back’. Kathy got everyone organized and we had a beach pot luck supper and a campfire... Rose Island is a private island and you’re not technically allowed to have a bonfire but Bob thinks he knows the guy and it’s ok. Lmao.

It’s only 10:18 at the moment (which is 2h and 18mins past the sailors bedtime) and after a long sail today, not feeling well and then eating like a pig tonight (LOTS OF MARSHMALLOWS) I’m exhausted and going to bed.

Niki

Day 226

2009-04-30T07:54:00.003-07:00

We departed this morning from Warderick Wells around 10:30 and headed up to shroud. It was a calm day and we traveled with the jib and with the several waypoints we jibed a few times. I kept trying to convince Papa to raise the main but we would be constantly altering course slightly and be on the point of the jibe.

Once at Shroud we picked up a ball and decided to take a dingy ride through the mangroves. It was a long ride and there was a heated exchange over how to drive the dingy but once we made it over to the sound side tensions disappeared and we started to enjoy ourselves. We climbed the hill and walked the beach and snorkelled. I went in search of the Lion Fish we had seen here...on day 158 (I wanted to know when so it took me about 5 mins to try and find the day lol), wow that was forever ago! I searched up and down the ledge where the nest had been but I couldn’t find it and I was disappointed because that meant the Park Ranger probably found and speared it. I have mentioned before about the Lion Fish that although they are amazing, beautiful fish they are not native to the Bahamas and are destroying populations of several species of fish that they prey on. As well they have no predators in the Bahamas (although there have been some reports of very large grouper feeding on them) they are rapidly multiplying. Knowing all of this they still are beautiful amazing fish and I am captivated by them. Maria and I decided to snorkel up by the mangroves and there we found two lionfish hunting. AND I had my (shoot! The) underwater camera!

When we headed back through the mangroves towards the banks and our boats we made a turn off towards a beach and apparently everyone had agreed to have happy hour on the beach near the boats...alright! Maria, Marg and I snorkelled a little more along the ledge at the beach and then (having been in the water for so long) I got cold and went back to the boat to get some dry clothes on.

As soon as I was back on the beach Maria wanted to go check out the well. So we climbed up the rock steps and through the path towards the well when suddenly Maria stopped and said “look!” I looked and caught just a glimpse of a small, furry, groundhog like rodent running through the mangroves. It was the first (and most likely the last) time I have seen a hutia, one of the few land animals native to the Bahamas.
Back on the boat we turned in early having planned an 8am departure in the morning.

Niki

Day 225

2009-04-30T07:54:00.001-07:00

We had thought about leaving today but with the wind being stronger than predicted we decided to do nothing today. We still needed to go place the plaque Maria made up on Booboo hill. So we all got off of our butts and headed up to Booboo hill...and then we walked the Sound Trail and then back to the blow hole. There was a happy hour on the beach this evening and Papa and Grama went and had a good time while I laid around and finished the book I started yesterday lol.

Niki

Day 224

2009-04-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

This morning was very overcast so I finished typing up the blog...I’ll admit I’ve been slacking. In the afternoon Papa and I headed into the office to get the internet. Papa checked his email and I posted to the blog and spent over a half an hour trying to load 6 pictures to the blog only to have it fail on me =[. I’m sorry but you’ll have to keep waiting for some good pics and the Great Conch Girl Video staring Karen Kentner :P.

On the way back to the boat I stopped off at Sinn Fein to see if Maria wanted to go kayaking. She did so I waited on Sinn Fein until she was ready and we went to the office to get the kayaks. We had to fight the wind and the current to avoid drifting out the cut while we talked to Bob and Marg who had been snorkelling and when they mentioned hot chocolate we jokingly said we were coming over to have some too! When they went back to windswept we decided to try and see if we could make it to the butt. It took a while and we were exhausted when we got there but we made it.

Going back towards the office was easy, all we had to do was let the wind and current push us. On our way past Windswept Bob offered us some hot chocolate and of course we didn’t refuse. We were very wet (the Kayaks being ocean kayaks and because we had been heading straight into the waves) and the hot chocolate was wonderful.

There had been talk all day about going to put a plaque with our boat names on it up on Booboo hill but no one had the motivation to go. It was still very overcast and gloomy and we decided just to have a quiet night onboard and do nothing.

Niki

Tia’s Announcement

2009-04-17T09:20:00.001-07:00

I have been thinking about my little sister Tia for quite a while now and I have been very upset at the lack of internet and not being able to call her. Tia is a very hard working and very talented baton twirler and at 11years old has managed to make it and is going to the worlds in Belgium this year. I wasn’t sure what day they were leaving but I knew it was sometime around Easter and as Easter approached I was getting more and more anxious to get to the internet so I could let her know I’ve been thinking about her and to wish her luck. Now that I have gotten the internet I received a couple of emails and she has completed her competition. In a quick email my mother explained that while twirling Tia was surrounded by 16 judges on two side making for a total of 32 judges. Back home the most I have seen at the Canadians was 3 judges. My mother sent an email just after Tia had competed and said her solo wasn’t the best she had preformed but it was ok and her X-strut went well. I have also received a follow up email with Tia’s results. Her solo was as my mother said was her worst out of the two and Tia took 14th at the WORLDS!! Her X-strut was well done and Tia did Canada proud and brought home 10th place!! I am proud to call her my little sister. I have always told people that she is a Canadian Champion having taken 1st in Solo and X-strut at the Canadians but now I will be telling everyone that she is a world champion! Congratulations Tiabia! I miss you and we are all so proud of you!

<3 your big sis

Day 223

2009-04-17T09:19:00.002-07:00

We decided to go up the sound to Warderick Wells today. It was a nice motor/sail and as we were going to turn into the Warderick Wells waypoint Grama said no lets veer off a bit so we can sail a little bit longer.

We got in and settled and decided to snorkel the reef with the eagle rays. We only saw one 4’er with a large shark sucker attached but it was nice. I even got a few pics of him with my (ok ok papa ‘THE’) new camera. As the current picked up and with 3 snorkelers holding on ropes to the dingy the anchor started to drag and we decided to call it a day. We also noticed a large front moving quickly our way with several rain dogs so we rushed back to the boat to close the hatches.

Bob and Marg came by a little later and we chatted for quite a while. Today just felt lazy and no one felt motivated to do anything. We decided just before they left to have a movie night up at the office at 7:30.

When we got up there I had a password for 24hs of internet and I got quite a few posts done on the blog. Unfortunately I don’t know if I’ll be able to put on any pics right now. We all sat out on the deck in the howeling wind and watched Iron Man. We had popcorn and a good movie and it was a nice evening. When we were leaving I asked Marg “so what movie are we watching tomorrow night?”

Niki

Day 222

2009-04-17T09:19:00.001-07:00

I still wasn’t feeling well this morning but in the beginning of the afternoon I started to feel a little better. I was determined not to be left out so when everyone decided to go for a walk on Cambridge I went with them.

After a bit of a walk and being in the sun I regretted not staying onboard but it was nice. We walked from a beach on the banks side to a beach on the sound side. It was very pretty but we all laughed because the person who made the trail must have been from Georgia! The ICW in Georgia twists and turns and when traveling south you often find yourself going north for a while. This path was like the ICW.

When we got back to the boat I laid down for a bit before Grama was as mad with her hair as I was not too long ago and so we went out on the stern and I cut the back of her hair. I know almost everyone reading this (specially Mom, Aunti J and Mama) is going to be thinking “ohh noo!” but it turned out very nice and everyone says I did a good job :P.

I joined them for sun downers on the sand bar tonight and we invited Skip and Journey (we met them in Black Point) and it was a nice evening. Back on the boat Grama noticed some big fish jumping and swimming back and under the boat and we sat out with flashlights on the stern watching them. The big powerboats all have big lights that come on at night under their hull and Grama and I think we want lights so we can watch the fish at night.

Niki

Day 221

2009-04-17T09:18:00.001-07:00

Today I woke up and my throat was soar and I wasn’t feeling too well. We left fairly early and headed up to Cambridge with Sinn Fein and Windswept. It was slightly choppy on the banks so we were glad we didn’t do the sound. When we got into Staniel we really didn’t do much. I laid down and when Papa and Grama went to happy hour on the sand bar I opted to stay back.

While they were gone I started supper and ended up at sundown talking to Skip for quite a while who I didn’t realize was moored on the ball in front of us. When they got back we ate, laid in the cockpit looking at the stars and did dishes...and then bed.

Niki

Day 220

2009-04-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

We got up this morning and Grama and Papa went to town for some groceries. When they came back Papa went to talk to Larry about our generator and Grama and I did a big clean out of the fridge. In doing that we ran out of water so I had to go dump our two 6 ½ gallon jerry cans into the tank.

When Papa got back we decided to take the boat into the dock to fill up our diesel, gas and water. It didn’t take very long but we had to keep moving the boat up and down the dock to do so.

When we had that completed we anchored out again and headed into town for the Easter Monday lunch. There was an egg hunt for the kids, a large traditional Bahamian meal for lunch and one lady brought down 10 puppies for the kids to play with. While we ate lunch we made plans for this evening. We decided to have a camp fire on Pig Beach. I was sooo excited! We had wanted to have a camp fire before but most of the Exuma islands are either privately owned or are part of the park and you aren’t allowed to have a fire.

2 hours before our scheduled fire Maria and I went to collect firewood and make a fire pit. We set it all up and played with the pigs lmao (we watched a bunch of people run away from the pigs if they came to near and we laughed because we would go up and pet them.

When everyone had arrived for the fire we lit her and had sooo much fun. Sitting on the beach looking out at the stars and the boats lit up and the heat from the fire and great friends...it doesn’t get much better than that.

Niki

Day 219

2009-04-17T09:16:00.002-07:00

Happy Easter Everybody!

This morning we were up early and I went with Papa to see Karen and Dave off. We got to the airport at a little after 8 and there was no one there. We sat in the shade because it was hot already (today’s going to be a scorcher). At around 8:40 the Flamingo rep showed up, but there’s nothing you really have to do other than tell him your waiting for the 8:45 plane. Around 8:50 the rest of the people traveling on the 8:45 showed up and finally at 9:30 their plane arrived.

When we got back to the boat we were all upset. We did a little bit of clean up and put the boat back to normal and I think we all missed them already. After sulking for a little while Grama and I decided to blow up our water air mattresses and float on out behind the boat.

At 3 I had told Maria I’d take her snorkelling at Thunderball so everyone got their gear on and everyone went snorkelling. After Thunderball we did a little snorkel by the ship wreck and then went back to the boat for a lazy night.

Niki

Day 218

2009-04-17T09:16:00.001-07:00

We headed back to Staniel today with Sinn Fein. Unfortunately we made the wrong choice and took the sound side down and there were still some rollers left over from yesterday. It was only a short sail and Karen and Dave pretty much slept the whole time in order to feel ok. We got into Staniel in the early afternoon and made plans to have happy hour and dinner at the Yacht Club.
During happy hour Bob and Margret arrived in Staniel! We wanted to hear about their Cuba trip and the raggeds (last time we saw them was Long Island). There was live music and a great big supper (there were enough leftovers to feed all of us tomorrow!). It was a late night because we all knew that when we get up in the morning it will be to say goodbye...

Niki

Day 217

2009-04-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

This morning we got up and lazed around waiting for slack tide. It was a beautiful calm morning and I really think Karen and Dave lucked out with such perfect weather.

When we headed over to the sea Aquarium Maria and I went with Denis and Karen in their dingy while the rest of the gang brought up the rear. We got almost all the way there and I realized that I had forgotten the camera batteries! I had charged the batteries specially for this! I tried in vain to raise Papa on the VHF hoping I’d catch him just as he was heading out to tell him to grab it but he came into sight just as I tried a third time. It was a long dingy ride and I wasn’t allowed to go back for the batteries and we were at the Sea Aquarium which is across from a beach where Johnny Depp’s Bahamas home is and I didn’t have a camera! Needless to say I was upset!

The Sea Aquarium was very pretty once I got over forgetting the camera. It was a small reef but there was an abundance of life and we even saw a Trumpet fish! The only problem with this spot was the current. Papa had been swimming looking at the fish and coral and got swept up in the current and Larry and Kathy had to take their dingy to go rescue him. Not too long after a big powerboat came over with several passengers, including two young boys. With the strong current the powerboat group didn’t stay long but the two boys did get in and swim. When it was time for them to go the youngest of the two boys couldn’t fight the current and couldn’t get out to their boat only 15’ ahead of him so Uncle Dave helped the boy swim to the boat.

When we got back to the butt I made sure the first thing I did was put the battery in the camera! We had some chips and munchies as sort of a lunch and then we were off to snorkel Rocky Dundas. Rocky Dundas is an island that along its edge has some great coral but the real attraction was the two caves in the island. The south cave was everyones favourite. In the south cave you swam into the cave under a low opening and then you could stand up in 2’ of water and climb up onto a large platform.

When we were on the way back to the boat (again I was traveling with Maria, Denis and Karen due to the lack of room in our dingy) we stopped at a little beach that had hundreds of juvenial conch. We found all sorts of shells and Denis even found a mature conch but since we were within the Exuma Park boundries it’s illegal to take even a pretty shell off of the beach. When we were heading back to the dingy I cut the bottom of my foot on a buried conch shell. Of course not wanting to bleed in Denis’s dingy I kept my foot overboard on the way home and Denis couldn’t resist making shark jokes *rolls eyes*.

Once I got back and had my shower off on the boat I headed over to Sinn Fein to make Easter eggs with Maria. If it was anyone other than Kathy I would be shocked that someone would bring an Easter egg decorating kit with them all this way on the boat but when Maria asked me to make Easter eggs with her I wasn’t the least bit shocked.

We decided to have another get together on the sandbar. We now know it’s actually called Mailbox Cay but the only part that shows at high tide is maybe 16’long and 8’ wide. It was a fun evening and we knew we had to go back to Staniel in the morning because tomorrow is Karen and Dave’s last day =[ time has been flying.

Niki

Day 216

2009-04-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

This morning we were up and got underway with Karen and Dave still in bed. I was sure they would have heard the motor but it was 9ish and we wanted to be there for slack tide to snorkel.

It was a beautiful motor-sail. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day. Along the way my guitar was pulled out and dusted off... I’ll admit I haven’t been attempting to play very often but I did pull it out a few times when it was official uncle Dave was coming lol. He played a few songs he knew and we chatted and it was fabulous!

As we were approaching Cambridge and passing a cut to the sound we met up with Sinn Fein!! I couldn’t believe it! We were trying to figure out this boats intentions and whether we would slide in front of them or fall in behind them as we entered the narrow channel. Then we got looking at the boat and I noticed Maria staring at us scrutinizing the boat as we were and then we both recognized each other and hurried up on deck to attempt a bit of conversation. We laughed and let Sinn Fein take the lead. They draw more than we do so if they hit bottom we know that spot is shallow :P.

When we arrived in Cambridge we picked up a mooring ball with ease (we had to look good while doing it lol). When the mooring field host came around to check us in we were told about a nice little snorkelling spot just on the outside of the mooring field.

We decided to snorkel that spot and leave the Sea Aquarium and Rocky Dundas for tomorrow. It was a cute spot and had lots of sea life. Karen got in and was feeling confident until she saw an ugly big Jew fish and had to get out (f.y.i a Jew Fish is part of the grouper family). Just a little while after that Maria and I were swimming along together and a nurse shark came and swam by us and as we were hollering at Papa to look at it he swam right under Papa just as we finally got his attention and looked up. Papa missed seeing the 5’-6’ shark! How that happened I’ll never know.

That evening we (Southern Cross, Sinn Fein and ourselves) had a little happy hour on a sandbar just south of the mooring field. From there we had a good view as the sun set on the horizon and we hoped to see a green flash but there were a few clouds obscuring our view.

Everyone went to bed happy and content and I thought I’d have trouble falling asleep but it was a full day and sleep came easily.

Niki

Day 215

2009-04-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

I woke up thinking hopefully Karen and Dave will arrive this morning! I got up and made my bed and got ready. The anchorage we were in was still lumpy and so we decided to move down towards Club Thunderball where it would be calmer. We moved and headed around and got settled and were rushing to be in on time to pick them up from the airport.

It was 8:30 and since it was a calmer day (today was bright, clear skies and beautiful) I headed in the dingy with Papa to pick them up. It was a short ride to Club Thunderball and I made the mistake of docking the dingy their thinking it would be a shorter walk. Wrong! There is a lake and a windy road to hike in order to get to the airport. I watched a few planes land and had to jog hoping to catch them because if we weren’t there they would take them to the Yacht Club to wait for us and that was another 15min walk. It was a long jog/run and was a good 20-25min walk. When I got to the airport (it’s just a little air strip with a gazebo to sit and wait in) I saw a plane idling and all its passengers were either sitting around or gone already and I thought shoot! I asked just to make sure that it was their plane before I headed on down to the yacht club. Luckily that wasn’t their plane. Their plane was running on Bahamas time so I was early.

Papa had walked and he made it to the airport and still there was no sign of the plane. We waited and the no-see-ums came out and started attacking me in full force. I moved to stand in the sun and waited some more.

Finally their plane arrived and a bunch of passengers got off. We were counting heads and passenger after passenger got off (well only 7 passengers) and I couldn’t see them. They were the last to get off. Karen and I both ran to give each other a hug and Dave and Papa walked over to meet us. We got their luggage and headed back down the long walk to Club Thunderball.

On the way we talked about last night and found out that they were stuck in Philly for an hour delay and by the time they got to Nassau they rushed out to catch their plane and watched it head out the runway and take off. We told them that it was a rough night and they were thankful they weren’t on board. While walking back we were picked up and given a ride to Thunderball by some local ladies.

When we got onboard Grama made up some breaky and we let Karen have a bit of a nap and get use to being onboard. They also pulled out all the goodies they brought down for us. The one item I’ve been waiting for is a new camera! Ours is officially dead and I didn’t want to ask for it right away but I was anxious to get it. When Dave pulled it out and handed it to me I was suddenly estatic!! Grama couldn’t figure out why but I was soo excited! IT’S AN UNDERWATER CAMERA!!

After a few hours it was low slack tide and we took Karen and Dave over to snorkel Thunderball cave. We had fun but Karen didn’t like how the sergeant majors (a tropical fish) all rush and come up to your mask to see if you have food. I took soo many underwater pics with my new camera (oops, our new camera) I was worried I would run out of memory already haha.

When we were through at Thunderball we took Grama and Papa back to the boat and Karen, Dave and I went on around to snorkel by the shipwreck. We weren’t there too long before we were hungry and returned to the boat for lunch...but when we rounded the corner I couldn’t see the boat. It wasn’t there! Grama and Papa had noticed that we had hit bottom with the moon tide and so they went and re anchored lol.

They had anchored where we would be able to find them but it was between two Cays and in a little while when the tidal currents started to pick up it could get uncomfortable. After lunch we left to re anchor off of Pig Beach on Big Major. This anchoring thing is a breeze with the Fortress now on!!

Just before sunset Karen and I went into Pig Beach. It’s appropriately named because this beach it home to about 6 wild pigs...as in big farmyard pigs...on a beach... I think a pig would be the last animal I would ever expect to see on a beach.

When we returned to the butt we were just in time to see the sun set. I got Dave to blow the conch horn and I was jealous when he tried it for the first time and had no problem producing a nice sound. It was a laid back Bahamian night and tomorrow we are going to take Karen and Dave back to Cambridge... Bahamian style :P.

Niki

Day 214

2009-04-16T16:50:00.000-07:00

KAREN AND DAVE ARE GOING TO ARRIVE TODAY! As soon as I woke up I was excited. We did a bit of minor cleaning up and started to get ready for Karen and Dave’s arrival... there really isn’t much to get ready so we keep arranging things and then re arranging the same things just for something to do. There really wasn’t much to do and eventually we were just sitting around waiting.

Thankfully Denis had the idea about going snorkelling in a new spot he had heard about and so I called Shinning Time and let them know we were going to snorkel if they wanted to join us.

The place Denis had heard about really wasn’t anything so we decided to take Shinning Time back to the coral by the shipwreck. It was a fun time and eventually Denis and I had to head back because it was almost time for Papa and Denis to go get Karen and Dave. Grama and I had wanted to go pick them up but today was very windy and the wind was from the west (meaning Staniel Cay is very exposed a.k.a. large waves) and there would be too many people to fit in the dingy. In order to try and keep Karen and Dave as well as their luggage dry we decided to ask Denis to drive in with his dingy and take one of them and Papa would take our dingy and one of them and everyone would wear foul weather gear in hopes to keep the salt water off.

When Papa and Denis took off Grama and I pulled out the steaks for supper and got them ready and marinating, peeled potato’s and got supper all ready so we just had to turn on the oven, cut up some cheese, pulled out crackers and got all kinds of munchies ready. We were sitting and waiting and watching for their plane to fly overhead.

We were sure the plane that came in at 3 was theirs! We started to guess what time they would be arriving on the boat at. Can you tell we were excited? It was nearing the time we thought we would see them heading in the dingy around the corner and up the final stretch to the boat when Papa called on the VHF. I wondered why he was calling but we switched to a working channel and found it busy and it felt like forever before we were both on a clear working channel to talk. He said “They didn’t get off the plane”... “what?!?”
“They must have missed their flight but no one can tell me where they are. They gave me a number to call the Flamingo rep in Nassau so I want you to call them and let me know if I need to stay here. If not I’ll see you back on the boat. The number is...”
I got the number and we cleared the channel and Grama handed me up the phone. I called Flamingo Air and they told me that yes Dave and Karen had missed their flight and that they were rescheduled to fly into Staniel Cay tomorrow morning and be in at 8:45. I asked if they had any contact information in case I needed to get a hold of them or if she knew if they had found a place to stay and she said someone had helped them but she wasn’t sure where they were going to stay. She also volunteered that if I needed to talk to them I could call Flamingo Air tomorrow morning at 7am because they would be there and I could talk to them then. I thanked here and called Papa to let him know.

I was bummed and even more so for the extra cost of this trip for them. Nassau is thee expensive tourist trap because of Paradise Island and the casino. We were just sitting in the cockpit waiting for Papa to return when the cell rang and it was Dave. He said “well I have good news and I have bad news, which do you want to hear first?” I laughed and asked whether getting here tomorrow at 8:45 was good or bad because it was early. He said that ok it was good that I knew and they had a place to stay and it was a long distance call so he should go. Thinking he was on his Canadian cell we quickly said bye and hung up. We could hear about it tomorrow.

Trying to look on the bright side I asked Grama and Papa since there wouldn’t be too many people in the dingy, now that Karen and Dave weren’t coming until tomorrow, could we go to Thunderball’s all you can eat pizza, pasta & a movie night? I was trying to convince Grama and Papa saying it would be fun when Shinning Time called and asked what our plans were for the night and if our guests got in ok. I told them the news about Karen and Dave and told them I was trying to convince Grama and Papa to go to pizza pasta night and they thought that sounded like fun.

At 5ish Shinning Time picked me up and we headed in for pizza, pasta & a movie night at club Thunderball. We had fun and the movie was switched several times but the one they finally put in was don’t mess with the Zohan haha.

When I got back to the boat it was late (well for sailors) because the movie wasn’t started until 8:30ish. I found that Grama and Papa had had a fun night aswell. They had moved the boat to a more comfortable anchorage (the wind had clocked a little more NNW) and then had Karen and Denis over to eat up the supper we had gotten ready and then they decided to watch a Red Skeleton DVD we have.

The wind was blowing hard and the swells were hitting the beam so it wasn’t a comfy night. I guess it was a blessing Karen and Dave were on land in a big bed.

Niki

Day 213

2009-04-16T16:48:00.002-07:00

I was up earlier than usual this morning (but I did turn out my light last night way earlier than normal). We decided that Papa would take the dingy up to Sampson Cay (again Cay is pronounced Key) to get fuel, water and a few groceries. It was a bit of a dingy ride but Papa enjoyed having the opportunity to drive the dingy lol. I generally do most of the driving.

While Papa was gone Grama and I found bed sheets, cleaned out the boat and got ready for Karen and Dave to arrive tomorrow! I guess today it a short post compared to normal but we stayed on board all day.

Ohh and Shinning Time, the catamaran I had dinner on in Long Island came in and anchored near us just after dark and we had a bit of a chat and are planning to go snorkelling tomorrow.

Niki

Day 212

2009-04-16T16:48:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning and was immediately excited. Today I get to snorkel Thunder ball cave. This is the cave that 007’s Thunder ball was filmed in and is one of the best snorkelling-must-see’s in the Bahamas. We decided (well Karen called on the VHF to inform us) that we should go at slack tide around 9:45.

When we got there we found some people already snorkelling and feeding the fish. If you bring bread crumbs with you the fish literally swarm you and in looking for food nip at your hands. I went back to the dingy and got my gloves. The inside of the caves looked like the caves we visited in Long Island...but with 6-12’ of water and a big air pocket at the top with what we called sky lights (holes in the roof that let in the sun).

When we had had enough of Thunder ball we went back and snorkelled the beach where we were anchored. It was a cute reef and had everything. I collected some shells and ended up staying in the water until 1 lol.

Once I got out of the water we started to move to a spot where we would be protected from the west wind we’re suppose to have tomorrow. Unfortunately since we had had no wind our anchor road (the rope attached to our anchor) wrapped around the keel. Luckily it was an easy fix and with me hopping in the dingy and pushing the stern around we were able to un foul the line and all was good =].

Southern Cross led the way and anchored just north of Foul Cay. We tried to anchor and dragged it and then pulled it up and tried again. We dragged it. We tried to find a sandy spot and dropped the anchor. What do you think it did? It dragged. Then finally it set!...and we were in the channel and in no way protected from the west wind. So we hauled it up. We wanted to put out the Fortress but since it is our back up anchor it only has 30’ of chain on it and a lot of what hold the boat is not actually the anchor but the chain. So we again tried the Delta. I could keep typing that we tried it again and again but this would be the longest post in history, so I’ll just say we eventually thought we had it hooked. I wanted off of the boat and went for a swim.

Notice how in the last paragraph I said we thought we had the delta set. As I was swimming I realized that the Delta was not set but actually laying on the bottom on its side. I hollered at Papa and gave him the news. I told him that I would stay in the water and I would dive on it hoping to persuade it to set.

I dove on it setting it upright and started to pull it in and then signalled Grama to back down slowly. It dragged and I dove on it again and again and again. Eventually we thought we got it set. That idiotic idea only lasted a few minutes because I wasn’t completely convinced it was set and just asked Grama to back hard on it one more time to make me happy...and we dragged it. I climbed back onboard no one knew what to do now.

Papa got his tools and went forward. No one was really speaking but we knew what he was going to do. He spent a while on the bow changing the main anchor to the Fortress. When Papa had the Fortress attached to our 100’ of chain and we dropped it, it bit immediately. We were set for the night.

Everyone was kinda snappy so I wanted off of the boat so I took the dingy, went to Southern Cross and picked up Karen and headed around the Cay to watch the sun set on the water.

Niki

Day 211

2009-04-16T16:47:00.001-07:00

Well today we head for Staniel Cay again to wait for Karen and Dave!! This morning we did a quick run into Loraine’s to get internet, me to do a quick post to the blog and Papa to do a work email.

We went into town and while Papa was filling up our water jugs I walked to Loraine’s and Grama did a last min grocery run. Unfortunately Loraine wasn’t there and while sitting outside waiting to tell Papa (or to see if she would arrive because it was already 10am) I met the friendly constable who told me I could come visit him anytime *rolls eyes*. He also gave me permission to go in to use the internet. Just then Papa arrived and we went inside and Papa realized he couldn’t get online because he didn’t have the password. So I ended up not getting to post the blog while I helped him transfer his lease document onto my computer so he could send it using my laptop. By now Karen and Denis have already left without us so we hurried back to the boat to head north.

Yesterday we had talked to Karen and Denis about doing a quick stop at Bitter Guana Cay and then heading up to Staniel. Denis and Karen waited for us at Bitter Guana Cay and we did a short trip ashore.

As soon as we landed the dingy on the beach big iguanas came racing out to greet us...as in really BIG iguanas. People feed the iguanas and so they are not afraid of people and will follow you around coming so close you could touch them (not that we would). Denis and I brought some lettuce and were feeding them. At one point I was out of food and looking at some baby iguanas that were in a semi circle around me and Karen sounded amused and called “Hey Niki turn around”. I turned and looked and a BIG iguana was coming up behind me but staying far enough away that I wasn’t nervous and I still had a space escape if I wanted to. I went back to looking at the wee ones and Karen again called and said “heeyyy Niikkkiii”, I said “yuuss” and she called “look over your other shoulder” and laughed. I looked and saw another big iguana coming up my escape route. Shoot. They don’t make any threatening moves or anything but they look prehistoric and big and ugly (but cute in a way only a mother would love) and I didn’t like being surrounded.

It wasn’t far to Staniel and we were anchoring between the Majors in no time (The Majors are Big and Little Major Islands). Here we anchored beside a nice little beach with a large shipwreck. Grama and I laughed saying that this isn’t where we’d have chosen to anchor!

We could not get our Delta anchor to set. Eventually after trying to set it about 5times we threw out the Fortress (our second, a.k.a. back up, anchor) and guess what, it set immediately! Grama and I both constantly say we HATE the delta!! If fellow sailors are reading this and thinking about getting a new anchor do NOT get a delta! They set well in a sandy bottom but will not set in anything else (and trust me we have taken some good advice about different ways to try and set it and have willingly tried every way numerous times and have had no luck). Karen and Denis watched us fight with the anchor while anchoring at Bitter Guana and now here and sat watching us in utter amazement that it would not set.

I feel better now that I have had my rant about the stupid anchor today.

Once we were satisfied that we were set Karen and Denis came over (Karen wanted to get away from the sound of the generator running). We were happy to have a break from sulking and we pulled out a bag of nachos and salsa for munchies. Karen was so amazed that we had nacho chips onboard because you can’t buy them down here lol. We hid some away in Georgetown. We enjoyed the afternoon and talked about snorkelling Thunder ball tomorrow.

As evening approached Karen and Denis headed back to Southern Cross. We had supper and after dark today’s heat persisted and Grama and I were so hot we ended up going for a night swim just to keep from going insane. We had the wind scoop up and every hatch open but still it was such a hot night we slept fitfully.

Niki

Day 210

2009-04-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

This morning was uneventful but included a swim and a quick tidy up of the Butt. We invited the girls from the castle to come out around 3 and then we planned to go to happy hour with them at Scorpios Bar at 4ish, so we lazed around until then. Ohh and we made up a 2liter jug of rum punch for when the girl arrived!

Just after 3 the girls arrived and Dennis and I shuttled them back and forth between land, Nice Butt and Southern Cross. We had fun and showed the girls the boats and attempting the blow the conch horns.

At 4 we went to Scorpios and had happy hour with munchies and music and dancing. Other cruisers we knew showed up and we met some cruisers and we had a HUGE group of people!

At 7 we decided we were late and went to supper at a local restaurant. Jean had made arrangements with the owner to do a buffet for our group with Hog Fish, Bahamian Mac and Cheese, Bahamian Peas and Rice and a salad. The owner had expressed that there wouldn’t be enough Hog Fish for the whole group to have a meal off of so Denis donated his fillet of Hog Fish. Supper was the best Bahamian meal I have had so far!

While at the restaurant I saw Raymond (the God your beautiful guy) and he introduced me to his wife lmao and his friend Jamal. We had planned to do a group pic and when I finally got everyone together I got Raymond to take the pic for me. Of course when he gave the camera back to me and I said thank you he commented anything for you babe. His friend Jamal made a comment about him being married and then turned to me saying that “he (meaning Raymond) cannot be interested but me (Jamal), I can be and I am!” I looked at Skip (a fellow cruiser we’ve hung out with several times in Georgetown), who happened to be next to me and he looked at me we were both trying not to laugh as I said “well that’s good to know” and walked away.

We walked back to the boat fairly late (past the sailors’ bed time!) and were happy but exhausted. Falling asleep was easy tonight.

Niki

Day 209

2009-04-16T16:45:00.000-07:00

I was soo ready for bed last night but once I shut down the computer I got talking to Papa and then got into more of the coconut bread :P and then decided to read for a little while. As it got later I decided to turn off my light and go to sleep...and I laid there...and laid there...and laid there. Eventually I decided to go sit in the cockpit and brought my blanket and pillow thinking the sound of the trickling water will help me fall asleep. After sitting up there for a few hours I got my book and read some more. Around 3am I started to drift off to sleep and the stupid fishing boat left and made enough noise to wake even Grama up. Luckily I fell asleep then but Grama was up for the rest of the night.

This morning I was up earlier than I have been in a long time. Waking up at first light and laying awake while Papa and Grama moved around. I thought I would crawl into my berth for a while but got up shortly after when Karen swam over.

She came over to talk about going to rent a golf cart today, exploring the island and then going over to the castle. The castle (well it’s called the Sand Castle) is a private residence and good friends of Dons. Don calls it one of his other homes. We agreed we would go into get the cart at 1pm.

In the mean time Grama got on a cleaning rampage! So we scrubbed the butt until she sparkled (actually Grama did most of the work I just helped a little). Ohh and Denis came over to check out the hermit crabs we had found yesterday and then we let them go.

At 1 we headed into town. We walked part of the way and I realized I didn’t bring my camera. Back to the butt I went. When I met up with everyone they were at Loraine’s and then the boys went to get the cart. Inside Loraine’s was three of the girls that we were going to meet tonight at the castle. They kinda gave us directions to the Castle by land but only having done it once (the way into town) they weren’t too sure lol.

We decided to take the cart north first because the castle was south. We drove up past Loraine’s cottage and onto a dirt road. We didn’t go much farther before deciding that it was too rough and there wasn’t much up farther. We decided to take a detour and go to the blow hole. We kinda got damp from the spray and taking pics was hard.

When we got back on the road we headed south and stopped at the produce place. We picked up a few things and got on the road again. We went all the way to a dead end then we decided to take a side road and see where that went. It too was a dead end. We back tracked and took another paved road. It looked promising but we made a wrong turn off of it and then decided to ask a local for directions. We found a guy that was a great help and headed off in the right direction. When we were near it we decided to check out the airport.

Eventually we got onto a dusty road (my black dress was beige when we got there) and we found the castle. We met Jean and Doug, the owners of the Sand Castle and 8 of her girl friends: Jan, Rebeca, Jerry, Patty, Dixi, Linda, Pam and Sandy. Karen (Southern Cross) volunteered to take us on tour for Jean since (obviously with 8 other girls) she was busy. Room after room in the castle was a little different and all I can say is OMG!! I want a castle :P. In the tour Karen explained that everything, from the interior decorations to the cement and the all the large machines needed to build the castle, Jean and Doug brought over from California! Just getting to meet them I wasn’t sure how they felt about me running around their house (that was very clean considering the 8 female guests) and snapping pictures....but I couldn’t help but take a few =].

When the tour was finished we sat outside on their veranda overlooking the banks and all we could think was wow this is nice! We got to know the girls and made plans to all go out to happy hour tomorrow at a local bar and then have supper a few doors down at a local restaurant. Not too long before supper Papa and Denis had to run back to town and pick up Don who had moved Next Exit to anchor where it was calm near us. We had burgers and a tasty pasta salad for supper. We had planned to have the golf cart back before dark (no wanting to drive it in the dark)...but who has plans in the Bahamas?

The ride back to town was...interesting. We now had Don to fit in the 4 passenger golf cart and it we didn’t start getting ready to leave until 9pm :P (well a little later because we had to wait while Don peed on the castle wall *rolls eyes*). To top things off we weren’t sure if the cart had enough power to get us all back to town. Knowing we were short of power we decided to run without lights on the cart. Denis drove and I squished between him in Don in the front with the cooler and Papa, Grama and Karen had to try and squish in the back. A few times going up hills we made Don stick his feet out and try to Flintstone us up the hill and then Denis didn’t dare step on the break on the way down the hill so we might make it back without the cart dying on us. The whole way we’re all laughing and making jokes and praying that we make it back to town (it would have been a long walk).We actually did make it back safely and cart still running (barely).

Once back on the boat we were tired and were out as soon as our head hit our pillows.

Niki

Day 208

2009-04-16T16:43:00.000-07:00

It’s nice to wake up and think what are we going to do and where are we going to explore today? I don’t think I’ve said it enough but it is such a relief to be out of Georgetown! Georgetown is a great place and I can see why cruisers return year after year because it really reminds me of the community we had at the trailer park when my mom’s parents had their trailer. There are all kinds of organized activities and there are over 300 boats present (which is small compared to usual)...But when you have planned to explore the Bahamas being stuck there isn’t fun...especially on that horrid dock!!

This morning Papa made us French toast using the AMAZING coconut bread and Grama and I decided that we should go into town and do some laundry and I could take my laptop in and update the blog. We took our time and eventually got everything together and headed into town (leaving Papa to run the engine to charge up).

Once at the laundry mat we were told that the lady who runs the place wasn’t there and in order to buy tokens for the machines we needed to walk down to the clinic and find the reverend. Ok so we headed down the road towards the clinic which we knew was only a few minute walk. Once at the clinic we were told that (she the reverend’s wife) had already left and had gone back to the store (the store meaning the grocery store that is in the opposite direction of the clinic from the laundry mat...and as far of a walk). So we headed down to the store and the sign said open but the door was locked. We stood there for a moment wonder ‘what now?’ when the reverend realized he hadn’t unlocked the door and came to open it for us. We bought the tokens and headed back to do laundry.

When we got everything into the machines I decided to head up to Loraine’s to get on the internet. When I got to Loraine’s her mother was bringing out some of her bread that she was going to sell today and I walked back to get some money from Grama because more bread was on our list for today. Grama gave me the $9 for the coconut bread and the French bread and she mentioned that she might be interested in the cinnamon raison bread and if it looked good to put it aside of her to buy after. So I walked back to Loraine’s to buy the bread.

Just across the street from the laundry mat two ladies were sitting weaving some baskets and watched Grama and I walk back and forth and then watched me walk up and down the street with some interest. They said hi every time we/I went past and when I walked back to buy the bread I said “I’m getting my exercise done for the day” and they sat there laughing...for quite a while...I didn’t think that was too funny but w/e.

When I finally got online I started to post to the blog and then as more people came to get online (and then more people and then some more people) I no longer could get online for more than a few seconds. I fought to post to the blog and got no pictures posted (obviously). Eventually I gave up and had to go get the money for the cinnamon raison bread (oh yeah i didn’t say that I got it but it smelt soooo good I picked it up for Grama). So I walked back to the laundry mat, got the money and walked back to pay and get my stuff.

When Grama and I made it back to the boat we chatted with Papa for a while, watched the mail boat come in with the whole town waiting at the dock and then I decided I wanted to go for a swim. While I was swimming Next Exit came by and anchored right near us took one of his guests to shore and back and then headed out back around the point to the anchorage by the castle. Just after Don pulled in Karen came over to the boat to visit saying that Denis didn’t sleep last night because they had anchored by the castle and it was a little lumpy so he was having a nap.

I just got out of the water and started to get dressed when another cruiser we befriended in Georgetown came by and then Karen came back to let us know she was heading into town and was wondering if I’d go with her.

Of course I went to town (I’d do anything to get time away from Grama and Papa!! Lol <3 ) and Karen wanted to pick up a few groceries, do a walk and inquire about golf cart rentals. We pretty much executed it in that order as well. One thing I love about Karen is she loves her ice cream as much as I do so we made sure that on our last stop in town we picked up some ice cream to take back to the boats lmao.

Back on the boat again we sat in the cockpit for a while and Papa decided he wanted to go for a swim and then I decided another swim would be nice and eventually Grama decided to go for a swim too. I found two more large hermit crabs and for the night Papa has let us keep them in a container onboard. It goes to show you how bored we can get on the boat...finding quite a bit of amusement watching the hermit crabs.

We had a good supper and watched for the green flash as the sun set (btw Karen, Denis, Bob and Margret claim to have seen the green flash 3times but they were all on cloudless days and only when the sun sets on the water with no land on the horizon). There are quite a few boats now anchored here for the night (all cruisers from Georgetown who are on their way home) and just as the sun set everyone started to blow their conch horns =].

I forgot to mention earlier that Kathy aboard Sinn Fein called while I was having my first swim and talked to Papa for a bit. They are in Shroud Cay at the moment and are planning on being in Warderick Wells tomorrow. I mention this because in the convo she asked if we could call Dave and Karen and ask them to do her a favour when they come down. So we called and got to have a bit of a chat with both Karen and Dave. In 6 days we’ll be sitting in the cockpit with them sipping rum punches and I’m not sure who’s more excited us or them lol.

When Papa went to get the phone to call Karen and Dave he noticed we missed a call from windswept! We called them back only to leave a message but not long after talking to Dave and Karen they called us back. They are sitting in an anchorage alone at Double Breasted Cay (the Cay has two identical beaches that from a bit of a heart shape) in the raggeds. They said Cuba was FABULOUS!! (but anyone who knows Bob knows that it would be Fabulous :P ) They are going to meet up with us probably just before or while Dave and Karen are down and maybe travel a bit and snorkel some with us =].

This is a long post and one of the few that I’ve actually typed up at the end of the day. I’m sitting in my berth and it’s 11:31 pm and oddly Papa is still awake reading in the salon. Although Grama thought Papa had died last night because he never sleeps for more than 3 hours at a time, 4 if he’s doing really well, but last night he slept for 6 and a bit hours straight. Me once I’m asleep I’m out and I think I’m ready for bed. G’night =].

Niki

Day 207

2009-04-01T08:06:00.002-07:00

Last night I slept well and it was soo calm. This morning it’s a beautiful day and I was forced out of bed when I could no longer stand the sun in my face (already it was too hot to pull the covers over my head). I got up and then Papa started the engine so I laid in bed reading.

After a while I could smell a funny smell that I didn’t recognize. I opened my hatch to let some air in and poked my head out of my berth just in time to see Grama comment about the smell, open the engine locker and to have a bunch of black smoke bellowing out....instantly you feel deflated...great >_>.

We turned off the engine and let it cool down. When it was cool enough to inspect it we found the belt for the alternator had heated so much it literally melted to the pulleys. Grama scrubbed and got all of the burnt rubber off of the pulleys once the engine was completely cooled off.

Thankfully after all of Grama’s scrubbing Papa could put on a new belt and start up the engine again. We ran the engine for quite a while before we decided it was time to check out the town.

Black Point isn’t very large and when we asked about renting a golf cart we were told that it would take us an hour and a half to cover the whole island. We first decided to go SW and found the grocery store (back home it might be called a little variety store) we carried on and checked out the laundry mat/marine store/hair dressers (you sit on a lawn chair on the back porch of the laundry mat/marine store to get your hair cut) and a little farther up the line we came to Loraine’s cafe.

Loraine has been a friend of Don Willson for many years (Don is on Next Exit and use to be partners with Papa at the office). We went in to introduce ourselves and we found out that her mother had just finished baking some bread. If you ask anyone who has tried Loraine’s mother’s bread who makes the best bread in the Bahamas they will tell you her Coconut bread takes first and all of her other breads tie for second. So we had to go buy a loaf of coconut bread and we decided to buy a French loaf as well.

After getting the bread we were talking to Loraine again about some cottages we saw next door and she said they weren’t well up kept but she had a cottage she rents out so since we were Don’s friends she would rent it to Aunt Connie and Uncle Daryl for $100/night. The cottage was a one bedroom cottage with central air, full kitchen and it has a nice sized living room with a queen sized pull out couch (which would be perfect for Spencer and Phill).

It was such a hot day we didn’t bother going much farther in that direction so we headed back the way we came and decided to check out the cottage. It looked just like it did in the brochure she had, minus a bit of paint chipped off the exterior.

From there we noticed a trail leading to the ocean. It was a bit of a hike back but we found a little beach with some rock with little pools filled with sea urchins, little fish and underwater snails. Grama and I collected some shells and sea glass before deciding it was too hot so we were going to go back to the boat.

Back on the boat we then decided to go for a swim. The water was great and eventually it turned into me scrubbing the bottom of the boat lmao.

Not long after Papa got out of the water Uncle Dave called to let us know they had booked their flight from Nassau to Staniel Cay and they were going to be in Staniel at 2:45-3pm on the 7th!!! As Grama told me this morning every perfect day starts off with a problem in the morning...I of course told her she was nuts... but today wasn’t bad at all =].

After listening to the phone call I got back to scrubbing the bottom and at one point I saw some hound fish and some little fish and a barracuda swimming around. Then a little while later when I was scrubbing the bow I noticed a big hermit crab crawling around by the anchor chain. I dove down and picked him up and took him back to show Grama. We thought he was cute and if it wasn’t for Papa’s loud oppositions we probably would have kept him for a pet lmao.

Just as the sun was setting I got out of the water and Papa called Aunt Connie to tell her about the cottage. Unfortunately with the boys’ hockey schedule and a few other issues it doesn’t look like the Clarks are going to make it to Exuma. We are still hoping though that they may make it to Abaco or to Florida.

A little while later while we were doing nothing a local who keeps his powerboat on a mooring ball asked if we could take him to shore once he tied up his boat. That’s how they get from shore to their boat and from their boat to shore, asking cruisers for rides...which seems reasonable because cruisers are forever hitch hiking...it’s safe enough. So I said sure and untied the dingy and went to give him a ride. We were chatting he wanted to know about our boat name and then he was saying that he had a couple of boats, and he pointed them out, and that he did tours and rented boats and snorkelling etc and in the same breath he caught me very off guard and said “god your beautiful”... I was like “...umm thank you...so where do you do the snorkelling tours?”

Back on the boat Grama and I started to make plans and stuff for when Karen and Dave get down here.... needless to say we’re SOOO EXCITED!! Papa kept trying to read and eventually went to bed. Not long after all of a sudden Grama and I both felt like passing out and decided bed sounded like a good idea!

Niki

P.S. I've wanted to load pics to the blog but internet isn't strong enough =[

Day 206

2009-04-01T08:06:00.001-07:00

This morning seemed like the vacation I pictured when I first decided to join Grama and Papa on this trip. Grama woke me up because we were going to leave in an hour or so (ok maybe that wasn’t quite what I pictured but nothings perfect...besides me x] ). I got up and Papa had just finished his morning swim and shower since we were alone in the anchorage...which is something I missed in Georgetown there were always boats EVERYWHERE...so I decided to send Papa down stairs and I did a little swim and shower (I would like to make a little note to my mother and others who have made the comment about our hygiene onboard that we do shower regularly and I don’t always put it in the blog). It’s nice being in a secluded cove all alone with the water so clear and calm.

Papa and Grams had breakfast in the cockpit and while laughing at Grama Papa spilt his coffee all down his leg burning himself. After we made sure he was ok Grama couldn’t suppress her laughter anymore and told him that that would teach him to make fun of her :P.

When we got underway it was calm with a nice light wind and the sun was so warm promising us a hot day. We all felt like this is what we signed up for and then I made a big mistake. I commented about how nice this was and weren’t we having fun...and then the engine overheated and we rushed to turn it off and drop the anchor. Papa pulled the aft cabin apart and pulled apart the water intake strainer and found TONS of weeds that we had just picked up. The weeds were all through the hose coming from the intake and it took a bit to clean it up. In unattaching the hose quite a bit of water ran through to the bilge, which isn’t an issue other than I really should clean the bilge today. When all the hoses were reattached and we started up the engine again it was nice that there were no additional problems. We also checked the alternator which too was working. I talked Grama (who was on the helm) through the navigation to get out of the cut (I had been navigating before the engine issue) and then headed below to clean up the mess in the aft cabin and to clean out the bilge...unfortunately I didn’t get very far in cleaning up before I was called topsides to help Papa with the anchor. The winless was acting up so Papa had to pull the anchor up by hand and he asked for some assistance. When we were underway again I went back to the bilge.

Today was soo calm and beautiful that while I was bellow laying on my stomach with my arms and head in the bilge trying to clean it out I didn’t notice we were underway other than the slight vibration from the engine.

When I finished and headed topsides again we were out the cut and Grama and I wanted to put up the main sail and once we completed that we then rolled out the jib. There wasn’t enough wind to make good time and completely sail so we decided to motor-sail.

Just after lunch Papa just glanced at the Link 10 (the display from the alternator) and noticed the alternator had quite again. We stopped the engine (it was nice sailing for a bit =] ) and Papa went to play with the fitting we played with last night. When we started the engine again the alternator kicked in again. I asked Papa how full the batteries were because I noticed we had 4 green bars on the display. He said we were 45amps from being completely full! All on the alternator! It seems silly to be excited about that but after all we went through with this alternator it’s nice to be self sufficient again.

One thing I didn’t mention was how many boats there were out traveling today. Most having left Georgetown this early morning were heading to either Little Farmers or Black Point. There were a couple dozen boats scattered on the horizon and a cloudless sky and the deep purple velvet water of Exuma Sound.

One thing that was brought to my attention yesterday was that there is a rule we live by down here and I haven’t put it into the blog.

“Olde Sailing Ditty”

Water that’s blue is deep and true (40’ +)
As it shades to green, the water gets lean (3’-20’)
White or Yellow will ground a fellow (1’-3’ sand)
If the water is brown, you’ll run hard aground (rocky bar)
If the water is black, you’d better turn back (coral head)

This is soo true and something anyone cruising down here should know. Sometimes whether you’re in 3’-6’ or 1.5’-3’ it’s hard to tell the difference with a sandy bottom. We use to get paranoid when we were traveling in the dingy, not wanting to go aground, but after spending so long down here it becomes easy to identify the depth (although we can misjudge on occasion).

At the moment (2:31pm) we are underway and I am down below with my computer charged for the first time in days so I am trying to get the blog typed out. I think I’ve mentioned this but today is so beautiful out other than the slight hum of the engine it feels like we could be sitting in a little protected cove barely moving rather than motor-sailing up the outside of the Exuma chain in the Exuma sound in 200’+ water.

(part 2)

When we came in the cut we came past a cliff that was called white horses. It took us a while to see the horses formed in the rock but it’s there. Grama was too busy fighting with the helm to look for the horses. Coming through the cut on an outgoing tide was difficult. Not because there was not enough water (at low tide we would have more than enough water) but because the tide flowing out of the cut met the wind and waves coming off the sound and the only way Grama could describe it was it was like sailing through boiling water, the boat was pulled in one direction and then the other. Meanwhile Papa and I have no idea Grama is fighting with the helm because she was doing so well going through in a straight line.

When we got into the Black Point settlement anchorage we found a nice spot to anchor and dropped the anchor, let it settle in and backed down on it and dragged it way out of where we wanted to anchor. So Papa had to haul up the anchor hand over hand because the winless still isn’t working. We tried again only to have the same thing happen...and then we tried again...and then one more time just to make sure it wouldn’t work there. Eventually we got the hook down closer to shore and within hollering distance from Southern Cross.

Once we got everything settled Papa swam over to Southern Cross to invite them for happy hour.

When they came over we heard a lot about the Jumentos and we told them all about Georgetown >_> lol. It was a fun evening and once they left we made up some left overs for dinner and laid around after we were done. We were tired!

Niki

Day 205

2009-04-01T08:05:00.000-07:00

This morning I got up to hear Papa make an inquiry on the net about airlines that fly from Nassau to Staniel Cay. We got a response and we’re giving information about where we could find phone numbers for several airlines. We called Uncle Dave and Aunt Karen to give them the info we got...and then the big debate began. Were we leaving today or not? Well it was blowing...who knows how much the wind was blowing, our wind instrument died remember...but it was blowing quite a bit and the anchorage was getting a little choppy...but then the weatherman promised the wind would die down in the afternoon. We decided to wait until 11:30 or 12 and then see what we wanted to do given the conditions then. I have heard my cousin Kailynn say this sooo many times (because she lives in Georgetown ON) and lately I’ve been thinking about her whenever I think to myself I WANT OUT OF GEORGETOWN!!

At 11 Grama and Papa were preparing the boat to leave and we pulled up anchor at 11:30. We started to head to Monument (the channel zigzags so you have to be very careful trying to get in or out of the cut) and all of a sudden the chart plotter stopped navigating for Grama. So Grama is trying to helm and stay on course and Papa is standing off to the side beside her trying to reach the chart plotter and try to figure out the problem. To add to all the fun we had already raised the main and were heading dead downwind trying to not to jibe. We navigated by the chart (which we always do anyways) and made it out the cut and Papa figured out the chat plotter and all was well.

Once we were out into the sound I decided to plug in my computer (which hasn’t been charged in days)...but in doing so I noticed one little problem...the alternator wasn’t charging. At this point while underway there was nothing we could do about it. A few minutes later while I was down below Grama hollered at me that they were tacking...and for a horrifying minute I thought they were turning around and going back to Georgetown! We had a nice motor-sail up to Lee Stalking Island and had no problems getting through the cut and anchoring.

While anchoring I couldn’t help thinking to myself that I missed the clean crystal clear water. Georgetown is part of the Bahamas and still has beautiful water but it is always a little murky from stirred up sand and a couple hundred boats emptying their holding tanks at night...

Once we were settled Papa went to check out the alternator. If you remember when we first started to have this problem we found a loose connection that Papa had to baby a bit...well that connection was reminding us it was their and it vibrated its self loose. So we put it back in as tight as we could and ran the engine for a bit to charge up for the night.

It was so nice being in a secluded spot and late after supper while we were sitting in the cockpit I wanted to go for a swim...but then Grama burst my bubble reminding me that last time we were here there were a few nurse sharks...that’s fine in the day but not at night.

When we all headed to bed it was so still and quiet...I kept walking up throughout the night thinking something was wrong we were dragging or something because it didn’t sound right lol.

Niki

Day 204

2009-04-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

We didn’t do much this morning and when I woke up without Grama telling me to get out of bed I knew the decision to stay another day in Georgetown had been made. Now I don’t want everyone to think I hate Georgetown because I have thoroughly enjoyed it here... it’s just like you planned to go across country in a mobile home and you have a deadline as to when you can be back and you have soo many places you want to visit..and then you sit in the same trailer park for over a month. Georgetown is basically a big trailer park/summer camp for old people :P.

At noon we heard that there was something going on at Exuma Market and that the police station was having a $10 lunch/supper BBQ. So we got ready and headed into town. Outside of the Exuma Market there was a youth band playing a song every few minutes, different tables giving out samples of different products (Pringles, Huggies, Caramel Corn) and a BBQ that was giving out ½ burgers for samples. While there we talked to some fellow cruisers and then went around town once more (hopefully our final time), picked up a few groceries and headed back to the butt.

Once back on the boat (a little damp after the crossing back) we dried off and laid around and read or napped...Pretty much all night lol.

Niki

Day 203

2009-04-01T08:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Maria!

We told everyone we were going to leave today...but it was a lot windier, a lot lumpier and a lot crappier then it was suppose to be. Grama and I watched Stalking Island and the waves that were coming across the sound and hitting the far side and we could see the spray rising 30’-50’ in the air over the hill.

We decided to go to Volleyball beach at 10 for a fishing seminar and crossing the harbour wasn’t as bad as we had expected. The wind was SSE and the harbour was just barely in the lee of Stalking Island.

We decided to go get some pizza at St. Francis after the seminar (which Grama and I left early). We had the pizza (which seemed to be a frozen pizza as opposed to the GREAT homemade pizza Karen, Denis and I had before.

Once lunch was over we decided to head up the little river, beach the dingy and walk over the hill to the sound side. We walked the beach watching the waves break on the reefs we had snorkelled with Bob, Margret, Brenda, Bill and Janie a few weeks ago. It was spectacular watching the spray shoot 30’ and 40’ into the air. We were standing on the beach just at the edge of where the waves washed up on the beach keeping our feet dry and maybe every 6 waves a huge wave would wash up on shore and the water would rush up the beach and be up past your knees (I know I’m short but still it was a lot of water).

Grama started to look along the beach for some sea beans (beans that are off of trees in Africa and we were first showed these by Don on Next Exit). I was walking on ahead because I was anxious to get back to the boat so I could put on more sun screen (I burnt yesterday and I didn’t want to burn today too) when all of a sudden I saw a hamburger sea bean wash up on shore by the surf and I could hardly believe it and it almost washes away with the next wave as I stared at it dumbly. This far north and in the sound you’re not suppose to find the heart sea bean, which is the most common, let alone find a hamburger one (fyi it seriously looks like a hamburger).

When we got back to the dingy we decided to go back to the boat. On the way back the wind had just shifted slightly and was now almost from due south and the big swells were coming right in the south cut. Needless to say we had a wet salty ride home.

Back on the butt we didn’t do much, a little tidying and getting ready to leave Georgetown and then we read some.

Just after 7pm (because it’s cheaper then) we called Sinn Fein to wish Maria a Happy Birthday. We had a talk with Maria and then Kathy came on to talk about travel plans. We told her that we were planning on leaving Georgetown either tomorrow or Sunday and she told us that the wind is going to break later in Nassau and that they couldn’t leave until Monday. We agreed that she would call us after then to see where we were and then they would probably meet us in Black Point.

Niki

Day 202

2009-04-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

Grama and I were up early but we didn’t want to leave the room until we had to leave at check out time. On the way back to the boat Grama and I did some grocery shopping and on the way out the door met up with some friends and stood on the side of the street chatting for quite a while.

When we got back to the boat we knew it was going to be hard getting out of the slip so we decided that I would stay on the dock and help them off and then take the dingy over to volleyball beach for the day. We got one of the guys that works on the dock to give us a hand getting them off. As Papa put her full out in forward a thick black substance (looked like oil) came out of the exhaust in a big puff and it filled the surface of the water in the slip. All I could think was oh shoot!!

Once they were off the dock I got in the dingy and started to make the crossing after them. When I was roughly in the middle of the harbour I noticed the Butt was turning around and heading back towards kid cove (where the dock is). I got ready to turn around and follow them back to the dock when they hollered that they were going to anchor in kid cove because it was calmer. I hollered back about the oil or whatever and I wasn’t sure if they heard me.

I decided to continue over to volleyball beach for the afternoon and thought I’d call them on the VHF to make sure they knew about the black stuff. We are suppose to be leaving tomorrow so I made sure to have a bowl of the conch salad for lunch (this conch salad is one of the best in the islands). I talked to Bill (or as Brenda has to call him Sir William :P), another cruiser, for quite a while and it was a fun afternoon. Bill assured me that the black stuff was just carbon build up in the exhaust from only running the engine in idle for the past week or so.

When I returned to the butt we had supper and I found that I had a sun burn =[. I’ve done so well for a while and had worn sun screen today but being out at noon and gotten a little bit wet while crossing the harbour =[.

We all laid around and read tonight...It’s the first time we have sat on the hook in a long time...we weren’t sure what to do with ourselves not having unlimited electricity and able to watch movies or play games on the computer.

Niki

Day 201

2009-03-26T00:07:00.001-07:00

Waking up this morning and not knowing whether we going back on the boat today or not just made me roll over in the nice big bed and try to go back to sleep. Grams just let me sleep until 1030 so I was sure we weren’t leaving today.

I went up to have breakfast and was disappointed that i was 3mins late (it was 10:33) for breakfast and the cheff had left =[, I had to wait for lunch. I chatted with some girls we met who flew in from Miami for a few days.

When I got back to the room Grams and I didn’t do much. Papa had gone down to the boat to run the engine and hope to burn off the smell from the alternator. At 12:30 Grams and I decided to quickly go down to the straw market to find a birthday present and then I was going to take the taxi over to Volleyball beach at 1. Sounded good in theory..and I really wanted to go...but Grama and I couldn’t decide on what to get and before we knew it it was 1:10 =[. We went back to the room and watched tv =]. I missed tv!

When Papa came back he assured us that the smell is now gone (forgive me for not jumping up and down but Papa can’t smell normally so I’m not too convinced...). So we are definitely going to go anchor out tomorrow and possibly leave Friday.

We had lunch here with Clay (from Carleigh) and when finished we again just lazed around :P until supper time, which we were going to have at a pizza place up by fish fry but ended up being lazy and just eating here again at the Peace and Plenty.

When we got back to the room guess what we did...we watched tv... and talked to Aunt Connie around 11 and talked about them possibly coming down to Staniel Cay or Compass Cay for a few days in about 2 weeks =]. I’m VERY excited about everyone coming down. Right now it’s 1am and Grama basically told me I HAD to get the blog up to date tonight. She loves to crack the whip (ily Grams<3).

Niki

Day 200!!

2009-03-26T00:06:00.000-07:00

I could get use to staying in the hotel room lol. Its sooo nice having a big bathtub, a soft cozy bed, and a TV!!! We went up to the dining room for breakfast and then got our bathing suits and sun tan lotion on and laid out in the sun.

Papa decided to head down to the boat to run the engine and burn off the smell from the alternator. A little later Rita K came by and we chatted for a while and then went inside to do stuff on the computer. That was pretty much our day. We had supper here and have been really starting to relax and unwind after all the alternator problems

Niki

Day 199

2009-03-26T00:05:00.002-07:00

Last night was TERRIBLE!! This dock has no protection and the fetch coming across the harbour...well you can barely walk onboard and when you stand on land you feel soo exhausted because even when you sleep you have to constantly brace yourself.

I woke up to find no one on board and was alone for about an hour lol. I guessed that they just wanted to get off the boat. When they returned we decided to go for a walk to get off the boat and by a new phone card...which since we didn’t want to be on the boat turned into lunch, walking around town and eventually booking a room at the Peace and Plenty for 3 nights. It’s undecided if we will stay the 3 days but with us not being convinced about the alternator being fine...and the weather is soo bad you get sea sick just looking at the boat rock while standing on shore...well we might easily be convinced to take a vacation from our vacation.

We packed bags and headed over. The room is nice with 2 double beds a nice porch with a view of the harbour and a bath tub!

We decided not to go far and eat here at the Peace and Plenty and I convinced Grama to try to play the ring game lol.

Niki

Day 198

2009-03-26T00:05:00.001-07:00

I wanted off the boat today so I put on my bikini and grabbed my towel, sunscreen and a book and laid out on the dock for most of the day. Eventually Grama joined me but around 330ish there was so much cloud cover the sun wasn’t keeping us warm and the wind is soo cold.

I played some scrabble and after supper we watched movies. The whole time we were watching the second movie I couldn’t stop thinking that this would be a movie to watch with CW. This is a great trip and I am loving it...but I do miss home.

Niki

Day 197

2009-03-26T00:04:00.003-07:00

I was barely out of bed when Alvin came back to do some more work on the engine.

Today I didn’t even bother to be looking over their shoulders to figure out what was going on...If i act ignorant to the problem will it go away? We all seem to be slightly shorter with each other (except me, I’m perfect x]...ok ok Mama and Aunti J you can stop laughing at that I’ll admit I’m not perfect..but pretty close :P). The dock we are on has NO protection and is the WORST dock I have ever been on! But because of this problem we can’t leave and we’re trapped.

Alvin wasn’t here long before he took Papa out to buy a new starting battery. Apparently our starting battery was dead and we’ve been starting the engine off of the house batteries..which isn’t good considering how low we were letting the house batteries get.

While they were away Grama and I defrosted and cleaned out the fridge and barely had finished when they returned. They changed some fluid in the engine and then we were told we were good to go. We ran the engine and Papa claimed he couldn’t smell the smell but he must have a clogged nose because Grama and I could definitely smell it!!

We didn’t do much else for the rest of the day...ohh wait we wanted to turn the boat around so we would be bow into the waves so with the help of One Day (they happened to have come to check on us) we walked the boat around in the slip without having to turn on the engine and attempt to redock.

By the time we moved the boat it was almost supper time and we sat around reading and trying to take our mind off of the alternator and the worsening weather.

Niki

Day 196

2009-03-26T00:04:00.001-07:00

We had a mechanic by the name of Alvin come over to check on the alternator today. He couldn’t find anything wrong with the alternator but talked with Papa about different things, found our starting battery was dead and thought the smell was stronger down by the water pump.

When Alvin left Papa thought he would change the impellor to see if that was the problem. It was a good thing to check but it looked new.

Grama and I needed to get off the boat so we headed over to Volleyball beach. We had a good time and when we got back to the boat Rita K and Clay had told Papa we should come to the happy hour over at the bar at the Peace and Plenty (there are only a few places to go here lol). It was a fun night. We met some guys and got playing this ring toss game and we were all gambling with it lmao it was pathetic but one of the guys kept paying for me. Rita K and I would start to leave and he’d holler at us and say he was paying my buy in.

We met some of Rita K and Clay’s friends and it’s funny how everyone knows our boat and how it got its name lmao. I still think one of the funniest moments on this trip was when Papa was getting our drinks Back at the Long Island Breeze a week or so ago he overheard some guy we didn’t know telling another cruiser how the boat Nice Butt got its name. The same thing happened here as we were leaving.

Niki

Day 195

2009-03-26T00:03:00.002-07:00

Today Papa read every bit of information on the alternator and regulator. He looked up phone numbers and made inquiries about how hot the alternator should run while putting out a full charge.

Grama and I kinda went around and tried to stay off of the boat talking with people here and there. We ran into One Day. They are fellow Canadians who know Vertigo because he (Tony from One Day) use to teach.

When we returned to the boat in the late afternoon we told Papa that we heard of a mechanic and his wife was up at Sammy’s (a little bar on top of the Marina) right then. He went to talk to her and get a phone number to call and see if he could come down and look at the alternator. He made plans for the mechanic to come tomorrow morning. Let’s cross our fingers and pray that he can find the problem.

Niki

Day 194

2009-03-26T00:03:00.001-07:00

We got up and headed out to my big blue dream boat. When you arrive in the dingy you tie off of the floating dock to starboard and walk up the stairs to the deck. In getting out of the dingy we had to take off our shoes and of course one of my favourite flip flops went overboard and I couldn’t get it =[.

When we got back to the Butt I wasn’t feeling so hot so I went back to bed for a little while. After we got back to the boat all there was for us to do was sit around and wait for Nick to call and say he was going to drop off the alternator or we needed to go pick it up.

It was later in the afternoon when Nick called for Papa to go pick up the alternator and as soon as it was onboard it was ready to be installed with no more tinkering with the sleeve. Papa got the alternator in and then...we were sooo nervous...we started up the engine. THE ALTERNATOR WAS WORKING!....it was all good until Grama and I started to smell something funny. It smelt like being in the wood shop at school...a sort of a heated/burning wood smell. We opened the engine locker and the alternator was too hot to touch. We had run the engine for 7 mins before we shut it down and opened every hatch. IT STUNK!! It burned your eyes the smell was soo strong.

It was getting later so we had supper and sulked for the rest of the night.

Niki

Day 193

2009-03-26T00:02:00.000-07:00

OUR ALTERNATOR HAS ARRIVED!!! Papa read everything it came with and prepared the engine so it would be easy to just install the alternator, 30mins tops! Grama and I were going to do laundry but Papa asked if I could wait 15mins so I could help him tighten the belts. It was going to be fast and easy and all our problems would be solved and we would leave either in the morning or Thursday!

I waited and handed Papa tools and then started to help him work a sleeve into position that is really hard to explain but while doing this we got a big reality check. NOTHING ON A BOAT IS EASY! We had the sleeve break while we were trying to get it into position. We started to call up Nick on the big blue boat to see if he could help us.

Grama got the laundry pretty much done by the time we gave up and I went to go help her. She knew something had happened since it took us that long but when I came in she looked hopeful and curious...and she looked at me and didn’t ask what had gone wrong because she knew we still didn’t have an alternator.

To cheer us up Rita K and Clay invited us to Carleigh for a happy hour...that ended up lasting until almost 10 lol. It was soo much fun and just what we needed. While we were there Nick called and said we could bring the alternator over at 930am tomorrow morn. Kathy on Sinn Fein also called us to say they were in Bimini and would be in Nassau in 2 days =].

Niki

Day 191

2009-03-16T10:40:00.001-07:00

...I was very surprised that Grama and Papa were up long before me this morning... but I didn’t get out of bed till after 11 lmao so it wasn’t like they were up too early :P.

Around 1 I ditched Grama and Papa :P and headed over to volleyball beach. On my way over I stopped by Brandaris and Walter told me to come aboard but didn’t seem very happy... It turned out that the motor he’s been having problems with on his fridge (not the main problem but one of the big issues) died.

Volleyball beach was volleyball beach lol, tons of things going on. Around 4:30 Brenda and Walter came to the beach and the couple we know introduced us to Nick from Intuition the HUGE mega yacht. Nick has offered his help or one of his three mechanics that he keeps onboard to help us with the alternator.

When I headed back to the butt Grama had supper ready and we really didn’t do anything lol. It was just another lazy night.

Niki

Day 190!

2009-03-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

For an uneventful day last night sure was eventful! At 1am Grama and I discovered that a big gallon jug of outboard motor oil had somehow got a hole punctured in its bottom when Papa was putting everything back in the locker after checking the batteries. There was oil all through that locker. It is very rolly at the dock and being out of bed in the cold at one in the morning with flashlights trying to clean up the mess was a pain! But by the time we were finished we were sure we had cleaned it all up.

This morning when I got up I really wanted pancakes! When I opened the cupboard to get out the mix I could smell the oil...and that meant it had run through to the bilge =/...which really meant it was a HUGE mess and everything would have to be removed from the aft cabin (Grama and Papa’s room) and the boards would have to be unscrewed to get at part of where the oil had run. This big cleanup would have to wait because we were getting ready to drive south with Brenda and Walter.

Heading south was fun. We explored an old loyalist plantation ruin. The house looked like it had been modernized...somewhat... before being destroyed by a fire. We took a little path back to see if we could find the tomb that was supposed to be on the property. We found it but there was no plaque or writing, which was disappointing. We were hoping it was the Cameron’s and Juan Cadiz ;] (the book Wind from the Carolinas is a story of the old Bahamas and a GREAT book and Marg and Brenda got all of us to read it). From there we took another little path and found two long buildings, what we think are the field slave quarters. The building was still standing tall, minus the roof, with extremely thick walls that look like they will stand for another 100years.

On our way to find the Tropic of Cancer beach we stopped at a restaurant and met the owner Dee. We decided to wait for her sisters restaurant across the street (she urged us to) to try the best conch fritters in the Bahamas. We were waiting and we saw Dee bring out an order of cracked lobster and we all ordered cracked lobster right then lol. While waiting Dee passed around a little photo album. Inside were pictures of her hugging Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Goldie Hans and Kurt Russell! She told us that Goldie Hans and Kurt Russell have property on the island and live not very far away. The food was amazing! And there was soo much food (the lobsters here are 4-5x the size of lobsters back home and she gave you two tails + ALOT of other food) and not all of us could finish the meal. When we were leaving we still got an order of the fritters from her sister. Even though we were all stuffed we tried them and so far they are my favourite fritters.

We finally made it to the tropic of cancer beach. We didn’t stay long (the car needed to go back) but now Brenda and Walter can say they have been to the tropic of cancer (we anchored on the line in Long Island) We looked out at the islands that made a little cove just off the beach and it was funny because you knew exactly why the island was called Turtle Island.

When we left we headed back to the boat and that means oil clean up time. Grama and Papa’s berth was gutted and the boards under their bed unscrewed and removed. We cleaned and dumped at least 9 gallons of water through the pipes leading to the bilge hoping to clear them of the oil. Even when we finally gave up we knew there was still a little bit more oil in them. We cleaned and hung upside down on our heads in the bilge from 2:30-5:30pm.

We were still determined to go to the music fest tonight so we quickly ran up to the showers and tried to get the smell of oil off =/. I left before Grama and Papa to go to the fest and met Brenda and Walter as well as some cruisers we met when we first came to Georgetown on ‘Carly’. It wasn’t long before Grama and Papa got there and the bands started. It was a great night and soo much happened lol. The White Folks on Boats played...and they were interesting lol umm I met some girls who are down here for March break and they’re from London ON. Some really shy 45yr old guy with a bald spot asked me to dance =/. I was on Bahamian TV... And then the Junkanoo started and my batteries in the camera died! Junkanoo is a crazy parade with several girls dancing in the front followed by the brass section of a marching band followed by the drummers and horn players and all are dressed in big bright colourful costumes. The grandparents and I didn’t leave until 1:30 and I was disappointed because the second Junkanoo was at 2.

When we got back onboard we all just crawled in bed and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

Niki

Day 189

2009-03-16T10:36:00.002-07:00

Well today I sat on the dock relaxing and getting the blog typed up. Brenda and Walter rented a car and so the grandparents went to town for the day... and a bit of the night too :P.

Apparently the car they rented continuously overheated and there were a ton of problems so they didn’t get very far in their trip to northern Great Exuma.

It was a very uneventful day. Grama and Papa didn’t get back until 7:30ish and Papa and I had to check the batteries (it’s been brought up that possibly the batteries could be part of the electric problem and not just the alternator. After that they just wanted to laze around and watch a movie, and that was fine by me =].

Niki

Day 188

2009-03-16T10:36:00.001-07:00

This morning was the Regatta race around Stalking Island. We got up and watched several dozen boats circling, getting their sails up and waiting for the start. On the VHF CH72 the committee boat had an announcer giving positions of the boats and some racing history the competitors had submitted before the race.

Once the boats were out of sight we pulled up anchor and headed into the dock so we could charge up and check to see if the new alternator Papa ordered was in yet. We got docked and I went to see Brandaris and how their refrigerator repairs were coming. Unfortunately the shop they had sent their fridge to could not find the problem and so they are going to have to continually fill it with additional Freon. We chatted for a while before I headed back to the butt and it was brought up that there is a music festival in the park for the next three nights. Tonight is the gospel choirs and then the following two nights are to be the local groups, some groups from the mainland and the white folks on boats. The white folks on boats are different cruisers each year that are from the regatta and apparently a few years ago the locals gave them their name.

When I got back to the boat Grama told me to get all my laundry together, we ate lunch and then Grama and I headed off to do laundry.

When we finally finished the laundry (I’ll admit I really really hate laundry lmao) we put our beds back together (we washed all the sheets too) which is a pain, although mine is easy compared to Grama’s bed and then sat for a bit before taking a drink and heading over to visit with Brandaris.

We had a lot to chat about and we stayed quite a while longer than we had intended but it was fun =]. I was eager to get back to the boat though cuz I was starving lol. When we did get back I made up supper and we sat and watched a couple of movies.

Ohh I forgot to mention the alternator still isn’t here.

Niki

Day 187

2009-03-16T10:35:00.001-07:00

No one wanted to get out of bed this morning and it was afternoon before Grama and I got up. We agreed that we had enough juice as long as we didn’t plug anything in to stay out on the hook for another day...this power thing is really starting to make everyone VERY bitchy and quite frankly is taking away from the pleasure of this trip...our destinations have been largely ruled by our alternator and everyone is getting very stressed and short with each other.

We decided to forget about our problem and head over to sand dollar beach and try to find sand dollars and then head over to volleyball for a drink and to see what was going on. We were very successful at finding tons of sand dollars and we walked quite a distance before we headed back to the dingy. On our way back we met up with some fellow cruisers and talked for quite a long time.

When we made it to volleyball we were so surprised to see more young people than cruisers. I guess we’ve lost track of time and its spring break and all the college kids have come for a week’s vacation to the Bahamas. Apparently all the young people who were there all came from the same college.

When we got back to the butt we didn’t do much. We washed some conch shells we picked up, we joined in with the chorus of conch horns at sun down and we had a lazy night.

Niki