We are today in Little Farmers Cay. We believe we will be here for a week waiting for the festival this coming weekend which is supposed to be a big deal. We sailed down today from Black Point Cay and hit some gusting winds and squalls. We left Exuma Park and motored to Staniel Cay where we snorkeled in Thunderball Cave where the James Bond movie was filmed. It was wonderful. Pretty tropical fish and coral. I am getting more proficient at using my flippers. John lost one of his overboard in Exuma Park so we are on the lookout for another pair for him. We visited the little stores and purchased some green peppers, bananas and oranges. There is a yacht club in Staniel but we anchored out and rode the dinghy in to shop. It is a lovely little island and the stores are named by their color. Pink store, blue store and the bread lady in the yellow house. We went to a barbecue put on to raise money for the school and we donated some pencils we had brought with us to help out.
The next day we motored down to Black Point Cay where we stopped at Lorraine's Cafe for drinks and wifi. There is a wonderful laundry there that our new friends took advantage of. We decided to hold off until Georgetown for that chore.
Arrived at Little Farmer's today and we are awaiting the end of the rain squall so we can go into town and explore and perhaps find internet. The trip down was exciting when the squalls hit and the winds spiked. We had out too much sail and really got hit but fortunately they passed fairly quickly.
We are anchored out on the southwest corner of the cay hoping to get some shelter as the winds are forecast to gust to 30 kts. + for the next few days. We shall see how it goes.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Living The Dream
We continue to head south in the Exumas. As you can see by our Spot at the end of my message, we are in the Exuma's Park. We have found as we head south it just gets better. The water gets clearer and it gets warmer. Please don't tell my dermatologist but Elyse mentioned tonight that I was getting "brown as a berry". I love the weather. When I retired I told people I was looking forward to not wearing socks. At this point I only put on shoes for special occations.
I thought I would tell you how we spend a typical day. I jump out of bed at 6:30 am to listen to Chris Parker on our SSB High Frequency radio. He gives the weather forecast. Because we have paid him after the forecast is given we can call and ask specific advice about where we want to sail to next. So far we haven't used that because there is usually someone else in our area who has asked that question. I record the broadcast on a small tape recorder for Elyse to listen to later. While I listen to the broadcast I put away last nights dishes and make coffee. I also take down our LED mast light and put up our American flag.
Elyse and I then sit in the cockpit drink our coffee and listens to the recording of the weather broadcast. Elyse records the predicticions in a notebook for later reference. This is also a good time for us to plan our next several days. One of the great things about living on the boat is we have no time schedule. As far as possible we are commited not to travel unless the weather is good.
After our cereal we take Moose ashore in our dingy. It is our "car" and we have become dependent on it. The other day we towed another boat dingy over a mile back to it's boat. Touch wood, ours has been great and reliable. When we get back from our mourning outing we try to do a couple of boat chores. It may involve cleaning or fixing things. I built a step the other day so that it is easier to get out of the dingy into the the boat.
Then we relax. Most days we read. We have two bags of books. One to be read and the other we have finished. Elyse is way ahead of me and usually I read something she has recommended. I finished Bill Bryson"s Short History of Nearly Everything. Most days it's a mystery.
In the afternoon we often have "lunch". It's not like it used to be. Often we split and apple and cut up some cheese. Many days we don't eat anything till dinner. Depending on where we are we then go on an adventure. That may mean a longer dingy trip to see something special or go ashore to hike a trail. Our first stop after leaving Nassau was at Allen's Cay. It consisted of 3 small islands. Two of them have tons of Iguana. When you would go ashore at least 30 of them would run down to the beach looking for food. We made that trip without Moose. The third island was such that Moose could go ashore do get his exercise and do his business
In any case, Moose is taken ashore about 4 pm each day. We then return to the boat where we have a drink and watch the sunset. Many of the cruisers have horns made from Conch shells and they will play around the anchorage. We then have dinner, clean up and most nights are in bed reading by 8 pm. Tonight I am between books and may watch a movie.
It's hard to believe how out of touch we are getting. I just found out who is in the Super Bowl yesterday on the 28th of January.
Yesterday we moved the boat to the place that they filmed the James Bond movie Thunderball. Last night we swam under the rocks among the fish into the "grotto". It was a dome with light coming through the top. Pretty spectacular.
I hope your life is good.
I thought I would tell you how we spend a typical day. I jump out of bed at 6:30 am to listen to Chris Parker on our SSB High Frequency radio. He gives the weather forecast. Because we have paid him after the forecast is given we can call and ask specific advice about where we want to sail to next. So far we haven't used that because there is usually someone else in our area who has asked that question. I record the broadcast on a small tape recorder for Elyse to listen to later. While I listen to the broadcast I put away last nights dishes and make coffee. I also take down our LED mast light and put up our American flag.
Elyse and I then sit in the cockpit drink our coffee and listens to the recording of the weather broadcast. Elyse records the predicticions in a notebook for later reference. This is also a good time for us to plan our next several days. One of the great things about living on the boat is we have no time schedule. As far as possible we are commited not to travel unless the weather is good.
After our cereal we take Moose ashore in our dingy. It is our "car" and we have become dependent on it. The other day we towed another boat dingy over a mile back to it's boat. Touch wood, ours has been great and reliable. When we get back from our mourning outing we try to do a couple of boat chores. It may involve cleaning or fixing things. I built a step the other day so that it is easier to get out of the dingy into the the boat.
Then we relax. Most days we read. We have two bags of books. One to be read and the other we have finished. Elyse is way ahead of me and usually I read something she has recommended. I finished Bill Bryson"s Short History of Nearly Everything. Most days it's a mystery.
In the afternoon we often have "lunch". It's not like it used to be. Often we split and apple and cut up some cheese. Many days we don't eat anything till dinner. Depending on where we are we then go on an adventure. That may mean a longer dingy trip to see something special or go ashore to hike a trail. Our first stop after leaving Nassau was at Allen's Cay. It consisted of 3 small islands. Two of them have tons of Iguana. When you would go ashore at least 30 of them would run down to the beach looking for food. We made that trip without Moose. The third island was such that Moose could go ashore do get his exercise and do his business
In any case, Moose is taken ashore about 4 pm each day. We then return to the boat where we have a drink and watch the sunset. Many of the cruisers have horns made from Conch shells and they will play around the anchorage. We then have dinner, clean up and most nights are in bed reading by 8 pm. Tonight I am between books and may watch a movie.
It's hard to believe how out of touch we are getting. I just found out who is in the Super Bowl yesterday on the 28th of January.
Yesterday we moved the boat to the place that they filmed the James Bond movie Thunderball. Last night we swam under the rocks among the fish into the "grotto". It was a dome with light coming through the top. Pretty spectacular.
I hope your life is good.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Norman and Shroud Cay
Norman's Cay was not our favorite spot. We had to anchor quite a ways out from the cay and it was a long haul to the beach for Moose's run. There is a Beach Club there and some neighbor boats went in for drinks the day before we arrived. They said it was nice but expensive. We did meet these fellow cruisers Debbie, single handing an Island Packet 29, Illusions, after her husband died in Granada 5 years ago and Ray and Gary from Australia on a Vagabond 42 named Fellowship. They are good friends who met each other months back in Oriental, NC.
We left Norman's after one day and sailed down to Shroud Cay which is in the Exuma Park a protected area where fishing of any kind is not allowed. This is a beautiful area with large sandy beaches and creeks to explore. There is only one creek that the park allows motor driven vessels to run and it winds its way across the cay to the Atlantic or east side. There you can climb a pathway to the top of a hill with awesome views. The cays look to be volcanic rock with vegetation that can survive with little fresh water.
We anchored near Illusions and Fellowship and shared cocktail hour with them. Gary's outboard had died on their way back from the creek and we towed them quite a distance back to their boat.
Moose is loving the beaches and has a good run twice a day. He especially loves company and going to visit other cruisers.
We have to radio our next stop in the park to reserve a mooring ball as their are no anchorage areas and our radio is not reaching the park headquarters so fortunately Debbie's can and has relayed our request. If there are no openings, you must wait until the following morning to check in and see if there is space. On Wed. we got a relayed message that there was room for us at Wardwrick Wells on Thursday so we left and had a good sail in 18-22 knt winds.
We are learning things each day that we are out. John is perfecting the process of raising the mainsail so we able to do it more quickly. We now know that we require our batteries to be at a pretty high level in order for our GPS to work so we now plan for that if we are leaving early before the solar panels can supply enough energy.
It looks like we will stay here on our mooring until Sat morning and if the weather holds make our way to Staniel Cay which is the first place where we can find diesel, gas and water to fill our tanks.
We are settling into island time. John commented how strange it was not to know any of the football scores. We are without the constant communication we were accustomed to. We may be able to get on wifi at Wardrick Wells however they do not allow Skype or any social networks to be used as they don't have the bandwidth to support it. We will try to get email out later today.
Here it is. We are not sure when we will next get wifi. We have this connection through today. Just found out it may take 8 weeks to get our mail once it is forwarded. Not sure how we will handle that as there is some mail we must get by end of Feb. We have no phone connection here. May get it again in Staniel Cay. Life in paradise can be complicated. Hope you are all well and enjoying winter.
We left Norman's after one day and sailed down to Shroud Cay which is in the Exuma Park a protected area where fishing of any kind is not allowed. This is a beautiful area with large sandy beaches and creeks to explore. There is only one creek that the park allows motor driven vessels to run and it winds its way across the cay to the Atlantic or east side. There you can climb a pathway to the top of a hill with awesome views. The cays look to be volcanic rock with vegetation that can survive with little fresh water.
We anchored near Illusions and Fellowship and shared cocktail hour with them. Gary's outboard had died on their way back from the creek and we towed them quite a distance back to their boat.
Moose is loving the beaches and has a good run twice a day. He especially loves company and going to visit other cruisers.
We have to radio our next stop in the park to reserve a mooring ball as their are no anchorage areas and our radio is not reaching the park headquarters so fortunately Debbie's can and has relayed our request. If there are no openings, you must wait until the following morning to check in and see if there is space. On Wed. we got a relayed message that there was room for us at Wardwrick Wells on Thursday so we left and had a good sail in 18-22 knt winds.
We are learning things each day that we are out. John is perfecting the process of raising the mainsail so we able to do it more quickly. We now know that we require our batteries to be at a pretty high level in order for our GPS to work so we now plan for that if we are leaving early before the solar panels can supply enough energy.
It looks like we will stay here on our mooring until Sat morning and if the weather holds make our way to Staniel Cay which is the first place where we can find diesel, gas and water to fill our tanks.
We are settling into island time. John commented how strange it was not to know any of the football scores. We are without the constant communication we were accustomed to. We may be able to get on wifi at Wardrick Wells however they do not allow Skype or any social networks to be used as they don't have the bandwidth to support it. We will try to get email out later today.
Here it is. We are not sure when we will next get wifi. We have this connection through today. Just found out it may take 8 weeks to get our mail once it is forwarded. Not sure how we will handle that as there is some mail we must get by end of Feb. We have no phone connection here. May get it again in Staniel Cay. Life in paradise can be complicated. Hope you are all well and enjoying winter.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Allen's Cay
Yesterday we spent the day reading, relaxing and swimming with our snorkel gear. I found that with the strong current that comes through the anchorage, I am not as strong as I had thought. John had put out a fender on a rope so I had something to hang onto in the current. After we got back aboard Spunky we showered with fresh water and had a late lunch.
Left Allan's Cay this morning at about 8:45. Once again our GPS was not working as the batteries were too low so we use our handheld to mark our position on the chart. It was overcast and there were storm clouds to the south but the winds were 15-18 out of the SE so we put up the sails and took off. It is always a concern that we know our position so we don't sail through coral heads or reefs. They are usually marked on the chart so one has to know one's position. It was a good sail south to Norman's Cay and just as we were taking down our sails to turn into the wind and head for our anchorage we got some rain. It was gone by the time we had dropped anchor and we are now waiting for low tide to check if our depth is ok for the night. We are hoping to explore the cay this afternoon.
Left Allan's Cay this morning at about 8:45. Once again our GPS was not working as the batteries were too low so we use our handheld to mark our position on the chart. It was overcast and there were storm clouds to the south but the winds were 15-18 out of the SE so we put up the sails and took off. It is always a concern that we know our position so we don't sail through coral heads or reefs. They are usually marked on the chart so one has to know one's position. It was a good sail south to Norman's Cay and just as we were taking down our sails to turn into the wind and head for our anchorage we got some rain. It was gone by the time we had dropped anchor and we are now waiting for low tide to check if our depth is ok for the night. We are hoping to explore the cay this afternoon.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Allen's Cay
We arrived at Allen's Cay on the 18th. There were 10 boats here including us. It was a bit crowded but we found a spot. Our friends from Miami where here and the couple from Canada arrived on the 19th. We are pretty much traveling on our own but there are groups of boats that move from one anchorage on another together. There are 3 cays in this group and a population of protected rock iguanas live on 2 of them. Because they have been fed (illegally by tourists on speed boats out of Nassau twice daily) they come out of the bushes onto the beach whenever they hear a motor. We can only take Moose to one of the islands which does not have iguanas but does have a small beach. We went ashore just as a tourist boat arrived and took a few photos of the reptiles begging. The day following our arrival the winds picked up and our 2nd night was spent watching the boats in the anchorage move back and forth as the wind and current were in opposite directions. A couple of the boats pulled their anchors and set them again in a different place.
The color of the water is beautiful and with the strong currents stays very clean. There are not many places in the Bahamas to take trash so you have to sort it and bag it. Food stuffs can be tossed overboard in deep water, paper can be burned and buried and cans, bottles and especially plastic saved for an island which has trash facilities where you pay to leave your bags of trash. Fortunately these are only 3-5 days or so apart, depending on how long you stay where there are no facilities, so you save up. There are folks who don't care-out of sight out of mind-and destroy the beautiful environment but most are aware of the importance of keeping these islands pristine for those who follow.
Today we swim and do boat chores and tomorrow head for Norman's Cay which was the center of a drug smuggling operation in the 70's.
The color of the water is beautiful and with the strong currents stays very clean. There are not many places in the Bahamas to take trash so you have to sort it and bag it. Food stuffs can be tossed overboard in deep water, paper can be burned and buried and cans, bottles and especially plastic saved for an island which has trash facilities where you pay to leave your bags of trash. Fortunately these are only 3-5 days or so apart, depending on how long you stay where there are no facilities, so you save up. There are folks who don't care-out of sight out of mind-and destroy the beautiful environment but most are aware of the importance of keeping these islands pristine for those who follow.
Today we swim and do boat chores and tomorrow head for Norman's Cay which was the center of a drug smuggling operation in the 70's.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Nassau
Yesterday afternoon things got exciting. The winds had been quiet high in the harbor overnight and John slept in the cockpit to keep an eye on our anchor. The guides all caution about poor holding in Nassau Harbor. We held fine but by the afternoon several boats had moved and re-anchored and 3 boats dragged. One large cat deployed their dinghy and attached a line to two of the smaller dragging boats that had no crew on them and tied them off to a huge ship mooring ball in the harbor so they would not drag into another boat or the docks until their crew returned. Good people.
This morning several boats in the anchorage left as the winds were down to 17-23 knts. Most ,according to their check out with Harbor Patrol, seem to be headed to Norman's Cay. You have to request permission to both enter and leave the harbor and when you leave you state your next intended port. We will leave tomorrow and head to Allan's Cay.
We think John got the new antenna to work. We can't get into the web unless we pay as they are all blocked, but we did get the pay sites to come up from the boat so we think the antenna is working. The restaurant, Green Parrot, that allows cruisers to use their dinghy dock and drop trash for $5.00 a bag, also has free wifi from 11:30 a.m. to closing but it was not on the list of possible sites. We carried the Mac into shore with us yesterday afternoon. Most often we feel that we should buy something if we use their wifi although they are a bit pricey.
Last night during happy hour at the Green Parrot we met a couple from Ontario, Canada (Cherry and Doug). Very nice people. They are on a Cal 39 called Momma Cal. They have a tiny Yorky type dog named Pinot. We visited for over an hour comparing experiences. It is always helpful to know that others have problems and scary moments as well. Sometimes it feels to me like we are the only ones.
Today John is making us a step for the side of Spunky's hull so we can have a step up out of the dinghy. It gets pretty hairy trying to climb back into Spunky when she is bobbing up and down in the waves and wakes of other boats.
We are sitting at the Green Parrot and I am going to send this out. Don't know when next wifi access will be.
Love you all,
Elyse
This morning several boats in the anchorage left as the winds were down to 17-23 knts. Most ,according to their check out with Harbor Patrol, seem to be headed to Norman's Cay. You have to request permission to both enter and leave the harbor and when you leave you state your next intended port. We will leave tomorrow and head to Allan's Cay.
We think John got the new antenna to work. We can't get into the web unless we pay as they are all blocked, but we did get the pay sites to come up from the boat so we think the antenna is working. The restaurant, Green Parrot, that allows cruisers to use their dinghy dock and drop trash for $5.00 a bag, also has free wifi from 11:30 a.m. to closing but it was not on the list of possible sites. We carried the Mac into shore with us yesterday afternoon. Most often we feel that we should buy something if we use their wifi although they are a bit pricey.
Last night during happy hour at the Green Parrot we met a couple from Ontario, Canada (Cherry and Doug). Very nice people. They are on a Cal 39 called Momma Cal. They have a tiny Yorky type dog named Pinot. We visited for over an hour comparing experiences. It is always helpful to know that others have problems and scary moments as well. Sometimes it feels to me like we are the only ones.
Today John is making us a step for the side of Spunky's hull so we can have a step up out of the dinghy. It gets pretty hairy trying to climb back into Spunky when she is bobbing up and down in the waves and wakes of other boats.
We are sitting at the Green Parrot and I am going to send this out. Don't know when next wifi access will be.
Love you all,
Elyse
Monday, January 16, 2012
Still in Nassau
Hi gang,
We are sitting in a cafe using their internet. We left the marina yesterday and anchored out. Some days we operate like a well oiled machine. Other days we do not. When we started looking for a place to drop anchor we were like people who had never met and spoke different languages. We spent a long time up and down the channel. We would drop and anchor and then decide it was wrong. At one point we were in front of Lisa Marie Presley's house and then realized it was several miles to take Moose ashore. We finally found a place not far from where the cruise ships dock. We had lots of wind last night and Moose and I slept in the cockpit to be sure everything was ok. Our new Rocna anchor held without issue.
We will leave to head into the Exumas tomorrow or Wednesday. We are waiting to check the weather. The winds are supposed to be good but we are concerned about clouds. On the route there are coral heads just below the surface. They are easily seen in the sunlight but may be a problem if it's cloudy. We'll check weather in the morning and then decide.
Hope your life is good.
Love from Spunky and crew.
We are sitting in a cafe using their internet. We left the marina yesterday and anchored out. Some days we operate like a well oiled machine. Other days we do not. When we started looking for a place to drop anchor we were like people who had never met and spoke different languages. We spent a long time up and down the channel. We would drop and anchor and then decide it was wrong. At one point we were in front of Lisa Marie Presley's house and then realized it was several miles to take Moose ashore. We finally found a place not far from where the cruise ships dock. We had lots of wind last night and Moose and I slept in the cockpit to be sure everything was ok. Our new Rocna anchor held without issue.
We will leave to head into the Exumas tomorrow or Wednesday. We are waiting to check the weather. The winds are supposed to be good but we are concerned about clouds. On the route there are coral heads just below the surface. They are easily seen in the sunlight but may be a problem if it's cloudy. We'll check weather in the morning and then decide.
Hope your life is good.
Love from Spunky and crew.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Nassau
Here we are in Nassau. We arrived Friday Jan. 13 after traveling overnight from our anchorage near Belle Is. in Miami off South Beach. We raised anchor at 4 a.m. and arrived Nassau around 9 a.m. I believe. We requested permission to enter the harbor from Nassau Harbor Control and headed past the cruise ship docks to our slip at Nassau Harbor Club marina. The dock master here is know as St. Peter the Turtle Man of Nassau. He attempts to save the endangered sea turtles in the area.
I am still on info overload and will probably continue to be throughout this trip as I am trying to learn all the navigation tasks as well as the cruising tasks and then the info about our locations and what to see and do. It is a bit overwhelming.
Yesterday we walked to the market under the bridge(which leads across to Paradise Is. and the Atlantis Resort) where there are rows of "shacks" selling the famous Conch salad and fritters as well as typical American fare. There are also vegetable vendors selling the most common veggies such as green peppers, onions, tomatoes, hot peppers, limes all the required ingredients for conch salad. There are also tables where men gather to play dominos and shacks where vendors cut up conch to sell. The area of town that I have seen so far is pretty dirty and trash strewn with tons of potholes on the streets, but the people are very friendly and colorful. We had lunch at "Doc Sands" shack which we chose since it was crowded with locals and the conch salad was excellent. We also had Kalik beer which is a local beer that was really pretty good. Then we walked down to another marina to have dinner with friends Bert and Maria Elena on "Not so Interim". They invited us to a wonderful lamb dinner and a lot of good conversation and wine. Maria Elena used to own a restaurant in Venezuela
Today we will move Spunky to an anchorage as it is expensive to stay here too long. The winds are high so it will be a challenge to get out of here and find a spot in the harbor to anchor. We are waiting for slack tide to try and avoid the current. We are hoping the wind dies down soon so we can leave and head for Allan's Cay our first stop. Allan's Cay is made up of 3 cays, Allan's, Leaf and SW Allan's. It is here on Leaf Cay where the rock iguanas live and come out to greet the cruisers as they land on the beaches.
John got us out of the marina with no problems. The current did push us around but he has a good feel for Spunky now and has become an expert at backing out of slips.
We then circled and circled looking for a place to anchor. The first choice anchorage was full and we are always concerned about being too close to someone. It sits between the cruise ship dock and the bridge where large commercial vessels unload. We couldn't be in the way of either and the one open spot had an obstruction showing on the chart. We dropped anchor once and changed our minds. We finally gave up on the area West of the bridge and moved East to an area near what is rumored to be Lisa Marie Presley's home. Once there we dropped the anchor again and found ourselves to be very close to the channel and lots of boat traffic so we raised our anchor once again and decided to go back to the western site as it is the only place close to a dinghy landing for Moose. We continued to circle and finally settled on a spot after much discussion and indecision. Deciding where to drop our anchor in a crowded anchorage is very stressful and creates lots of tension. John and I both seem to see different things that concern us. We did finally get situated and sat back to let the dust settle so to speak.
I am still on info overload and will probably continue to be throughout this trip as I am trying to learn all the navigation tasks as well as the cruising tasks and then the info about our locations and what to see and do. It is a bit overwhelming.
Yesterday we walked to the market under the bridge(which leads across to Paradise Is. and the Atlantis Resort) where there are rows of "shacks" selling the famous Conch salad and fritters as well as typical American fare. There are also vegetable vendors selling the most common veggies such as green peppers, onions, tomatoes, hot peppers, limes all the required ingredients for conch salad. There are also tables where men gather to play dominos and shacks where vendors cut up conch to sell. The area of town that I have seen so far is pretty dirty and trash strewn with tons of potholes on the streets, but the people are very friendly and colorful. We had lunch at "Doc Sands" shack which we chose since it was crowded with locals and the conch salad was excellent. We also had Kalik beer which is a local beer that was really pretty good. Then we walked down to another marina to have dinner with friends Bert and Maria Elena on "Not so Interim". They invited us to a wonderful lamb dinner and a lot of good conversation and wine. Maria Elena used to own a restaurant in Venezuela
Today we will move Spunky to an anchorage as it is expensive to stay here too long. The winds are high so it will be a challenge to get out of here and find a spot in the harbor to anchor. We are waiting for slack tide to try and avoid the current. We are hoping the wind dies down soon so we can leave and head for Allan's Cay our first stop. Allan's Cay is made up of 3 cays, Allan's, Leaf and SW Allan's. It is here on Leaf Cay where the rock iguanas live and come out to greet the cruisers as they land on the beaches.
John got us out of the marina with no problems. The current did push us around but he has a good feel for Spunky now and has become an expert at backing out of slips.
We then circled and circled looking for a place to anchor. The first choice anchorage was full and we are always concerned about being too close to someone. It sits between the cruise ship dock and the bridge where large commercial vessels unload. We couldn't be in the way of either and the one open spot had an obstruction showing on the chart. We dropped anchor once and changed our minds. We finally gave up on the area West of the bridge and moved East to an area near what is rumored to be Lisa Marie Presley's home. Once there we dropped the anchor again and found ourselves to be very close to the channel and lots of boat traffic so we raised our anchor once again and decided to go back to the western site as it is the only place close to a dinghy landing for Moose. We continued to circle and finally settled on a spot after much discussion and indecision. Deciding where to drop our anchor in a crowded anchorage is very stressful and creates lots of tension. John and I both seem to see different things that concern us. We did finally get situated and sat back to let the dust settle so to speak.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Spunky is in Nassau
Family and Friends,
Life is good.
We left Miami yesterday morning and sailed overnight to Nassau. It was a long 30 hour trip that was very uneventful. There was little wind and we motored the whole way. We are looking at weather to decide when to sail on to the Exumas. Nassau as several of you know is a tax haven. The extremes of the way people live is amazing. We are in a marina between to huge power yachts.
The water is incredible. You can see the bottom 20-30 down. If I had spent my time here I would have been able to have recovered the hundreds of tools and things I have dropped overboard over the years.
We have suspended our phones and will rely on email communication. I have enjoyed receiving forwarded articles, jokes and photos from several of you. I would ask that you take me off of those lists until we return back to the states in May. I do enjoy receiving the emails you have sent and encourage you to keep us posted on your life.
Spunky
Latitude:25.25409
Longitude:-77.69852
GPS location Date/Time:01/13/2012 03:10:59 PST
Message:This is the default SPOT Check-in/OK message. Please update.
Click the link below to see where I am located. http://fms.ws/6qibf/25.25409N/77.69852W
If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=25.25409,-77.69852&ll=25.25409,-77.69852&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
My best to you all and I will send more soon.
John
Sailing on Spunky
Life is good.
We left Miami yesterday morning and sailed overnight to Nassau. It was a long 30 hour trip that was very uneventful. There was little wind and we motored the whole way. We are looking at weather to decide when to sail on to the Exumas. Nassau as several of you know is a tax haven. The extremes of the way people live is amazing. We are in a marina between to huge power yachts.
The water is incredible. You can see the bottom 20-30 down. If I had spent my time here I would have been able to have recovered the hundreds of tools and things I have dropped overboard over the years.
We have suspended our phones and will rely on email communication. I have enjoyed receiving forwarded articles, jokes and photos from several of you. I would ask that you take me off of those lists until we return back to the states in May. I do enjoy receiving the emails you have sent and encourage you to keep us posted on your life.
Spunky
Latitude:25.25409
Longitude:-77.69852
GPS location Date/Time:01/13/2012 03:10:59 PST
Message:This is the default SPOT Check-in/OK message. Please update.
Click the link below to see where I am located. http://fms.ws/6qibf/25.25409N/77.69852W
If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=25.25409,-77.69852&ll=25.25409,-77.69852&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
My best to you all and I will send more soon.
John
Sailing on Spunky
Friday, January 13, 2012
Nassau
We made it to Nassau!! We raised our anchor at 4 a.m. on Thursday and cleared the Port of Miami at 5 a.m. We had planned on moving Spunky Wednesday afternoon to Fisher Island to be close to the Atlantic on Thursday morning but as plans go the package we thought would arrive Wednesday morning or early afternoon didn't get there until 6 p.m. By the time John picked it up at Fed Ex it was dark and we decided to get up at 3:30 a.m. and leave from Belle Is. which we did. The weather was fine. Not enough wind to sail and when it blew it was from the wrong direction for sailing so we motored. It was pretty rolly with the swells and Moose did not like it at all but he finally settled down in his bed and went to sleep. Our autopilot acted up and kept shutting off and for a short time we debated what to do as steering on the ocean is difficult and doing it all night long would be untenable but John was able to figure out the problem and we were on our way. Just short of Bimini the water turned a beautiful turquoise blue and we rounded North Rock at 2 p.m. which is the mark just north of North Bimini. Then we added all the waypoints into our GPS and settled in for a long night. Since John usually sleeps a few hours after retiring and then is up for most of the night, I took the first shift from 8 to midnight and then John took over and I slept. I awoke for a shift at 3 a.m. but he said he was fine so I didn't take over again until 5 a.m. We arrived in Nassau and were done with customs and immigration by 10:30 a.m. Moose pretty much slept the entire trip and when John took him forward just outside of Nassau he peed on the foredeck!!! Finally!!!
It looks like the weather is going to deteriorate tomorrow and Sunday with high winds and waves so we will probably stay in Nassau until Monday. Not our desire but we are learning to be cautious and prudent. As we came into the harbor this morning there was a huge Disney cruise ship at the dock. Interestingly it is flying the Bahamian flag as its country of registration instead of the US.
Just as we passed into Bahamian waters we both got an email from Verizon notifying us that if we used our phones for calls or data it would be very expensive so we immediately turned them off. After arriving here we went into town and purchased a Bahamian phone and some minutes. That is also expensive so I am giving you all our new number for EMERGENCIES ONLY. It is cheaper to text us or if we get a call from the states it will be billed at Bahamian rates we believe and not the even higher rates charged if we call out. We will communicate infrequently by email when we can get to an internet cafe or get wifi coverage in an anchorage so until we return to the states communication will be sparse.
We are excited to begin this part of our adventure and will write when we can. Feel free to write to us and we will enjoy hearing from you as usual. Hope you all have a great winter and spring we will be thinking of you. It is 83 degrees here today.
It looks like the weather is going to deteriorate tomorrow and Sunday with high winds and waves so we will probably stay in Nassau until Monday. Not our desire but we are learning to be cautious and prudent. As we came into the harbor this morning there was a huge Disney cruise ship at the dock. Interestingly it is flying the Bahamian flag as its country of registration instead of the US.
Just as we passed into Bahamian waters we both got an email from Verizon notifying us that if we used our phones for calls or data it would be very expensive so we immediately turned them off. After arriving here we went into town and purchased a Bahamian phone and some minutes. That is also expensive so I am giving you all our new number for EMERGENCIES ONLY. It is cheaper to text us or if we get a call from the states it will be billed at Bahamian rates we believe and not the even higher rates charged if we call out. We will communicate infrequently by email when we can get to an internet cafe or get wifi coverage in an anchorage so until we return to the states communication will be sparse.
We are excited to begin this part of our adventure and will write when we can. Feel free to write to us and we will enjoy hearing from you as usual. Hope you all have a great winter and spring we will be thinking of you. It is 83 degrees here today.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Miami Beach
We are in Miami Beach at anchor in a beautiful location. After leaving Stuart on Tuesday morning we motored down the ICW to Lake Worth. It was a great day and we arrived early so we tried to find an alternative anchorage from the recommended one but every spot was taken and the anchorage behind Peanut Island where we thought we would have good shelter from the winds and a place to walk Moose was very small and full so we motored back to North Lake Worth and dropped the hook. It was the first time we used our new anchor and it preformed like a champ. The predicted t-storms arrived and although others in the anchorage dragged we held tight. The landing area for the dinghy where we went in to walk Moose and others use to get to shopping is known for theft. A friend we met in Stuart had their outboard stolen a few years back and all of the guides caution not to leave your dinghy unattended even if locked. We decided to only stay the night and left early the following morning. We had hoped to jump outside of the ICW into the Atlantic and head to Miami but the weather was iffy so we stayed inside and motored through Palm Beach and onto Ft. Lauderdale. This area of the ICW is called the canyon as the sides of the canal are all concrete and lined with homes some quite opulent. North of Del Ray Beach the temp alarm went off and smoke started pouring out of the hatchway. John shouted to turn off the engine as he raced below to see what was up. We had broken an engine belt and blown out a hose. We dropped anchor in the middle of the channel and John spent over an hour below making repairs. There are 20 bridges to get through in this 50 mile stretch and most are restricted to certain opening times. Some are only a couple of miles apart and you go through one at quarter to or after the hour and the next on the hour or half. We don't quite go fast enough to make the quick openings and spent a lot of time waiting for the 2nd opening. That combined with the time lost on the repairs put us into Ft. Lauderdale too late to find an anchorage and we were forced to stop the night at a marina. This morning we left and made it through the final two bridges to Port Everglades Inlet. John noticed that our oil leak that he thought was fixed when he tightened every bolt in sight is worse than ever perhaps due to the belt episode and the heat that generated. We decided however to push on to Miami so we motored out into the Atlantic passing a few huge cruise ships at dock and hoisted the sails and took off south. The wind died shortly and we motored on to Government Cut a big shipping channel into Miami. We passed by a huge cruise ship at dock awaiting and made our way slowly up the cut being bounced around and side to side constantly by all the big and small power boats that don't know the meaning of "No Wake"
New Year's Eve was great. We had fireworks all around us in the anchorage. There were some over Miami and some over South Beach. It was very exciting. We have found the Publix, Ace Hardware and Post Office. We can walk to all of those as well as into South Beach and the upscale shops there. The street with the shops is closed off for pedestrian traffic only and it is line with outdoor cafes and filled with people speaking spanish. We love the mix of cultures here and the excitement of the city There is a lovely little park where we take Moose for his twice daily walks. It has a fenced in play area for the children and is right on the water.
We tried to use the Alfa antenna that we had purchased but after loading the software and wiping out our 'easy tether' and gmail, we took the Mac and antenna into an Apple store for help. As usual the store was full to the brim with people shopping for Mac products. Pretty incredible. We were able to get our gmail back but could not get the antenna to work so we sent the antenna back and will try to order another brand that can work with the Mac. The parts for the oil leak are not going to arrive until Jan. 9th so we will remain here in Miami until we can get those and meet with the mechanic. Once they arrive we will have to go into an expensive marina to have the work done. The good news is I will do laundry and we will take real showers. Looks like it will be the middle of January before we leave. Our next adventure will be to take the bus to the West Marine store to purchase some more spares in case they are needed in the Bahamas. From what we are told it is very hard and expensive to get parts there. We are anchored very close to South Beach and the West Marine stores are all in Miami so we will try the bus. Here in Miami there are no special rates for seniors as we have found in other locations unless you have a special card which requires a bus trip in order. to apply for the card. More trouble than it is worth.
We had a cold snap for a couple of days. One night the temps dropped to the high 30's but today it is back to the 70's with a nice breeze. Just lovely. I shall send this now as our wifi coverage is very spotty and I may not get an opportunity to send an update for a while. At least until we spend the night at the marina.
Hope everyone is well and enjoying life.
New Year's Eve was great. We had fireworks all around us in the anchorage. There were some over Miami and some over South Beach. It was very exciting. We have found the Publix, Ace Hardware and Post Office. We can walk to all of those as well as into South Beach and the upscale shops there. The street with the shops is closed off for pedestrian traffic only and it is line with outdoor cafes and filled with people speaking spanish. We love the mix of cultures here and the excitement of the city There is a lovely little park where we take Moose for his twice daily walks. It has a fenced in play area for the children and is right on the water.
We tried to use the Alfa antenna that we had purchased but after loading the software and wiping out our 'easy tether' and gmail, we took the Mac and antenna into an Apple store for help. As usual the store was full to the brim with people shopping for Mac products. Pretty incredible. We were able to get our gmail back but could not get the antenna to work so we sent the antenna back and will try to order another brand that can work with the Mac. The parts for the oil leak are not going to arrive until Jan. 9th so we will remain here in Miami until we can get those and meet with the mechanic. Once they arrive we will have to go into an expensive marina to have the work done. The good news is I will do laundry and we will take real showers. Looks like it will be the middle of January before we leave. Our next adventure will be to take the bus to the West Marine store to purchase some more spares in case they are needed in the Bahamas. From what we are told it is very hard and expensive to get parts there. We are anchored very close to South Beach and the West Marine stores are all in Miami so we will try the bus. Here in Miami there are no special rates for seniors as we have found in other locations unless you have a special card which requires a bus trip in order. to apply for the card. More trouble than it is worth.
We had a cold snap for a couple of days. One night the temps dropped to the high 30's but today it is back to the 70's with a nice breeze. Just lovely. I shall send this now as our wifi coverage is very spotty and I may not get an opportunity to send an update for a while. At least until we spend the night at the marina.
Hope everyone is well and enjoying life.
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