Cruising Lifestyle

Well we had a request for some comments on our new lifestyle to let folks know what it feels like to retire and go cruising. We know from our Facebook and blog comments there are a few wannabe’s amongst you.

Well our day has completely changed, unlike work where your day is dictated by schedules we have very few things that are scheduled. The only self imposed schedule for us is getting weather. We start our day listening to Chris Parker on SSB radio at 6:30am, all but Sunday when he’s off air. We don’t have to do this as we can access weather by email or internet when we have it and of course some times we know we are not moving so we don’t get too upset using a day old forecast. If you can imagine then you have the rest of the day to do what you want. Very unlike work for both Liz and I. We do however start and end our day with the sun rise and set as it is a lot easier than doing things in the dark.

On days in busy harbors we listen to the VHF radio “net” which is where folks broadcast events and we choose what we want to do. We have had this in some places including Black Point, George Town and Thompson Bay. Also on these occasions we have had lunch or dinner out with friends or people we meet along the way. We also like to invite folks to our boat or join them on theirs or even attend an impromptu beach “pot-luck”. Socializing like this is a lot of fun and we have met some great people this way.

Here in the Bahamas there have been many days where there is a very empty harbor and we make our own itinerary for the day. We like to do what you see in the blog so far; walk islands & beaches, snorkel, swim, spearfish and SAIL. When we get in at night we generally cook dinner and then complete the days dish washing before choosing what to do at night. It’s sometimes reading and researching where to go next and many times just watching a movie or reading a book. We like to go to other boats in the harbor or they just dinghy over and we chat and maybe arrange to meet up for things to do or games like Mexican train or Farkle (you can Google these if your not familiar). We also meet locals on our walks or fisherman in harbors and stop to enjoy hearing about their life or work. We found out a lot from a fisherman of how they catch lobster and prepare them. A lady in George Town who gave us a ride to the hardware store was a delightful music teacher and shared some of the history of schools and teaching here. Locals are very friendly and seem to have time, it’s great when you can just sit and chat with them.

Sharing it with friends

Beach gathering with Cruisers

 

We also live with a floating collection of hardware and electronics. So maintenance is a common task, whether preventative or repair. We see everyone doing some so please don’t think it’s just us. The salt water and constant motion makes things fail after time and of course Moosetracks enjoyed her 15th birthday so she needs attention. I see these often as challenges and enjoy the success when a repair is completed and all is working again. Yes it does get frustrating when you don’t have a part or tool and have to wait sometimes days for a solution. But as I am an engineer we have been able to tackle a lot of things and it’s been very rewarding seeing what you can accomplish yourself.

Then there are the things we used to to in our spare time that takes much longer. Remember we have no home appliances so things like food prep, dish washing, laundry, cleaning are all manual and take longer. As an example Liz hand washed a few tee shirts yesterday and had to watch them dry on the line, well it was windy yesterday! Going into town to do laundry or dispose of trash can easily take half a day as can finding a part or a store. Remember we don’t always have internet and we don’t have a car so just finding where stuff is, can be a challenge but also an adventure. Here in the Bahamas for example the trash is in specific places paid for in theory by cruising permit charges. These are not as regular as you might think and we carry our trash until we find a place to dispose of it, then sometimes it’s not there as they are emptying it!

Days and nights quickly fill in with things we have to do or want to do. We do have to put our boat before other things as it’s our home and safety so if it needs attention we do it. But in all we are loving the freedom to make our own choices easy or hard. We also cherish new friendships and old and regard this as one of the best things about the cruising community. We also love the support and help they all give and receive as we try to reciprocate wherever we can.

Sailing

Beach walks

 

Of course we are also new to retirement and we have all the anxiety associated with no regular income and of course being older hoping our health keeps up. But we like to think we planned well and are doing this early enough for our health to be good. But we all retire at some point so the anxiety is probably always going to be there so we don’t let it dictate our life.

We hope this sheds a little light on our lifestyle and let us know if there are topics you want more detail on.

Devin & Liz

Jumento's

Well it’s been a while since an update. This is due to the fact that we went off-grid for a while. We left Thompson Bay, Long Island for the Jumento’s. They are a long chain of Cay’s that are very remote with only one large island which is settled. The town is called Duncan town, but we didn’t get that far. You may have noticed a few emails as we got close enough for sporadic cell phone coverage but stayed nearby at anchor on Raccoon Cay.

Our first stop was Water Cay a 7-8 hours sail across very shallow water with reasonable wind to sail most of the way. Once we arrived there were a few fishermen in the northern most anchorage and we pulled in with our buddy boats next to them. We traded with the fishermen for a few fish and lobster, what a great deal. We then moved on the Flamingo Cay which we spent a few nights at to explore on foot and by sea. We found a few trails and a lot of great snorkeling. Devin almost caught his first fish on the pole spear but only managed small lion fish, too small to eat. The hog fish eluded him, more practice is required!

Fisherman

Hog Fish



Lobster

The next destination was Raccoon Cay, it is a beautiful anchorage with lovely bays with sandy beaches and a good trail. The weather picked up so we stayed here several nights and even spent a day aboard playing Mexican train dominoes.

Well time does fly and weather will not always play ball, so it was we have to head back to George Town before the next front approaches. It was then time to say goodbye to our buddy boats Poco Loco, Wind Lass and Rubaiyat. We enjoyed their company so much and had a great time learning so much about Bahamas cruising. We will miss them but hopefully we’ll catch them in the future.

Moosetracks, Poco Loco, Wind Lass crews

We then retraced our outward journey visiting Flamingo Cay and then Water Cay where we had a very strenuous hike around the island which found us cutting our own trail down the hill through the palm trees and wild sage bushes. Finally today we returned to Thompson Bay before leaving tomorrow for George town to meet up with friends and pick up Tug and Monique who are visiting us.

Moosetracks & Crew

Secluded Beaches

Touring Long Island

Long Island is 80 miles long and 4 miles wide and even tho we have walked many of the beaches and taken the dinghy around, we decided it was time to join with 2 cruising couples and rent a van to see more of the island. Monday we drove south to Clarence Town the Capital, approximately 4000 live on the island. We first visited the St Paul’s Anglican Church, which is undergoing repairs as the roof was torn off during a Hurricane, unfortunately its taking time to replace and the recent rains were everywhere inside during our visit. The 2nd church built on the other hill top has magnificent views, to appreciate these views we had to climb a number of ladders to the top spire. Both churches were built by Father Jerome Haves. Travelling north we stopped at Hamilton Caves, these are owned by Leonard Cartwright and his family since 1840.This is the site of discovery of Lucayan artifacts in 1935. Leonard took us on a great tour which includes some very low areas, passed the fountain of youth. We each had our own flashlight and were able to spot the bats who were nesting there and at one point during our visit decided to fly between us all.

Bats at Hamiltons

Hamilton's Caves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The highlight on day 1 was our stop at “Deans Blue Hole”, it is 663ft deep, the deepest in the world. The world record holder for free diving uses this for his practice. ( William was present at our Super bowl party we attended). As the day came to a close we picked up Jerry and 7 of us drove north for a typical Bahamian dinner, fried chicken. Dinner out on Monday night is hard to find and we ended up at the police station in Simms to ask directs and was informed Mr. Simms cooked fresh chicken and was the local historian, so it was an entertaining evening. Outside the wild goats and sheep were munching away on tree trimmings Mr. Simms Nephew had brought by. We left the car on the gravel road and walked down the shell path to our dinghies.

Blue Hole

Tuesday we made an early start to drive north. Passing though Deadmans cay we continued our church count, in total we counted 29 over the 2 days. We were headed for Columbus Monuments at the far north of the island. Due to Pete’s excellent driving skills we did manage to make our way over very rough up and down paths, the road was so narrow and we almost had to get out and push. At the top of this high cliff we walked the final path to the monument which is a memorial to Christopher Columbus first voyage in 1492. We had spectacular views from all around, I left with photos for many years worth of calendar scenes. We only passed 1 other vehicle which thankfully was in one of the only places suitable to pass.

Columbus Monument

Columbus Monument

Santan Maria Point

Adderley’s Plantation was on our to see list and again after negotiating a rough dirt path we ended up on a little beach circle. Signs from the road and taken us over a small bridge and we had expected to drive up to the plantation. We did mange to find a small path leading up from the beach. Paths here are often marked with conch shells so it looked promising. After a hike through under growth we could see the plantation ruins in the distance. At the ruins we took many photos including ones of the very cute frogs with huge eyes. We took in many other interesing sites, including Stellas Maris Resort and also the Marina and the wonderful Calabash bay.

Calabash Bay

Shaggie's grave

Marker 108 Beach

Beach Bean Girls

 

 

Leaving George Town



Well went spent 10 days in all in George Town. We walked trails that cruisers maintain on the island. There were some that had been expressly maintained to show off the island plant life and was marked with all the types of vegetation, very informative. Other were just between great beaches and all were thoroughly enjoyed. We also visited Volley ball beach where the cruisers tend to congregate most as there is a lot going on and a great bar, Chat ‘n’ Chill. Look it up on the internet and you’ll get the idea. We even attended a sing-along at Big D’s on Monument beach and it was a great night with a big bonfire on the beach. Sorry we forgot a camera as it was night time. The only thing we missed was ice cream at Bikini’s. You can’t imagine they had broken freezers so they lost all their stock and had to re-order. So NO ice cream for 2 weeks!!!! Gina knows we’ll die if we don’t get a regular fix!

Long Dinghy rides in George Town

Volley Ball beach & Chat 'n' Chill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We met lots of great cruisers and learned a lot from them about all sorts of things. We hope to catch up with several either later in the season as we head back for the US via the Abaco’s or even in the US during summer.

We had a little maintenance issue with our macerator, the pump that empties our holding tank. Yes the tank of smelly stuff. Devin had the job as it’s definitely BLUE, meaning man’s work. He took it apart 3 times and eventually decided it needs replacement. Fortunately Herman from Whitewing an old friend from St Petersburg was in the US so we quickly emailed him and he bought one before returning to George Town this Thursday. Thanks so much Herman. We’ll pick it up on the way back to George Town later this month when we meet Tug & Monique there.



Moosetracks

Poco Loco

So it was we left George Town on Thursday morning for Thompson Bay on Long Island, we even managed a good sail for a large part of it contrary to the forecast. The community is called Salt Pond and it’s quite small but has a lot more than we hope to need.

 

 

The Anchorage is beautiful and best of all it had only 10 boats in it when we arrived. Heaven after the 200 or so in George Town. We took the dinghy down to the government docks and visited the Long Island Breeze resort, very nice it is too, with internet, laundry, showers and a pool. We also walked around town and visited 2 supermarkets. Here they sell food, including ice cream and general hardware as well. We also booked a car for a group of us to tour the island on Monday/Tuesday. The weather looks very windy Saturday and Sunday is Super Bowl so we want to watch that at the resort and then go exploring next week by car.

A no wind morning - WOW

We hope to get off the boat later today, yes it rains in paradise occasionally, we will go for a walk on the beach and have some aperitif's with other cruisers tonight before Mexican Train on Wind Lass.

It’s a tuff life but someone has to do it! Love to everyone and embrace your weekend with friends.

Devin & Liz.