Good Friends

Well we thought we were headed to Rum Cay but the weather dictated a little prudence and after 1.5 hours of fast beam reaching in 10 feet swells and 3-4 feet seas with 20 knots of wind from SE and gusts to over 25 knots we decided that the anchorage would be uncomfortable at best. The alternative of the marina on Rum Cay didn’t offer much of an option as the reef outside is a winding path and would be through breaking waves with the wind angle. So we decided to keep on north past the tip of Long Island and around to the lee of the wind at Hog Cay and near Joe’s Sound entrance. We had a very pleasant night there sheltered from the wind. The cell tower was close enough to get emails out telling folks of the change of plans and we arranged another visit with Bruce and Gina on s/v Dreamcatcher as they would be headed to Thompson Bay in a few days. We made hasty plans and shuffled our non-existent calendar.

So we were back in Thompson bay on Thursday march 14th. We put the hook down early morning as it was a short motor sail. Our surprise was hearing the George Town regatta ended with a cruise to Thompson Bay and 50 plus boats were due any minute. At least we had a good spot! It was also a lot of fun to meet some folks we had met at places down the Exuma Islands as we had a beach pot luck that night. We also met up with Bess and Billy on s/v Alibi II who were friends of friends, Jack & Anne from IP45 Pura Vida, who were introduced by emails. Bess and Billy were a great couple with lots of great stories and some fantastic cooking too!

Gina and Bruce came in the following day and crept up behind us whilst we were napping. We had drinks on Moosetracks and the following day we went for lunch at Sou’ Side and a good walk around the Thompson Bay area. The evening was appetizers on Dreamcatcher and Bruce surprised us with a fantastic pizza dip he made. We had such fun catching up and just chatting we decided to stay another day! We went for a lovely beach walk at Salt pond and back to the Long Island Breeze resort for a craft fare and libations. After a little helpful tow in getting back to their boat we chatted and said our goodbyes. It might be a while before we meet Gina and Bruce again so it was great to have the extra time with them. Dreamcatcher is off to the western Caribbean this summer and we head to the East coast USA.

Bruce & Gina - towing antics

Great friends

So we both left Thompson bay on Sunday in nice steady 10-12 knots SE winds and it was easy down wind sailing to Calabash Bay. We enjoyed the sights of the bay but decided to forego the resort and bar and relax the night on Moosetracks with a movie. The following day we were up early for the run to New Bight on Cat Island. The forecast was quite a bit off but for us it worked out great. We had 15-20 knots of wind and 4 feet swell with some 3 feet chop on the starboard beam and made 30nm in 4 hours, then turned into the bay for a close hauled run for 2 hours at over 6 knots. One of our best sailing days in the Bahamas.

When we arrived we met up with two boats we had met a few times in the past; Bob & Darnell IP485 of Grand Cru and Jeff & Donna of Whish. They hailed us as we settled in to join them on the beach for a walk. Well this spot is widely known for the Hermitage that was built by Father Jerome and sits on the highest hill in the Bahamas. We’ll for Liz and I that was a must, we love hill walking. This however is a bit small at 206 feet high! As we dinghied ashore we noticed IP40 Barefoot come in, friends Tom & Joyce from Florida who we had met while we were in Florida over the last few years, we said hello and let them settle in while we continued to the beach. Father Jerome built a replica miniature chapel / monastery at the top. The pictures hardly do it justice. The man certainly knew how to build and certainly was determined as he did it all on his own on such a steep rise. His reward was outstanding views all around Cat Island. This morning we did the whole walk again with Tom & Joyce, it was that good! We then walked into “town” for lunch and stopped at the little beach shacks and had a wonderful curried chicken lunch special.

Hermitage

Tallest hill in Bahamas - 206 feet!

Bob rings the arrival gong

Tom & Joyce with us for our second visit

Well there is a front coming tomorrow so we’ll get tucked in behind a spit to keep out of the north winds and after that we’ll start looking at Eleuthera.

Big Hugs to all our friends – Devin & Liz.

Clarence Town, Long Island

 

We arrived in Clarence Town a little by chance as we had not intended on coming so far south on the east side of Long Island. However as our friends were headed south and we were so close we thought we’d have a last get together before they sailed to the Caribbean. So it is we left Conception Island for Clarence Town. We had a motor sail the whole way in light winds. We tried fishing but in 40 miles we had zero bites, despite following a good weed line for a couple of miles too. The highlight was seeing a 244ft Mega Yacht “Kogo” which we since found was the #58th largest in the world and the #10 largest you can actually charter.

With Melinda & Harry

Liz, Dee & Melinda

 

The crews

 

Well we had an easy entrance to the harbor and anchored on the SE side. Luckily we just beat a large frontal system in and within 1.5 hours we had it hit with strengthening winds. It lasted all night and Wind Lass recorded 49 knot gusts which is very strong. All of us (Wind Lass, Sea Schell & Moosetracks) held our anchors very well. In the morning however we had some repairs as Wind Lass and Sea Schell had some lines wear through or close too which needed replacing. Having sorted that out though we all went ashore to the Flying Fish marina. What a lovely place, very welcoming to cruising boats in the harbor which is unusual. We did laundry and had lunch at the restaurant and used their wifi for email and downloads. We had a great walk around the harbor and went for a walk around town for grocery shopping and sight seeing the following days.

Clarence town

We had a fantastic surprise when we heard from DreamCatcher in Thompson bay and we were able to arrange to meet by car. Bruce and Gina shared a ride with Mark from IP40 Down Island and we all met at Rowdy Boys in Clarance town. We had been wanting to meet them again since spending so much time this summer with them, it's great to meet old friends again if only briefly.


Gina, Bruce, Liz & Devin

Mudslides- Gina's favorite

Well all too soon Wind Lass and Sea Schell were ready to go, Harry and Melinda had replaced their outboard which they were waiting on and it was a perfect weather window to head south. So it was on Thursday morning we walked the beach with them and then said our goodbyes. We moved Moosetracks to get more diesel fuel from the marina and re-anchored in the shelter of the NE of the harbor. As soon as we moved our new neighbors came over to invite us for drinks. We gladly accepted and dinghied over the same evening. We had a wonderful chat with Lawrence and Linda on m/v Far Reaches for great introductions to Clarence town from two very seasoned visitors. The following morning we hailed Sea Schell and Wind Lass as they headed south and on to new adventures.

Linda and Lawrence are almost locals here and were the perfect couple to show us the sites and introduce us to some locals as they are treated like family as they are visit so much. We first went for a car ride with them to both shop and discover some secluded beaches. We spent then morning looking for beach treasures on a remote Atlantic beach near Chimney rock, but unfortunately none of us found any spectacular artifacts. Then we had a picnic lunch at Turtle cove near Dean’s blue hole on a lovely beach under the shade of an old gazebo. The afternoon ride we went to the beautiful beach pool at Bonnycourt. We finished the day with appetizers on Moosetracks.

Chimney Rock Beach

Infinity pool

Bonnycourt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turtle Cove

 

On Sunday Lawrence and Linda invited us to join them with a few local families on a nearby Cay. It was great to chat with the local families and learn how to open coconuts and which ones to harvest. Liz also learned a little weaving. We helped them clean & clear some of the beach and burn some of the sand spurs down. They often use this beach and also spend Easter here each year camping with families so they take special pride in looking after it.

 

Dominoes

Devin & Lawrence, coconut lessons

Coconut testing

Liz & Linda

Liz weaving

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Monday we all went in for a drive, first to pick up fresh vegetables, then on to visit some new friends of Far Reaches; Kevin and Audrey who are ex-Pat Brits. They moved recently to Long Island and bought a nice home to settle in. They have been here for many years however and for quite a while they ran private estates/islands for their owners. It was nice to exchange stories of how we all got here especially as we are ex-Pat Brits too. By the way you should see the lovely original condition Fiat 500 they have... of all places! We then went for our beach walk and picnic. This time we found hamburger beans and other sea beans, the beach looked a little too clean but we walk extra far to improve our chances. We visited other friends of Far Reaches; Ena’s shop in Clarence town, and bought some highly recommended Goat Chili Hot Pepper Sauce, and then returned to Far Reaches for drinks.

 

Roadside organic pigs

Kevin & Audrey's Fiat 500

Well it is with a heavy heart we say goodbye to Linda and Lawrence we have so enjoyed their company, we can just hope our paths cross again which is highly likely next year. So it is we are off to Rum Cay for a few days or at least that’s the plan.

Fair Winds

Devin & Liz

First Visitors

Well we left the Jumentos to return to George Town so that we could meet our friends Tug & Monique who were flying in to visit us. They have not been away from their 4 kids since starting a family over 10 years ago so it was always going to be very special for them. Our preparations started early, first a run for laundry and some provisions which took most of the day. Then a day spent baking and doing food prep which Liz wanted to do before they got here to maximize time with them.

On their arrival the winds were up a little and Devin took the dinghy into town to get them and their luggage. Well the ride back was a little too wet, we packed their luggage in plastic bags to keep it dry. However Tug and Monique got a good soaking but being sailors on vacation all I heard was laughter and cries of joy! Sometimes you forget the exciting parts of our lifestyle?

The next day we enjoyed a beach walk around Stocking Island and Tug and Monique took hundreds of photos, again so much was new for them and they wanted lasting memories. In the evening we went to a beach pot luck arranged for guests on Borrowed Horse, it was a great get together and fantastic food, we’ll not forget the chocolate cakes for sure! Tug and Monique met a few of our friends and enjoyed talking with Hayden and Raydeen on Island Spirit IP35 from the area near where Tug used to live and sail. After the pot luck a fire was lit to keep the beach flies down and a beautiful evening ended with fireside chats then a dinghy ride to Moosetracks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The days were filled with beach and island walks and we made sure to see as much of George town and the islands as we could in 5 days. They big surprise for us was how much Monique enjoyed snorkeling, a veritable fish in the water Monique would spend hours looking at the reefs and all the life on them. Thankfully they had brought two cameras of which one was an underwater camera and they were able to get lots of great photo’s of the reef life.

We spent a few afternoons on Volley ball beach visiting other cruisers and having conch salad. It was a special side show from the boy’s at the conch shack to feed the sting rays. They let us all have pieces of the conch entrails to feed the rays, and pet them as well. It was great fun to have such a close encounter with them and lots laughs and photos were had.

Volley Ball Beach

 

We finished most days with dinner aboard and it was so nice to have company and just chat over dinner and sunsets. We enjoyed a game of Mexican train with them one evening to give them the flavor of how we spend our evenings with guests. It was a lively game but for once Devin managed to beat the ever challenging Liz.

Well time goes bye so fast when your having fun and so it was for Tug and Monique. On her last day Monique wanted to snorkel and Tug wanted to see more of Moosetracks systems. Tug wanted to know more about the charging systems and refrigeration and had the lazaret locker open to see it and was surprised by how much we carry in there. Monique took a short dinghy ride with Devin to see the nearby reef one last time and take some more photos. After lunch we rode the dinghy back to town to do last minute gift shopping and get the taxi share over to the airport.

Certainly looking at all the smiling faces in the photos we are sure they had a great time. They were fantastic guests as they own their own boat and knew they had to preserve electric and water as we have to make it all. They also were very easy on the chef and extremely good at drying dishes – thanks for that!

So we have had our first guest and it was so great we look forward to more.

Devin & Liz

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