Wrapping up our cruising for 2022 Season – Green Turtle, Bahamas, March 22, 2022

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 Wrapping up our cruising for 2022 Season– Green Turtle, Bahamas, March 22, 2022

We landed in Green Turtle to stage for a weather window and check out of immigration before heading to the US.  Looks like Monday is our day to go.  I thought of a few items I wanted to point out as we abruptly end our cruising season due to our sail drive issue.  Here they are in random order.

 Strange things about boat life or retirement:

  • ·         When was the last time you met your friends and didn’t wear shoes? 
  • ·         I have left the boat & forgotten shoes til we get on land
  • ·         Our exercise routine – 18000 steps or 57…literally
  • ·         I have no idea what day of the week it is, nor do I care
  • ·         No power = no oven, or hot shower.  You end up choosing cold dinner in trade for a warm shower
  • ·         Watching TV…on our phone to save data
  • ·         We do mostly the same activities and spend 1/3 of what we did on land.
  • ·         If it’s windy, we stay home.  That’s new.
  • ·         My salt & spices are now a solid – grrr
  • ·         I wear a rubber band for my hair on my wrist 100% of the time cause it’s windy!
  • ·         I never wore sunscreen or got burned
  • ·         The weather is nothing like BVI
  • ·         I didn’t learn as much about sailing & we really motored a lot
  • ·         For a nice boat – a lot of major stuff broke
  • ·         When it rains, it wakes you up since your window is over your head
  • ·         You can hear the shrimp clicking, eating from the bottom of the haul sometimes
  • ·         Most of all, the great people we were privileged to meet

 

First things I’ll order when we get back:

  • ·         Mexican food & Osprey Tacos!
  • ·         A freaking electric toothbrush!!
  • ·         New sandals since the salt have literally eaten mine and I cannot believe they have made it this long!

 

Stuff we never ran out of:

  • ·         Toilet paper
  • ·         Toothpaste
  • ·         Wine & liquor – huh?

 

The best advice we got when we first started:

  • ·         everyone gets the same weather & has the same maps
  • ·         each boat has one captain

 

Memorable moments of 2022 season:

  • ·         The weather and it’s “Bermuda highs” with 20+ knot clocking winds
  • ·         Leonard & the Hamilton caves on Long Island
  • ·         Exuma land & sea park hiking & snorkeling
  • ·         Royal island & our first storm with 55+ knot winds
  • ·         Hopetown Lighthouse as my Christmas tree
  • ·         Mermaid sculpture
  • ·         The Hermitage on Cat Island
  • ·         Hawks nest marina & the airport crossing
  • ·         Spearing huge lobsters!
  • ·         Sail drive leaking shortened our trip
  • ·         On da beach & its $25 per case of beer
  • ·         Tahiti beach for New Year’s
  • ·         Calabash Bay just might be Eden
  • ·         Little San Salvador’s McPlayland cruise ship island
  • ·         Hamburger Beans
  • ·         Coconut Rum & Lemonade is awesome!
  • ·         The Tranquil Turtle – what happens here stays here
  • ·         Our new Inverter

 

What have I learned in the past 7 months?

  • ·         Weather trumps EVERYTHING – it determines not only when but where you go – always
  • ·         Tides and current matter a lot more than we knew til we did our initial cruise in Georgia
  • ·         Composting toilet isn’t so bad if we treat it nicely and follow a specific protocol
  • ·         The boat will talk to you – every noise means something from the freshwater pump dictating we have a leak to the creaking meaning there are bulkhead issues (which thankfully we do not have!)
  • ·         It is key to identify the single points of failure and have a spare.  As MacGyver as Sailing Hubby is, he cannot make every part with minimal tools & materials
  • ·         That little RV washing machine is worth its weight in gold!
  • ·         We need way less than we have even on the boat now (and we got rid of 80% of our stuff before we got here and could get rid of 50% more).  We don’t even go on the other half of the boat.  It is just storage.
  • ·         We know we will do this next year and go farther
  • ·         We now know how to spot coral heads
  • ·         I know proper radio protocol and how to hail another boat via VHF.  It’s kinda like a CB and your boat name is your trucker nick name.
  • ·         Sleeping on a boat is a dream and like being rocked to sleep.  I will miss it.
  • ·         It gets cold, even in the Bahamas in the winter.  I can also sleep in 40-degree weather.  Not all things I have learned have been good.
  • ·         Internet in the Bahamas is a as bad as I thought it would be
  • ·         People are inherently good and helpful in the islands.  The cruiser community really is amazing with incredible people majority of the time
  • ·         I have seen more sunsets in this past 7 months than I have in the last 30 years
  • ·         I was rarely seasick and when I was it was, it was on passage day.  I was unsure how this would go, and it was better than I could have imagined
  • ·         Bitch wings, smack the donkey, and sea beans…’nough said
  • ·         I can anchor all by myself AND get a mooring now!
  • ·         Storms and 50+ winds suck on a boat
  • ·         It’s easy to use less power and water when it’s measured, and we pay attention.  Solar powered is a dream, and our completely electric kitchen is WAY better than our old propane one.  Our carbon footprint is smaller than it has ever been.
  • ·         Our poor beaches are choked in plastic.  Please boycott the plastic packaging for goods and buy glass or aluminum if it is ever available.
  • ·         The Bahamian diet always consists of several main options which are:  peas and rice, mac and cheese, conch, and slaw. 
  • ·         In the Bahamas, rum is cheaper than orange juice.
  • ·         We did not buy enough beer when we started and had to buy more – we will know better next time.  It is REALLY expensive here (as in $48-$67 a case!!)
  • ·         Ramen noodles are inexpensive and available everywhere.
  • ·         50% of the vessels in the Bahamas are Canadian, who knew?
  • ·         It is WAY more expensive living on land in the US than the cruising lifestyle.  It is too easy to spend money on land.  In the Bahamas, outside activities are free.

We have learned a so much this year.  Everything from boat handling & mechanics, to the weather, to the people.  It has been fantastic, and we know this was the right choice for us to come.

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About Ron C

Hi, I'm Sally and this is my husband, Ron. I’ve been doing marketing for the last 30 years for tech companies and Ron is a biomedical engineer. Basically, he knows what he is doing and well, I don't. However, the yin and yang of our relationship is total bliss. We decided after 10 years of marriage, the joy of suburbia, and years of travelling, that this was for us. So, we saved, retired, and this is our story. We’ve taken trips to Costa Rica and love it. Nowhere on earth can you see that many masonry animal statues and not a pothole crew in site. Beautiful. Then there was Jamaica where the night before we left, I broke my big toe and was not able to go into the water. Instead, we experienced the most amazing singing bartender while drinking "Shit on the Grass." No lie. Then there was British Virgin Islands where we chartered a boat three times. Twice with just us and the final time with our 4 daughters. Man, there is no better way to hear your kids complain than in a space that small. That was some quality family time there. Now we are empty nesters, we have purchased a Leppard Catamaran and you are invited to come along for the ride. Should be a total hoot.

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