The Big Deal about Spanish Wells – Royal Harbor Island, Eleuthera

 Ron and I have been anchored in Royal Island Harbor for the last 6 days.  It’s nice as it offers 360 protection, which we needed so we stayed.   There are always roughly 7 boats here, though not the same ones since they come and go.  One of our “crossing buddies” invited us to happy hour on Sunday and we happily obliged.  They were a lovely couple, on their 4^th year here with their monohull.  Sadly, they called us the next morning to say their captain came down with a high fever shortly after we left, and they hoped it was not the dreaded COVID.  Oh great. 

 Well, we were supposed to meet the rest of the “cruising parade” tomorrow for lunch but declined due to our exposure to who knows what.  Instead, we got off the boat and decided to simply walk around Spanish Wells to check the place out.  We had heard it was the most amazing place to provision, and fun stuff to do.  We were very underwhelmed.  While there is a small grocery store, health clinic, couple marine stores, and we did hit it on a holiday (everything was closed), there still isn’t much there.  It seemed very run down with a bunch of stucco houses in disarray.  It was not nearly as nice or quaint as Hopetown.  We ended up on the patio of a small restaurant called Wrecker’s.  Good pizza and the first time we have had draft beer in two months!  So, there is that!

 At this point, I feel like we have seen what there is to see here and am not desperate enough for provisions (by any means!).  We hoped to take off tomorrow since neither of us of want to stay on the boat another 5 days til there is a multi-day break in the weather on next Tuesday.   Well, surprise surprise, we did end up staying til Tuesday.  There wasn’t anywhere protected enough for us to get to in one day.  A few boats went to Hatchet Bay, but we decided to wait since the holding there was unpredictable and did end up getting a chance to have lunch with a few of the cruisers after all at Buddah’s here in Spanish Wells.

 To entertain ourselves, Ron went snorkeling and caught 4 more lobsters.  He made some new friends as he gave three away and kept one for himself.  The water was very cold, and I didn’t brave it.  He wasn’t in there long but just enough time for his seafood stash.  We also hit the main grocery store to pick up a few extras and had lunch for the second time at Wrecker’s. 

It is starting to get easy not bad for 10 minutes in the water.

 The new plan is, is we take off tomorrow and head down to Highborne Cay.  It is another little place, only 9.5 hours away, with southerly protection and easy anchoring.  Ooh – free anchorage with restaurants, laundry, and seahorses!  Sounds perfect.  At least we won’t have a 20-minute dinghy ride (which keeps us on the boat here during bad weather in Spanish Wells).  I have seen all there is to see here and am ready to go but it has been important we learn to be patient as our weather windows are key to our success.

 En Route to Royal Island 

We took a dinghy tour of the mangroves off the coast of Lynyard Island yesterday to see the turtles and boy were we rewarded.  We saw no less than 100!  It seemed they were everywhere snacking on the turtle grass enjoying the warmth of the shallow waters.  Very cool but contrary to popular belief they are fast, and we didn’t get a good photo.  It’s like trying to capture the dolphins.

The mangroves were pretty cool in their own right and it has been a while since we have driven that close to them.  Apparently, the mangroves are endangered due to loss of habitat.  Typically, they occupy very shallow water and are important to build habitats for baby reef fish, sea grass for the turtles, and coral reef.  Their complex network of roots is quite beautiful.

We are heading down today to Royal Island, and it is the last open ocean cut we will have to do since our plan (boat insurance) doesn’t let us go any farther south than Clarence Town.  The Abacos are beautiful but based on the time of year, just a bit too chilly to swim and I am looking forward to heading south.  We will likely pass back through here on our way up as there is still plenty we have not yet done here (i.e. Man-O-War snorkeling).

For now, we are off to Eleuthera and so far we have made it through the cut and the swells are not too bad.  Sailing hubby has nailed another weather window!  It may be our last for a bit and being south gives us some more options without braving the open ocean.  Seems are part of a 7-boat parade this morning and there are plenty of others who had the same idea we did.  We also have heard there have been a few COVID breakouts in Georgetown and Nassau so if we can stay away from the bigger cities, there are many places to simply anchor offshore when we get south.  Also if they shot anything down again, I sure would like to be in the Exumas!

Beautiful sunrise to start this passage

Have the rod out looking for dinner

Crazy traffic on this passage

We counted 6 ships coming together at one time.   AIS is pretty helpful in these conditions.

Hopetown, Bahamas 

My International education has been coming along nicely.  I have learned that Hopetown has the smallest cars to fit their teeny tiny streets which is awesome.  They use very little gas and the island isn’t that big.  Compared to the USA and the consistent, truck/SUV fetish everyone seems to have, it is a bit startling to see them.  They all seem to look like cartoon cars.  Also, when walking home one night after dark, there are NO streetlights…at all.  It was so dark I could hardly find the road.  These are things we take for granted and come across as surprising to me in my sheltered little life.

Dark as in DARK

One of the bigger vans in the island

Then there are the prices for everything food & drink related.  Beer is $80 a case which makes me miss Walmart where cheap beer can be had for less than $20 a case.  We happened to find and excellent deal at one of the restaurants here selling out their stock of Island Beer for $25 a case so we bought 4 cases so far and may go back for more.  Needless to say, we did not provision our beer very well.  A box of Cheerios is $9.27 here vs. $3.98 at home and they heavily tax cheese which makes me sad.  Even hummus is $11 for a little package of Sabra.  That is quite the duty.

Speaking of duty, our boat parts are in and we decided to head back to Marsh Harbour for another lovely walk and to pick them up.  As long as we were at it we could pick the SIM card we didn’t get last time.  We paid $241 total for the boat parts plus $86 in shipping then add the duty of $170.  OUCH!  We left thinking we had every boat part known to man then the only thing we don’t have breaks.  Of course, Murphy strikes again.  Sadly, it is a necessary item we cannot run the engine without so…$497 poorer, we will get our parts.  Well at least we had snorkeled the prior day and have seen the best reef we have seen since “The Indians” in BVI.  Ron had caught 4 Lobsters with his handy little Hawaiian sling, and he was eating high on the hog…for free!  He ended up trading two for chocolate cake.  Not sure how I made out on this deal but cake?  Smack the donkey!  I love traveling!

Biggest Stag horn coral we have seen

Very heathy reef

Dinner for a few days

The day after our snorkel adventure, we headed back to Hopetown Harbour to pick up our mooring again since we were full on water, needed to remedy our trash situation (which was getting full), and some weather was heading our way.  We planned to fix the engine and wait this out before heading south to Little Harbour.  Ron let me drive the boat back into the harbor and I only scared one boat on my way in.  Not too terrible for a first time.  I have driven the boat before a little but only our where I have nothing to hit.  there is a bit different and let’s say, I have some practice to do.  I handed the reins back to Ron to pick up the mooring, so we didn’t lose the other engine!

As we were tromping around Marsh Harbour the next day in a full downpour, we were joking about our new mode of transportation…walking, which somehow just became funny.  The good news is our boat parts were in, we attempted to get a SIM card with no avail, and we made a last stop at Maxwell’s grocery.  Strikes me as funny again but did you know they still make Sanka Coffee and Tang?  I think they stopped selling these in the U.S. back in the 70’s.  I am not knocking this as Funyuns had made their way into my cart which ironically have 0% onions!?!  Anyway, while heading back waiting on the Ferry we met another older gentleman who as we chatted with as he downed a 6 pack of beer in less than an hour.  That there is talent, but he said it fixed his back issues so there you have it.  The secret cure.

One small seal stopped everything

$500 worth of boat parts. We celebrate cheaply

January 1, 2022, Tahiti Beach, Hopetown Bahamas

Happy New Year!  So, I have this curse from my father that when someone gets hurt, I think it’s funny and laugh before I can pull it together to ask if they are all right.  Now this only applies to slapstick falling down stuff, not cutting your finger type stuff.  Anyway, Ron and I had spent the last several days at Tahiti Beach ringing in the new year and enjoying the “Thirsty Cuda” which is a floating beach restaurant bar.  It is a beach party every day.

Tahiti Beach

Thristy Cuda

Cheap Beer but does it really matter?

So, picture this, beach full of people and we zoom up on our dinghy.  Ron wants to be cool and just drive the dinghy up on the beach to “beach” it then throw out the anchor.  The way it played out didn’t look like that.  Instead, it was more like Operation Neptune.  Don’t tempt Neptune, he will win every time.  We pulled up to a hard crash into the beach which lurched Ron onto the floor of the dinghy!  Uh, opps!  So now I am laughing hysterically while Ron is trying the get off the floor of the dinghy and still pull off looking like he knows what he is doing.  Didn’t happen and I think those who were paying attention got as good a laugh as I did from it.  Rookie Mistake #2 don’t try that again, slowly head to shore and get out before attempting to throw the anchor!  Apparently there some things you simply must learn the hard way.

On a more serious note, we took a 5-mile hike on the other side of the island this morning which was beautiful.  It was mostly beach with island base exposed where the hurricane had taken the sand.  We came across a house which was a blatant remanent of Hurricane Dorian.  Seems there are reminders of her everywhere.  The house was beautiful before this horrific event.  You could tell from the exquisite woodwork on the ceiling which had fallen in, time and detail taken in the shelving of the office and design on the kitchen and fireplace.  It was so sad.  We climbed up the infinity pool which was empty and neglected and gingerly tiptoed through the house.  A reminder of how grateful I am for all that I have when there are still folks here struggling to rebuild their lives.

The beach erosion tells the story

Totally Gutted!

The pool view would of been incredible

 Hopetown, Bahamas

Norman Rockwell was an American painter famous for his reflections of American society for over 50 years, Christmas specifically.  He painted the perfect view of the 1950’s family sitting at the table all around a perfect turkey enjoying the day, drama free.  I was one of the lucky ones and it was how I grew up, in a Disneyworld environment and I will be forever grateful to my parents for creating this.  I lived up to this standard and created this for my children most of their lives whether they remember it, I don’t know.  Outside of the drama my divorce created, it was all they knew.

Then came COVID, then came my kids starting to choose their own college and job experiences.  These are all choices they are now learning have impact since not all these choices were close to home.  The Christmas they once knew were not happening every year as not all of us were together.  When your family starts to fan apart geographically, how does Christmas still feel like Christmas if you are not all together?  When you are managing a blended family with multiple ex-spouses and schedules, how do you keep the traditions alive you once knew to be a part of every year?  We pondered some of these questions and headed back to spend the perfect day back in Tahiti Beach on a sandbar in the middle of the clearest water I have ever seen.  I wonder how Norman Rockwell would depict a Zoom Christmas.

Sailing Husband was still wrestling with the water pump, which he determined was a larger issue than we thought causing us to fix before we could move on.  Ron ended up figuring out a way to get a rebuild kit shipped to Marsh Harbour.  The next day we headed into the harbor to make water and anchor for the day.  After our drama of yesterday, a change of scenery was in order, and this was the perfect excuse.  In the event making water works (please work!), we will not need to add water-maker parts to our water pump order.  We planned to go into Marsh harbor later in the week to pick up the order.  Once fixed, we could move along in our journey.  If we are going to be waylaid, this really is the perfect place!  It’s a tough life but we will try to suffer through.  I think snorkeling is in order today.

One small seal can delay everything

Inported parts at 100% duty, time for celebration!

Merry Xmas from Tahiti Beach

 Marsh Harbour, Bahamas

 We needed to get up early today to take the Ferry over to Marsh Harbour, as it was our only hope of finding a freight forwarder to ship back my work computer.  Normally we would have taken over the boat and anchored for the night but apparently there were still unmarked sunk boats sunk in the harbor, and we were uninterested in taking the chance of hitting one.  I think we were both shocked to see how much devastation was still left untouched after the hurricane.  It was like nothing I have seen since the Xenia tornados when my parents took us over to see the damage as kids. 

While we were waiting for the ferry, very nice South African man sitting near us started chatting and he was a builder working in Hopetown for the next few months.  Well, there was certainly plenty of work for him.  We chatted with him on the ferry most of the way over.  We took off walking to the shipping place and he pulled over and asked if we wanted a ride.  Well since we were professional hitchhikers now (this being time #2), we hopped in and away we went.  Very nice guy and he dropped us at the shipping office saving us a 2 mile walk there.

We went to three different shipping places and after the third we were still out of luck.  Tired, sweaty, and discouraged, we took a seat on the front steps of a little plaza in front of a few shops.  One happened to be the Bible bookstore and a sweet old lady who asked if we needed help?  We told her our dilemma and apparently, she knew a guy for that!  We took his number and arranged a meeting at the only gas station around which was of course a few miles down. 

He appeared to be a legit freight forwarder who had an export license, so we handed over our package and the cash.  Again, things that happen here that I would never do in the states, but the sense of community here is amazing.  I was thrilled we had found a way to get this done and we grabbed more cash from the only bank we could find and tried to get a sim card but had no luck.  We made our steps goal today at around 18,000, were exhausted, and out of options, we made the long trek back to the ferry and home.

Could be worse places to walk

Long pull back to the water

95% of the houses are just riped apart!

Hopetown, Bahamas

It has been an eventful few days.  Ron and I decided to get off the boat on the 22^nd so we took the dinghy in and planned to go to the hardware store then check out Vernon’s grocery.  As we started the hike to the hardware store, we were passed by a golf cart who asked if we wanted a ride.  As it was a golf cart and we could make a jump for it at any time, we said sure and hopped on.

He was an older gentleman – 65? – and a permanent resident in Hopetown.  We went to the store and it was closed til 2:00 for lunch.  It was already noon, so he offered the faucet we needed from his garage (an extra from his recent Dorian renovation).  He offered of course not to murder us, so we accepted and headed off to his house.  After a quick tour of his Mahogany house, we sat a spell and taking in the amazing view of Tahiti Beach for an hour making chit chat.  He had some amazing stories.  I can’t remember the last time I picked someone up off the street and took them to my house for drinks.  Things happen here that don’t happen in the U.S.

As we were walking back, we passed a nice restaurant called “On Da Beach” and since we had yet to celebrate my last day of work, we detoured.  Enjoying the incredible view of more beach, Ron recognized the lead singer from the Red-Hot Chili Peppers.  Not being a stalker and introducing ourselves, we simply googled him only to find out he married an Abaco Native and now his home is here.  Lots of surprises today.  We now officially had our brush with fame completed so we headed home to see our “Christmas Tree” all lit up.

The view from On Da Beach are Incredible

Why would you leave?

The sign is right!

 Hopetown, Bahamas, Dec 22, 2021

Retirement is interesting and frankly a bit scary.  Today is my last day of work…really.  I have gotten up everyday and had a defined place to go, defined something to do, and a required amount of money to make, no questions asked.  Now…I just don’t.  It was easy to blame any unhappiness on my job and the business of life that a job requires since it takes up 5 days a week, 8 hours a day.  So, what happens when you are unhappy when you aren’t working?  Do you just become a grumpy old person?  Does it mean you failed at retirement when you are outside of work, you have no idea what to do?  They say loneliness is worse than smoking or high blood pressure but does retirement cause loneliness?  I think this was certainly what happened during the pandemic for some folks who lived alone and couldn’t get out to see others.  Perhaps the key is to be a bit social, and not just try to cram so much stuff in a week that you don’t have the time and energy to question your own happiness.

I can’t say I am not afraid of failing at retirement but boy, I sure want to try!  Sailing and retirement have something in common, long stretches of quietness with moments of sheer terror.  I think once I get started, I will figure this out pretty quickly.  And tomorrow is like the first day of kindergarten.  It’s time to say goodbye to my old life – as U2 would say “It’s the End of the World as we Know It.”  I have made quite a few major changes to do that already but now I get to rip off the bandaid off some old habits too.  There just won’t be a place to hide any longer.

Ron and I simply got to a point of enough.  You know that place.  Where you could make more money but don’t need it, could get the next promotion but don’t want it, could spend more time at work but just can’t find the motivation to do so.  We were there and had just had enough.  We had enough of work, the politics, the conference calls, and we both believed our time is so much more valuable.  This is the one thing where we didn’t have enough.

In sailing affairs, Ron spent yesterday getting the generator running so we can attempt to make water again which will be nice.  Just for fun we want to check out the grocery store.  We need to break a $20 for tips anyway and I am sure we can buy a can of corn since we won’t be able to afford a candy bar or pop.  We have been on the boat working, fixing stuff (Ron), and doing laundry for the last few days.  It will be nice to get off and walk a bit.  We will see how bad the winds are to take the ferry to Marsh Harbor.  I need to ship back my computer but had a nice little storm pass through here last night.

Treasure Cay – Dec 16, 2021

Ron nearly figured out how to make our water heater with solar work and we both had a nice warm (not hot but hey) shower this morning.  This meant, things were just too good.  As my calls were spaced out enough, he wanted to get out to the water maker and make water for the first time.  Since he had already fixed the generator and two feet have rusted off, he was concerned about the corosion he had seen on the water maker a while back.  He brought it inside when we “hurricane proofed” the boat in an effort to keep it as good as possible.  The prior owner had stored it outside which exposed it to the salt water a bit too often.

Now, the motor was seized up on the water maker.  A nice and expensive $5K+ fix this could be.  Being that sailing hubby is incredibly capable and extremely mechanically inclined, he set to work on taking it apart to see what our choices were and we were crossing our fingers it was fixable.

In an attempt to get it running, he tried with the generator and had no luck, then tried with the inverter.  He nearly killed the inverter and now, while the inverter comes back on…only one half of the boat does…interesting.  That is a fix later thing now and our list of getting things fixed keeps going the wrong direction.  Glad I have a fully charged computer and phone at the moment.  It should last me through all my calls this afternoon and I was planning to have peanutbutter for lunch anyway.  

He has decided that while the engine has oil in it, it has to be the pump.  Now, I don’t know diddly about water makers but, I do know no pump equals no water.  I have decided the perplexed look he has on his face when looking at anything mechanical is not good.  He has now gone to the keeper of all knowledge, Father Google, to determine next steps.  And after some knowledge and a verbal beating of himself, sailing hubby was successful and we are making water!  It would not have been an end to our sailing season, just an expense of either fixing/buying another watermaker or buying water and interupting our long offshore anchors.  So this was excellent news!

On another note, we do have very cool solar outdoor lights for our evening regardless of if he fixes the power on the other side of the boat today or not.

Lots of stuff needed to make water.

This impeller explains the non functioning water maker.

The missing spare impeller needed to make water.   Sadly it took two days and 6 trips to my spare parts stash to find it.    I was ready to give up hope and only drink beer, who really needs water anway.

 Treasure Cay December 14, 2021

We kicked off our rip-roaring morning by greeting the washing machine.  Since I don’t really remember how to operate it, this will be an even more fun task for Ron to assist.  The boat didn’t come with one, so we picked up a cheap RV washing machine on Amazon to wash bathing suits, shorts, etc.  As I get started, clothing to wash – check, soap – check, drain hose – fail.  So, I asked where he had put it knowing on none of my daily projects would a drain hose come in handy.  That resulted in his small rant regarding my less than stellar memory.  Once found, I needed an extension cord for power.  Well, that was it, now we were full rant stomping and mumbling something about “50 first dates.”  Yes, I am aware I am no picnic but try and hold back. 

Anyway, I got the washer successfully running which will follow with my second favorite task, emptying the washer by holding down the bilge drain (same as the shower) until it empties completely which is another 20 minutes I will never get back.  I am also a bit annoyed that since my sheets had a warmer shower than I did.  Why is it the water is not the same temperature on both sides?

Sailing hubby was thrilled that, after he came in all sweaty from messing with the mooring lines and ready for a break, that I had found another project for him.  He loves our little impromptu projects.  The bilge pump on the other side of the boat where the washer is, doesn’t work.  After determining that it had no power, he attempted to find a new fuse with no success.  So, like any stellar redneck, he came back with a small piece of tin foil for an improvised fix.   Gotta love a resourceful man.  I was now truly embracing my 1950’s housewife hanging sheets on the line and feeling all environmentally friendly.

We had decided to stay in Treasure Cay for a week to tick off another week’s work.  We had good WIFI and were here all by ourselves.  Why not?  The additional upside is Ron could hang his fishing pole over the boat and catch an 18” terrapin if he was that desperate for sustenance.  We only have so many can of O’s and Toe’s. 

It ended up being a great afternoon of snorkeling around the island it’s exciting since it was our first of the trip in over 4 years.  The last time we were in BVI visiting The Baths.  It was a bit rough but had more sea anemone’s than we have seen in a long time with schools of fish everywhere.  4 hours later we were sunburned (me) and exhausted.  Beer was calling and Ron was starved. 

Hmmm edible? Nope

Lion fish are tasty

 December 11, 2021

One very choppy morning sail later, we had moved ourselves down to Treasure Cay.  We didn’t want to stay at Green Turtle Cay as the snorkeling isn’t that great and there is nothing to do on land.  My review of green turtle is there is really no need to get off the boat at all as you just spend money with very little in return and with the bugs and green water, why bother?  They have a nice beach or two and that’s it.  It was a good stop over, but I am glad we left.  Surprisingly, there were very few people there.  It’s great the Bahamas wasn’t as crowded as I thought they would be. 

Tell me though, why is it when are sailing a not so nice stretch of water, do half the paper towels come off the roll?  There are things about a boat I am not sure I will ever understand.  Now, mind you, I am glad that is ALL that happened since I had to take a seasick med and lay down while Ron handled the boat but really – half the roll?  I guess with the wind kicking up to 20mph, what do I expect.  OK, another pet peeve.  What is with the starboard and port?  Hello, right and left people.  I have yet to get those straight.

I picked up a mooring ball without much drama for the next few days and we were set to wait out the weather.  We went ashore to check in at the marina and low and behold…there is no marina.  Treasure Cay has been completely wiped out by the pandemic and hurricanes.  There is NOTHING here.  It is creepy in a post-apocalyptic way.  We walked and found Treasure Cay beach and next to Cow Wreck beach, it is the most beautiful I have ever seen and completely deserted.  Tomorrow we wanted to visit an inlet close by with turtles and baby stingray, so we settled in for a quiet night.

Ron has added a new twist to his quasi-keto diet.  He now has SpaghettiOs with weird little hotdogs in it.  I like to refer to it as O’s and Toe’s.  He really has to start eating less canned meat.  Good thing on land we found an excellent bakery who also serves the best pizza either of us have had in a long time!!  Fresh mozzerella with HUGE chocolate chip cookies.  Can’t go wrong there.

Cow Wreck beach’s Twin

$3 Bahamian cookie

It might be deserted but the views are still incredible

 Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas Dec 12^th, 2021

Ron and I took off in our golf cart rental last night to head down to Pineapple’s bar and grill for food and a cocktail.  The roads were a flashback to Costa Rica except for the one main road down the center of the island which must has been redone after the hurricane.  The effects of the hurricane were still in plain sight regardless of the fact it happened two years ago.  Apparently, it was the most intense tropical storm ever recorded and this was a mere 2 years after the most intense hurricane hit here, hurricane Irma.  It’s funny in that all the telephone poles were new, the road was paved, and roughly half of the houses were brand new.  Those that weren’t were either boarded up or there were people living in complete squalor.  The palm trees were half uprooted and leaning at a 30-degree angle.  There was a considerable amount of poverty on full display.  It was a bit sad to see this as we drive through the small part of the island we saw on our way and was vaguely reminiscent of Jamaica.

Pineapples was a bit of a bust.  We tried our first Sands beer, from a Bahamian Brewery, and Ron likes it better that Miller Lite.  That is something I thought I would never hear.  Then we hit round two for a “Pirate’s Punch.”  It was a pineapple rum concoction which was quite lovely but only one of those for each of us.  Even though the place was empty and the only vegetarian thing on the menu was French fries, we shared a basket, and watched the lovely sunset on that side of the island.  Besides the blood drive had continued so we headed back to the boat for a cheap beer and cheese puffs for dinner.  Classy I know.  

We still had the golf cart rental for a few more hours the next morning so we went and checked out the north end of the island.  The paved road stopped and if you put your feet in one of the ruts or potholes you would be about ankle deep   That was fun but we were rewarded by a beautiful beach and have found out new anchorage for the night.  We are getting the heck out of the marina to attempt to escape from the bugs and the wind of being offshore certainly helped.  We are going to stay put for a few days til the storm passes, as we are in a protected anchorage, which should be through end of next week.  No worries though, we are ready for the break and will use this time to finish another week off out jobs.  We have just enough WIFI to do video calls and email.  

The map of the island was a simple cell phone photo.

Bahamian highway

Bahamian main road

Best part of Pineapples was the view and a dog that chased sharks in the water

 12-10-21, Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas

We made it to Green Turtle Cay and Ron checked up is.  Customs is interesting – always so much paperwork.  I guess they believe the world has way too many trees?  

Anyway, I was worried that in my new retirement I would not find my purpose and find myself being bored and needing work to entertain myself once again.  Well, I now know this not to be true.  I have found my new purpose.  I am going to single-handedly get a grant from the Gates Foundation to eradicate the no-see-ums from my boat permanently.  A lofty goal but one I think is well worth pursuing since Ron and I participated in an involuntary blood drive last night while sitting outside.  They are just like mosquitos being small flying, biting nuisances.  Now I have not yet worked in the part about the carrying disease that kills people part but am still working on that.  Stay tuned.

Ron has decided, they are specifically targeting him and him alone.  Picture this, when I come out of the shower this morning, I find Ron hunkered down under the kitchen table waving a small yellow plastic butterfly.  Explanation is needed here in that the butterfly is a sticky gnat trapping device we bought in the apartment when we had an issue with drain flies due to the water damage. It seems as if they have driven him to a state of paranoia and somehow, he believes hiding under the table will save him from these little buggers.  Now mind you he is wearing a bright orange, floral Hawaiian shirt.  I am certain they are not after that and they would much rather the small yellow butterfly – right?  Well he was not 100% successful in his WWII mission of the flies but he made a respectable first showing. 

During our blood drive last night, we got to listen to the Green Turtle Cay Singer from the club house while sitting on our deck which was lovely and why we stayed out.  This provided enough entertainment that I knocked two items off my bucket list already.  #1) I have now heard the Reggae version of “Stairway to Heaven”.  Now how many folks can say that?  2) Reggae Polka – check.  Man, at this pace – I won’t have a list left after the first two weeks here.  We hope to explore a bit of the island today so I can hardly wait.

The last noteworthy items was people here actually say phrases like “smack the donkey.”  So, we are barely here in green turtle cay and already I have heard a multitude of firsts for me like Somehow “smack the donkey” that one is going to stick.  Boy this travel thing is going to be quite an education for me.

For the record, putting barbecue sauce on burnt vegetables is not the same as jerk or Cajun.  Ron’s still learning the temperature gage on our new grill.

Crystal clear water

Tree?

No see um terminator Mariposa

 December 8, 2021

We got early again today around 6am to get started off to Green Turtle Cay.  We will need to check into the Bahamas customs office before just dropping anchor anywhere we want for very long.  It’s too bad though since Ron & I both decided that we would give strong consideration to just staying put where we were last night as it was so beautiful and quiet.  We were the only boat in sight, there is zero light pollution, and the stars are amazing, The gentle hum of the fridge is about the only thing you can hear.  I am not sure if it was the weather or not since it was the calmest I have ever seen the water in all of our trips.  

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and with a storm headed our way and the fact we have not checked in means we are off again.  We plan to stay in Green Turtle Marina for the next few days to rest and recover as well as have some consistent WIFI the rest of the week.  I have constant calls, some video, tomorrow and WIFI isn’t strong enough or reliable enough out here just yet.

We arrived to a lovely surprise of a small cay in a crazy rich island town where houses in the  $1M range.  Funny as no one here seems to have a job since the marina club house was full and dance music is on full volume.  It’s 4:00.  I love island time.  Customs has departed for the day and we check in tomorrow.  The marina is also cheaper and WAY nicer than any FL.  How can we go wrong?

Unicorn water.

No words

First Bahamian Sunrise

En Route to Sail Cay – Dec 7, 2021

Our life has changed a lot over the last 18 months.  We have become empty nesters after raising 4 daughters, sold our suburbia homestead, bought a boat & lived on it for 6 weeks, downsized storage units once, Moved ourselves or our kids 8 times, quit our jobs after 30 years, and now we are back on the boat having left the country.  When you make this many changes in a short amount of time you tend to misplace a few things.  Trust me on this one.

 Marinaland, FL Dec 6, 2021

You supposeded to learn new things in retirement and taking on this lifestyle has allowed me no exception.  So, let me enlighten you on my new skills thus far.  

• I am starting to refer to the sailing gear as something other than “that thingy over there.”  This makes sailing husband very happy.  
• I can now stand upright and walk around without falling down…sober mind you.
• I am fully capable of operating (not emptying) a composting toilet.  This includes feminine cycles which is a whole other treat.
• I can now shave my legs fully while standing on one foot and holding the shower drain.  For those of you who have never showered on a boat, allow me to explain this one.  When you shower, the water doesn’t automatically just fall down the drain.  No, you have to hold the button which operates the bilge pump to flush it out.  This is triple tasking if you ask me.
• I can now wash my body in 4 minutes flat including this balancing shave my legs move.  Pretty fancy huh?  If I include washing my hair, I can now shower in cold water as well.  It’s a new skill I have yet to perfect but am trying.
• I can sleep in 40 degree weather.  Once again, my lovely wool blanket has saved the day again.  
• I can hold the teapot on the stove and boil water without getting burnt most the time (still sometimes but again, it’s a process).
• I know now when the stove or lights doesn’t turn on to actually turn on the breaker and try again.  I am also aware that I cannot run the stovetop and oven at the same time or they blow the breaker and turn off – making sailing hubby upset.
• To expect on overnight sails to get very little sleep and not be grumpy but grateful

• I am pretty good at buying only enough food to fit in a college sized fridge.  This also requires new skills such as ninja arranging to make it all fit and thoughtful consideration of how many condiments you can have open at once.  Don’t get me wrong, we are not roughing it.  We can have ketchup, mustard, and barbeque sauce open at the same time, but the addition of wing sauce and soy require you to question yourself.  Each additional condiment requires you to sacrifice from beer, wine and diet coke space.  There are just  big questions to ponder out here?

See…all kinds of new or multi-tasking skills.

 Lake Worth – December 6, 2021

As the alarm went off at 11 pm, we knew it was time to cross.  On deck the wind was 10-15 from the northwest, which was not great but doable. It would not be the flat Gulf stream crossing we were hoping for.  That might also explain why were were the only ones up.  

The anchor came up clean and no issue!  Bonus, since I spent much of the evening wonder what “obstruction” I anchored over accidently.   Another rookie mistake!   Next up it was pitch black, no moon, no stars nothing, no city lights, nothing however the instrument panel and chart plotter glowed like the sun in the pitch black.  So much for night vision.  Another rookie mistake that made navigating out of the anchorage a bit stressful.  Then to add to the pitch black navigational issues, my chart plotted orientation on the iPad reversed, and I did not catch it.   This orientation is all too important when you are using it to navigate a set channel full of ships and barges and basically all things you want to stay away from.   It all came to a critical moment as we were heading for a large barge in the dead of night!  I somehow spotted it and reversed before we slammed straight into it.  OOPS!  We were perhaps 20 feet away which is um, TOO CLOSE.

Finding the flashing green and red lights, which lit our path to the open ocean was a huge relief.  Confidence was however at a low point in this critical stage of the crossing. Do we go back and anchor or suck it up and continue?   This would be the first time we had our new boat, out in the open ocean, and well the first time out of the Lake Worth inlet all in absolute darkness. Seems reasonable, so lets go.    As each minute went by, I watched our path on the TWO chart plotters, verified with the blinking range lights and the sound of the crashing waves on the inlet.  It was hard to not think this was completely nuts doing this blindly.   Minute after minute, light after light,wave crash after wave crash when would it all just fall apart?   Then finally the last range marker and GPS showed that I made it to open water and out of the dangers that lurked in the darkness of that inlet.  I am sure the dangers were all in my mind, but those are the demons we all tend to fight.  

The next 7 hours of complete darkness was an exercise of watching the GPS, radar, and AIS.  The lights on the horizon I would assume were another cruiser making the jump, but was wrong, they were still safely in the harbor waiting for a better weather window, instethe lights were cargo ships running the channels delivering whatever filled the containers.  Sally slept in the kitchen berth, since she wanted to be close in case I needed something, and I wanted her close in case we needed to jump from a sinking ship.  Funny how each of our priorities were so different.   Sally has no fear, she has complete faith in me, which is well, is great and also stressful, There is no phone a friend in the middle of the ocean so if I screwed it up I needed to be able to fix whatever we had to deal with.  

We had to deal with two things, first the northwest winds against the north running gulf stream made for an choppy crossing, and then the lightning storms that lit the sky in front of me.   I envisioned sailing right into one of these storms, but thankfully that never happened.   Sally slept most of the crossing and I played tricks to stay awake until daylight.  At this point I had been awake for 36 hours, it was an interesting night, but each mile a bit more confidence in myself, and our boat.   To be honest I loved every second of that long night, I finally felt alive and that was something that growing older tends to supress.   The sunrise was incredible and in a sense a rebirth to a new life, one that I have dreamt about for most of my life.

As we hit the Bahama bank at first light, we had another 8 hours to the Great Sail Cay which was to be our first anchorage.   The water was crystal clear and the most beautiful blue you have ever seen.  Hour after hour, the engines sang along with a bit of sail out to help make our way there.    Great Sale Cay is usually the first spot to stop for cruisers so I was certain it would be packed much like Lake Worth, however when we arrive not a soul to be seen.   I guess no one else made the jump that night, so we had it to ourselves and it was a perfect way to end our first crossing!        

Enough light to start a crossing? Sure

Leaving Lake Worth at midnight.

Bahama Sunrise

Welcome to the Bahamas water

 Jupiter Beach, FL 12-5-21

Sally’s View

As usual, nothing goes to plan.  It started pouring rain as we untied and headed to the fuel dock and then down to Lake Worth.  We left about 3:30 in the afternoon with a plan to sail overnight to get through the Gulf Stream.  In theory this will not be an issue.  The good news is the rain is supposed to stop about 7:30 and all will be well.  And if that isn’t enough, we start off and now the GPS isn’t working.  Well after we got through the intercoastal (where you need it most), it finally started to work.  The curse of the finder has continued for us.  Now we are going to Lake Worth to and anchor and wait til we leave at midnight.

Ron spent all day renting a car again to drive down to Fort Lauderdale.  He worked on trying to get the Satellite phone to work last night and again this morning, with no luck.  The Fort Lauderdale store was the ONLY one that had the battery in stock.  Well thank goodness he found one but he said traffic was a nightmare since someone in front of him hit an orange barrel and traffic freaked out.  But it’s done and we are on our way.  Funny, a $30 battery cost us $150 with car rental.  I wish it had broken yesterday when we still had a rental car but oh well. 

More tomorrow on how our plan worked.  We spent the night at Sail Cay, which was beautiful, and we had it to ourselves.  Since Ron had a stressful day looking for the battery, we hit the hay.

Ron’s View:

We quickly realized as we got south in the ICW it was a train wreck and once we hit Stuart, Florida all the cool cruisers were replaced with the asshole sport fisherman.   They would pass so close and fast that the wake they generated would knock everything inside across the room.   I imagined using the flair gun to discourage this behavior, but I would of ran out of flairs in the first 5 minutes.  

I always imagined bringing the boat to West Palm Beach.  I love that place and how cool would it really be?   Well to answer that it sucked worse than I could of imagined.   Just imagine navigating all these asshole boaters that have more money than brains.   Each bridge was on a time schedule, so you had to time it to make the opening and then some bridges only open on one side.   With the 63′ mast we had to go through the high side, which most often resulted in a game of chicken with one of the asshole boats.    Let’s just say there was a lot of new words created during these events, and I was perfectly happy sinking one of those boats then rip my mast off.  

Our time at West Palm was quick.  We spent two days to finish provisioning, and a last minute panic trip to Fort Lauderdale for another iridium go battery (my cheap replacement was well shit).   We need the iridium Go to work since that is our only means to get weather and communicate with the outside world when there is no cell coverage.    Zero chance we could cross to the Bahamas with a nonfunctioning unit since there no way to fix once we arrived in the Bahamas.  There is not much there these days after Hurricane Dorian.  

We left Loggerhead marina at 3 pm on a Monday to stage at Lake Worth for our jump.   It was dry all day but at 3pm, the sky opened and the hardest rain we have been in started.   Fun, going down the ICW in the rain, but bonus, no asshole boaters.  

Once in Lake Worth we saw at least 100 boats waiting to make the jump, The weather window was about to open, and you only want to cross when it is nice, and the wind was right.    Chris Parker’s weather report mentioned that Monday night could be a good crossing night, but Tuesday might be better.  We decided we are not getting younger, and let’s go.  If we waited it was just another wasted night and we were as ready as we would be.    

We anchored in a very crowded anchorage, sadly I picked a spot that after we anchored put us right over a possible obstruction under water.    Not a big deal until you pull your anchor, and it is tangled in whatever is on the bottom.   I envisioned pulling my scuba gear and untangling the chain if needed.  Worst case we just leave a day later.  With this idea in the back of my mind, and the added drama of the day resulted in zero sleep.   We planned to leave at 11pm and I hoped to get at least a few hours of sleep.   Nope!  

Our rental for the day!   No not really

Most boats here spend more money on fuel then our boat is worth

Southern Florida Bridge dance.

 Marineland, FL, Nov 30, 2021

So, we had a great Thanksgiving and for the holiday we took off and spent time with family.  Before we left, Ron flipped off the DC power.  The Rookie Mistake was…we accidently left our refrigerator with no power.  Uh Whoops!  Well good news is we had unseasonable chilly weather, did not start provisioning, and only loss what was in the freezer.  Not too bad for what could have been a very bad moment. 

Ron has still been knocking projects off his list and now that we have been provisioning, I had a few full days of organizing the groceries, ensuring all fits in the fridge/freezer/pantry and trying to get rid of as much packaging as possible.  I now have a complete list of everything we bought, how much we spent, and where the heck I put it so we can determine what worked and didn’t for next time.  All in all, we ended making 6 trips so far hitting ALDI, Walmart twice, and Publix.  This led us to spend a total of ~$2000, including an unnamed number of cases of beer, and I doubt that will be enough.  I guess people eat and drink in Bahamas too and we will fix any mistakes when we get there.

First privisoning trip, only to be told it was not enough and repeat six more times.

I am going to do our laundry today for the last time til we get to another marina as we are all set to head out of here in the morning.  Ron had a first as well he got to empty the compost toilet and said it really wasn’t too bad.  Well that’s good since we are a bit committed to it now.

We are officially carless since Carvana showed up and agreed to purchase our car.  Whew!  At least it didn’t break down before we got that done.

Ron has our voyage all planned.  How far we are going, where we will anchor/marina stop along the way, and we hope to head to the Bahamas before the end of the month if we are lucky and get the weather window and internet opportunity.  He found a marina in Green Turtle Cay for $400 a month!  Why are we not there?  In the news it has been released there is now a new COVID variant “Omnicron.”  Many of the countries are starting to ban travel from Southern Africa and Southeast Asia, where it has been found.  I do hope we can get to the Bahamas before we run into any trouble like this.  We have been triple vaccinated and have our Flu shot so I really need our COVID tests to come back negative so we can get over to the islands.  A little more Intercoastal channel fun for the next few days first.  It will be a chilly few days at that.  We will be unplugging from the heat and it is going to be lows of 40 degrees!  We will be sleeping with very bundled up til get to West Palm Beach!

More solar, cause you can never have enough.

New induction stove and oven

Composting toilet allows for more closet space

Something broke again

It is not all work.

 November 15, 2021, St. Augustine, Florida

Our shakedown cruise ended in May and the good news is, we don’t hate this lifestyle or living on the boat.  We have internet (so far) and only have a few loose ends to tie up before taking off.  

First off, we rented an apartment for the next 6 months til hurricane season is over in November.  During that time we had attended three graduations, moved or helped move 4 more times, put everything we own either in storage, packed to bring to the boat, or sold it and in our spare time we hosted Thanksgiving, tried to solidify our end of work plan (quitting our jobs), and enjoyed the pool.    

At that point, we could take off for round two — cruising the Bahamas for the winter.  Once we splashed the boat, sold the car, visited family, and navigated the intercoastal again, we could jump.  As of today, we are not only back on the boat but splashed the boat and took our first trip down the intercoastal.  Make no mistake, I toughed it out two hard nights (45 degrees) and let me tell you heat is not overrated!  My only saving grace was we had hot water and hot coffee.  Whew! 

Ron was a champ, and not only did we take off in strong cross current from the launching pit by ourselves, but he docked at the new marina without hittting anything or creating new curse words.   We are here for the next two weeks finishing up the remaining boat projects and provisoning.  It’s funny.  My docking duties are when he pulls up to the dock ensure he doesn’t hit the dock or another expensive boat.  This means I’m kinda like Flo.  I just run up and down the side of the boat with a bumper in my hand mumbling something about insurance.  Definitely a treat.  Anyway, we plan to stay here, then head straight south and wait for our perfect time to cross to the Bahamas.  The farther south the better after the two chilly nights I just had.  At least we’re at the marina now, I get heat!    Please let it warm up!!  Regardless, damn it’s SO nice to be back!!

Most of our summer was spent as a pool day. Our annual adult pumkin carving drink night.

Looks like we are the first to launch.