Day 49- Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Today Obama will be inaugurated—yay! Happy day! We are listening to satellite radio’s NPR morning talk about all the challenges ahead for the new administration. There is a lot to think about.
However, those of us off in distant islands are struggling with other challenges: gale force winds of 40 knots and choppy waters here in paradise. We understand that it may be snowing in Washington, DC for the Inaugural Ceremony, but we are mostly focused on how well our anchor is set. Thanks to John’s insistence, we have a super strong anchor and lots of feet of anchor chain. One of our first upgrades for Caribbean Soul was to buy a better & bigger anchor. “You know you’ve got the right anchor,” Capt. John says, “when folks comment that you may have an anchor too large for your boat!”
We all have great hopes for Obama and his administration, but last night our 44 lb. Rocna anchor gripped the muddy bottom of Marsh Harbor while the water got choppy and the winds howled. Yay! Let’s hear it for the Rocna and John’s good sailing sense! But it must be mentioned that just “anchoring” our country with a new president does not take care of all the challenges any more that just securing your own boat in the storm. There are about 40 boats (mostly sail boats) anchored here so it is crowded and worrisome when the winds blow and all of them start jumping around. John was awake most of the night checking on our holding and our proximity to neighboring boats. Finally, he turned on the VHF figuring that if boats got out of control in the harbor someone would sound a warning on Channel 16. I guess this is pretty simple compared to what will have to be done to weather the global economic, environmental, etc. storms for our newly inaugurated president.
However, when the sun came up in our part of the world, no boats had crashed together and we are still safe in Marsh Harbor. The Cruisers Net this morning reported that a boat broke loose in Hope Town Harbor last night, so we don’t take our good fortune for granted.
For the rest of today, we will try to wrap our thoughts around the challenges facing our new president and his administration. John—of course—helps me write these blogs, but today’s entry is bringing lots of eye-rolling on his part.
I—however—am sticking to my tacky little metaphor!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Continuing to Enjoy Marsh Harbour.
Day 48- January 19, 2009 Martin Luther King Day
Re-provisioning in Marsh Harbor
Our cruising goal is to get ourselves down to the Exuma Islands since it is warmer there and we’d like to so some swimming, snorkeling, etc. As most of you know, the Abacos are the Northern part of the Bahamas and very lovely, but can be chilly in January and subject to lots of windy cold fronts in the winter. We hope to get back to this area in April when things warm up. And, perhaps Finley and Karen & Drew could join us here.
On January 6th we made passage across the Gulf Stream to Grand Bahama Island at West End. From there we spent three days island hopping our way over to Green Turtle Cay (pronounced “key”). After a few days at Green Turtle, we used a rare windless day to motor south to Treasure Cay and tuck into a protected mooring there. Treasure Cay was fun and we found some free internet connection at the Tipsy Seagull Bar and Restaurant, but we needed to move on.
Anxious to go south and do some more sailing, we sailed down to Marsh Harbor. Marsh Harbor is not as protected as Treasure Cay, but it is more of a regular town with stores where we can boost our provisions—fill our propane tank, get a little filter thing for the Yamaha outboard, find an anchor for dinghy excursions, etc. Sure enough, Marsh Harbor has provided all of that and even more. We met some very nice folks and are planning a trip to nearby Hope Town via the ferry with them on Wednesday.
Sorry we don’t have pictures of this day (Monday, January 19). Mostly we were hiking round visiting marine, hardware, and grocery stores buying a little of this and that. Unlike 10 years ago when John was last here, we have been surprised to see stores with full shelves and lots of choices. Seems as though you can purchase most anything, you just have to do some walking from one end of town to the other. It is probably similar to the difference my mom experienced when she moved from Oak Park, Illinois to Wallingford, Vermont and then on to Plymouth, North Carolina in the late 1940’s. Supplies and services were pretty hard to find. It is the same here.
People here are excited about Obama’s inauguration. The local radio station did a piece on the local dignitaries who were on their way to Washington. The radio did point out that those who didn’t get to go, get to see it all on TV here where it is warm.
Re-provisioning in Marsh Harbor
Our cruising goal is to get ourselves down to the Exuma Islands since it is warmer there and we’d like to so some swimming, snorkeling, etc. As most of you know, the Abacos are the Northern part of the Bahamas and very lovely, but can be chilly in January and subject to lots of windy cold fronts in the winter. We hope to get back to this area in April when things warm up. And, perhaps Finley and Karen & Drew could join us here.
On January 6th we made passage across the Gulf Stream to Grand Bahama Island at West End. From there we spent three days island hopping our way over to Green Turtle Cay (pronounced “key”). After a few days at Green Turtle, we used a rare windless day to motor south to Treasure Cay and tuck into a protected mooring there. Treasure Cay was fun and we found some free internet connection at the Tipsy Seagull Bar and Restaurant, but we needed to move on.
Anxious to go south and do some more sailing, we sailed down to Marsh Harbor. Marsh Harbor is not as protected as Treasure Cay, but it is more of a regular town with stores where we can boost our provisions—fill our propane tank, get a little filter thing for the Yamaha outboard, find an anchor for dinghy excursions, etc. Sure enough, Marsh Harbor has provided all of that and even more. We met some very nice folks and are planning a trip to nearby Hope Town via the ferry with them on Wednesday.
Sorry we don’t have pictures of this day (Monday, January 19). Mostly we were hiking round visiting marine, hardware, and grocery stores buying a little of this and that. Unlike 10 years ago when John was last here, we have been surprised to see stores with full shelves and lots of choices. Seems as though you can purchase most anything, you just have to do some walking from one end of town to the other. It is probably similar to the difference my mom experienced when she moved from Oak Park, Illinois to Wallingford, Vermont and then on to Plymouth, North Carolina in the late 1940’s. Supplies and services were pretty hard to find. It is the same here.
People here are excited about Obama’s inauguration. The local radio station did a piece on the local dignitaries who were on their way to Washington. The radio did point out that those who didn’t get to go, get to see it all on TV here where it is warm.
Life is good looking out on Marsh Harbour.
Day 47- Sunday, January 18, 2009
Although we hoped to provision here in Marsh Harbor, that will just have to wait until tomorrow as most of the stores are closed today (Sunday).
We happened on to Curlytails Bar and Grill which had free internet. I really needed to check on our online bills. The free internet in Treasure Cay was an unsecure site so we’ve waited to check on $$. Curlytails, however, is a secure site once you enter their secret password.
Here are pictures of Curlytails with some views out to the Harbor where the Caribbean Soul blends with all the other white fiberglass sailboats with blue canvas. It’s amazing that our boat looks so much like all the others.
Although we hoped to provision here in Marsh Harbor, that will just have to wait until tomorrow as most of the stores are closed today (Sunday).
We happened on to Curlytails Bar and Grill which had free internet. I really needed to check on our online bills. The free internet in Treasure Cay was an unsecure site so we’ve waited to check on $$. Curlytails, however, is a secure site once you enter their secret password.
Here are pictures of Curlytails with some views out to the Harbor where the Caribbean Soul blends with all the other white fiberglass sailboats with blue canvas. It’s amazing that our boat looks so much like all the others.
As you can see from the pictures, John got to watch some TV football and I worked on the internet. The curlytail is a ubiquitous geckos around here which looks just like the lizards at home, except that they have—you got it—curlytails!
Finally, this is a picture of the couple we met at Curlytails—Kenyon and Austinique. We’re hoping to get together with them again on Wednesday to go to Hope Town via ferry.
Live is good here. Hope you all are happy and well.
We Sailed to Marsh Harbour.
Day 46- Saturday, January 17, 2009
Moving from Treasure Cay to Marsh Harbor
The transit from Treasure Cay to Marsh Harbor is a short hop. It only took us about two hours of sailing. We were happy to get out in the wind and let Caribbean Soul go under sail power.
When we got to Marsh Harbor, we topped off our diesel and fresh water tanks. We did not need much diesel as we’ve hardly motored here at all. Something like 5 or 6 gallons of diesel was all we needed. Fresh water, however, needed a complete refill. That was about 80 gallons of fresh water; and it’s not free here in the Bahamas. We paid $.20 per gallon of fresh water.
We met several North Carolina sailors at the Marsh Harbor Marina—new folks—no one we knew from home. One guy was aboard a beautiful Allied Princess—just like John’s old boat. When we chatted with him, we discovered that his hull is hull #3 and John’s was hull #1. He seemed to know John’s old boat and said he had once considered buying it. Again it is a small world.
Saturday evening a couple from New Bern dinghied past our boat and welcomed us. That evening we shared a bottle of wine and lots of cruising information with them on their well-appointed catamaran called Born To Cruise. Thanks Jill and Wayne!
Moving from Treasure Cay to Marsh Harbor
The transit from Treasure Cay to Marsh Harbor is a short hop. It only took us about two hours of sailing. We were happy to get out in the wind and let Caribbean Soul go under sail power.
When we got to Marsh Harbor, we topped off our diesel and fresh water tanks. We did not need much diesel as we’ve hardly motored here at all. Something like 5 or 6 gallons of diesel was all we needed. Fresh water, however, needed a complete refill. That was about 80 gallons of fresh water; and it’s not free here in the Bahamas. We paid $.20 per gallon of fresh water.
We met several North Carolina sailors at the Marsh Harbor Marina—new folks—no one we knew from home. One guy was aboard a beautiful Allied Princess—just like John’s old boat. When we chatted with him, we discovered that his hull is hull #3 and John’s was hull #1. He seemed to know John’s old boat and said he had once considered buying it. Again it is a small world.
Saturday evening a couple from New Bern dinghied past our boat and welcomed us. That evening we shared a bottle of wine and lots of cruising information with them on their well-appointed catamaran called Born To Cruise. Thanks Jill and Wayne!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Still Hanging Out in Treasure Cay
http://maps.google.com/?q=Treasure+Cay%2C+Grand+Bahamas&t=h&utm_campaign=en_US&utm_medium=ha&utm_source=en_US-ha-na-us-gns-ssm&utm_term=add&submit.x=139&submit.y=13
Please know--we are NOT complaining! We are still in Treasure Cay sheltering from the high winds. If you look at a Google satellite map of the Harbor at Treasure Cay, you can see what a wonderfully protected area this is. The 20-30 knot winds blow out on the Sea of Abaco, but we sleep soundly with little or no wave action here. We understand that severe cold weather is a big issue in the states so we are plenty happy to put on our long sleeve shirts to cope with the 60 & 70 degree cold front here.
These pictures were taken at the Tipsy Seagull here at the Marina near where we are anchored. The Tipsy is not open most of the day, but free Internet connections and electrical outlets are available if you care to hang out. As you can see, hanging out here is not exactly a hardship!
I'm concentrating on blogging and John's doing some Skype phone calling.
Tomorrow (January 17th) we are planning to sail down to Marsh Harbor to get our propane refilled, buy an anchor for our dinghy and stuff like that. Eventually, we plan to sail to Little Harbor which is at the very south end of the Northern Bahamas or Near Bahamas or Abacos. From Little Harbor, we wait for good weather to sail over night to Nassau. This is different from the sailing we have been doing around in the Abaco Sea--this will be another jump out into the Ocean. We want to be sure that the wind and the waves are right for a good & safe sail. From Nassau, we head down the Exuma Islands.
We did see Carolina Men's Basketball game last night--the Tispy has TV with the ESPN Channel. Glad to see the boys in blue winning again.
Life is good. We are getting pretty lazy here in Treasure Cay and need to get back to sailing.
Please know--we are NOT complaining! We are still in Treasure Cay sheltering from the high winds. If you look at a Google satellite map of the Harbor at Treasure Cay, you can see what a wonderfully protected area this is. The 20-30 knot winds blow out on the Sea of Abaco, but we sleep soundly with little or no wave action here. We understand that severe cold weather is a big issue in the states so we are plenty happy to put on our long sleeve shirts to cope with the 60 & 70 degree cold front here.
These pictures were taken at the Tipsy Seagull here at the Marina near where we are anchored. The Tipsy is not open most of the day, but free Internet connections and electrical outlets are available if you care to hang out. As you can see, hanging out here is not exactly a hardship!
I'm concentrating on blogging and John's doing some Skype phone calling.
Tomorrow (January 17th) we are planning to sail down to Marsh Harbor to get our propane refilled, buy an anchor for our dinghy and stuff like that. Eventually, we plan to sail to Little Harbor which is at the very south end of the Northern Bahamas or Near Bahamas or Abacos. From Little Harbor, we wait for good weather to sail over night to Nassau. This is different from the sailing we have been doing around in the Abaco Sea--this will be another jump out into the Ocean. We want to be sure that the wind and the waves are right for a good & safe sail. From Nassau, we head down the Exuma Islands.
We did see Carolina Men's Basketball game last night--the Tispy has TV with the ESPN Channel. Glad to see the boys in blue winning again.
Life is good. We are getting pretty lazy here in Treasure Cay and need to get back to sailing.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
In Treasure Cay Hiding from the 30 Knot Winds
Day before yesterday, Monday, January 12th, we left Green Turtle Cay and motored just a little south to Treasure Cay. Going south from Green Turtle requires a little bit of sea travel around Whale Cay where the ocean is known to "rage" from time to time. Weather was predicted to be a very calm day so we set out and--sure enough--Whale Cay passage was easy and rageless! There were, however, no winds for sailing so we reluctantly ran the motor for the first time since we got to the Bahamas.
Yesterday, we went grocery shopping for the first time since St. Augustine, Florida weeks ago. We still have lots of food supplies on board, but we are thinking about going back to buy some frozen lamb chops we saw. We visited other shops but the island power was off everywhere except the gocery--guess they had a generator.
Yesterday, Jan. 13th, the winds piped up a bit. We dinghied to the Treasure Cay Marina from our mooring here and walked over to a beautiful beach. I had a Goombay Smash and a conch burger--yummm--at the beach side restaurant. Below are pictures of the beach. Folks say this is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world--it certainly is pretty. This is a resort sort of place that just happens to have a protected anchorage. Everything here is new and pricey--but we continue to live at little or no cost.
Yesterday, we went grocery shopping for the first time since St. Augustine, Florida weeks ago. We still have lots of food supplies on board, but we are thinking about going back to buy some frozen lamb chops we saw. We visited other shops but the island power was off everywhere except the gocery--guess they had a generator.This afternoon I handwashed some clothes and hung them out on the lifelines. Wow! It doesn't take clothes long to dry in 15 to 20 mph wind! The trick--as you may have guessed--is using enough clothespins to hang on to the clothes.
We have no plans for tomorrow--we'll just wait and see what the weather brings.
Enjoying Green Turtle Cay from Jan 9-12, 2009
Can't even begin to tell you what a wonderful place Green Turtle Cay is. And, the strangest things happen there. As we sat blogging you guys at Pineapple's Bar and Grill, we spied a bright yellow catamaran cruising past. Folks commented on the boat and John & I said we thought we knew that boat. Sure enough, when we got back to the Caribbean Soul, there was a note from Bob and Laurel of the Sunburst. We dinghied down to say hello to Bob and Laurel who we first met in November at Leslie and Andrew Porter's house in Marshallburg!
Then the other night we were trying to find a tv in the village that would pick up the Carolina basketball game when another interesting thing happened. We were at Sundowners and this fella said he had just sailed in from Florida. "Oh yes," we said, "the little black sailboat we saw motoring in today." Well, yes, and the fellow was Terry from Norfolk who knows Chris and Annie from Beaufort. Ahhh small world.
Here are pics of Pineapple's--a lovely spot in Green Turtle.
Then the other night we were trying to find a tv in the village that would pick up the Carolina basketball game when another interesting thing happened. We were at Sundowners and this fella said he had just sailed in from Florida. "Oh yes," we said, "the little black sailboat we saw motoring in today." Well, yes, and the fellow was Terry from Norfolk who knows Chris and Annie from Beaufort. Ahhh small world.
Here are pics of Pineapple's--a lovely spot in Green Turtle.
Also, here are random shots of the village of Green Turtle Cay. Nice to see all these flowers in January! 
On Sunday, I went to the same little Anglican church I attended 10 years ago when I flew down to visit John. The little cinder block church is being replaced as one of the hurricanes did serious damage. We worshipped in the building next door as the new church won't be ready for a couple more weeks. The priest was at a conference in Nassau, so the lay folks were running the service--very interesting. They used the West Indies prayer book, but the liturgy is very similar.
Cheers!
Penny and John
Penny and John
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