Ericson 36C Kasidah

Good-bye to another winter in the Bahamas

2013-05-03T11:30:00.001-04:00

The last days in the Bahamas for us this year were spectacular, we look back at all we've done and how much fun we had. We had to pinch ourselves and say how lucky we are, to have what we do, to have each other, and to have the courage to do this, (although from time to time we think it's not courage but stupidity).

We met lots of new cruisers this year and ran into so many from years before. We explored familiar favorite islands and beaches, while also reaching new fishing grounds, islands and beaches.

This is a beach on the east side of the Lucayan Waterway that we drove to by car the last day the kids were there.

Once we saw the window of weather for crossing back to the states we started to look at things a little differntly; not know when or if we would ever get back. The beauty of the island started to come more apparent to us. The large flowering plants became bigger, the beaches cleaner, and warmer, the breeze warmer and beer colder. I started counting beers backward so that I would have just one left for opening once we got back to Florida.

This place with the loins guarding the gate is really something, talk about more,.. It is on a road that we would bike on our way to the Lucayan Market. Very well kept but MAN, Arline always wanted Lions on a post at the drive way, well she's over that now. There is something like 38 just on each wall and the interior looked like Lions and other stoned creatures rained from the sky for a month, Lion heads or faces on the wall too, really over the limit.

Blue is chasing a crab here and became pretty good at finding them, but She doesn't have the quickness for the kill like Sarah did.

The rented car had been returned after the kids left and the weather looked like it will be right in about 3 or 4 days for a crossing back to the states. So after everything is tied down, fuel polished, filters check, there is nothing to do except talk to other cruisers about watching and waiting for the weather, except go to a beach. So we biked to our favorite close beach, took the cooler and all the other things we needed, music, drawing tools, Blue's water and Arline's Chocolate.

We tried to eat at this restaurant a couple of weeks ago at Port Lucaya's market, it was a very busy day as several buses from cruise ships were there shopping and eating. They have a great lunch special, good food and we could really use some french fries. It was very busy, all seats were taken so we waited till near the end of the lunch special and went in. Tables were starting to empty out, not cleaned of course but we had Blue and wanted carry out to sit at the dock overlooking the marina. I went in and after 10 minutes of watching the confusion behind the counter of a line of frustrated customers trying to pay their bills I was up. I looked up and placed my to go order with her, . She rolled her eyes took a big breath, puffed out her cheeks and blew it out through her teeth and said (this is great). "It's going to be 45 minutes before I can even put your order in,...if you want to wait,...But I would suggest you go some where else,.."

And here's another story of backwards thinking,..and trust me I've heard my share of backwards thinking in the recent past and it always blows me away when it happens.

Another cruiser tells me he went to the store to get his favorite rum as he'd seen it and bought it there before. Upon not finding it he ask the clerk for it and got this answer,.."Yeah I don't order dat no more,..I can't keep it on the shelve,...everybody keeps buy'n it up,...so it's just not worth fo me mon,.." REALLY

Kids Week.

2013-04-20T14:37:00.000-04:00

Jeremy, Amy, Dad, Mom, and Jill

Well it was a very busy and fun week with the kids here. This is in Port Lucaya over where there are a lot of shops and restaurants They bus the tourist from the cruise ships that come into Freeport here. This is also where most of the water sport tours originate; booze cruise, snorkeling, diving, fishing and more. Quite the tourist population is here. Blue was not happy as we left her on the boat. The kids room was right near the boat so we had A/C during some of the days when it was HOT, and Humid. Oh yeah I guess it's still not spring up north yet,... There was a grill right in front of their room so we did all of the cooking there. We went to the beach several times, visited the Grand Lucayan Waterway, and viewed all of the empty and abandoned sites. They had big plans for the island and again like Great Harbour Cay, it is the land of broken dreams. Jeremy, Jill, and dad went out snorkeling making it to the east of Bell Channel. There really was a lot of fish, we had taken the new and better dinghy of ours and made it to an area where all the glass bottom boats go. There was one that had a whole room under water for people to sit and look out. It was the size of a gondola that would be under a blimp if you can picture that. There must have been about 25 people in it just watching fish and the crew had been chumming from above so that was the reason all the fish where near them. We swam over to wave at the kids with their noses pressed up against the glass. I was going to shoot a large fish but figured it would find it way on Facebook and it would be too small or just illegal somehow so I held off.

The Gold Rock Creek Film Studio is on Grand Bahamas and only 45 min drive and worth the visit. Not a lot there any more but the two sunken items in the picture is what was used to film Pirates of the Caribbean, II and III Dead mans Chest and I don't know what III was called. There is quite a bit on the internet about the filming of it with photos too.

This is the pitch for filming here, pretty cool check it out.

Gold Rock Creek Film Studio

What a trill it is to see our kids together and such good friends. To hear of their successes and the threshold of where they are going is humbling to say the least,...

Amy and Jeremy with the new location and house in the DC area now have Chickens and a chicken coop may be on my to do list if we get there in time,..

Jill with her new job of only 6 months had earned a week of PTO (not power take off BUT Paid Time Off; who the hell ever thought or heard of that,...if only I knew LOL)
and more still on the books.

This is in the old studio too where they filmed the mangrove scenes. Very Pretty and a great spot under the shade to just sit and chill. Had we known it was here we would have brought the cooler and towels.

Senor Frog in Freeport is always a cool stop. Nice Chairs

Jill and Blue staying out of the sun and some Frisbee time at the best beach we found to date.

Oh yeah we all got wet this day. Back to the pool and a final night of poker, which Jeremy won, too bad he couldn't take his prize back home with him so he left it on the boat and I promised to bring his bottle of rum back with us to the states and,........opps sorry, I'll work on the chicken coop instead,...

This is most likely our last week here in the Bahamas. We'll be spending a short time in Florida but more time than we had other years. We're very excited about what is coming up for us and the opportunities are endless. But for sure the boat is still our home and travel is still a need.

Thanks for watching, more to come

Running out of time here in the Bahamas

2013-04-09T17:53:00.001-04:00

Other cruisers coming in the channel

our mark in Lucaya

Allen cleaning our Grouper

catch of the day with our fishing rods

one of many beaches we went to this day

exploring the rocks where "Pirates of the Caribbean" 2 and 3 where filmed

Trip to West End- We met a boat from Caz.

Beach day with friends

The hotel that never was...

Human Behaviors at the Resort-Marina

2013-04-02T14:19:00.000-04:00

Main Lobby and Check in,....
Here They Come

Well we've been here long enough to recognize a pattern in human behaviors at this marina-resort, and I'd like to share it with you for your enjoyment.

I'll start with the fact that most resort people arrive Saturday afternoon and leave the following Saturday morning. So for us cruisers and monthly guest the best quiet time is of course on Saturday. Once the guest check in and receive their Bahama Mama drink, they wait for their rooms to be cleaned which is usually done by 4 pm. While waiting they walk around looking at the pools, bar and restaurant, where they find all the cruisers. Most will grab another drink from a bar and work on tans in their travel clothes with a nap poolside. Remember they were awake bright and early to clear TSA and be filed into their seats. The first evening is quiet, some people head out shopping for food and drinks then early to bed.

This Ham Hock is 29lbs and wouldn't fit in your
typical oven,..really

Sunday morning it starts with most people enjoying coffee on their deck and lathering on the lotion in the brilliant early sun. I'll skip things that the resort does because this is about the people. Sunday afternoon is a definite pool day and again most people are passed out on Lounges, they may have been trying to keep up with the boaters here and are out of practice with their drinking. Of course there are a few that have made it to sun-downers The resident cats have adopted their family for a week, some people miss their dogs so much that they what to pet Blue or some of the other boat dogs. Many are still trying to connect to the Internet with their phones and talk to people back home. "Hello, what, no it’s warm here, you're breaking up, no I said pool not cool” Sunday night is 50-50; half eat off base and the other half have the charcoal grills going on their deck with the steaks and beer just enjoying the great evenings here. Oh we did go shopping just once here on a Sunday or Saturday. It’s when the guest go shopping to fill their frig, 1st thing to go are the steaks and hamburger meat. Still left is the oxtail, pork chops, ham hocks and chicken wings, and despite the price people still empty the chip shelve, $7 for a bag of Wise and more for Frito Chips. Booze is at another store and we never saw the consuming there just the leftovers, which I will talk about later. Sunday is a sunset night though we don’t see it set most try and stay up.

Port Lucaya's outdoor straw market

Monday the excursions start in full. They've seen the pools and need a sandy beach; others head to town and the outdoor shopping mall which is a true Caribbean Experience. There is something for everybody, lots of little shops, fishing boats, snorkeling and booze cruise or glass bottom boat rides, several bars and restaurants too. We like to go to town on,…you guessed it Saturday. People that stay at the resort are now sitting under the shade by noon because they look like Lobster. When the excursion people come back most that were out on a boat are red and rush to the pool. By the evening people are chilling at the pool and now know about the happy hour 2 for 1 special, as do the boaters here, so the resort people are getting into the groove of it.

2 local beers for $5 anytime, not bad food and priced OK

Tuesday and Wednesday are a repeat with the noted difference that the guests are now heading for their A/C rooms and showers by 5 pm Just about the time the cruisers finish boat chores, shopping (remember we don’t shop during the weekend for foods or drinks) fishing or just checking in so now we start to have our sun-downers and time at the pool or happy hour in the hot tube. By now many people know about us and some are very interested in the cruising life style promising to do it after the kids are gone and all the bills paid. Some are so sure that they will be cruisers they make their way out to a finger between boats for a look or more. One cruise boat told us of being awoken in the middle of the night by a noise and upon rising and looking they saw a couple in the heat of it on the finger between boat, ON A FINGER WITH WOODEN PLANKS, and they had a room but choose the planks. They may indeed become cruisers!

Cruisers in the shade and you can tell it's 5 O'clock,...
NO NO NO,... not the blender and drinks the shadows are long!

Thursday again is the same but the night is the big party night, for most realize that they will be traveling on Saturday and don’t want a hung over from a Friday night party. Friday morning is a slow starter for most that were up late and they recover at the pool all day. The morning after we've seen decks and patios a mess with people sleeping outside, furniture from the 2^nd floor on the ground, people running around at night trying to get into somebody’s room, sometimes with cloths on, but not always but always loud!! Those that rise early are off as this is their last full day and they realize they haven’t done everything on their list. They run around from the pool to the bar or a trip to town and back to the pool. Again this is a 50/50 night for people eating here or off base in town. At night they just hang around outside and finish off what they over bought. Food beer booze and they are packing.

Ah it’s Saturday and the cruisers are out early as are the people leaving, some are drinking their last beers (not the cruisers the guest) and good byes are said to all, if you had a favorite guest you swing by and give them a boat card in hopes that they might say “Hey we've got some left over,…(fill in the blank)……could you use it?” We've gotten beer, watermelon, lighter fluid, other booze and others have scored, breads, meats and other things. This was new to us just this week and I promise we’ll get better at it. Then the cleaning crews come in, we don’t think they get paid anything just what they take from the rooms. And it starts all over again. The guest start arriving by taxi, or rented cars and they get their watered down Bahama Mama, see you at the pool,…….

Beach Time

Cruising friends

2013-03-26T18:50:00.001-04:00

Nelson having fun at the beach, 2 years ago Sarah and him were buddies on the
beach every morning and evening.

This week started off very hot with wind from the east, now the wind is from the north and very chilly however with the sun shining it still feels really really nice.
At the beginning of the week we were sitting at the pool with some friends enjoying adult beverages when another cruiser came along to say a trawler was coming in and had some mechanical issues so we peeked up to see the M/V Steadfast go by. I said to Jon right away that we knew them from the Exuma's and that they had a dog named Nelson. Well all that was true and we have been visiting with Buz, Rosemary, Woody which is their son from Toronto and of course Admiral Lord Nelson Grizzly. Its always nice to catch up with cruisers you have hung around with in the past on some remote sandy beach or in a tin roofed bar on some really cool island.

another beach day

one of my favorite paintings

my only plant on the boat flowered

Another Face on the beach

Making stuff in my spare time

Stamp for 90 more days

2013-03-20T11:05:00.003-04:00

wind from the north

a quick trip out the cut with some visitors

cool plants

Pick me no pick me

When we first came into the Bahamas this trip Customs gave us only ninety days which meant we paid for the boat to cruise here for one year but we would have to get our papers stamped at ninety days to allow us to stay longer. Our papers were stamped in GH Cy by the customs officer and stamped December 17th and March 17th to be renewed. We were told a lot of different things about having them extended over in Grand Bahama and of course the 17th of March was a Sunday,so we headed to the customs office in Lucaya the week before and found that there was an office there and it was open on Saturday, well we went in on Saturday and after a few minute a customs again came out and told us that immigrations was not there unless it was really busy and we would have to go to Free Port instead. She called for us and they told her they were closed until Monday and that since we would be over by on day to make sure we were there at nine to meet with them. We woke up early, and for us since we are on one long vacation its hard to get up early here. We rode our bikes to Free Port and found the building after a few wrong turns and when we found the right office we told them what we needed and he said, well immigrations don't open till nine-thirty so we waited and the funny part is he was the immigrations officer. At nine-thirty he took us in the room and began to tell us we were over by one day and that it was the custom officers problem in GH Cay because he can't count right. We did get the papers stamped but first had to listen to the man for a few minutes explain right from wrong.

Fishing All Day

2013-03-16T18:22:00.000-04:00

Silver Cove Channel; this is low tide and between the two light
colored areas, which is shoaling, at this low tide there was only
5 ft 8 inches

As you travel in and out the Silver Cove Channel here in Grand Bahama you marvel at the beauty of it, be it small in width, and draft it is a rather long inlet but large boats still enter. We did it with our 6 ft draft by means of an escort though the shallow parts and feel privileged about being on the inside. Several Dive boats, charter boats and party barge boats operate out of here. And then there is this local guy, Allen, who is a sole fisherman that swims nearly ever day from this channel for his fishing. He tows behind him while swimming a Styrofoam cooler with a lid that is balanced with a rock attached to a line hanging below the cooler so it doesn’t flip over in the ocean. Throwing his fish into the cooler till he’s done then returning to the channel to clean his fish. He sells to the locals’ right there in the channel or anybody that comes up to him in say a dinghy and if there are any fish left over he stops at a couple of houses while walking home, and they will always buy him out.

This is the cooler with a few lobster and the Mutton Snapper
at the start of the day

Ah the top fish is Hogfish our favorite.

We tried to buy some fish the other day but he was all out. We are running low on fish and not having any luck out there ourselves, we asked him if he would like to go out fishing on our dinghy and show us a few spots and he could get his fish too. So we awake at 7 am for our 8am meeting at his place of business (the channel), he loaded his Styrofoam cooler, spear poles, fins and mask into our boat and we were off. He asked “How long can des boat go on da gas?” We’re good for the day I said. He took us to a reef not real far, only a couple of miles and not real far from shore. It really is a perfect spot not even that deep average depth was 15 ft. At a little after 9 we set anchor at a spot and both got into the water by 9:30, me with my full wet suit, and him with his swim suit. I tried to keep up with him and did at first. I took a couple of shots at fish and missed. Allen had given me one of his Hawaiian Sling rigs to hunt with. This is different that what I have, his spears when you shoot go free and really can travel; mine stays on your hand and really doesn’t travel far. I was really too busy marveling at the reefs beauty to really give a crap about being bad at fishing. The sun was out the water temp was fine and I was flying over some of the best snorkeling I’ve done in years. The colorful fish and coral , this reef was alive and so close, Arline and Blue are as happy as could be in the dinghy. Allen got a nice Lobster right away and I missed another fish. Call it age call it what ever but I couldn’t hit the bottom and have enough time left for a shot without my head feeling like it would implode. Not sure what that is all about, but Allen had another lobster, a fish and we where moving the anchor and boat for the 3rd time by swimming it where he wanted to go next, now that was work, I’ve got a motor for this. Screw this and I jumped into the dinghy after just over an hour of swimming, fired up the outboard and our kill rate went way up.
He swam and we followed with the dinghy and his cooler, dodging booze cruise boats, dive boats, Glass bottom boats, Parasail boats and snorkel adventure boats. Fish after fish and it went on. Allen would swim over and say “Drop Anchor Here” He’d swim the area and bring the catch back to the boat. “Pull anchor”, we never stayed anchored for more than 10 minutes.

End of the day full,...

It got exciting when Allen popped his head out of the water with “My short spear” and then stuck his head back in the water and started swimming away from us like a torpedo with his empty hand in the air. Quickly his head came out and yelled “short spear” still with his hand in the air, his head goes back into the water. OKAY we got it, he’s missed a shot and lost one spear hunting a fish and he going after the fish swimming away fast. (Remember the different fishing rig) I’ve never passed a baton at a relay race but this was from the dinghy to the swimmer. We pushed the dinghy close to him and Arline slapped the spear into his hand while still swimming fast, he loaded the spear dove under, we waited, and waited then he came up with a HUGE Mutton Snapper, with 2 spears in it. Holy crap what a fish, it just fit into his cooler.

Allen at his shop and out cut on the rocks

Allen cleaning fish and telling a life lesson to me about how happy
he was at his job and no stress.
Yeah I had a few for him, just recent learned too,..

Allen swan till 3PM with out a break. Arline said he was like the energizer bunny that just kept going and going. We didn’t think he was ever going to get out of the water. I think he swam 5 or 8 miles after looking at the chart of where we were. He filled his cooler with a lot of different fish and a lot of lobster, some of the fish we would never eat for different reasons. Now our dinghy will the newer 15 hp gets up on plane with 3 people no problem, I’ve tried with 4 people and not been able to. On the way home,… you got it,...almost a 4th person worth of fish. We got it up on plane but it was truly the max load for planning. We took the fish to Allen’s place of business, the channel, he divied up the fish into 2 piles and we shoved many back into his pile and cooler that we didn’t want then we paid him a fair amount for his time and catch. He pulled a piece of plywood he had stashed from the woods and cleaned the fish for us and then the people started to line up to buy his goods. From across the channel “Allen do you have any fish?” a lady yelled.

As we load the fish into Kasidah, Arline is cleaning and bagging, I’m hosing down the dinghy and I realize that we will be reminded of this day for a long time. There are little Styrofoam cooler pieces everywhere in the dinghy and as I try to wash they just float up and then back down when pumping the water out. It’s like a “Cat in the Hat” The Cat in the Hat comes Back, the one with the red stuff that get everywhere.

I could go on about his life lessons and how you need to be honest with yourself and with god, that he told us during the rides or while cleaning the fish, or how great the day and fish were, but it would take a full 8 hours.

BASRA saves lives......................

2013-03-09T15:07:00.000-05:00

Since 1960 the Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association of Grand Bahama made its mandate to save persons in distress on the sea. Solely manned and operated by volunteers, BASRA has saved many lives and been involved in thousands of rescues.

If you plan on coming to the Bahamas you should really think about being a member. http://basragrandbahama.com/

When Jon and I started sailing Kasidah we found this site and decided this was one of the most important organizations we could join. Not only for us but for every boater out there, one day you will be glad you have volunteers like these guys.

Jon and Tom

Kasidah in the background

Every boat needs this sign

Lots of Biking.

2013-03-09T09:09:00.001-05:00

We have been doing a lot of biking here on the island and checking out all the beaches, small shops, beach bars and going down every trail that looks like we can travel by bike.

This ship is from More Fart......

We never gave Grand Bahama a thought when picking out places to visit and really staying for a while to get the real feel of the place but we are really enjoying it here.

We went to the Freeport ship yard and were able to get right up to the ships so we explored there for a while looking at how they load all the containers and pack them in just so. The cruise ships are here too so we watched them for a while.

We found a trail that lead to a beach and just off that is a cemetery with a memorial dating in the 70s for some Haitian people that were fleeing their country and the boat went down right off the beach, all perished that day.

Like all tourist towns there is a cool bar that has dollars stapled to the walls from people all over the world, we see this a lot but there are different items in different places, some have burgees, some have t-shirts others that are late night party places have bras and undies.

No luck on fishing here but we will start trying to spar lobster next week because the season is over at the end of March and we want to have a freezer full for the kids.

Jon has had two boat repairs since we have been here, one on a 31ft Hunter which was a water pressure issue and one on a powerboat both were fixed and done right.

Blue on watch

Very hot

Sitting pretty in the Grand Bahamas

2013-02-28T11:05:00.003-05:00

Friends Jim and Nancy, they keep their boat in Indiantown also.

We never thought we would ever spend more than a night or two in Grand Bahamas but here we are and we are having a good time exploring the island by bike and dinghy. Almost everyday we ride the bike seven to ten miles which we find is great exercise for us. We have been to Freeport and many little beach in between there and Bell Channel, Lucaya.

Lunch in Lucaya

Exploring the beaches

We finally had a north wind and brought the dinghy out the channel and went fishing,then we searched for coral heads to snorkel over. The water gets really deep quick because the channel opens right up to the ocean. We didn't catch any fish but it was fun heading down to Bell Channel and exploring new canals and places that we will try to find one day by bike.

The flowers are gorgeous here

my favorite flower so far

Alex,Mary,Jon and I at Banana Cove

Last night Alex and Mary (we know them from lake Ontario) came over and invited us to their condo for dinner and to chit chat about things. It was a great evening and today we will hit the beach with them.

Time to Leave Great Harbour Cay or "As Luck Would Have It"

2013-02-22T10:51:00.000-05:00

As Luck Would Have It, the island of Great Harbour Cay has a set of two large microwave towers that send communications from island to island. With the newest equipment one became redundant and was just standing there. The smart people at Bahamas Telephone Co (BATCO) planned to move the extra one onto another unconnected island to bring it out of the 3rd world stasis. So a huge crane and crew arrive by ferry for the day and began the work of removing the one extra tower.

Tom and Laura on S/V Cool Hand on the sand bar.

I was in my dinghy helping another cruiser pull his sailboat off a sand bar and saw the large crane connect to the tower. It was obvious that they were working on it for one reason or another at the time. The cruiser had gone aground because of high winds and rising tide. The wind kept pushing him further and further onto the bar as the tide came up and he would have been in real trouble in a few hours when the tide started down. (More on his mistakes later, we all make them). One dinghy pushed his nose around to point to deeper water and I used a halyard from the top to pull him over. The wind was really blowing and it was quite hard as the wind was really blowing our little dinghies around. But we did get him off after less than an hour of working at it. As we are patting ourselves on the back I look at the towers and marvel at what looked like a roller coaster ride that they just made. I knew it had gone bad for them. Tower 1 had gotten away from them in the high winds (who would have thought) and hit a guy wire of tower 2. Now two cranes and two towers where twisted and on their way down. By the time I got back to the boat and biked to the site this is all that was left. If you look in the back ground you can see the 2nd tower.

If you look close in the background you can see the 2nd tower on the ground too.
I think the one wrapped around this crane is the one they where working on.
I saw some rigging to it.

So now there is NO communications on the island at all, but As Luck Would Have It, another cruiser has a sat phone which I find being used by the BATCO guy to call his boss in Nassau when I get back to the boat.

One last thing about the crane crew; They are as a team, 3 for 2, how could this be you ask. Well last month they were hired to work on another tower in the Andros and knocked it over too, 3 for 2, get it. And they still got the job for this one. Owning the only mobile crane in the Bahamas has it benefits I guess.

Just another view after working past the flag crew,... YEAH RIGHT

As luck would have it, the following day, high tide was at sunrise at GHC, and then at 5 pm in Grand Bahamas. Another boat left the day before for Grand Bahama and reported one site open for a great monthly rate where he had just pulled in.

So with no communications, and perfect weather, and a waiting slip, it was time to leave. We couldn't give any notice to our kids, family and friends about our move so off we went at 6 am. OF course we had our SPOT on sending out the location as we moved and our good friend Thomas saw it and called our other friend Tom and told him "Their on the Move!" Thanks Tom you've always got my back. If you had been there for the crane guy I'll bet this wouldn't have happened ;-)

GHC behind us by an hour

Silver Cover entrance and our escort up in front of us. Thanks Jim.

You can see Kasidah's Blue sun protection on
her head sail and stay sail on the left of the photo.

The weather couldn't have been better for the trip, 10-15 knots on our beam, flat seas. Kasidah was flying at 7 knots, we arrived at the Marina/Resort and have a spot right in front of one of the 2 pools. I hope they don't try and move this pool to another island. The rate for a month is a lot less than I could rent a trailer in the back woods of Otisco from a farmer. (Sorry Tully) It was a 65 mile sail north and the entrance to Silver Cove is small and has some shoaling in it that make it dangerous to do at night, or in a south wind. At low tide there is less than 5 ft. If you remember our draft is 6 ft. But As Luck would Have it the other cruisers Jim and Nancy, where already here and heard us calling the marina on the radio. Jim came out in his dinghy to escort us in thought the narrow and shoaled areas.

Not really her shot

The water depth for most of the crossing was 2000-3000 ft until about 2 miles from the Silver Cover Channel. Just before we took our sails down Arline was watching the water and saw a huge Orca Whale jump out of the water about a mile away from the boat. I saw the splash and tail go in the water.

Some of the channel inside before the marina,
again note our escort in front of us.

We found Grand Bahama Island to be great so far. We went to a store by bikes and saw stuff that we haven't seen since we left the states. Portobello mushrooms, fruit, coffee creamer, green onions, DONUTS, ham hocks so big they wouldn't fit into your oven, whole lamb leg with bone, wait,.. ok that's new. And a store to refresh our supply of wine and rum, beer is still too much but other liquids are VERY reasonable. Anything from the states has about $10 added to it.

Thanks for watching,....

What Cruisers Do

2013-02-18T09:02:00.000-05:00

With Dale and Karen at Sarah's Beach

How could it get boring, It doesn't,...We have been busy doing a few more boat chores, a few more sun-downers, beaches and really catching up with phone calls and e-mail to friends. The marina put up a new antenna for the WIFI and I'm (jon here) able to use my newer I-phone from below deck on the boat, this has really made me happy.

This is Arline and Karen, it's hard to tell from this photo but they look and act like sisters
I can even understand her when she says "Do you have one of those button putter on thingies?"

First the Sun-downers; We have found that the marina has been having a lot of cruising sailboats that are staying for a while and even a few trawlers, so we have found a taken over a fish cleaning station in front of one of the boats that wasn't used very often because the water to it isn't working. At 5 o'clock nearly daily we all gather with drinks and a dish and have a blast. Sometimes we do it on a boat that has created a large pot or dish of something that needed to be cooked off or it would go bad.

The large yacht of Jack Nickolas's, M/V Sea Bear, has been in the marina next to us for several weeks now with just it's crew. The weather was great again, Arline was doing a sewing project for some boaters, I was busy with new cruisers, helping them with issues of their own (It's what Cruisers do). The crew ask down from Sea Bear, "Anybody want to go out diving?" CRAP,... I had a meal to get ready for the days sun-downer and bah bah bah or is it yahda yahda yahda,.. I passed and took a rain check. They came back at the end of the day and gave the cruisers here a bag of about 15 small lobster, and said "Pass them around", Thank You! Some of the folks took a couple but most said "Give it to Jon, he'll cook something" So the next day for sun-downers I made Lobster Thermador for like 6 boats,...MMMMMM. Did I say Thank You loud enough!

This is Percy the famous Bone-fish guide with the winning Mahi Mahi

It gets Better by the day. The following day the crew again from M/V Sea Bear (Jacks Boat)) sticks their head over the rail and says "Hey Sun-downers are on us tonight!" So at our Fish Cleaning / Sun-Downer location they hosted a Dark and Stormy with beers evening. Dark and Stormy is a drink made with a dark local rum, Ginger beer and lime, and beer is beer. Again all us cruisers brought a dish and we all got to met the 1st mate Luke and Alex, Jacks hired fishing guide, we all shared story after story and killed a big bottle of Goslings Black Seal Rum and a case of beer. It what cruisers do.

We are lucky to enjoy such a lifestyle, it may be for a limited time, but we know it and don't take a moment for granite.

We Left this as a marker for Sarah

Arline finished center panel window

Arline at work

One of our friends on the island lost the front wind panel to his center cockpit boat (he is a local). This is one of the sewing things Arline did. As non island people if we were to take money for this it would piss off the locals, so it was a free-be if you will. But the good will earned will serve us for a long time.

Going hunting on My Way Too.

2013-02-15T08:20:00.000-05:00

Once again Sandy invited us out but this time on "My Way Too" for a day of hunting Lobsters so we jumped on his offer. Sandy is very outgoing and always looking for something to have fun with.
Just like many people we have met here he is willing to show us around and show us how to have fun while on the island.

He brought us way out to a spot with almost thirty feet of water and told Jon to jump in and see what was down there.

Jon said he would do his best and grabbed his pole. He came up a bit later and said there was a large nurse shark down there and that it was way too deep for his lungs to be able to take a shot at anything. Jon got in the boat and also realized he had pulled his neck from looking up too quick when he was at the bottom. After that Sandy went down and scouted out the different sites. He brought two Lobsters up that were huge, so this meant dinner for all of us later that night.

West side of Little Stirrup where cruise ships come in

Sandy, Francisco and me

5 0clock somewhere

Boomer- Sandy's island dog

Lookout spot at the channel entrance

A day exploring

2013-02-13T12:39:00.000-05:00

The day was spent exploring and collecting shells.
It has been very warm here but a cold front will change that next week.

A Seabiscuit moving around

Very large snake on the road

one of the channel markers

beaching for lunch

an old beach club house

Blue getting comfy

Ride on "My Way"

2013-02-09T10:13:00.002-05:00

loading My Way

Lana and Jeff invited us to Sandy's to have a ride at sunset on his boat called My Way then to sit on his deck for a great meal with many friends we have made here.

The Wahoo Fishing tournament is next weekend and he needed to get the boat out to check all the mechanical stuff and give it a damn good running to blow the engines clean.

This is not a sailboat...

We hit 35 and I was on the top deck which was really windy so I couldn't get down to the lower deck so that's where I sat and laid down for the trip, after words Jon said that down below they were kind of bouncing from one side to the other. I think that had to do with the fact that was Sandy banking the boat from side to side.

It was a fun night and only a short dinghy ride back to the boat.

Jon, Jeff and Lana

Sandy,Lana,me,Merilyn,Susie and Jerry

Sand and Jon drinking Coronas with a shot of rum, see the smiles,..

Getting ready to leave

going 35

my seat

Jon washing his hair, he said later that he could have been pulled into the wash of the boat .

the sunset

We say goodbye to "Our Best Friend"

2013-02-06T15:40:00.002-05:00

Back in 2001 when we lived in Tully New York our oldest daughter started Collage in the late summer and as a mother I found myself lost, it was very hard to be there for everything she did.Then to see her off to a place knowing that I would only see her on weekends when she wanted to do laundry, come home for some of moms home cooking which I hoped would be every weekend, or hangout with her dad. During the first few weeks Jon and I thought it would be good for me to get a puppy because this would make me focus on something else and we had wanted a small dog for sometime.

So one day Jill and I went to a breeder which was really close to where we kept our first boat and started looking at puppies. The owner would bring out a few from the same litter but none really caught our attention. Finally she told us she had one last group of pups to show us and that they were the new designer dogs that year. Both Jill and I looked at her with puzzled faces and then she explained that the dad was a Scottie and the mom was a poodle which made these nonallergic and nonshedding dogs. She brought out seven or eight which was the whole litter in a basket and let them run around. Jill and I sat on the floor and watched them for a few minutes. They were the cutest little puppy's we had seen and decided we would pick one, but how do you pick one when they are all cute. All of a sudden one of them that was playing with Jill's shoelace stopped playing and went over to some newspaper to pee. That split second both Jill and I know this was the one for us. Jill always like the name Sarah so that was how she got her name.

Sarah has been a wonderful friend to our whole family and many people that came in contact with her,she will be missed by us all.

Sarah was having a hard time for the past three weeks and was on heart medicine but her heart just couldn't keep up and she died in my arms last night. Her last day she was very active, happy and even went to the beach bar and sat with Jon for awhile.

Our last day with her

her resting place

Her view

Sarah is now on her favorite beach where she loved to dig holes and go crabbing with her sister Blue.

Days well spent...

2013-01-28T13:04:00.004-05:00

mail boat shows up every two or so weeks to restock the shelves

Dentist flown in

We have been busy here working on boat projects in the morning and then enjoying the beaches and water during the afternoon. the temp has been pretty much in the 80s since we arrived and even when the cold fronts pass it really has been quite nice.

Hermit crab in a large conch shell

Sarah has been feeling a little better but still she is not herself and probably wont be but she seems happy and content just to find a place and sleep the day away.

Sarah sitting in some shade

While on the beach the other day I came across a huge hermit crab living in a large conch shell. Im not sure if you can eat them or not but he was big enough to do just that.

Sarah s new seat

We caught a few fish and lobster so Jon called his nephew Garrett who is going to school to become a chef and got a few ideas for dinner, it was outstanding.

Seafood primavera yum yum

Beach party with The Bacardi kids

Dinner with new friends

We got together with a few other cruisers and went out to the beach bar for dinner and noticed they were having a beach party so we joined in the fun. It just happened to be some of the Bacardi kids they flow in for some activities they are having on the island. The night was so beautiful and the sound of the ocean waves and the crackling of the fire was so peaceful that it almost put me to sleep.

Another job for Jon on a Hunter (Jon helped tow him in)

Sarah with her piggy ready for bed

A Hunter sailboat owned by Jim and Nancy arrived at anchor the other night and come to find out it had engine problems, Jon and another sailor John helped tow him in the cut with the dinghy's. Once Jim found out Jon new a little about these engines he asked him to look at it, which Jon knew right away what the problem was. He spent the morning in the locker pulling things apart and by noon the boat was back together and ready to travel again. Jim and Nancy were very grateful for the help.

Cool Hand stops in to visit.

2013-01-22T10:28:00.003-05:00

Dinner

We woke Monday morning to hear Cool Hand on the radio with the office to come in and get a slip. It was very exciting to see another one of our friends show up here to check out the island. Tom and Laura stopped into the Marina in New York to drop their mast and have Jon truck it to the Hudson where they stepped it again to make their journey down the east coast and cross to the Bahamas.

We went out snorkeling with them and then had dinner with them and another couple we know from Indiantown Fl. John and Anetta.
Dinner consisted of our days catch which was lobster and crab.

Jack pulls in to Bonefish

Shipwreck from Sandy

2013-01-21T10:52:00.000-05:00

Meko is one of the marina employees

At the pool bar with some of the guys from the island

We stopped at this beach for the dogs to play

We went south about four miles to a fishing boat that had went aground during hurricane Sandy and just kept getting into shallower water wave after wave.

It was very cool but sad to go on this boat with no holes in her you would think it would be pretty easy to float her but here in the Bahamas its not. The water was only about three feet and lots of fish including a shark have started to make this there home.

Just another beautiful beach

How fun is it to do nothing......

2013-01-19T18:03:00.004-05:00

We have come to a point that we would sit and do nothing all day if it were not for how active we are and the words "do nothing" really means read a book, do odd boat jobs, work on the motors and of course for Jon that means find someones broken thing and fix it.So yesterday Jon help Chuck on Long Gone drop his wind generator and then worked on our dinghy motor. After that we went on bikes to town and found that someone drove the forklift that takes things off the mail boat into the water.

Today we went fishing and hunting for lobsters. We were saddened to find a huge turtle shell which someone had just recently killed. I was so upset I did not take a photo but will if it is still there tomorrow. These creatures are so beautiful and move so slow that it is sinful to see this. On a good note we got one Lobster and Jon found a sling pole in a hole.

Sarah has not been feeling well since we lift Florida and the Vet said she had early stages of Congestive Heart Failure and gave us some pills for this. Since we have been here it has gotten really bad and we have had more pills flown in for her to make her more comfortable. Please think of her in any prayers for us in the next few weeks, she has been our baby for so long we really want her to get well and play in the sand with us..

Another beautiful week in paridise..........

2013-01-16T13:17:00.002-05:00

The weather has been perfect the last few weeks here and we have been enjoying every moment.
We went out exploring by dinghy yesterday and saw a few rays,sharks and lots of Lionfish which are on our list to kill and eat next time out.
We got together with a few cruisers that wondered in here for a few days and had a nice happy hour with them, Jon made his famous conch fritters, Annette made conch salad and we all had a fun time talking about boating life.

Barry who is the old dockmaster here arrived today from Nassau where his wife Sharon is right now, they had a baby girl "Liberty", on the islands when your pregnant you need to go to Nassau at least a month before your do date because there are no doctors on the outer islands. We have known Barry for three years and he is a great person inside and out. He decided three years ago to do his own thing.... so now he bring people out fishing,details their boats and is much happier.

Another beach day

2013-01-05T18:12:00.004-05:00

I was pretty far out and knee deep

collecting Stuff

beach butterfly

sandman

We need to find something to do............................Ha Ha Ha

This is worth every moment out here...............

2013-01-05T17:50:00.001-05:00

http://www.sailblogs.com/member/melanieandwill/?xjMsgID=255979#.UOhCmnIHFDE.facebook

Love Beach

2013-01-04T15:14:00.002-05:00

Wilson's girlfriend

We had a wonderful day with the dogs at Love Beach yesterday. It is one of my favorite places on the island with the clear blue water and shimmering palms dancing on the white powdery beach.

Sara and Blue chased crabs for a while then Sara decided to go after this one lizard that she was not going to let live and by the end of the day she had managed to corner it and rip its tail off . By the time I got to her she had ended its life and I was not happy to say the least. Well I really hope she learned her lesson and I think the lizard had the last word in this fight because Sara was sick all night and we are pretty sure that poor lizard was the reason behind it all.

my favorite island dog

After a long day at the beach

Our friend Lana did make it to the doctors in Florida and she has a torn tendon in her ankle which requires four weeks of therapy. Jeff said he will be back in a week and will see how she is progressing at that time. We are looking in on their house and watering her plants while they are gone. Jeff has let Jon take the Ranger for this time and Jon has offered to replace a few belts on it before he returns. Lana's dog Angie found the ranger parked at the boat and decided Lana must be on Kasidah with us, so she sat next to it till after dark when I finally told Jon we should bring it back to their house along with Angie. Angie has a great care taker "Percy" which is the famous fishing guide here in the Berry's, his Mom was the owner of Flo's conch bar on Little Harbour Cay and now his brother runs the place. Percy is a great guy and if you come down here you should go say hi to him.

What will 2013 uncover for us?

2013-01-03T12:30:00.001-05:00

New Years Eve

Well so far 2013 has been wonderful for us and we think of how blessed we are every minute to be doing what we are doing. We have always said if you what something bad enough go for it because it won't happen unless you make the first move. Bob Bitchin always said "Don't dream your life Live your dream"
and we are.

Jeff and Jon waiting for us

Our New Years was spent at Jeff and Lana's house and as always the food and company was fantastic. Just before midnight we all went to the Taboo restaurant at the marina to bring in the New Year and hang around with our cruising friends Mel and Joni. Capt.Dave and his girlfriend Corine were there also to cheer on the stroke of midnight. For some reason I feel like I have met Dave before, I'm not sure if it is because his family is from the same area of Canada that mine came from or not but it was just one of those things when we all first met...just one of those things...........................

Lunch time

On Wednesday the weather forecast was predicted to be a perfect boating day so we jumped on Jeff's boat and headed down the chain of islands to do some snorkeling for lobster and conch then to Devils Cay to walk the shore, have lunch and lastly over to Little Harbour to have a rum drink at the famous conch bar "Flo's".

Turtle swimming by

Chester and Jeff at Flo's

Unfortunately Lana had a tumble after meeting up with one of the island dogs (friendly dog, but it was his island), she had her Bahamian dog with her and she thought they were going to get into it and panicked which lead her to falling down onto some nasty rocks and mess up her ankle. We managed to get her back on the boat and home with the help of a chair, used as a walker. They had planned to leave today for two weeks anyhow, so they left in their plane this morning. She has an appointment today for some x-rays, hopefully everything will be ok.

Back to GHC with 4 to 7 foot under us