JANUARY 4, 2008 I feel so good I can hardly stand it!

Another hideous sunset
Cottages at Staniel
Cottages at Staniel 2
Sunset reflected in the water
Warderick Wells anchorage

(Editor’s note: because we’ve had such trouble getting online, we are posting sometimes several blog entries at a time, as we’re able. So make sure you check the archives of recent entries, since most likely only the very most recent one will show up in front of you.)

JANUARY 4, 2008
I’m the richest man in the world. I have, in my possession, the following:
9 Histal antihistamine tablets
3 tubes of skin cream
a solar shower FULL of 2 ½ gallons of water
30 gallons of water on the boat (not saltwater, either)
20 gallons of gas
16 oz. bag of potato chips marked “not for individual sale”
16 oz. of fudge ripple iced cream in my belly, along with a large hamburger and fries
one bag of oreos with some strange and different, yet wonderful middle filling
a battery bank full of power, 330 amp hours, more or less
a computer to use, compliments of Thomas J. Deater (the “J” stands for quality)
a full battery in that computer
a charged ipod, playing Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros “Johnny Appleseed”
the possibility of my candidate winning the next election
a cold fridge, including several Schweppes tonic waters
over half a fifth of Bombay Sapphire gin
the smallest boat in the harbor, parked next to boats a hundred times as large
a summer to look forward to of seeing you all
a computer full of pictures to upload and show you guys
several blogs to offer you all
sails, wind, solar panels, and all we need to move about
a new gas valve so we can actually use our propane (whoo-hoo!)
an empty porta potty, and neither of us even has to go
some books to read
a fishing pole
a ukelele
a clarinet
two steaks in the freezer, four cans of corn in the can bin
good weather in the forecast for several days
beautiful sunsets, one after the other, after the other. Maybe sunrises too. Who knows? Not bloody me, matey, that’s for sure.
dogs safe at home, smiling, all knowing, loving, forgiving
all kinds of new acquaintances, not a dud in the bunch
family and old, good friends who love us and read our silly blogs
family and friends who love us even though they don’t like reading blogs
a loving wife who has a hoody with stars all over it, blogging away across the table from me, looking deadly serious but will crack up over nothing. And who gives me kisses, always.

As I mentioned, I’m the richest man in the world. I miss you all. I hope I get a signal soon so you can read what I’m saying to you. Come visit somewhere if you can. Get near here, and we’ll come find you.

XOX,
Jack

JANUARY 3, 2008

Anchors
Cuban cigars, five bucks
Guinness 7.5%
Ruth and the Giant Pineapple, the new book
whole fish on a plate=Delicious

JANUARY 3, 2008
Jack here. Wow, it’s hard to believe it’s 2008. After people said Nostradamus said it would end in 1994, I’m still getting over the shock of still being here. I’m kidding, of course. It’s weird to see that number though. 2008. It’s odd every time. I didn’t even get used to the last… dozen or so year numbers. Anyway. How are ya? Huh?
Fine, be secretive. Ruth and I are outside of Staniel Cay, tucked up around the south side of the neighboring islands, Little Majors in particular. You could probably find it “on-line,” if you have the “internets,” they tell me. Basically, the deal is that this here cold front has been causing some fright of a wind, and besides blowin’ about sumpin’ fierce, it’s got the localfolk half bugaboo, scurryin’ about, like some chicken what been deprived of their hat racks. It come from yon’ northerly horizon yesterday abouts, and has been whuppin’ n’ hollerin’ to beat the band since. 20-30 mph winds, or 30-40, depending who you talk to, for two days, or five, depending again, on your company. We came up in here yesterday morning, running the engine trying to get some power, and basically ended up eating about $30 in gas, with little progress, trying to keep cold about $8 in food. We had a deal with Chubby to pay about $10 to charge the batteries at the dock for a few hours, but couldn’t get in, because the winds had started blowing already. We hadn’t even felt it, or the waves, because we were pretty sheltered there by the beach, except for two things, neither of which was the weather.
The first was the New Year’s fireworks, which looked like the intensity of those over the Detroit River, just smaller, and the bottom side being about 15 feet above our mast. But all’s well that ends swell, they say.
The second was when the barbecuers on the beach got done showing the races that we were in on video while they served a $15 dinner, and then afterward burning all the trash. And I mean, ALL the trash. Food, paper, Styrofoam, plastic, the trash bags, everything. We were immediately downwind of this, but don’t get jealous, because it’ll reach everyone sooner or later. That’s my number one bitch about this place: they don’t have trash disposal, so even at the dump, they just SET FIRE to all of it. It’s nuts. The club charges $5.00 a large bag, and $2.50 a small bag to dispose of your stuff, and you throw it in their trailer, and when they have a few thousand dollars worth, they drive it to the dump and set it on fire. Shit, I could have done that.
My only other complaint is that polluting the planet costs so much here. At home in Detroit, it’s FREE to burn garbage and wreck the environment. Hot bargain, that.
I suppose that’s typical human behavior though. Never knowing how good we have it and that it can get so much worse. I guess we’ll all know how much worse in good time.
Anyway, enough of such lighthearted chitter chatter. Ruth and I are holed up here, for another 1-4 days, with water, canned food, and a few books. And I’m trying to sift through the documents of what State Farm (really Hammerman and Gainer) owes me. We soaked beans for a few days in saltwater, and then made beans, burger and rice with them after cooking and tenderizing them a godawfully long time. We then took the salty bean runoff and made bean soup, just by adding a can of vegetables and some beans, burger and rice.
Ruth started to read “the Story of O,” but she says it’s a pretty miserable affair all around, so we’re going to play cards and read “the Old Man and the Sea” to each other later. We’ve both read it, but it’s a great book, with such good rhythm and focus. Some of Hemingway’s other stuff (“For Whom the Bell Tolls,” most notably) I couldn’t care less about, but I though this one was quite an achievement.
Anyway, battery power is precious, and you’ve just eaten up 9 of my 32% remaining. I must run now. Fiddledee dee, and all that rot.
XOX,
The JL

Happy New Year's

Above: Clean water after I rinsed three shirts
the view from Alan's Cay
Yet another Bahamian sunset
Bougainvillea on Staniel
Rub a dub dub, dammit


JANUARY 1, 2008
Jack here. Hard to believe it’s 08. I’m here at the marina trying vainly to get online, and so I thought I’d write my new blog. Basically, I’m sitting here watching the signal strength show full strength, and no pages will load. There’s no-see-ums biting me, flying in my ears and around my eyes particularly. They’re kind of, um, driving me, um, nuts. I can’t go in because this is the only socket around. We are trying to get online and post, because there’s a cold front coming, which means 30 mph winds, and gusts to 40. That’s more than what ripped our jib sail to shreds this summer, so we expect to jet out of here, go around the corner where it’s sheltered and will probably be inside the boat for up to 4 days, depending on how severe it is, and if it lets up.
The bugs are crazy today. Usually, there’s none. And the weather is something I’ve forgotten to really report on. Pretty much 70-75 degrees every day, and 65 at night. Water temp almost always 75 or so.
The big news here is the New Year’s Eve races. I’ll keep it brief since Ruth will most likely write too. The highlights were as follows. Ruth and I both got picked to help crew Bahamian Class C racing sailboats in the small regatta. I heard one of the two boats was a good boat, so we drew straws and Ruth picked. She went on Termite, and I went on It’s Magic. It was a trip. There were six of us, three Bahamians, Magic, Kenny, and Sidney. Bruce, an older cruiser who had raced before, and a lady whose name I didn’t get.
Before the race, we got to the starting line and our sailhead ripped free from the sail. The cats I was with grabbed twine (loosely defined) and we tied it back together. It looked horrible, and weak, and like it was about to fail. “That’ll work, mon,” says Kenny.
The Bahamians did all the talking, and the accent is so thick you are lucky if you can understand one word in ten, literally. Especially once we started because they’re shouting, half angrily at each other the whole time, a million miles an hour.
“Sail the boat, man! Sail the boat!”
“I yam, mon, whot the fuck you think I’m doin?”
“Sail the boat mon!”
“I’m sailin’ it mon, watch the point! Fix thot prybar, mon!”
”I’m the bowmon, what the fuck you think I’m doin, mon?”
”Sail the boat, mon!”
etc.
Basically, my job, and two of the others was to be ballast, full time. One other was ballast, full time, and handled lines. The boat had two pry bars, 2x10, about 8 feet long, hooked under the rails, and we crawled out to the end as fast as we could to keep the boat from tipping, two on a board, feet up in the air, to be as much leverage on the board as possible, to keep the boat from tipping because they carry a lot of sail for a small boat, and I am not sure if there even is a keel. And when the wind blew hard, we would scramble to the end. When it eased, we scrambed back in, or halfway, or whatever it called for, while Magic and Kenny screamed incoherent Bahamian at each other and the other boats.
The boat was leaking like a sieve, and Bruce got enlisted to put his feet over the large holes to slow the water coming in, while the lady (I didn’t catch her name) bailed as fast as she could.
I’m running in and out on the pryboards, and Magic is at the tiller. All was fine till we swung around a tack and hit another boat that refused to surrender the right of way.
“STARBOARD BOAT, MON, STARBOARD BOAT!”
“WHWHWHWHWHHAHSAJSJSJAHAJJSJSJAJJA!!!!!”
“STARBOARD BOAT MON! WHOT THE FUCK YOU DOIN? OH, fuck. STARBOARD BOAT!!!”
BOOM!
The other boat was coming from our portside, at a 90 degree angle to us, and both of us going fast for the same point. We swing to the starboard at the last moment, they swing to theirs, and it’s not enough. Their guys are out on the pryboards, and as those sweep across our bow, they dive into the boat, and the pryboards clothesline our decks, hitting everything in their path, and our rigging.
We right ourselves, everyone is screaming at each other, or just in general, the lady is bailing (I didn’t catch her name), Bruce is holding the water out of the cracks as best he can, even as the rails dip below the water, I’m sliding up and down the board and Reggie is making blood oaths at the other boat.
Minutes later, he tightens the halyard on the sail and rips the top off it.
Everyone screams at each other, and we come in third.
Ruth’s boat won. I have no idea how we didn’t, with such a winning formula, but I guess that uncertainty is what makes it fun.
One boat sank. I think it’s still out there.
We had a great New Year’s. The first one ever where I didn’t talk to my Mom on New Year’s. That was a bit of a drag.
Okay, I have flies around my eyes like I’m a Biafran kid in a Bob Dylan song.
Gotta run.

Hope you see this soon. If you don’t, don’t blame me. I wish you all could see Staniel. It’s awesome. They have amazing food, if expensive (pumpkin bread as big as my hand for $7.50 that you would actually say was WORTH IT). Bahamian music playing constantly, nice people, good snorkeling, including Thunderball cave, I guess where they shot part of the James Bond movie of the same name. It’s a big grotto that you snorkel into at low tide (and out too, or you won’t get out) that’s supposed to have amazing fish. We haven’t seen it yet. We’ll letcha know.

XOX,
Jack

December 30, 2007

DECEMBER 30, 2007
Captain’s log, stardate as noted above. We’re in Staniel Cay. I think this is the best place we’ve been to so far. It’s bustling with sailors, cruisers, and the like, but they’re really all laid back drunks. Cool all around, generally. There’s only 83 people that live on this island, but probably fifty boats out there. We already know a few of the locals, and a lot of the boaters, since pcople are so friendly. Like everything else, this place is crazy expensive. Like $8.00 for a gallon of milk. $3.00 for a can of corn. Etc. So it’s cool that we’re floating for free, with solar power, solar shower, and that’s that. On the flipside, I saw a nurse for my skin, who put me on Histal, and gave me special shampoo, four tubes of skin cream that’s precscription, I think, all for $48.00 Including her fee. She works out of her house, and worked on me while wearing an oversize “Jamaica” t-shirt and bare feet. I went in and thought I had got her up from a nap on her day off. Super cool though. Met her, this cat Kenny that was trying (vainly) to teach me how to dance like a Bahamian, Brenda and Rhonda that cook on the beach and make awesome food, Chubby, a guy who drives a golf cart, Berky, the guy who owns the general store, and was up on a ladder painting when we got there even though he only has one arm.
We’re in the right place for the holidays, these people on the boats are super festive. Like Jim and Nancy who turned their mast and shrouds into one huge Christmas tree. There’s also a cruising regatta (race) for all the sailboats out here. We’re entering. It should be good for a laugh.
Our friends Dan and Morningglory, and Chris have all been here. Besides Jim and Nancy, Barry and Susan, Hilda and Simon, Conrad and Sally, Roger and Bonnie, Charlie and Shirley, John and Michelle, Kate and Steve, and many others whose names I can’t remember. This is great other than the fact that I can’t remember names, and I’m meeting more people every day than I ever have. Oh yeah, and today, we went lobstering (to no avail) with Sebastian and MC, who are French Canadian. Jake just walked up behind me and asked if we heard them calling us on the radio this morning. Apparently they misunderstood the name of our boat to be “Fiberglass Virgins.” So a lot of people had a good laugh at that, I suppose. Hrumph.
The community (it really is that) look out for each other, trade, share, and are super interwoven. It’s pretty cool. Most everyone is doing the same thing, going to the same “next destination,” on the same trajectory. Like most of the people we’re seeing here were at Warderick Wells with us, Alan’s Cay before that, Norman’s, all the way up to Nassau. From here to Black Point, then Georgetown eventually. I guess they play volley ball every day there, 7 days a week, starting at two everyday. I like that a lot. There’s all kinds of levels too, like retired people, competitive, non competitive, etc. Anyway, where was I?
Oh, so anyway. Dan and Morningglory were here, and they’re super cool. They jetted last night in the middle of the party, to head to Georgetown so she could fly out and get back home helping homeless people. Good people, big hearts. Dan just replaced the water tank on his boat, and so he gave us the old 35 gallon water bladder, and we spent yesterday afternoon installing it in our bilge, and running hoses up to the water pump and to the thru-hull fitting in the cockpit that we now use to fill it. We can only fill it up to 20 gallons because of the spot it’s in is only so big, but that’s more than we did have, and NO MORE JUGS. Nice.
Sure, there’s a couple people that are abrasive (okay, just one) who gets really drunk and announces how much she owns, and there was a local dude yesterday that told Ruth to come sit on his lap, and then told me to shut up when I straightened him out. We got into a bit of a pissing match, but whatever. He’s an old drunk. Good carver though. Makes really nice wood pieces. Maybe we can patch things up one day.
Staniel Cay is awesome though. Big Majors is directly to the north, maybe a quarter mile off Staniel, and there’s pigs and goats there. The pigs swim in the water, and you can feed em. It’s awesome. I guess kids here at the dark were handfeeding nurse sharks but I didn’t see that. From the dock you could see another big ol’ 6 foot stingray glide by. And today Ruth spotted a 6 foot barracuda. We split at that point because they like shiny things, and I had a spear and silver earrings on. MC (Mary Claude) got five lobster today, and a scrill, which is a delicious red fish. The rest of us got a big goose egg (read: zero), so tomorrow Ruth and I are going again and are going to learn her secrets.
Other nice things about Staniel: has everything. The Blue Store, and the Pink Store are the two groceries. Two bars, once church, one hardware, 83 residents, and one very tired hooker. They have cottages though to rent, and I think Ruth mentioned all the beautiful bouganvillea already, because she asked me how to spell it. I pretended I knew, so the joke’s on her. Ha ha ha.
She’s next to me here on the deck of the marina restaurant, we’re plugged in, and there’s free internet. But the restaurant is expensive. $12 burgers, etc. Conch $28 I think. Water is still a good deal at $.40 a gallon, and very clean, and gas is $5. Not bad, actually. We haven’t hardly used anything but water and canned food in days. But then we blow $100 at the hardware store. Beer is $4 apiece at the grocery, but liquor is more affordable. Nobody cares though, and I think in a crowd of 40 when we walked up the dock, every single one had a Kalik bottle. Kalik is the Bahamian beer, named for the sound of the cowbells everybody beats on at Junkanoo, which is on Boxing day. Don’t ask me what Boxing Day is, I forget, and don’t ask what Junkanoo means, I never knew. One day though, my friend, one day. Then I’ll forget it again. So it goes.
I sure miss you all. It feels hard to be putting more miles between us and you all, and us and the dogs. Even though it’s immaterial, really. It will be nice one day to be pointing toward you all instead of away.
On that note though, we are wondering what our next stop will be. Most people stop at Georgetown and head north again, but Chris is going to keep on, and Dan hopes to make it to Panama. I guess it’s crazy cheap there, and really nice. If we have time, we probably will think about such madness. It’s a long sail home too though. Who knows. This is pretty damned nice right here. If I would have known this existed, I would have been here 20 years ago. I will DEFINITELY be back. Maybe the best spot I’ve ever visited. No shit. Just gorgeous. Wow. The only word that works.
And of ALL the boats, the big ones, little ones, million dollar ones, fifty grand ones, all the way down to our little clunker, with the wooden solar panels, and waterjugs hanging off the side, devil on the motor, and a timeless five gallon bucket of dirty dishes, of ALL of them, we have the best anchorage in the whole place. 90% have to stay on the other side of Big Majors, in a huge mooring field of a hundred boats, and the rest are paying $1.50/a foot/a night at the dock. So for us that would be like $37.50 a night. Our whole budget, basically. Anyway, of all these people, and their million dollar yachts, we are about 30 feet from shore in two feet of water. You can’t beat it. We’re the envy of the place. And of all of these people, none of them care about how little our boat is, or anything else. Everyone is positive, everyone is equal, everyone is cool. Amazing. It’s like, if I had to describe what the one uniting factor of everyone here that is more striking than any other, it would be first: that everyone is cool. And second, the afterthought, is that everyone is on a boat.
Two updates. Martha just walked up and told us we were picked for the cruising Regatta and will race on a class C Bahamian boat (these are a big deal here, and of renown), Ruth will be on one, and me on the other, not racing OUR boat like I thought. So, hell yeah. That should be sweet.
The other update is that Jake just came up and invited us to his boat for a drink. Sooooo… gotta go!

DECEMBER 26, 2007

ABOVE:
What the GPS showed after being anchored at night in the current
Our friend Hilda at Christmas
The plane wreck from the surface-if only I could get the pix from below. Watch out for blowfish and stingrays
the water heater I put in at Warderick Wells
The map to the shipwreck


Jack
Today we hiked all over the island (Warderick Wells), and then we went for a snorkel. We have to swim out at the right time, and always watch the current here, because as the tide goes in and out, up and down plus or minus three feet, the current is really intense. Like, as fast as you can swim with fins on, you just barely stay in place, but can’t go past it. Anyway, so we choose our times. Today, the highlight was a reef where we saw lobsters that were around three feet long, by other people’s estimates. I would say that would include the antennas, but either way, that sucker was HUGE. There were a few of them, actually. Pesky nature preserves and their no-giant-lobster-eating rules. Shoot. This was the first day in a while I spent any time in the water, because I’ve been kind of terrified of rubbing salt in my wounds, since my skin has still been a mess, and I regularly scratch it all up still. My latest is that I might be allergic to milk, which I sorely hope is true. If I am, that could mean the end of all this scabby madness. Dare I dream? Never thought I’d be so excited to not drink milk. Anyway, I’m waiting and seeing. And for now, snorkeling. So I’m pretty happy. It’s not gone, but better the last few days. Anyhow. I’m gonna run and go post this. I’ve been online for four hours trying to get Skype to work so I could call the family for Christmas, or December 26th, and Laura’s birthday to no avail. But then, the nice people I just met next to me let me call there, and David too. Pretty nice people around here.

Catching up at Christmas

DECEMBER 25
Jack here. Merry Christmas, y’all. It’s been a few days since I wrote, and I suppose I feel guilty for not having documented the things that have happened since I last wrote, but I’ve been so busy, and no online service. Unfortunately, with my memory, a lot of that detail is probably gone now.

What’s been up? Well, I’ll reiterate the last week if possible, and hope that I’m not rewriting something you’ve read. We left Nassau and headed for Alan’s Cay. We came in in strong winds from the east, and since it was very dark and no moon, we decided it was too dangerous to head in with all the rocks around our anchorage. So we threw anchor outside of the protected shelter of Alan’s. After a time though, it was so rough, we decided we would try to head in very slowly and try to make it. Well, we snuck in, threw anchor again and enjoyed the calm. In the morning we were shocked to see the treacherous surroundings we had barely missed. And had we gone any further before throwing anchor, we would have driven straight into some really nasty rocks too. A narrow miss for old Fiberglass Vengeance. Whew.
We went ashore and took some pictures, walked the island, and explored some ruins. The real highlight though was the iguanas that had taken over. They were EVERYwhere. And not shy either. They bite, I’m told but luckily didn’t experience it. You supposedly get a wicked infection from a bite. There was a house there built of cement that had bad structure supporting the roof, so it caved in. It was tempting to imagine coming back with a few materials on a big raft and fixing it back up. It would be pretty easy, and you’d have this amazing house in this most awesomely picturesque harbor. Except Warderick Wells, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Next we snorkeled at Norman’s which is a bit south. That was another treacherous ride coming in. On the west side of the island, no waves, nice wind, full sail. To enter the harbor though, you have to sail around and enter from the east. Well, in the space of 50 feet the waves grew to about 4 feet. Shortly later, they were 8 or ten feet. Quite exciting, and difficult, but not impossible to maneuver in. They didn’t spook me like they did coming into Bimini. Maybe because I’m more confident, or maybe they just weren’t as confused of seas. Anyway, we were comfortable enough to take a detour out of our way to see another shipwreck we spotted in the distance wrecked on a reef.
Then into the harbor, which was scary because we were counting on these charts with our asses on the line. We ended up finding the opening to the harbor, not more than fifteen feet wide between jagged lava rocks to sailf through. And then: total calm. Pretty cool. Bless the hearts of the people that made the Explorer charts. Without them, we’d be wrecked out on that reef too.
We snorkeled about there, got conch, made conch salad, and then stayed the night. The following day we went to an airplane wreck and snorkeled it. Circled by barracuda, I was glad that I had been putting tape over my earrings, because they’re attracted to shiny things.
The airplane was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. We heard that it was basically all gone, but oh, no. It was a big old double engine prop plane that had maybe seven or ten rows of seats. Through a hole in the roof we snorkeled through to the tail Pretty fat. I took one or two underwater shots, till out of film, but I was absolutely kicking myself for not getting more shots of it. It was AMAZING. And underneath, big ol’ red snapper and a couple big grouper. Maybe two feet. So I go get the Hawaiian sling, kind of a poor man’s speargun, and go fishing. Chase off the barracuda, and try to get over under the wing to take the shot. My wet suit is so buoyant though, and the current crazy strong from the tide coming in that I just couldn’t get under that wing for more than a second before letting go, and floating to the top, missing the shot. SO, I look around for something to hold onto to keep under water for a few seconds. I reach for what I think is a piece of plane structure on the bottom, and happen to notice a pattern in the sand nearby. I realized that what I reached for, and almost grabbed was the tail of an eagle ray about six feet long. OKAY, I guess I won’t grab that. So I dive down, get under the wing, putting my shoulder to it to stay down, and pull back my sling at this big grouper.
BOOM. I shot that sucker, and it puffs up HUGE. What I thought was a grouper was a big, big blowfish, and now it’s racing around under this wing with a spear through it. It’s going crazy, the eagle ray goes crazy, and I’m backpedaling like a madman, and Ruth behind me.
Whew. A minute later, grab my spear that it dislodged, and split. That was exciting. On the way out, I grab a window of the plane that is loose on the sea floor. Cool stuff. It’s on the boat now. I’ll try to post a picture.
Next was Warderick Wells, which is the most beautiful harbor imaginable. A huge sweeping crescent of electric blue water with a wrapping curve of white sand inside it. And the people here: Amazingly cool. Ruth and I have so many new friends, that we’ve made so quickly.
One of them, Chris, we met in Nassau and were hoping to see here. He’s a dog and cat lover and superfunny and cool. He’s got a boat that is an absolute work of art. It is incredible. Three stories, fifty feet long, all wood inside. Picture a wooden socket cover over a socket that is in the corner of a curved wall. Cut just so to fit in the corner perfectly. Everything on this boat is like that. Just incredible. Like a Henderson Castle on the water, but modern.
Anyway, Chris is here with us, and our friend Dan just got in last night. We had a big Christmas feast on the beach with everyone bringing a dish. Amazing stuff. A blast with all of these cool people. It’s weird. It’s not like I’m used to, where out of a hundred people you meet, a few you might pick as friends, and some that you just find to be a royal pain in the ass. Here, the rule is none are a pain in the ass, and most you would pick as friends. Maybe boating just attracts the most laid back, positive, giving people into one place. Like our friend Dan. He just offers to give us a 30 gallon water bladder. (editor’s note: he dropped it off before leaving. I can’t wait to put it in the boat. I don’t know what it costs, but it’s not free. Nice guy. The day we met him, he cooked us pizza, gave us wine, books, and a CD. It’s like everyone’s trying to pay it forward, as they say.
I just found out that Chris is willing to let me give him a circular saw, so I finally get to do something for someone else. I gave him a big hug after he let us use his computer to get a skype call out to my pore ol’ mother. He TOTALLY saved the day, and saved Christmas for me. All I wanted for Christmas was to touch base at home, and I got my wish. I talked to my mom for 20 minutes, and got to tell her to let everyone know I love them. I feel very lucky. Thanks to him, and all of you guys for making me feel that way so much. We’re here now, and Chris just gave me a beer, and we’re going to watch a Sopranos DVD that another set of cool friends lent us. The same people that sent over soy milk when they overheard my complaints of cornflakes with water because I’m exploring a possible dairy allergy.
Oh, and I forgot. Dan and Morningglory stopped by last night with a box of wine and chips and salsa. And then he announced he’s giving us the water bladder. Amazing.

Ruth-xmas in the Exumas

We are staying on this island that is the center of the Exuma National
Sea Park. It is a large area of land and water where it is against the
law to fish or take anything from the land...thus the sea, coral, and
plant life are PHENOM!!!! The other day I went out for a run on their
trails...and I quickly found out these trails are TRAILS. Like,
hardcore steep coral rock, swamp areas, way overgrown paths, beaches,
ruins from 1780, and routes under dark shady palms! I ended up
hiking/jogging (I could barely jog because the trails were so intense) and
I was out there by myself for over 3 hours! Oh my god, it was the
fucking BEST! I totally got lost in it. I'm taking Jack out there
again for Christmas and I am SO bringing the camera. On the hike I saw
numerous native birds, a fucking crazy amount of lizards and iguanas
(like over a hundred literally, darting constantly out of my path), a
snake, and a couple times I spotted
the only mammal native to the Bahamas, whose home is on this island.
It's called a Hutia. It sort of looks like an overgrown
hamster/rat. But still, cool. OH, and I also saw four stingrays when I
was walking over this small "bridge." I watched them swim around and
bury themselves in the sand. It was so sweet! So beautiful, and so relaxing.

Yesterday, while Jack napped, I went snorkeling with two other couples.
They picked me up on their dingy and we sped across the sound into
certain cuts that have a lot of coral heads (and thus a lot of marine
life). I saw the most GORGEOUS coral and the most BEAUTIFUL fish. Some
highlights: I saw a big nassau grouper, a huge redtail snapper, and a
big BARACUDA --those are scary, very very curious fish that give you a
steady creepy stare and follow you around. They have jagged, sharp
teeth...look up some pics of these fish and you can see what I saw!

Every mooring on this anchorage will be taken by the time christmas
arrives. It is filling up fast, and everyone here is wonderful!
Everyone is so laid back and so nice, with great sense of humors and a
great sense of giving and sharing. On Christmas, at around 2 o'clock,
everyone will have a potluck on the beach. Although I will miss my
family and friends greatly, it will still be a joyous time. In a sense
we will still be having a white christmas --the sand here is pure
white!

Before arriving in the Exuma sea park, we spent some time in Allen,
Highborne, and Norman Cays anchored out. Some highlights:
At Allen we saw prehistoric iguanas on one of the islands. They are
very large (few feet in length) and not at all shy...super fast and
they will charge at you! It was sweet. We also enjoyed "sundowners"
(basically cocktails and snacks) with four other couples on one of
their boats.

At Highborne we anchored out of a cold front and fueled up. The next
day we motored down to Norman's Pond - an area I wanted to see because
it had caves in the rocky coral walls. We cut through to the east side
of the islands and endured an INTENSE east wind that had churned up
the waves hardcore. Most of them were literally ten feet, yet they
were still manageable (at least Jack was able to manage them..)
because although steep, they were rolling and far enough apart that we
could ride them. It was like being on a mini rollarcoaster for four
miles!

At Norman's Cay we tucked into a shallow area called Norman's Pond,
which was extremely beautiful. As Jack said, it looked like Gilligan's
Island. The day after arriving, we snorkeled the caves and I walked
inside one. It would take hours to describe how beautiful it was. The
reflection of the sun on the glistening water flickered along the cave
walls like a softly glowing candle. The shapes, textures, colors,
light and shadows were among the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen. I
didn't have a camera -- not that I think a camera would catch what I
was seeing-- but I will never ever forget the picture I have in my
mind of those moments. I spent about 15 minutes in one little area
just taking it all in.

The following day, we tucked into a small anchorage at the south of
Norman's cay, where we planned on snorkeling a plane wreck. This one
was just as awesome, if not better, than the first. The plane was
almost entirely intact. The body was partially sticking out of the
water, but the ceiling of the body had eroded so that you could
snorkel THROUGH the body of the plane. That was an amazing experience.
It brought me so close to the fish inside. They were swimming all
around me and some of them even began nibbling on my fingers (I was
wearing diving gloves). The two engine propellars were also intact.
The marine life was extraordinary! The fish were not shy at all. At
one point I had --no question --at LEAST thirty fish swirling all
around me...below me and to all sides of me!
Underneath one of the wings of the wreck, we spotted a couple
groupers and Jack saw a snapper too. So he went back to the boat and
busted out the new Hawiian sling we just bought in Nasseau, hooked it
up, and swam back out to spear some fish! Mmmm dinner! But get this:
first of all, the current was getting stronger by the minute, so he
was having a hard time staying still in the water and getting the
sling to shoot where he was aiming. So in order to improve his balance
he leaned down toward something that looked like a long rod of
steal...part of the wreckage. But as his eyes followed the "rod," he
noticed a certain pattern in the sand and realized it was an eagle
ray! Like, a HUGE eagle ray!!! This thing was at about four feet
across...it could have totally wrapped its "wings" around my body in a
big eagle ray hug. It was just huge. And Jack was THAT close to
grabbing its tail! ( P.S. The tail of the stingray is its "weapon" to
ward off predators or stun prey). Yeah.
That's not all though- Jack eventually finds some stability by
grabbing onto the wing of the plane and aims the sling, pulls back and
BAM! No, POOF! A big, -- i mean BIG --BLOWFISH puffs itself up. It
starts wriggling around with the spear still stuck in it. big and
spikey, churning up sand, and the large eagle ray gets up too ...it
was one of those "GO! GO! GO!" situations where we swam fast as hell
to get out of there! But at the same time, I was sooo fascinated by
the sight, I couldn't bring myself to swim my fastest. Although, trust
me, I swam away fast. Obviously, Jack didn't mean to hit a
BLOWFISH...so we figured it was a bust and went back to the boat.
Fucking inSANE though!!! :) :) :) :)

Poor Blowey :( :( :( :(

The next day we sailed about 15 miles south. We started the motor so
that we could plow through the bigger seas on the east side of the
islands so that we could check out a wreck. During this procedure, we
almost became a wreck ourselves! Bascially, the wreck we saw had
crashed right upon these hard reefs and on our way over there we had
to maneuver around the rocks ourselves, mostly by bottom reading.
There was one point where we had just taken down the sail and as I
hopped back into the cockpit from the bow, I looked out in front of us
and noticed a thick and sharp rock head sticking out of the water
RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. I just started screaming over the sound of the
wind and the water "GO STARBOARD! GO STARBOARD! GO PORT! GO
ANYWHERE!!" I just wanted to holler. Jack was quick in his movements
and he immediately slowed the motor and turned to starboard just in
time to miss it. Wow, that was a close one!

We anchored outside the harbor that night, but on our way in we saw
our first shark! (Discounting the 10 or so Nurse Sharks, which are
harmful bottom feeding sharks, that we saw in Great Harbor). With this
shark, I spotted his fin sticking out of the water, maybe 100 feet
from the boat. It looked TOTAL Jaws-like. The fin submerged and then
appeared again. It was a dark blue, gleaming, very sharp,
threatening-looking fin! It was so cool!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

sunset.....ruth at the beach club, little harbor cay...bagged wahoo from fisherman at little harbor

coral rock...twisted plant...our first conch salad!...sunset at the berry's

pics galore!

a sand dollar I found.....me sleepily drunk on red wine....my souviniers from great stirrup cay....a water cave outside great harbor cay

Ruth - Dec. 12th

We are in Nassau right now, but should be leaving shortly for the
Exumas. We hear great things about Wardericks Cay and Staniel Cay
(where there is a beach that has swimming pigs!!!) But we plan to
return to Nassau around Christmas because the day after Christmas is
the Bahamian official holiday called "Boxing Day" in which they have this
huge celebration (the type of celebration is similar to mardi gras, in terms of the numerous parades and countless marching bands). They call the
celebration "Junkanoo" and they repeat it for New Year's Day too.
We met someone last week who works on a charter boat. His name is Nathan.
About 2 weeksinto January he will be completely in charge of the boat and so he's
having his girlfriend fly in for that time. He invited us to join them and
take the boat out and go on scuba diving adventures!!! (That means
we'll have access to all the equipment for free...) His name is Nathan
and he is way way cool, so we figured it'd be worth sticking around
for before continuing to go south. The boat is a large catamaran--a two hauled, in this case double masted, sailboat. They usually book about 16 people on board when they take it out, so imagine just the four of us having it to ourselves! :)
The weather here is phenomenal! It's been 75-80 degrees everyday,
70 at night. The sun shines all the time, very bright! We are staying
in a harbor (the longest we've ever stayed in one--usually we anchor
out, sheltered between islands), so there is a constant breeze coming
in off the water. The plant life is tropical and beautiful and the
people just keep getting friendlier and friendlier! We've never been
hassled yet for a thing which we expected after hearing that Nassau
was a very "crime-ridden" city. We constantly run into friendly, easy-going people.

This morning I went for a run (the first in about a week). GOD did it feel good!!! I ran for about 30 -40 minutes and crossed the longest and highest bridge I've ever run to get to Paradise Island, where all the fancy resorts, casinos, and basically upscale shit is. I figured it'd be the safest for jogging, basically. The other runs I've taken on this trip so far have either been on completely deserted islands or MOSTLy deserted islands with a lot of plant and animal life. The best part of a long, hard uphill run is the built-in reward of the spectacular view you get to witness!!! I feel such a strong sense of calm and freedom knowing that the dogs are safe. We have such wonderful friends we can rely on. I feel so fortunate.

It feels great to run. Feels wonderful to stop worrying. Feels good to be able to continue to make plans. I can't wait to explore the Exumas! I can't wait for Junkanoo! I've been writing some pretty fun music since we've been in Nassau. I can't wait to share it with others! :)

Don't kick me, but I AM a bit jealous
of all of you in Michigan experiencing the pure white snow, the
beautiful naked trees, the wet cold slush. It's such a wonderful experience to bundle up in the cold and take in the beauty of winter. And it all makes being inside
with a fire, christmas tunes, and hot cocoa sooo sooo enjoyable. Everyone up there- please make a
snowball for me! And a snowgirl!! On a snowboard!!! :)

Ruth-Sat, Dec 8th

Dear Blogspot,
These last few days here in Nassau have been
absolutely charming! It gives us both a sense of
relief to top off our provisions and take care of
things back in New Orleans via the Internet. We have
been visiting the starbucks across the street nearly
everyday to get online and it’s been helpful. We were
able to charge the boat batteries, stock up on more
water and food, and stock up on everything we need
hardware wise. The best part of our Nassau experience,
though, has been the people we’ve met! Other boaters
and all the locals have been AWESOME and have treated
us so well!
After docking, we soon met Chris who is cruising
alone on a huge Trawler (big powerboat, luxury yacht)
next to us. That night the music of a practicing
Junkanoo band (Junkanoo: the Bahama’s celebration of
Christmas, Boxing Day, and the New Year) wafted over
the marina, so all three of us decided to go out
walking to try to find them. The walk was very nice
and it ended up in a café/bar called Jumbey’s. It is
a very cozy, warm place. We sat together and drank and
talked ALL NIGHT, till at LEAST 4 in the morning. We
all got to know each other, he shared with us some
really key islands to visit, and him and I discussed
running a bit. We all talked a whole lot about dogs,
cats, and raccoons that night (Chris once spent time
raising baby raccoons and releasing them into the
wild). All three of us, at some point in the
conversation, teared up when referring to a particular
special pet of ours that had passed away. (My tears
were for Beau and for missing our dogs, and Jack
teared up about his previous dog Tang). One guy at the
bar had brought his dog and she was running around
being playful and adorable. I think that cheered all
of us up. When the bar closed at 11 we checked out the
bar upstairs and hung out on the balcony that
overlooks part of the harbor. Topics of conversation
included the adventures of cruising we’ve experienced
so far, our reasons for being there and our family’s
reactions to the idea. We eventually headed back to
our boats and Chris was kind enough to give us the
grand tour of his palace. His yacht is gorgeous inside
and out, especially in terms of woodwork. Needless to
say, we were extremely impressed. Jack was especially
fond of the woodwork, good ol’ chap.
What I enjoyed about Chris the most was the fact
that after touring and hanging out on his boat for
awhile, he jumped right on over to our tiny thing
(tiny in comparison with his) and actually came inside
to drink a little more and chill. He even picked up
the ukulele for the first time and Jack taught him a
couple of chords. That was great of Chris to do,
because most people don’t even want to set foot on our
boat, and those who do barely take a peak of the
inside. I guess because of its size. But size doesn’t
matter, b*tch. So that was way cool of him to hang out
with us on our turf for awhile. It was very nice. We
rarely have visitors. Another way cool thing that
Chris did was actually stay an extra day (which is
expensive in a dock like this with a boat like his)
JUSt to hang out with us a little more. We all bonded
very well. We exchanged emails and chances are high
that we will meet up with him at either Norman Cay or
Waldrig Cay near the top of the Exumas.
There is a couple from Ireland docked across from us,
who live on a huge catamaran and work for a company
doing charters and fixing up the boat. They had
Nathan, from Miami, working with them. On Thursday
night Jack, Chris, and I went back to Jumbey’s to
check out a jazz band, and Nathan later joined us.
Seeing the jazz band was great! They played standards
like “Straight, No Chaser,” “My Favorite Things,” you
get the picture. The setup was drums, a bongo and
djembe player, upright bass, keyboard, and a
saxophonist. They were very good and you could tell
they had been playing together and knew each other’s
style. A couple of locals who attended the show got
called up to the stage near the end and sang. One man
and one woman, and they were amazing! During the
show, Nathan encouraged us to check out Potter’s Cay
(about a six block walk from the marina), where none
of the tourists are, a very local spot with a bunch of
little shops that, according to him, serve the best
conch ever!
Well, on Friday night, after we said goodbye to Chris,
we headed down there with Nathan, Michelle and Gavin
(the Irish couple). Nathan was so right!!! Jack and I
even went back there today for lunch and ordered waaay
too much food! It is sooo good! Last night we ate the
conch salad, conch fritters with fries, and a fried
yellowtail (snapper that is). It was soooo much fun!!
We met the fucking BEST people there. I love it when
older folks party it up and live it up with the
younger crowd! We met a local legend named Hugh
Mackie. He is 76 years old but has more energy and
lust for life than even myself! It was nonstop
laughter. One example of a good time was when he kept
joking about his baldness and I joked about him
getting a wig. Before I knew it, he got in his car and
actually came out with the FUNNIEST crazy hair wig! We
had plenty of laughs passing it around and trying it
all on. During that time, Jack was behind me playing
checkers with the locals. Apparently Bahamians have
twisted the traditional rules of checkers and turned
it into their own game. Gavin and Michelle are very
very nice people and a WHOLE lot of fun and laughs.
Just plain great people to be around. I guess it all
comes back to that great, outgoing attitude. They
even bought our food and beers! I am in LOVE with the
local Bahamian beer, Kalick. It tastes similar to a
Miller High Life but much MUCH better. There are no
bathrooms over in the Potter’s Cay area, so when you
have to go (and believe me, you DO after about 12
beers) you have to go behind the buildings into the
ocean! People kept buying us beer after beer after
beer…after beer after beer, etc! It just went on and
on! They wouldn’t stop bringing it too us! It was
great!! J
There are many more people I could mention that
have touched us emotionally with their friendliness
and kindness. All the locals and cruisers have been
sooo sooo helpful. “Everything’s cool” is a phrase
I’ve heard from a number of locals down here since
being in Bimini. It’s kind of like a “don’t worry, be
happy” type of phrase. Every time I’ve asked someone
how they were doing, my response was always along the
lines of “I’m doing great…ALL the time!” The attitudes
are inspiring to say the least. Peter the Harbor
Master -- “and the harbor master too,”(snuck in a
personal joke) – let us stay a night for free. That
saved us 50 bucks! For the record, most marinas cost
us 20 to 30 bucks because of our small boat. I guess
he’s told a couple of people that he really likes our
boat. We’ve gotten the same reaction to our boat in
Great Harbor, where the harbor master, Shaggy (yes his
name was Shaggy!) let us stay three nights for free
because he said he liked our boat! Yeah, that was also
the time that, besides free dockage, we got a car ride
all over the island from Patty and Bonnie, POUNDS of
wahoo from a neighboring fisherman, another fisherman
offered to set up a good lure for us, Patty and John
picked up our tab at the local beach club bar and had
us over for a large and very much in charge
thanksgiving-esque dinner!
We went to a dive shop the other day and bought a
Hawaiian sling for spear-fishing, and aqua shoes to
protect me from sea urchins when we walk rocky reefs.
Nathan has invited us back to Nassau in January when
he and his girlfriend will have the boat to themselves
for a couple weeks. He has offered to take us out
scuba diving! The boat is equipped with tanks, a
compressor, and all the basic gear! Normally a trip
like that would cost a fair amount, but we would get
to do it for free of course. It never stops!
I hope everyone in Michigan is enjoying a beautiful
winter. I hope all your evenings consist of hot cocoa
in front of a warm fire. I hope you’re all making
snowballs or slushballs, snowmen, going sledding, and
enjoying all the fun things that go with the season!
The only music we hear down here at this time is
Christmas music a the stores and restaurants. There is
also a decent amount of decorations and lights
throughout the stores and the city, so I am
experiencing it enough to feel festive. J I will miss
everyone around Christmas the most. I will be thinking
of you!!! Love you. Love you too, Blogspot. Goodnight!

Where do these people come from?

Jack
Wednesday, December 8. I have no idea why I just wrote that. It’s Saturday, I think. Or, they SAY it is anyway. I don’t believe them. I think it’s still today. Whatever it is.
I’m having that weird and wondrous strange feeling you have when you’re hungover. When everything’s kind of in slow motion, and strange, and kind of funny. And all of your nerves are raw from being up late last night drinking Guinness, and playing checkers with old guys named “Telephone,” and Charlie. And Hugh, who became an American citizen so he could fight in Viet Nam and lost some of his fingers. And because all of your nerves are experiencing the opposite of the depressant effect of the alcohol since it has now worn off, you feel excitable, and all of your emotions are cranked up another 75%. Everything is a big deal. Like this morning when we went back to the place we ate last night because the food was so incredible, and a guy asked about my “Lucky” tattoo, and I told him it’s not a nickname, but rather something that’s on my arm to tell you guys how I feel because I have you all. And I told him it just brought tears to my eyes to say it, and it did.

Anyway, here I am again. Still in Nassau. We had expected to pull out the day before yesterday, but Peter the harbormaster said it was okay, we could stay the night at no charge. So naturally, we stayed two more nights. (Oh, quick side note: Peter was quoted as saying he liked our boat, among all the other boats in that marina, all these huge, amazing, expensive boats, and he said he’d like to have one like… ours. The way we set it up. With the solar panels, and all that. How incredibly flattering to me. Of all these boats…) And now tonight, and we told him we’re staying again, because we’re still trying to email home, and make sure our dogs are okay, etc., and he charged us for one night only. People are so amazingly nice here, it’s like the opposite of usual with strangers, it’s like Christmas and everyone’s trying to give more to the person around them than they’re receiving, and you end up with this flurry of abundance and you’re sitting in the middle of it scratching your head, and the only thing that makes any sense is the tattoo on your arm.

Last night, we went to a place called Potter’s Cay, even though it’s still on the island. It’s a few blocks, under the bridge to Paradise Island, which is like the Bloomfield Hills of Nassau. What it is is where poor people hang out, old guys are playing checkers and dominoes, and drawing a crowd, and they even invited me to play and tore me into little pieces in about two seconds. It was sweet. There’s these plywood buildings, like fifteen in a row, 10x10, all touching, with people inside making cracked conch (sliced, breaded, and fried, with French fries), and conch salad and not much else. Conch salad is amazing. I think it may be the best food on the entire planet, and not just because if you eat it it adds 10 years to your life (per serving), but because of how it tastes. It’s made up of:

Conch, raw, sliced, chopped and slathered up with lime juice
Raw onions, slathered up with lime juice
Barely pink tomatoes, maybe a bit green even,
More lime juice
That’s it. And you can get a bit of Scotch Bonnet pepper, the hottest in the world, with a nice flavor, and mix it in, and if you’re totally insane, you can put it in and start to eat without mixing it thoroughly.

But it is, as my mother would say, “a bowl of health.” It is AMAZING. Better than you would ever imagine the sum of these parts could be. The meat, in the lime juice, becomes tender, and is the purest, whitest flesh you can imagine. And the onions react with the lime juice, so you don’t have any of the heat of the raw onion, just the sweet crunch. Incredible food. Absolutely incredible. I think it’s the culinary highpoint of human experience, thus far. Just perfect. Could not be improved. And you get it for 6 bucks or something, and they take a big bowl, and pile it high like it’s a giant bowl of soft serve ice cream. Like three times taller than the bowl it’s in. Just stacked up there, and they’re like “here you go,” like it was just a normal everyday thing. Absolutely incredible.

And there’s few tourists, mostly locals. And you help yourself when you want another beer. You just walk back behind the counters and get another one. The Guinness is the kind we used to get in Detroit but can’t anymore, without the nitrogen capsule, in a bottle, served cold. And it’s 7.5%, and Michelle and Gavin and Nathan keep sticking another in your hand like every two seconds, and then at the end of the night, pick up the check. Something in the water?

I told Gavin about the book “How the Scottish invented the modern world,” and another book “How the Irish saved civilization,” because he and Michelle are from Ireland. And he said “Again?” And then he said “I knew the Scottish had invented copper wire.” I said, “Oh, yeah?” He said “Two Scotsman fighting over a penny.” That killed me.

They’re traveling with our friend Nathan, who lives on the catamaran with them, and helps crew it for diving expeditions. Another great guy, and funny as the day is long. Cool guy. We’re going to come back up in mid January and go out for some dives with him.

Speaking of good people (all I ever get a chance to write about anymore… did I mention that I’m typing on Tom Deater’s computer?), we just had two people come ask us all about our boat. They wanted to know all about how we’re doing it, and that was quite flattering, because the guy had been a captain and lived on a boat for years. Their names were… drum roll… Laura and Peter. (might be a sign, you guys).

Less than ten minutes later, we just had ANOTHER guy stop us and ask us about our boat. He said there’s rough weather coming in, a low (pressure system). 5 minutes into the conversation, he told us he’s going to try to find the GPS coordinates of a free, safe, mooring that he knows of that has no buoy. You dive for it. So in this big city, it’s unused, and he’s going to offer it to us. While he’s paying for dockage.

DOES THIS MADNESS EVER END?