WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23 2008
So, here we are in
Okay. Holy shit. I just got off the phone, and I just had the best surprise ever. I found out someone close to me is going to have a baby. I won’t say who, you may know them, but let’s just say it’s the most amazing news.
So, never mind the blog a minute. Let’s talk about what’s going on in the world.
Barack Obama might actually upset the old boy network and give us all a bit of hope for world peace.
My mom and Burt are here visiting.
I’m in the Bahamas, in paradise with Ruth.
I’m in love with Ruth.
My pop and Reta are engaged. (What!!!???!! Awesome!)
Becky Cooper is getting reunited with her biological family.
Becky Wilson is going to have a new baby boy.
And now this. Could it get better?
This baby is the thing I would have wished for above all else in the world. I don’t even include my own in the future as part of that wish, because I’m here to tell you, that’s a given. There’s nothing more certain. But THIS. THIS I did not expect. Someone pregnant that just gave me the curveball of my lifetime. WOWWEEE. Holy crap. I’m amazed. Just stunned and amazed. And happy.
I’ll blog another day. I’m too happy to tap away now.
The world just got better, everybody. Believe that. I'll tell you later when it's not a secret anymore.
I love everybody. Take care.
Jack
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
JANUARY 19, 2008
JL here.
Still kickin’ it in G-town. Right now, I just got done putting a little DC fan above our bed, and Ruth made tacos which ROCKED ASS. My pore ol’ mudder is coming in on the 21st, and we can’t wait. We’re anticipating that, and right now we’re playing her Ipod, a little Vince Guaraldi, RZA, Steelpole Bathtub, Ruth’s jammies, A Tribe Called Quest, Soundgarden, and now Ruth’s going to play ukelele to the RZA. Sweet. A minute ago, I was screaming Soundgarden at the top of my lungs, because you can only really imitate Chris Cornell if you’re busting it out pretty good, and so the stereo was up really loud to try to drown out my caterwaul, and then I realized we had the speakers on out in the cockpit, so the whole harbor was probably listening to that. Kinda funny.
Oh, and on the “News From Home” front, Ruth just reminded me of something Benjamin said about Cash. That when he takes the dogs to the park to run around and get wild, he has to take my truck because Cash won’t get in any vehicle but my green truck. Is that a sweet little dogman or what? Man, I miss those guys.
Speaking of ukelele, Ruth and I are going to do a song for the crew at the campfire on Tuesday. That’ll be fun, because it’s a good time, and there’s supposed to be a surprise celebrity guest flying in to hang out- I told my Mom and she said “it must be us.” She slays me.
Kind of like when I told Ruth that I had just gotten off the phone with Phyllis, and that I had news that practically had me ready to faint- good news. Ruth says “your mom’s pregnant!” I was actually talking about my dad getting married, but you never know.
Okay, movie time. On that note, I’m really stoked, my brother’s supposed to send some DVDs with my mom and Burt, which will be really sweet for those days when we’re holed up in here with bad weather. Anyway, no real news. But having a good time, and miss you all. Big love from above,
jack
Still kickin’ it in G-town. Right now, I just got done putting a little DC fan above our bed, and Ruth made tacos which ROCKED ASS. My pore ol’ mudder is coming in on the 21st, and we can’t wait. We’re anticipating that, and right now we’re playing her Ipod, a little Vince Guaraldi, RZA, Steelpole Bathtub, Ruth’s jammies, A Tribe Called Quest, Soundgarden, and now Ruth’s going to play ukelele to the RZA. Sweet. A minute ago, I was screaming Soundgarden at the top of my lungs, because you can only really imitate Chris Cornell if you’re busting it out pretty good, and so the stereo was up really loud to try to drown out my caterwaul, and then I realized we had the speakers on out in the cockpit, so the whole harbor was probably listening to that. Kinda funny.
Oh, and on the “News From Home” front, Ruth just reminded me of something Benjamin said about Cash. That when he takes the dogs to the park to run around and get wild, he has to take my truck because Cash won’t get in any vehicle but my green truck. Is that a sweet little dogman or what? Man, I miss those guys.
Speaking of ukelele, Ruth and I are going to do a song for the crew at the campfire on Tuesday. That’ll be fun, because it’s a good time, and there’s supposed to be a surprise celebrity guest flying in to hang out- I told my Mom and she said “it must be us.” She slays me.
Kind of like when I told Ruth that I had just gotten off the phone with Phyllis, and that I had news that practically had me ready to faint- good news. Ruth says “your mom’s pregnant!” I was actually talking about my dad getting married, but you never know.
Okay, movie time. On that note, I’m really stoked, my brother’s supposed to send some DVDs with my mom and Burt, which will be really sweet for those days when we’re holed up in here with bad weather. Anyway, no real news. But having a good time, and miss you all. Big love from above,
jack
Anybody? Anybody? January 19? 2008
Above;
The interestin' roots of the Mangrove tree
Rainbow on the dock
Rainbow on the boat
surf at the White horses cut
Sunset on the harbor
Yesterday was the 2 year anniversary of the day that Ruth got off of a train in New Orleans to live with a strange man. She had no idea how strange though...
Anyone know where I can get ahold of a DC adpator for a Mac? I'd kill for one of those things. Or at least I'd write more...
Oh yeah. Anyone know how to post videos on this thing? they say you can, but I haven't figured it out yet...
I've searched high and low. No dice.
I saw the nurse here the other day, and got: four tubes of prescription skin cream, a shot of hydrocortisone, a prescription for prednisone, a prescription of Histal, and the visit itself, my blood tested, and crackers and tea after I passed out from getting the shot, all for... $50.
I don't think it was really the shot. I think it was that they tested my blood. I hadn't eaten anything that day, and I think they took the one drop that they shouldn't have. That was the special, consciousness giving drop. Anyway, it was pretty funny.
I won't chat long. I gotta prepare for visitors...
More pics for ya
Above: anonymous Bahamian grave
Cock soup: we haven't tried it yet.
Happy People bar sign
What the Irish really mean by "pot o' gold"
View from Dotham point on Black Point Cay
This is gonna be super short. My mom and Burt are coming to visit!! My Dad's getting married!! Becky has been in touch with her biological folks! Other top secret stuff that people tell me!! Mary Lee is dividing fractions! She says she'll teach me!
Hurrah! as my mother would say. Hurrah!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
JANUARY 16, 2008
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2008
We’re here in Georgetown. Did I mention that? I’ve been so bad at blogging lately. I swear, it’s because the computer is usually out of battery power (does ANYBODY know where I can get a Mac cigarette lighter adapter?) and not because I’m a lazy, lazy, LAZY man. We got here on the 15th, and since then have been doing things that we don’t get to do everyday- email, use a phone to make arrangements for various things, and grocery shop. There’s a market here called Exuma Market that has just about everything you could want. A few things (giant avocados, cigarettes) are crazy cheap, everything else is expensive. Yesterday Ruth wanted to stir fry, so she put a red, yellow, and green pepper in the cart, and some chicken breast. The chicken got tossed back when we found out it was $9.20 a pound, and the peppers were $3.90, $3.65, and $.33 respectively. We kept the green one and had spaghetti, which was awesome. I was trying to avoid grains thinking that maybe my allergy has to do with that, but come on, who are we kidding? It was SPAGHETTI. I’ll die first rather than escape the tempting tentacles of that tomato-ey treat.
So anyhoo, in G-town, and the people are still crazy nice. Everyone you pass on the street says hello, even the young black guys, which just goes to prove once and for all that the problems people have between races are really problems between cultures. I like that a lot. I get bummed out by the negativity in our culture, and in black culture especially in the States. It’s incredibly destructive, and tightly interlinked, if not the leading cause of, the miserable situation so many black people are in in American cities. I saw a 19 or 20 year old guy the other day with a PENCIL behind his ear the other day. Can you believe that? It was AWESOME. Take note, kids. There IS another way.
All the cruisers are nice too, mostly retired, all white, mostly U.S. and Canadian, but a few French in the mix, who are really cool. They’re all cool, really. Everyday all the cruisers play volleyball across the beach at 2:30. We haven’t gone yet. Hey, we’ve been busy loafing. Get off my back. (Speaking of that, there are signs on a few of the businesses that say “no loafing.” We got a bang out of that.)
So today: cold front from the North, things a wee rocky. Probably a few days before calmer weather again, so when we think the time is right, we’re swinging around to the ocean side to go a-fishin’, and a-lobsterin’, but not today. Today most likely I’ll go to the hardware, and we’ll continue our provisioning, maybe even hit up the docks to recharge the batteries. They’re a bit low, due to facing the wrong way after the wind blows the boat around some. Sooner or later we dream of buying beer, grits, and maybe even peppers that we’ll dry in the sun to store for a rainy, pepperless day. A case of beer here might be a lot cheaper, but so far remains a beautiful, impossible dream. The idea of buying a case of beer for $72 is kind of insane, even for Guinness 7.5%. Maybe we’ll be able to get it for half that here.
What else? Party on Hamburger beach again today at 4:30, and Friday Happy Hour at Peace and Plenty from 6-7 with free wings of chicken and balled meat, as we would say. Here they call them “chicken wings and meatballs.” How absurd.
Speaking of the Peace and Plenty, the REAL highlight of this blog today: yesterday we made arrangements with Burt and my Pore Ol’ Mudder to come and visit us… in less than a week! Amazing. We’re super excited, and are raring to go scope out all the best conch fields and lobster rocks. We’ll be counting the days.
And on that note, if anyone else wants to come visit, they are welcome, and encouraged, and requested. I think tickets on various combos of Bahama Air, Sky, Continental, Northwest, and Travelocity can run as little as $500 each round trip, even on 1 week notice. And if you would like to stay on the boat, it will be very cramped, and if you can deal with that, we would love to have you. If you want to get a hotel, it’s a lot of loot I think. So prepare to get cozy with us. Consider it a standing invite to follow in Phyllis and Burt’s footsteps.
Well, it’s 8 a.m. now, and this is the time when the “cruiser’s net” comes on the radio to discuss relevant issues. Gotta run.
XOX
Jack
We’re here in Georgetown. Did I mention that? I’ve been so bad at blogging lately. I swear, it’s because the computer is usually out of battery power (does ANYBODY know where I can get a Mac cigarette lighter adapter?) and not because I’m a lazy, lazy, LAZY man. We got here on the 15th, and since then have been doing things that we don’t get to do everyday- email, use a phone to make arrangements for various things, and grocery shop. There’s a market here called Exuma Market that has just about everything you could want. A few things (giant avocados, cigarettes) are crazy cheap, everything else is expensive. Yesterday Ruth wanted to stir fry, so she put a red, yellow, and green pepper in the cart, and some chicken breast. The chicken got tossed back when we found out it was $9.20 a pound, and the peppers were $3.90, $3.65, and $.33 respectively. We kept the green one and had spaghetti, which was awesome. I was trying to avoid grains thinking that maybe my allergy has to do with that, but come on, who are we kidding? It was SPAGHETTI. I’ll die first rather than escape the tempting tentacles of that tomato-ey treat.
So anyhoo, in G-town, and the people are still crazy nice. Everyone you pass on the street says hello, even the young black guys, which just goes to prove once and for all that the problems people have between races are really problems between cultures. I like that a lot. I get bummed out by the negativity in our culture, and in black culture especially in the States. It’s incredibly destructive, and tightly interlinked, if not the leading cause of, the miserable situation so many black people are in in American cities. I saw a 19 or 20 year old guy the other day with a PENCIL behind his ear the other day. Can you believe that? It was AWESOME. Take note, kids. There IS another way.
All the cruisers are nice too, mostly retired, all white, mostly U.S. and Canadian, but a few French in the mix, who are really cool. They’re all cool, really. Everyday all the cruisers play volleyball across the beach at 2:30. We haven’t gone yet. Hey, we’ve been busy loafing. Get off my back. (Speaking of that, there are signs on a few of the businesses that say “no loafing.” We got a bang out of that.)
So today: cold front from the North, things a wee rocky. Probably a few days before calmer weather again, so when we think the time is right, we’re swinging around to the ocean side to go a-fishin’, and a-lobsterin’, but not today. Today most likely I’ll go to the hardware, and we’ll continue our provisioning, maybe even hit up the docks to recharge the batteries. They’re a bit low, due to facing the wrong way after the wind blows the boat around some. Sooner or later we dream of buying beer, grits, and maybe even peppers that we’ll dry in the sun to store for a rainy, pepperless day. A case of beer here might be a lot cheaper, but so far remains a beautiful, impossible dream. The idea of buying a case of beer for $72 is kind of insane, even for Guinness 7.5%. Maybe we’ll be able to get it for half that here.
What else? Party on Hamburger beach again today at 4:30, and Friday Happy Hour at Peace and Plenty from 6-7 with free wings of chicken and balled meat, as we would say. Here they call them “chicken wings and meatballs.” How absurd.
Speaking of the Peace and Plenty, the REAL highlight of this blog today: yesterday we made arrangements with Burt and my Pore Ol’ Mudder to come and visit us… in less than a week! Amazing. We’re super excited, and are raring to go scope out all the best conch fields and lobster rocks. We’ll be counting the days.
And on that note, if anyone else wants to come visit, they are welcome, and encouraged, and requested. I think tickets on various combos of Bahama Air, Sky, Continental, Northwest, and Travelocity can run as little as $500 each round trip, even on 1 week notice. And if you would like to stay on the boat, it will be very cramped, and if you can deal with that, we would love to have you. If you want to get a hotel, it’s a lot of loot I think. So prepare to get cozy with us. Consider it a standing invite to follow in Phyllis and Burt’s footsteps.
Well, it’s 8 a.m. now, and this is the time when the “cruiser’s net” comes on the radio to discuss relevant issues. Gotta run.
XOX
Jack
Monday, January 14, 2008
here's more pics for yas
Another shipwreck
a cave we snorkeled, that had literally thousands of tiny fish in it. Probably like tens of thousands
Happy people indeed
Glory be, another sunset
the best $4.85 I ever spent on meat
Saturday, January 12, 2008
JANUARY 12, 2008 I feel so good I can hardly stand it!
Me on the beach in a kickass jacket I found at Blackpoint-it's waterproof, to replace the crappy one I had
Crazy spider web- check out the zig-zags in the corners... what are those about?
Ruth Holding up the rock up at the White Horses
Jack's first fish- a jack
Jack and the lobsters Brian gave us
SATURDAY JANUARY 12, 2008
Jack here. I’m going to write fast because the only thing more scarce than cash these days is battery life on this Mac. Let’s see, where were we?
Okay, we were up in Staniel Cay for a few days. Fun, expensive, lots of people. A nurse with medicine for cheap, and beautiful. We wanted to get to Georgetown, which is at the tip of the Exuma chain of islands, about 40 miles south, so we could get cash (all we have is check and credit card, and most islands take neither, except Georgetown, Nassau, and a few others, out of 700) and so we could get supplies (produce, bread), and so I could get to a phone to call my pore ol’ mudder on her birthday. Oh yeah, and beat the cold front coming in.
We headed out, and went immediately to Black Point, 6 miles south. Most people go there specifically to do laundry, because it’s ONLY 7$ a load. We stopped, and immediately got flagged by Susan and Barry (Canada), who are really awesome, and invited to dinner with them, Simon and Hilda (U.K.), and Glen (U.S.). We ate at Lorraines, which took a check, and had $4 beers, so with dinner at $18 a plate, we paid $64, and decided to eat in for a while again.
Lorraines had internet, and we spent the next day blogging, online, etc. I can’t remember what of this I’ve already told y’all. Forgive me. Then that night, we were invited onto Glen’s boat, an all wooden schooner of ancient design, with the usual suspects. We met another couple Brian and Stephanie, who come into play later.
The next day, we went spearfishing, and a-lobstering, and no lobster, but I shot several fish. Here’s how it went: I shot one, and it just grazed him. I shot him again, same result. He then got away. I shot another, missed, then shot another, got him, but as I went to make sure the barb on my spear was through him so he couldn’t slide off, he slid off, and went under a rock. So I go under and down to the rock (12 feet deep maybe) and shoot in there, and get a different fish. You’ll see pics eventually. It was beautiful. Yellow and blue stripes, but a little thing. With him on my spear I shoot for the other bigger one, some more, but he’s gone. There’s blood in the water, so once I spot the shark that Ruth saw earlier, I head for the boat. It’s about 8 feet, but I didn’t want to hang out with it in the water.
The next day, we hiked the island. You’ll see many pics of that. The east side of this chain is deep, rough, windy, more fish, dark blue water, waves a couple feet most of the time, and much different than the west, which is sheltered, shallow, few fish, and very calm and serene, with turquoise water. Usually the waves on the west are nonexistent, depending on the weather. When the cold fronts come through, that all reverses. Well, the weather part anyway. We went to snorkel and conch that day, but it was getting too dark, so we gave it up. We went home and ate the fish. A jack fish, they tell me.
The next day, more determined than ever, we went up to the cut (the cut through between islands, where the current is rushing in and out with the tides, and very rough) and damn near went up the face of some practically vertical slopes of waves, where the strong east wind was fighting the current rushing from the west, making a very confused, steep, breaking sea. We decided against fishing the cut as planned, and went a-conching in calmer waters. Still a strong current, and some very large barracuda, and a sleeping shark, possibly the same one, and we were back in the boat.
The next day we went to Little Farmer’s Cay, where we had no cash, so we could get nothing, but they had internet, and it was 5$ for half an hour. I only had a dollar left, but he let me on, grudgingly. It was slow, and a bust. We split the next morning in a strong east wind, and sailed south to Rudder Cut Cay.
Rudder Cut Cay proved very nice, even though we skipped a few plane wrecks we passed over, we found a conch field (pulled our limit) and a cave with tens of thousands of tiny fish. We stalked some fish for a bit to no avail, but it was fun anyhow. Out in the conch field, I found the trunk of a palm tree, that was however old, no telling. It was just the stump, but wood doesn’t rot under salt water. It was a few hundred feet off shore in water that was 6 feet deep at low tide. Go figure. One of life’s mysteries I guess.
Next was Lee Stocking Cay. We landed there, and cracked our conch open, and I made one of those horns out of the big conch shell, like they did in Lord of the Flies. Then it was time to find Piggy.
Since Piggy was nowhere to be had, we fried up our conch, which must have been about fifteen, at least. They were okay, but still tough and too salty. We’ll figure out this conch recipe yet.
The next day, Ruth spotted a shark under the boat, so she canceled her swim she was about to have. We realized our solar panels had not been working properly due to a wire that had a nick in it. The salt had gotten in there and eaten right through the positive lead to the battery. That was really thick wire, 10 guage, I think, and it was totally gone. That salt corrosion is no joke. Anyway, I got to work on figuring out how to get our electrical system charging again, and Ruth made spaghetti which was much welcomed by me, since we’d been eating canned foods for a while, and I was expecting to turn up with a bad case of gout at any moment.
While this went on, Brian and Stephanie showed up and said hello, and were off lobstering on the ocean side of the islands. We dropped our projects and tagged along, but none of us got anything. We returned and finished our projects, and then decided to tear off out of there and head south to try to keep ahead of the cold front coming. As we were leaving, we got to talking with Brian and Stephanie, and they said they were off to Barrataria next, since they were out of liquor. Ruth and I gave them half a fifth of Bombay gin we had kicking around, and they offered us a lobster they had just gotten and their conch. I’d always heard that you should never turn down money or lobster, so we took the lobster. Brian then said that he was off looking again, and if he had any luck, he’d bring us one more. We laughed and thanked him and pulled out.
Fifteen minutes later, who’s chasing us in their dingy with a lobster for our pot? Pretty nice people. They chased us for a while, too. That night we sailed for Georgetown on the ocean side since that’s the only way to get there, since it was calmer than usual. As dark fell, we stopped on yet another uninhabited island, beached the boat, and cooked the lobster. Well, actually, we anchored after a few minutes, the current was too strong for the beachin’.
Now we’re in Georgetown, well across the harbor from it. 120 boats, they say, and we weren’t past the second one in the harbor before they’re yelling at us that there’s a party on the beach that night. We drive through and see many of our old friend’s boats, and so we decide to go to the party tonight, and hit Georgetown in the morning. Many songs were sung, dirty jokes told, and even without any alcohol, sugar, dairy, or hardly food, I still get an allergic reaction, and now have antaloons in my pantaloons. One day, I’ll get this licked. Maybe they have an allergist in G-town. Stay tuned, my non-allergic friends, stay tuned.
Livingstone out.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
LLCOOLJ was right... pudding IS delicious
Bahamian license plate
Feeding the pigs at big majors- they swim to your boat!
Shady tree
Palm at Warderick Wells
Otis and the whalebones on Warderick Wells beach
RUTH Dec. 30, JANUARY 4, 2008
Dec. 30th
Soooooooooo, we are in Staniel Cay right now and will
be celebrating the New Year here. It is jam-packed
full of richies on their huge three story yachts.
Yikes. They are tolerable, but the other cruisers
anchored out and the locals are very cool. Jack saw a
nurse for his skin issues and the office visit plus
five bottles prescription cream, one bottle
prescription shampoo, and prescription antihistamine
was altogether 48 bucks! Chris put it well when he
said something like “Back at home, you can’t even see
the receptionist for that much!” On the other hand, a
can of corn is three bucks. Or was it 3.50? Either
way, corn is good.
We’ve been at Staniel for only three days but it feels
like one week! We’ve done so much and met so many
great people! Friday night we were anchored in this
large anchorage on the west side of Big Majors Cay.
That is the island where the pigs live. They come out
on the beach to be fed by intrigued cruisers and they
will even get in the water. We’ve also heard reports
of them swimming and actually trying to climb into
people’s dinghies! On Friday we caught a dinghy ride
with Conrad and Sally to Staniel to see Nurse Gray and
check out the territory. It is really really beautiful
around here. The Bougainvilleas are vivid and
colorful. The island is surrounded with scattered
reefs. There are a couple small grocery stores, a
clinic, a hardware, the works. Pickin’s are slim. The
marina is for big shots but its got a nicely
overpriced bar and restaurant that is a good hangout.
We shot back to our boat on Barry and Susan’s dinghy
and that night everybody and their mom got together on
a nearby beach for heavy hors d’oevres and drinks. Dan
and Morning Glory gave us a ride to the party on their
dinghy. In anchorages like this, people are constantly
scooting around on their dinghy visiting other boats.
We’ve met more people this way than on land. We didn’t
realize that when we bought our dinghy, which is
inflatable and oar-powered. Oar Power! We only
thought we would need it to row into shore from time
to time. Everybody’s been great though. We’ve been
offered rides so many times, and its been invaluable
when we wanted to get into shore during a strong wind
or current, or when we desired to join the rest of the
big kids snorkeling. In fact, tomorrow we are getting
a ride from our French Canadian friends, Sebastian and
M.C., out to some of the nearby reefs for some lobster
grabbing! Today we went out, but we followed them in
our boat (since we can get so shallow), but we were
consequently restricted to one area whereas they were
hittin’ up multiple spots.
Anyway, the get-together on the beach was a huge
success and, like last time at Warderick Wells, we
were the last ones on the beach with Dan and Morning
Glory. The party don’t stop till the break of dawn
bitchezzz!!!
Saturday was a super fantastic fun day! It started
with us practically beaching our boat on the pig
beach! There are only three pigs – one honkin’ big
brown male and two big pink females. I call them
Pinkie and Priscilla. While we were there, only Pinkie
and Priscilla came out and Jack fed them moldy bread
(and a dead body we had been stashing away). There
was a big sloppy pile of, well, slop, on the beach
that the pig mamas crammed their face in! It was
pretty gross and awesome at the same time. What a
unique thing to witness! Afterwards we went for a swim
and I am so buoyant in the salt water that I can swim
a fairly far distance by merely kicking my feet,
keeping my hands at my side – no fins! I can’t get
over swimming around in the crystal clear. It’s such a
wonderful feeling! Especially in the N to the U to the
D to the Eeeeee!!!!
After that super adventure, we motored around the
corner till we almost reached the shore of Staniel
Cay. LOVE having a small draft! We can go anywhere! We
anchored so close we can practically leap onto shore!
It’s a real short dinghy ride and it’s nice to have
the land so accessible. We anchored around 1 o’clock,
just in time to fly onto the beach and catch the local
cookout! Mac n’ cheese if you please, chicken lickin
keeps on tickin, beans n’ rice, oh so nice. Afterwards
we went to the Isles General store to round out our
hardware supply…Dan gave us a 30 gallon water bladder
that he didn’t need anymore!!! What a gift! Jack and I
put it in last night (although J did 99 doin’ fine
percent of the work). We continued our journey through
this small town by hitting up the Pink grocery store
(haha, there is a Pink Grocery and a Blue Grocery –
awesome). We bought a small amount of goods. The food
and hardware are on the expensive side, as always.
Last night was the Staniel Cay Yacht Club’s Pirate
Party. Those who knew of it beforehand came dressed up
and there were winners at the end of the night for the
best male/female costume. Beforehand, we invited Dan
and Morning Glory over to chill. They really enjoyed
our Velcro System, in which every G.D. thing that will
fit is velcroed on the wall or ceiling! Haha, I guess
it never occurred to me how ridiculous it looks – or
what a sweet method it is! Go Jack! We received a
surprise visit from a couple anchored nearby who
wanted to check out our boat. Martha and David were
their names and David is from Australia. CRICKEY! He
ACTUALLY said it. And I told him it made my night.
That was my first authentic Crickey experience and
boy, was it golden.
After awhile, we moseyed on over to the yacht club’s
bar & grill for the Pirate Party. It was packed!
Bahamian music was blaring. There was a little
drinking, a lot of dancing, and a lot of introducing
and meeting new people. It was a lot of fun! Even
better though was when a local told us about the bar
and disco down the street called Happy People, where
the local DJ was spinning, the locals were hanging out
playing pool and dancing. We quickly waltzed on over
to it and proceeded to dance the night away to the
sweet and succulent Bahamian tunes!
Jack just informed me that him and I were both picked
from a drawing to be a part of the sloop races! These
are traditional New Year’s sailing races that have
been going on since the 70’s. We are going to get to
ride on authentic Bahamian sloops with expert Bahamian
speed sailors!! The only downside to it is that we
were picked to ride on separate boats but the good
part is we are performing in the same race! I will be
on the sloop “Termite” and Jack will be on “It’s
Magic.” This will go down tomorrow morning at 10:30! I
can’t wait! It is supposed to be a really intense race
where you are advised to wear shoes and gloves. I am
so grateful that Dave mailed me those sailing gloves
right before we left for Miami! SO GRATEFUL! Thank you
Dave!!! The gloves will be put to real good use!
To sum up my entry, I would just like to say that when
we were out snorkeling today I turned from my intended
direction to check out a dark coral head. The water
became a little deeper and as I got closer I noticed a
species of fish I had never seen before in the coral.
I couldn’t believe my eyes! It was flounder-shaped but
with really big eyes and thin, intricate designs of
different colors delicately scattered around its body.
Its color was a mix of shiny but soft pastels. One of
the most interesting and beautiful fish I’ve seen yet
on this trip! Just as I was turning my head to bring
myself out of the water and call to Jack to have a
look, I saw out of the corner of my vision a big dark
shape of a fish along the outskirts of the coral,
about 50 feet away. I thought it was a shark!!! When I
focused my eyes on it, I realized it was a barracuda!
And I thought the one I saw in Warderick was big!
This was, no doubt in my mind, about six feet long.
Picture Jack swimming under water…this fish was as
long as Jack. I wasn’t as nervous as if it had been a
shark, but I was alarmed because they are extremely
attracted to shiny things and Jack had earrings on as
well as a long, shiny Hawaiian sling! I told him about
it and we turned around and swam away with both of us
holding the sling out of the water as we left. I
didn’t leave before getting a few more good looks at
it. It had big black spots all over and looked pretty
intimidating. Fascinating though!!! It was a fairly
lengthy swim back to the boat, but we were going with
the current so we moved right along. My job was to
swim behind Jack and check behind us every so often to
make sure it wasn’t following along. Yikes!! Hahaha! I
LOVE the Bahamas!!!
JAN 4TH, 2008
Wow, can’t believe it is the big 0h-Eight! Never
thought this year would come. Let me start by giving
updates on the most recent of the recent events:
Update #1: THE RACE! The C-Class Bahamian Sloop Race
(as it is called) was one of the highlights of this
trip!!! Basically, Jack and I, along with other
sailors who signed up, were selected from a drawing to
sail with two expert Bahamian sailors and three other
regular cronies in a race against five other sloops.
Jack and I were selected to be on different boats.
Fortunate for me, I happened to choose to sail on the
quickest and nicest boat. These sloops are a slender
18 ft with a MASSIVE sail and three pry-boards. For
those who don’t know, the pry-boards slide back and
forth perpendicular to the boat so that when the boat
starts to heel, or lean, as it sweeps across the
water, the four cronies can throw the boards out and
scoot their butts high up so that the boat doesn’t tip
over. (We are trying to upload a video of the
experience, so hopefully you will be able to check
that out if the picture isn’t clear enough).
The race was EXCITING!! There were three tacks
throughout the course, which means the boat had to
turn either into or away from the wind in order to
maneuver around the buoys. Right before the tacks, the
Bahamian sailor who was controlling the main sheet
(the line that controls the direction of the main
sail) would count to three and on “three” we would
have to push the heavy wooden pry-boards to the other
side of the boat while we crawling under the boom (the
metal pole parallel to the length of the boat that the
main sail is attached to and rests upon). Then we’d
have to turn around, position ourselves on the boards
and pull them all the way out with a rope that is
attached to them while we scooted back as far and as
high as we could. All this had to take place in a mere
few seconds or else the boat would have tipped! During
the race, one boat actually DID tip and I saw its mast
dip into the water! The crew eventually got themselves
upright. Another boat actually SUNK during the race
because it was in such poor condition! The boat Jack
was on actually rammed into another sloop because the
other sloop didn’t give them the proper right of way.
Everyone was fine though. The boat I was on won a
tight first place! We had a really fantastic captain
and helmsman, and a great crew!
The entire race was a battle of balance, and depending
on the heel of the boat and the strength of the wind,
we would ride either the highest and tallest points of
the planks or quickly push them in and balance
ourselves in the center of the sloop. There were
three boards on the sloop I was on – the other crew
members were two to a board and I had to manage a
board on my own! It was a very athletic workout! When
I was on the tip of my board, my feet didn’t even
touch the boat – that’s how high I was in the air.
Imagine a slender boat with a huge sail, riding the
water practically on it’s side, and me lying flat on a
board that’s hanging over the edge of the boat, trying
my hardest to keep my balance while forcing my weight
against the board so that the boat doesn’t tip! It was
soooo much fun!! The morning of the race I had run
four miles, stretched for awhile and ate a carb-loaded
meal of cheerios mixed with grapes, honey, and
applesauce. I was grateful to have had such a
refreshing start to the day because I had not known
what to expect of this race and I happened to come
physically and mentally prepared! One of the
crewmembers on my sloop (which was named Termites) was
a contributor of the Explorer Chart Books, which
practically every cruiser down here has and which we,
ourselves, use to navigate around the Bahamas. A
little side note: He complimented me at the end of the
race telling me that I did a great job getting a hang
on the balancing! Yay, I felt proud J
I owe a huge chunk of my performance to my brother,
Dave, for giving me the sailing gloves! In order to
keep yourself on the pry-boards, you are supposed to
hold onto the board with one hand and hold onto this
rope that runs along the top with the other. If it
weren’t for the gloves I would have had one hell of a
time holding on! I would have definitely chaffed my
hands too! Thanks Dave!!!
Update #2: THE COOKOUTS. All weekend, New Year’s eve,
and New Year’s day the local community put together
cookouts on the beach right in front of our anchorage.
Ribs, chicken, macaroni, beans n’ rice, veggies,
burgers, you name it. Although Jack and I eat very
well on the boat, it was nice to celebrate the holiday
by splurging a little at these get-togethers. We
certainly can’t get ribs and macaroni any day on the
boat. It was nice to support the local community too.
People are very very relaxed and extremely welcoming
and friendly here. Plenty of both locals and cruisers
attended the cookouts, and Bahamian music blared
through big stereo speakers. Twas a joyous time.
Update #3: THE STORM. Throughout the past week, we
kept hearing about the cold front that would be moving
in. We were constantly asked where we’d be anchoring,
if we’d be moving south to a better anchorage or tuck
in around the corner? Many people told us that they
would move south to find better hiding spots to get
away from the storm. The wind was predicted to start
from the NW clocking N then to NE and would blow at 30
mph with gusts up to 40! Jack and I were surrounded on
three sides by land at our old anchorage, the open
water being to the west. We were very close to staying
put but were advised by many others (with bigger boats
of course, that couldn’t tuck as far inland as we
could) to move. We took their advice and moved a bit
northeast of where we were before, and anchored
between Big Majors and Little Majors islands. We
prepared by throwing out two anchors off the bow (and
Jack eventually threw out an additional anchor off the
stern). After spending some time positioning the
anchors correctly and securely, we took down the jib
because the strong wind we endured in Michigan at the
Elk Rapids marina in September was so forceful it tore
our jib loose from the forestay. The jib flapped about
so hard and fast that it ripped, the tear being about
8 feet long. We still have the same jib (we both taped
and sewed it back together), but we were not willing
to take the risk. We also prepared by making sure we
had easily accessible water and food inside the cabin.
Jack made a huge pot full of bean and vegetable soup
and another big pot full of beans and rice with
hamburger. Mmm! The next two days were spent holed up
inside the cabin while the winds howled and the rain
sprayed off and on. There was no lightening or
thunder, and there never is. It is the strong winds
and the confused water that the wind churns up that we
needed to stay protected from. We spent the entire
second day in bed! That worked for me because I had
come down with something sickly that I wanted to sleep
off. We just read, listened to music, and slept a lot.
It’s very easy to get in hibernation mode when it is
dark, cold, and cloudy outside and the winds are
blowing hard and LOUD. The boat barely moved except
for during the night when the strong opposing current
rushed through the wide channel we were anchored. Then
it got a bit rocky, but for the most part the boat did
VERY WELL because of the anchor system we set up
(Jack’s design so he gets credit!)
Update #4: THE DOCKAGE. As I am typing, we have made
out way back to Staniel Cay and are docked at their
expensive marina. The catch is we came here earlier
to charge our batteries and since we had to pay $20
for it, Carl who works at the marina told us we could
stay for 20 hours, which is extremely nice of him.
They would normally charge us an additional $50 just
to stay. So now we are plugged into electricity and
the batteries can charge, the fridge can get super
cold, all the electronics on the boat can charge and
we can use our computers endlessly to type blogs, work
on music, watch movies, or do whatever else we’d like!
J Yay!
The cold front continues, but has died down a lot. On
this side of the island we can barely feel it. As it
turns out, the wind didn’t come out of the west at all
and we could have kept our old anchorage. Ah well,
best to take the precaution.
Right now we are surrounded by HUGE yachts like you
wouldn’t BELIEVE. I could compare some of these boats
to houses in Grosse Pointe. Some of the boats are
three-story, at least 200 feet long (which means $400
A DAY at the marina), most have huge flat screen TVs
in the “living room” near the back of the boat, and it
wouldn’t surprise me if there were about seven more of
them throughout the boat itself. Some of these yachts
are big enough for four families (at least) to travel
on together. Haha, I took a picture tonight that makes
Fiberglass Vengeance look like an ant compared to
these monsters. Despicable! (and I mean its despicable
to have such a big boat!!) I LOOOOVE our boat so much
its unbelievable!!! Yay Johnny!!!!
Last but far, far, far from least: I just want to
mention that while we were holed up in our cabin
during the front, Jack and I studied the Explorer
Charts for the south half of the Exumas and wrote up
an itinerary. It covers what we’d like to do here in
Staniel Cay and everything in between here and
Georgetown. We are giving it all the time in the
world, but we have numbered it according to region.
It’s a REALLY cool itinerary and rather than explain
it, I will just jot it down for you:
1) Staniel Cay –
a. fill up on water, gas, work online/post blogs/check
email, stock up a bit on food
b. snorkel Thunderball Grotto (where the James Bond
movie with Sean Connery “Thunderball” was shot, along
with other Hollywood flicks), snorkel the plane wreck
nearby, possibly go lobstering along the surrounding
reefs
2) Black Point –
a. Snorkel caves on the way sailing down
b. Snorkel submerged wreck at beach near Black Point
marina
c. Hike the trails past Dotham Point to the White
Horses cliffs (cliffs that are said to resemble white
horses)
d. Log onto internet at local café to post blogs of
our amazing experiences!
3) Jack’s Bay –
a. Snorkel submerged wreck and coral heads near beach
b. Spear Fish Baby! Hawaiian Sling it uP!
4) Lil’ Farmers Cay –
a. Water, internet, grocery, electricity 1.25/ft, many
amenities
5) Sail South
a. Snorkel cave south of Big Galliot Cay, snorkel
submerged wreck by Marina at Cave Cay, snorkel plane
wreck near Little Lansing Cay
6) Sail South
a. Check out plane wreck @ Tea Table Rock 23, 48
b. Lobster and fish between Prime & Bock Cays 23, 49
(plenty of coral heads and reefs)
7) Lee Stocking Island –
a. Hike Perry’s Peak, the tallest point in the Exumas
b. Snorkel wrecks at 76,06 and 76, 03
8) Barrataria –
a. Ice-cream, boat building, produce, H2O, gas, wreck
off of Little Hog Cay 23, 42
9) Georgetown
Soooooooooo, we are in Staniel Cay right now and will
be celebrating the New Year here. It is jam-packed
full of richies on their huge three story yachts.
Yikes. They are tolerable, but the other cruisers
anchored out and the locals are very cool. Jack saw a
nurse for his skin issues and the office visit plus
five bottles prescription cream, one bottle
prescription shampoo, and prescription antihistamine
was altogether 48 bucks! Chris put it well when he
said something like “Back at home, you can’t even see
the receptionist for that much!” On the other hand, a
can of corn is three bucks. Or was it 3.50? Either
way, corn is good.
We’ve been at Staniel for only three days but it feels
like one week! We’ve done so much and met so many
great people! Friday night we were anchored in this
large anchorage on the west side of Big Majors Cay.
That is the island where the pigs live. They come out
on the beach to be fed by intrigued cruisers and they
will even get in the water. We’ve also heard reports
of them swimming and actually trying to climb into
people’s dinghies! On Friday we caught a dinghy ride
with Conrad and Sally to Staniel to see Nurse Gray and
check out the territory. It is really really beautiful
around here. The Bougainvilleas are vivid and
colorful. The island is surrounded with scattered
reefs. There are a couple small grocery stores, a
clinic, a hardware, the works. Pickin’s are slim. The
marina is for big shots but its got a nicely
overpriced bar and restaurant that is a good hangout.
We shot back to our boat on Barry and Susan’s dinghy
and that night everybody and their mom got together on
a nearby beach for heavy hors d’oevres and drinks. Dan
and Morning Glory gave us a ride to the party on their
dinghy. In anchorages like this, people are constantly
scooting around on their dinghy visiting other boats.
We’ve met more people this way than on land. We didn’t
realize that when we bought our dinghy, which is
inflatable and oar-powered. Oar Power! We only
thought we would need it to row into shore from time
to time. Everybody’s been great though. We’ve been
offered rides so many times, and its been invaluable
when we wanted to get into shore during a strong wind
or current, or when we desired to join the rest of the
big kids snorkeling. In fact, tomorrow we are getting
a ride from our French Canadian friends, Sebastian and
M.C., out to some of the nearby reefs for some lobster
grabbing! Today we went out, but we followed them in
our boat (since we can get so shallow), but we were
consequently restricted to one area whereas they were
hittin’ up multiple spots.
Anyway, the get-together on the beach was a huge
success and, like last time at Warderick Wells, we
were the last ones on the beach with Dan and Morning
Glory. The party don’t stop till the break of dawn
bitchezzz!!!
Saturday was a super fantastic fun day! It started
with us practically beaching our boat on the pig
beach! There are only three pigs – one honkin’ big
brown male and two big pink females. I call them
Pinkie and Priscilla. While we were there, only Pinkie
and Priscilla came out and Jack fed them moldy bread
(and a dead body we had been stashing away). There
was a big sloppy pile of, well, slop, on the beach
that the pig mamas crammed their face in! It was
pretty gross and awesome at the same time. What a
unique thing to witness! Afterwards we went for a swim
and I am so buoyant in the salt water that I can swim
a fairly far distance by merely kicking my feet,
keeping my hands at my side – no fins! I can’t get
over swimming around in the crystal clear. It’s such a
wonderful feeling! Especially in the N to the U to the
D to the Eeeeee!!!!
After that super adventure, we motored around the
corner till we almost reached the shore of Staniel
Cay. LOVE having a small draft! We can go anywhere! We
anchored so close we can practically leap onto shore!
It’s a real short dinghy ride and it’s nice to have
the land so accessible. We anchored around 1 o’clock,
just in time to fly onto the beach and catch the local
cookout! Mac n’ cheese if you please, chicken lickin
keeps on tickin, beans n’ rice, oh so nice. Afterwards
we went to the Isles General store to round out our
hardware supply…Dan gave us a 30 gallon water bladder
that he didn’t need anymore!!! What a gift! Jack and I
put it in last night (although J did 99 doin’ fine
percent of the work). We continued our journey through
this small town by hitting up the Pink grocery store
(haha, there is a Pink Grocery and a Blue Grocery –
awesome). We bought a small amount of goods. The food
and hardware are on the expensive side, as always.
Last night was the Staniel Cay Yacht Club’s Pirate
Party. Those who knew of it beforehand came dressed up
and there were winners at the end of the night for the
best male/female costume. Beforehand, we invited Dan
and Morning Glory over to chill. They really enjoyed
our Velcro System, in which every G.D. thing that will
fit is velcroed on the wall or ceiling! Haha, I guess
it never occurred to me how ridiculous it looks – or
what a sweet method it is! Go Jack! We received a
surprise visit from a couple anchored nearby who
wanted to check out our boat. Martha and David were
their names and David is from Australia. CRICKEY! He
ACTUALLY said it. And I told him it made my night.
That was my first authentic Crickey experience and
boy, was it golden.
After awhile, we moseyed on over to the yacht club’s
bar & grill for the Pirate Party. It was packed!
Bahamian music was blaring. There was a little
drinking, a lot of dancing, and a lot of introducing
and meeting new people. It was a lot of fun! Even
better though was when a local told us about the bar
and disco down the street called Happy People, where
the local DJ was spinning, the locals were hanging out
playing pool and dancing. We quickly waltzed on over
to it and proceeded to dance the night away to the
sweet and succulent Bahamian tunes!
Jack just informed me that him and I were both picked
from a drawing to be a part of the sloop races! These
are traditional New Year’s sailing races that have
been going on since the 70’s. We are going to get to
ride on authentic Bahamian sloops with expert Bahamian
speed sailors!! The only downside to it is that we
were picked to ride on separate boats but the good
part is we are performing in the same race! I will be
on the sloop “Termite” and Jack will be on “It’s
Magic.” This will go down tomorrow morning at 10:30! I
can’t wait! It is supposed to be a really intense race
where you are advised to wear shoes and gloves. I am
so grateful that Dave mailed me those sailing gloves
right before we left for Miami! SO GRATEFUL! Thank you
Dave!!! The gloves will be put to real good use!
To sum up my entry, I would just like to say that when
we were out snorkeling today I turned from my intended
direction to check out a dark coral head. The water
became a little deeper and as I got closer I noticed a
species of fish I had never seen before in the coral.
I couldn’t believe my eyes! It was flounder-shaped but
with really big eyes and thin, intricate designs of
different colors delicately scattered around its body.
Its color was a mix of shiny but soft pastels. One of
the most interesting and beautiful fish I’ve seen yet
on this trip! Just as I was turning my head to bring
myself out of the water and call to Jack to have a
look, I saw out of the corner of my vision a big dark
shape of a fish along the outskirts of the coral,
about 50 feet away. I thought it was a shark!!! When I
focused my eyes on it, I realized it was a barracuda!
And I thought the one I saw in Warderick was big!
This was, no doubt in my mind, about six feet long.
Picture Jack swimming under water…this fish was as
long as Jack. I wasn’t as nervous as if it had been a
shark, but I was alarmed because they are extremely
attracted to shiny things and Jack had earrings on as
well as a long, shiny Hawaiian sling! I told him about
it and we turned around and swam away with both of us
holding the sling out of the water as we left. I
didn’t leave before getting a few more good looks at
it. It had big black spots all over and looked pretty
intimidating. Fascinating though!!! It was a fairly
lengthy swim back to the boat, but we were going with
the current so we moved right along. My job was to
swim behind Jack and check behind us every so often to
make sure it wasn’t following along. Yikes!! Hahaha! I
LOVE the Bahamas!!!
JAN 4TH, 2008
Wow, can’t believe it is the big 0h-Eight! Never
thought this year would come. Let me start by giving
updates on the most recent of the recent events:
Update #1: THE RACE! The C-Class Bahamian Sloop Race
(as it is called) was one of the highlights of this
trip!!! Basically, Jack and I, along with other
sailors who signed up, were selected from a drawing to
sail with two expert Bahamian sailors and three other
regular cronies in a race against five other sloops.
Jack and I were selected to be on different boats.
Fortunate for me, I happened to choose to sail on the
quickest and nicest boat. These sloops are a slender
18 ft with a MASSIVE sail and three pry-boards. For
those who don’t know, the pry-boards slide back and
forth perpendicular to the boat so that when the boat
starts to heel, or lean, as it sweeps across the
water, the four cronies can throw the boards out and
scoot their butts high up so that the boat doesn’t tip
over. (We are trying to upload a video of the
experience, so hopefully you will be able to check
that out if the picture isn’t clear enough).
The race was EXCITING!! There were three tacks
throughout the course, which means the boat had to
turn either into or away from the wind in order to
maneuver around the buoys. Right before the tacks, the
Bahamian sailor who was controlling the main sheet
(the line that controls the direction of the main
sail) would count to three and on “three” we would
have to push the heavy wooden pry-boards to the other
side of the boat while we crawling under the boom (the
metal pole parallel to the length of the boat that the
main sail is attached to and rests upon). Then we’d
have to turn around, position ourselves on the boards
and pull them all the way out with a rope that is
attached to them while we scooted back as far and as
high as we could. All this had to take place in a mere
few seconds or else the boat would have tipped! During
the race, one boat actually DID tip and I saw its mast
dip into the water! The crew eventually got themselves
upright. Another boat actually SUNK during the race
because it was in such poor condition! The boat Jack
was on actually rammed into another sloop because the
other sloop didn’t give them the proper right of way.
Everyone was fine though. The boat I was on won a
tight first place! We had a really fantastic captain
and helmsman, and a great crew!
The entire race was a battle of balance, and depending
on the heel of the boat and the strength of the wind,
we would ride either the highest and tallest points of
the planks or quickly push them in and balance
ourselves in the center of the sloop. There were
three boards on the sloop I was on – the other crew
members were two to a board and I had to manage a
board on my own! It was a very athletic workout! When
I was on the tip of my board, my feet didn’t even
touch the boat – that’s how high I was in the air.
Imagine a slender boat with a huge sail, riding the
water practically on it’s side, and me lying flat on a
board that’s hanging over the edge of the boat, trying
my hardest to keep my balance while forcing my weight
against the board so that the boat doesn’t tip! It was
soooo much fun!! The morning of the race I had run
four miles, stretched for awhile and ate a carb-loaded
meal of cheerios mixed with grapes, honey, and
applesauce. I was grateful to have had such a
refreshing start to the day because I had not known
what to expect of this race and I happened to come
physically and mentally prepared! One of the
crewmembers on my sloop (which was named Termites) was
a contributor of the Explorer Chart Books, which
practically every cruiser down here has and which we,
ourselves, use to navigate around the Bahamas. A
little side note: He complimented me at the end of the
race telling me that I did a great job getting a hang
on the balancing! Yay, I felt proud J
I owe a huge chunk of my performance to my brother,
Dave, for giving me the sailing gloves! In order to
keep yourself on the pry-boards, you are supposed to
hold onto the board with one hand and hold onto this
rope that runs along the top with the other. If it
weren’t for the gloves I would have had one hell of a
time holding on! I would have definitely chaffed my
hands too! Thanks Dave!!!
Update #2: THE COOKOUTS. All weekend, New Year’s eve,
and New Year’s day the local community put together
cookouts on the beach right in front of our anchorage.
Ribs, chicken, macaroni, beans n’ rice, veggies,
burgers, you name it. Although Jack and I eat very
well on the boat, it was nice to celebrate the holiday
by splurging a little at these get-togethers. We
certainly can’t get ribs and macaroni any day on the
boat. It was nice to support the local community too.
People are very very relaxed and extremely welcoming
and friendly here. Plenty of both locals and cruisers
attended the cookouts, and Bahamian music blared
through big stereo speakers. Twas a joyous time.
Update #3: THE STORM. Throughout the past week, we
kept hearing about the cold front that would be moving
in. We were constantly asked where we’d be anchoring,
if we’d be moving south to a better anchorage or tuck
in around the corner? Many people told us that they
would move south to find better hiding spots to get
away from the storm. The wind was predicted to start
from the NW clocking N then to NE and would blow at 30
mph with gusts up to 40! Jack and I were surrounded on
three sides by land at our old anchorage, the open
water being to the west. We were very close to staying
put but were advised by many others (with bigger boats
of course, that couldn’t tuck as far inland as we
could) to move. We took their advice and moved a bit
northeast of where we were before, and anchored
between Big Majors and Little Majors islands. We
prepared by throwing out two anchors off the bow (and
Jack eventually threw out an additional anchor off the
stern). After spending some time positioning the
anchors correctly and securely, we took down the jib
because the strong wind we endured in Michigan at the
Elk Rapids marina in September was so forceful it tore
our jib loose from the forestay. The jib flapped about
so hard and fast that it ripped, the tear being about
8 feet long. We still have the same jib (we both taped
and sewed it back together), but we were not willing
to take the risk. We also prepared by making sure we
had easily accessible water and food inside the cabin.
Jack made a huge pot full of bean and vegetable soup
and another big pot full of beans and rice with
hamburger. Mmm! The next two days were spent holed up
inside the cabin while the winds howled and the rain
sprayed off and on. There was no lightening or
thunder, and there never is. It is the strong winds
and the confused water that the wind churns up that we
needed to stay protected from. We spent the entire
second day in bed! That worked for me because I had
come down with something sickly that I wanted to sleep
off. We just read, listened to music, and slept a lot.
It’s very easy to get in hibernation mode when it is
dark, cold, and cloudy outside and the winds are
blowing hard and LOUD. The boat barely moved except
for during the night when the strong opposing current
rushed through the wide channel we were anchored. Then
it got a bit rocky, but for the most part the boat did
VERY WELL because of the anchor system we set up
(Jack’s design so he gets credit!)
Update #4: THE DOCKAGE. As I am typing, we have made
out way back to Staniel Cay and are docked at their
expensive marina. The catch is we came here earlier
to charge our batteries and since we had to pay $20
for it, Carl who works at the marina told us we could
stay for 20 hours, which is extremely nice of him.
They would normally charge us an additional $50 just
to stay. So now we are plugged into electricity and
the batteries can charge, the fridge can get super
cold, all the electronics on the boat can charge and
we can use our computers endlessly to type blogs, work
on music, watch movies, or do whatever else we’d like!
J Yay!
The cold front continues, but has died down a lot. On
this side of the island we can barely feel it. As it
turns out, the wind didn’t come out of the west at all
and we could have kept our old anchorage. Ah well,
best to take the precaution.
Right now we are surrounded by HUGE yachts like you
wouldn’t BELIEVE. I could compare some of these boats
to houses in Grosse Pointe. Some of the boats are
three-story, at least 200 feet long (which means $400
A DAY at the marina), most have huge flat screen TVs
in the “living room” near the back of the boat, and it
wouldn’t surprise me if there were about seven more of
them throughout the boat itself. Some of these yachts
are big enough for four families (at least) to travel
on together. Haha, I took a picture tonight that makes
Fiberglass Vengeance look like an ant compared to
these monsters. Despicable! (and I mean its despicable
to have such a big boat!!) I LOOOOVE our boat so much
its unbelievable!!! Yay Johnny!!!!
Last but far, far, far from least: I just want to
mention that while we were holed up in our cabin
during the front, Jack and I studied the Explorer
Charts for the south half of the Exumas and wrote up
an itinerary. It covers what we’d like to do here in
Staniel Cay and everything in between here and
Georgetown. We are giving it all the time in the
world, but we have numbered it according to region.
It’s a REALLY cool itinerary and rather than explain
it, I will just jot it down for you:
1) Staniel Cay –
a. fill up on water, gas, work online/post blogs/check
email, stock up a bit on food
b. snorkel Thunderball Grotto (where the James Bond
movie with Sean Connery “Thunderball” was shot, along
with other Hollywood flicks), snorkel the plane wreck
nearby, possibly go lobstering along the surrounding
reefs
2) Black Point –
a. Snorkel caves on the way sailing down
b. Snorkel submerged wreck at beach near Black Point
marina
c. Hike the trails past Dotham Point to the White
Horses cliffs (cliffs that are said to resemble white
horses)
d. Log onto internet at local café to post blogs of
our amazing experiences!
3) Jack’s Bay –
a. Snorkel submerged wreck and coral heads near beach
b. Spear Fish Baby! Hawaiian Sling it uP!
4) Lil’ Farmers Cay –
a. Water, internet, grocery, electricity 1.25/ft, many
amenities
5) Sail South
a. Snorkel cave south of Big Galliot Cay, snorkel
submerged wreck by Marina at Cave Cay, snorkel plane
wreck near Little Lansing Cay
6) Sail South
a. Check out plane wreck @ Tea Table Rock 23, 48
b. Lobster and fish between Prime & Bock Cays 23, 49
(plenty of coral heads and reefs)
7) Lee Stocking Island –
a. Hike Perry’s Peak, the tallest point in the Exumas
b. Snorkel wrecks at 76,06 and 76, 03
8) Barrataria –
a. Ice-cream, boat building, produce, H2O, gas, wreck
off of Little Hog Cay 23, 42
9) Georgetown
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
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