Clam Bake

They do not have locally-dug clams in George Town, and the lobsters here have funny antennae instead of large front claws. However, my long-held wish for a beachside clam bake for my 35th birthday was realized last night.

Certainly this week's weather in George Town is the best anyone can expect for a February birthday--sunny and hot, but with a cooling breeze on the water. I made pork satay for a potluck dinner on the beach (a hit, as always, Tina), and one of the cruisers, who is a professional baker, made me a chocolate and banana cake with chocolate frosting.

After dark we lit a bonfire on the beach, and people attempted to sing songs. The many nights Pam and I spent at the King's Head paid off, as I was the only person who knew all the verses, in the correct order, for "American Pie" and "Hotel California." Then again, I thought I sounded pretty good too, so maybe that was I side effect of the rum and pineapple Tang I've been drinking.

As it got later, I kept expecting us to be shooed off the beach. Where were the angry campers, the park wardens, the state troopers in their shiny black knee-boots? Years of Campin' Cousins has led me to believe that no evening around the campfire is complete without an escalating series of complaints and threats from angry neighbors. But nobody came--still more proof that this year's event should be Caribbean Cousins.

In other news, we've had a quiet week since Greg left Wednesday. We are getting the boat ready for the next leg of our journey into the SE Bahamas and beyond. After our little overheating adventure on Tuesday, we needed some new radiator hose, and we found out that there is a NAPA dealership outside town. So on Thursday we stuck our thumbs out and got a ride within five minutes. The driver had not heard of NAPA, but she drove on until it became obvious that we'd missed it.

What did she do next? She saw someone she knew passing in the other direction, called him on her cell phone, made him turn around, and then pulled over to the side of the road to wait for him. He came along, stopped, picked us up, and took us back to the NAPA store. How is that for hospitality?

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Pictures

Jill under the Internet Tree

Jill eating fish

Steamy Valentine's Day

14 Feb 2006

So there we were, motoring through the tricky, five-mile passage from Red Shanks, our anchorage during a frontal passage, back to Sand Dollar Beach, when all of a sudden... no more engine. We quickly dropped the hook (anchored) so we wouldn't be driven back onto the reef we had just passed. I opened the engine hatch and found billowing smoke. Uh-oh.

We waited for the engine to cool, as 291 other boats listened with interest to our VHF transmission to the boats behind us, informing them that we were stopped in the channel. Of course, people were asking us about our adventures for the rest of the day.

Once the engine was cool, a quick check seemed to suggest that we hadn't done any serious damage to the engine. We added more coolant and proceeded. I had thought that the problem was nothing more than a slow leak exacerbated by the heavy load of the alternator. We started out--no steam, no smoke, looking good.

We dropped the hook and were waiting for it to set, when Jill said, "Should the water light be on?"

We stopped the engine and I dropped into the engine room, which was once again filled with steam. The real leak was found, fortunately in a hose that should prove easy to replace.

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Guest Blog: Burd on board

So there we were, in George Town, anchored in Red Shanks sitting out what had to be the fourth and by far the worst low preassure front of my trip thus far. I was loving it. Dinner was an excellent medley of skipjack tuna we had caught just the other day and now we were each occupied in our own ways while the wind howled in the wind generator slowly brinng Delilah's batteries back to capacity. Earlier, as the front moved in we were confident in our positioning and preparation but others had paid little attention to the forcasts and now were frantically calling one another on channel 68. "Crazy Horse, you're dragging!" went out over the VHF causing a panic in one anchorage. "Don't anchor there Sweet Pea, the bottom's all sea grass over there and you won't stay put." "Gone Fish'n, this is Escapade, you're going to swing into me, you're too close." To the three of us on Delilah, this was as good as the best of 'Must See TV' back home, we were glued to the radio. We even!
got reports from boats able to hear the BBC and so we learned of our Vice President's prowess with a shotgun. So, to sum things up here in George Town, Exuma, Bahamas, life is great and I am not looking forward to the trip home. As I write this Boston is due to be hit with a nor'easter that just left 28" of snow on New York city so a little bit of wind while hanging around in 80 degree weather over clear blue water and white sandy beaches isn't so bad.

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Rat Cay

8 Feb 2006
N 23 degrees 43.66 minutes
W 076 degrees 02.35 minutes

My man Mr. Burd is in the house!

We stayed anchored near George Town for a few days so he could get the flavor of this place, where most cruisers to the Bahamas spend their winters (though we moved to Red Shanks for two days to wait out a front), had burgers at the unfortunately-named Chat 'N' Chill beach shack, had Conch Salad made by a local guy at his stand on Volleyball Beach (where, yes, they play volleyball every day, among other activities organized by cruisers), and woke up every morning to listen to weather on the ham radio at 6:30 AM and the George Town cruisers' net on the VHF radio at 8:00 AM. We had a fascinating night on board George and Nancy's boat Trumpeter (we met G and N in Miami and then saw them again in Rock Sound) with s/v Kittiwake (parents of our friend Susan, who lives aboard in Boston) and Meander, a boat that rarely uses its motor, including in tight spots and while entering and leaving its anchorage.

George and Nancy have made this trip many times, and have also gone as far as Puerto Rico, so when we mentioned that we needed to buy some charts, George pulled out a sheaf of them, everything we need to get us through the Virgin Islands. Charts cost a lot of money, but George didn't want to sellthem; he just asked that we return these when we are done with them. That sounds good to me: postage will be a fraction of what we would have spent! Now we just have to keep them dry for the next few months.

Dean bought a bag of books for $1 at the library (including Interview with a Vampire, All the Pretty Horses, and a Michael Crichton novel). This made him very happy.

The night before we left George Town, Kim and David on s/v Amanzi dropped anchor next to us. We had met them a few weeks before up at Hawksbill Cay. They came over for drinks, and we have tentative plans to meet up with them in late February to make the trip to the Caribbean together. Kim is a teacher, and she and David have put together a really interesting Web Site for students back in Canada: www.floatingclassroom.com.

Rat Cay is cool; we are the only boat here. There is a blow hole nearby, above which you can stand and have water spray 10 feet over your head. A huge barracuda patrols near our boat. At night, the moon casts shadows which you can see on the sandy ocean bottom, 14 feet down.

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Back in George Town

Saturday, February 11

After a couple of good days of sailing, and three days near Rat Cay (which has goats but no actual rodent inhabitants, fortunately), we decided to head back to civilization. We were the only boat at Rat Cay, and the water there was beautiful. We did some good snorkeling, and Dean did some hunting with his pole spear, but we had no fish for dinner until we set sail for George Town.

At just about the same spot we caught half a fish last time, we caught a beautiful skipjack tuna. I have plans for cooking it tonight at a barbecue on the beach.

For now, however, we are at a bar in town while Dean takes care of our water needs.

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Feb. 3 in G Town

We spent most of today in town again, running a slew of errands in anticipation of our first guest, the first of many, we hope, so get on the ball and start planning your visits. What, isn't the weather up there cold enough yet for you people? The intrepid Greg Burd will be arriving tonight, along with a suitcase full of spare parts, specialty foods, mail, cash, and other goodies that we asked him to bring. I suspect he won't even need to check luggage on the return trip. And his first impression of the place will be a long and damp dinghy ride in the dark, as we are anchored quite a distance from town.

George Town has a library that welcomes cruisers to join for a small annual fee. It's open for two hours a day, and you can check out books indefinitely! They also host a book swap, and I was thrilled to find David Sedaris's latest book there--mine for free! Book swaps are a very important part of the cruising world, especially for Dean, who has read about thirty books of varying quality so far on this trip. Not everybody is quite so voracious, as I realized after naively asking a cruising mother of two kids under ten how it was that she'd only read one book so far (not counting homeschooling texts and "Harry Potter"). She was very polite as she explained where her time goes, but I can only imagine what she'd like to have said.

This afternoon, on my way to the beach in Digby, I effected my first rescue at sea. Just past the area where all the boats anchor, I came across a man trying to paddle his inflatable against the wind with one oar. He had run out of gas and had no oarlocks with which to row properly, and innflatable dinghies are terrible to row to begin with. So I took him in tow the final hundred yards or so back to his boat.

Later, coming back from the beach, I ran out of gas as well, but we keep a spare can on Digby for such emergencies. It's still a pain, though, as the engine requires about thirty tries with the starter cord after it's run dry. I was beginning to wonder if rowing would be more efficient after all--or at least less embarrassing--before I finally got ignition.

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Shark Lunch

This is the fish that we caught the other day. He's been bitten in 1/2 by a shark. Note the teeth marks. We still got a full dinner out of what was left.

George Town

There are more than 200 boats anchored in the area around George Town. We're told the number can get as high as 500 during March for "regatta week," whatever that is. I hope we'll be elsewhere. 200 boats already feels quite crowded to me.

But in some ways this feels like a homecoming. Around us are all sorts of boats we've seen along the way or listened to over the ham radio or heard about from other sailors. Just after we anchored yesterday, Dean noticed a catamaran, Neverland, which had been at our marina in Charlestown the first winter we lived aboard. I remember when Bob and Sheila were preparing to leave Boston the following fall. I was so envious, and I worried that we might never pull it off ourselves. So today we dinghied over to them, finagled an invitation aboard, got a tour of the boat (it's huge and full of light), and swapped stories over drinks.

We also spent some time in George Town, restocking our larder (all I had left for fresh vegetables were three carrots), checking email, and making use of the free wireless connection near one of the hotels. Dean bought himself a pole spear, vowing to return to Musha Cay and find that grouper in his cave.

George Town's grocery store is large by Bahamian standards--about the size of a large pharmacy in the States--and the mailboat had arrived the day before with supplies, so we had planned to buy more than just the basics. But as I reached for a bag of cornmeal, I noticed a small moth fluttering nearby, then another, and another. Back went the cornmeal, bread flour (we're going to start making our own bread), and anything from that aisle. When we got out of the store we went straight to the dumpster with any cardboard packaging. On the boat, I put dry goods into any Tupperware I could find. Pantry moths are a nightmare, and the only thing worse than having them in your kitchen is having them on your boat. It's a reminder to us that, as we head south, we need to be very careful of what comes aboard. Though I suspect the moths I saw came in on the mailboat and will therefore infest both businesses, I'm going to try the place across town and hope for the best.

On a brighter note, George Town made a deal with the developers of the Four Seasons resort, which was constructed nearby a few years ago, and the resort provides free reverse osmosis water to much of the island. There's a spigot and a hose at the dinghy dock; you just pull up and fill your jerry cans right in your dinghy. While we're here we may actually begin showering every day.

Greg Burd is coming in tonight; we expect to have many stories to tell during his stay.

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Picture Time

This photo shows us celebrating our arrival in the Bahamas


This picture is on the Banks - it's only 8 feet deep right here and land is just barely visible


We left a sign with our boat's name at the top of Boo Boo Hill in Warderick Wells, Exumas

more of a good thing

We stayed in Black Point today and got a few things done. I arrived at the laundromat early to secure three washing machines, and Dean started his quest for water. Both the laundromat and the water spigot were popular places for cruisers, so Dean and I met most of the cruisers in the anchorage before the morning was done (there are probably a dozen boats here), and we learned that Lorraine would be having a barbecue at dinnertime. Knowing how much fun that would be, we couldn't pass it up, so we made ourselves a reservation.

After lunch we took the dinghy out for a tour around Black Point, and Dean brought his fishing rod. As soon as we got near the rocks at the edge of the harbor, Dean started getting hits. Some big, thin fish, perhaps barracudas, kept taking the bait, but they would always jump out of the water and manage to spit the hook. And no sooner would that happen when another fish would come along and bite.

We caught no fish, but we were both highly entertained by the fish acrobatics. And we had dinner plans anyway.

We went to the grocery store and found it closed. Asking around, we found that the owner was in Nassau. So no milk, etc. for us. Lucky that we bought fresh coconut bread that Lorraine's mother had baked, so we at least have that to eat.

We met Bob and Chesley of S/V Cygnet, a 1981 Tayana 37! They know the former owners of Delilah, who are now caretakers on Little Whale Cay. Bob and Chesley have owned Cygnet since 81; we have much to talk about.

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No Gin Necessary

George Town, Great Exuma Island, Exumas

N 23 degrees 31.78 minutes
W 075 degrees 45.10 minutes

We've arrived at last! For many cruisers, George Town is the end of the line. We hope that's not the case with us.

We have two fishing stories for your enjoyment today. The first finds us trolling from Digby over a shallow area of coral near Musha Cay (which can be yours for a week for merely six figures). A Strike! A fierce battle ensues. Then... are we snagged on something? The rod bends precariously, but the line doesn't budge. Over goes Jill in her snorkeling apparatus. The line leads down to a little cave, just a foot or two high. Dozens of fish have crowded around to watch the spectacle. Some pulling by Dean and... a huge grouper appears, lure in his mouth, looking furious. He shakes his head, breaks the line, and swims back inside, taking our lure with him. Harrumph!

Our second story takes place a day later. We are trolling from Delilah. A Strike! A fierce battle ensues. Then the line grows lighter. The fish pops to the surface, no fight left, and is dragged limply to the boat. Dean reels in half a tuna! The other half was lunch for some huge shark. The shark had the courtesy to leave us our lure and enough little tunny for dinner. And he saved us a shot of gin, with which we normally dispatch our catch.

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