Exumas!

We left Nassau on Sunday headed for Allen's Cay the first island in a long chain called the Exumas. There was a 7 mile stretch where Nicole stood on the bow watching for coral heads. Hitting one could punch a hole through the bottom of our boat. We saw a few, but we didn't have to adjust our course. At Allen's Cay we met up with our friends Patrick and Stephanie on Septembre that we first met in Bimini. We spent all day Monday snorkeling the coral reefs, searching unsuccessfully for a Conch large enough to keep. Patrick and Stephanie fared no better on their spearfishing expedition. One day we will eat something that we pull out of the ocean.

Tuesday we left to visit Normans Key. The draw was internet and a chance to see a plane that was ditched in shallow water. Unfortunately the internet was broken and the plane less intact than I had pictured it.

Today we arrived in the prettiest place we have been so far- Warderwick Wells, home of the Exuma Land and Sea Park Headquarters. There are several miles of nature trails, a beautiful look out, crystal clear water and white sand. This is what I pictured when we lived in a small apartment saving money for our cruise. We have found paradise.

Life in Nassau

It has been a while since my last blog post and my life has changed dramatically since then. I have been putting writing off because it has been difficult for me to think about anything but my dad and his death. I was hoping one day I would wake up and feel some sort of amnesia which would enable me to write an entry that only described all of the great things we are experiencing. One would think that being surrounded by crystal clear blue waters, coconut palm trees, and tan, smiling faces would placate my feelings but they really haven’t helped tremendously. Of course I am hopeful that as time passes I will get used to the changes in my life and will be able to see the beauty around me more clearly. In the meanwhile, I am doing my best to readjust to life on the boat, without my father in my life. I set a goal with Chad that I would write on the blog before the end of the month and as you can see I am close to my deadline. As we sit at the Green Parrot, a restaurant/bar boasting a free dinghy dock and wifi (which is currently not working), I feel compelled to meet my goal even though I feel no amnesia.

Being in Nassau has been a good distraction since there is a lot more to do here than in other places we have stopped in the past few weeks. As I mentioned before, the Green Parrot has been a daily stop for internet and to meet some other cruising couples. A large portion of these people have surprisingly been French Canadians. And we thought we had traveled from far away! We have had dinner and drinks on a few other boats where the conversations were mostly in French. These experiences have actually been the most foreign since our trip began. It was the first time I felt like I was living in a foreign country even though everyone living in Nassau speaks English as a mother tongue. One very interesting couple has worked for a non-profit aid organization which brought them to East Timor, Cambodia, Angola, Sierra Leone, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and a few other countries during their wars. Their stories were inspiring.

Two days ago we went to the Straw Market and saw many local artists and craftsmen, hustling their products to all the tourists. My past shopping experiences in Morocco and Italy definitely benefited me here. Everyone bargains for better prices and it is generally expected that the locals will try to sell you something for twice the price they are willing to actually sell it for. I bought a few picture frames, a straw clutch, and a painting. After seeing the same painting at another booth with a different name painted on the bottom, we questioned whether or not the woman actually painted our picture although she did promise she did. It was nice to finally decorate the boat a bit and having a framed picture up of my dad gave me a chance to see him every day in some way at least.

Yesterday, we left our dinghy at the Nassau Yacht Haven (free because we used their showers for 3 dollars each) and walked to the City Market for groceries. After we had finished paying we found out that there was another grocery store just a bit farther away that had much cheaper groceries. Oh well. We did get to speak to a local 19 year old girl about her life which was interesting. She bags groceries there for no wages, only tips and wheels grocery carts to marinas for cruisers. It’s a free service and was well worth the tip we gave her to get 6 more bottles of water, ice, and a lot of provisions for the Exumas to the dinghy a mile away. She had a full scholarship to a university in Florida for basketball but had to give it up because she got pregnant and decided to keep the baby. Her father is a fisherman and is out at sea for months at a time so she lives with her baby and mother. She hopes to get back into basketball and school so she can reapply for the scholarship next year. Her story is only one example of the poverty we see every day in the Bahamas. Ironically, food is so expensive and the US dollar is worth the same as the Bahamian dollar.

Today we will go back to the Nassau Yacht Haven to do laundry and then spend the rest of the evening trying to find space on the boat for the cleaned laundry. Most of it gets stuffed in the pilot berth or in our teeny closets and the rest will remain on the settees until we get company which forces us to find more appropriate places for it.

Crossing the Great Bahamas Bank

After Bimini the next group of islands is 75 miles to the East. The majority of the distance is spent crossing an area of water called The Great Bahamas Bank. Depths average 20 feet and you can see the bottom the whole way. Because the area is so large we had to choose whether to sail through the night or anchor on the bank and continue in the morning.

Both options have draw backs. Sailing through the night means navigating through a small cut in the reef at the end of the Bank and more obviously, little sleep. On the other hand, anchoring on the banks at night can be uncomfortable. There is no protection from the wind and waves and more importantly you risk being run down by an freighter.

We chose to anchor on the Bank just before dark since neither of us really enjoy sailing at night, and we hadn't seen a freighter all day. I strung several lights from the rigging and tried not to think about the sound a freighter would make when it hit our boat. The motion of the boat coupled with the rumble from the engines of passing boats made for a restless night.

The following day we made it to Chub Key- a private island with an overpriced Marina and resort. Unfortunately, the weather has kept us pinned down here and we were forced to take refuge at a dock. We are happy to have the long distance hops in the past for a while. It should be a leisurely trip towards Georgetown where we will pick up some friends in 3 weeks. Tomorrow we leave for Nassau.

P.S.

We finally had fishing success two large Barracuda.

We Made It!!!

We left Key Biscayne Wednesday morning bound for Bimini. Worried that we wouldn't be able to complete the crossing in the daylight hours I dragged Nicole out of bed at 4 am. She pleaded for a few more hours of sleep but eventually accepted the fact that my mind could not be changed. When we made it to the Key Biscayne Channel at 4:30 I realized that the channel markers were not lit. We sat adrift inside Biscayne Bay until first light at 6:15 and I got a well deserved "I told you so."


The much anticipated gulf stream crossing was no problem at all. It was calm enough to row across. We hooked two large fish and one power boat along the way. All three of them got away with a lure. The most difficult part of the journey was the entrance to Bimini harbor. Charts show 12 feet but it has shoaled to 6 or 7 and only one out of the four entrance markers were present. We kept trying to guess what the different shades of blue and green meant in terms of depth, but we had no idea.

We spent Wednesday afternoon and Thursday clearing in and exploring the Island. Everyone is very friendly. I guess that is the way it is when you live on a small island.

South Beach: Have I got a deal for you!

The last two days we have been anchored off of South Beach being tourists. The main street in South Beach was closed to traffic and there were blocks of booths with interesting art and other goods. It is well worth the walk from the anchorage on the West side of the island to check out the local artists.

Opposite the booths the street is lined with restaurants. The marketing at the restaurants here walks a fine line between good advertising and fraud. They get you in the door with offers of 2 for one deals and freebies, but inevitably the cost of the free stuff is built into another part of the meal. We first learned about this when we were looking at the menu in front of one restaurant. A waiter approached us and said that if we sat down right now we could get 20% off. When we said maybe, he said, "I will throw in a free bottle of wine if you order one of the specials." After he told us that he would throw in a free round of shots, we said we were sold.

We sat down at a table right on the street and he told us about the specials. Nicole wisely asked, "How much is the paella?" The waiter responded $120 without a hint of exaggeration. We both laughed hysterically and said thanks, but no thanks. I would have felt bad walking out if I didn't feel like he was trying to take advantage of us.

Now after 20 percent off, the meal would be $96. For a nice restaurant it is not unreasonable to pay $100 for paella, a bottle of wine and a round of shots, but weren't those other things, that I didn't really want suppose to be free? At $120 I will take my Paella with a side of with gold.

The restaurant we settled for had a more reasonable menu and they offered us 2 for 1 drinks. The catch was that the deal was per person. We would each have to order 2 drinks. The cost of a cocktail (not listed on any menu) was $20. Again, the cost of the free one is built into the cost of the one you are paying for. We skipped the drinks and had a mediocre meal.

The whole experience left us with a bad feeling about spending money in South Beach. If I came back I would make sure to ask about the price of everything. Prices are not written anywhere and if you don't ask, you will be charged more (this happened later at a food cart.) I would also be prepared to haggle for everything, including food, something I haven't experienced even in countries with a barter economy.

Weather Window

Everything we read has said to wait for a good weather window to cross over to the Bahamas. In this case the weather we are waiting for is wind from any direction except north. When a north wind opposes north flowing current of the gulf stream steep waves develop. We had similar conditions on a smaller scale in the Delaware Bay which can be seen in a video here.

When we attempted to leave Lake Worth for West End in Grand Bahama the wind was forecast to be 5-10 knots out of the North becoming East at 10 knots. As we pulled out of the inlet at 1 a.m. we had gusts to 20 knots out of the north with 2-3 foot seas near shore. If we continued conditions would have deteriorated and neither of us were looking for a rough night time sail.

We are waiting for a new weather window in Miami which would allow us to leave pre dawn on Tuesday morning. This time we would be leaving from Miami bound for Bimini.

Almost There

Here is our To Do list before departing this evening.

Fill Water
Fill Diesel add stanadine
Buy Bahamas Guide
Buy Explorer Charts
Buy New Jerry Can
Buy 6 gals Denatured Alcohol
Change zincs
Clear scuppers
Secure starting battery
Research Wireless Solution
Check on wind gen repair
Buy American Flag
Laundry

It is almost complete and we moved the boat just inside the inlet. Tonight we are going to meet up with friends who will help us do some last minute provisioning and laundry. Thanks Ron and Elaine!

My hope is that our next blog post will be from West End in the Bahamas. However, if the conditions aren't good when we get offshore we will turn around and wait for another opportunity.