Back to the Islands

We had a terrific summer with family and friends.  We saw lots of friends, dined, partied, had adventures – so nice to not be interrupted by work.  We were blessed by several extended visits from grandson, Jackson and his mom.  Even though he woke us up at 5:30 (and earlier) he quieted down once Pam took him down to play with all his toys.  Glen made sure to sleep in so he could help out later in the day.  Jen wonders if he is over-stimulated… do you think???  Toys-R-Us checks with us to see what we have in stock

What that means is that we had decidedly mixed feelings when it came time to head south.  It is a very schizophrenic life.  We love being at home with family and dear friends.  We love being on the boat for all the simplicity, the romance of the sea, the adventures and all the new people we meet.

A funny thing happened on the way to the Seattle airport.  Carrie drove us to Bellingham where we picked up a rental car.  Our sailing friend, Sid (Quest,) told us last year of a great summer sausage from Costco that doesn’t need refrigeration – available in Bellingham but not in West Palm Beach.  Hmmm… that would be great on the boat.  We stopped at the Costco in Bellingham and bought four 3-pound sausages.  When we checked our duffle bag at the airport it was 6 pounds overweight so two of the two-foot long sausages went into Glen’s carry-on bag along with the 4 pounds of smoked salmon already in there.  At security, Glen had to have his bag rechecked and the two sausages went through the x-ray machine by themselves.  In-flight snack?

Overnighted in Orlando and then drove through orange groves and cattle ranches to Indiantown.  A lovely drive, directed by Otto’s friend, our car GPS, Madeline.

So we are happy and sad to be off. 

Except, TODAY WAS LIKE CHRISTMAS!!!  We were able to see the beautiful Blue Pearl and moved her into the work yard.

We picked up all the new toys we have ordered – like cockpit lights, a new knotmeter part, stainless bimini fittings, wire, cordless hair clippers, a new refrigeration unit, a new waste holding tank (don’t ask), tons of Sailrite sewing stuff (Pam) with more to come.  Woooo hoooooo!

We hope to be done with chores in the next two weeks and then head to West Palm Beach to wait for a weather window.

We plan to be in Georgetown, Bahamas by December 9 when we will leave the boat for 3 weeks to go home.  Then our penciled-in plan is to leave Georgetown in early January for the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rica and the Virgin Islands.  All that can change.  Our kids keep interfering in our good plans with grandchildren and weddings.  We’ll see how it goes.  However it goes – we’re in the warm on a sailboat – can’t beat that!

So – what’s up with Hurricane Rina??!!

End of Our 2010-2011 Cruise

We’ve entered a new phase in our cruise as we wind down and get ready to come home.  We’ve been enjoying Florida, living on a mooring ball in Stuart.

After our Daring Rescue at Sea, we spent the night at West End in Grand Bahama and left the next morning for our Gulf Stream crossing to Lake Worth (Riviera Beach) Florida with the help of George and Deb.  The crossing was uneventful and we arrived in the late afternoon.  We cleared customs but had to meet with officials the next morning so we anchored in Lake Worth and enjoyed a peaceful evening.  First thing in the morning we took the dinghy in and walked to the office – spent a little time smiling at the officers and then we were officially welcomed back to the USSA!  Yay!

Took off right away for Stuart and, after almost losing George off the bow with some rugged waves in the entrance we had an almost boring trip to Stuart.  Almost.  Coming in through the Saint Lucie Inlet was a breeze – except that it has shoaled and so, some of the markers have been moved, making the navigation difficult.  We smugly glided past the offset markers when… thunk… we hit the bottom.  NO PROBLEM!  We will simply navigate off – but which way?  Some thought south, others north and in the end after several fits and starts we finally bounced back into the navigable channel and on into Stuart.  George and Deb left us there (in Stuart, that is, not in the middle of the channel) and headed off for an adventure of their own in Florida.

Running low.  At least we have cava

Civilization at last!

We love Stuart.  The old town is quaint and features old restaurants, shops, parks and theatres and it is an easy walk from the marina.  We stayed on a mooring ball for a week enjoying the commerce and emptying our wallets.  We met up there with Sid, on Quest.  He was very generous with the loan of his truck and cooking meals for us.

Added a temperature probe for Yan Diesel

After days of enjoying access to Total Wines and West Marine and doing small boat chores we finally untied from mooring ball #7 and headed up the St. Lucie River, up 14 feet from sea-level through the St. Lucie Locks and on to Indiantown.

Four bridges and a lock to transit.

We need 52 feet - clearance was 56 - lots of room!

We had a good night’s rest Sunday night and then on Monday, took down the sails, the canvas, the solar panels, changed the engine oil, the generator oil, wiped down all the woodwork with vinegar and water and did loads of laundry.  While Pam did all this Glen talked to the yard service manager about potential work on the boat, visited with the locals and watched TV.  On Tuesday, we unloaded stuff to come home into our rental car, took the cushions into Stuart to be recovered and then headed north to Orlando for our flight home.

Hauled out and put to bed.

Resting until November.

And so, dear reader, thus ends our blog for the 2010-2011 cruising season.  Looking forward to thrilling you next year with continued "Roger Family Sailing Adventures."
Very excited about seeing all our family and friends.

Daring Rescue at Sea

We have been enjoying our time with George and Deb from Abbotsford.  They almost made it to Marsh Harbour as scheduled and were landing when a vicious squall hit the area.  The plane aborted the landing and returned to Nassau where they spent the night.  We were on the boat, watching the rain, lightning and thunder and strong winds.  The next morning we were able to pick them up and take them up to Treasure Cay.

George and Deb visit OOTMBBITB

We took a couple of days showing them our favorite spots around the sea of Abaco before taking the Whale Cay passage north to Green Turtle Cay.  The “Whale” can be a crazy passage in a blow but our crossing was benign.

Green Turtle Cay has two sounds – White Sound in the north and Black Sound in the south.  The settlement of New Plymouth lies in the south of the island near Black Sound on Settlement Bay.  We had Goombay Smashes at Miss Emily’s Blue Bee Bar and took a leisurely walk around the community.

Miss Emily's granddaughter

A slightly younger Pam on the right at Miss Emily's a few years ago.

Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar

Our anchorage in White Sound was fine but the Bluff House Marina was having a special so that if we ate in the restaurant our moorage would be free.  Free is our favorite price so we moved in 50 meters and tied up – and importantly hooked up our power and turned on the air conditioning.  WOW – we have grown accustomed to sleeping in the heat but AC is a great luxury when we can connect to shore power.

Wasabe sesame tuna at the Bluff House at Green Turtle Cay

 From Green Turtle we moved only about 3 miles to Manjack, where we walked across to the Atlantic side and then swam in the harbour.  Nice place!  From there we headed to Allan’s-Pensacola and ran into Pat and Tuttie on Keltic Kat, a Canadian boat.  We’ve bumped into them several times beginning at Indiantown all the way down to Georgetown.  The Atlantic side of Allan’s-Pensacola features the “signing tree,” kind of like BooBoo Hill in the Exumas where cruisers leave their mark by hanging driftwood and flotsam in trees on the shore.  There are ruins from an old US missile tracking system but we couldn’t find anything very interesting.

The Signing Tree - not the Hanging Tree

We’ve heard boats reporting in over the radio from Double Breasted Cay in the north and it offers protection from all directions.  It was on the way and overnight squalls were predicted so it seemed like a good place to anchor.  There is a strong current which required a Bahamian Moor – one anchor upstream and another downstream so the boat alters from pulling on one anchor to the other as the current changes.  It keeps the boat from swinging wildly in a narrow anchorage.  We had never done it before and we say with great humility that we executed it perfectly.  Our night was secure – even as squalls hit us at about 1:30 in the morning.  Pam and George reported that there was incredible lightning, thunder and winds.  Glen slept through it.
Throughout our journey we have been nervous about fishing on the banks because we seem to catch nothing but huge barracudas.  Well, wouldn’t you know it, Fish-Killer Pam got up the nerve and what did we get – huge barracudas.  We think we might have hooked something good like a mahi but Glen screwed it up.

After a small jolt with our fish defibulator, he was as good as new.

On our final day in the Bahamas, crossing the banks, George and Pam spotted a strange apparition off in the distance and we changed course to investigate.  As we came closer we found three young Bahamians on a runabout, anchored in about 15 feet of water.  According to them, they had been fishing and become lost and then ran out of gas.  They had no idea where they were and had been adrift for 3 days.  Our first thought was that they were Somalian pirates starting a Bahamian franchise and we were reluctant to invite them onto the boat.  A radio check with someone in the community of West End confirmed that they were searching for missing fishermen.  So we scooped Manny, Darnell and Van aboard and took their vessel in tow.  After an hour some very relieved rescuers met us in a speed-boat and took our guests back to their family and friends.

Finding the Lost Boys

Grateful search party leaving with our boys

We had expected a heros’ parade and free conch salad when we arrived at the dock at West End – however that somehow eluded us.

We have loved our time in the Bahamas but now that we are heading towards home we are in a hurry to get there.  Soon we will be in Florida – spending time fixing small problems and enjoying civilization.  Then home to family and friends!!!

Heard it snowed at home in Abbotsford yesterday - "Dang, that ain't good!"  Hope it warms up soon.

Ambling Around the Abacos

It has been more than a week since Carrie left and we have a few more days before George and Deb get here.  With the anchorages in the Abacos so close together we feel we’ve done our exploring and so we are getting lazy and slothful (some would say Glen had a good head start.)  We went back to our perfect spot at Man O War but we were run out by a change in the direction of the wind.  We headed to Treasure Cay – which has a big marina and a huge anchorage for cheapos likes us.  We pay $10 per day for the use of their facility.  Not bad when you learn condo guests are paying several thousand per week and sit at the same pool as us.
So, ennui has set in – a word we use quite often in the crossword puzzles we do while we are drinking pina coladas in a pool lounge chair.

Ho hummm

After 6 days there we finally moved our lazy butts.  Nippers, at Great Guana Cay has been advertising the “Barefoot Man” concert and people who’ve been here in past years say it is not to be missed.  Our only challenge was that the weather was awful.  The winds were coming from the west at 25 to 35 and there is not much protection in Guana from the west.
So we decided to bite the bullet and crack open the wallet to pay for dockage.  Well dang, wouldn’t you know it, others thought of that before us and the marina was full.  We battled through a storm much like the one Skipper and Gilligan fought with crazy squall activity dropping buckets of rain.  But, don’t despair, dear reader.  The winds were due to die by evening and so we took a chance and anchored in a spot that would be protected… later on… maybe.
We were only at anchor for an hour before we began to see the weather improve.  So, off we dinghied to Nippers and the Barefoot Man concert.  Rumour had it that Jimmy Buffett was going to make a cameo appearance.  Well, Jimmy wasn’t there but his following was!  There were crazy get ups, sequined bikinis, more scantily-clad young girls, lecherous men throwing beads at pretty women.  It was awful for Glen!  He was, again, very uncomfortable.  We listened to Barefoot and watched the antics for over 4 hours.  We’ve seen Barefoot on YouTube – you should listen to “Alice” (our sensitivities prohibit us from quoting that kind of language), “Ride the Ferry,” and another one about, “How can I kiss those lips at night that chewed my *ss out all day long?”

Barefoot Man!

Barefoot dancin

Disgusting... Glen can hardly look. 

We finally left, wondering if our boat would be closer than when we left, perhaps blown up on some beach but there she sat where we left her, bobbing gently in the light breeze.  Faith and begorough – the winds had shifted to the north from the west so we were in the lee of the island and they died from 30 to 5 or 10.  HAH!

Careful getting into the dinghy!

 

Man O War Fire Department

We are looking forward to touring George and Deb around the local spots and then exploring Green Turtle, Manjack and Powell Cays in the northern Abacos.  We will be watching the weather carefully for a weather opportunity to head back over the top of Grand Bahama to Great Sale Cay, Memory Rock and then over to Florida.
Hard to believe we are heading back to put Blue Pearl to bed for the summer.  We are getting excited about seeing friends and family after six months.

End of another perfect day!

Carrie Meets sv Blue Pearl

We’ve been bouncing around the sea of Abaco like the ball in the video game, Pong – Treasure Cay to Guana Cay to Man O War Cay to Hope Town to Marsh Harbour. They are all so close together it’s like running to the 7-11 when you run out of milk.

So, it was an easy run from Hope Town to Marsh Harbour to pick up our daughter, Carrie, after her flight from Vancouver/Toronto/Nassau/Marsh Harbour. Great to see her and lovely to show her our winter home. It was her first visit to this boat.

We had been visiting with our cruising buddies from Azaya and Kolibrie (both big teacher families) and so we were excited to introduce our teacher, Carrie, to them. After Carrie’s first night at anchor in Marsh Harbour, we met up with our buddy boats at our special spot north of Man O War harbour. Boy, someone has a mombo linksys router set up there and so we enjoy great internet. One night we downloaded the movie, “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” – one of our favorites.

In the water at our spot!

Skydiving float

Pam had been dying for a hair cut (see previous posts about hair cut disasters in the Bahamas) and was thrilled when Carrie offered to cut her hair. There were envious glances from other lady boaters when they saw the result. Thanks, Carrie!!

Cleaning up!

Carrie is a fairly strict vegetarian but told us that she would compromise herself on our behalf during her visit. So we had lobster on our first night! We’re sure she felt some guilt but we know she loved her dinner.

We spent a couple of days at our Man O War spot enjoying the great internet, swimming, snorkeling, reading, visiting the town and meeting Lola and Martin who run Lola’s Bakery. We bought bread, home-made guava jam and conch fritter batter from them. We also returned to their home to buy beautiful $5 conch shells for Carrie to take home.

At Man O War

We took Carrie to the Albury Sailshop and had her pick out a bag. We hope she doesn’t have to return it in 30 years like Glen did with his (see our last blog post).

Alburys Sailmakers

Lola's Bakery - yummm

We took a run up to Great Guana to show Carrie the hotspots there - Grabbers and Nippers, where she had a frozen Grabber and a frozen Nipper and plunged into the surf off Nippers Beach. Glen was thankful that the scantily clad spring break coeds weren’t there this week.

Enjoying a Frozen Grabber at Sunset Beach

Basking on Guana's Atlantic Beach

Hope Town, only 12 miles from Great Guana is an amazing place. It seems to have been adopted by American ex-pats. There is a huge amount of energy coming from the place and the harbour is PACKED with boats. It is a perfect hurricane hole and very scenic. When we were there in ’79 there were about 8 boats anchored in the harbour. There must be more than 30 now. We walked about the town, bought more lobster tails, looked in the gift shops, admired the Atlantic beaches, enjoyed the pool next to the marina and climbed the lighthouse – one of a few Fresnell lens lighthouses remaining, and stared at the view. One day we rented a golf cart and toured around Elbow Cay, where Hope Town is located. We saw more beautiful Atlantic beaches, visited a cool bar and restaurant and walked on the incredible Tahiti Beach at low tide. Great shelling and beach walking. We travelled up and down every little roadway and lane on the island in our golf cart. Carrie bought a conch shell prepared as a ‘conch horn’ in a shop in Hope Town and was by far, the best heralder of sunset in any anchorage we visited.

Hope Town lighthouse

View from the top

Touring Elbow Cay

Carrie and Mom on Tahiti Beach

Carrie had to catch an obscenely early flight out of Marsh Harbour to Nassau to make her Toronto connection so we anchored in the harbour just off Curly-Tails Restaurant to put her into a taxi at 6:00 AM. Back to bed for us but it was the beginning of an epic, snow impeded trip back to Vancouver for Carrie. She called us at 8:00 AM our time (5:00 her time) the next day to say she had just finally arrived home. It’s windy here… but no snow. As always, when someone leaves us we have a slow day, adjusting to being alone again. We are so glad that Carrie could be here and enjoyed our time with her immensely. She has returned to Chilliwack to her busy life with Jesse, friends, Emily the dog, and work.

So, we are going to continue to PONG back and forth around the Abacos until George and Deb Keys arrive. We’ll give them the whirlwind tour and then head north over the top of Grand Bahama and cross back into Florida.

Boy… time sure flies!!!

Bob’s Your Uncle

We’ve just put Uncle Bob and Cousin Todd into a taxi at Treasure Cay for their flight back to Miami and cold Regina.

When they arrived, a week ago, they brought with them a cold front so we spent 3 days at Treasure Cay – developing a bit of cabin fever.  Uncle Bob was dying to jump off the boat but the harbour was not too enticing.  We walked the long beach – another OOTMBBITB and had cracked conch at the Coco Beach Grill.  They had their first swim of their vacation when they plunged into the surf at the beautiful Treasure Cay beach.  We even found a garage sale!  Of course they enjoyed the obligatory viewing of Captain Ron – a requirement of all our guests.  “Get me a brewsky, Swab!” or “If anything’s going to happen it’s going to happen out there, Boss!”

OOTMBBITB

 

 

Beach walking

 

Dark and Stormies - Rum and Ginger Beer

Beach Bums

Taking the plunge

Beats -30 in Regina

at Nippers

On Saturday we were able to strike out to Great Guana Cay and anchor at Fishers Bay.  We dinghied to shore so Todd was able to organize for a scuba dive on Monday.  Wouldn’t you know it, another front started to come through but luckily it turned out to be a weak one.  We moved into Settlement Harbour and tied up to a mooring ball.  We walked over to the Atlantic side to a beach bar called Nippers and then walked the length of a long, long beach.  Todd and his Dad spent some time in the waves filling their bathing suits with sand.  I think we just about killed Uncle Bob, with the walking and the swimming, but each time Todd asked him if he had had enough of the waves he would laugh his signature laugh and say, “just one more”.  Back to Nippers for Frozen Nippers and the pig roast dinner, courtesy of Todd – Thanks, Todd.  There were 50 to 100 college students enjoying their spring break.  Lots of noise, fun, drinking and general carrying on.  Glen found the sight of the scantily clad coeds quite distressing.  On Monday we spent a pleasant morning enjoying the view on the Atlantic side watching folks get all tumbled up in the waves like those at Big Beach on Maui while Todd enjoyed his trip with Troy at Dive Guana.

a Frozen Nipper drink at Nipper's

Swimming off the boat

In the afternoon we moved south 5 miles to our beach off Man O War Cay where Uncle Bob finally got his chance to dive off the boat.  He spent half the afternoon swimming/floating around the boat while Todd put on his mask and snorkel and looked for things to kill.  Fortunately for the fish and lobster/crawfish of Abaco, he found nothing but empty conch shells.

Just floatin' around

Bakers Bay is a massive and controversial development at the north end of Guana Cay.  It is a failed cruise ship stop and from google earth you can see the massive cut that was dredged for several miles to allow the cruise ships to get in close to the beach – OOTMBBITB.  The new development has capitalized on the cut and extended it into their marina basin – also dredged out of the low lands of the island.  There are hundreds of huge marina slips designed for the hundred foot boats we see all over the Bahamas – and there were fewer than 10 boats in the marina.  It is so weird to see that kind of over developed, underused facility all through the Bahamas.  There is a private golf course associated with the resort and there appeared to be a few people playing and also a few people lounging around the pool.  Pam noticed that 3 of the 5 people at the pool were reading from their Kindles – the other 2 reading old-fashioned books.

Had a great sail up to Bakers Bay

Sundown

Grilled Hog Snapper - delicious!

We spent our last night on the boat enjoying a delicious dinner of hog snapper a la Pam.  Awesome!  Thank you, Pam.

After a short trip to Treasure Cay, Todd and Bob were able to stock up on Goslings Black Seal Rum before they boarded the taxi to the airport.  Next stop… -30 in Regina.

We have a few days to spend with buddy boats, Kolibrie and Azaya, before our daughter, Carrie, arrives to spend her spring break from her teaching position in Abbotsford.  Other than Glen’s quick trip home in January, we haven’t seen her since leaving Canada on November 1.  It will be a great reunion!

After Carrie leaves, we will be making plans to wrap up our time in the Bahamas and point the boat towards Florida.