We are at Warderick Wells Land and Sea Park, which is part of the Exuma Island chain. It is a real National treasure as far as nature is concerned. It is a protected string of islands in the upper central Exumas which is run as a park and therefore no fishing, shelling, or disturbing any of the flora or fauna is allowed. Kind of like going into Yellowstone or Grand Canyon. The Bahamians are very proud oif this place and with good reason. It is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. The shades of the water and the underwater sights you see while snorkeling are tremendous! We went snorkeling yesterday and really felt like we were in a giant aquarium! One can volunteer to do some work here to avoid paying the mooring fees ($20/night) so we may do that. We are considering leaving tomorrow for Staniel Cay, further down the Exuma chain and get all tucked in before Monday night's approaching cold front. Otherwise, we'll stay here a few more days and continue to enjoy all this place has to offer.
We got out of Nassau on Wednesday and had a nice motor sail over to Norman Island, in the northern Exuma chain. Norman Island is notorious for its recent drug smuggling history. During the late 70's and early 80's, Carlos Lehder, part oft he Columbian Medien Cartel, bought most of the island and used it as headquarters for his operation. The CIA, DEA and other agencies tried to shut him down for years including a failed invasion of the island (he was tipped off by a corrupt Bahamian army officer on the take, and his men scoured the premises clean of evidence before the search party arrived on shore). Finally his operation was shut down and he went into exile in Columbia until 1987 when he was extradited to the US and was sentenced to life plus a zillion years. All of his houses and shot up buildings are still on the island in various states of disrepair, aloong with the still used airstrip, and a half submerged C146 transport plane that didn't quite make a take off or landing at some point. Pretty interesting place.
We went onj a nature walk this morning and learned a lot about the geological stuff of these islands. Very interesting to consider the changes which have happened to these islands just since the landing of Columbus. Once heavily treed in thich rain forest vegetation, the islands are now mostly barren and sandy, covered with only scrub type brush.
Hope everyone is well and enjoying their winters. We certainly are. Until next post, we will stay...
still afloat out here on the clear blue!
R & S
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Getting Ready to Move On...
Well, after a week on the dock in Nassau, the weather appears to be cooperating and it looks like we'll be able to head on to the Exumas by this Wednesday. We have been going literally stir crazy after this long dockside, but know that once we get out of Nassau, many things we wished we'd done will surface and we will regret not having the easy access to supplies, parts, and food stores, etc. which are currently across the dock from where we are tied up.
The latest addition to the boat is a Single Side Band radio which will allow us to have easier access to quality weather forecasting and also, when a couple more goodies get added further down the line, the ability for text message emails to be sent and received will be at hand. This will allow us to keep better in touch with everyone, yet will only allow us to get and send "words only" messages. The radio was installed on Saturday and this morning we were able to get the first weather forecast via the connectivity. Really cool and will make our lives much easier as we travel further away from populated areas. Evidently, the Exuma Islands are not very populated so the prospect of wifi connectivity is extremely unlikely. Therefore, it will probably be a while before we are able to post again (a month?). We will know more once we are "out there".
I have been trying to post the great pictures we took at Junkanoo festival, but so far I have not had any luck doing so. Daughter Jen has also been working on the problem and maybe between us we'll get them up soon. I think you'll all enjoy what we saw!
Ok, back to town to get a few last minute supplies (more beer, really?). We spent yesterday scrubbing the entire boat inside and out and it looks great. Ready for the next leg.
Hope you all are well. We'll post as soon as possible. Love to everyone!
Rick and Suz
The latest addition to the boat is a Single Side Band radio which will allow us to have easier access to quality weather forecasting and also, when a couple more goodies get added further down the line, the ability for text message emails to be sent and received will be at hand. This will allow us to keep better in touch with everyone, yet will only allow us to get and send "words only" messages. The radio was installed on Saturday and this morning we were able to get the first weather forecast via the connectivity. Really cool and will make our lives much easier as we travel further away from populated areas. Evidently, the Exuma Islands are not very populated so the prospect of wifi connectivity is extremely unlikely. Therefore, it will probably be a while before we are able to post again (a month?). We will know more once we are "out there".
I have been trying to post the great pictures we took at Junkanoo festival, but so far I have not had any luck doing so. Daughter Jen has also been working on the problem and maybe between us we'll get them up soon. I think you'll all enjoy what we saw!
Ok, back to town to get a few last minute supplies (more beer, really?). We spent yesterday scrubbing the entire boat inside and out and it looks great. Ready for the next leg.
Hope you all are well. We'll post as soon as possible. Love to everyone!
Rick and Suz
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Stuck here in Nassau!
Well... here we sit in Nassau, Bahamas as we await a serious cold front to pass. We currently have gale force winds and cold weather all about us! These kind of conditions make for dangerous boating, so we must sit it out. Mid 50's is not what we had expected for this Tropical location. The weatherman says it may pass within the next 4-5 days but until then we are stuck here. I guess we really can't gripe, though, as we could be home shoveling snow. I do have shorts and a t-shirt on, not a parka.
Once this front passes and we can begin moving again, we will eb heading on to the Exuma Islands, just south of here. We have been told that they may be the most beautiful islands in the world! Can't wait to see for ourselves.
Stay tuned...
Once this front passes and we can begin moving again, we will eb heading on to the Exuma Islands, just south of here. We have been told that they may be the most beautiful islands in the world! Can't wait to see for ourselves.
Stay tuned...
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
From Nassau Bahamas New Years day!
Hello from Nassau, Bahamas!
We've had a great couple of weeks as we progressed across the Gulf Stream into the Bahamas for our first foreign entry.
After visiting our boat broker friend at Jewfish Creek, in the upper Florida Keys for a couple of days, we returned to No-Name Harbor on Key Biscayne to ready for our crossing. We met several cruisers doing the same as a pot-luck supper at the park provided a chance to compare notes and previous experience to those of us more novice in this pursuit. We found that many were anticipating favorable weather and seas for the following morning (Christmas day) so it was decided that we'd all check in with each other around 4 AM via VHF radios to monitor final decisions and timing for departures.
Our Christmas eve was rather restless as apprehension set in, yet we felt somewhat rested when the alarm went off at 3:45 AM Christmas morning. Checking in with the boats we had determined to have the strongest experience, led us to find some feeling reluctant to go due to some uncertainty regarding a current weather forecast and its expected effect on the stream. One other boat felt that the forecast, although not perfect, yielded a safe opportunity for a good crossing. We decided to go with them as we were tired of being "held hostage" in this crowded harbor with too many boats and a weather window we predicted to be getting shorter. So at 5 Am we pulled out of the harbor and slid around the bend on Key Biscayne to begin our first solo crossing. The seas were fairly calm to out about 5 miles where they began to steepen, as expected.
The Gulf Stream, the fastest flowing river in the world, runs northward up the coast of Florida and the lower east coast, before shooting off shore near Cape Hattaras. It can be a raging lion or a sleepy pussy cat. For our crossing it seemed in between. Once we got about 10 miles out we began to feel the strong current below our catamaran as we motored across the "river". The wind was too much on our nose to put up any sails, at this time so we waited for it to change to a more favorable direction before attempting to add some sail power to our vessel. We motored at a slower speed than we were capable of, due to wanting to stay with our crossing companion, a mono hull named Highlander, manned by new friends Bill and Susie from Kentucky. We were, however able to average around 5 kts, an acceptable cruising speed. Because the Gulf Stream moves so rapidly northward one must select the correct angle of crossing to wind up at the desired spot some 50 miles away. The stream is about 20-40 miles across, depending on your location, and once well into it, we experienced a maximum of around 4' waves. Our cat handled them with ease even through the occasional bow crasher.
We felt the northerly flow ease as we approached the islands of Bimini and Gun Cay, our intended arrival point. We had correctly adjusted our crossing direction as we found Bimini in our binoculars a few miles off our bow and arrived to the south coming between Bimini and Gun Cay. Since we still had good daylight, we decided to continue across the Bahama Banks toward our customs clearance destination at Chub Cay. The banks are a vast flat shallow "lake" with depths varying to about 20' maximum. Because of this, the wind direction and tidal direction can, upon conflicting directions, make for a very unpleasant crossing. Since wind was not an issue to us we continued without concern toward an evening anchorage out on the banks just a little way "off the highway". We anchored in 10' of water and enjoyed a well deserved Christmas night's rest. Early to rise we headed off toward Chub Cay under jib and motor power. We arrived at Chub Cay in early afternoon and anchored offshore of the exclusive, private resort.
The next day we took our dingy ashore to see about clearing customs. After being told we needed to bring our boat to the dock for clearing customs we returned with the cat at around 9:30 AM. We were then told that the customs agent would arrive shortly to do the paperwork. After a couple of hours, and a renewed inquiry, we were told that it would not happen until after the lunch hour break at 1PM. At roughly 1:30, we were told that they would take us to the airport to the customs office for customs clearance. Once we got to the airport office, we found ourselves waiting for every air traveler's arrival to be cleared ahead of us. It seemed that every time it looked like we would be next, another plane would land and we would have to sit and wait for them to clear. Finally at 4:30 we were done and were returned to the boat. We decided that we were simply looked at as "boat trash" and were treated accordingly by the customs officer.
The next day our traveling companions, Bill and Susie, suggested we try our luck diving for lobster and we set off for a nearby island on our respective dingies, snorkel gear in tow with a packed lunch for the trip. Although we didn't have any luck finding lobster, we all had a nice swim and enjoyed wandering the beach after our lunch. Once back on board, we decided to go ashore to try to do some internet and were turned away by the security, claiming they needed to charge us a $100 "docking fee" if we wanted to come ashore. That left a rather sour taste in our mouths we decided to head out in the morning rather than feel like indentured servants to be kept at arm's length from this hoity-toity bunch of yahoos. That night we invited Bill and Susie over for a BBQ dinner and to plan our next days travel plans. Soon we were ready to hit the sack, after a fun day in the sun.
Next day, up early we headed off across the "Tongue of the Ocean", some of the deepest waters on earth, up to 10,000 feet deep! This too, can present a tough crossing if winds and waves rear their ugly heads but we hit the timing right and had a rather uneventful crossing into Nassau harbor. I say uneventful with a footnote, however. As we could travel faster, we arrived a couple of hours ahead of Bill and Susie and after anchoring and dropping the dingy, we received a call on VHF from them announcing a critical mechanical failure for them leaving them about 2 miles offshore without motor power. The waves, although not threatening, were indeed too steep to engage in a towing effort so they decided to raise their sails and sail into the harbor under wind power. Although this sounds relatively easy, Nassau Harbor is a VERY busy harbor with cruise ships, tour boats, pleasure boats, fishing boats and an active current and tidal motion to contend with. They made it inside the harbor without incident and anchored at their earliest opportunity. The next morning, we dingied down in the morning and helped motor them into a betteran chorage until they can determine what repairs will be necessary.
Since a rather strong cold front is approaching the islands, many of the boats planning to move on toward the Exuma Islands are finding a need hunker down and await a better weather window before heading across more potentially difficult water, into the Exumas. Because Nassau Harbor has poor anchorage grounding in strong winds, we have since decided to take a slip at one of the Marinas and take advantage of easy shoreside access to finish preparing our vessel for the remainder of the winter adventure. We hope to be back underway following the passage of the cold front at the end of this week and would love to be anchored in the Exumas by next weekend. Time will tell.
Today is New Year's Day, 2008. We just returned from the Junkanoo Festival parade, held twice a year in the islands, once on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) and then again on New Year's Day morning (scheduled to begin at midnight New Years Eve and go 'til dawn!). Due to some late night rain storms, the start time was delayed until around 4:30Am so our decision to skip the overnight part and try to catch the early morning was a good one. We Actually awoke at 3AM and flipped on local TV to see what was happening, only to hear of the rain delay. Back to bed and up again at 7 to go downtown and try to catch the end of the parade. Fortunately,the parade was still in full swing when we arrived and we really enjoyed the colors and dancing and music. It was kind of a combination, Rose parade, Mardi Gras, and street dance all mixed together. Very colorful costuming and elaborate floats pitted one neighborhood group against another in this annual bachanal. We wandered around enjoying the affair all morning and felt that we had really gotten the full flavorof the affair.
Talking with some of the participants afterwards, we found out that the competition was primarily for bragging rights although their were cash prizes involved. Their were 6 major (Class A) groups with major sponsorship, whom were provided seed moneys for costume materials, yet each group was responsible for their "theme"and the decorations of all of their presentation. Around 100-200 participants were involved in each groups presentation and they each included a marching band, some major floats including many colorful talented native-style dancers. Then at the end the costumes and floats all go in the dumpster and they start anew next year. They told us it takes about 2 months to make the stuff working everyday! We really felt this was a cultural affair not to be missed, and were so glad we were able to witness it, first hand.
We have been so impressed with the friendliness of the Bahamian locals from the formalness in their greetings to the politeness of their manners. We've traveled all over the city on the public busses, through areas of the island which many tourists never see, and have never felt threatened in any way. Always been greeted and assisted when we'd ask directions and found them to be gracious and kind always. Crime is a big problem here, however, so we are not acting foolishly and carelessly, yet we've felt very secure in our inner island travels.
For the next few days, we'll be sitting at the Marina, awaiting the weather to clear up, before resuming our passages south.
Here's wishing everyone a fabulous new year and the best to you all for 2008!!!
Rick and Suz
We've had a great couple of weeks as we progressed across the Gulf Stream into the Bahamas for our first foreign entry.
After visiting our boat broker friend at Jewfish Creek, in the upper Florida Keys for a couple of days, we returned to No-Name Harbor on Key Biscayne to ready for our crossing. We met several cruisers doing the same as a pot-luck supper at the park provided a chance to compare notes and previous experience to those of us more novice in this pursuit. We found that many were anticipating favorable weather and seas for the following morning (Christmas day) so it was decided that we'd all check in with each other around 4 AM via VHF radios to monitor final decisions and timing for departures.
Our Christmas eve was rather restless as apprehension set in, yet we felt somewhat rested when the alarm went off at 3:45 AM Christmas morning. Checking in with the boats we had determined to have the strongest experience, led us to find some feeling reluctant to go due to some uncertainty regarding a current weather forecast and its expected effect on the stream. One other boat felt that the forecast, although not perfect, yielded a safe opportunity for a good crossing. We decided to go with them as we were tired of being "held hostage" in this crowded harbor with too many boats and a weather window we predicted to be getting shorter. So at 5 Am we pulled out of the harbor and slid around the bend on Key Biscayne to begin our first solo crossing. The seas were fairly calm to out about 5 miles where they began to steepen, as expected.
The Gulf Stream, the fastest flowing river in the world, runs northward up the coast of Florida and the lower east coast, before shooting off shore near Cape Hattaras. It can be a raging lion or a sleepy pussy cat. For our crossing it seemed in between. Once we got about 10 miles out we began to feel the strong current below our catamaran as we motored across the "river". The wind was too much on our nose to put up any sails, at this time so we waited for it to change to a more favorable direction before attempting to add some sail power to our vessel. We motored at a slower speed than we were capable of, due to wanting to stay with our crossing companion, a mono hull named Highlander, manned by new friends Bill and Susie from Kentucky. We were, however able to average around 5 kts, an acceptable cruising speed. Because the Gulf Stream moves so rapidly northward one must select the correct angle of crossing to wind up at the desired spot some 50 miles away. The stream is about 20-40 miles across, depending on your location, and once well into it, we experienced a maximum of around 4' waves. Our cat handled them with ease even through the occasional bow crasher.
We felt the northerly flow ease as we approached the islands of Bimini and Gun Cay, our intended arrival point. We had correctly adjusted our crossing direction as we found Bimini in our binoculars a few miles off our bow and arrived to the south coming between Bimini and Gun Cay. Since we still had good daylight, we decided to continue across the Bahama Banks toward our customs clearance destination at Chub Cay. The banks are a vast flat shallow "lake" with depths varying to about 20' maximum. Because of this, the wind direction and tidal direction can, upon conflicting directions, make for a very unpleasant crossing. Since wind was not an issue to us we continued without concern toward an evening anchorage out on the banks just a little way "off the highway". We anchored in 10' of water and enjoyed a well deserved Christmas night's rest. Early to rise we headed off toward Chub Cay under jib and motor power. We arrived at Chub Cay in early afternoon and anchored offshore of the exclusive, private resort.
The next day we took our dingy ashore to see about clearing customs. After being told we needed to bring our boat to the dock for clearing customs we returned with the cat at around 9:30 AM. We were then told that the customs agent would arrive shortly to do the paperwork. After a couple of hours, and a renewed inquiry, we were told that it would not happen until after the lunch hour break at 1PM. At roughly 1:30, we were told that they would take us to the airport to the customs office for customs clearance. Once we got to the airport office, we found ourselves waiting for every air traveler's arrival to be cleared ahead of us. It seemed that every time it looked like we would be next, another plane would land and we would have to sit and wait for them to clear. Finally at 4:30 we were done and were returned to the boat. We decided that we were simply looked at as "boat trash" and were treated accordingly by the customs officer.
The next day our traveling companions, Bill and Susie, suggested we try our luck diving for lobster and we set off for a nearby island on our respective dingies, snorkel gear in tow with a packed lunch for the trip. Although we didn't have any luck finding lobster, we all had a nice swim and enjoyed wandering the beach after our lunch. Once back on board, we decided to go ashore to try to do some internet and were turned away by the security, claiming they needed to charge us a $100 "docking fee" if we wanted to come ashore. That left a rather sour taste in our mouths we decided to head out in the morning rather than feel like indentured servants to be kept at arm's length from this hoity-toity bunch of yahoos. That night we invited Bill and Susie over for a BBQ dinner and to plan our next days travel plans. Soon we were ready to hit the sack, after a fun day in the sun.
Next day, up early we headed off across the "Tongue of the Ocean", some of the deepest waters on earth, up to 10,000 feet deep! This too, can present a tough crossing if winds and waves rear their ugly heads but we hit the timing right and had a rather uneventful crossing into Nassau harbor. I say uneventful with a footnote, however. As we could travel faster, we arrived a couple of hours ahead of Bill and Susie and after anchoring and dropping the dingy, we received a call on VHF from them announcing a critical mechanical failure for them leaving them about 2 miles offshore without motor power. The waves, although not threatening, were indeed too steep to engage in a towing effort so they decided to raise their sails and sail into the harbor under wind power. Although this sounds relatively easy, Nassau Harbor is a VERY busy harbor with cruise ships, tour boats, pleasure boats, fishing boats and an active current and tidal motion to contend with. They made it inside the harbor without incident and anchored at their earliest opportunity. The next morning, we dingied down in the morning and helped motor them into a betteran chorage until they can determine what repairs will be necessary.
Since a rather strong cold front is approaching the islands, many of the boats planning to move on toward the Exuma Islands are finding a need hunker down and await a better weather window before heading across more potentially difficult water, into the Exumas. Because Nassau Harbor has poor anchorage grounding in strong winds, we have since decided to take a slip at one of the Marinas and take advantage of easy shoreside access to finish preparing our vessel for the remainder of the winter adventure. We hope to be back underway following the passage of the cold front at the end of this week and would love to be anchored in the Exumas by next weekend. Time will tell.
Today is New Year's Day, 2008. We just returned from the Junkanoo Festival parade, held twice a year in the islands, once on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) and then again on New Year's Day morning (scheduled to begin at midnight New Years Eve and go 'til dawn!). Due to some late night rain storms, the start time was delayed until around 4:30Am so our decision to skip the overnight part and try to catch the early morning was a good one. We Actually awoke at 3AM and flipped on local TV to see what was happening, only to hear of the rain delay. Back to bed and up again at 7 to go downtown and try to catch the end of the parade. Fortunately,the parade was still in full swing when we arrived and we really enjoyed the colors and dancing and music. It was kind of a combination, Rose parade, Mardi Gras, and street dance all mixed together. Very colorful costuming and elaborate floats pitted one neighborhood group against another in this annual bachanal. We wandered around enjoying the affair all morning and felt that we had really gotten the full flavorof the affair.
Talking with some of the participants afterwards, we found out that the competition was primarily for bragging rights although their were cash prizes involved. Their were 6 major (Class A) groups with major sponsorship, whom were provided seed moneys for costume materials, yet each group was responsible for their "theme"and the decorations of all of their presentation. Around 100-200 participants were involved in each groups presentation and they each included a marching band, some major floats including many colorful talented native-style dancers. Then at the end the costumes and floats all go in the dumpster and they start anew next year. They told us it takes about 2 months to make the stuff working everyday! We really felt this was a cultural affair not to be missed, and were so glad we were able to witness it, first hand.
We have been so impressed with the friendliness of the Bahamian locals from the formalness in their greetings to the politeness of their manners. We've traveled all over the city on the public busses, through areas of the island which many tourists never see, and have never felt threatened in any way. Always been greeted and assisted when we'd ask directions and found them to be gracious and kind always. Crime is a big problem here, however, so we are not acting foolishly and carelessly, yet we've felt very secure in our inner island travels.
For the next few days, we'll be sitting at the Marina, awaiting the weather to clear up, before resuming our passages south.
Here's wishing everyone a fabulous new year and the best to you all for 2008!!!
Rick and Suz
Crossing the Gulf Stream (written on Christmas day)
Hello Everyone!
We made it across the Gulf Stream on Christmas day and had a beautiful crossing. We left at "O-dark-thirty" (actually 5am) and didn't get any significant wave action until well into the stream, then only 2 to 4 footers. The boat handled as advertised and nobody did any breakfast over the rail :)
Hope you all had a terrific holiday and are revving up for NYE. We plan to be in Nassau for the big Junkanoo festival that night. Native dancing in outrageous costumes. We are currently at Chub Cay awaiting the Customs guy to return to his office with forms so we can be "legal". This afternoon we are going spear fishing for lobster with a guy and his wife we met earlier in the week and came across the stream with.
Have a great New Year and enjoy the snow.
We'll write soon. Love to you all, Rick and Suz
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