Playing a bit of catch-up here and honestly thinking that I may put this blog on hiatus – it’s really challenging navigating the tech issues in another country and I truly want to escape from the stress. Anyway, we’ll see how it goes….but here is a download of all the posts I couldn’t post during our non-wifi days… I think Lawson may have our wifi hotspot thang figured out but I’m not holding my breath…

01.16.2015

Courage, redefined

I think back to the courage post I did in Ft. Lauderdale and am laughing. That was nothing! (Though, I must admit, docking there was the only time I had to do it entirely alone. Since then, I’ve had a dockhand at every marina to take my rope.) Last night proved to be more of a test than the crossing itself. We left Bimini around 1pm. By 6pm we were traveling by dark, and that darkness stayed until 6:30-ish the next morning.

The thing is, you set your course and turn on the automatic pilot on the steering and it takes over – all you have to do is keep watch on deck for any other ships. The navigation screen shows where your boat is on the course, how deep the water is, etc. So you just have to keep a general eye out. I had been sleeping and came up on deck to relieve Lawson and I couldn’t believe it: it was pitch dark and I couldn’t see a thing. We’re cruising along, into the darkness, and I’m like, how would you know if there was any danger to see anyway in complete darkness? The one thing about the complete darkness was that the stars were incredible – you could see all of them shining across the sky. Beautiful. Yet it was all so unnerving. I felt myself aging at least 10 years. What if?

I clipped myself in (Lawson has safety harnesses for us all and captain’s rule is we must be clipped in on deck when we are in the deep blue – which this would certainly qualify at 149 feet) and gave Lawson a break, with the i-pad and a kindle book to help pass the time. Lawson stayed watch most of the night though as I went below and grabbed sleep a few times even though the boat was rockin and rollin. Later in the wee hours I came up on deck again to see that the moon had come out. What a difference. It was certainly less unnerving with the moon to light the way.

We finally arrived into Nassau just before sunrise – I have never been so happy to see a sunrise! A huge cruise ship arrived when we did and had to stall – as we did – to dock up in sunlight. We circled around the marina Lawson had made reservations at, signaling them on the radio to no avail. Finally, a guy motioned to us from one of the docks and told us to meet him in one of the slips. We circled around some more and then finally docked – the boat next to us had to move their dinghy out of the way. The dock guy’s name was Dudley and Lawson eased in Curlew so brilliantly that all I had to do was hand him the line. (This isn’t the first time this has happened. Lawson is a good captain and Curlew is a fine boat that turns on a dime.)

So anyway, I told Lawson, no more overnight trips! Too much stress.

Our marina in Nassau was fine though it had one huge drawback. No wifi. Even though their ad said it did. The place was a little run down. Had a big shopping center across the street though with a store like a Fresh Market. We got groceries there and spent $5 for two jalapenos. Kid you not. (Didn’t realize this until checkout or would probably have not gotten the jalapenos.)

1.18.2015

Being tourists in Nassau

Shoot me now. Getting Tristan to do his homework is like pulling teeth. I have newfound respect for his tutor Billie Jo back in Vegas. That is what we have been doing today and just getting ready to go. Our day yesterday was much more exciting and enjoyable – exploring Nassau.

It started with a taxi ride into the downtown area where the pirates museum was. Tristan was on cloud nine because there was a Dunkin Donuts across the street so we started with breakfast there and then the museum. It was actually a really cool museum and we learned everything about pirates that we didn’t know. Next we walked over to the straw market. It was quite the scene with locals trying to sell you stuff as you walked by. It didn’t take long to see that all the different booths had the same stuff and most of it was probably made in China. It was interesting to see though, but we didn’t buy anything. This area was right by where the big cruise ships dock up and there were two in the port, so tourists were everywhere. We went off the beaten path a bit to find The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, which was incredible. Then we stumbled upon a free rum distillery tour that we enjoyed – the tour guide was very entertaining. At the end we bought some rum and vodka and felt like we were buying something truly Bahamian instead of something made in China. We rested and lunched at a place closer to the ships again, which was overpriced but good. Then we took our lives into our own hands by hopping on the bus to go to the cellular store. I felt a little apprehensive in the taxi ride that morning as well – both Bahamian drivers drove like bats out of hell. (Walking in Nassau was equally disturbing because the drivers drove so fast and there were not always adequate sidewalks.) At the cellular phone store we had to buy a $250 phone so we could make it into a wifi hotspot when we’re anchoring up so we’ll have access to the weather and shows for T. Since weather has pretty much influenced every travel decision we’ve made thus far, I guess the $250 is justified. But ouch. There has been so many ouches I’ve become quite immune to it all. (I’m sure there will be the eventual wake up call when we have to come home sooner, but so be it.) Finally, we took a taxi back to the marina and settled in for the night. I was able to get a load of laundry in. All in all, it was a very inspiring day in Nassau and we saw a lot of cool stuff. And I was pleased that I had known about the art museum from my research on the area when I was at SK+G because it was truly the highlight of the day. Plus, only one other person was there! All those other tourists were missing out!

Today, as I mentioned, we were really just getting ready to go…showers, last minute shopping across the street. Thankfully the liquor store was open even though it’s Sunday, and we bought a case of the island beer, Kalik, and some more wine. Since we are heading to the Exuma islands next, anything we can find in Nassau is going to be a lot cheaper than in the more remote Exumas. We’re still having issues getting the hotspot working but we figure, better to get out of this expensive marina (well, a bit cheaper than Miami at $70/night) though we probably would have stayed longer if we could have just had wifi.

So anyway, we finally left around 1ish and had to stop at a marina down the way that had both gas and diesel to fill up. (Deisel for Curlew, gas in the tank for our generator and dingy, which we still haven’t used yet, but will definitely use once we are on the hook more.) We motored out of town and headed for Rose Island, about a half-hour away, where we are now. It’s a safe anchorage because there is supposed to be 15-20 knot winds coming in from the north tonight. Here we’ve joined about 10 other boats and anchored up, had some lunch and now Lawson is finishing off T’s homework. (Thank God. I don’t think I could have supervised any more.) After they’re finished we’re going to try and catch some fish for dinner!

At any rate, it’s great to be away from the “city” and in this beautiful secluded island anchorage. Tomorrow we head off to the first stop in the Exumas. From here on out it should be more pristine nature and less city, but we’re ready for that. And we were very glad to have that bit of culture in Nassau, since we probably won’t have any more of that for the rest of the trip.

P.S. After the writing of this we were up on deck and at sunset a few of the boats blew their conch shells when the sun went into the sea – very cool.

1.21.2015

The most beautiful place on earth – so far…

Today we explored Warderick Wells and it’s hard to describe how beautiful it is. Lawson said today could possibly be the best day of his life. I guess that gives you an idea. (footnote: Lawson admitted to being a little hungover today – as I’m posting this, so maybe the alcohol had something to do with it. At any rate, it was an awesome day.) And while we are just now getting into the true Bahamian island experience we were hoping for, I guess there could be even more beautiful places than this ahead, but it seems hard to imagine. But let me back up here…

After we left Rose island we motor-sailed to Highbourne Cay and anchored up there. This was pretty much an all day journey with one patch in the middle where you had to keep an eye out for reefs. This was kind of stressful (seems like on this trip stress is just part of the equation in some dose) and we did see several reefs but steered safely through. Our original plan was to anchor up there and dinghy into the marina the next day – they have a store and restaurant there and we still needed a few supplies (namely, bread for T – he refused to eat the bread we bought at the fresh market and since sandwiches are our go-to quick easy lunch meal while sailing this was a problem). But the next day we thought about it and it seemed like a lot of trouble to go to shore just for that – there is no town there. And since we hadn’t done the dinghy yet there would be some stress involved. So anyway, we decided to just keep heading south to our next stop, Warderick Wells, which was about five hours away.

T and I did his schoolwork and I squeezed in a nap while he watched his shows (our island soundtrack will always have the sound of the show Avatar somewhere in the background) while Lawson did the motor sailing above. Actually the last two days were the first time he finally got up the sails so he was pretty much on cloud nine. There was one rough spot where we went over some shoals that weren’t marked on the charts but other than that we arrived into Warderick Wells fine. We had to grab a mooring ball there and that was a little stressful because it was yet another thing that we haven’t done yet, but we finally got on the mooring ball. It was a little cloudy and overcast but we could see how beautiful the place was – water so clear, and basically a semi-circle of islands with the park headquarters at the center – this was home to a national park of protected land and everything was so pristine. There was one island right to the left of our mooring that was small and circular – Emerald Rock. The islands were basically all uninhabited except for where the park headquarters were. The guy at the park told us about the happy hour that was starting at 4pm (right after we arrived) but regretfully we didn’t go – we were just too tired to try and do the whole dinghy thing. I guess they have happy hours every Saturday but this was a special one they were doing on a Tuesday.

Anyway, we woke up the next day and the sun was shining and it was just the perfect day. I got things straightened up down below while Lawson got the dinghy ready. He had to get it off the deck and then attach the motor. All went well. We loaded in our stuff and climbed aboard. Then we motored over to the dinghy dock at the camp headquarters. With the sun shining, the water was the most amazing color of turquoise and so clear. It was like a huge swimming pool. We motored through it and it was as if we were going through a sea of glass.

At the headquarters we met the nice park guy who we had heard on the radio – he was American – and didn’t he have about the coolest job on earth? We paid for two nights, wifi use and a bag of ice ($7, ouch). I sat upstairs on their deck and sent an email to our family to let them know we were still alive while Lawson and T went down to the beach below and went swimming. It was an incredible view – I could see all the other boats moored up there along the islands – a seascape of white sands, light blue water, then darker blue water, then the green of the islands. There was a little dock at the edge of the beach and Lawson and T swam out there and waved to me from it. They also pointed to a big black moving blob in the water that I later found out was a nurse shark!

I joined them shortly after and we swam some more – the water was perfect. Then we took the walk to Boo Boo Hill. We had read about this before on various sites and blogs. Basically there is this spot on the hill where you can put your boat’s name on a piece of driftwood and leave it. We’ve been on many hikes in our lives but this hike was unlike anything we’d ever seen. You really felt like you were on a totally deserted tropical island – except for the small yellow arrows leading the way along the path. (One of these signs had a lizard on it looking out at us and it was so picture perfect I thought at first that the lizard was part of the design but then he moved his head and I realized it was a live lizard.) The first part of the hike we walked over hard choral that was gray – it looked like you were crossing the craters of the moon. Little pools of fresh water filled open holes. Very bizarre. Then we crossed a stream of shallow water over white sand that was like powder under our feet. Then we got to the hill section where you climbed up a sandy path with greenery all around you. At the top was the “shrine” of Boo Boo Hill (named for the ghosts of a ship wreck) with hundreds of pieces of driftwood with peoples boat names painted on and the year they were there (one boat had been there every year for the last five years and had each year listed after its name). But what was more amazing was the view from up there. Looking out to the left, we could see all the moorings and boats and islands, similar to the view at the deck of the camp headquarters, only on a grander scale. But to the right we could see out to the Atlantic and WOW. The sea was such a spectacular shade of blue it was surreal. You could also see all the reefs below and different shades of blue. It really is so hard to describe and I was kicking myself because I didn’t have my camera with me. This is the kind of scenery that makes you want to go out and buy a really good camera so you can try to capture it. (We did take some pictures from the camp deck but I’m sure on our crappy camera they won’t do it justice.)

After our hike we swam some more then headed back to the boat with our $7 bag of ice for some cocktails. And some lunch for T. (We had packed sandwiches for earlier but he wouldn’t eat them because of the bread (!) Then we headed back into the dinghy to check out one of the pocket beaches and do some snorkeling. T didn’t like the snorkeling – we’ll probably need to ease him into that – but Lawson and I took turns and it was beautiful. (Sorry I keep using that word!) I haven’t snorkeled or been scuba diving for eons and I forgot how amazing it is. The water here was so clear that you could see everything. I saw yellow-tailed snapper and other schools of fish. Lawson saw a big barracuda. So we swam in this beautiful water with white sand beach everywhere and snorkeled around the reefs on the side. Pretty amazing. Then we headed back to the boat for dinner.

As a final touch of magic to our day, a nurse shark came and swam around our boat. (Maybe the same one from before on the beach by the camp headquarters?) Lawson had put out some chicken drumsticks to thaw for dinner and as he took them out of the packaging in the sink some of the blood drained down the sink and into the water and that is what he guessed brought our five-foot nurse shark around. But this shark was so amazing! A beautiful chocolate brown color with two smaller fishes swimming at each side. We’ve seen so many fish at aquariums but it is something special to see them in the wild.

After a dinner of grilled chicken and yellow rice we marveled at the stars and then went to sleep. What a day. Finally, we feel like this is why we came. This is what makes all the work and stress worthwhile. We are so glad we are finally “in the thick of it.” Tomorrow we leave by noon so we hope to get some more snorkeling in, but we toyed with the idea of staying longer or even coming back. There is just so much to see! Next stop is Staniel Cay and we are springing for a marina so we can get wifi on the boat and load up some new shows and books. Plus I can finally post this marathon post! Staniel Cay also has a town, and we really enjoy exploring the towns.

P.S. Since I’m posting this later I have to add one more footnote here: I forgot to mention that everywhere we went in Warderick Wells was completely deserted – yes there were other cruisers there but each beach we were on was just us, every time. Same goes for that incredible hike. Talk about having the whole beach to yourself! Anyway, I think that was a big part why it was so very different and wonderful.