We created some beach art with Sharon & Mike at Rock Sound, Eleuthera. We collected 75 jandals/shoes (none of them were matching) within 200m, along with all the other flotsam that had been washed up on the beach.
Mutton Snapper & Conch for dinner
There are all sorts of strange rock shapes in the Bahamas.
The fish were expecting to be fed, but all Pete could offer was a piece of rag!!!
This plane wreck made a great home for a school of snapper in the Marine Reserve
Pete always enjoys beach combing, I think he wants to join the "Village People"
Swimming pigs come out to greet us at Big Major Spot
Sorry Babe you can't come on board......
"C Class" regatta at Little Farmers Cay
The crew, all locals, stack out on boards
The crew, all locals, stack out on boards
Anyone for some Conch Salad?
Bush walk on Great Iguana Cay
The team go beach combing for "Sea Beans"
The ocean beaches are littered with plastic flotsam which never breaks down completely.....
Muriel spends her days weaving straw at Black Point Settlement, it is sold to Nassau to be made into mats & bags etc. They only get paid a pittance for the labour involved, but what else can they do???
Agnes took the boys to meet her husband who builds the "C Class" boats. He is also races the boats & she showed us his numerous trophies proudly displayed in their home.
We took our Mahi Mahi over to show the Aussies, we weren't showing off - honestly.
They paid us back by luring us on board with drinks, then when we weren't looking Mike tried to steal it out of our dinghy!!!!!
There were over 280 boats anchored in George Town
More hats - I'm positive he wants to join the "Village People"
The local auto repair shop in George Town
We joined Mike & Sharon on board Azimus for Brian's great pizzas.
(Sherry-Lynn, Sharon, Brian, Neeve, Dylon & Michael)
"Sun downers" at George Town
Followed by a bonfire
28lb King Mackerel
Paradise....
We met Ophelia Smith & her daughter, Maralyn on Long Island. Ophelia is an amazing woman, she must be well over 70 years old but she still paddles her punt over to her farm to pick pigeon peas most days & make bread to sell at her home. She has been given awards for her services to agriculture & the straw weaving industry on Long Island.
The local convenience store in one of the small villages on Long Island
Pete trying to catch those elusive Bone Fishing
There are many beautiful inlets such as this one on Long Island
Saliander & Terra Nova anchored in Calabash Bay, Long Island
We’re still enjoying the Bahamas. It’s not too hot, around 30degs C & the water temperature is 23degs C. We’ve been catching a few fish & getting some conch, & the local people are just lovely. We’ve been in the company of Australian’s, Sharon & Michael travelling on their boat Terra Nova, for the past month & having a lot of fun with Trans-Tasman rivalry, however it got a bit “serious” when Mike tried to steal our fish from the dinghy!!! Consequently he later discovered his boat flag had mysteriously turned into a New Zealand flag. We thought that was the end of things when Mike called a truce, only to find a couple of sheep had mysteriously appeared on our flag a few days later…..
As we traveled down the Exuma chain of islands we snorkeled on the coral reefs & in some amazing caves. There’s a lot of beautiful reef fish around, but not an over abundance of good eating fish, although in saying that we have caught enough fish for our needs, as well as providing a few meals for our friends. In fact Pete has caught a large array of fish including Nurse Sharks, Remora, Barracuda, Tuna, Mahi Mahi, Yellow Tail Snapper & Mutton Snapper, the last 3 of which make beautiful eating. We’ve seen the occasional crayfish but you can only get them snorkeling which makes it a lot harder than on scuba. We’re hoping they’ll be more abundant as we get further south. Pete has also kept us supplied with conch which are very tasty as conch salad, conch fritters & cracked conch.
Our big provision up before we left USA has paid off, as fresh produce & alcohol are very expensive & our supplies are lasting very well. Pete has reluctantly relinquished his bread making duties to me & I’m having some great success, although I must admit to having the occasional failure (I wonder if this is due to sabotage, or maybe I just forgot the yeast – hmmmm……) I’ve also got the hang of yoghurt making, finally, & have even made Greek yoghurt as well as yoghurt cheese.
We are conserving our diesel supplies by sailing as much as possible which we are able to achieve 99% of the time. We’ve also managed to get to most anchorages without too much drama with our 8ft draft, even if we do have only a few inches or so under our keel at times which can be a bit nerve wracking. Every so often we have had to anchor out & wait for the tide to come in so we could get in over the bores (sand bars) to the “deep” 3m holes…..
Several of the settlements on the different cays have organized events to attract the cruisers to their villages. We attended the “First Friday in February” event held on Little Farmers Cay where they had food, drink & craft stalls, along with a yacht regatta for the local “C Class” boats & a number of other forms of entertainment. We went out in the dinghy to get an up close view of the yachting action which was very exciting. There were 6 boats in the races, they all anchored along the start line, there was a bit of “argy bargy” as the competitors jostled for prime position & tried to psych out their opponents. When the staring horn was blown they all scrambled to get their anchors up & hoist their sail to head off on a port tack, then there were 3 windward / leeward legs. The boats are 18ft long with a 38ft mast & 26 ft boom so the sail is huge for the size of the boats. The 4 crew members stack out the sides on long planks & there is a tremendous amount of pressure goes on the mast, as one boat found out when their mast gave way & snapped in half.
We visited a marine research center & although there were no researchers there at present as it’s their quiet time of year it was still very interesting to hear what goes on there.
There’s a great deal of debris gets washed ashore on the ocean beaches. This flotsam gets carried over from Florida in the current, dumped out at sea by hurricanes & blown off boats out at sea etc. & whilst Pete has a great time beach combing for all sorts of containers & “useful things” , it is very sad to see all this pollution spoiling the beautiful Bahamian beaches. It’s so tragic as most of it consists of plastic, rubber & fiberglass articles, along with nylon ropes & netting which will never ever rot away…..
We spent a week near the bottom of the Exuma chain in George Town. This is a very popular spot for cruisers & there were 280 boats anchored in the harbour. They are mainly from USA & Canada getting away from the cold winter conditions up north & it’s so easy for them to come down here. Most come down the inland waterways which run from Delaware to Florida & from Florida its just a short trip over to Bimini & from there they can do say sails as they island hop to where they want to go, so consequently a lot of them come back to the same spots year after year. There are lots of activities organized by the cruisers here in George Town, including Beach Volley Ball, card & Domino tournaments, BYO drinks & nibbles at sunset on one of the many beaches, various seminars on all sorts of interesting topics. The locals also organize functions at the bars & restaurants, they had a great party on Valentines Day which got a good turnout of people & the music was also great. So as you can see there is plenty to do here if you so desire. We have joined in some of the activities as well as catching up with people we met on the way down there. It’s easy to see why people keep coming back here each year, but after a week we wrenched ourselves away from all the socializing & moved on over to Long Island.
We caught a 28lb King Mackerel on the way over which we shared amongst the other cruisers & locals in Calabash Bay where we anchored, on the northern end of Long Island. Terra Nova joined us in the anchorage 2 days later & we spent 5 days waiting for the wind direction to change so we could get down to the southern end of the island. In the meantime we explored the area, went snorkeling & Pete did some fishing. He still hasn’t caught any Bone Fish, but he did catch a Bar Jack & Nassau Grouper which are nice eating fish. He’s worked out how to smoke fish on the BBQ which is great as we have not seen smoked fish for sale anywhere on our travels; it seems to be unique to NZ & Australia.
We saw 2 dolphins swimming around the anchorage one day & Pete watched them from the dinghy with his head in the water looking through his mask. It was an amazing sight, they were watching a small fish hiding inside a wreck. They flushed him out with their tails & then went in hot pursuit of him. He was able to out maneuver them by ducking & diving, while they tried to wack him with their tails. He hid under our dinghy looking terrified while they once again tried to flush him out with their tails, he then made a quick exit back to the safety of the wreck. They stayed around for a while longer, but went off to find a meal elsewhere. It was an incredible sight to behold & a once in a lifetime experience.
We’ve been suffering from the effects of “noseeums” which are a tiny sand fly that appear at dusk & are very vicious & are creating havoc for us, I break out in big red welts & we both spend the nights itching like crazy. Their toxins are giving us joint & muscles pain & making us very lethargic. The effects seem to last about a week & each time we get over one bout we get attacked again, despite dousing ourselves with insect repellent. We’ve tried all sorts of potions to relieve the itching but nothing is very long lasting. If anyone one has a miracle cure I’d love to know about it…..
We finally made it down to Clarence Town yesterday & although the winds still weren’t ideal we managed to motor sail all the way. The bay here is teaming with turtles so we’re off out snorkeling today. The winds are finally coming around to the North East tomorrow so well take advantage of the conditions, which are ideal for heading south. We hope to be in Cuba next week.
As we traveled down the Exuma chain of islands we snorkeled on the coral reefs & in some amazing caves. There’s a lot of beautiful reef fish around, but not an over abundance of good eating fish, although in saying that we have caught enough fish for our needs, as well as providing a few meals for our friends. In fact Pete has caught a large array of fish including Nurse Sharks, Remora, Barracuda, Tuna, Mahi Mahi, Yellow Tail Snapper & Mutton Snapper, the last 3 of which make beautiful eating. We’ve seen the occasional crayfish but you can only get them snorkeling which makes it a lot harder than on scuba. We’re hoping they’ll be more abundant as we get further south. Pete has also kept us supplied with conch which are very tasty as conch salad, conch fritters & cracked conch.
Our big provision up before we left USA has paid off, as fresh produce & alcohol are very expensive & our supplies are lasting very well. Pete has reluctantly relinquished his bread making duties to me & I’m having some great success, although I must admit to having the occasional failure (I wonder if this is due to sabotage, or maybe I just forgot the yeast – hmmmm……) I’ve also got the hang of yoghurt making, finally, & have even made Greek yoghurt as well as yoghurt cheese.
We are conserving our diesel supplies by sailing as much as possible which we are able to achieve 99% of the time. We’ve also managed to get to most anchorages without too much drama with our 8ft draft, even if we do have only a few inches or so under our keel at times which can be a bit nerve wracking. Every so often we have had to anchor out & wait for the tide to come in so we could get in over the bores (sand bars) to the “deep” 3m holes…..
Several of the settlements on the different cays have organized events to attract the cruisers to their villages. We attended the “First Friday in February” event held on Little Farmers Cay where they had food, drink & craft stalls, along with a yacht regatta for the local “C Class” boats & a number of other forms of entertainment. We went out in the dinghy to get an up close view of the yachting action which was very exciting. There were 6 boats in the races, they all anchored along the start line, there was a bit of “argy bargy” as the competitors jostled for prime position & tried to psych out their opponents. When the staring horn was blown they all scrambled to get their anchors up & hoist their sail to head off on a port tack, then there were 3 windward / leeward legs. The boats are 18ft long with a 38ft mast & 26 ft boom so the sail is huge for the size of the boats. The 4 crew members stack out the sides on long planks & there is a tremendous amount of pressure goes on the mast, as one boat found out when their mast gave way & snapped in half.
We visited a marine research center & although there were no researchers there at present as it’s their quiet time of year it was still very interesting to hear what goes on there.
There’s a great deal of debris gets washed ashore on the ocean beaches. This flotsam gets carried over from Florida in the current, dumped out at sea by hurricanes & blown off boats out at sea etc. & whilst Pete has a great time beach combing for all sorts of containers & “useful things” , it is very sad to see all this pollution spoiling the beautiful Bahamian beaches. It’s so tragic as most of it consists of plastic, rubber & fiberglass articles, along with nylon ropes & netting which will never ever rot away…..
We spent a week near the bottom of the Exuma chain in George Town. This is a very popular spot for cruisers & there were 280 boats anchored in the harbour. They are mainly from USA & Canada getting away from the cold winter conditions up north & it’s so easy for them to come down here. Most come down the inland waterways which run from Delaware to Florida & from Florida its just a short trip over to Bimini & from there they can do say sails as they island hop to where they want to go, so consequently a lot of them come back to the same spots year after year. There are lots of activities organized by the cruisers here in George Town, including Beach Volley Ball, card & Domino tournaments, BYO drinks & nibbles at sunset on one of the many beaches, various seminars on all sorts of interesting topics. The locals also organize functions at the bars & restaurants, they had a great party on Valentines Day which got a good turnout of people & the music was also great. So as you can see there is plenty to do here if you so desire. We have joined in some of the activities as well as catching up with people we met on the way down there. It’s easy to see why people keep coming back here each year, but after a week we wrenched ourselves away from all the socializing & moved on over to Long Island.
We caught a 28lb King Mackerel on the way over which we shared amongst the other cruisers & locals in Calabash Bay where we anchored, on the northern end of Long Island. Terra Nova joined us in the anchorage 2 days later & we spent 5 days waiting for the wind direction to change so we could get down to the southern end of the island. In the meantime we explored the area, went snorkeling & Pete did some fishing. He still hasn’t caught any Bone Fish, but he did catch a Bar Jack & Nassau Grouper which are nice eating fish. He’s worked out how to smoke fish on the BBQ which is great as we have not seen smoked fish for sale anywhere on our travels; it seems to be unique to NZ & Australia.
We saw 2 dolphins swimming around the anchorage one day & Pete watched them from the dinghy with his head in the water looking through his mask. It was an amazing sight, they were watching a small fish hiding inside a wreck. They flushed him out with their tails & then went in hot pursuit of him. He was able to out maneuver them by ducking & diving, while they tried to wack him with their tails. He hid under our dinghy looking terrified while they once again tried to flush him out with their tails, he then made a quick exit back to the safety of the wreck. They stayed around for a while longer, but went off to find a meal elsewhere. It was an incredible sight to behold & a once in a lifetime experience.
We’ve been suffering from the effects of “noseeums” which are a tiny sand fly that appear at dusk & are very vicious & are creating havoc for us, I break out in big red welts & we both spend the nights itching like crazy. Their toxins are giving us joint & muscles pain & making us very lethargic. The effects seem to last about a week & each time we get over one bout we get attacked again, despite dousing ourselves with insect repellent. We’ve tried all sorts of potions to relieve the itching but nothing is very long lasting. If anyone one has a miracle cure I’d love to know about it…..
We finally made it down to Clarence Town yesterday & although the winds still weren’t ideal we managed to motor sail all the way. The bay here is teaming with turtles so we’re off out snorkeling today. The winds are finally coming around to the North East tomorrow so well take advantage of the conditions, which are ideal for heading south. We hope to be in Cuba next week.
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