2023-04-15 Some good rain, exploring the Berry's.

We went for a nice snorkel on Monday at the north end of Bonds Cay.  Not much coral to see, but some large parrot fish and quite a few of them.  Took the dink to land, but did not see any good trails on the island.  

Had  a nice rain on Monday, got about 15 to 20 gallons in the tank, and boat was nicely washed off.  We motored up to Hoffman's Cay, as strong northeast to east winds projected - with rain.

We sat on the boat for the next two days while the winds blew 25 plus knots, and it rained.  Good time to read books, relax, watch movies, and make bread and cookies.   Went over to Breathe for a delicious taco dinner, with chocolate lava cake for dessert - so yummy.  Made the dink trip in the rain worth it (plus the company was nice :)

The rain stopped and the sun came out on Thursday.  We got off the boat and went for a hike to a blue hole, some ruins, and the ocean side of Hoffman's.

At the Blue Hole on Hoffman's Cay, unique overhang on west side.

2022-12-18 Move back south and wait for weather - sudden departure

We spent a couple of days in Marsh Harbor, just hanging out.  Walked and got groceries, visited with a couple of folks on the dinghy dock who were thinking of sometime going sailing.  

Just relaxed, read some books, watched some movies.  

We love good books, but hard to find.   Dean currently reading James Rollins, and Kris reading Charlaine Harris.  Would not say these are great books - but they are entertaining and pass the time.  It is sure nice having the electronic files vs lugging around the paper backs.  If anyone has some recommendations - please share.

We decided on Tuesday to head south again just for a change of scenery  - hoping to monitor the swell coming in and look for  a chance to make the 56 mile jump south to Spanish Wells.  It looked like the coming Saturday or Monday may be good.   

Always enjoy the changing water colors in the Bahamas

2022-04-24 Glass Window

 With heavy winds (20 knots) expected out of the NE for the next 4 days, we decided to head up to the Glass Window area on Eleuthera.   

We sailed from Alabaster Bay to just north of Mutton point with our spinnaker, which we always enjoy

2022-04-17 Pau Pau Bay, Goveners Harbor and Alabaster Bay, Eleuthera.

 We left Rock Sound, sailing north, up to Pau Pau Bay, just north of the Pineapple Cays on Eleuthera Island.   Nice sail, with flat seas.

Nice sail with flat seas

2022-04-10 Still at Rock Sound, Eleuthera

 We are still in Rock Sound.  Have been doing some boat projects.  

Windlass maintenance, and some electrical projects.   We went ashore and got groceries, stopped at the hardware store and had a nice lunch out.

Pretty fancy signage :)

2022-03-06 Thompson Bay, Long Island Bahamas

 It has been a fairly uneventful week for us.  Not much going on.   Decided to take advantage of a weather window and sail from George Town, Exuma, to Thompson Bay, Long Island.   We knew another strong wind front was coming through, so needed to move and then we new we would have to sit for 3 to 4 days while the strong winds were present.

Nice sunset in George Town at our anchorage.

Little Ragged - strong winds, beach walks

 We had a few days of strong winds, so pretty much just stayed on the boat.  

Saw a max of around 28 knots, while waiting out a 3 day blow

What to do while sitting on the boat:  Watch movies, read books, surf internet and, make cookies of course.   Kris is trying to eat a low carbohydrate diet, so tried a new cookie recipe.  

Double Breasted to Little Ragged

 We spent a nice couple of days at Double Breasted Cay.  Met some nice folks.  

Rita on "Como No", took some time to teach me Bahamian Weaving.  You use silver palm fronds to weave.  I just made a small item to learn from, but will try bigger projects later.

Surrounded by sharks, nice beach walk

 Still at Allans / Pensacola Cay.  Nice weather.   Still surrounded by sharks.  Have been working on identification, and 95% sure they are bull sharks.    Not ones to go swimming with.  Sharks in the Bahamas are not uncommon, but usually you are out of the water by 4:00 each day, as usually the sharks come around during twilight hours.    You can generally plan on mid day being shark free.  Unfortunately, we think that people have been feeding the sharks, or cleaning their fish catch from the boats and these have become used to boats having food.  They circle the boat all day long.  We have had from two to five swimming circles around us since we have arrived, with no visible break.

Georgetown, South Carolina

 We spent 3.5 days in Georgetown, SC.  It has a very protected anchorage, that sometimes is a bit smelly from the paper pulp mill.  Lucky for us, only smelly on the morning we left, as the winds shifted from the south to the west.

You check out the anchorage views here: Georgetown, SC Anchorage (https://youtu.be/gaIrFm_dYN4)

We walked to town, got groceries, visited the hardware store.  Ate at McDonalds (3 mile round trip).  Saturday we walked to WalMart (2 miles each way), got more groceries, stopped at Food Lion and Tractor Supply as well.

 Georgetown was ready for Halloween with a Scarecrow garden in a waterfront park.

Georgetown has some nice areas with mature tree lined streets.

Some of the homes are not in nice shape - there is some poverty in this town

Some of the homes and areas of town are nicer as well

Quite a few places had Halloween decorations out.   

                                                                 

We have our Halloween decoration out as well

Took some time to work on making sure the engines were in shape.  Found a coolant link on starboard, and in the process of trying to fix the leak, broke a small plastic part on then engine.  Non critical, nothing a little super glue won't fix for now.

Super glue and a little clamping action

Fixed (temp) part back on engine

Left Georgetown on Sunday, Haloween day.  Temperatures are getting cold, and we need to head south.  Supposed to be North winds starting around 3:00 a.m. in the morning on November 1, so we moved to an anchorage close to the exit of Wynah Bay to be prepared to depart in the early hours of the morning to sail south.

About 200 miles to sail to get warm.

As we hung out in the anchorage, a feathered friend or fiend joined us.  Friend or fiend will be decided on how much poop we find on the boat.   This guy has no fear of us.  

When the tide shifted, and the boat swung, he moved as well to stay in the sun.  Was on the stern, and moved to the bow.

Don't know how long he will stick around.    

3 little Mantas sitting in a row

Karen and Duane on Sojourn invited us to join them and Kathy and Ed on What If at their dock in Oriental NC.  Those two boats sure look good.

Relaxing, checking out boatyards, seeing friends, rowing for groceries and nice dinner out

Spent a nice few days anchored in a very calm peaceful anchorage.

View out back door

Checked out Zimmermans boat yard here, trying to find a good place to haul next spring, and get some work done.  It always pays to know in advance where you want to haul.  

Zimmermans does a lot of catamarans here.  They have a great reputation, but might be a little pricier than we want for now.    If we had major work, I would consider them, but we only need a few thru hulls plugged.  We will look at a few more yards.

A benefit of coming to check them out, is meeting other catamaran owners, and also seeing our friends we met in the spring, that are getting work done on their boat.  Always nice to reconnect and catch up.

We also took time to make a dinghy run up the creek, then paddle the dinghy for about 1/4 mile up a small narrow creek to get groceries, and also had a nice meal out (out being, got to go, and ate on boat) at a good Mexican restaurant. Mi Casa Azteca, in Matthews, VA.   Food was good.  

Would have gone for lunch, but have to go at high tide to have enough water in the small creek to get close.

Matthews looks to be a cute little town, might have to come back this way

Matthews, VA

and explore more, when high tide is not at 7 in the morning, or 6 at night.

Will head out tomorrow, will spend a night in Portsmouth at a marina, do laundry, top of batteries and water.

Fly back for wedding, Dean alone on boat, sailing south

 We left Annapolis and headed north - only to be closer to Baltimore, as Kris was flying back to attend the wedding of our niece.

Kris had to leave the boat at 8:00 a.m., to catch and Uber ride to the airport.   Wouldn't you know it, the hardest rain we have seen since the last tropical storm hit arrived right as we needed to get the dinghy in the water and head in.  Kris was soaked, and left a puddle in the poor Uber drivers car, but made it safely to Boise, then enjoyed a 8 hour drive with Derek (our son) to Bozeman, Montana for the wedding.

Sassafras River, Mt Harmon Plantation, Rock Creek, and Annapolis

 We left Cheasapeake City, and headed to the Sassafras River.  Anchored in Back Creek, near the Harmon House Plantation.  

Motoring to Sassafras River

Great sailing - a little too fast, followed by lots of anchoring and wrapping a line on our prop.

 We had a great sail from Coney Island, NY down to Cape May New Jersey, - only issue was we were too fast.  We left at 2:00 in the afternoon, and sailed the entire way down with a very smooth ride, with only about 2' seas.  Winds 14 to 18 knots, so full main and jib the entire way.  

Not much of a moon, but lots of stars out.  Got into Cape May at 5:30 a.m. in the morning, as we averaged 7.5 knots which was faster than we had planned on.   Dropped the anchor, around 6:30 a.m.

Notice SOG at 10.3 knots surfing down wave.  WOO HOO

The most dangerous thing on a boat - a schedule - and a COVID shot

We always try to time our boat moves for favorable winds and seas.  Lets face it, we have the time - so no need to move the boat when it is not a good time.  A common sailor saying is:  The most dangerous item on a boat is a schedule.

As we were heading southwest, with following seas and wind, having a pleasant sail, we saw this guy northeast.    You can get some decent seas in Long Island Sound, especially when heading against them.  This catamaran we passed must have been on a schedule.

We got our first Covid shot at a  CVS in Newport RI. and after waiting the 4 weeks it was time to get the 2nd shot.    Since we had gone with Moderna on the first shot we needed to find a spot where they offered the 2nd.  Port Washington Rite Aide was the spot so we planned the walk up to the store and then planned on the second day being a "recovery" day.  The first shot didn't have a huge impact other than Kris not being able to move her arm for two to three days but we had heard the second shot had more issues.

So today we have laid around the boat with all the side affects that were predicted, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fevers, and nausea.  Hopefully tomorrow gets us back to normal because these side effects suck.

Common Side Effects

On the arm where you got the shot:

• Pain
• Redness
• Swelling

Throughout the rest of your body:

• Tiredness
• Headache
• Muscle pain
• Chills
• Fever
• Nausea