Off the Map 03/23/13

We’ve been virtually out of contact with the “outside world” for over a week now.  We’ve been from anchorage to anchorage and across a body of water over 3000 feet deep.  We haven’t moved faster than 8.1 knots per hour in, gosh, as long as I can think of!   And even 8.1 knots per hour is an irrelevant figure when you’re doing that in the middle of nowhere with nothing around to PASS! 

The remoteness of all of this might be some people’s vision of perfection – sunrises and sunsets, quiet days and no distractions.  But for a girl of constant movement and social interaction, the whole thing is more surreal than perfect.  I’m not saying that there isn’t a great degree of beauty or mystique about all of this, I’d be beyond crazy if I couldn’t see the magic here – it’s just that I’m allowing myself a moment of homesickness, at least for now.

Anyone who knows me for any length of time will realize how I thrive on community.  We get our fair share of social interaction.  Every day is filled with the radio blurting out hails from boat to boat – including those we contribute as we connect with cruisers in the area.  We enjoy sundowners regularly and meet new people just about every day.  It’s fun to move anchorages and reconnect with boats we’ve met from somewhere along the way.  BUT – when all is said and done, there’s really nothing quite as wonderful as friends who “get” you. 

Our life in Charleston included everything from volunteering with Special Olympics to riding with our motorcycle coffee group.  We enjoyed meeting with the Cruising Club of Charleston and I met with my book club and “Dining for Women” every month.  I miss singing with the CSO Gospel Choir and paddling with our countless friends in Dragon Boat Charleston.  Add to this our two great kids, fun neighbors, business associates, dockside neighbors and amazing friends and you get a feel for what we left behind.

I know our adventure is a romantic dream.  I feel the same way about all of those who inspired this journey throughout our past.  And the adventure itself is beyond measure.  The sunrises and sunsets really ARE breathtaking – EVERY DAY!  And the crystal clear water, amazing horizons, colorful fish and limitless vistas can’t be discounted, no matter how you look at it.  But I have to say – I’m feelin’ homesick.

We left the calm waters of the past few days in the Exumas across the Exuma Sound to Eleuthera yesterday.  The winds were perfect – about 15 – 20 knots from the southeast providing a slightly following breeze and sea that filled our sails and pushed us along without any drama.  We cut the engine after weighing anchor in our spot at Cambridge Key until the final turn into the Rock Sound Harbor, about 40 miles.  It was an amazing day.

We arrived with our crossing friends aboard Puffin and Providence and grabbed an anchorage that promised protected conditions from the increasing winds.  We gathered together for a wonderful meal of fresh caught mahi (good goin’ Puffin!) and sides we contributed.  We shared stories and said our goodbyes as they both left early today for points further north. 

And that’s how this life goes.  Friends are made every single day – and in hours they become GOOD friends.  With shared challenges and fears, this lifestyle creates instant camaraderie.  Then they’re gone.  Then the next day dawns and you meet others from along your path - today we met up with Dark Star and Lamareux who pulled into the anchorage this afternoon – both boats we’ve run into (not literally of course!) throughout last year and this.   As happy as we are to see familiar faces, the faces of family and friends at home come even clearer in view.

So the point of all of this is to say – in case you’re wondering . . . you’re missed!  This girl, in particular, would give anything to be in a room with you all even for just a moment or two.  Get and give a smile and a hug and share a laugh of FAMILIAR times together.  I’m lovin’ what we’re doing here and marvel every single day at what we’ve actually accomplished . . . but I sure will be happy to see your faces when we pull back into our port called HOME.

Cruising with Kids 03/21/13

Since our last report, we have been exploring the waters of the middle Exumas.  We were in this area on our way down but somehow just didn’t know how to “do it” right.  In traveling with our pals on Truansea, we’ve learned now how to make the most of this amazing area.

It’s been fun spending the days with our three boats, all in different stages of our lives and our cruising experiences.  None of us has done the Bahamas before, Truansea is a family, we’re fairly recent empty-nesters, and Providence in a single grandfather!  I think we’ve got it all covered!

We’ve spent our evenings together, all contributing to meals each night.  We have eaten lobster three nights, with 6 lobsters of all sizes and types to try along with three HUGE spider crabs and one grouper.  One lobster was a shovelhead that was quite different in taste, sweeter, than the others.  We made lobster/crab paella, grilled lobster and finally lobster fried rice!  We’re certainly not going hungry!

With Cole (9) and Logan (11) along, every day has quite a different speed to it.  Their endless energy is catchy and we’ve been nearly nonstop with snorkeling and spear fishing from one reef to the next.  We’ve been anchored in the Pipe Creek area which is quite remote and utterly beautiful – both above and below the water.  We explored lots of different snorkeling spots all through the area, sometimes taking the dinghy on high speed rides for ½ hour to get where we were going.

On top of the snorkeling from spot to spot, we traveled to a nearby marina with a host of sharks waiting the next fishing boats to arrive.  The marinas around here are frequented by these sharks that stay nearby looking for the scraps that are thrown in the water when the day’s catch are cleaned.  The boys had it in their minds that they HAD to swim with some sharks . . . so swim they did!  At first the rest of us were happy to watch as Mark joined the boys in their quest – but it didn’t take long before we were all in the water.   I must say, this life sure surprises me from one day to the next!

After the shark adventure, we headed further north to check out an area called the “bubble baths”.  After a hike across the island, we arrived at an interior pool that is fed from washover from the waves on the other side of a rock wall.  As the tide rises, the waves wash over the rocks in a frothy spill and create a natural bubbly bath!  The pool was fun to snorkel in and the champagne bubbles were great fun and we headed back to the anchorage exhausted and happy.

Yesterday we left Pipe Creek and moved back into the Exuma Park area with its “no take” policy meaning the fresh fish and lobster options are over!  So yesterday we had a quick passage and anchorage before we immediately headed back out with the snorkeling gear to see the infamous elkhorn coral in the area.  As we swam into the area I was impressed with much larger coral formations than we had seen to date – and then I turned around one coral head to see what we had come looking for.  Elkhorn coral is just massive!  Rising probably two stories from the ocean floor, this bed of coral is some of the only remaining on the planet!

The area is loaded with opportunities to see nature’s amazing offerings at every turn.  We’re so enjoying our time out here and are quickly becoming comfortable with maneuvering between boat, dinghy and underwater without as much ado as it first required.  With salt and sand being our constant companions, we’ve learned how to better keep it out of our living areas.  With all the snorkeling we’ve done, we know what we need and it only takes minutes to get ready to head out.  With the long dinghy rides, we know what to keep on hand and haven’t had to turn around to retrieve supplies or fuel in some time now!  Yes, we’re getting into our groove!

On top of our nature explorations, we nightly have played games or watched movies and this morning exchanged pictures and had coffee while the boys did some school work.  Christine brought along biscuits and stayed afterward to teach me the art of biscuit-making, something I’d wanted to learn for years!  I made a successful batch the first time and have another new talent to add to my list of accomplishments from the cruise of 2012!

In the days to come we will part ways with Truansea as Providence and us will head to Eleuthera and points north while they meet up with others near here.  Another phase of the journey will begin – who knows what new and exciting things are in store!

Getting Better 03/17/13

So we’re on our way home.  Funny how this all works, really.  Something about turning around sheds new light on our adventure and how we handle every day.  Somehow leaving Georgetown seems to have spurred a new wonder in us.  From our first day back at sea with the big waves and swells and fairly strong winds, we somehow are better at what we’re doing here.

You may not know this about us, but Rob and I are not sailors for the most part.  What I mean by that is that many to most of the people we meet out here have been sailing in some form for most of their lives.  Either they started on little sailfish as kids, grew up sailing in the Chesapeake, raced on sailboats . . . they have sailing incorporated into their BEING. 

Rob and I, on the other hand, are fairly new at this.  We both did sail sunfish as kids but only for a season or two.  We owned a couple of sailboats 20 years ago over a period of a couple of years but were so busy working that we really didn’t spend much time in the act of sailing them. 

This current adventure for us is kind of putting the dot on the end of the sentence.  When we sold our boat all those years ago, we had plans of replacing it with another and cruising.  Needless to say, that never happened.  So we’ve picked up where we left off and are finishing that chapter. 

Last year we really only sailed a couple of times.  Most of our days moving were accomplished with the motor.  Putting up the sails was a big deal and we seemed to get a lot of things wrong in the attempt.  But over the course of this year’s path, we’ve actually begun to understand the art.  If there’s any wind out there, we can find a way to use it . . . and it’s a wonderful thing!

Since Georgetown, we’ve managed to sail every leg of our journey so far.  We raise the mainsail at anchor and cut the engine as soon as we’re on course.  We’ve sailed at speeds of 2.1 to 6.5 knots and fall into the spell of it as soon as the engine is off.  We’re now actually learning the finer points of setting the sails and can gain speed with some small changes.

Along with finding comfort with our boat and its sails, we are enjoying every day with much more vigor than ever before.  Nature seems to provide the perfect playground for us and offers new treasures every day.  We have been going for great walks on islands, have found amazing snorkeling spots and wandered sand flats at low tide.  We’ve traveled with several different boats from day to day and are meeting great people along the way. 

This morning our dear friend, Rick, left the anchorage at first light to make his way back to the states.  Just after his departure we learned that our other buddies aboard Panta Rhei had decided to do exactly the same, taking advantage of a great weather window.  So we’re now moving along with Bill on Providence and a lovely family – Mark, Christine, Logan and Cole aboard Truansea.  (and, yes, there should definitely be a blog just on sailboat names!)

After an amazing and beautiful sail right into our anchorage for the night, we set out snorkeling and found some of the best coral formations and diversity of fish we’ve seen to date.  The current was too strong to take advantage of some of the better spots so they’re on the schedule for tomorrow.  We caught two lobsters which we grilled together tonight.  One of those babies was Rob’s first catch – yeah, Rob!!! 

For the time being, we’re not setting any agenda.  We’re moving from day to day wherever the chart shows something interesting to investigate and we’re not in any hurry to make any particular destination.  If this becomes tedious, I guess we’ll change the plan – maybe we’ll end up in Eleuthera after all!  But, for now, we are happy watching the sun rise and set, the tides come and go and feeling the breeze blow!  I think I’m finally understanding the addiction of the Bahamas!

About Face! 03/13/13

 We’ve done it!  We are now anchored just below Black Point which was our “at home” anchorage before heading to Georgetown.  We decided to leave a day earlier than the crowd and are traveling with Deiter (German) and Karin (Swiss) aboard Panta Rhei.

Weather, of course, completely drives everything in the life of a cruiser but most especially timing when planning a passage.  Every day – no, make that about 10 times a day – we check the weather for trends and changes.  This is a much easier task if internet is available but, if it’s not, that becomes the main challenge.  There’s an SSB channel that gives Bahamian weather every morning at 6:30am.  Chris Parker is known as the weather guru for cruising sailors.  He seems to have a better eye for weather events that have a more direct effect on the sailing community and he provides the broadcast for that purpose. 

After listening to Chris and checking passageweather.com closely for several days, it was clearly understood that there was a short window open for making the trip out of Georgetown to the north.  We’ve learned more about weather this trip than just about anything.  I can now identify low and high fronts and their behavior.  I am more in tune with the sky and the wind than I ever imagined possible.

Anyway, we changed our minds about a dozen times about leaving Monday morning and ended up pulling out late after hearing reports of boats having made it through the Conch Cay Cut and into the ocean-like Exuma Sound.  The weather had an interesting additional element to consider.  Along with 15 – 20 knot winds from the east and 5 – 7 foot waves, there was also a 13 foot northeasterly swell.  All in all, this means that entering and exiting cuts can be harrowing, not to mention dangerous.

With the next front approaching on Wednesday eve, the weather window wasn’t big enough to take our time.  We wanted to stop in a couple of nice anchorages and enjoy the Exumas a bit more on our way north before arriving back in Black Point to weather this next storm.   So we headed out and had an exhilarating sail for the 40 or so miles we had to go.  Panta Rhei was about an hour ahead of us but we made good time, managed to sail the whole way (saving FUEL!) and maneuvered both cuts without incident.

When we arrived at the gorgeous anchorage at Rudder Cut Cay we had chosen, Deiter called inviting us over for a nice meal and we put the rising, falling, rocking and rolling behind us.  Something about a day offshore manages to do an amazing job of draining your energy, so we shared our meal and nice sunset and had a welcome early bedtime.

The goal today was to sail on the banks to our current location and we up-anchored at 9 to make the shallow passage while the tide was high.  The winds all but died while we made our way but we kept the sails up and moved at an average 2.9 knot speed.  Now, anyone that knows Rob and I should understand exactly how slow less than 3 miles an hour must seem to us!  But, surprisingly, with the sun shining, a gentle breeze and forward motion, we relaxed into the day and enjoyed the ride.

Our anchorage tonight is another little paradise with long beaches and sand dollars to find.  With a pasta dish and fresh bread for dinner and an unimpeded view of the sunset, it’s another cruiser’s perfect day!

Georgetown Finale 03/08/13

All things must come to an end, and so it goes with the 33^rd Annual Cruisers Regatta in Georgetown.  Last night was the closing dance complete with Chat and Chill’s famous BBQ ribs or chicken dinner and hours of dancing to DJ Rockin’ Ron and Cook Karen.

The regatta run has been fun and eventful and we’ve taken advantage of a lot of activities offered as well as creating many of our own.  Rob has especially enjoyed joining in the more serious volleyball players group and he’s been quickly learning and improving his game.  Any of you that know Rob understand that he does nothing half way.  When he decided that volleyball was fun and good exercise, that was all it took.  It’s been hard to get him off the court since!  While everyone else from a game is sitting and taking a break, Rob is now rounding up players for the next game . . . his energy never ceases to amaze me!

I have been completely enjoying being able to start my days with yoga again.  Our instructors have been from French Canadian boats and have that beautiful intonation while leading the classes.  It adds a special touch as they find English words and describe movements.  Add to that the changing weather from day to day and the sounds of the harbor waking up and yoga becomes an entirely new experience!

While Rob’s continually on the volleyball court, I’ve managed to stay busy finding people to walk different parts of the island with.  One day I took off with Jim, his friend Susie, and Karin (from Switzerland) and we hiked down the ocean beach to the end of the island and around the inside back to our origin.  It was a great day, good exercise and I saw parts of the island I didn’t know existed including the cut to the ocean on the south end. 

Amazingly, there were miles of trails completely lined with rock borders – a feat quite impressive considering there are NO mechanized means of making that happen that I can see.  The boat responsible for these trails and many other efforts in the area is being honored tonight at a happy hour potluck on the beach.  Guess I’ll get to meet these folks and be inspired – and it’s always nice to see the boating community come together to recognize special efforts.

Our friend Rick’s girlfriend made it into town during the big storm last weekend.  We planned our timing here in Georgetown to be sure to connect with her.  It’s been great getting to know Mary and she and I immediately clicked.   We’ve shared yoga, a great beach walk, several dinners together and a stingray feeding surprise.  Rick brought his model helicopter to the beach last night to show the harbor and it was a big hit – funny, but the “big kids” seemed more fascinated that the young ones!

The regatta continued with small boat races, an in harbor race, another volleyball tournament and more.  Add to that the countless connections with friends new and old and you have a schedule that doesn’t leave much time for question.   We’ve not had a night open in two weeks.  If there is not a regatta activity planned, there are always people needing to be connected with.  We’ve had numerous gatherings in Moonshadow’s more than spacious cockpit providing entertainment and great food from night to night.

Any time there’s a break in the action, there are plenty of daily activities needing to be attended to.  From trips to the grocery to see what’s on the shelf, the bank to restore funds, the phone office to recharge, ice cream to taste, the café to update internet needs – we never seem to run out of things to do.  Keep in mind that the simplest task can be an occasion, such as dropping off one bag of trash yesterday that required about an hour waiting for the dumpster to arrive!  Or maybe the several hour wait to get a propane tank refilled . . .

The exit plan is coming together and we should be traveling with numerous boats heading north back to the Exuma chain in the next few days.  In the mean time we’ve got things to do, places to go and people to meet.  Somehow I think the rest of the trip may seem at a much slower pace than the past few weeks!

Regatta Days 03/05/13

The 33^rd Annual Georgetown Cruising Regatta began last week and has been going strong.  Over time, we have met numerous cruisers that have been coming to every regatta for over 20 years.  It’s quite the event, offering numerous activities every day for fun (or challenge).  We’ve seen everything from dance parties to competitive sailing races.

I always marvel at some people’s creativity.  One of the favorite events is the Coconut Challenge which has, apparently, grown in fun and popularity every year.  The challenge is a three part event with the first being the collection of over 600 coconuts deposited in the cove.  Every dinghy entered has four participants aboard that can only use their hands, one life seat and two snorkeling fins to propel the boat around the cove gathering the floating coconuts and filling their boat.  Throughout the collection there is a lot of hollering and splashing – OH – and the final piece of equipment aboard every boat was a five gallon pail used primarily to throw water on other contestants!  When all the coconuts are retrieved, all dinghies return to the shore for the count.  There were about 20 boats participating with one boat grabbing 166 coconuts!

The second part of the coconut challenge required each team member to throw two coconuts each over the volleyball net in a span of 10 seconds.  There was a bulls-eye on the other side of the net that provided the means of scoring.  Finally, each team had to catch coconuts in a plastic trash bag.  The coconuts were throw by one team member with their back to the retrieving parties who both had to hold the same trash bag by two sides.  The person throwing was directed by the catching members and fed coconuts by the final player.  It ended up being highly comical as well as dangerous with errant coconuts being thrown every which way.

The night before last we went to the Cruisers vs Bahamian National Team softball game that was one of the most fun events of the season.  With a comical ump provided by the cruisers who swept home base with a toothbrush and introduced every Bahamian player with a flair to the good natured Bahamians who tolerated their limit of two home runs per inning (the score in the first inning was 12 – 0 with no outs!), it was a crazy and fun night.  The weather after the front came through that afternoon turned cold for Bahamian standards and left all of us in the bleachers huddling for warmth – REALLY, it WAS only 61 degrees!!!!  Horror!!

Rob won the golf challenge which took place on the beach.  They had set up a beautiful oceanfront course rivaling even the finest seen on golf TV!  With the holes being from 40 – 60 yards long, the pin was either a large circle, a bucket or a life ring.  Playing golf entirely in the sand adds quite a degree of challenge to the game and the 45 people participating had scores ranging from Rob’s 25 to the maximum of 7 shots per hole.   Another fun activity with the added benefit of a good beach walk and amazing scenery!

As is with most sailing events, the prizes awarded over the past 8 days have consisted mainly of alcohol!  Every first place team wins a Regatta pennant to fly on their rigging and a bottle of RUM . . . second place gets a different color pennant and WINE and third gets another color pennant and two bottles of BEER!  Gotta love the spirit of this lifestyle!

The second sailboat race is today, beginning in the next hour.  The last race went completely around Stocking Island (check out a Georgetown map online to see how the harbor lays out) and ended just before the last major storm hit the area.  Today’s race will be contained within the harbor and promises to provide a lot of viewing pleasure with the course getting quite close to each of the three major anchorages here.  We’re on the outside border of the Kidd Cove anchorage and should have some pretty good viewing!

The regatta will be over in two days and the morning announcements are now beginning to be taken over by plans of boats leaving the harbor in the upcoming weeks.  Georgetown is a common stomping ground for people heading through their cruising adventure from every direction.  Many left during the last window leading to points south, the Caribbean.  A window today saw at least a dozen boats exit heading north back into the Exumas and boats returning to the states.  A rally will leave this week going east to Long Island and progressing up the Far Bahama chain into Eleuthera.  Even other boats are planning treks taking them toward Cuba and the South American coast while many others having been arriving from the south to finish out their journeys that began years before.

The opportunities to meet people, gain and share knowledge and stories are endless here.  We are so enjoying sharing time with new friends and “old”.  We had Rick and his finally-arrived lady friend, Mary, aboard last night for dinner which was a special treat after all our journeying together to reach this point!  Christian and Lorena who we met in No Name Harbor near Miami have been close by this whole journey and were aboard this morning to celebrate Lorena’s 29^th birthday.  We said goodbye this morning to Jim and Irene on Escapaid from our trip down the ICW in Florida as well as Dan and Kathy aboard Majiks who we’ve so enjoyed getting to know over the past couple weeks.

The 3 M's - Moonshadow, Blue Mooe and Majiks.
Saying "so long for now"

Blue Moose, Brian and Sally, headed to the Caribbean last week . . . and the list goes on!  But as you find out in the crazy life we lead, goodbyes are only temporary.  And every goodbye leads to the next “how do you do” and new adventures to be had.  

With that in mind, we set out own sights toward planning our journey back home and are getting more excited every day to know that our dear familiar faces of family and friends await us there and along the way.  And THAT’S what makes this all worthwhile!

BREAKDOWN! 03/02/13

Did I get your attention?!  I’m finally recovering from my recent hard drive crash – total loss, folks!  Outside of the obvious hell of losing our main source of communication, I had backed up a lot of our info not too long ago so the result is not as bad as it could have been.

So – what’s been up on Moonshadow?!  We’re still in Georgetown, the yearly “Cruising Regatta” began last Monday and we’ve been enjoying the activities.  Today is the big around the island race which we’re happy to view from our decks instead of on the course.

Why anyone would want to race their home is outside of our realm of understanding!  But I digress.

Some of the fun activities we’ve participated in include beach volleyball every day, beach walks, yoga every morning with the gentle breeze and rising sun, unending cocktail/sunset parties, rake and scrape dances . . . the list is almost endless.  The regatta itself is a ten day event in its 33^rd year.  Created and run completely by the cruisers, the event has morphed into an all out first class event.  Every day offers at least a couple of activities and then the locals are now on board offering supplemental opportunities.

The opening night of the regatta offered a talent show with lots of fun and creative skits and “shows”.  The most fun was a group of five guys who created a virtual synchronized swimming routine that was just hilarious.  Using a blue drape as the water, they performed graceful and daring moves from the stage behind – funny as can be!

The several night per week dances, Rake and Scrape, are great fun with the locals always being on hand to add their intense creativity to the dance floor.   There’s also a weekly jam session that’s widely attended with every instrument imaginable and great talent. 

There are just shy of 300 boats in the harbor right now so there is no shortage of people to populate the events.  The volleyball fills up with the required 18 players for nonstop games from 2 every afternoon until 5 or beyond.  There are women weaving baskets of all shapes and sizes at the picnic tables, kids on the rope swing, people coming and going to and from the beach in every direction.  If we’re bored here, there’s sure no one to blame but ourselves!

We’ve had fun with new friends aboard Blue Moose and Majiks and reconnected with Long Gone, Escapaid and others.  Banyan and Blue Moose pulled out of the harbor with the last front to start their journey toward the Caribbean and we had a 6 boat free-for-all aboard Blue Moose under the full moon.   Dan aboard Majiks is an amazing guitarist and kept us entertained and singing along.

So as we continue to have fun in Georgetown, the time has begun to start planning the return home.  From here we will watch the weather and choose the course that will ultimately take us to points north.  Thoughts of home make the journey more appealing than if we just had the day to day adventures to judge where we go next – but we have lots of memories yet to make!