Our month of June has been spent learning more about The Grand Bahamas Island as well as our neighbors. The cruising community is SMALL. You run into the same boats along the way and while at a slip in a marina…the community is down right TINY. And, life on the island….well, let’s say that it is very connected.

The first week at the dock a Sunday night potluck dinner was planned. Happy hour (drinks and snacks) and potlucks are the highlights of cruising. If you leave the dock make sure you have plenty of snicky snacks and potluck makings as you will be sure to need them! So, we all meet at the far pool for the gathering and we get to meet some of our neighbors we hadn’t met yet. The picture is of the second potluck, which is much smaller as people leave for the summer months!
Barry (of Dee Dee and Barry previously mentioned) loves to greet newcomers with the question, “Have you ever met a pirate?”! What we didn’t know is that Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest was filmed right here off The Grand Bahamas Island. They used locals for many of the pirates because the first week of filming on the rough seas wasn’t meant for some of the Hollywood types cast for the parts so they quickly packed their things and went home!
Well, as the month has passed we have now met our fourth ‘pirate’. These guys had a blast doing the film and the camaraderie still remains. Tom (curly hair) and Barry (grey hair) live at our marina, the other Barry lives in Old Lucaya Village and Jim (who we met last night at the Sand Bar) lives on the island. These guys look pretty darn respectable so it is amazing what the make-up artists could pull off. Every day they would show up at 6am, spend 2 hours in make-up and then potentially end up shooting only a 10 minute segment! Here is the cast of characters!














It has been three weeks and we decided it was time to leave the dock for a sail! We have some really nice ‘time-share’ folks near our unit and they have two 13 year-olds so we invite them to join us. They are so excited because they have never been on a sailboat! We offered Dramamine to the crew before we left but everyone declined. Well, we ended up on a short cruise when one of the boys had to use our stern rail waste basket and then his aunt started looking a bit green around the edges! Ah, but what fun we had watching those two boys all week diving for conch and lobster as well as fish for grouper, trigger fish, hog fish, margate and flounder. We were even invited to join them for a fish fry where we sampled all the fish!

We're on a Sailboat, Aren't We.......?

A recent conversation raised the question of how many miles have we put under the keel since we left Texas Nov. 11, 2009, the answer is 2,100 nm (just over 2,400 statute miles). After reviewing the log we noted some interesting statistics regarding these miles. Of the 2100 miles we spent almost 550 of them and 20 days travelling in the ICW between Texas and Florida. We originally thought it would make a nice start to the journey; we would be able to visit some of the smaller communities along the U.S. Gulf Coast, towns and places that we would otherwise never see. While this turned out to be true, especially for those areas far from any highways, we must say that having done it once we have no desire to ever do it again. By the time we made it to Alabama we were more than ready to hoist sails and kill the engine. As we crossed Mobile Bay we had the chance to raise the sails, but not rid ourselves of the engine at least not for an entire day. The thing about a sailboat is that no matter how hard one may try you cannot sail into the wind; in the case of Boto we can at least get very close (approximately 25 degrees to the wind). Although we can sail directly down wind, that is with the wind dead astern (behind us) it does take some extra effort and requires a good deal of attention to keep the sails full. The final factor for a sailboat of course is the need for wind, sufficient wind to move the vessel through the water at an acceptable speed (we’re not exactly sailors, we’re Cruisers we like to be comfortable and to arrive at our destinations at a reasonable hour, that is in time for happy hour at sunset), so for us we like to maintain a boat speed of at least 4-5 kts.
Given all of the above, the statistics show that at most we have our sails up about 50% of the time and then only half of that time is spent actually sailing without use of the engine. It is inevitable that when we want to head North, South, East or West the wind will be right in our face; or if not in our face then it is too light to move us forward at an acceptable speed; if it is not too light or in our face, then the seas will be from a counter direction making for a rather bumpy ride. As I said, we like to be comfortable.
As we sit comfortably at the Ocean Reef Yacht Club in Freeport, Grand Bahama we tallied the miles and found that from 11/11/09 – 5/30/10, almost seven months we have travelled a little over 2,100 nm, of which:
* 1,094 nm motoring
* 782 nm motor-sailing (with the miles split roughly 50/50 favoring either engine or sail which means that during those trips we switched from engine to sail and sail to engine while at some times utilizing both.)
* 228 nm sailing
That’s not to say that while motoring we did not have wonderful sights, but the quiet and peacefulness that comes with sailing cannot be beat.
Of course there were many times when we could have opted for a longer travel window which would have allowed us to sail off the wind more, rather than directly into it and there were times when we could have changed our destination to accommodate the winds. While we have made the most of those days and nights when we could sail the reality has been that in order to make headway and keep us safe and comfortable we needed to or wanted to motor/sail or just motor.
As we move into the summer months the trades are more and more out of the E/NE, with some time in the SE. Of course the winds are also much lighter more often than not, so good sailing days will be fewer and the courses we wish to sail may not always be accommodated by the prevailing winds. We’ll just have to wait for our weather. In the meantime, we’ll enjoy our time afloat regardless of being under sail, motoring, at anchor or tied to a pier.
Two thousand miles in seven months, in a former life that was one month’s commuting distance at least we haven’t been stuck in traffic and the scenery has been much nicer too.
A footnote to the above, after sitting at the marina for three weeks we decided it was time to shake out the sails and enjoy a day sailing. With no destination in mind and with a favorable forecast we tossed of the lines and headed out into the Northwest Channel. The forecast was for ESE winds at 10 to 15k with 2-3 foot rolling seas. In fact we had 15-20k with 5-6 foot seas still a good day sailing. With some company aboard we enjoyed cruising along the coast of Grand Bahama Island, whichever direction the wind took us. That is we enjoyed it until the larger waves caused one of our guests to hug the rail (get seasick) and until the clew on our mainsail blew out, rendering the mainsail useless, more on that later. So we headed back to ORYC, but it was still a great few hours under sail. As for the torn mainsail, now we have something to do.

Friday, May 28 The winds are suppose to be light for the next several days so we decided it would be a good time to make our way north to see the Glass Window which is an arch opening between the Atlantic and the west coast of Eleuthra. We should be there in time to have lunch and make our way west to Current Cut. The only true way to see the Glass Window is from the water because when we crossed over it on our road trip you can’t see the ‘window’ below the road. Early pictures of the ‘window’ are pretty spectacular but it had been hit hard by a rogue wave so it now looks a bit battered. We motored into the light winds that were on our nose. When we turned to sail west…ah, the wind switched to…you guessed it…on our nose!

We reached our anchorage on the east side of Current Cut as the winds are to be out of the west. We set anchor, had happy hour and then dinner. Then, you guessed it…the wind changed direction and came out of the east. It made our night just a little bumpy but the winds were fairly light. We have set the alarm for an early start so we can make our way through Current Cut on a slack tide (the change from high to low tide when the current is the least). It is an intricate approach and Ed did a spectacular job of bringing us into the cut through some shallow water which is a bit difficult to see in the early dawn hours.

Saturday May 29, We are on our way to the northern most part of the Berry Islands. The ‘Berries’ are beautiful islands but most of them aren’t accessible via a 5’ draft sailboat so we have opted to bypass this chain of islands. We reached our anchorage that was described as lovely in our guide books. What we found is that several cruise ship companies are in the process of developing a stop for their guests. The protected anchorage is now closed off with floating buoys so we backtracked to Goat Island where we saw another sailboat anchored. There seemed to be good protection from the east so we tucked in close to the island. Then, around 10pm the swell from the incoming tide started coming in from the north as we were pointed into the easterly winds. This causes a side-to-side rocking motion that isn’t very comfortable. It actually makes you start to question the wisdom of cradles that rock babies back and forth! By 2am we finally decide it might be worth the effort to make an adjustment to our position so we got up and Ed added a second line from the stern cleat of the boat to the forward anchor line. This creates a quasi-bridle on the side of your boat and gives you the ability to place the boat 30 degrees or so off the wind. While we still rolled a bit it was a marked improvement so we headed off to bed for the next 4 hours before the alarm goes off!

Sunday, May 30, Again, we are up at the crack of dawn to make our way to our new ‘home’ in the Grand Bahamas. After much reading, talking to other cruisers and inquiring as to costs we decided to spend the month of June at the Ocean Reef Yacht Club between Freeport and Lucaya. We are looking forward to tying up to a dock, plugging in the shore power and turning on the air conditioner! We are met by Anthony and Judy as we entered the marina. They gave us a hand as we pulled into our slip and then gave us the ‘local knowledge’ about the marina. They have been here since last December so they are the resident experts!

There is something always going on at the marina because it has time share units surrounding it. Every Saturday a new batch of time share owners come in for a week of fun. Saturdays they take the van to the grocery store and liquor store for the new arrivals. We enjoy having an air conditioned ride instead of peddling to the stores! Mondays the resort hosts a Bahamian dinner along with rum punch. Tuesdays are karaoke nights. Wednesday night is ‘jam’ night where the cruisers with guitars and yukes play at the bar/pool area. Thursdays are movie night starting at dusk with a large outdoor screen. Friday is the Fish Fry where the bus takes you to the local fish fry shacks for dinner. Ah…and every morning there is tennis at 8am where they provide the rackets. As you can tell this is NOTHING like being ‘on the hook’ in the remote islands but it is a fun, nice change of pace.

The first week that we are here we met a ‘time share couple’ from Oregon (Don and Terri) that were a lot of fun. They had a car and invited us to join them at the Lucaya Marketplace on Friday night where there are lots of bars, shops and bands. We had a great time until a random 60 knot storm blew through. Chairs, umbrellas and debris went flying all over. The rain poured down in buckets. When it started to let up we made a mad dash for the car to head back home and see how the puppy dogs and boat faired the blow. All power was out on the island. SIGH…We found everything in fine order so we brought our rum punch and candles up to their unit for a night cap. Within an hour all power was restored so we retired to our boat. It sure was fun to go out on the town as we opt not to ride our bikes in the dark!

The forecast has consistently been the same since we arrived in the Grand Bahamas….90 degrees or so with humidity and a chance of thunderstorms every day. We decided it was finally time to venture out to one of the beaches and not wait for that ‘perfect day’. With the dog carrier, holding Mija and Chula in tow, we headed to the west end beach. We found a lovely secluded spot to set up our Beach Tent. Thanks Warren, Eileen, Grant and Abigail, the wedding gift is certainly coming in handy. The water is warmer than bath water along the shallow water’s edge and gets just a bit cooler as you make your way out to deeper water…just the way I like it!

There are about 10 boats in the marina with cruisers on the boats. The rest have been left here for the summer and are unoccupied. The day after the 60 knot blow another boat arrived at the marina…Dee Dee and Barry. They had NOT had a fun night at anchor and were happy to be back to the dock. Essentially this is their home base and they were just returning from a 6 week trip mainly in the Exumas.

Dee Dee and Barry ‘live’ here so they have a car. Yeah…that thing with 4 wheels that go around! They have offered to take us to the Sand Bar on Sunday night where Steve Davies plays. Steve sang back up in the Edison Lighthouse Band (remember ‘Love Grows…Where My Rosemary Grows!). We vow to not behave like dogs, hanging our heads out the window and wagging our tails, when we get to go on our car ride to the bar!
We arrive at the Sand Bar. There is literally sand on the floor…inside. Amazingly this makes for easy footwork while dancing! As the bar started to fill up with patrons we started noticing that they all appeared to be Ex Pats from somewhere. Dee Dee and Barry are able to fill in the details on many of the locals. There are many interesting stories behind each person, without the insider details though…we all look the same. Flip flops, t-shirts, beers in hand, laughing, singing…having a ball! And, no one has more fun than the owner. He loves to impersonate Elvis and Steve lets him (but we noticed that the owner’s microphone is almost muted so that Steve’s lovely voice can drown him out!) OK…I am not going to throw stones though because Vicky’s rendition of Killing Me Softly by Roberta Flack on karaoke night was, well….a bit strained!

Stay tuned…Mija and Chula just chimed in and they would like to give you the low down on the cruising life from a puppy dog perspective. Coming soon…..