Mary and Lance – cruising the ICW & Bahamas

One of the “sad” things about cruising is that you meet all these wonderful people who become very good friends in a singularly short space of time and then you go your separate ways, wondering whether you will meet up again.

Yesterday, we said adieu to Graham and Nancy of Finisterre. They had invited us to the Nassau Yacht Club for dinner the previous evening where we “pigged out” on a fabulous buffet dinner. What a spread, it was!

Graham is 84 and Nancy 78 and still they cruise full time on their trawler. Most inspirational talking to them and hearing of some of their experiences. One of these included being hit by a tornado while at anchor on the banks. The wind ripped all their canvas off, laid the boat on its beam and water was above the batteries at one point resulting in their inability to start the engines.

And, after that, they still continue cruising!!

And here we grizzle if the sea is a bit bumpy and the wind blowing a bit too hard.

Hopefully we’ll see them down the line somewhere – perhaps in George town in the Exumas where we are both headed.

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Dinner with Nancy and Graham of Finisterre

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Fun in the park

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But, sad goodbyes are counterbalanced by wonderful hellos Yesterday, Leanne and her 2 boys arrived after a long overnight flight from California where they stopped off to visit Mary’s brother and wife after flying from NZ.

Well, they were all a bit shattered when we collected them from the airport but we still went out to a little beach where the boys had a fabulous time playing in the sand and sea in the altogether!!!.

After that it was McD’s for dinner and crashing into bed.

This morning everyone’s well rested and ready for some more touristy things as the weather is keeping us from moving at the moment.

Well, I installed the new batteries yesterday and everything looks fine and works correctly!!! So, hopefully this will do the trick although I still have to obtain and install a bigger battery charger at some time.

So today we decided to take some time out and visit the straw market and other touristy stuff in downtown Nassau. this is the area frequented by the cruise ship passengers and is very different to most of the places that we have seen.

Anyway, we took a local bus, called a jitney, into town thinking it was going to take us directly to the straw market. Unfortunately, our trip coincided with the state funeral of Sir Cliff Darling who was the 4th Governor-General of the Bahamas from 1992-1995. Sir Cliff was born in the Acklins and started his career as a taxi driver and also served as both the General Secretary, and President of the Bahamas Taxi Union.

So we were dropped off some way from our destination but ended up with a close up view of the funeral procession as it made its way to the church.

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A beautiful day - our marina and pool

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State Funeral Procession

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A jitney bus (behind the pedestrian)

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Cruise ships in the background

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Downtown Nassau

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Tourists on horse and carriage ride

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After that we made our way downtown and spent the rest of the morning wondering around the streets and shops as well as the straw market. Most of the vendors were selling the same items but some of them were weaving baskets, making various holdall bags and a few were painting various scenes. The most amazing craftsmen were the wood carvers and I watched one carve up a log of wood into a fish some 2-3 feet long using just a small axe!!!

After lunch we caught a jitney back to the marina. These jitneys are amazing. Essentially about 25 seaters. They run regular routes and you can catch one at a scheduled bus stop or just flag one down anywhere along your route. So we’re on this jitney heading back and initially it’s quite empty but gets fuller and fuller as we progress. Now, imagine a bus with 2 seats on one side and another on the other. OK? Now as more passengers get on they fill up from the back using flip down seats into the aisle!

So there we were, 2/3 down the back, totally hemmed in, wondering how we were going to get off. Well, firstly wondering how we were going to signal the bus to stop!!! There were no bells or other devices to signal the driver. Anyway, when you want to stop, the procedure is as follows:

Shout “bus stop” just before you want to get off.

The bus will stop exactly at that point – for us exactly outside the marina entrance – there’s no official bus stop there!!

Everyone politely gets up, flips their seats up and makes way for us to get off!

So off we  get and cross the street to the supermarket to buy some more fresh milk (from Texas!!). And we get the very last litre on the shelf. So when’s the next delivery, we ask the teller. When it comes, she says. There’s no set order or delivery date!

This all calls for a cold one, so we get back to the boat, grab a beer and go and visit our neighbours, Graham and Nancy, on their trawler, a Defever 44, called Finisterre. What’s so very special about them is that Graham is 84 and Nancy is 78 and they are still cruising around from Maine to the Bahamas and have also done The Great Loop!!! On top of that, every year Nancy will return to her own sailboat and sail around Maine for the summer season without going into marinas but alway anchoring out. AND she does this SOLO!! What a great inspiration they both are.

Most of our other friends have left with the current weather window for more southern shores but we hope to cross paths with them some time again. But we may not ……… and that’s cruising!

Stuff

So, we’ve made it to Nassau in time to collect our daughter, Leanne and her 2 boys, Luther, 3 ½ and Zeke, almost 2, who have flown all the way from Christchurch, NZ and will be joining us this Saturday.

We left Chub Cay 2 days ago and spent yesterday cleaning the boat. It’s incredible how much salt dries on the boat. You can’t touch anything but you are left with a residue of salt in your hand. At this rate we can just collect the white stuff and there’ll be no need to buy any.

Yesterday was a great day, hot as hades and in the afternoon we had some new friends over for drinks and soon more arrived. We were happy to entertain Mario and Marie-Christine of Schmetterling whom we first met in Bimini and then encountered again in Chub Cay. We also had out current neighbours Vic and Gigi of Oconee  over and they gave us their “boat card” which came in the form a music CD – Bahamian music! Joining us too were Bruce and Cindy of Aviva. a very convivial time with snacks and drinks in our spacious salon (out of the sun).

Today was just terrible. The cold front attacked us around 3am and the wind has been howling since then. Add to that, the temperature has plummeted to what I call sub-arctic temperatures. Yesterday I was washing the boat with no shirt on and today it’s been jerseys and the like No pleasure here!!

However, I did have some conch (pronounced conk) salad and loved it. Mary wavered but had a taste but declared it too lemony for her taste. I think it was the thought of the raw conch!!

Today, we also had a frustrating day trying to source a new battery and battery charger. It seems that my house bank capacity is not sufficient to cover the electricity draw plus the charger is not up to the task or replacing what we use quickly enough. This results in us having to run the generator for hours while at anchor – much to the annoyance of the sailboaters, I’m sure!!!

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Atlantis in the distance

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Nassau harbour entrance

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Lighthouse at entrance to Nassau Harbour

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Cruise ships in Nassau Harbour

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Atlantis from inside the harbour

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Salt on the transom - you may have to zoom in to see it

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Relaxing lunch at the Poop Deck with ??????

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New Zealand butter!!!

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Jersey on - it's freezing cold at lunch

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Crossings

So what about these “crossings” I alluded to in my heading?

Well, there’s only one – or that’s what everyone, in their blogs and in the various guide books, would have you believe. And that’s the crossing of the Gulf Stream (Miami to Bimini)!!! Every warning, every admonishment, every thought is about this crossing!! Choose your weather window well!! Don’t go if there’s any north in the wind. A north wind against the Gulf Stream can result in huge steep waves making for a very uncomfortable if not dangerous crossing. And so on and so on!!!

Our crossing went as smooth as a baby’s b… well you get the picture!

Nobody tells you how rough it can be on the Bahama Banks!!!

Nobody tell you how rough it can be crossing the Northwest Providence Channel!!

In fact, it’s the done thing to anchor on the Bahama Banks for the night and then continue the journey the next day. Ha!! Talking to those experienced cruisers who have done it more than once, the imparted wisdom is to choose a good weather window and do the 28 odd hours all the way to Nassau from Miami! Who would have thought?? Especially when the advice is to avoid all night travel in the Bahamas?

And the NW Providence Channel?

The forecast was for light (11k) winds and a 2 to 3 foot sea. Great conditions!! Or so we thought. Bad mistake!!

We hit 15-18k and 5-6 foot beam on swells. Sitting – if you can call it that – on the flybridge was next to impossible, we were being thrown around so much!! After the first hour I was thinking to myself – not to worry the admiral, you know – that I wasn’t sure if I could handle another 4 hours of being in this washing machine.

Eventually, I went down into the salon for something – not sure what, now – and “discovered” that the boat’s motion was so much easier!! Why hadn’t I thought of driving the boat from inside before? I guess, simply because we had never done so in the past 1200 miles!!

So we moved down to the salon and had a more bearable trip.

So, dear Reader, if you are planning this trip, take note of these 2 stretches of water – they can be meaner than the Gulf Stream crossing!!

So, we and our friends Mario and Marie-Christine are still waiting for the relaxing times to begin. Up to now it seems to have been a long dreary, problematic haul!!

Can’t wait to get to the Exumas which everybody tells me is magic……..

Well, it’s New Year’s Eve on Amanzi and we were treated to a great fireworks display from Chub Cay club. We and a few other boats had prime seats for the display

Today was a relaxing day – still trying to sort out the battery charging problem. But I’ve concluded that it’s simply a case of balance and we’re not balancing the equation well. We’re using more than the charger can replace. so, it seems it’s a case for a new and larger capacity charger. BOAT=Break Out Another Thousand!!!

Tomorrow we’ll be heading off to Nassau for a number of reasons. firstly to try to sort out a charger. secondly to move away from the expected winds associated with the front that is moving in (but we did have an anchorage planned for this. Finally, we want to be in Nassau to collect our daughter, Leanne and her 2 boys, Luther and Zeke and want to make the most of the calm conditions while crossing the tongue of the Ocean.

Included are some photos from yesterday.

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Clear water

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Brilliant clear water

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Starfish just under the boat at anchor

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Beach at Chub Cay

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View of Amanzi from Chub Cay Beach

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Tiki bar at Chub Cay Club

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My anchor chain from bow of boat

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Fireworks

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Fireworks

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Fireworks

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Fireworks

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Fireworks

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Well! It feels like we’ve finally arrived in paradise An idyllic day, blue skies, calm seas, clear water – like that of a clean home swimming pool.

We took Amadink to a local reef today and tried our hand at crawfishing in a spot that had been recommended to us. Sadly we found none but there were many other things to see – huge starfish, many small reef fish and quite a large stingray as well as a nurse shark. Yep, even the admiral was in the water looking for these elusive crawfish. Initially the current was quite strong around the reef but soon slacked off with low tide. Still no luck.

Eventually we headed back to Amanzi with Mary at the helm of Amadink and with alot of coercement and encouragement even got Amadink up onto the plane!!! Woohoo for the Admiral.

Then this afternoon we took Amadink into Chub Cay Marina and wandered into the store where we bought some rum and Fantas and wondered around the actual club. It was very nice with a great pool but the beach was a disappointment as it was quite overgrown with weeds.

Heading back out we were surprised to see a large number of sailboats that had come in and anchored around us. We then sat in the cockpit and were rewarded with a spectacular sunset.