[Hilde’s log]
Yes, that’s right, David had a birthday yesterday, May 6th! We celebrated by taking on water, so we could clean up for lunch at Mangoes. We’ve been being very careful with water for about 10 days, and extremely careful with water for the last three days. The charge here is $20 per 100 gallons or less, so we wanted to be as empty as possible before filling up (we carry 80 gallons in the tanks and another 18 gallons on deck). In addition to being cheap, we wanted to give David’s hand a chance to heal before exercising it too much. All went well at the marina dock, David didn’t strain his hand, we filled up, and then we celebrated with baths and shampoos. Once we were slicked up (I even wore make-up) we enjoyed lunch at Mangoes and then spent the afternoon in the cockpit listening to a CD of Calypso music and recovering from having eaten fried food. It is pathetic when your sundowner is Alka-Seltzer and you enjoy it.
The latest equipment crash is the Garmin chart plotter, which has suddenly developed wavy lines over half the screen. There is a friendly and efficient electronics store in Marsh Harbour called Merlin’s (yellow building, second story, north side of the harbor). David took the Garmin there and was told it often takes 10 days to three weeks for a repair to be effected. That’s pretty discouraging. While waiting for Merlin’s to contact Garmin and get back to us, David has been using the internet connection to look for less expensive alternatives. It’s no fun to shell out $100 for each unlock code on our 2006 Garmin CD. Not only are we paying a lot, we’re paying for two year old maps. He found a very interesting site at http://www.earthnc.com/ which has the latest in marine maps/technology powered by Google. If you click on the site, you can watch a YouTube promotional video. I think you will be amazed and delighted at the possibilities. For example, we spent about an hour zooming into the Houston ship channel where we not only saw all the real-time commercial boat traffic (powered by AIS), but also discovered that they have mapped the hundreds of oil wells out there.
While we sit here at anchor, we spend a lot of time talking about modifications to Raven that would reduce the degree to which life on board resembles camping. My major gripe is not lack of space for provisions. We can pack enough food for three to four months in the space we have. So far, we have never been away from land for more than 10 days, so other than the cost of re-stocking in a place where food is more expensive (like the Bahamas), food storage does not seem to be a problem.
Personal storage, on the other hand, has been a problem. We have two hanging lockers near the bow of the boat. One of them functions pretty well, holding jackets and foul weather gear and David’s trousers with no difficulty. The other one is far too shallow. Even though the front part of the locker is deep enough, the back part is the sloping shape of the hull, which means that the tails of my shirts, etc., get crammed up and wrinkled. Both of us have clothes in the open shelves that line each side of the v-berth, but that is an inconvenient and messy arrangement. Even if I didn’t have too many clothes (I over packed tops, like I over packed food), they are just sitting there on the open shelves. My side looks messy and disorganized (because it is messy and disorganized). David’s side is neat as a pin and all his clothes are folded in plastic boxes, but I don’t like looking at his side, either. It’s like living in a pantry. So for the re-fit, I want my locker converted to shelves and I want closed compartments on either side of the v-berth so I don’t have to look at the items stored there.
Then there is (drum roll) the bed. Gee. What can I say? It’s v-shaped. That means you better like snuggling feet at night. The cushions that came with the boat were inadequate in the extreme. One hip or the other always ended up resting on the wooden frame of the v-berth insert and the cushioned part got flatter and flatter. In New Bern we bought memory foam, made a cover for it with a sheet, lay that on top of the cushions, and covered the whole area with another sheet. It’s much more comfortable, but the foam tends to wad up in the middle and it’s really a pain to access the v-berth storage areas where we keep tools, etc. Our friends on Anastasia sprang for a custom mattress for their v-berth and they told us it was absolutely worth the hefty price tag. We still aren’t sure how to pamper our old bodies and still have access to the storage area. A hinged mattress? Wouldn’t I still end up in the seam?
I’d also like to put sliding doors on the port and starboard storage areas in the saloon. The port side (mine) carries spices, extra meds, Kleenex, books, magazines, etc. The starboard side (David’s) carries his books, the (really small) stereo speakers, maps, sailing books, and bits of wire for hooking up this and that. Again, the open storage makes it feel as though I am living in a pantry.
David came up with an ingenious solution to the counter space issue in the galley. Imagine having to prepare your meals on top of the ice chest that holds all your fresh food and you will understand why I need more counter space. He proposed a hinged door between the sink and the nav station that you could fold down and secure when not in use. Genius, no? So far, no workable ideas present themselves to solve the fact that the refrigerator is just an electric cooler. Viking Rose has a real fridge with shelves. Sigh.
And finally, we have got to replace the seat cushions. Poor old things, they are just flabby.
Great ideas for a refit. But first, we need to find a small oil well to pay for it. Talking about refits, etc. leads us to the conclusion that perhaps there is a big difference between a cruising boat and a live aboard boat. A cruising boat is designed for trips with a foreseeable end, somewhere between a weekend and a couple of years. A live aboard boat means you don't go home, you are home, permanently. We'll cogitate some more and get back to you.
Showing posts with label Marsh Harbor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marsh Harbor. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Mired in Marsh Harbour
[Hilde’s log]
We’re still in Marsh Harbour and I’m beginning to feel about it the way I felt about Vero Beach, Florida. We’ve been here ‘way too long to suit me. There have been some bright spots, like meeting up with long time cruising buddies Jeff and Peggy on Moonstruck and enjoying simply superb weather, but mostly it’s been on the frustrating side – as frustrating as leisure in a pretty port can be. David was kept busy a few days with our engine. While he clattered and clanked under the hood, I did mundane chores and volunteered a couple of days at a local charity.
“Buck a Book” is a local charity that support the “wild horses of Abaco.” Descended from the time of Columbus, if the more glamorous claim is true, these horses have been here at least a hundred years, and probably a lot longer. They are a distinct type of horse not found anywhere else, “a sub-group of the Spanish Barb breed,” and some of the local folk are trying to keep them from disappearing altogether. It’s a difficult task – while they roam wild on the island, they are confined to a nature preserve and must be looked after when natural disasters occur (fire and big storms) and they must be preserved from local poachers. There are only eight of these horses left, four stallions and four mares. For some reason, the mares are unable to bring their pregnancies to term, so there have been no foals for some time. To help finance its efforts to protect the horses, the non-profit runs a used book store. They take donations of books and DVDs from cruisers and the local community. They resell the books for a dollar apiece, and they rent the DVDs for a dollar apiece. They pull in about $200 - $300 a week, using only volunteer help. If your interest is piqued, look them up at http://www.arkwild.org/. They’ve had a rough week, as all the pasture for the horses has burned in a rash of wildfires.
On the theory that anything is more fun than watching David fix the engine, I volunteered to run the bookstore for a couple of days. The store is housed in a container, something along the order of a pod, that’s about 20 x 15. Like a pod, it opens only at the end. It’s lined with bookshelves and DVD racks and I guess they have about 1,000 titles at any one time. It’s a boon for the cruising community, because most cruisers devour books at an alarming rate. One of the perks of the job is getting to make the Buck a Book announcement on the morning “cruiser’s net” – kind of a cruisers’ radio show on VHF 68. So I got to write a little script and read it on the air two days in a row. I’ve now had 4 of my allotted 15 minutes of fame. It was fun – anyone know of a radio station that needs an announcer? And in there somewhere, David and I had a wonderful 8th anniversary.
The second half of the week kinda went downhill. Despite the excitement of fixing one problem with the engine and deciding the other one would hold for awhile, we started really worrying about our time window and our cash flow and the overall state of the boat. Things got kind of depressing around here as we talked over our options. It’s a great idea to keep moving when you are cruising, because the minute you stop, all your worries catch up to you and start yammering. I think I have conclusively proved that worries travel at less than 5 knots.
While we were tussling with real world problems, David came down with a painful bout of tendonitis in his left hand. Being here at Marsh Harbour, it was not difficult to find a doctor. The doctor prescribed cortisone and anti inflammatories and “bed rest” for his hand. When you stop to realize that David uses his hand for everything, and that we use David for everything related to sailing or moving the boat, you will see that this is a huge difficulty. We get to shore and back with me steering the dinghy, but there’s no question of moving Raven or going snorkeling with his hand out of commission. (Snorkeling involves taking the dinghy out, mooring it to a ball, and getting in and out of the dinghy, so there is a lot of “hands-on” to it.) Hopefully, it will be better in a few days – it is already much less painful.
However – I don’t want to take any protracted sails with my cap’n in anything less than really, really good shape. I rely on his strength and coordination to manhandle the boat while I steer (as in sails, lines, anchoring, dock work). It’s one thing when you are puttering around the ICW and a whole ‘nother beast when you are out on Big Water.
So – it feels kind of like the last straw. We are regrouping and thinking of going home for a couple of years. Raven needs repairs and upgrades and the cruising kitty is really, really low. And our seasonal window is almost gone. I don’t want to hurry or be on a forced march or be worried about money for the next six months. As of today (check back at the end of the week when, if we have not killed each other from being trapped on the boat for a solid week) we may have a different plan. For the moment, we are reading, listening to podcasts, eating junk, and glowering at the view since all we can do right now is look at it.
We will have fun going home, as we will go back to the Florida Keys and travel up the west coast of Florida and across the Gulf Coast states, which we have not done before. For those of you who don’t know, we went straight across the Gulf from Seabrook to Key West when we left two years ago. I don’t want to repeat that trip because we were so tired when we got to Key West – going the other way, we’d be in the oil fields when we were really tired and that would be really scary. So there are a lot of adventures ahead. But like any road trip, it’s never as much fun when you’d headed back.
We’re still in Marsh Harbour and I’m beginning to feel about it the way I felt about Vero Beach, Florida. We’ve been here ‘way too long to suit me. There have been some bright spots, like meeting up with long time cruising buddies Jeff and Peggy on Moonstruck and enjoying simply superb weather, but mostly it’s been on the frustrating side – as frustrating as leisure in a pretty port can be. David was kept busy a few days with our engine. While he clattered and clanked under the hood, I did mundane chores and volunteered a couple of days at a local charity.
“Buck a Book” is a local charity that support the “wild horses of Abaco.” Descended from the time of Columbus, if the more glamorous claim is true, these horses have been here at least a hundred years, and probably a lot longer. They are a distinct type of horse not found anywhere else, “a sub-group of the Spanish Barb breed,” and some of the local folk are trying to keep them from disappearing altogether. It’s a difficult task – while they roam wild on the island, they are confined to a nature preserve and must be looked after when natural disasters occur (fire and big storms) and they must be preserved from local poachers. There are only eight of these horses left, four stallions and four mares. For some reason, the mares are unable to bring their pregnancies to term, so there have been no foals for some time. To help finance its efforts to protect the horses, the non-profit runs a used book store. They take donations of books and DVDs from cruisers and the local community. They resell the books for a dollar apiece, and they rent the DVDs for a dollar apiece. They pull in about $200 - $300 a week, using only volunteer help. If your interest is piqued, look them up at http://www.arkwild.org/. They’ve had a rough week, as all the pasture for the horses has burned in a rash of wildfires.
On the theory that anything is more fun than watching David fix the engine, I volunteered to run the bookstore for a couple of days. The store is housed in a container, something along the order of a pod, that’s about 20 x 15. Like a pod, it opens only at the end. It’s lined with bookshelves and DVD racks and I guess they have about 1,000 titles at any one time. It’s a boon for the cruising community, because most cruisers devour books at an alarming rate. One of the perks of the job is getting to make the Buck a Book announcement on the morning “cruiser’s net” – kind of a cruisers’ radio show on VHF 68. So I got to write a little script and read it on the air two days in a row. I’ve now had 4 of my allotted 15 minutes of fame. It was fun – anyone know of a radio station that needs an announcer? And in there somewhere, David and I had a wonderful 8th anniversary.
The second half of the week kinda went downhill. Despite the excitement of fixing one problem with the engine and deciding the other one would hold for awhile, we started really worrying about our time window and our cash flow and the overall state of the boat. Things got kind of depressing around here as we talked over our options. It’s a great idea to keep moving when you are cruising, because the minute you stop, all your worries catch up to you and start yammering. I think I have conclusively proved that worries travel at less than 5 knots.
While we were tussling with real world problems, David came down with a painful bout of tendonitis in his left hand. Being here at Marsh Harbour, it was not difficult to find a doctor. The doctor prescribed cortisone and anti inflammatories and “bed rest” for his hand. When you stop to realize that David uses his hand for everything, and that we use David for everything related to sailing or moving the boat, you will see that this is a huge difficulty. We get to shore and back with me steering the dinghy, but there’s no question of moving Raven or going snorkeling with his hand out of commission. (Snorkeling involves taking the dinghy out, mooring it to a ball, and getting in and out of the dinghy, so there is a lot of “hands-on” to it.) Hopefully, it will be better in a few days – it is already much less painful.
However – I don’t want to take any protracted sails with my cap’n in anything less than really, really good shape. I rely on his strength and coordination to manhandle the boat while I steer (as in sails, lines, anchoring, dock work). It’s one thing when you are puttering around the ICW and a whole ‘nother beast when you are out on Big Water.
So – it feels kind of like the last straw. We are regrouping and thinking of going home for a couple of years. Raven needs repairs and upgrades and the cruising kitty is really, really low. And our seasonal window is almost gone. I don’t want to hurry or be on a forced march or be worried about money for the next six months. As of today (check back at the end of the week when, if we have not killed each other from being trapped on the boat for a solid week) we may have a different plan. For the moment, we are reading, listening to podcasts, eating junk, and glowering at the view since all we can do right now is look at it.
We will have fun going home, as we will go back to the Florida Keys and travel up the west coast of Florida and across the Gulf Coast states, which we have not done before. For those of you who don’t know, we went straight across the Gulf from Seabrook to Key West when we left two years ago. I don’t want to repeat that trip because we were so tired when we got to Key West – going the other way, we’d be in the oil fields when we were really tired and that would be really scary. So there are a lot of adventures ahead. But like any road trip, it’s never as much fun when you’d headed back.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Back at Great Guana, April 4, 2008
photo #1: "Buck a Book" sells you paperbacks for a dollar and donates its profits to benefit the wild horses of Abaco, descended from Columbus' time, and numbering only 8 horses at this time
photo #2: interior of Java, my favorite coffee shop in Marsh Harbour
[Hilde’s log]
Raven is slopping quietly at anchor at Settlement Point, Great Guana Cay. We returned to Great Guana after several days in Marsh Harbour, where we stocked up on groceries, got rid of our trash, and visited with friends. My favorite stop is a little coffee shop called Java, where I enjoyed an iced chai in a lovely non-air conditioned setting. Although the islands are warm (lower 80s most days), the constant sea breeze keeps everything comfortable and only a few places have air conditioning. This makes me very happy, since the air conditioning at home smells stale and is always set at right about freezing. At Java, the front and back doors are always open and the breeze sweeps through, taking the aroma of the coffee right out on the porch. There is art on the walls for sale, a table of books for exchange, tea and coffee for sale, couches and chairs for those who want the shade, and comfortable plastic tables out front for those who want more light.
Although Marsh Harbour is one of the “big” towns (you can get there by plane), it’s pretty easy to walk to what you need. The grocery store, Maxwell’s, has just about everything you’d want. The prices are quite expensive, reflecting the fact that just about everything is shipped in, but when you’ve lived on canned food for awhile where no produce is available, price is insignificant and availability is everything. David and I stuffed our purchases into our little wheeled plastic carts and lugged our booty about four long blocks to the dinghy dock. I felt as though I were some old horse dragging a wooden cart. There are few sidewalks and Bahamians drive on the left, so traffic was also an issue. It took us three separate trips to the store to stock the boat because we could only carry so much at a time. We also resupplied with propane and gasoline. We’ll fill up with water and diesel later in the week when we stop in at a dock (trash pickup, hot showers, dockside laundry…what luxury!).
The promised winds did come through, but much less strongly than anticipated. Marsh Harbour is a great foul weather port, protected on all sides with great holding. Larry and Barbara, on Laura May, told us of one fellow who rode out a hurricane in that harbor – on the boat. No thanks!
Today we made a quick hour and a half trip back to Great Guana Cay. We took a mooring ball at Settlement Point and went ashore to find Nipper’s, one of the two local watering holes. A passing golf cart gave us a ride right up to the gate. Nipper’s has a fresh water swimming pool, an open air bar, a restaurant, and guest lodges and sits on a sand dune overlooking a long stretch of Atlantic beach. What a glorious sight! This was the view I kept seeing on all the brochures – five miles of unspoiled beach trimmed with sandy cliffs and palm trees, white-crested rollers breaking over white sand, deep neon-blue sea to the horizon. There is a reef about 75 yards off the beach where you can snorkel, plenty of places to jump the breakers or body surf or just sit in the sand and roast. Children dug sand, adults alternately played with them or leaped in the breakers, couples strolled down the beach, small dogs played endless games of tag with anyone who showed the least interest. We watched it all from the shaded edge of Nipper’s porch, listening to island music and the surf, a cold beer in hand. Tomorrow we will make our own foray to the sand. David has just ruined Galveston for me by bringing me here. I mean ruined.
Raven is slopping quietly at anchor at Settlement Point, Great Guana Cay. We returned to Great Guana after several days in Marsh Harbour, where we stocked up on groceries, got rid of our trash, and visited with friends. My favorite stop is a little coffee shop called Java, where I enjoyed an iced chai in a lovely non-air conditioned setting. Although the islands are warm (lower 80s most days), the constant sea breeze keeps everything comfortable and only a few places have air conditioning. This makes me very happy, since the air conditioning at home smells stale and is always set at right about freezing. At Java, the front and back doors are always open and the breeze sweeps through, taking the aroma of the coffee right out on the porch. There is art on the walls for sale, a table of books for exchange, tea and coffee for sale, couches and chairs for those who want the shade, and comfortable plastic tables out front for those who want more light.
Although Marsh Harbour is one of the “big” towns (you can get there by plane), it’s pretty easy to walk to what you need. The grocery store, Maxwell’s, has just about everything you’d want. The prices are quite expensive, reflecting the fact that just about everything is shipped in, but when you’ve lived on canned food for awhile where no produce is available, price is insignificant and availability is everything. David and I stuffed our purchases into our little wheeled plastic carts and lugged our booty about four long blocks to the dinghy dock. I felt as though I were some old horse dragging a wooden cart. There are few sidewalks and Bahamians drive on the left, so traffic was also an issue. It took us three separate trips to the store to stock the boat because we could only carry so much at a time. We also resupplied with propane and gasoline. We’ll fill up with water and diesel later in the week when we stop in at a dock (trash pickup, hot showers, dockside laundry…what luxury!).
The promised winds did come through, but much less strongly than anticipated. Marsh Harbour is a great foul weather port, protected on all sides with great holding. Larry and Barbara, on Laura May, told us of one fellow who rode out a hurricane in that harbor – on the boat. No thanks!
Today we made a quick hour and a half trip back to Great Guana Cay. We took a mooring ball at Settlement Point and went ashore to find Nipper’s, one of the two local watering holes. A passing golf cart gave us a ride right up to the gate. Nipper’s has a fresh water swimming pool, an open air bar, a restaurant, and guest lodges and sits on a sand dune overlooking a long stretch of Atlantic beach. What a glorious sight! This was the view I kept seeing on all the brochures – five miles of unspoiled beach trimmed with sandy cliffs and palm trees, white-crested rollers breaking over white sand, deep neon-blue sea to the horizon. There is a reef about 75 yards off the beach where you can snorkel, plenty of places to jump the breakers or body surf or just sit in the sand and roast. Children dug sand, adults alternately played with them or leaped in the breakers, couples strolled down the beach, small dogs played endless games of tag with anyone who showed the least interest. We watched it all from the shaded edge of Nipper’s porch, listening to island music and the surf, a cold beer in hand. Tomorrow we will make our own foray to the sand. David has just ruined Galveston for me by bringing me here. I mean ruined.
Monday, March 31, 2008
laundry day at Marsh Harbour
[Hilde’s log]
Just back from doing our radioactive laundry at the marina laundry facility. $16 for three washers and one dryer. Needless to say, I’ll be drying most of our things on the lifelines today. We’ve been in Marsh Harbour for two days now, waiting for high winds that have not yet materialized. It’s supposed to blow 30 knots, but we haven’t seen anything over 23 so far. The water in the harbor is a bit choppy, but we made it to the laundry without getting sloshed. It was a bit of a challenge when we arrived, as I had to climb up a five foot wooden ladder to reach the dock. Heights (even five feet) give me the willies, but I made it up and down. Everest is next!
While I did the clothes, David got out his sewing machine and restitched the mainsail cover. Now he’s digging around in the port lazarette, working on an adjustment to the rudder post stuffing box. I’m about to continue with hanging out the clothes and making bread.
Not much to report, except a marvelous trip from Fisher’s Bay at Great Guana Cay to Marsh Harbour through perfectly clear water. We took turns sitting at the bow, watching the sandy bottom roll by. We saw one fish, probably 20 star fish (with short, stubby little arms), and a number of sea slugs (some of them are bright red!). Once at anchor here in the harbor we saw several sea turtles, which was a big thrill for me, fan of turtles that I am. The harbor water is cloudy so we can’t see the bottom (probably just as well), but the turtles floated to the top and looked around at everyone before diving again. They were probably 18” to 2 feet across, with big yellow heads. I finally saw what I think are tropic birds at Great Guana Cay. They look a bit like sea gulls, having large, white bodies, but their tails are like scissortails back home and they don’t scream like gulls do, but rather call with more of a chirp. Four of them played above us in the breeze as we lay at anchor, chasing each other in dips and glides, obviously with romance on their minds. It is spring, after all.
We met up with Viking Rose here in the harbor, and heard from Gerda and Jack on Sadie A on the VHF. They are snorkeling at Great Guana this week. Richard, Penny, David, and I all walked up to Marshall’s grocery and were delighted to find that this local grocery is loaded with food – even produce. We plan to go back to Great Guana later in the week and take a mooring ball in order to leave the boat without worrying about dragging, so we can roam that island, enjoy the beach, and do some snorkeling. Then we’ll turn around and come back here on our way south.
We met Tony and Kris from Ticketoo, who are returning to the States after three years in the Caribbean. They came aboard and visited with us last night, and had lots to tell of ports we hope to visit, especially lots of information about Luperon in the Dominican Republic, which is our goal for June. They have wonderful photos on their website at www.spaces.msn.com/members/ticketoo. We met them because they came up to the boat in their dinghy and announced they were the cake fairies. Company they had expected were forced to cancel their trip, so Tony and Kris were handing out slices of the chocolate cherry cake they’d made for the company to their neighbors (it was just wonderful). If that wasn’t enough, Barbara and Larry on Laura Mae, our neighbors to port, sent over some fresh coconut bread. After so many years in cities, where neighbors have uniformly ignored us (and, to be fair, we pretty much ignored them), the friendliness of people on the water just astonishes and delights me.
As we were barreling along yesterday in the dinghy, exploring the harbor for dinghy docks and boats we’d met before, we saw Ru’ah, a boat that routinely checks in on the cruisers’ net. When we approached to make introductions, we were warmly greeted by Helen, a lovely English lady who spends her time travelling the world crewing on other people’s boats. She had the widest, happiest smile, told us of some of her more memorable moments travelling, and simply insisted we go to the South Pacific. Helen has been travelling for over 20 years and has friends everywhere. We've finally learned that to meet people while cruising, you have to go up and say "Hi." Everyone we've ever introduced ourselves to has been happy we did and many of them have become friends. We just got an email from the nicest fellow we meet in Green Turtle Cay, GW on Serenity, who had dinner with us and more new friends, Ken and Maria, from Duet. The dinner was an imprompu affair over pasta and brownies, was the highlight of our stay at Green Turtle, and came about because we dinghied over to Duet one morning and said Hi. Amazing!!
Just back from doing our radioactive laundry at the marina laundry facility. $16 for three washers and one dryer. Needless to say, I’ll be drying most of our things on the lifelines today. We’ve been in Marsh Harbour for two days now, waiting for high winds that have not yet materialized. It’s supposed to blow 30 knots, but we haven’t seen anything over 23 so far. The water in the harbor is a bit choppy, but we made it to the laundry without getting sloshed. It was a bit of a challenge when we arrived, as I had to climb up a five foot wooden ladder to reach the dock. Heights (even five feet) give me the willies, but I made it up and down. Everest is next!
While I did the clothes, David got out his sewing machine and restitched the mainsail cover. Now he’s digging around in the port lazarette, working on an adjustment to the rudder post stuffing box. I’m about to continue with hanging out the clothes and making bread.
Not much to report, except a marvelous trip from Fisher’s Bay at Great Guana Cay to Marsh Harbour through perfectly clear water. We took turns sitting at the bow, watching the sandy bottom roll by. We saw one fish, probably 20 star fish (with short, stubby little arms), and a number of sea slugs (some of them are bright red!). Once at anchor here in the harbor we saw several sea turtles, which was a big thrill for me, fan of turtles that I am. The harbor water is cloudy so we can’t see the bottom (probably just as well), but the turtles floated to the top and looked around at everyone before diving again. They were probably 18” to 2 feet across, with big yellow heads. I finally saw what I think are tropic birds at Great Guana Cay. They look a bit like sea gulls, having large, white bodies, but their tails are like scissortails back home and they don’t scream like gulls do, but rather call with more of a chirp. Four of them played above us in the breeze as we lay at anchor, chasing each other in dips and glides, obviously with romance on their minds. It is spring, after all.
We met up with Viking Rose here in the harbor, and heard from Gerda and Jack on Sadie A on the VHF. They are snorkeling at Great Guana this week. Richard, Penny, David, and I all walked up to Marshall’s grocery and were delighted to find that this local grocery is loaded with food – even produce. We plan to go back to Great Guana later in the week and take a mooring ball in order to leave the boat without worrying about dragging, so we can roam that island, enjoy the beach, and do some snorkeling. Then we’ll turn around and come back here on our way south.
We met Tony and Kris from Ticketoo, who are returning to the States after three years in the Caribbean. They came aboard and visited with us last night, and had lots to tell of ports we hope to visit, especially lots of information about Luperon in the Dominican Republic, which is our goal for June. They have wonderful photos on their website at www.spaces.msn.com/members/ticketoo. We met them because they came up to the boat in their dinghy and announced they were the cake fairies. Company they had expected were forced to cancel their trip, so Tony and Kris were handing out slices of the chocolate cherry cake they’d made for the company to their neighbors (it was just wonderful). If that wasn’t enough, Barbara and Larry on Laura Mae, our neighbors to port, sent over some fresh coconut bread. After so many years in cities, where neighbors have uniformly ignored us (and, to be fair, we pretty much ignored them), the friendliness of people on the water just astonishes and delights me.
As we were barreling along yesterday in the dinghy, exploring the harbor for dinghy docks and boats we’d met before, we saw Ru’ah, a boat that routinely checks in on the cruisers’ net. When we approached to make introductions, we were warmly greeted by Helen, a lovely English lady who spends her time travelling the world crewing on other people’s boats. She had the widest, happiest smile, told us of some of her more memorable moments travelling, and simply insisted we go to the South Pacific. Helen has been travelling for over 20 years and has friends everywhere. We've finally learned that to meet people while cruising, you have to go up and say "Hi." Everyone we've ever introduced ourselves to has been happy we did and many of them have become friends. We just got an email from the nicest fellow we meet in Green Turtle Cay, GW on Serenity, who had dinner with us and more new friends, Ken and Maria, from Duet. The dinner was an imprompu affair over pasta and brownies, was the highlight of our stay at Green Turtle, and came about because we dinghied over to Duet one morning and said Hi. Amazing!!
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