LEAVING FOR FLORIDA ---FINALLY!!!!

Fall is just about over here in Tennessee, but it sure was beautiful.!

The time is finally here for us to leave for the boat. We’re heading out  Nov. 16. We will be spending a lot of time this week getting things packed up and loaded to go. And we have so much to do once we get there. The boat is still in Fernandina Beach, and still on the hard. There are numerous things that must be done before we put her back in the water; new generator, new batteries, new seacocks, shaft log repair, new ports, and I’m sure that I’m forgetting something else. Then once she is in the water there is another list of things we want/need to do. It’s like having an old house – there’s always something that needs fixed or replaced!

We’re hauling the RV down with us to give us a comfortable place to live while we’re working on the boat. It’s no fun climbing up and down an extension ladder carrying a dog under your arm. Plus, you can’t get away from the work and you feel like you should work every waking minute.

Our name finally came to the top of the list for a slip at New Smyrna Beach! We love New Smyrna!!!! The marina is within walking/bike riding distance to pretty much everything. We can’t wait to be there! We’re hoping that will happen before Christmas.

Jeff has committed to work when he is needed this winter, so we will more than likely not be going to the Bahamas, although we’re not just going to sit in New Smyrna. We’re so anxious to be back on the boat!

We’ll post to the blog and let you know what kind of progress we’re making.  Don't forget you can always email us!

Adios amigos, vaya con Dios

Jeff received a job offer to work in Chattanooga. What else could we do, but head back to Tennessee? Our time in New Mexico has been an opportunity of a lifetime to experience Southwestern culture and lifestyle. To the people of Eunice that welcomed us as their own and especially to the friends we made at NEF, all we can say is adios amigos, vaya con Dios.

Here are a few pictures of NM and SW Texas.

Wintering in New Mexico

If you are checking in to see if we are on the move again, the answer is yes we are. Just not in the fashion that we were last year.

We made a very difficult decision not to re-launch the boat and head south. We already had our house sitters lined up and our dining room was starting to look a lot like a warehouse. A lot of factors played a part in this decision. After we made the decision Jeff took the opportunity to go back to work (for what period of time we don’t know). He is working/living in Eunice, New Mexico in our RV. Talk about different from last year at this time – wow! He is in the middle of the desert out here. Cactus and red sand everywhere, along with rattlesnakes, although we haven’t seen any snakes up close and personal yet and I hope we don’t! It is so flat here we can see the edge of the earth. There are oil and gas wells everywhere. If we go outside and look off to the right we can see an oil well in someone’s back yard. Neither of us had been west of the Mississippi and look at this as another opportunity to see what this great country of ours has to offer. We plan to take advantage of the time out here to do some sightseeing.

The first weekend I was here we drove north to Albuquerque and Sante Fe. It was the 37th annual Balloon Fiesta with over 600 hot-air balloons participating. Spectacular doesn’t come close to describing seeing all those balloons inflate, lift off and drift away from you. There was every color, shape and size of balloon imaginable. As we got close to Albuquerque the landscape started to change appearance – there were mountains – the Sandia Mountains, although they sure look different than the ones we see on the eastern side of the country – they are barren dirt and rock, with some small scrubby bushes that we were told are mesquite and lots of cactus. We took in horse racing last Sunday. There is a horse track/racing/training facility here with the season ending sometime in December.

I have been out here for two weeks now and it isn’t such a shock when I go outside anymore. I must be getting used to it. But I will be glad to get home and see some trees and rolling hills. I will be leaving here in a couple of days to drive home and from then on I think I will fly when I come out. Three days on the road was a long time, although without pulling the RV it will only take two, but still!

Back in Tennessee

We made it to Fernandina Beach late last Saturday, May 18, hauled the boat on Tuesday, unloaded it and left on Friday. I don’t believe we could have found room for another toothbrush in the truck when we left. The only difference between us and the Clampett’s (Beverly Hillbillies) was that we were missing the rocking chair in the back. We took so much ‘stuff’ off the boat that will not go back on – things we didn’t use this trip and took up way too much space - space we can use for more important things, like cases of beer at US prices, and peanut butter. You can tell where our priorities are!

In any case we are back home in Tennessee for a few days. We will be leaving to go back down to Orlando for my Mother’s wedding – she is marrying her first love from high school and we don’t want to miss that!

When we left here last September we left our home in the hands of total strangers (Leo & Kathy) who house-sat for us. This was our first experience with house sitters and we were naturally nervous about it, but we were very impressed with the care they took of our home and property. They left us yesterday to head to Ohio to housesit for another couple who are going cruising.

We have a very long list of upgrades and additions we want to make to the boat before next cruising season. This being our first season to cruise proved to have a very steep learning curve. Things we thought would not be important turned out to be very important and vice versa. The Bahamas (the Abacos) exceeded our expectations and we are not sure yet where we will go next season, maybe back to the Abacos – who knows. Everyone we talked to late in the season coming north from the Exumas told us the water was prettier down there – how can that be?? Maybe we will just have to find out for ourselves!

This will be our last post for the season. Feel free to email us @ crjr180@yahoo.com. Now that we are home we have a reliable internet connection and are posting the following pictures summarizing the trip.

Back in the US of A

I know some of you were wondering ‘where are they – should we call the Coast Guard?’ We are fine, life is good again, and we are safe in the Harbourtown Marina, in Fort Pierce, Florida. We have not had internet service for, oh I don’t know how long. As a matter of fact, I just looked at the bottom of my computer to see what the day of the week is – Saturday, May 10. What a handy tool!

We crossed from the Bahamas and arrived here Thursday afternoon, about 4:00pm (by way of TowBoat U.S.) We did not have a good crossing! We were planning to cross from Great Sale Cay, but the wind came to a screeching halt and we were becalmed and the no see ums were very present, so decided to leave there, with another boat (‘Tarshish” – Bill & Ruth) and head to Mangrove Cay, about 20 miles closer to the Bahama Banks. We arrived there late afternoon (in time for a storm to skirt by us that had a waterspout in it), had dinner and grabbed a 2 hour rest before leaving at 10pm to cross over ‘to the other side’. We were expecting 10 – 15 knot winds, building to about 20 knots in the late afternoon after we would arrive in Ft Pierce, with 2 – 3 foot seas. What we had were very confused seas in the 3 – 5 + foot range with winds building well above 20 knots. We were motoring at this point, Jeff didn't want sails up before daylight, but we decided to put out the jib (or part of it) at about 3am to try to stabilize the boat and keep it from wallowing so bad – but it didn’t help much. It wasn’t so so bad during the night on the banks, but as we entered the ocean we were wallowing from side to side, and then it would be from back to front. I did manage to take a nap from 5 to 6 am. And then it got nasty. Obviously our fuel tank was getting shook up pretty good, because the engine decided at about 7am that it could not go any more. The seas had become too big by now for Jeff to work on the fuel filters, so we put out another sail and sailed the rest of the way to Ft. Pierce. We had Boat US tow us from outside the inlet into Harbourtown Marina. Wow, did our unlimited towing insurance pay off. The Ft. Pierce inlet was very ugly. If our boat had been smaller and lighter weight I think we would have broached coming through. The tide was running out at 3.5 knots against 30 knot winds. The result was 8 – 10 swells/waves from the port quarter. You can’t imagine what that does to the inside of the boat. As a friend of our says “Our boat threw up”. I had put away all the usual things before heading out and most things decided to relocate to a different place. I’m still looking for a couple of things – where did they go?

Jeff worked on the engine yesterday, changed both filters, got the engine running, and all is well. We will leave here this morning and head north. We will be hauling the boat out at Fernandina Beach, Florida.

We were sad about having to leave the Bahamas – we put it off as long as we could, but at the same time we are happy to be back ‘home’. We take so much for granted living in the US. We have used more fresh water in the last 24 hours (because it is available) than we would have used in a week in the Bahamas. I did laundry yesterday and only paid $2.50 a load, compared to $8 a load. The real eye opener will be when we go to the grocery store for the first time, although I’ve been told that groceries here have increased in price substantially since we left. One of the good things in the Bahamas is that they have no taxes, period. If the price is stated at $135, then it is $135, not $135 plus 9 1/4% tax.

Enough rambling – we are back, and heading towards the end of our journey for this year. We hope everyone that has been traveling with us, by way of the blog, has enjoyed the adventure as much as we have. It has been unbelievable. We have truly enjoyed ourselves and met so many great people and made many friends that we look forward to seeing again next time.

Gooooooooooood Mornin' Abaco

For the last four months we have been avid listeners and participants in the Abaco Cruisers Net on the VHF Radio Channel Six Eight (68) at 0815 every morning. On the eve of our departure from the Southern Abacos (south the Whale Cay Passage), we pay tribute to the Net. Here now is the language of the Net:

Gooooooooooood Mornin’ Abaco!!!!. This IS the Abaco Cruisers Net on the air every day at this time ….. This is Jeff on Eggers Wish, Dan on Danali Star, Mike on Last Call, Betty on Tar Heel, Ed on Windswept, Patty on Blue Dolphin….. Barometer Bob.com for weather…. Cold front with clocking winds; High Pressure with Easterly winds; enhanced winds in Squalls; Bahamas Met Office Advises Small Craft to Exercise Caution; Atlantic Seas 14 to 24’ in Northerly Swells; Beauuuuutiful weather for the next few days ordered up by the Chamber of Commerce…… Sea state of the Sea of Abaco …. In the lee of the Cays; Choppy bordering on sloppy; Albury Ferry Day. Community Announcements ….. Buck-a-book … Wild Horses of Abaco …. Headline News and Financials --- aren’t we glad we’re in the Abacos …. Invitations …. Nippers until we absolutely can’t do it any more; you take that left off the Gov’t dock and you ARE in Grabber Country; Dive Guana – let us show you Abaco from the bottom up; Jib Room, Jib Room, Jib Room – worth the ride to the other side; Pete's Pub - where the elite eat in their bare feet. Open Mike …. Come now with your calls signs twice, this is the Cruiser’s Net. Salty Dog, Salty Dog........ Salty Dog I have you. How can we help? New Arrivals ….. Welcome to the Top of the Bahamas. Departures ….. Sand in Your Shoes ---- you’ll be back. And if there is nothing further …. The Cruisers Net IS Clear.


Thank you Jeff, thank you Dan, thank you Mike, thank you Betty, thank you Ed, and most of all, THANK YOU Patty!

Deidra Grows Sea Legs

Deidra & Tom arrived on Sunday 3/6, in the rain, and spent a week with us. They are completely non- boaters, with no experience of boat movement, life on a boat, etc. We did try to prepare them for what it was going to be like, but I am certain it was far different than they expected. In any case they adjusted very well and it was definitely an adventure. We had several great sailing days while they were aboard and had very settled weather, for which we were thankful. We took them to several places that we enjoy. They even asked how they could charter a boat down here with a captain so that they could come back with their boys. Maybe they caught the sailing bug! I do think they definitely got sand in their shoes, as the saying goes. Deidra even found sea glass!

Mom comes to visit!

Well, our week with my Mom & Jack has come to a close. We had a wonderful time with them both. And I’m pretty sure they had a good time also. The winds kept us from being able to leave Treasure Cay (where they flew into) for a couple of days after they arrived. So we walked the gorgeous beach and enjoyed the resort area. What’s wrong with that?? They even found a purse bean on the beach! We were able to take them to Guana Cay, and a very rolly ride it was getting there. We participated in the pot luck dinner on Wednesday evening. I think they really enjoyed meeting some of the other cruisers and hearing their stories. They also got to see the famous Nipper’s and walk on another beautiful beach.

Next we took them to Tahiti Beach where we scoured for shells and a few pieces of sea glass, then on to Hopetown. We walked the town, visited the Wyannie Malone Museum, which gives you insight into Hopetown history. We lunched at a place where we could look out on the Atlantic Ocean and all it’s splendor. And then of course, we walked on the beach. By the way, Nannie (my Mother) learned to love Rum while she was here! After that we visited the Elbow Reef Lighthouse and climbed to the top to look out. Supposedly you can see for 17 miles from the top of the lighthouse. In any case it was quite a sight. The picture to the right is of Salty Dog anchored just off the lighthouse. This lighthouse is still hand cranked every 1 1/2 hours and runs on kerosene. That means the lighthouse keeper has to climb the stairs every 1 1/2 hours all night long and the kerosene is also carried up in five gallons jerry jugs. I had enough trouble just getting myself up the ladder once!

And then it was time to start heading back towards Treasure Cay.

There was a lot of oohing and ahhing all week long. They agreed with us that you just can’t describe how beautiful it is here and how clear the water is, along with the gorgeous turquoise color. I think they will come back for another visit another year. They told us while they were here that they are getting married May 31. We couldn’t be happier for them.

What's A Rage??!!

What’s a Rage? We have heard this term since being in the Bahamas, but didn’t fully understand it till yesterday. We haven’t had rage conditions since we’ve been here, at least that is till yesterday! A Rage is when wind strength and direction make inlets to the ocean impassible and very dangerous primarily, in addition to making the Sea of Abaco pretty nasty. You really don't want to be out in these conditions.

We left Lynyard Cay to head back towards Treasure Cay and the wind was really blowing, about 25 knots and out of the NE with the forecast of it getting worse, which it did. (The wind piped up to 30 knots with gusts exceeding 40knots) This had been going on for two days. Where we were anchored at Lynyard Cay was between two inlets from the ocean. We could see the inlet on the south end at Little Harbour and WOW was it nasty – waves breaking all the way across. But we were looking through the binoculars and couldn’t get the full effect of it, although it was impressive. We had to pass by North Bar Inlet on our way north, and we got up close and personal with the turmoil that the winds were causing! I couldn’t get below to get the camera till after we were past the worst of it, but I’m hoping you can click on the pictures and blow them up to see what I’m talking about. We were awestruck.

Little Harbour

We are currently in Little Harbour – a small harbor with most boats on a mooring ball. The only thing here is Pete’s Pub and Gallery. The gallery makes bronze sculptures that are beautiful but not affordable for us. I would love to have a small memento from this place, but it is going to have to be in the form of a picture. Today a large group of boats (all charter) from the American Yacht Club out of NY invaded the harbor. There are boats on top of boats. It is always a lot of entertainment to watch the charter boats try to anchor or pick up a mooring. One boat was particularly entertaining as they decided they did not need to come into the harbor via the clearly marked channel. It was only a matter of time before they ran hard aground. Luckily the tide came in and they floated off.

Yesterday we went out to Bookies Beach with Mike & Harriet (Dual Dreams) and waded in the surf picking up sea glass. We had a blast and got lots of glass! Harriet and I ended up with bathing suits full of sand after getting rolled in the water by the undertow a couple of times. This was one of the better sea glass days we’ve had. We will be back out there again today at low tide to have another go at it.

Before we came to Little Harbour we were anchored in Buckaroon Bay for several days. We were the only boat there. The water was crystal clear and there were lots of sea stars around our boat. We spent many hours walking the beaches and scavenging through the ‘stuff’ that had washed up from past storms, as well as snorkeling on the reef. Jeff found a message in a bottle (on the beach). It was dated 12/17/05 in the mid-Atlantic, aboard the QE2.

We are starting to see alot of boats that are heading back up from the Exumas (the southern Bahamas). It is sad to think that this is coming to an end, but it certainly will be before we are ready for it to. We know of many boats that have already had to head back to the states in the last couple of weeks. Many people have been able to take short leaves from work to take a 4 - 6 month trip. What's wrong with that?? Then back to work til next years trip. We have hated to see some of our new friends leave, but we look forward to meeting up with them next year.

Barefoot Man Concert

Last Saturday was the Barefoot Man concert on Guana Cay. Barefoot Man is a Jimmy Buffet type, with similar music. This is a much looked forward to event for the island of Guana. They were expecting 2500 people. I have no idea how many were there, but it was a lot!!! There were over 60 boats in the main anchorage off of Fishers Bay with us, and the harbour was full, as well as the marina. We had a great time! There were beads to be had by the women (just like at Mardi Gras) and you get them the same way - you guess how. I have three sets of beads!

Mindy & Carl's Visit

Next – Mindy & Carl (Jeff’s brother who is married to my sister) came to visit for a week. We had a very good time with them. But then we always enjoy being around them – maybe beause we are doubly related – who knows.

Carl came with high hopes of catching lots of fish. That did not happen, we are sorry to say. Partly because of the weather, but mostly because we don’t know where the fish are and thirdly because we didn’t have the best weather while they were here. We had a couple of really rocky nights, strong winds and rain. But they are somewhat used to the motion of the boat and they were ok with it. But when the weather was good, it was good, just a little cool. At least we had enough sunshine for Mindy to get sunburned. We won’t tell you what parts got sunburned though!

We took them to Snappas for Thursday Night 'Rake & Scrape'. I believe they liked that! Bahamian music with a twist as well as limbo. Mindy thinks she would like to have a Rake & Scrape band at home.

We were able to take them down to Lynyard Cay for a day – we would have liked several days there, but the winds were from the wrong direction to do that. Mindy became a sea glass fanatic. I think she took home 20 lbs of sea glass, if she took home a pound!!!

We slid into the anchorage outside of Boat Harbour in time for them to catch their plane home, with little time to spare!

Let's Catch Up!

I know, I know - we are sooo far behind posting!! We've been busy enjoying company. Steve & Terri (from Chattanooga) came to visit for a few days, after going to the Miami Boat Show. Wow - did they bring us some information and literature to pour over (about solar panels, wind generators, etc.). We really appreciated it. We had a great time with them and I think they enjoyed meeting other cruisers and being a part of the cruising community for a few days.

Shelby & Savannah really enjoyed having them here - they showed up with a large bag of homeade treats from the 'Bone Appetit Bakery' in Chattanooga. Steve & Terri are planning on being down here in a couple of years with us. We hated to see them go, but they had to go back to work.

Unfortunately, while they were here our

generator went kaput. Steve & Jeff worked on it from 9:30pm to 2:30am one night to come to the conclusion that the high pressure injector pump had gone out. We had to order a Honda generator from the states to get us through the rest of the trip, and Jeff will will fix the ‘big’ generator and redo the fuel system at that time.

Jeff and his Conch Horn

At Sundown the tradition here is to blow the conch horn. A lot of places we have anchored there is at least one boat that has a conch horn and someone on board knows how to play it. You think this is an easy thing, I’m sure – not so! That is unless you are a trumpet player, which neither of us is. We can barely whistle.

We have found several nice conch shells and were given a couple of exceptional shells by Ken & Kathy on ‘Coconut’. We will make sure all our visitors get to take one home with them.

Anyway – last week Jeff decided it was time to make a horn. That was the easy part, since we have a dremel tool on board. And then came the hard part – oh what a sad sick sound came out of that horn. All dogs within earshot were howling. There happened to be another cruiser close by (Sandy onboard ‘Manatee’) that is an expert conch horn player and she gave Jeff some lessons, followed by more the next day by another cruiser on ‘English Rose’. Progress has been very slow. Rick on ‘Sojourner’ asked us yesterday if there were whales in the area as he was sure he heard one bellowing.

You get the picture.

We are hopeful that at least one of us can master this instrument. We will make sure all our guests get a chance to perform as well.

Speaking of guests – our good friends Steve & Terri Brothers, from Chattanooga are to arrive here next Monday, after making a stop at the Miami Boat Show. We are excited about their visit.

Abaco - Above and Below

We have been doing some snorkeling – not a lot but enough that we have seen some pretty cool fish and coral and wanted to share some of this with you. Also – I don’t think we’ve shown you much of the color here, that is the color of the houses and businesses, paint wise. Most everything is painted in either

pastel colors or vibrant colors – pink, blue, purple, yellow, green, and variations thereof. It is ‘colorful’!!!!!!

Treasure Hunting

We are hooked on treasure hunting. Not the kind of treasure hunting that is going to make us any money though. We have been watching what washes up on the beaches to see if there is anything we can use (or want), and lo and behold we have found a few things – lots of very pretty sea glass, some nice shells, a couple of drink cartons to put bottles in and a very interesting glass bottle with oriental alphabet characters (that we have filled with sea glass), sea beans and a couple of things that we don’t know what to do with. The great thing is that everything is 100% returnable. It is amazing what washes up – like fluorescent bulbs, toothbrushes, lots of verrrrrry large rope and more trash than you can imagine. We saw a boat that was in two pieces and twice we’ve seen outboard engines and many shoes, although no matching pairs. Today I even came across a toilet seat!

I do hope everyone who is reading this blog realizes that most pictures (if not all) can be clicked on to make them larger so you can actually see what is in the picture - I should have told you this in the beginning.

We have a looking bucket!!!

I know you are wondering what in the world a looking bucket is! We used to call it a glass bottom bucket, but not over here – it is called a ‘Looking Bucket’. Jeff made it a couple of days ago so we could dinghy over our anchor primarily to see if it is set good, as well as other things. We will also use it for looking for conch and lobsters. This way you don’t have to get in the water if you don’t want to.

Here are a few terms we have picked up to add to our vocabulary since we’ve been down here. CRUISER’S MIDNIGHT – 8:30pm - cruisers don’t stay up late. DOABLE – it means something is possible. It is used in describing transiting an ocean inlet and generally means the seas are 6 feet or less and won’t kick your butt. RUM WILL MAKE YOU DUMB – that needs no explanation. And lastly YOU CAN'T BE DRUNK ALL DAY IF YOU DON'T GET STARTED - again, no explanation.

More interesting boat names we've seen – ‘Stout Wench’ and ‘Yes Dear’. But we still have not seen another Salty Dog and we are amazed at that, although there is a cottage here named Salty Dog.

"Salty Dog" Reaches Across the Sea of Abaco

Having traveled over 1100 miles from the Chesapeake to the Abacos, we were seldom able to sail. We almost always were under power (using the engine vs the sails) because the Inland Waterway is narrow or the wind was on the nose. We are now ecstatic that we are able to actually sail from one island to the next. The attached pictures are of “Salty Dog” reaching (the point of sail when the wind is on the beam) across the Sea of Abaco from Great Guana Cay to Treasure Cay, about 9 nautical miles, in a 15 to 20 knot breeze. We have also attached a few pictures of us on the beach at Treasure Cay. Thanks to Helen aboard “Wingspread” for the sailing pictures and Linda aboard “Sojourner” for the beach pictures.

Another glorious day in Abaco!

It’s been a while since we have posted – lazy is all I can say! And we really didn’t have many pictures to post. I’ll try to recap where we’ve been since then.

Since Junkanoo and our time in Green Turtle Cay (GTC) we’ve been to an island called ‘Manjack Cay’ and we absolutely loved it there. The only residents are Bill & Leslie and their chickens. They have lived on the island for 16 years and are Americans. They power their home and guest cottage, as well as Bill’s well stocked workshop with solar power. The only thing they don’t have is A/C. They catch rain water in a cistern. They have cut many paths through the island, but the only one we traveled was the one to the Atlantic Ocean side. It is about a mile from one side to the other (straight across, so to speak). The beach on that side is splendid and probably two miles long(2nd pic). The last day we were there we never saw another living sole on the entire beach! On the Sea of Abaco side (where the anchorages are) and right outside of Bill & Leslie’s home, they have a very nice beach (picture @ top), and they encourage cruisers to use it, as well as the entire island. Instead of the standard ‘No Trespassing’ signs we see in the states, they have a sign that says “YES TRESPASSING’. They have bonfires on the beach and invite the cruisers to come in and enjoy them. They have planted a lot of coconut palms and share the coconuts as well. Jeff cleaned two coconuts for us before we left – there must be a trick to cracking and cleaning those that we don’t know. A couple of bloody fingers and an hour later and we had a Ziploc bag full of coconut pieces. I’m sorry to say the camera was on the boat while we were on the shore doing this, so no pictures. We will definitely go back to Manjack!

From there we moved on south through the Whale Cay Passage to Marsh Harbour. Marsh Harbour is a good place to re-provision (buy groceries), do laundry, buy the ‘stuff’ you can’t find on other islands. Here is an example of grocery prices – Bounty paper towels $3.95/roll; Bush’s baked beans (small can) $1.95; one Mango $2.39; boneless skinless chicken breasts $5.99/lb, which I thought was very reasonable. You get the idea – generally everything is at least twice the price as at home, some things a little more. Remember, everything that is for sale here comes in pretty much by boat to the islands. The boat is called the ‘Mail Boat’ (picture @ right) and one of the first questions you ask upon arriving on an island is when does the boat come in. That way you know when to grocery shop. Marsh Harbour is the third largest island in the Abacos, next to Freeport and Nassau. It is a noisy harbour and not a place we want to just hang out, although the first evening after we anchored there we went into a place called Snappas Bar & Grill to hear Brown Tip play ‘Rake & Scrap’ music. That was a real treat which I’m not sure how to describe. I’ll try. Most of the music is Bahamian and we did not recognize the songs. The music is on CD’s and two to three people play saws, drums (singles), morocco’s and cow bells along to the music. When I say saws, I mean a hand saw, with the wooden handle against your armpit/chest area with the teeth facing up, with one hand holding on to the narrow end and your other hand scraping a knife across the teeth of the saw. They bend the saw blade back and forth to get different sounds out of the saw. And the dancing – I’ve never seen anyone as limber as the young man that was playing one of the saws!! It was a real treat to see the show.

Next, we moved across the Sea of Abaco to Guana Cay - it sounds like a long way doesn’t it? – it’s not – it only took us about 1 1/2 hours to get across. Guana Cay is a place we really liked. It is basically a small village – I don’t know how many people live there, (although there is a big development being built on the far end of the island) but they have enough that they have a small grocery store that was quite well stocked with very reasonably priced items, some things less than in GTC, which is much more populated. We visited the famous ‘Nipper’s’. It is a bar/restaurant on the ocean. They also have cottages for rent, etc. Quite a colorful place place! On the walk out there we came across a backhoe on the side of the path that was 'very colorful'. The Atlantic side beach was very nice to walk on and we finally found some ‘sea glass’. Savannah is still enjoying chasing waves and running on the beach.We found 12 pieces of sea glass yesterday while walking on the beach. I had no idea what sea glass was til a few weeks ago, even though I had heard the term. It is broken pieces of glass of all colors that have been washed and churned through the sand, so that they no longer have sharp edges and are no longer shiny. People make jewelry out of this and it is quite pricey (for broken glass).

Last evening there was a pot luck dinner @ Grabber’s Bed Bar & Grill (how about that for a name!) for anyone staying on the island and the cruiser’s. They are located on the Sea of Abaco side of the island and you can watch the sunset from there. They do this every Wednesday – it was great! What a variety of food. One family picked coconuts, grated them and made two coconut cream pies. They were very good, but very different than the coconut cream pie our family is accustomed to Nanny making. I’m prejudiced – hers is better. Another cruiser made conch chowder – fabulous!

This afternoon we sailed back across the Sea of Abaco to Treasure Cay. And what a wonderful sail it was. The winds were about 12 kts.and building. It was great and made the days when we have had to motor worthwhile. Everyone starts looking for protection from the coming fronts a couple of days before they (the fronts) arrive and we are expecting a front to come in on Saturday. You can’t wait til the last minute or there is no anchoring space left, at least in the protected places, and they are few. We will stay here til the first part of next week til the winds settle down. I dinghied the pups in late this afternoon and it is a very nice place, with a beautiful beach. It is a small harbour, with protection all around, so we will not have to worry too much about boats dragging their anchors through here (I hope).

That brings you up to date. Maybe we won’t wait so long til the next post.

JUNKANOO!!!!!!

New Years Day found us (as well as hundreds of others) in New Plymouth, Green Turtle Cay, attending ‘Junkanoo’. The population on Green Turtle Cay is only about 500, but that does not stop them from having a celebration.

New Plymouth is home to Miss Emily’s Blue Bee Bar and the world famous “Goombay Smash”. We had to have one – they go down very smoothly and it was easy to see how you could drink many of them – but with 3 or 4 kinds of rum and very little juice we knew we would be in serious trouble if we did.

Junkanoo is a parade in which the participants of all ages are dressed in very colorful costumes, which are adorned with jewels and feathers. I can’t imagine how long it takes to make some of the costumes, but on close inspection they start with cardboard and build from there. It is definitely not something you do at the last minute.

Some of the groups in the parade carried and played large goatskin drums and cowbells. You could feel those drums in your belly. As the parade passed by us, we, along with many others, joined in behind and danced to the rhythmic beat.

After the parade we went with some of the other cruisers to Pineapple’s Bar where Jeff had his first Kalik, which is a local beer. A good time was had by all!!!

We forgot to take our camera to the parade, so the photographs are courtesy of Debbie on S/V ‘Deborah Lee’. She did a superb job of capturing the spirit of the festival and we are in her debt for the pictures.