Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Church creek to Charleston
Only sixteen miles a quick hop and we would be there. We knew there were thunderstorms forcast and as we motored down river the humidity and gathering clouds didn't look so good. We exchanged a few words with Bob and Diane who we had met in the Bahamas, they were in a boatyard waiting for some spare parts to fix their boat. We didn't stop but rushed on to catch the 11oclock opening of the next bridge. By the time we got though the bridge it was obvious there was a thunder storm coming our way lightening flashed all around as we crossed the cooper river estuary, 30knot winds and rain like stair rods. Lizzie wisely hid below, Vince's boat is built for sun and there is little protection . It was scary . In a lull we decide moor kinky turtle on the marina fuel pontoon, two goes gets her secure and we retire below, cold, very wet, and relieved. Here is the radar pic of the storm.
Beaufort to anchorage in church creek
Once again our life is controlled by the timing of bridge openings. The first opening of the bridge in Beaufort is 9.00am . Leaving the dock was messy I do hope nobody saw us, the wind pushed us on to the pontoon, one of the fenders popped out and caught on a cleat, it was left behind when the rope broke. Had to do another circuit to go back and pick it up but we made it to the bridge for 9.
I've never seen a wild boar before, we spotted two probably a sow and her piglet. These were both very black they appeared to be grazing by the water but soon scuttled off into the undergrowth as we passed , too quick to get a photo but they were something like this.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
To Beaufort South Carolina
Augustine at 6.30 in the morning is pretty quiet. We aim to go through the lifting bridge to the ocean when they lift it at 7.30, so there is time for a shower, a shit and all those other things that one does before a long journey. Lizzie takes a little longer than us blokes so she jumps aboard at the last moment before we pull away from the pontoon.
After the drama of the Ponce de Leon grounding there was a conciderable tension aboard as we gingerly edged out into the Atlantic through the inlet, no need to worry, lots of feet below the keel, all good for an overnight sail 150 miles away to Beaufort South Carolina.
Vince said he checked the port light, I don't doubt him but when I came on watch there was no port light, we were invisible to all those boats to our west. With lizzie at the helm the guys set about fixing the light, precariously hanging over the bow in the dark we determine that the corroded contacts onto the bulb were the problem, a quick rub with emery paper saved the day.
The rest of the night passed without incident, in the morning the fast tide pouring out of the Beaufort River slowed us down, we arrived a little late at 1pm. Beaufort is a pretty town.
Mon Capitan, so sweat.......
Crew
Monday, April 28, 2014
ICW to Augustine
From Ponce de Leon we decide to do the 50mile hop to Augustine on the ICW, it made a break from the high seas and there is more to look at, fancy houses, pelicans, speed boats and the chance of seeing a manatee ( which we didn't). It's Saturday and everybody is out in the spring sunshine. 
The municiple marina sounds a dreary place to stay but it's right in the centre of town and buzzing.
Aground again
Canaveral to Ponce de Leon
Ponce de Leon Inlet is a rather fancy name, it used to be called Mosquito Inlet but the locals decided it would do the tourist business no good at all. So now we head for Ponce de Leon , a fairly uneventful trip, the usual sun, little wind and the motor running all the way. The entrance at Ponce de Leon was pretty easy once inside you either turn south or north. The route south is the main channel but there is a well marked channel to the north that would save us a lot of time. I say well marked in fact it was dreadfully marked on my iPad and the paper chart, which we found when the boat came to a shocking halt the rig and mast shuddered and the incoming tidal current pushed us harder on to the shoal. Somehow Vince managed to reverse us off enough to then turn into the current and we scrapped our way back off the shoal. I saw 2.3 feet on the depth, we go aground at 3.9 ! A very nice man from Seatow saw the incident and came over to us with the welcome words 'follow me' ! The actual channel was a good 150 yards to the south. After all the tension we abandoned the anchoring plan and went to a marina . The harbour inlet marina seemed to be the party location for the town, live band, loud music and lots of people.
Sunset at inlet harbour marina.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Back to the USA
The sail cover remained in place for the whole of the return trip, no wind and thank goodness no waves. The roughest part was actually the first part of the trip across the Bahamas bank to Ocean and Gulf Stream.
Sunset
Once out to sea we only had a slight swell and some times it was glass smooth so that you could see reflections of the stars. Little other traffic to worry about. Lizzy slept from midnight till about 4 whilst Vince and I swapped watches every couple of hours grabbing restless sleep in between. Lizzie and I saw the sun rise at about 6.30.
Sunrise
Another day with blue sky and a light warm breeze. It's a hard life sailing, playing cards helps, and the autohelm makes it possible.
The sea became quite smooth so that you could deep into the ocean, we motored through clouds of jelly fish and below them you could see dots of bright blue light coming on and going off as we passed, like little blue LEDs. We watched from the bow of the boat and suddenly a dolphin appeared swimming just in front of the boat only a few feet from us, then two more appeared and they all swam along side each other almost at our feet. It was mesmerising the surface of the water was smooth and crystal clear you could see every detail. Then suddenly they peeled off in unison to the left and dived down deep.
In the vernacular 'f***ing brilliant'.
Lizzie spotted a little bird landing on the boat , it is a orange-crowned warbler.
It hopped around and looked a little unsteady, our presence did not bother it at all , it sat on the port hole and looked in at Vince , actually came inside the cabin and sat on the rear cabin door. Then to my amazement as I stood in the companionway looking up the bird in my National Geographies Birds of the USA it came and sat on my hand. They winter in South Florida and breed in the northern states, I guess it was on its way north and stopped for a ride. A few times it flew off and returned to the boat, and then it was gone. A very welcome visitor .
All very tired we stayed the night at Cape Marina, Cape Canaveral.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Waiting for the tide
Just about everything here is owned by Rosie, the marina, shop, bar , and liquor store. Rosie is rotund male of 60 with a pleasant manor. We had to go look for him this morning to pay our dues, money was exchanged on the pontoon , no receipts just a hand shake and good wishes for our voyage home.
Photo taken the evening before at the harbour as the sun goes down spot lizzie returning with bag of fish having done deal with fishermen.
The gauge now reads 3.4 feet, at least another hour before we can leave for the States.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Lizzie and Phil arrive
17th. Thursday
This is Wreckers Bar, wrecked by a hurricane.
A lovely hermit crab that lizzie wanted as a pet!
Arrived at Harbour view marina at around 1900 to find Vince sitting outside waiting for his crew,
It had been a long day , three separate flights to get us from Washington to Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas . The previous day had also been tiring too, poor Lizzie passed out on the flight from Heathrow , thank goodness she was sitting in her seat at the time. Flight attendants were wonderful and she came round after a few wiffs of oxygen and having her feet raised above her head, a tricky operation in a airline seat. The flight attendants reassured Lizzie that this sort of thing happens about once a week and not to worry, however it was a little scary at the time .
Warm welcomes over and luggage on board we head for mangoes restaurant.
Good Friday
The plan for the return trip to the states starts to emerge,the weather doesn't look suitable for the crossing until mid the following week so we have time to cross the Bahamas to our departure point at a reasonably leasurely pace. So for Friday we set off with Orchid bay marina in mind but do so well we decide to go further to Green turtle Cay. This involves going out into the Atlantic for a couple of miles the back into the relatively tranquil sea of Abaco. A great sailing day wind a few waves and everybody enjoying it. Am particularly pleased how Lizzie copes with the Atlantic swell.
Saturday
Rain and wind forcast so we stay in Green Turtle Marina. A fine place to be stranded in.
Sunday
Fine weather and a cracking sail up to Spanish Cay Marina, this place is expensive 2.75 a foot per night, but why not pamper ourselves? Jacuzzi, tennis courts, bars, pool, private beaches a hotel and we expected lots of other boats, a place with atmosphere and style. It was practically empty! Slips for 60+ boats and only six occupied, half I think were marina boats. Yes there were tennis courts.
And bars
It was strange. A deserted once fancy resort now rather down at the heel.
Easter Monday
Whilst tacking our way to Great Sale Cay we celebrated Easter with the only chocolate we had, a twix bar bought at Heathrow. On the second half of the journey we did a twenty mile reach at 7 knots plus can't be bad, here is the track
Tuesday morning, predictions of 9 foot swell in the Gulf Stream scupper plans to leave early so we head for Grand Cay, diesel, milk, onions, and meat on shopping list. 
Lizzie doing the Titanic thing whilst sailing.
Lizzie doing breakfast.
Grand cay is very layed back place , everything is done slowly. We arrived early and had a lazy afternoon.
Tomorrow we head for the USA.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
My last night...
So to recap :
We left Great Guana first thing in the morning and had a good sail over to Treasure Cay. It's amazing sailing and being in the middle of the sea of Abaco and still be in only roughly 13-15 ft of water - the ocean so clear that you can see the bottom. It kinda makes the shallow bits really unnerving :) It was an easy sail and we soon reached our destination. We left Kinky Turtle and went for a lovely stroll through town to the beach. The beach is over 3miles long and looks as if it has been used for many a front cover of holiday brochures - bright blue ocean as far the eye can see, fine white endless sand and the odd bar thrown in for good measure. We made our way back to the path and found we were a bit further away than anticipated, which was fine - it was interesting to see how one side of the road had been developed with hotels, homes and holiday lets and the other had been left to its own devices and just grown.
We made it back to the marina and treated ourselves to a shower and said we would meet at the bar. Two Sands beers (I like them) and dads tropical punch with rum later and we headed back to the boat. We ate, facetimed family, snuggled down and slept - day 5.
We started early out of Treasure Cay to make the most of the day as the weather has been all over the shop this week. We made the right decision, we sailed out to be greeted by bright blue skies and perfect winds for our direction. We screamed across the bluest of blue water - an absolutely brilliant sail across to Man Of War, everything in our favour. We reached Man of War just in time, picked up a mooring - out of wifi range - grabbed our things and headed to the Dock n Dine. I was looking forward to this my first fresh fish supper (was lunch actually but felt later). I ordered the Mahi Mahi and a beer and was promptly told it was a dry island - shame would have gone nicely with my lunch:) However did not change an immensely enjoyable lunch - Mahi Mahi is a very tasty fish, pretty colours too. As we ate lunch we watched the rain come down and when it eased off we headed for a walk towards the beach - would have been rude not to stop off for some dessert at the ice cream parlour. Mahoosive helpings of ice cream in hand we headed to the beach only to be distracted by the odd gift shop - children would never forgive me going home empty handed. I had every intention of swimming in the ocean but when we reached the beach the waves were crashing and we both felt it was probably best left:( We walked aways along the beach and again we snuck through to the main road, slightly off course - must start paying more attention on our lil strolls:) Made it back to the marina and decided to go back to the boat as the weather was starting to look a little off with great grey clouds looming. No sooner had we got back the rain poured and continued for the best part of two hours and when the rain let up the wind came. It was defo movie night on the Kinky Turtle and we had some beers;) On going to bed I heard this kind of buzzing static noise - turns out its thought to be krill eating the stuff off of the bottom of the boat - very cool! Day 6
Again an early ish start, sun was out and the winds were still there but not as harsh. We went out of Man Of War stuck a tiny bit of the jib out (not much bigger than a handkerchief:) and again raced along at some 4.7knts - beautiful sail - only thing I've noticed is that it doesn't take long to get anywhere around here. Still amazed by the oceans colours and depth or lack of - it really is the best way to see the Bahamas. We hurtled across to Marsh Harbor as I have an early date with a taxi tomorrow morning. Couldn't get on to a pontoon - would have been too luxurious anyway and anchored. We decided to reward ourselves with a little lazy time and I made the most of the sunshine on deck:) However as the afternoon wore on, the ominous grey clouds that have been following us were arriving. We grabbed our things and made a hasty exit to try and make the most of Marsh Harbour before the storm hit. We managed to get a mile and a half up the road before we decided to go and hold up in Snappas for more Mahi Mahi (although Dad had a burger and was longingly looking at my fish dish:) and a few beverages - yay not a dry island:) Just as we were ordering our tea the rain came - perfect timing. As we were sat eating lovely food, drinking lovely beer - I made a squeaky noise and pointed and there in the harbor were two dolphins! An absolutely splendid way to bring this whole amazing journey to a perfect end. I feel I have really seen a huge part of the Abacus and made the most of the opportunities I could with weather permitting. Dad has been such fun to explore with and also great company to laze with. Snorkeling was amazing and the difference between just off the beach at Hope Town and off the dive drop at Fowl Cay was really interesting. Fowl Cay was so clear and had an abundance of flora/coral on the reef which was beautiful and very different to Hope Town. Also at Fowl Cay you had the Reef on one side and as you turned and looked behind you there was just ocean to infinity and beyond it seemed. I really liked the harbor as Great Guana, think because it was surrounded by trees and the water was clear and you could see the bottom. Hope Town is a great place to mooch and has a lovely community vibe - seeing the kids catch the school boat was a new one for me. So basically all in all and everything said and done - it's been a wonderful experience and I feel so lucky to have seen it all from the Kinky Turtle with her Captan my Dad - Day 7
Safe travels homewards X
We left Great Guana first thing in the morning and had a good sail over to Treasure Cay. It's amazing sailing and being in the middle of the sea of Abaco and still be in only roughly 13-15 ft of water - the ocean so clear that you can see the bottom. It kinda makes the shallow bits really unnerving :) It was an easy sail and we soon reached our destination. We left Kinky Turtle and went for a lovely stroll through town to the beach. The beach is over 3miles long and looks as if it has been used for many a front cover of holiday brochures - bright blue ocean as far the eye can see, fine white endless sand and the odd bar thrown in for good measure. We made our way back to the path and found we were a bit further away than anticipated, which was fine - it was interesting to see how one side of the road had been developed with hotels, homes and holiday lets and the other had been left to its own devices and just grown.
We made it back to the marina and treated ourselves to a shower and said we would meet at the bar. Two Sands beers (I like them) and dads tropical punch with rum later and we headed back to the boat. We ate, facetimed family, snuggled down and slept - day 5.
We started early out of Treasure Cay to make the most of the day as the weather has been all over the shop this week. We made the right decision, we sailed out to be greeted by bright blue skies and perfect winds for our direction. We screamed across the bluest of blue water - an absolutely brilliant sail across to Man Of War, everything in our favour. We reached Man of War just in time, picked up a mooring - out of wifi range - grabbed our things and headed to the Dock n Dine. I was looking forward to this my first fresh fish supper (was lunch actually but felt later). I ordered the Mahi Mahi and a beer and was promptly told it was a dry island - shame would have gone nicely with my lunch:) However did not change an immensely enjoyable lunch - Mahi Mahi is a very tasty fish, pretty colours too. As we ate lunch we watched the rain come down and when it eased off we headed for a walk towards the beach - would have been rude not to stop off for some dessert at the ice cream parlour. Mahoosive helpings of ice cream in hand we headed to the beach only to be distracted by the odd gift shop - children would never forgive me going home empty handed. I had every intention of swimming in the ocean but when we reached the beach the waves were crashing and we both felt it was probably best left:( We walked aways along the beach and again we snuck through to the main road, slightly off course - must start paying more attention on our lil strolls:) Made it back to the marina and decided to go back to the boat as the weather was starting to look a little off with great grey clouds looming. No sooner had we got back the rain poured and continued for the best part of two hours and when the rain let up the wind came. It was defo movie night on the Kinky Turtle and we had some beers;) On going to bed I heard this kind of buzzing static noise - turns out its thought to be krill eating the stuff off of the bottom of the boat - very cool! Day 6
Again an early ish start, sun was out and the winds were still there but not as harsh. We went out of Man Of War stuck a tiny bit of the jib out (not much bigger than a handkerchief:) and again raced along at some 4.7knts - beautiful sail - only thing I've noticed is that it doesn't take long to get anywhere around here. Still amazed by the oceans colours and depth or lack of - it really is the best way to see the Bahamas. We hurtled across to Marsh Harbor as I have an early date with a taxi tomorrow morning. Couldn't get on to a pontoon - would have been too luxurious anyway and anchored. We decided to reward ourselves with a little lazy time and I made the most of the sunshine on deck:) However as the afternoon wore on, the ominous grey clouds that have been following us were arriving. We grabbed our things and made a hasty exit to try and make the most of Marsh Harbour before the storm hit. We managed to get a mile and a half up the road before we decided to go and hold up in Snappas for more Mahi Mahi (although Dad had a burger and was longingly looking at my fish dish:) and a few beverages - yay not a dry island:) Just as we were ordering our tea the rain came - perfect timing. As we were sat eating lovely food, drinking lovely beer - I made a squeaky noise and pointed and there in the harbor were two dolphins! An absolutely splendid way to bring this whole amazing journey to a perfect end. I feel I have really seen a huge part of the Abacus and made the most of the opportunities I could with weather permitting. Dad has been such fun to explore with and also great company to laze with. Snorkeling was amazing and the difference between just off the beach at Hope Town and off the dive drop at Fowl Cay was really interesting. Fowl Cay was so clear and had an abundance of flora/coral on the reef which was beautiful and very different to Hope Town. Also at Fowl Cay you had the Reef on one side and as you turned and looked behind you there was just ocean to infinity and beyond it seemed. I really liked the harbor as Great Guana, think because it was surrounded by trees and the water was clear and you could see the bottom. Hope Town is a great place to mooch and has a lovely community vibe - seeing the kids catch the school boat was a new one for me. So basically all in all and everything said and done - it's been a wonderful experience and I feel so lucky to have seen it all from the Kinky Turtle with her Captan my Dad - Day 7
Safe travels homewards X
My turn:-)
Arrived after to find my Dad where he said he'd meet me some 3000 miles from where I started, waiting on the pontoon at Hope Town. I had already been blown away by the truly amazing colours of the ocean here but to be able to spend the next few days exploring it was just a dream come true. We headed back to the Kinky Turtle - just have to say how cool it is to her all the way down here on an adventure - dropped off backpack and headed to the beach. We stopped for a coffee - I had iced chai tea - in a lovely coffee shop full of scrummy food. After we felt slightly more alive, we headed to the beach. It's the first time I've been snorkeling but headed straight in without hesitation, could not wait to see what was out there...ish. I had heard mention on the previous blogs of barracuda, nurse sharks and sting rays so was definitely craning my neck around a lot to make sure nothing crept up from behind. Instead I was treated to an array of reef fish without to much effort to look. Dad led the way and I followed until I had I have a break. We sat in the beach amazed at my luck for a first snorkeling sesh. When we asked up the beach I noticed the sand was so fine and soft it felt like flour under foot and when the waves covered it, it left it shiny almost looked like silk. When you walk along the beach you leave a deep footprint from where you've been. As we headed back to the boat, we called in to Vernon's store for some famous fresh coconut bread. Then dad showed me the two chairs at the end of the road (see earlier blogs) this is a perfect spot to sit and relax or look for shells that have washed up on the shore. I picked one up not realising it still belonged to the occupant, a hermit crab:-) I put him down and watched his slow relaxed journey back up the shore. Just off in the shallows a man was fishing and caught a baby barracuda, he threw it back in after.
The colours of the houses, shops are complimented by the flowers - everything embraces colour and is so vibrant it gives you a happy feeling. As we reached the dinghy I saw my first sting ray glide under the pontoon - don't even need to snorkel and you can see amazing things. Back to the boat, tea, catch up and bed - day 1.
5 Woke up absolutely burnt to a cinder - be warned the sun is crazy hot! I never burn but I did yesterday and still do today. Dad made me a lovely breakfast of French toast made with the coconut bread and some fresh coffee, had it up on deck and boy was the view good - what a way to start the day. In a kind of lucky way it is overcast which means I don't feel too bad about covering up and dodging along the roads to find shade when needed and also dodging golf carts as there are no cars here. Today consisted of mooching - we stopped at Sugar Shack for some YUM ice cream! Lots of nice gift and stuff to buy in there. I bought a diet coke. We were going to rent a golf cart but didn't get round to it. The wind was picking up and a storm was due. Headed to the beach for a quick dip to calm my amazing new hairstyle that had seemed to take over and turn into a matted bush. Sea tamed the mane of monstrosity and we went further down the beach to a place with a bar and decided to watch the ever impending clouds make their way towards us with a Sands Beer in hand - lovely beer and rather refreshing. Back to the boat and the detoured to go and have a look at the lighthouse. Such a treat to be able to climb to the top and a great opportunity to see all the mechanics of it - especially as it's a working lighthouse. Then back to the boat then tea, more putting the world to rights and we managed to sneak in a couple of episodes of Only Fools and Horses (classic) before bed - day 2.
Day 2 - night time was when the storm came through, wasn't much but the wind blew, the boat rocked, the lightening rolled around in the sky, the rain came down and we took turns getting up to sort things.
The morning brought with it much of the same weather wise but in daylight. The rain had stopped and so had the lightening but the wind was still blowing hard. We spent much of the day on the boat lazin' which was a luxury:-) I sat at the bow and read a book. As I read something caught my eye, I couldn't believe it, I slowly moved down the boat and got dad and told him there was a dolphin swimming around the boat - how cool was that! Then another appeared and they played in the wake of little dinghys, it was such a treat. We only went on land for more coconut bread:-) Also a quick dip in the ocean because I could:-) Also helped the hair again. The wind stayed with us all day and night - day 3.
Today we woke, the wind was settling and this was it a break in the weather so we could move on to explore more. As soon as all was sorted aboard we headed towards Fowl Cay , Dad had said this was a good place to snorkel. The winds were still high and the waves were rolling but we anchored. Dad set his fancy drift alert thang for the anchor but the alarm kept going off so I got my snorkel on and made sure that the anchor was in properly - the water was so clear, the shadow of the boat on the ocean floor and the anchor had taken and all was well. Quick brunch, then set to getting everything ready. We got in the dinghy and headed to the dive point. Was starting to get concerned by the size of the waves but dad kept trying to reassure me. Saw a nurse shark just off of the dinghy we tried to follow it but it lost us pretty quickly. We kept crashing through the waves to the dive point, hooked up and dad jumped in. I stayed in the boat watching. When dad returned I stuck my head over the side of the dinghy and could not resist - made dad wait in the boat to keep an eye me incase I got in to trouble and jumped off the side in to the ocean. Was so nervous to begin with but then just kind of relaxed and stopped worrying. A Sargent major came up about 30cms from my face - kinda looking at me like strange but I guess he was probably thinking the same thing;-) The reef was pretty and colourful and when you turned there was just vast ocean - amazing! Headed back to the dinghy and gracefully got in - not! Getting in a dinghy in an ocean with biggish waves, flippers on and a slippery side on the dinghy ain't gonna be pretty - infact slid right in, nearly slipped right the other side but saved myself with mahoosiive nose dive in to the bottom of the dinghy where upon heard dad having a little chuckle offering to help take my flippers off as I was well and truly stuck! Once regained composure went to the little beach and looked for shells. Then snorkelled from the beach back to the boat. We had lunch and then dad came up with the fantastic idea of cleaning the bottom of the boat - what fun! I agreed and we decided one side each. After drinking part of the ocean and banging my head several times with the waves , I decided my job was done ish! I headed to the back of the boat noticing dad wasn't in the water - apparently he had decided the tool he had wasn't good enough. The kitchen spatula I used worked rather well!!!;-) jobs done we set off towards Guana. The clouds were starting to roll in but not before a good spell in the sunshine. However as we sailed towed as the entrance the wind won and yes folks I had to put on a hoodie!!! What!! Picked up a mooring. Watched the last bit if sun fight it's way through the clouds, got togged up for the bar on the beach but then decided to have a looksee in the morning. We started to settle and heard a cry from another boat and sure enough another dolphin was swimming around the boats - just beautiful to watch and how privileged am I ? Two sightings in four days. Went down below deck - both dad and feeling like we should go out but just not loving the cool wind and that when the rain came for a spell, kinds made our minds up for us;-) - day 4
The colours of the houses, shops are complimented by the flowers - everything embraces colour and is so vibrant it gives you a happy feeling. As we reached the dinghy I saw my first sting ray glide under the pontoon - don't even need to snorkel and you can see amazing things. Back to the boat, tea, catch up and bed - day 1.
5 Woke up absolutely burnt to a cinder - be warned the sun is crazy hot! I never burn but I did yesterday and still do today. Dad made me a lovely breakfast of French toast made with the coconut bread and some fresh coffee, had it up on deck and boy was the view good - what a way to start the day. In a kind of lucky way it is overcast which means I don't feel too bad about covering up and dodging along the roads to find shade when needed and also dodging golf carts as there are no cars here. Today consisted of mooching - we stopped at Sugar Shack for some YUM ice cream! Lots of nice gift and stuff to buy in there. I bought a diet coke. We were going to rent a golf cart but didn't get round to it. The wind was picking up and a storm was due. Headed to the beach for a quick dip to calm my amazing new hairstyle that had seemed to take over and turn into a matted bush. Sea tamed the mane of monstrosity and we went further down the beach to a place with a bar and decided to watch the ever impending clouds make their way towards us with a Sands Beer in hand - lovely beer and rather refreshing. Back to the boat and the detoured to go and have a look at the lighthouse. Such a treat to be able to climb to the top and a great opportunity to see all the mechanics of it - especially as it's a working lighthouse. Then back to the boat then tea, more putting the world to rights and we managed to sneak in a couple of episodes of Only Fools and Horses (classic) before bed - day 2.
Day 2 - night time was when the storm came through, wasn't much but the wind blew, the boat rocked, the lightening rolled around in the sky, the rain came down and we took turns getting up to sort things.
The morning brought with it much of the same weather wise but in daylight. The rain had stopped and so had the lightening but the wind was still blowing hard. We spent much of the day on the boat lazin' which was a luxury:-) I sat at the bow and read a book. As I read something caught my eye, I couldn't believe it, I slowly moved down the boat and got dad and told him there was a dolphin swimming around the boat - how cool was that! Then another appeared and they played in the wake of little dinghys, it was such a treat. We only went on land for more coconut bread:-) Also a quick dip in the ocean because I could:-) Also helped the hair again. The wind stayed with us all day and night - day 3.
Today we woke, the wind was settling and this was it a break in the weather so we could move on to explore more. As soon as all was sorted aboard we headed towards Fowl Cay , Dad had said this was a good place to snorkel. The winds were still high and the waves were rolling but we anchored. Dad set his fancy drift alert thang for the anchor but the alarm kept going off so I got my snorkel on and made sure that the anchor was in properly - the water was so clear, the shadow of the boat on the ocean floor and the anchor had taken and all was well. Quick brunch, then set to getting everything ready. We got in the dinghy and headed to the dive point. Was starting to get concerned by the size of the waves but dad kept trying to reassure me. Saw a nurse shark just off of the dinghy we tried to follow it but it lost us pretty quickly. We kept crashing through the waves to the dive point, hooked up and dad jumped in. I stayed in the boat watching. When dad returned I stuck my head over the side of the dinghy and could not resist - made dad wait in the boat to keep an eye me incase I got in to trouble and jumped off the side in to the ocean. Was so nervous to begin with but then just kind of relaxed and stopped worrying. A Sargent major came up about 30cms from my face - kinda looking at me like strange but I guess he was probably thinking the same thing;-) The reef was pretty and colourful and when you turned there was just vast ocean - amazing! Headed back to the dinghy and gracefully got in - not! Getting in a dinghy in an ocean with biggish waves, flippers on and a slippery side on the dinghy ain't gonna be pretty - infact slid right in, nearly slipped right the other side but saved myself with mahoosiive nose dive in to the bottom of the dinghy where upon heard dad having a little chuckle offering to help take my flippers off as I was well and truly stuck! Once regained composure went to the little beach and looked for shells. Then snorkelled from the beach back to the boat. We had lunch and then dad came up with the fantastic idea of cleaning the bottom of the boat - what fun! I agreed and we decided one side each. After drinking part of the ocean and banging my head several times with the waves , I decided my job was done ish! I headed to the back of the boat noticing dad wasn't in the water - apparently he had decided the tool he had wasn't good enough. The kitchen spatula I used worked rather well!!!;-) jobs done we set off towards Guana. The clouds were starting to roll in but not before a good spell in the sunshine. However as we sailed towed as the entrance the wind won and yes folks I had to put on a hoodie!!! What!! Picked up a mooring. Watched the last bit if sun fight it's way through the clouds, got togged up for the bar on the beach but then decided to have a looksee in the morning. We started to settle and heard a cry from another boat and sure enough another dolphin was swimming around the boats - just beautiful to watch and how privileged am I ? Two sightings in four days. Went down below deck - both dad and feeling like we should go out but just not loving the cool wind and that when the rain came for a spell, kinds made our minds up for us;-) - day 4
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
The Power and the Glory...
Today is the day that I forsake the close to nature world of the wind driven, and get an introduction into the hydrocarbon driven world of power boating and sport fishing. Doug(The Owner), Mikey(The Captain) and Kendell(The 1st Mate) have kindly invited me along to take pictures during their offshore fishing trip. I'm excited and not a little nervous because the motion on a high speed power boat is quite different from anything I have experienced and I would hate to disgrace myself. The boat is about 50ft long, has a beam of about 14ft and draws 3ft. It is very luxurious and even has a button operated sliding door from the cockpit into the saloon. The bridge is way above my head, (I'm not allowed up there) and is reached by climbing a vertical ladder. We have twin turbocharged caterpillar diesels, each delivering 1000HP - goodness knows what the fuel consumption is.
For this adventure I have to get up early and I take a picture of the sunrise just for the record, then a few shots to record the amazing nature of the boat itself. We leave the dock at a stately 5 knots, the engines murmuring quietly below my feet. Everything feels quite normal. As we leave the harbour in a light, choppy sea the engines come to life with a roar, the deck trembles and we are off. Only 15 to 20 knots as yet, still too close to other people. Finally, there is an almighty rumble, coupled with the high pitched whine of the turbochargers and the boat gets up on a plane at around 25-30knots. It is exhilarating, noisy, wet (I stowed the camera inside) and, after a while, strangely hypnotic. The wake stretches out behind us in a white ribbon, the spray whips past the cockpit like tracer bullets and I retreat into a slight coma, my senses overwhelmed.
We travel like this for, I'm told, about an hour until we reach a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean identical to my eye to all other stretches. This is the place! The boat slows down and Kendell starts rigging not one, not two, but six fishing lines, arranged along 20ft outriggers each side of the boat. There are also two or three "teasers" which are lines with brightly coloure lures and no hooks, just to get the attention of any fish in the area. We then start to motor at low speed back and forth over various identical pieces of sea. Doug favours 6.8knots, Mikey 6.2knots. Kendell keeps quiet, this is obviously a delicate subject.
After about an hour, Kendell leaps into action, yelling "Fish" and doing many unknown things with rods and lines, the culmination of which is Doug in the hot seat reeling in a Mahi Mahi (Blue Dolphin, although a fish not a mammal!) The fish is brought alongside and Kendell gaffs it and drops it into the ice box. All this happens faster than I can keep up with. I got a picture of the hot seat, a picture of the fish alongside the boat, and that’s it. All over.
Not to worry I think, now I know what's going on I will do better next time.
Alas, there is no next time. We cruise around for another 4 hours without a single bite. Various changes to lures, lines and rods are made but to no avail. At 3pm they decide to call it a day. Unrig the lines, put stuff away and the whole noisy, high speed race starts again. We come back through the whale channel at 30knots and get back to the dock around 4pm. We have traveled further in 6 hours than Kinky Turtle can manage in a whole day or more. My body trembles slightly for about 4 hours, and my head buzzes all night.
Kendell shows Vince and I how to fillet the fish and gives us a big bag of mahi mahi steaks. I'm impressed by its size, but the crew are most definately not! We have fish and rice for dinner and excellent it was too! I go to bed exhausted. It's probably not the sport for me!
Today is the day that I forsake the close to nature world of the wind driven, and get an introduction into the hydrocarbon driven world of power boating and sport fishing. Doug(The Owner), Mikey(The Captain) and Kendell(The 1st Mate) have kindly invited me along to take pictures during their offshore fishing trip. I'm excited and not a little nervous because the motion on a high speed power boat is quite different from anything I have experienced and I would hate to disgrace myself. The boat is about 50ft long, has a beam of about 14ft and draws 3ft. It is very luxurious and even has a button operated sliding door from the cockpit into the saloon. The bridge is way above my head, (I'm not allowed up there) and is reached by climbing a vertical ladder. We have twin turbocharged caterpillar diesels, each delivering 1000HP - goodness knows what the fuel consumption is.
For this adventure I have to get up early and I take a picture of the sunrise just for the record, then a few shots to record the amazing nature of the boat itself. We leave the dock at a stately 5 knots, the engines murmuring quietly below my feet. Everything feels quite normal. As we leave the harbour in a light, choppy sea the engines come to life with a roar, the deck trembles and we are off. Only 15 to 20 knots as yet, still too close to other people. Finally, there is an almighty rumble, coupled with the high pitched whine of the turbochargers and the boat gets up on a plane at around 25-30knots. It is exhilarating, noisy, wet (I stowed the camera inside) and, after a while, strangely hypnotic. The wake stretches out behind us in a white ribbon, the spray whips past the cockpit like tracer bullets and I retreat into a slight coma, my senses overwhelmed.
We travel like this for, I'm told, about an hour until we reach a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean identical to my eye to all other stretches. This is the place! The boat slows down and Kendell starts rigging not one, not two, but six fishing lines, arranged along 20ft outriggers each side of the boat. There are also two or three "teasers" which are lines with brightly coloure lures and no hooks, just to get the attention of any fish in the area. We then start to motor at low speed back and forth over various identical pieces of sea. Doug favours 6.8knots, Mikey 6.2knots. Kendell keeps quiet, this is obviously a delicate subject.
After about an hour, Kendell leaps into action, yelling "Fish" and doing many unknown things with rods and lines, the culmination of which is Doug in the hot seat reeling in a Mahi Mahi (Blue Dolphin, although a fish not a mammal!) The fish is brought alongside and Kendell gaffs it and drops it into the ice box. All this happens faster than I can keep up with. I got a picture of the hot seat, a picture of the fish alongside the boat, and that’s it. All over.
Alas, there is no next time. We cruise around for another 4 hours without a single bite. Various changes to lures, lines and rods are made but to no avail. At 3pm they decide to call it a day. Unrig the lines, put stuff away and the whole noisy, high speed race starts again. We come back through the whale channel at 30knots and get back to the dock around 4pm. We have traveled further in 6 hours than Kinky Turtle can manage in a whole day or more. My body trembles slightly for about 4 hours, and my head buzzes all night.
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