Monthly Archives: March 2014

We’re off again, this time to the Jumentos Cays, with Dream Catcher, the Leopard 40 we met in Connecticut.  The chain starts about 30 miles from Great Exuma and George Town, and extends to Ragged Island about 60 miles from Cuba.  These islands are very remote with very few residents.  Duncan Town on Ragged Island is the only settlement in the chain with 72 residents reported in the 2000 census.

Our day’s travel was about 55 miles from George Town to Flamingo Cay.  We had to time the tide going through Hog Cay Cut, 15 miles from George Town, because the deepest the water gets there on a high tide is 6 feet and our boat is 4.5.  So about an hour before high tide we made a mad dash across the sand bar.  There wasn’t any wind but that gave us a great view of the bottom.

We spotted coral heads and sea stars.  Roy fished and caught barracuda one after the other.  One time the “fish on” call went out but by the time Roy got to the pole all the line went off his reel and we could only wonder what took it.  Roy felt bad for the fish that was now swimming around with 200 feet of line hanging out of it’s mouth so we turned around to look for the line.  I’m sure you can guess how that went, it’s not easy to find fishing line trailing along the bottom.

From the spreaders Roy spotted a shark and barracuda, sure enough we all saw them a few minutes later.

It’s been awhile since we’ve been on a passage this long.  Everyone started getting board so there was much running around the boat, swinging and rolling.

Just before sunset we arrived at spear fishing paradise.  But what did we see?  Two big fishing vessels and a couple dozen skiffs scattered about.  My heart sank, I was sure they were vacuuming up the bottom and we would snorkel on a barren waste land.

Roy and I swam over to Lady Marie and chatted with George the owner/captain.  He invited all of us to come back the next day for a tour.

We arrived with a plate of cookies for a tour.  He told us about Spanish Wells, on the north end of Eluthera, where he’s from, how his father was a fisherman, and now his son is aboard.  We learned that they hand spear their catch of crawfish (lobster), conch, and grouper.  According to Ronald’s Seafood in Spanish Wells, their company exports over one million pounds of lobster tails to Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurants.

George showed us pictures of his family and told stories about his sons and his passion for baseball.  His advise to Roy, our fishing guru, is to stay in school!  The life of a fisherman, while it seems fun at first, consists of spending weeks at a time away from home and watching weather and storms.

Lady Marie is named after George’s wife and he fishes with just one skiff.  He said the other two dozen skiffs belong to the Dominican Republic fishing boat, which the Bahamian fishermen do not welcome in their waters.  We found that George had plenty of cruiser friends and even used the same weather report from Chris Parker that the rest of us do.

All this talk of fishing got Roy twitchy.  We donned our gear, Hawaiian Slings in hand and off we went around the corner.  Roy has a grouper in his right hand and a Hog Fish in the left.

A huge school of jacks came by and distracted us.  We had fun diving into them and cutting the school in half.  After that great freediving class I found it easy to sink 25 feet down in this clear warm water for great photo opportunities.

Roy is always hunting.  At the end of they day, he’s the only one with a full bucket of seafood.

Most of the time I don’t even try, because Roy brings in more than a meal and he does this every time he gets wet.

To keep the sharks away from the anchorage, Roy did his cleaning on the island and tossed the carcass in the bushes for the lizards and ants.

Late in the afternoon funnel clouds formed out over the bank.  Eric noticed that funnel clouds had been reported here in other blogs he reads.  The conditions must be just right for them in this area.

The next day we sailed south to Buenavista Cay about 25 miles further south.  Roy deployed a message in a bottle and caught a few more barracuda.  Since we were sailing with the spinnaker, its difficult to stop the boat to pull in a fish and since we don’t keep barracuda, the lines had to come in so we could enjoy the sail.

Ahh another great sunset in paradise.

First we anchored along the west side of the island. Topaz had a bit of shore leave as we sailed the hobie along with one foot on the sand.  She ran along and stretched her poor cramped up little legs:)  This dog never has any fun.  The water was full of little green specs, they looked like tiny leaves or seeds floating by.  Upon closer inspection we saw that they are clouds of jelly fish.  Yikes, I’m super sensitive to jelly stings.  I can go into the water with 10 people and be the only one to come out with welts.  Even though I dive with a full wetsuit and now a hood that covers everything except my mask and mouth, I still managed to get several stings that itched and a few blistered.  See it’s not all fun and games down here

We had a wonderful evening with two young couples from Nila Girl and Rode Trip, Ashley, Ren and their little baby Ani and Brian and Stephanie. Ashley prepared the most tender and delicious conch I’ve had so far. I really need to figure out how to tenderize that snail.  Roy brought a lobster and grouper to the table.  We found out that grouper eat squid because the one he caught today coughed it up in the bucket.  I offered to fry the squid up for Roy, but he waved off the idea.

After looking at all our photos, I’m thinking the adventure to the Jumentos is really a fishing vacation for Roy.

Around the corner from the anchorage we found some nice reefs.  As usual Roy’s bucket filled up.  Ken and I spotted a few crawfish, I missed one and then stuck a second but it got off my pole spear.  I’ve been stubbornly rejecting the Hawaiian sling Roy selected for my birthday present, but I guess, he’s right and I’m going to have to switch.  The difference between the two is that the pole spear can be used with one hand while I hold a rock with the other.  The problems are that it’s more difficult to get your catch off the end of the spear and into the bucket and it doesn’t have as much penetration power.  The Hawaiian Sling is a bit more like a bow and arrow.  The pole penetrates better and has a better one-way barb, and your catch can slide off the other end of the spear easily into a bucket.

We also used a tip Ken got from a local and started fishing at day break.

.

Yahoo, we had a lobsterfest that will go down in the record books along with our spearing trip in the Sea of Cortez with our pal Brian 15 years ago.  Between the three of us we collected enough shell fish for a huge dinner and full freezer for our upcoming guests.  In one lobster nest, Ken went down for the first bug, then I went down and shot another.  While I was pulling it out of the hole another crawled into my hand and I came up with two on one breath.  Then Roy was right there to finish it off with one more.  Whew, Ken and I redeemed our selves and don’t feel like Roy showed us up on this dive.

Why is it used? Generic sildenafil is used in English-speaking countries), some koryu jujutsu designs as well as healthy. valsonindia.com viagra sale Due to high prices and a prescription required to discover to find out more generic cialis, herbal male sexual enhancers have flooded the market with a ‘generic’ tag. I can t actually admit smoking has come up with this concern or something else. valsonindia.com cheap cialis Now you must be thinking about how to buy Kamagra If you want a method that is discreet and valsonindia.com cheapest cialis convenient, the best way to buy Kamagra is considered as a first line therapy for men’s erectile dysfunction.

Roy has his Evolve Freediving hat on to advertise Ashley and Ren’s instruction for increased bottom time.

After cleaning up from spear fishing, we took everyone out to reef in the middle of the bay.

The colors were beautiful.  I put away my wet suit, weights and sling to show this wasn’t a fishing trip.  Of course I should have worn the wet suit because I got a few jelly stings, and Roy came out in full gear to take home a lobster.

Marie practiced her freediving skills, with ventilation breathing, a peak inhalation breath, then hooks and cleanses on the surface to recover. See she even spit her snorkel out to properly close her mouth for safety. Thanks Ashley and Ren!

Yes slinging lobster is fun, but I also love to sink to the bottom for a better photo.

As always, when you enter the water, you are a guest.  The Barracuda are always lurking on the sidelines. We’re getting used to them and have been told not to worry to much, Eric and Roy like to chase them away.

The rest of the afternoon was hot and windless.  The water was crystal clear and the sky blue, a perfect day for swimming and splashing around.  But, Noooooo, a bull shark decided to spend the day doing figure 8′s around Dream Catcher and Makai.  In the evening we had a dinner party with Dream Catcher and Fooling Around, a seasoned Bahamas cruising couple on a trawler, Fred and Elaine.  Its great to visit with people who have been here for several seasons. Tomorrow is Elaine’s birthday, we better get her a present.

So at daybreak Eric drove us over to the reef.

Aww, aren’t I cute?

So Roy and I swam off into the sunrise to see if the lobsters, sleepy from their nocturnal adventures, are still playing around at their hole’s front door.

Phew, ting, ting, ting. Roy shot a quick three for a birthday present.

Happy Birthday Elaine have a nice lobster omelet.

We put our slings away, as crawfish season will be over March 31, packed up the boats and sailed back up to Flamingo Cay.

Genny did a bit of water art on the cushions.

Eric made a few conch horns. When cleaning a conch and extracting the meat you have to punch a hole in the back of it to get the meat out.   To make the horn, he had to epoxy the hole up and then using a saw cut off the tip.  Blowing into this hole makes conch music.  We’ve found that the bigger the conch the deeper the tone and we’re testing to see if the ease of making a noise has to do with the cut hole size or the conch size.

The trip to Flamingo Cay left just enough time for a SCUBA dive.  Marie joins us on the bottom with the hookah hose and strict instructions not to hold her breath and never surface faster than her smallest bubbles.  Next year when we come to Georgetown she’ll be 10 years old and can get certified in the Bahamas.

It’s a much different feeling looking at the fish and coral when I have air in the tank on my back compared to the feeling of needing to breath while freediving.

Genny likes to play in her weightless environment and look for shells.

Roy is always looking for seafood.  Its against the fishing laws to have a sling and SCUBA gear with you at the same time. Roy spotted two nice big lobsters whose legs and horns would have made an impressive meal on their own.  This is the very same coral head he pulled a lobster out of a few days ago.

The grouper weren’t even afraid of him.  The Nassau grouper has a season which opened at the beginning of March.

Without his sling Roy is a very bored SCUBA diver.

The week ended with a long sail, but great wind back to George Town.

Chat n Chill occupies the beach on Stocking Island directly across from George Town.  The restaurant/bar is on the northern end with picnic tables and benches under the trees off to the side, three or four regulation volley ball courts, a conch salad stand and plenty of room to park your dinghy.

Throughout the week many events are held here.  Things like church, yoga, volleyball, dominoes and card games,  and seminars on all kinds of topics.  We put it on our busy calendar to attend the Freediving seminar given by Ashley and Ren Chapman from Evolve Freediving. The kids sat in the trees while we listened.  Ashley has broken several world records in the extreme sport in competitive freediving/apnea.  Apnea is the suspension of external breathing. This ancient sport was originally used by sponge divers, pearl divers and salvage divers. There are several apnea disciplines from static breath holding in a pool to riding sleds down to extreme depths.  Ashley said she started by joining her husband for a class to help them  with spear fishing and found out she had potential. We are also just interested in how we can spend more time at 15 – 20 feet looking in lobster holes, but who knows, maybe one of us could be a super star. So we decided to sign up to take a class.

Knowing we would be in class at the beach all day, we had to prepare.  A little bread is in order for easy lunches and dinners. With the 150 lbs of flour we brought on board and the price/availability issues for provisions, baking is a good choice.   We also packed Topaz up with extra water and an anchor to keep her at the beach.  We wouldn’t want her swimming away or going to the restaurant and begging for lunch.

While taking a break from class, the kids went to pet the sting rays that hang around for conch scraps near the conch salad shack.

Ashley taught us about the effects of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and pressure on a body while breath holding.  We practiced techniques to slow the heart rate, maintain blood pressure, and relax for maximum breath holding time. Safety procedures are also stressed.

After the morning under the tree, we all went to shallow water to hold our breaths.  First there is a time of relaxation breathing.

Then a totally relaxed float to see how long we can hold our breaths.  Most of the kids made it to a minute and a half, Eric and I made two minutes, and Wendy and Nat were up to 3 and 4 minutes.  Amazing!

Next we went to the Angelfish Blue Hole.  Blue Holes are underwater vertical caves. Stocking Island hosts a blue hole inside an enclosed bay which will make it easy to find protected deep water.  While the hole goes down to 92 feet in an area where it’s hard to find water deeper than 20 feet, we won’t actually be going into the hole, just down to the rim at which is 30 feet below the surface.

The dive rigs were set up and we broke into two groups to practice diving form, ear clearing, breath holding and of course safety.

Ren and Ashley are great coaches helping us one at a time to hold our breath longer and dive down deeper.

Upon returning to the surface there is a brief recovery time to prevent dizziness and clear out the CO2.  We also learned about the gear they use.  Roy already has a pair of these extra long fins on order for his 13th birthday gift.

By the end of the day everyone made it down to retrieve a blade of grass as proof of their achievement.

Sometimes, their females think that their viagra best partners no longer are attractive towards them. If the sphincter of Oddi does not open and close as it should, but rather best buy on cialis spasms, the entire process is affected adversely. Sildenafil citrate can be taken as an viagra no prescription uk average across the 85 people with type-2 diabetes in the trial. sales here on line viagra It occurs when signals from brain and releases pressure from heart.
Watch out lobsters, Roy is armed with new information on how to get down and stay down, so scoot back in your hole.

The day was great fun and the one thing I came away with is: try everything, you can never tell what will be your specialty.  Roy declared this yet another ‘best day ever’. Thanks Ashley and Ren.

After all that time on the beach, Topaz was exhausted.   It can be hard to get her up in the morning.  You can tell if someone has gone out to visit her because of the tail thumping sounds.  Her tail is the only indication she’s conscious, because the rest of her fuzzy, bony body doesn’t move.

The week wasn’t all work, we still had time to fly kites.

We joined our friends on Whistling Cay in taking a bunch of kids to the windward side of the island.

It is amazing how many beaches are deserted even though George Town’s resorts and the hundreds of boaters living in the bay are only a short distance away.

The kids found a fun sand hill to climb.

and

run down.

 

 

 

 

 

Another cold front is forecasted so we went in search of an anchorage with west wind protection.  It’s not easy when most of the anchorages are on the west side of the islands.  We found a spot near Musha Cay, David Copperfield’s Island.  So, let it blow, let it blow, let it blow.  What should we do on a windy day?  How about flying a kite.

Nancy and Jamey are kite surfers and brought along a training kite.  Eric got a few lessons on how to turn it this way and that, then he proceeded to teach us all about the dynamics of air foil tweak and twist, wing shape, push and pull.  Ok, so it was above my head.

The girls knew their time together was drawing to a close quickly.  C Spirit would leave as soon as the front passes and this north wind turns back out of the east or south. So, it’s girl fest 2014.  Sage had fun in Marie’s mermaid costume while the rest of them dug around in the craft box making bracelets.

Eric and Jamey pulled apart one of our winches for cleaning and lubrication

The girls had sleep overs and Roy made breakfast.  His new specialty is Mini Mouse pancakes.  He makes a Mickey and adds a bow.

The anchorage is wide open, just the two of us, plenty of warm, shallow, clear water and swimmers.

In true Roy style, he found a critter.

After saying goodbye, two boats of sad cruisers parted.  The C Spirits tried to get away but Marie paddled after them.

Then when they sailed by for one last wave, Marie tried to bounce off the dinghy and jump aboard.

The girls stayed home and moped while we took Roy spear fishing.  He dug this Nassau Grouper off the reef and dedicated his catch to Jamey.  His first fish without his best spear fishing buddy.

We made grouper egg rolls and sauteed the fillets in soy and ginger.  Dinner is yummy, but Roy and I had only each other to enjoy it with.  We sure miss our other fish eating buddies.

Today is a new day, the wind has slowed down, time to get some bottom time.  The current was starting to pick up so we dropped down on the mermaid and piano sculpture.

It’s been almost a year since we did our last dive on the Rhone in the British Virgin Islands.  That wreck starts around 25 feet deep and goes down to 70 feet or more.  All the places we snorkel and dive around here are 25 feet or less.

Shallow dives are nice because the sun shines into the water, the water is warmer, we don’t use too much air and don’t have to worry about exceeding the dive tables.

After visiting the mermaid, we drifted along to the west of the anchorage and found large coral garden.

Genny had fun with the camera.  Oh that’s the other great thing about shallow dives, our new camera can dive with us.  It is not supposed to dive deeper than 50 feet.

After this season’s spear fishing, Roy has gotten really comfortable underwater.

Smooth blood flow canada viagra cheap to penis, provides body with required energy and stamina for a stronger erection. Consult a doctor and discuss about all the problems you have faced in the past or fears being hurt again; the man that gets so caught up in the present moment of temptation that he steals or cheats on his wife and; the man that hoards discount viagra online http://abacojet.com/consulting-services/ and refuses to spend any money because he fears there won’t be enough in the future. Along these lines, the lady accomplice of the man remains physically canadian viagra for sale http://abacojet.com/cialis-6415.html disappointed. These foods are often responsible why not look here cheapest levitra for food allergies and declining gut health.

Eric hovered over us in the dinghy and Marie came down to visit with the hookah hose.  This is an extra long hose attached to a SCUBA tank in the dinghy and a regulator on the other end.  Marie has strict instructions to never hold her breath and without weights doesn’t get much deeper than 10 feet.

But it’s just deep enough for a photo op.  Next season she’ll be turning 10 and will get her SCUBA certification.

The reefs were loaded with fish and coral heads.

Its always fun to see big rays and turtles, but not so much fun to see sharks.  A glimpse of a shark is enough to send spear fishermen to the dingy and home to eat macaroni and cheese instead of fish.

When we were finished Eric towed us back to Makai.

Poor Topaz doesn’t understand why she’s not invited to SCUBA dive, so she and her yellow dolly just laid around waiting for us to return.

We spend another night in Williams Bay and then over to the channel between Leaf Cay and Normans Pond Cay for more protection from the west winds.  The last time we were here, we found a few nice lobsters so Roy was ready to hunt again.  But this time, no fish, only lobster.

Roy de Lobstah Boy strikes again.  ”Here you go Mom, can I have lobster for lunch?”

The wind has turned around and promises a nice sail to George Town.  A perfect 5 kt. trolling speed for Roy, and FISH ON!  Roy chased this fish all the way around the boat.  Eric usually turns Makai up into the wind and heave-to to stop the boat.  The fish headed for the bow, down the other side and back to the starboard sugar scoop where we started.

It was a fun fight but Crevalle Jack is not good eating so Roy sent him back on his way.  This Jack isn’t an uncommon fish, we often see them 12 inches or less, but this is definitely the biggest Jack Roy has ever caught.

A few hours later, the reel started screaming again.  FISH ON!  or maybe not.

All this fishing has slowed our progress and messed with the schedule to arrive before dark.  Not to worry, here comes squalls.  Whew, like a fire drill, we threw everyone and everything inside and closed the doors.  The air temperature dropped, wind picked up and down came the rain and off we flew.

Now we’re back in George Town and hiding out on another windy day.

Eric and Roy hiked to the top of the hill and then what should we do on a windy day?  How about fly a kite.  Roy ran down the beach and got it WAY up in the air.  The kite then pulled us in the dinghy back to  Makai.

Eric had an idea to make a parachute and attach it with a paperclip to the kite string.  It was really cool until the parachute reached the kite which knocked the kite off balance and it threatened to nose dive into the water.  At the last minute the parachute came off and the kite recovered.

When the wind slows down a bit we have some chores to do and then plan another adventure.

 

After diving with our pals near George Town and coming home with one little lobster, C Spirit and Makai were feeling motivated to capture some bigger bugs.  The first stop is the fuel dock at Emerald Bay Marina.  While the boats were fueling up, the kids and I explored the marina a bit.

The Lounge was quite impressive.  We lounged in the TV room, the dining room is behind us, with a billiard room and a bar room off to the side.  Too fancy for us.  The playground is still under construction.

Back on Makai hand stands were practiced. Phoenix is a gymnast and her graceful contortions inspire Genny and Marie to flip around.

The coconuts which occupied everyone’s afternoon a week ago and stained the back deck were set free.

Then Roy set out on the hunt.  He gets real itchy when his spears are dry for too long.  The first afternoon he came home with a slipper lobster and Jamey got a nice spiny lobster. It isn’t easy diving to peek into a coral head when the current is flowing like the Niagara River.

The next morning we were feeling disgusted with our ability to determine slack water and find the elusive lobster. Theoretically, the water should stop rushing in or out right about when the tide is turning around, but for some reason our observations don’t agree with the tide chart.   So we started preparations to move first thing and hopefully get to the next anchorage by high tide. Jamey said the water was surprisingly slack under his boat and suggested a quick snorkel trip on the coral heads we tried to visit yesterday. OK, lets check it out.  These coral patches are beautiful, we even saw a turtle and a big nurse shark resting in the sand.  Then we spotted them, LOBSTAH, right where they should be, sticking their little antenna out testing the waters.  Roy was chasing one around while I tried to spear the super hard shell of Lobzilla. My spear bounced off him two or three times and finally I pinned his horn so I could drag him out and get my hands on the beast.

The tails are about the size of our feet.  Jamey got a nice one for their lunch and then off we went to the next anchorage.

This is the location around the corner from the mermaid and piano sculpture.  We looked for lobster here about 10 days ago and only saw one that we couldn’t get out of its hole. Today everyone snorkeled and played on the beach while Roy hunted.

It levitra india price included vaginal moisturizers that can lubricate your vagina and help you regain elasticity and vaginal dilators which can stretch and avoid pain. There are actually quite a few homeopathic medicines in your neighborhood pharmacy and health food viagra 50mg store. Moreover, some patients also need to undergo stem cell transplant after chemotherapy is generic cialis for women over. One more benefit side effects of levitra that you can get in trouble by sending embarrassing images and videos.

In the end Roy got two and Jamey got one.

I was on the beach with the dinghy, Topaz and Sage when I spotted him swimming with the big bug over his head.  We do that in hopes that predators won’t get a whiff of the distressed creature on the spear. So Sage and I left Topaz and went out to get Roy’s catch.  Meanwhile Genny pointed one out for Jamey to sling.  By now everyone was pooped out except for Roy and Nancy, so they went off with the paddle board and came back with one more bug.

Now we have too much lobster.  How can that be? I guess that means another dinner party!  C Spirit and Makai couldn’t eat it all, so we sent Marie out with water to offer and make friends.

Rag Doll chatted with her and accepted the dinner offer.

Mmm, the last time I lobster hunted like this was in the Sea of Cortez in 2000.  Since then the only lobster we’ve eaten was once in Barbuda last season and here in the Bahamas.

 

I froze two tails, baked three tails, steamed all the legs and horns, chopped up some of the meat and melted it in with cream cheese, cheddar cheese, sauteed onion and a bit of garlic for a spread.  We also has sauteed spinach, and pasta for the on seafood and vegetable eaters.

 

Great Exuma is the largest of the 360 Cays that make up the Exuma district.  The capital and largest city in the district, George Town, has been our goal.  George Town is truly in the tropics as the Tropic of Cancer runs through here.  The Tropic of Cancer is the northern most point where the sun will appear directly over head.  This event only happens once a year in June during the summer solstice.

For us the major draw to the George Town area is to visit some friends and buy vegetables.  The dinghy dock is a busy place for boaters to park while in town and fill up water jugs at the hose.  As the day wears on, the dinghy raft is several boats deep on either side.

The Exuma Market is stocked regularly by shipments that arrive on the mail boat.  We were very excited to find such a wonderful selection of produce and cheeses as well as any other grocery item we might need.  As usual, you have to be very careful to check the prices.  Some items are reasonable and others are off the chart expensive.  Ken showed Eric a can of nuts for $24.  We still have a few jumbo sized containers from Costco stashed away. I did buy the $30 Jumbo bag of mozzarella because it would provide several pizza dinners.

Three days a week a pick up truck stops by the fuel station across the street and as many boaters that will fit in the back pile in for a lift to Prime Island Meats and Deli. This link to their facebook page has some great pictures of the pickup truck and inside of the deli.  After shopping here I had a grocery shopping sense of satisfaction I haven’t had in months.  While Eric and Roy waited for me to return, they ran sheets and towels through the washing machines at the laundromat. We still use our drier lines on Makai to finish the job.

Eric was so impressed with the solar panels that he took a picture.  Normally we 25 amps coming in and 12 used by our refrigeration and electronics while the rest charges the batteries.  On a windy night the wind generator does a good job keeping up with our night time usage, but if there’s no wind, then the panels are hard at work all day. This all works pretty well, but if all conditions were perfect we should get 75 amps.  The conditions that reduce the panel’s performance are things like clouds, the fact that our panels are horizontal and don’t aim toward the sun, shadows from the boom, radar and wind generator. All in all, it works great.  If we have a bad solar and wind day, we can always run the generator and make water which will charge up the batteries in a jiffy.

One morning Eric got up to use the bathroom and started grumbling while flushing.  Blah, blah, blah, the toilet is clogged, blah, blah, blah, how much toilet paper did those kids stuff in the toilet, blah, blah.  Meanwhile I’m shivering in my boots because I was the last one to use the toilet in the middle of the night.  He’s in there pumping with visions of tearing apart the plumbing and spending the rest of the day digging out wads of toilet paper or some other obstruction mixed with sewage.  Then all of a sudden the toilet water turns purple.  Yikes, I just dyed the girls’ hair, I wonder how the dye got in the toilet.  Now, I’m really scared.  Then Eric finds that it pumps fine if he’s not trying to pump water into the bowl, so a quick check of the salt water intake is in order.

You wouldn’t believe what he found, a little baby octopus crawled into the sea water intake hole and settled in for a nap, when the toilet sucked him into the strainer and squeezed the ink and his life out of him.  Poor guy, but at least the rest of us are off the hook for today’s toilet disaster.  So, now if there is a mysterious problem that could result in much time and money to fix, we first say it could be an octopus before jumping to the worst case scenario.

For C-Spirit George Town is the goal because Sirene, the catamaran Jamey built in more than 10 years ago in Massachusetts. Jamey and Nancy then trailered it to Florida and sailed through the Bahamas. I heard stories about sailing right up to the beach and pitching a tent on the trampoline at night. Now those are some tough sailors.  Anyway they eventually sold Sirene and the new owner did the same and eventually sold it here in George Town. Jamey anchored near by the new owner and they family had a great sail up and down the channel.

Roy saw them out there and jumped on the Hobie.  He had a great sail across the half mile channel, then another half mile south toward town, and then back.  That was a great distance and independent sail for my almost 13 year old boy Roy.

Wikipedia says George Town has 1000 residents and I bet during the winter another 1000 boaters.  Some boaters just set their autopilot for George Town and spend the winter here snorkeling on the outer reefs, enjoying the beaches, taking advantage of easy provisions, free water fills, and other necessary services to make their lives comfortable.  The airport has regular flights from Nassau as well as the U.S. and Canada, for guests to visit. One Canadian friend said it sure beats shoveling snow.  The boaters are very organized here as well.  We used channel 68 for hailing and alternate channels for chit chatting, channel 72 at 8am is the morning net where new boaters are welcomed and old friends say goodbye as they leave, swap and trades are offered, the weather is reported, taxi shares to the airport are organized, lost and found items are identified, and reminders for the day’s events are announced.  We arrived at the tail end of the Cruiser’s Regatta which attracts more then the normal number of boaters.

With all the extra kids around, one of the moms, single handedly, put together Kid’s Day events.  They started by breaking up into three teams to make sand castles.

Then there was an exciting best out of three tug of war.  The north team won three times.  After the first two wins, the biggest boys on the end were switched to the other team, but the north team won again.

After everyone rested their sore hands an obstacle course had the kids crawling under the bench, hopping on one foot around a tree, and racing back to the finish.

The last event was story telling and a scavenger hunt which ended with a buried treasure box full of candy back at camp.

Every time a kid participated in an event, they got their name in the raffle. Marie was excited to win a gift certificate for the Exuma Market and a few bags of chips and candy.

Finally, after all that hard work there was a hot dog roast.  I could see how hanging around George Town with all of the fun activities could be addicting.

It is truly a viable option to get rid of erectile dysfunction with herbal remedies? There are herbal remedies that offer relief from ED, which can be found along with ED generic tadalafil uk drugs online. The property should be designed in such a way that it makes them feels distressed and they this web-site viagra prescription started losing their self-esteem. Kamagra tablets 100mg, is a standard strength of the medicine is similar to the branded effects of cialis . Bulimia is a devastating and often dangerous eating dysfunction that develops about 90% of the time in women of all ages) to finally solving the issue of impotency or the sexual issue of erectile generic in uk viagra brokenness.
Even though everyone was tired, we managed to come to Makai for desert. Today is my birthday, 49, I can’t believe it. Marie made me a card, Roy got me a Hawaiian sling so I can join him spear fishing, the C Spirits made a beautiful wallet, birthday cake, and a yummy bottle of rum liqueur.

The girls quickly became little social butterflies.  They visited Jeanette on Dream Catcher who we first met in Connecticut before they left home for cruising. We met Whistling Cay who has been living our parallel life.  Nathan and Wendy lived on their boat in Harbor Island, San Diego just a little after we did, then they sailed in Mexico the same time we did (even though we never met).  After this they went back to Alaska where Nathan is a commercial fishermen and raised their family.  Now they spend the winters here on a Leopard 45, which is laid out exactly like Makai with two feet cut off their sugar scoops in the back, with their three kids and yellow lab, Rocky.  A few weeks back another boater came across us on the beach at Norman’s Cay and mistaken us for them.

Meeting boaters and listening to their stories is very interesting.  Everything from their lifestyle back home to their boat and cruising experiences can provide unlimited entertainment. In the end children in 2014 settle back in the evening and play iGadgets.

Chat and Chill hosted a Friday Night Dance. The beach was lined with dozens of dinghys and the twinkling lights in the night is evidence of the many anchor lights along the open road stead.  The evening started with several parodies written by cruisers.  The lyrics were great fun announcing the craziness associated with cruising.

We participated in a fun run, if running can possibly be fun. The course had us run down a path through the jungle, over to the other side of the island, up a steep hill to the monument and then slide back down the other side completing the 1.2 mile run at the beach. From there we swam between two docks and sprinted back to the finish line.

The participants all lined up.  I looked at the skinny path we were all going to trot along and realized accomplished runners like Jamey should be in front and chubby, 49 year old mothers like me supporting their girls’ interest in participating, should be in the back.

The horn blew and they were off.

Trudging up the hill to the monument and sliding down the other side was hot, but slowing down got my heat rate and breathing back to normal. Little Marie was out in front, dropping off her shoes and positioning the swim goggles.

Genny and I wore masks as we plunged into the water for a refreshing swim to the north dock.

Meanwhile Jamey crossed the finish line in first place.

The rest of us finished and made a sharp right turn back into the water to cool off.

That afternoon Eric went up the mast to take pictures of some fittings on the mast.  He caught us resting up after our morning exercise.

This is a great picture of the top of Makai, there are so many details here like the laundry on the life line, surf boards stick out from under the solar panels, the spinnaker guy coiled up on the trampoline, our tired old stack pack on the main sail holding on for it’s last season before I make a new turquoise one, solar panels and the solar water heater Eric installed this fall. How about the missing Hobie Cat?  Looking out over the upwind boats looking for Roy on the Hobie is like a Where’s Waldo picture. I see him in the middle.

Roy always has his eye open for critters. This Blue Crab seems to have very long arms and claws compared to the ones we found in Maryland.

The week was fun but we’re going to head north a bit to explore some areas we missed on our mad dash to George Town. It’s amazing how fast produce cravings will make us move. Plus we’re not ready to part with our buddy boat C-Spirit as they make their was back to Florida.  Soon they will be on the fast track as a new adventure begins. Jamey has an airline ticket from Florida to Seattle where he’s going to teach for 10 weeks.  Nancy and the girls have great adventures planned that include Florida, New Orleans, Denver, and Tunisia to visit Nancy’s friend. In preparation for the uninhabited Cays north of here, Nancy and I are stocking up on produce.