Laurie and Ken

Laurie and Ken

Friday 24 February 2017

We Are Hiding From The Weather.

My Daughter Christine and her boy friend Don are here visiting for a week and a half. We have been on the move so I haven't had time to sit and do a post for a while. Christine and Don arrived in the dark so when they woke up in the morning they could see the clear blue waters of the Bahamas. We went into town for provisions and then moved the boat back behind Stoking Island. The first day we walked over to the ocean side beach and then up the hill to the monument.

 
 
The next day we took Christine and Don to Volley ball beach where they ordered 2 margaritas and a bottle of water for $28.00. Welcome to the Bahamas! We decided to get them out fishing because that's what they came for. Early Sunday morning we left George Town for Calabash Bay near Santa Maria on Long Island. Long Island is a very important spot. This is known as the first stop Columbus made coming to the new world. There is a monument erected for the spot on the hill over looking the ocean side and also a plaque in the water where he first stepped. No pictures.



We had a great sail that day but no one caught any fish. We arrived late and there wasn't any time to explore. We also met up with our friends Jack nd Diane ( just like the song ) who left us a week ago. We are now traveling with them again for a few days. The next day we set sail for Conception Island. This is another protected island. No fishing and no taking of anything from the island. It was a bit of a rough sail but we got there early enough to go to the beach. That's when we decided to stay for two days, what a great spot!




Some times you can take a picture and it turns out great. I like this picture of the boat from the beach.

 Before we left George Town I checked the weather and it looked ok until Friday. Conception Island doesn't have any service so I thought we were ok. Our next stop was Cat Island. It was a rough day sailing with swells as high as 10 feet. We arrived late in the day but just enough time to get some groceries. As the food was being put away I could check the weather and to my surprise it was not good. We were anchored on the west side of Cat Island and we were expecting strong westerly winds that night. It was a very rough night and no one got any sleep. We had a squall go through with a 35 knot wind. The next day we sat in 3 to 4 foot waves all day with squalls passing by about every hour. We were stuck in this spot and the weather wasn't going to get any better. We had one marina to go to so after the last squall around 3pm we started for the marina. It was 9 miles away and it took 3 1/2 hours to get there, pounding head on though the waves and wind only getting 3 to 4 knots of speed. We were in a bit of a race with time because the channel getting into the marina was exposed to the westerly waves and it was very narrow and also getting dark. This made it very tricky to get in. We arrived just at dark and we were bounced around a bit coming in but we finally made it to the dock and we were very happy to be there. We will sit here until the weather improves and do boat work and anther jobs that need to be done. I hope we have a little time for relaxing and enjoy the area before heading back to George Town to drop off Christine and Don.

Tuesday 14 February 2017

It's Been A Great Week
The weather has been hot and so we have been to the beach every day.
Atlantic Side
 Harbor Side
 
My son Mark and his girl friend Cherie arrived from Australia on Thursday for a short holiday and we started to show them what goes on when old people retire and have a great time! After Tom Louise, Bill, and Tina took them snorkeling we met at the Chat and Chill beach.
Had a few drinks.
 Watch some one fly in for a burger and beer.
 Play a little volley ball
 

The next day a little work on the boat first before any play time! I had to do a little work on top of the mast so Mark hoisted me up.
It's a great view from up there!


Then Mark and Cherie went snorkeling with Tom and Louise in the late morning and they said they had a great time.
Some kind of slug thing
 Spinney Lobster under the rock


 Sting Ray
Next day was back to another beach. This time it was Flip Flop Beach. Just relaxing in the water on a hot day.
Cherie playing ring toss 
Then we all went to Lumina Point Resort for happy hour and we had a great time.
 
This was our friends Jack and Diane's (just like the song) last night with us so we said our good bye's. Jack and Diane (just like the song) have been sailing with us since September when we met them in Baltimore. We have had so much fun with them and we have become great friends. We will miss them very much. 
 
On Mark and Cherie's last day they had planned to go snorkeling again to a blue hole This would be a treat for them. Just before they were ready to go Cherie spotted some dolphins. Off she went from the back of the boat and every one followed. We were all in the water for about a half hour swimming with them. We got about a half hour of video but I cant put it all on the Blog Page so here's a short video with Cherie swimming with them.
 
 
Mark and Cherie say swimming with the dolphins has made there holiday the best they have had. We dropped them off this morning and we are expecting my daughter Christine and her boy friend Don on Thursday for a week and a half. It's been a busy month so far.
I hope that our next post we will have a little bit of SHIT to tell you. For all you people in the cold try and stay warm!
 
 
 
 
 


Friday 10 February 2017

George Town
We have settled in and we are getting to know the routine in George Town. The weather has been hot here so it's to the beach every day. I have my son Mark and his girl friend Cherie visiting for 5 days from Australia. Today they went snorkeling and then to volley ball beach to relax.

Mark and Cherie playing volley ball
 
Relaxing on the beach.
 Some one came in for burgers and beer.
Swimming on the ocean side.
Main street in George Town
 Scotia Bank and market
Our friend Jack picked up a star fish under out boat.
 Looking out from the Exuma Yacht Club
 Exuma Yacht Club 
Tomorrow back to the beach.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Saturday 4 February 2017

George Town Bahamas
We have made it to George Town. This is where most boaters will stop because it is so nice here and there is a lot available. We are now anchored on the west side of Stocking Island to give us protection from the easterly winds. Stocking Island is about a mile across the harbor from George Town. We have been here for 5 days and it's been busy. The first 2 days were spent provisioning the boat with food and drinks. The prices here are a little better that the smaller towns up north but still expensive. Our third day was spent working on the boat while it rained off and on all day. We like that so it washes all the salt water off the boat. Our fifth day was spent looking for a good beach, it was to hot to hike the trails and look around. It took a bit of searching but we did find a great beach.
First beach had shade and a picnic table but not all that great.

 Second beach we didn't even take a picture of it. Third beach was just right. It was like we stumbled onto Gilligan's Island!
There were benches, tables, bar, shade. We had it made!
Benches and table
 The Bar
 
 Laurie enjoying the shade.
 
After the day started to cool down we decided to go the beach area where every thing goes on, called the Chat and Chill bar and beach. This is where people organize volley ball, book swaps, yoga, all kinds of things happening all day long.  It looked like about 100 people were here doing different things.
 Volley Ball
 
 Chat and Chill bar
 We then got into our dinghies and went around to the another beach at Lumina Point Resort for Happy Hour. This was a new resort and it had a great view.

 
Wow what a busy day!
 
Today it was still very hot but we wanted to stretch our legs so we went hiking anyway. We climbed up to the top of a hill in front of our boat that has a monument on top. It was a great place to get a view of both side of the island.
 Ocean Side
 Jack on the monument
 Harbor side
 Mauna Kea is down there in the middle

 Hiking on the ocean side
 
 
Tomorrow will be a very busy day. We have to be at the Chat and Chill beach for a pig roast at 3pm. Then we go to Lumina Point Resort to watch the Super Bowl with cheap drinks and appetizers. I think I will have to put on my best bathing suit for these events!