I am writing on the evening of our anniversary after a very busy day. Bill went racing on ‘Sea Echo’ leaving very early to make the tide out of the harbor (‘Sea Echo’ needs lots more water under her keel then ‘Interim’). This was the 3rd time he raced. I stayed on board ‘Interim’ with Reta, whose husband was racing. I made her a bookmark and we had a lovely time. At noon she, another racers’ wife and I went to lunch. There is a wonderful coffee shop that also has pastries, quiche and ‘Antioxidant smoothies’. I never noticed the smoothie section on the board until today and although quite pricey I ordered it and it was absolutely delicious. I might have to make this a daily ritual.
One very important feature of this island and others in the Bahamas is the effect of Hurricanes Floyd, Francis and Jeanne. It seems there was incredible damage and devastation throughout the Bahamas. The government, in order to stimulate rebuilding, has for the time being stopped the 30% import tax on all building materials needed to rebuild damaged or lost structures. Unfortunately, people are taking advantage and new structures are being built everywhere without thought of how they affect the very thing that makes the Bahamas so different and special. As the song goes “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot”. Some of these buildings are beautiful but others are just out of place. We saw a home built on a high spot of a fairly small deserted Cay. It was built to take advantage of the view of the ocean. To prevent it being swept out to sea when the next hurricane hits the owners attached 4 heavy chains, one on each corner, to try to keep the home in place. There are still many building sites as well roads and commercial buildings that have not been repaired or replaced.
There are many volunteers who are trying to aid in the rebuilding as well. Bill and several other men are working at the Wyannie Malone Museum continuing the tradition that the cruisers in the harbor use their skills for a variety of construction and maintenance projects. The museum is wonderful and filled with history and artifacts.
We continue to make friends and it seems that most of the Canadian boats have left to go further south and there are more American boats in the harbor. Simon has even made friends with ‘Penny’ a miniature poodle on a boat called “Chris Deke”. Chris and Deke also helped us in the search for Conch. We have gone to several different areas, looking and looking without success. But when we went with Chris and Deke we found a great spot. We went snorkeling to look at the coral and fish and Deke found the first Conch. Then Bill started looking and I saw him dive twice and then he started swimming to the dinghy. As he got closer I saw that he had a Conch in each hand. You can only collect 6 Conch per boat per day and between the two dinghy’s we collected 7. Bill and I then went out again on Monday. He wasn’t too happy looking for the illusive conch, I was looking through the bucket at some lovely coral, fans and fish and he was making noises about going back to eat lunch. All of a sudden I though I spotted a shell in the water. We dropped the anchor and Bill, reluctantly put on his snorkel and went in the water. Needless to say we were incredibly lucky and within a very short time we had 5 more shells. We were also fortunate that the sea was the calmest ever (during the other trips to the reef the rollers were 2 -3 feet).
Now, why do you suppose we are doing this…well, one of the Conch Shells is going to be turned into a horn and I have been successful in blowing a fairly good tone from a borrowed Conch. There is going to be a competition on Feb. 28. Also, horns from all around the harbor are blown at sunset. And then there is the meat of the conch that turns into conch fritters, conch soup, and conch salad. I don’t like the texture of conch but Bill does and he just made the first batch of fritters from our recent catch. There are various opinions about how to clean the shells and extract the meat, we have tried several, and Bill has finally found the ‘perfect’ way to do this pretty disgusting job.
We are also continuing to look for sea glass and saw many different designs for jewelry at the Man o War Cay fair on Saturday. We were going to dinghy over there but the weather wasn’t great so we invited the other 2 couples to go with us on ‘Interim’.
Bill and I also went up to the top of the Lighthouse. The view was wonderful and we thought we were on time to see the keeper light the light. Well the sun set and no keeper so we walked down. As soon as we got to the bottom the keeper came and Bill then walked up the 101 steps again. I took pictures from the ground. Bill was in heaven taking part in lighting one of the last 3 kerosene lanterns lighthouses in the world. He climbed all the way up to the Fresnel lenses, got inside of them and helped preheat the kerosene chamber which took about 10 minutes. Then the light was lit with a match. The lenses rotate in a bath of mercury and the weights that rotate it must be cranked up to the top every 2 hours. Bill did not volunteer his services. The keeper lives at the base in a separate house and goes up the 101 steps every 2 hours.
To help keep Elbow Cay a little neater one of the members of one of the oldest families on the Cay worked up a promotion asking for donations to purchase a new garbage can which would be personalized and gaily painted. We bought one and hope that before we leave we can find a can with ‘Interim’ painted on the top. Buddy (one of the members of the family) asked me what the word ‘interim’ means and I think the person doing the painting is going to paint a small, medium and big ketch on the top of the can.
Two of the special moments in the day occurs at noon and 6 pm when the church bell chimes. However, all of a sudden we realized that for several weeks the bells weren’t working and we didn’t notice their absence until a few days ago when they were working again. We were with several people and we all stopped talking and just listened. Tonight there is supposed to be a lunar eclipse that begins at 10:01 that will last 51 minutes. However, I just looked out and there are clouds covering the moon. Hopefully by 10 there will be some breaks in the clouds.
Bill and I have begun discussing and planning our departure from the Sea of Abaco. Mixed feelings are surfacing.
'Interim'
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
New Adventures
I found the one negative about living aboard 'Interim' in Hopetown. There are two restaurants that are at the edge of town facing the harbor and tonight there is Bahamian music blasting towards us from one of them. I think they stop at midnight but for all of the boaters 9 PM is usually past our bedtimes.I just found out that last night was Mardi Gras so I hope this was a one time event.
We have just returned from a 7 day cruise to several different Cays where we were in blissful environments.
The first one we traveled to was Great Guana Cay. We anchored in Settlement Harbor, Fisher's Bay and Baker's Bay - all peaceful, calm and lovely. We walked up to Nipper's - spectacular view of the ocean - a colorful spot where you can eat, walk the beach, snorkel and even swim in their pool all for the price of a drink (I accidentally erased these photos but I'm sure we will go there again). At our first anchorage we were visited by a nurse shark! On our second day there we anchored in Fisher's Bay with many other boats since that night was a pot luck dinner at Grabbers. There were about 150 of us and the variety of food was wonderful and tasty. The evening of glorious and to top it off a large group of Canadians brought instruments and we had a song fest. We were also visited by spotted eagle ray and dolphins. We then went to Bakers' Bay where we took the dinghy to Shell Beach. What an incredible place. It seems that shells and beach glass are very particular about where they land up. Some beaches on the ocean have glorious sea glass and shells at particular spots and the rest of the beach never sees any glass or shells. So when we went to shell beach it was fabulous and Bill, Simon and I went to town. I will go back for more since like sea glass it is addictive.
We spent a night in Hopetown to catch a performance of Shere Kahn, a group of acapella singers from Princeton University in Princeton, N.J. They were delightful and were brought here to perform for about 1 hour as part of a fundraiser for the local elementary school. The group is self sponsored, no faculty advisor, and is one of 15 groups on the campus. The quality, poise, and talent was exceptional.
After Guana Cay we went to Tilloo Bank. Anchored just off the bank and went searching for Conch and Sand Dollars. We were lucky and got a few sand dollars but Conch has been very illusive. We have met so many people who have found live Conch and gorgeous shells - alas we haven't been lucky at all. We look with our lookit bucket but no luck so far. I did spot one and it even moved but it was too small and illegal to catch.
We then traveled to Lynyard Cay and Little Harbor. Here we experienced the Bahamas that I imagined. Lynyard Cay is a strip of land with calm waters on one side and the ocean on the other. No stores, a few homes, quiet and at night all the stars you ever wanted to see. Of course we went to the best beach for sea glass and at times I thought Bill was going to be swept out to sea with the crashing waves. In Little Harbor (yes it was very, very little with not much room for boats) we went to Pete's Pub and Gallery. Pete's parents, while living in a cave, founded an art colony here and was an internationally known artist renowned for his lost wax casting in bronze. His son, Pete has followed in his footsteps but also runs an open air bar/grill on the beach. The place was amazing and at times Pete will be working in the shop so visitors can see the process.
While anchored at Lanyard Cay we, along with another boat, went snorkeling in Sandy Cay - a national sea park. The water was quite rough but we moored out dinghy's and jumped in ( it did take me a little time to make the leap). We saw all kinds of fish, schools of the most beautifully colored fish, corals and fans. Fortunately we didn't see sharks, barracudas, and rays but they do spend time at the reef and we may get lucky the next time we go there. We had a little gathering on the beach last night and returned to Hopetown today. Tomorrow Bill will be racing again if the winds are not to strong (they won't race above 20 kts.) and we will stay here for a little while to catch our breath and wait for friends we met at Vero Beach (a very, very, long time ago) to arrive here in the next day or so.
It seems that this year there has been a dramatic increase in Canadian boats. Many Canadians are leaving their boats either in one of the southern states or in the Bahamas - anything to get away from the cold. They do tend to band together and are not always inclusive but we have made a few Canadian friends. The social scene is quite unique. The ships radio is used just like a telephone and all day you hear boat names calling other boat names on channel 68. Then you switch to another channel which can be heard by anyone using the radio. So, in fact, you can hear social engagements being made all day. This had been a little difficult for us since many relationship began in years past and many boats came to the Bahamas with companion boats. However, we have been fortunate and made a few new friends and traveled with a Canadian couple these last 7 days.
I won't feel rejected if you haven't gotten this far but so much has happened these past few weeks primarily because the weather has been glorious, warm and very conducive to anchoring in calm winds and flat seas. No cold front to keep us hunkered down and it seems like it will continue, at least, til the end of the week. No complaints here.
We have just returned from a 7 day cruise to several different Cays where we were in blissful environments.
The first one we traveled to was Great Guana Cay. We anchored in Settlement Harbor, Fisher's Bay and Baker's Bay - all peaceful, calm and lovely. We walked up to Nipper's - spectacular view of the ocean - a colorful spot where you can eat, walk the beach, snorkel and even swim in their pool all for the price of a drink (I accidentally erased these photos but I'm sure we will go there again). At our first anchorage we were visited by a nurse shark! On our second day there we anchored in Fisher's Bay with many other boats since that night was a pot luck dinner at Grabbers. There were about 150 of us and the variety of food was wonderful and tasty. The evening of glorious and to top it off a large group of Canadians brought instruments and we had a song fest. We were also visited by spotted eagle ray and dolphins. We then went to Bakers' Bay where we took the dinghy to Shell Beach. What an incredible place. It seems that shells and beach glass are very particular about where they land up. Some beaches on the ocean have glorious sea glass and shells at particular spots and the rest of the beach never sees any glass or shells. So when we went to shell beach it was fabulous and Bill, Simon and I went to town. I will go back for more since like sea glass it is addictive.
We spent a night in Hopetown to catch a performance of Shere Kahn, a group of acapella singers from Princeton University in Princeton, N.J. They were delightful and were brought here to perform for about 1 hour as part of a fundraiser for the local elementary school. The group is self sponsored, no faculty advisor, and is one of 15 groups on the campus. The quality, poise, and talent was exceptional.
After Guana Cay we went to Tilloo Bank. Anchored just off the bank and went searching for Conch and Sand Dollars. We were lucky and got a few sand dollars but Conch has been very illusive. We have met so many people who have found live Conch and gorgeous shells - alas we haven't been lucky at all. We look with our lookit bucket but no luck so far. I did spot one and it even moved but it was too small and illegal to catch.
We then traveled to Lynyard Cay and Little Harbor. Here we experienced the Bahamas that I imagined. Lynyard Cay is a strip of land with calm waters on one side and the ocean on the other. No stores, a few homes, quiet and at night all the stars you ever wanted to see. Of course we went to the best beach for sea glass and at times I thought Bill was going to be swept out to sea with the crashing waves. In Little Harbor (yes it was very, very little with not much room for boats) we went to Pete's Pub and Gallery. Pete's parents, while living in a cave, founded an art colony here and was an internationally known artist renowned for his lost wax casting in bronze. His son, Pete has followed in his footsteps but also runs an open air bar/grill on the beach. The place was amazing and at times Pete will be working in the shop so visitors can see the process.
While anchored at Lanyard Cay we, along with another boat, went snorkeling in Sandy Cay - a national sea park. The water was quite rough but we moored out dinghy's and jumped in ( it did take me a little time to make the leap). We saw all kinds of fish, schools of the most beautifully colored fish, corals and fans. Fortunately we didn't see sharks, barracudas, and rays but they do spend time at the reef and we may get lucky the next time we go there. We had a little gathering on the beach last night and returned to Hopetown today. Tomorrow Bill will be racing again if the winds are not to strong (they won't race above 20 kts.) and we will stay here for a little while to catch our breath and wait for friends we met at Vero Beach (a very, very, long time ago) to arrive here in the next day or so.
It seems that this year there has been a dramatic increase in Canadian boats. Many Canadians are leaving their boats either in one of the southern states or in the Bahamas - anything to get away from the cold. They do tend to band together and are not always inclusive but we have made a few Canadian friends. The social scene is quite unique. The ships radio is used just like a telephone and all day you hear boat names calling other boat names on channel 68. Then you switch to another channel which can be heard by anyone using the radio. So, in fact, you can hear social engagements being made all day. This had been a little difficult for us since many relationship began in years past and many boats came to the Bahamas with companion boats. However, we have been fortunate and made a few new friends and traveled with a Canadian couple these last 7 days.
I won't feel rejected if you haven't gotten this far but so much has happened these past few weeks primarily because the weather has been glorious, warm and very conducive to anchoring in calm winds and flat seas. No cold front to keep us hunkered down and it seems like it will continue, at least, til the end of the week. No complaints here.
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