Good Bye 2015!

One of 25 carts in the Holiday Golf Cart Parade on Great Guana Cay

Christmas Eve Buffet with RMHYC at Boat Harbour

Midnight Junkanoo at Snappa's

Setting off expired flares on New Year's Eve

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

FISH ON!

Sometimes you get lucky.  The other day I was lucky enough to be invited to go on a fishing trip.  The day would be spent trolling for whatever is biting using lures, not bait.  We left at 08:00 sharp and cruised the 5 miles to the south Man of War cut.  There are several cuts to go from the Sea of Abaco (where we are located) to the open Atlantic Ocean.  Navigation through the cut can be treacherous if the conditions are not just right.  Although the passage is 10-12’ deep, it is not too wide and there are waves breaking over the coral reefs on either side.  If there is a big swell on the ocean, it is a white knuckle ride.  Oh, and did I mention that there are no buoys to mark the channel?

Once outside, the plan was to follow “the wall” which is the line where the Bahamian Bank drops off into the ocean.  The depth falls from less than 100’ deep to 10,000 feet deep within the distance of a few boat lengths.  We traveled back and forth along the wall with 4 lines trailing in the water.  It is just a waiting game now.  3 hours slowly go by and then one of the reels gives a little “click”.  Then “click click click” and then Z zzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.  Someone yells “Fish ON!  Everyone scrambles to their feet.  The captain takes control of the fishing rod and sets the hook, and hands the rod to me.  The fish continues to take more line and the captain gives the command for the boat to turn to port (left).  The fish will take all of the line if we don’t get the boat turned around in time.  Adrenaline surges as I continue to fight with the fish alternately taking up and giving up line.  It is amazing how much power the creature has when it decides to dive deep or turn and run.   Finally, after 20 minutes of work, the catch is at the transom of the boat and I have landed a 42” long Wahoo!  The rush is so intense that after the fish is secure in the cooler, I sit down shaking from the experience.  It will take 10 minutes for the shaking to stop.

We continue to fish for another couple of hours and land a dolphin (no, not a porpoise) aka Mahi Mahi and a small tuna. The dolphin was struck by a shark on it’s way to the boat but the damage was only slight.  Another trip through the reef passage is anticlimactic although no less dangerous.  Once back at our marina, the captain cut up the fish and we enjoyed a fish dinner of fresh Wahoo cooked to perfection by Mary.  Maybe I will be lucky again.

Fun times!

The season has begun and the local communities are keeping us busy with unique events.  
On the Saturday after American Thanksgiving, Hope Town hosted it's 17th annual Box Cart Derby.  Where would the event take place, well on 'The Big Hill' of course.  We took the ferry from Marsh Harbour to Hope Town for the day as the winds had been blowing strong and the Sea of Abaco was a bit too rough for MASCOT.  As it was, the ferry rocked quite a bit and took spray over the top of the boat!  Locals on the ferry told us to start walking toward the hill and someone would probably stop and pick us up because that's what they do, otherwise it would be about a mile.  We were walking with a crowd of about 15 people when low and behold a guy with a flatbed truck stopped to give us all a ride.  They were just finishing up the preliminary time trial races when we arrived and the carts were all hooked up like circus elephants waiting to be towed back to the top of the hill by a golf cart.  The event was a quite well attended and the food and drink stands were doing a brisk business.  There is an element of danger in this sport as the faster carts can reach 10-15 MPH down the hill and occasionally there is a crash or roll-over.  Sure enough, a cart piloted by a 13 year old kid started to wobble and then rolled completely over!  On the ferry back to Marsh Harbour, he showed off his scrapes and bruises, and shrugged as though it was not a big deal.

Like circus elephants heading back up the hill

A view of the pit area

Drinks anyone - $5.00

Close race

 During the same week,  Marsh Harbour had it Christmas Festival located at a gravel lot used for such celebrations.  We biked over and when we arrived the main road (the only road) was closed to traffic.  Dressed in official costumes and pith helmets, The Royal Bahamas Police Force Band started marching.  The band marched back and forth for about 25 yards, turning back into itself at the end of each run.  They played traditional Bahamian songs and Christmas carols for about 45 minutes.  Inside the 'fair grounds' were a stage, food stands, craft stands, a beer stand (3 for $10!!) and lots of local color.  A little lighter in the wallet and heavier in the belly, we headed home.

Royal Bahama Police Force Band

Local Bahamian food stand

 The next weekend was the Combustion Music Hope Town Music Festival.  The event was at four different outdoor venues and spanned over three days.  The artists were all songwriters from Nashville and were combining a vacation for themselves with performances for us.  The songwriters hail from Nashville and are responsible for over 70 number one hits.  We took MASCOT over to Hope Town and attended the last two of the four shows.  It was FANTASTIC!  The format was very casual with each songwriter (there were 12 of them) performing a couple of their songs.  Some of the songs were recognizable and had been recorded by big name Nashville stars, while others were new and will be recorded.  It was a very intimate setting and the performers joked with each other and told stories while they played their acoustic guitars.  There was no stage, just a platform set up on the sand.  We sat on chairs with our toes in the sand, stars above us, palm trees swaying in the breeze, tremendous sound and fireworks to complete the evening.  The whole thing was free!  They passed the hat (literally) and over the four events collected $50,000 (yes fifty thousand) to aid Hope Town Fire & Rescue, Every Child Counts, and Friends of the Environment.

Afternoon session

Evening session

Chris Farris of Combustion Music on his way to congratulate volunteer fireman

Events like these could never happen in 'The States'!

Thanksgiving Feast - Bahamas Style

Thankful and grateful to be blessed with dear family and friends.

We were invited along with 20+ other boaters to have Thanksgiving at a private home at Winding Bay, about 45 minutes, by car, south of us.  The hosting family of 5 went out of their way to make us comfortable.  Little did we know what a treat this would be, camaraderie of boaters, incredible location absolutely delicious food.  We started out with an enormous buffet platter of conch salad, shrimp, lobster and what seemed to be an endless supply of stone crabs followed by turkey & fixings and also baked ziti.  And of course, pie!  How lucky are we to have shared this experience with old friends and new friends.

Thanksgiving Feast!

John, our host, setting up buffet

Thankful for the beautiful sunset on a perfect day

Life in the Abacos

We are settling in quite nicely at the Abaco Beach Resort & Boat Harbour Marina in Marsh Harbour.  We are one of the early arrivals at the marina, only about 12 boats here so far. During peak winter season, there will be 30-40 boats in the marina.  

We cleared customs on Green Turtle Cay and hoisted the Bahamian flag

Activity Calendar:  We manage to stay very busy, to follow are some of the activities.

• Walking - one of us walks early morning
• Happy Hour - every day at 5:30 (we only have apps. on Sunday's & Wednesday's thankfully)
• Mah Jongg - Mon/Wed/Fri
• Pickleball - Tue/Thur/Sat
• Grocery Shop - Thur (or whenever we need something)
• Pool activities - anytime
• Coconut hunting - anytime
• Boating excursions - anytime
• Boat projects - when there is time
• Bocce - coming soon
• Bridge - coming soon

Coconut succumbs to the hatchet

Scott's 1st Coconut Custard Pie (of course we needed to sample it)

Last Saturday, 14 of us climbed aboard "Teamwork" a 34' PDQ trawler catamaran belonging to RMHYC member Roger.  Our destination was Elbow Cay for lunch, beach combing, swimming and fun.  On the way home we stopped for a swim and to look for sea turtles (we saw several).  The team on Teamwork arrived back at our marina at dusk, just in time for cocktail hour!

Jumbo Jenga challenge

Break from beach combing

IT'S GO TIME!

In order to cross over to the Bahamas, a few things need to align.  The boat and crew need to be ready, the provision list needs to be completed, and the weather needs to be just right.  Well, that alignment is about to occur at 0400 tomorrow morning, Thursday November 12^th.  We have been working hard to get everything ready and have been closely watching several different weather forecasts.  A good “weather window” only comes around once in a while so when it does, we need to take advantage of it.

We will likely have a restless night tonight contemplating tomorrow’s crossing.  It is a 54 mile open ocean crossing from Lake Worth (Palm Beach) inlet to the Bahama Bank.  Although once we reach the bank we will still have another 45 miles to go before we stop for the night, the most worrisome part will be behind us.  The open ocean between Florida and The Bahamas is many thousands of feet deep and is home to the Gulf Stream.  The Stream is a river like current within the ocean and flows northward at about 3 miles per hour.  Any wind out of the north will buck against the current and make for a very bumpy (and possibly dangerous) ride.  Once we reach the bank, the water shallows to only in the range of 20’ deep and becomes much friendlier.  The forecast for tomorrow is for light winds from the south.  Nice!

Tonight we are anchored in Lake Worth (Palm Beach), only a short distance from access to the ocean.  There are many other boats anchored here and we expect that there will be a small parade of boats leaving tomorrow morning.  During the “crossing”, we will be out of sight of land for about 25 miles and will be comforted by the sight of other boats on the horizon.  It’s time for bed now.  0400 comes quite early.

Starting to provision for the Bahamas at Palm Coast 

The Man in the Boat

Somewhere along the way, South Carolina I think, we encountered a green canoe with a man sitting low in the stern paddling along.  He appeared to be traveling, not just out for an afternoon.  His boat had a crudely rigged sail made of an old plastic tarp and a long stick for a mast.  On the waterway we really don’t see that type of thing often so it stuck in my mind.  Over the next couple of weeks, we saw him a few more times.  Apparently when we stopped for the night and sometimes for a couple of days, he kept moving so we would leap frog with him.  Each time we saw him, we became more and more curious about his story.  Well, don’t you know that we were in Fernandina Marina on Amelia Island, FL. and paddling from under the pier comes this green canoe!  He paddled right by our boat as we lay tied to the dock.  I jumped up and went to the cockpit and called to him and he stopped to talk.  I told him we had seen him several times and asked where he was going.  He said “here, this looks like a nice place”!  I asked where he started and he said Alexandria, VA.  That’s a trip of almost 900 miles by canoe. 

There is always a back story.  He told me that he was recently homeless and decided he needed to move to warmer weather to survive.  He had been living with his last living relative, his mother, and that she recently died.  After that and to make matters worse, the apartment in which they had been living burned.  He was then staying temporarily with a friend but needed to find another option. His friend gave him the canoe, took him to Walmart to get some clothes (all his stuff burned in the fire!) gave him a little cash and off he went.  We talked for a few more moments and I told him where he could get some water.  He was looking for a shower so that he could clean up.  He was going to look for a job and asked where the library was so that he could look through newspapers.  I said “Good Luck” and he paddled away.  He never asked me for anything.

I realized that I did not even know his name.  I watched as he came alongside one of the docks and prepared to climb out of his boat.  I walked over to him and asked his name and he said it was Bill.  I handed him $20 to help him along.  He was very gracious and I could tell that he really needed it.  He said that everywhere he went, the people he met were very kind to him.  Some gave him shelter when there was bad weather.  Some gave him groceries and supplies.  I told him he should write a book.  The waterway is full of stories like Bill’s.