Breeze On

After a long day of sailing 80 miles yesterday, we are now at Hog Cay in the Ragged Islands. In order to allow arrival by sunset, we were up at 3:15 and underway by 4:00. We had a brisk sail in the deep water on the east side of the Jumentos and Ragged Island chains. The wind was a few knots more than we expected and the seas were reminiscent of some of our offshore passages. When were arrived—tired, hungry, and ready for a break—we couldn’t get the sail to roll into the boom. It became jammed in the track on the mast. We eventually dropped it onto the deck and anchored. Then we used dish soap to get it out of the track, and then rolled it into the boom. We will investigate why it became jammed on our next calm day.  Today we cleaned the cabin, then spent the rest of the day relaxing. Next up, meeting other cruisers at the tiki hut.                                          ...

Today we left George Town, on the first leg of our trip to the Ragged Islands. When we went up into the cockpit at 10:30 am to begin our preparations for leaving we saw dark clouds to our north. We checked the radar and it indicated that the squall was moving our way. We were able to get ahead of it and—although there were squalls around us most of the day—we never got wet. We timed our departure to get through the shallow Comer Channel at about mid-tide and to arrive at our planned destination around sunset. We looked longingly at Hog Cay Cut, a shortcut that would have reduced the trip by half. Even at high tide, however, we would have had just inches beneath our keel. Too close for our comfort.  Since my brother left two days ago we have been doing laundry at a laundromat, shopping for fruits and vegetables, buying gas and diesel, dumping trash, and giving each other long-overdue haircuts.                          ...

This morning my brother, Dave, left after six days of a wonderful visit. On Thursday—the day after he arrived—we motor sailed to Long Island. The three of us joined Jean and Michael for a delicious dinner at Chez Pierre. The next morning we motored down to Thompson Bay. In October Hurricane Melissa hit the lower portion of Long Island and we were anxious to see if Salt Pond and Thompson Bay had suffered any damage. We were relieved to see that the buildings seemed intact but Basil’s dock—the private dock that the owner, Basil, allows cruisers to use—had lost almost all of its planking. George, Dave, and I opted not to try to walk on it. Instead, George and I went to the cove a mile north of the dock but we found other challenges there. Two trees had fallen over the path from the cove to the road, blocking our access. We walked through the woods to get around the trees but it wasn’t easy. Jean and Michael have since cleared the path—thank you! George and I walked 3/4 mile on the road to...

My brother, Dave, arrived today! We are so glad he could come for a visit and grateful that the conditions were calm enough today to dinghy back and forth to town without getting wet. Right now we are sitting in the cockpit under a full moon enjoying a pleasant, light breeze.  My posts over the next week will be sparse while I focus on our visit.                                         My brother, Dave, and George riding in the dinghy as we cross the harbor.                    I made cookies in the solar oven prior to his visit. As you can see, I am still working on my technique.                                                                        ...

Today we enjoyed a late lunch with our friends, Jean and Michael, at the nearby Snappy Turtle. It has been great to catch up with them again. Yesterday we went on a long walk with them across the island on two different trails. In between the fun times we have been working on chores—cleaning the cabin, running the water maker, doing laundry, etc. We also worked on moving things out of the aft cabin to make room for my brother. When it is just the two of us on board we end up using the aft cabin as storage. Now, most of what was in the aft cabin is packed into the garage—an area actually meant for storage. 

We left William’s Bay yesterday morning after a squall passed through, motored 30 nautical miles south, and arrived in George Town ahead of another squall. There was just enough time to drop the anchor near town, quickly visit our friends Jean and Michael, then dinghy into town to drop off garbage and pick up a few groceries. After returning to Breeze On we raised the anchor and moved one mile across the harbor before the skies opened up.  We are here preparing for a visit from my brother who will fly into George Town next week.                                                                            The squall is on its way toward us.  As we were chatting with Jean and Michael from our dinghy, George noticed two dolphins nearby, one seemed smaller and quite playful. When we returned from...

Yesterday and today we snorkeled around the islands named tug and barge. It is easy to see how they got their names. The current was strong and the clouds rolled in yesterday so we decided to return today under better conditions.  Today is Thanksgiving Day. We give thanks for each other, our family and friends, our health, and our ability to do the things that we love. Our freezer is tiny—just enough room for two ice trays—so there is no turkey on Breeze On. We will instead be celebrating with Lentil Enchilada Casserole.                                                                                           Tug & Barge                                       ...

It has been lovely here in William’s Bay where, until a few hours ago, we had the anchorage to ourselves.  We are now sharing this big space with one other boat! We spent the day yesterday working on chores—water maker, laundry, baking crackers—then went to shore for a brief walk in a very short beach. Some of yesterday’s crackers weren’t baked quite enough so today I re-baked them in the solar oven but over baked the last few. My technique needs some work. We went to shore again for a hike on a steep, rugged, rocky trail and were rewarded with some beautiful views on the east side of the island.                                                                William’s Bay. Breeze On is in the distance.                                   ...

We enjoyed our time at Little Bay although we have moved on after spending just two nights. This morning we had a nice sail south in the shallow waters west of the islands before we had to go through Galliott Cut to the deeper waters of Exuma Sound. There the conditions were much better than they had been earlier in the week and we had another nice sail to William’s Bay, another favorite anchorage. In my last post I forgot to mention something funny that happened to us as we were going to our snorkel spot the other day. As we were motoring along in the dinghy, a very small plane came up from behind us—only about 20 feet above the water—and the pilot leaned out of his open window to wave at us! We were so startled that, after we waved back, we forgot to take a picture. Being buzzed by an airplane while in a dinghy was definitely a new experience for us.                                 Breeze On anchored ...

                                                                                      Assorted corals.                                                                                                Sea turtle.  My favorite tropical fish, the Queen Angelfish. I love the coloring that makes it look like it is wearing bright blue eyeshadow and lipstick.                                                      ...