Breeze On

Yesterday we took a walk to a nearby point. After landing the dinghy on the beach we walked a short distance to a long set of pored concrete steps that were located in the woods. We wondered who put these very nice steps there. When we returned from our walk we found out. We had stopped to chat with three very nice women who were sitting on the beach. They are all from South Carolina and one of them owns a house near where we walked. We asked if she knew who installed  the steps and she told us that they had belonged to a hotel that used to be on the property. After chatting with the women a while longer we dinghied over to a spot where turtles usually congregate. Throughout the day tour boats come and feed the turtles to attract them to their customers. The turtles must have known that we brought no treats because saw only two and they weren’t terribly interested in us.  Today we went snorkeling for the first time in quite a while. The water temperature is cooler than usual a...

After the wind finally started to subside yesterday morning we raised the anchor and moved to the northern end of the harbor to the Man Island anchorage. It is a beautiful spot with two nice beaches. It can be quite peaceful if there aren’t too many other boats/mega yachts/jet skis, etc. The southern beach on Man Island was quite busy so we took a ride to the beach at the northern end and had a lovely walk. Off and on during the day we enjoyed watching two turtles swimming near the surface and bobbing their heads up for air. We were on Brreze On and they were close to shore so we were not near enough to take a picture.  This morning we raised the anchor again and moved closer to Dunmore Town. That area is very busy with boat traffic so we stayed just long enough to go ashore for lunch, then moved again to the southern end of the harbor.                                          ...

Early yesterday morning we traveled from Spanish Wells to Harbour Island via the Devil’s Backbone. We have made the 10-mile trip a few times before and yesterday was one of the easiest. We had relatively calm seas and no other boats passing in either direction. It can be nerve wracking if we encounter a boat going the other way when we are in the narrowest part of the route with coral reefs on one side and a beach on the other. Once we arrived in the large harbor we went straight to an anchorage on the W side in preparation for strong W winds that were due to arrive overnight. The winds did indeed arrive last night and are still with us this afternoon.  Today was water maker/laundry day. It was so windy that George rigged up a couple of clothes lines so we could hang the clothes in the cockpit rather than on the lifelines. Even so, I had to run up into the cockpit to rescue a sheet that was coming loose before it escaped off the back of the boat. The sound of a clip hitting the dec...

It seems as if we  have been moving around quite a bit lately. Yesterday morning we left Alabaster Bay and motored then sailed to The Bluff near Spanish Wells. We thought we would have a calmer night in that location with better protection from the S wind. That was true enough until some very loud music coming from shore started at around 8:00PM and continued until late at night. Fortunately our earplugs muffled the noise enough to allow us to get to sleep. Today we moved 2 nm closer to Spanish Wells. The S wind was still blowing giving us a fair amount of chop but the dinghy ride into town wasn’t too bad. Our first stop was Wrecker’s restaurant at the Spanish Wells Yacht Haven. From there we walked to the grocery store for a few odds and ends. Next we dinghied to Pinder’s for fuel then back to Breeze On. We once again raised the anchor moved 2 nm to Meek’s Patch to give us better protection from the now SW wind.  While we were in town we saw that the supply ship was there. We...

In 1960, when I was six years old, my family moved from western New York State to Florida. My dad had recently completed a BS degree in mathematics and was searching for a job. My parents chose Florida for the job search because of the climate. After interviewing for jobs on both the east and west coasts of Florida my dad accepted a position at RCA near Patrick Air Force Base, south of Cape Canaveral. He worked in data reduction, taking the huge volumes of data regarding the trajectories of military ballistic missiles and reducing them to more manageable levels. I consulted with my brother, Dave, about our dad’s work and he said it took them a month to reduce the data from a single launch.  In the late 1950’s the Air Force built the Eastern Test Range; comprised of twelve down-range tracking stations—one of which was on Grand Bahama, another was on Eleuthera. George and I happen to be anchored in Alabaster Bay, which is very close to the ruins of the AAFB (auxiliary Air Force base)...

Today was the first day we have stepped off the boat since leaving New Bight, Cat Island four days ago. Normally I would be climbing the walls after staying on the boat more than three days, but since we have been moving every day it hasn’t been so bad. Yesterday we moved from Poison Point to the W side of the Rock Sound harbor in order to get protection from W winds. This morning the wind had moved to the N and calmed down so we moved to the E side of the harbor and dinghied to shore. We dropped our trash at the corral provided near their lovely dock. Then we walked to the grocery store in search of fresh fruit. When we last visited Rock Sound in November their main road was under construction. They have since finished the road and it is probably the nicest road we have seen in the Bahamas. They even installed reflectors! Of course there are still no sidewalks so walking along the busy road can be quite an adventure. After shopping we stopped at Louis Delights for lunch. George has be...

We left the New Bight anchorage yesterday morning and had a lovely sail 20 miles N to Bennett’s Harbour, Cat Island. We had one squall shortly after we left New Bight and dodged another one just before we anchored. In the evening several heavy squalls passed over us. During the night the wind shifted to the SE causing the anchorage to become rolly. We eventually gave up trying to sleep, raised the anchor, and set sail for Eleuthera. We had purposely picked today as our day to sail to Eleuthera because we thought we would have enough wind for sailing. We certainly did have the wind but we also had quite lumpy seas. We started out with 4’ seas with 4 second periods (4 seconds apart), increasing to 5-7’ with 8 second periods. After we rounded the southern end of Eleuthera the seas finally calmed down a bit and moved behind us which made the ride more comfortable. After nearly 60 miles we anchored at Poison Point, just outside the Rock Sound harbor, where we have some protection from the S...

We started our day yesterday with a walk on the beach at Old Bight, our favorite beach in the Bahamas. It is three miles long with beautiful, firm sand for walking, and gorgeous, clear water. Shortly after our walk we moved Breeze On four miles N to the New Bight anchorage. In the afternoon we went ashore for a fried chicken dinner at Cee Dee’s followed by ice cream at Lil Gippy’s. Yum.  This morning we went ashore to dump our trash at the convenient cans beside the police station then walked to Olive’s Bakery for cinnamon swirl bread, coconut and pineapple tarts, coconut cake, sesame cake, local eggs and guava duff. We had purchased guava duff elsewhere in the Bahamas several years ago and found it dry as a bone. This guava duff, unlike the last one, came with a sauce and was delicious.                                                        ...

We left the Thompson Bay anchorage yesterday morning and sailed-SAILED!-ten miles N along the coast of Long Island to anchor at Dilda Rocks. It was a treat to be able to raise and lower the mainsail again without any trouble. Once we were anchored George ran the water maker and I did a few loads of laundry. We normally hang the bed sheets on the jib sheets (lines) on the foredeck. The wind was blowing the sheets so much, though, that the blowing sheet would pull the clothespins off. We eventually had to hang the sheets from the bimini in the cockpit, and even then they would become disconnected.  Today we had a lovely sail from Long Island to Old Bight, Cat Island. Once again we appreciated being able to use the mainsail. We initially had seas of five feet in the deep water of the Atlantic Ocean but because the waves were spread ten seconds apart the ride was quite comfortable.                              ...

Today was a day of running errands in preparation for leaving Thompson Bay tomorrow morning. George dropped me off at the rock wall to dump garbage and pick up a few groceries while he went to Long Island Petroleum for three cans of diesel. Late this afternoon we joined Dee & Ron and Jean & Michael at Sou’ Side for a drink and to say goodbye (again!) The last time we said our goodbyes we weren’t sure we would meet up again and it just so happened that we did. This time it seems even less likely that we will cross paths again this winter. But you never know… Yesterday, after the NW wind had finally subsided and shifted to the N making the harbor was much calmer, we dinghied over to Tiny’s where we met the gang for lunch. George is going to miss Tiny’s pizza.  Basil’s dock, the private dock we have always been allowed to use as a dinghy dock, has still not been repaired after being damaged by Hurricane Melissa. We have seen some cruisers walk on it anyway. No way are we even ...

The NW wind has made the large harbor here at Thompson Bay choppy at times but we have still been able to get to shore both yesterday and today. Yesterday we dinghied into the cove with Dee & Ron and Jean & Michael and walked nearly a mile to Sou’ Side for lunch, then stopped at Hillside Food Supply for groceries. We were grateful that the stock at Hillside was much better than that at Exuma Market in George Town, where the produce section is bare at times. Early this morning we dinghied back to the cove and walked the mile to the farmers market. Once again I was pleased with my purchases—callaloo (a green similar to spinach), arugula, scallions, coconut tart, eggs, local honey, and sapodillas. I also tried a few things that were new to me—fever grass (similar to lemon grass), and Malaysian apples. Early this afternoon I baked a batch of brownies. I baked the first four brownies in the solar oven—that is all that will fit at one time—but clouds rolled in so I baked the rest in ...