George Town

It is easy living here in George Town which makes it hard to find a reason to leave. Elizabeth harbor is 8 miles long and offers many beaches, town access, and tons of wildlife. The George Town Regatta is the end of February- beginning of March and as that nears the number of vessels in the harbor grows. I think currently there are close to 300 boats.

You might think there would be mass chaos with this many cruisers, but really it is very well organized. A cruiser’s net is held on the radio each morning where weather, local business, activities and boaters general are announced. You can find just about anything you need, plus find out if there are folks who want the stuff you don’t anymore!

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Our days are filled with hiking, town trips or beach time. The closest beach to where we anchored is Volley Ball Beach – here at 2 every day folks gather to play games, volley ball, get a bit to eat at the Chat n’ Chill, play music or just meet new folks. Ethan has had a blast and met a ton of kids. We’ve met folks from all over the U.S. and Canada, Netherlands, Italy, England, South Africa and made friends from here in the Bahamas. The diversity is amazing. Even more fun is to see how kids break language barriers and have a great time playing together. We told Ethan to go say something to one kid and his response was “Daddy – he doesn’t speak my kind . . .”

Also fun is at 8 almost every night Ollie gets on the radio to say good-night to all cruisers. At this point many reference John Boy, Grandpa and the many others, but Ethan gets special good-nights from some of the cruisers and from his friend Arias. It is pretty darn cute as they exchange their good-nights.

We attend beach church on Sundays- the setting is beautiful under the cassarina trees, feet in the sand (no shoes!) and the sound of the wind and the surf all around us. Most days I attend yoga in the morning. Nick has poker night on Tuesdays. Other activities we’ve attended are art on the beach, Bahamas’ history talk, a talk on removing toxins from your environment, volleyball, potlucks, mahjong . . . pretty much you name an activity and you can find others interested.

People funnel through George Town – some make this their destination year-after-year, others heading to and from the Caribbean, some move here and make it their home.

We’re now in Emerald Bay – just north of Georgetown. We’ve enjoyed our few days here being on a dock, free laundry and free wi-fi! Next we’ll head to Lee Stocking Island for some exploring.

Crossing the Grand Bahama Bank and the Tongue of the Ocean

To get across the banks for our Nassau destination we had to first leave Bimini, heading back into the Gulf Stream for 6 or so miles then enter the Grand Bahama Bank at North Rock. The first miles were a bit uncomfortable in the northern wind, but once we entered the bank, things smoothed out. We motor sailed until dusk and dropped the anchor about 10 miles from the Northwest Channel Light. It was the weirdest feeling to be out there with no land in site and in depths of 15-20 feet. That night was relatively calm, but was like sleeping on a see-saw. Nick and Ethan slept great and I was up pretty much the whole night. The moon was so bright it out shined the stars. I could see way out in the distance, even making out the shape of some ships as they moved across the bank. The water was so clear and the moon so bright we could see the bottom in the moonlight.

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We got moving early the next morning making our way into the Tongue of the Ocean. You should take a look on google map to see the tongue shaped area of DEEP water jutting into the Bahama Bank. We went from 20 feet of water to close to 10,000 feet in just a few miles. The weather was close to perfect, except we had the wind pretty close to the nose (which seems to be typical for all our sailing) so we motor sailed to Frazier Hog Cay (pronounced ‘key’ by-the-way). We had planned to grab a mooring at a boat club there.  After some doing we were able to get in touch with the owner to find out that he was not on the island. He told us the moorings were not in good shape and for us to tie up to the dock and make ourselves at home at no charge. Awesome!! The club is small with the owner’s home, a T-dock and a bath house. With its remote setting it was very peaceful . . . Generally he charges a nominal fee to stay at the dock, then fixes dinner for his guests. We met two other cruising boats there and got recharged for our crossing to Nassau the next day.

We had a great motor sail down to Nassau arriving early afternoon. Nassau is the capital of the Bahamas and is a very busy port. When we arrived there were five cruise ships and boats everywhere. Nassau is so busy it has a Harbor Control you must call and gain approvals for entry and departure from its port.  We made our way to the marina and started learning all about Nassau. It was a bit of a culture shock for me and took some time to adjust to. The pace is much different than Bimini and it is much more expensive. Atlantis is HUGE and can be seen from miles out. Our boat is technically not even large enough (40ft minimum) to use their marina (not that the budget could take that hit either). Plans were in full swing for New Year’s Eve and Junkanoo.

Junkanoo is a celebration and parade that starts just after midnight and ends the next day around 11 am. It is a big deal. There is a contest and all drums and costumes are hand-made. They don’t mess around either . . . the costumes were so intricate and ornate. In talking with some of the local folks, the participants work all year on their theme and costumes. All their work is for this one night, and then they throw most things away and start fresh for the next year. It was amazing to see. The music goes all the way through your body with the heavy beat and everyone is moving. We went through the streets around 9:30 am and things were still full steam! Folks watching were dressed in their finest and shiniest. Some were of clear mind and others not-so-much. It was wild.

For New Year our friends Steve and Cosy arrived in Nassau. We celebrated on the boat and were able to see fireworks in every direction. The displays were amazing and it was fun being right across the harbor from Atlantis and able to see their show so well. The next day we explored a bit of downtown and enjoyed the beach by their hotel. We took Night Music for an overnight trip with them to Rose Island. We had heard that it was a beautiful island and we were not disappointed. The first day we anchored for the night south of the island hopped in the dink and went to explore a small beach. Ethan had an absolute blast running around the shallow waters, dunking his head under with his goggles to see what he could find. It was very pretty and peaceful. Some local fishermen came by and we had fresh lobster and conch fritters for dinner. The next day we went to the northern anchorage and spent the morning on the most beautiful beach we’ve seen. The sand was so soft, the water clear and it was almost completely our own. Beautiful.

We will leave Nassau Saturday to head into the Exuma Cays. We can’t wait to see and explore all the many islands in this chain. Everything has been so beautiful already!

Hope everyone is enjoying a great start to a new year. So hard to believe it is 2013!

Cumberland Island GA and St. Augustine FL

We had another spectacular time at Cumberland Island in spite of the cool, cloudy weather. We collected a ton of sea shells and sharks teeth and had a great time exploring the island. Some of the wild horses walked right through the picnic area while Ethan and I were there. I also had a stare down with a buck on the trail to the beach. When we were there this summer we were one of three boats in the anchorage – this time, one of around 20.

The day the weather turned ugly coincided with our departure date and left in howling wind and rain. We motored down the ICW and stopped in Jacksonville Beach at Beach Marine (a great stop!!). The currents in and around Jacksonville are pretty amazing. Once we crossed the St. John’s River we were against the current making it a slow go. But that was nothing compared to the area just before the marina . . . the channel narrows significantly which causes the current to strengthen. I watched a sailboat ahead of us completely stop before passing under the bridge and wondered if this was the area we ‘surfed’ through going with the current on our way north. It was – we got under the bridge and completely stopped. We had to up the throttle and slowly gain ground until we were clear. The power of water is always amazing to me!!

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The next day we left early and made it into St. Augustine just after noon. The weather was cold, cloudy and the wind howling over 20 knots for days. As we passed the St. Augustine inlet there were standing waves (from the outgoing current and incoming wind) – totally wild to see!!

Nick has been pretty much out of commission due to his back since the day before we left Cumberland Island. We had a referral to St. Augustine Orthopedic and went to their after-hours clinic that Thursday night. My cousins Bud and Wendy took us (THANK YOU!!). Nick saw a great doctor who walked through several options for treatment with him. Nick received a steroid shot, oral steroid pack and other pain medications. The doc told Nick kudos for the lifestyle change, but it is not very conducive to healing a back and we might want to think about a change . . . Not what he wanted to hear. The plan is to reduce the swelling to take the pressure off the nerve. Then it becomes manageable and buys us some more time. We’ve started to see some improvement over the last two days and pray that it continues!!

We spent time with Bud and Wendy for a few days too and they helped us get provisions. My Aunt Mame and her husband Frank took us to a great dinner Friday night then had a great visit with my cousin Heather on Saturday. It has been so great to see family and friends along our journey and to meet new friends too!

We also met up with another cruising family while at Cumberland Island: Tig, Serena, V (age 4) and O (age 2) on sv Wildest Dream sailing from New England. {Here’s their blog too – www.tigandserena.com.} We had so much fun getting to know them, sharing meals and exploring. We were able to spend more time with them in St. Augustine as well. V showed Ethan how to ride a bike, we played at a great playground in downtown St. Aug. and enjoyed seeing the Nights of Lights begin. We were sad to see them go, but hope to catch back up with them in the Bahamas!!

A quick side bar on the Nights of Lights – this is where St. Augustine lights up the night from the Saturday before Thanksgiving until January 31^st. The night of the lighting, the town lit their Christmas tree and flipped the switch on over 3 million white Christmas lights throughout the city. It is really beautiful and worth a trip to see!!

So what are our plans? First, we are going to enjoy a nice Thanksgiving celebration here on the boat (ham, stuffing, fresh green beans and pecan pie). Then since a week will have gone by since Nick’s treatment and he will have finished the steroid pack, we will reassess the situation. Our friend arrives on Sunday to spend some time with us and enjoy the area and we can’t wait for him to arrive!!

Please keep Nick in your prayers for healing and relief from pain and discernment for us and our future plans! Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

Stacy

We’re in Brunswick, GA

We have had a great last couple of days! We left Savannah 3 days ago with the intent to hop in and out of the Atlantic and several inlets in Georgia. When we woke on Wednesday morning to leave we changed our minds. It was so cold (especially since I left most of our cold weather gear in TN thinking we would not need it again) and Nick’s back was really socking it to him – we decided to hit the ICW. We’ve seen more boats in one day than we did in several days when we were going north!! I guess we are finally going in the ‘right’ direction.

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Day 1 – We arrived in our anchorage behind St. Catherine’s island just after 1pm and decided to stop for the day. Enough with the cold, cutting wind. We hunkered down in the cabin, fixed black bean soup and watched movies.

Day 2 – The temperature is improving . . . enough for me to take off my rain jacket and unzip my fleece. At a few points my two t-shirts were even enough if the wind was not blowing and I was in full sun : ). We decided to go further than planned to anchor by a fort on St. Simon’s Island just north of Brunswick, GA. This was one of the most picturesque anchorages we’ve been to.

Day 3 – We traveled less than 10 miles to the Morning Star Marina – Golden Isle in Brunswick. We had stayed here on the way north and wanted to visit again. They have easy docking and a courtesy car so we could stock up before going south to Cumberland Island. Showers, errands and recharging (body, mind, electric, water, fuel, etc.) We had cocktails with a couple we met here on the dock and hope to meet up with them at Cumberland Island too.

Tomorrow we plan to sail outside down to St. Mary’s Sound and anchor behind Cumberland Island . . . shark tooth hunting and shell collecting here we come!!!

The Very Busy Month of October

October was a great month full of all sorts of activity! We spent a week living in the boat like a tree-house while on the hard in Sail Harbor Marina. It was weird climbing a ladder to get in and out of the cockpit. It is funny how you miss the gentle movement of a boat in the water and it boggles the senses until you get used to ‘land legs’ again. We sanded and scrubbed and sanded and painted and sanded and painted . . . the new accent stripes look great! We also splashed in the water with new bottom paint and a freshly polished and waxed hull. Night Music went back in the water two days after we arrived back to Savannah. We then spent a few days on the dock finishing some projects and now we’re back in an anchorage. We were not affected by Hurricane Sandy other than some high wind days and a bit of a bumpy flight back to Charleston. We feel very fortunate for our position and travel during her wake.

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I celebrated my 36th birthday while we were in the boatyard. Our friends Bruce and Ginger took us on a tour of downtown Savannah and later that evening our friends Teresa, Mikey and Marcia brought wine and cake up to our tree-house. It was nice to celebrate with our new friends, then with family when we went home!  The visit to Tennessee was fantastic. We flew in and out of Charleston to take advantage of our Southwest points and fly “free” . . . our buddy Mike (Chief) was so kind to drive down from Charleston to Savannah, pick us up and take us to the Charleston airport! It was fun to get to catch up with him again and seeing some of the area via car. Two and a half weeks just flew by. Time was filled with fun including family, bonfires, visits, Clark-toberfest (thrown by our friends in Murfreesboro), pumpkin carving, long walks in the woods . . . I tried to take full advantage of living on land for a bit. It was a great time.

Nick has had some trouble with his lower back. Major pain actually. We had an MRI done while in Tennessee and basically the gist of it is two bulging discs inflamed and putting some major pressure on the nerve. We’ve consulted with a physician here and he has seen a chiropractor a few times. Now we’re just trying to get him to take it easy (a major feat!) and rest to let the inflammation go down. Prayers for his healing and relief from pain are greatly appreciated.

Looks like weather will improve here on Wednesday so we are thinking that will be our departure dates. We plan to go on the outside (Atlantic) and day hop down. There are several inlets for us to come in and anchor for the evenings. Then we’ll spend several days at Cumberland Island again (LOVE it there!). Should take us about 4 days to get to Cumberland Island. After that we’ll spend some time in St. Augustine then making our way down to Miami and preparing to cross over to the Bahamas.

Happy November!!