George Town Days...

Hello again to all... last post I said we were in the Red Shanks to ride out the blow that was coming... all was well.. We celebrated our 22nd anniversary on the 13th anchored there.. Had Ron and Kris from Nimue and Darlene and Roger from Rolls Doc over to help us with the festivities... We made a big dinner of Southwestern Chili Mussels and threw in some lobster bites for fun... homemade bread and lots of other goodies... Wonderful nite... On Valentines Day we moved back to the area in front of the Monument... It's a good anchorage, holds well, and has a great view... sunrise and sunset.. Next few days were pretty calm... Dwayne has been attending some get togethers on VolleyBall Beach.. Each morning the Cruisers Net announces all sorts of news,etc.. It's a good way to meet new people and gather good (sometimes ) information...As I've stated before.. communications can be tough here... We actually purchased some internet service.. but it comes and goes... I've been known to carry my laptop over to the Exuma market and try to connect with theirs... you can usually connect, but it 's hard to see your screen outside in the daylight.. so, I found me a cardboard box to put around my head and laptop.. looks dumb as you know what... but , hey what ever works...!!!!

There are trails all over the Monument Hill and they do lead down to the beach side... So many wonderful shells.. I've actually been making brackets, anklets, and necklaces with some of them... Not bad if I say so myself! It helps to pass the time on raining or really windy days... And, we have read more books in the past few months than we have in years... We have both lost weight and are in much better shape than when we left out... Boat life keeps you busy!!! Always a project !!

Mornings usually start out with me feeding the critters around 6am and then Chris Parker comes on at 6:30 on the single side band radio.. We listen for any new weather updates, etc.. It helps to plan where you anchor and where and when you can go... Mother Nature rules.. everything is weather dependent!!

Cats are doing well... they are getting used to the boat life and come out after sunset to go walk about out front on the bow.. Patches and Black Cat like to sleep out in the cockpit at nite if the weather is calm.. Monkey Butt, being the Mamma's Boy, sleeps with me and Dwayne!!!!!

We met some new cruisers nite before last, Ann and Dan on "Borrowed Horse". They are actually from the TopSail/Hamstead area of North Carolina and we met Mick and Mary on Escargot.... and also Ami and Nancy on Southern Estate... All wonderful people!!

It's hard to believe that we have been gone since November... time has flown by! And get this, I actually let Dwayne trim my hair.. Hey , he did good!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We will probably head back North here soon, but will see the George Town Cruisers Regatta that starts next week... It sounds like it will be a hoot and lots of activities..

One of the pics that I am attaching is of the Grand Master , the big steel mail boat... Unfortunately, she ran aground on the rocks just at the entrance to the harbor here...This was not good and they were there, stuck, for a few days.. Some of us got together and baked goodies for the crew and the guys dinghyed them over.. Anything to give them a happy smile.. Finally , two tugs came in and got her off the rocks...She had a hole in her hull, and is currently still in the harbor undergoing repairs...Another pic is of the Sunrise in front of Monument Beach, then one of the cats and one of Dwayne standing next to a huge termite nest ! And one of the many shells I have picked up recently....

The Cruising Community here really gets involved with the local George Town people... They support lots of different causes.. for the locals, especially the children....

We hope to travel North soon, to see all the places we missed coming down.. Cat Island, Eleuthera, Abacos, etc.... Take care .. Linda and Dwayne

Long Island to Jumentos

Hey to all, it's Feb 16th...We are back in the George Town area now... but let me tell you where we have been and what we have been doing... After our tour of Long Island, we got together with our cruising friends Ron and Chris on Nimue and Mark and Liesel on Cool Breeze II and discussed traveling south to the Jumentos for a few days... Mark and Liesel were heading south anyway to make passage to Jamaica... So we all headed off south.. Weather forecast at the time was favorable... Cool Breeze left out earliest around 4am on the 8th of Feb, with SeaVeyor and Nimue leaving out around 8:30am... Oh, I forgot the nite before,we spent a fun time over on shore at Long Island Breeze Resort for the Superbowl..met some more fun and crazy cruisers and left at halftime to prepare for our trip the next am.... The trip was fun with no problems other than keeping an eye out for coral heads..Arrived in Water Cay around 1:30pm to find Mark,Liesel, and Samson already in their dinghy scouting things out.. Mark was having water withdrawal symptons, he had cut his leg a couple of weeks earlier and had to stay out of water until it healed... Mark dove and found a nice lobster! All gathered at sunset to have sundowners on the cockpit of SeaVeyor (which we now call the Mother Ship!) We made plans to travel a little further south the next morning.. However, after hearing the forecast, plans were changed... Cool Breeze needed to take advantage of the weather window to head further south to make time for their Jamaica passage...We , along with Nimue decided to head back to Long Island to ride out the upcoming fronts... So everyone prepared to leave , but not before getting together one last time... We got together with Nimue and prepared a fun going away package.. it consisted of a case of beer, books, toilet paper(very prized item), a cedar plug for fishing, a fun, homemade card with their pic on it, and of course, items for Samson. They dinked over to Nimue first , and then over to us... Needless to say, it was a teary goodbye... we all had not known each other long, but definitely bonded over the last few weeks.. SeaVeyor and Nimue declared that we were their seafaring parents... and they best keep in touch with us!! We are all trying to stay in contact on the Single Side Band each am around 7:45, along with another fun crew on Lion's Paw...

Made our way back to the GT area, but anchored at the Red Shanks( hidey hole just south of GT, with good protection) to ride out the first front. It was not too bad.. We are now anchored back in front of the Monument... Yesterday was dead calm and today we have huge rollers from the North west... We have been on SV since Saturday and were hoping to dinghy over to town, but not in this choppy mess!! Oh well, gives you time to clean, cook, read, etc etc...

The pics I posted were of Dwayne and the Kids, Nimue under sail, and the Kids saying goodbyes to Nimue....

Not sure what/where our next stop will be... more news at 11.............

Long Island, Bahamas (cont.)

And just a few more pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Long Island, Bahamas (cont.)

Here's a few more pics from our day of exploring!

Long Island, Bahamas

Hi to all. We rented a SUV yesterday, along with Chris and Ron from Nimue, Mark and Leisel from Cool Breeze II. Can you say a fun day??? Oh, I almost forgot, Samson too. (Border Collie)We started around 9:30am and left out from Long Island Breeze and headed South... Lots of little communities along the way... Our first big stop was at Max's Conch Bar.... Wow... the best conch fritters, conch bites and conch salad we've ever had.. and what a cool place it was... so many items from cruisers from all over!! I will attach the pics of it... Then on to Dean's Blue Hole.... The pics can not do it justice.... it was absolutely beautiful. Dean's Blue Hole is the world's deepest Blue Hole... It is 675 feet.... can you imagine what lurks down there??? They are going to have a free dive event coming up soon, so that's why the diving platform is in the middle of it... Leisel, being the 20 something she is and full of strength and vigor.. swam over to the hand made rope on the far side.. told her I was going to put her in Sports Illustrated!!! She puts all those foo foo models all to shame!!

After leaving the blue hole we headed on South to the end of the Island and found the most gorgeous beach... not a soul there! Made a few pics and then headed back to Clarencetown , where we stopped at Ms. Ena's basket/straw shop... All of us bought a couple of little things and then Ms. Ena gave us all a tiny basket for fun!! They are really talented to do such intricate work.... Then onward back North... they boys were in hunt mode for a place to stop and buy bugs... We found one!!!!!!!!!! You would not believe what was in their freezor at this seafood shop.. It was one that actually sells to the restaurants, etc... so we hit pay dirt!!!!!!!!!!!! After that , we made way back to the dinghy dock to get our prize bugs in the freezer... Everyone had their own lobster feast on their vessel last nite... What did we have with ours??? BUTTER, LOTS OF BUTTER!

Today is a provision/laundry day.. and thanks to Long Island Breeze, we have internet service to get all caught up...Ther is a front coming in tomorrow and we will move back over to Thomson Bay for a little better protection from the wind. We will probably come over to join the crowds for SuperBowl Sunday. (although I don't have a clue who is playing!)

Cool Breeze, Nimue and SeaVeyor and possibly the crew from Lions Paw are planning a trip down to the Jamentos on Monday morning for a week or so. Supposed to be good traveling weather.... This area is known for excellent diving, snorkeling, and fishing/bug catching... Can't wait...More news at ll........Linda and Dwayne

George Town to Long Island

Hey again to all..we shoved off from George Town on Sunday and made it to Long Island Sunday afternoon... Beautiful, fun, and easy trip.... Long Island is so pretty... so clean and the people just keep getting friendlier.... Monday was a work day on the SeaVeyor... and watched the George Town Rally folks come in under sail... It's a fun race that they have each year... Probably 25 boats or more involved in the actual race, some came Sunday (committee boats and us onlookers) and the racing boats on Monday... Fun to watch and listen to all the jabbs on the radio!!

Tuesday, most got together for a lunch at Club Thompson Bay... good ole Bahamian cooking.. There were six of us "newbies" sitting at one table... we did not know a "test" was part of the activitiy before lunch... It was 25 questions about all of the Bahamas,etc... Well, we did get 11 right.. but were last in line for the buffet!!!!!!!!The ones with the most correct answers went first... heck, I thought we did pretty good... After that, back to SeaVeyor for a couple of hours to recoup.. and then back to the beach for a group shot of the rally folks.. guess who made the pick???? Yep....but Dwayne's in the picture... After the little gathering on the beach, came back to the SV for our own happy hour with Nimue, Lion's Paw, and Blue Blazes... Wonderful fun, and crazy folks.. (all on sailing boats ) It was a fun nite..

Today, we moved closer to the Long Island Breeze Resort.. It's closer to all stores, etc... and a good anchorage... Tonite, all cruisers are getting together for a PotLuck supper... I made some home made bread yesterday...hey, it was good too......will take it along for tonite...

We plan to be here for several days, will keep you updated, etc... Will make better pics as we explore the island.. More news at 11 ................