A day at work in the Bahamas

From Bill:

To Do List: Sharpen Spears, climb coconut tree.



I don’t know what your day has been like today, but mine has been strikingly different than when I was in the corporate world. This came to me as I sat in the cockpit of our sailboat sharpening my spears with a file. I guess in sales, you could draw some analogies couldn’t you? But, it’s a lot more fun to really be sharpening real spears. If you ever want to get over some stress, try sharpening a spear. It's a very satisfying feeling. I guess it goes back to our pimal instincts or something.

I had to sharpen the spears because I had bounced them off of a rock or two while shooting at this one very talented fish. I’m thinking I should film him for lessons for Laura’s dodge ball team. I hope that I see him again.

Besides sharpening spears, I have also climbed coconut trees. In my younger days, I could do this to the top of the highest tree. Now, at my age, I probably don’t bounce as well when I hit the ground, so in this picture, I went no higher. (Hurry up with the picture Elaine!)

So, I can check these two big items off my to do list, sit back, relax with a cold beer, and think about tomorrows big tasks. Maybe I'll fix a flip flop, or polish a little stainless steel.

Travels the past week late March

View from the highest hill around.

"Uncle Ray"
our little tahiti beach


Musha Cay

Musha Cay




the harbor at Little Farmers Cay

about to go spear fishing

Little Bay, a beautiful anchorage




Monday, March 22
After a delicious lunch at Lorraine’s and a little free internet use, we left Black Point and headed to Little Bay which was literally just around the corner. After a very short sail, we arrived at our destination which was a truly gorgeous anchorage. There were several beaches just a short dinghy ride away. We were surprised that we were the only two boats in the anchorage (Ourselves and Awesome Asset).
Bill being as persistent as he is, decided to try his hand at fishing once again. Using a few slices of ham he caught enough small fish to use for bait for his next fishing expedition..

Tuesday, March 23
On Tuesday morning, we decided to hike to the other side of the island to enjoy the beautiful beach on that side. It was a short hike. Wow! We had our own private beach, complete with umbrellas and beach chairs (which we had carried across the island) We had rocky cliffs on either side of us and a nice sandy beach to relax on. While Elaine, Lori and Boomer relaxed. Bill and Gordon were still trying to catch dinner so they did some spear fishing and snorkeling. Still no luck!
After a nice lunch on the beach (Why does PB and J taste so good at the beach?) We headed back to the boats. The guys decided to go fishing in the dinghy and finally were successful in the fishing department. Bill caught bait fish and Gordon caught four nice snapper. Our friends were kind enough to invite us over for appetizers and a spaghetti dinner this evening and we had the fish as an appetizer! It was delicious!
This afternoon we were joined in the anchorage by a few other boats, one was a beautiful mega yacht named “4 You”. This was one of the nicest places we’ve anchor so far, just gorgeous! We kept the VHF radio on just in case an invitation to the mega yacht might be issued to us but we never received it!

Wednesday, March 24
We left for Little Farmer’s Cay at lunchtime and anchored off the southeast end of the island. We walked into town at stopped at the Little Farmer’s Cay Yacht Club which has another view of the beautiful harbor. When we first arrived we noticed a Bahamian man cleaning fish on the dock. We started talking to him and found out that he has been the owner of the Yacht Club for a number of years, Roosevelt Nixon was his name. We continued to explore the island and found many of the businesses that the town has to offer including very small grocery store, liquor store and post office. We also visited a small wood carver’s shop. While in town we inquired about the availability of lobster. We were able to buy four huge lobster tails to have for dinner. Bill volunteered to cook them for all of us. His experience from his “Camp Hugo” days back in the 70’s sure came in handy! We all enjoyed a delicious home cooked lobster dinner.
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Thursday, March 25
We left Little Farmer’s Cay in the morning and sailed to Musha Cay (pronounced Moo-sha), which is a private island owned by David Copperfield. Even though we could not go ashore, the view from the boat allowed us to see that the island is very well appointed. The beach pavilion looks like something that you might see at a first class resort.. The island has several beautiful homes and even has its own helicopter landing pad.. We were hoping that Oprah might be visiting as we have heard that she has loves to vacation here. Unfortunately we did not have any famous star sightings. We enjoyed seeing the island from our dingy and also enjoyed the beautiful water surrounding it.

Friday, March 26
This morning we headed for a sand bar which was a bit of a dinghy ride from the anchorage. It was a beautiful setting and we were able to find lots of sand dollars and a few other little shells. The dinghy ride back was quite choppy. Thank goodness the weather has warmed up because we were soaking wet but not cold! A fresh water shower sure felt good after that!
In the afternoon we headed to Lee Stocking Island where we had a quite nice sleep after a few “sundowners” and a movie. Dinner was red beans and rice with Kielbasa sausage, yum.
More later. Life is good.

Saturday, March 26
We went ashore at Lee Stocking Island this morning hoping to be able to get a tour of the research facility. We walked around the island and discovered a small beach on the other side. After lunch, we took a short dinghy ride over to a place that we have named “Little Tahiti Beach”. We spotted about six or eight huge sting rays in the water. Most of them were at least four feet in diameter. They are quite easy to see as the water is crystal clear here! The beach looked just like a beautiful setting for on a TV show or a movie with its beautiful white sand and tall palm trees. We were expecting Gilligan or the Skipper to appear. (I think that Bill was hoping for Ginger!) We went ashore and hiked to the highest point in the Exumas, Perry Point. Its elevation is 123 feet and it gave us a spectacular view of the many different colors of the waters and depth surrounding the island. We hiked back down and sat and relaxed on the beach. Later in the afternoon, we went snorkeling on a reef and enjoyed seeing many tropical fish and beautiful coral formations.

We left Lee Stocking and headed down to The Marina at Emerald Bay. This is a former Four Seasons resort marina, now owned by Sandals Resorts. It’s a little R&R stop before we go back “on the hook” in George Town. We have internet, laundry, grocery store and restaurants nearby. We have had a few great lobster dinners at a small four table eatery named the Chat and Chew. It’s a very local place, and the dinners only cost $15. There are no menus, Sondra, the owner, tells you what’s available, you order, then she disappears to the kitchen and soon returns with an outstanding meal, complete with three sides. We will be leaving here tomorrow AM, April 1st, and heading down to George Town where we will hang out for a few days.

Black Point March 22

We are at Black Point now, about half way down the Exuma chain. This little town is wonderful. Everyone is very friendly and warm to us. The town has free internet, free water, free trash disposal, and the best Laundromat in the Bahamas. Life doesn’t get much better than this here in the Bahamas.

We did all of our laundry yesterday, took on water, and did emails. Bill walked the island and met an older man named George Adderly. George was born here and I spoke to him about his family, and ancestors. George and his wife have out lived all of their relatives, and his children have moved away from Black Point to Nassau for better jobs.

Food: We have been eating really well here on Triumph. Breakfasts might be toasted Bahamian Coconut Bread, or Breakfast quesadillas (pictured), cereal, oatmeal, or omelets. Lunch might be a ham sandwich, hot dogs, PB&J, or grilled cheese sandwich. Dinners have included steak, chicken on the grill, pasta dishes, grilled Pork Tenderloin , grilled fish , or “Island Kabobs” like in the photo here. This is grilled pork tenderloin marinated in moho sauce with pineapple, onion,and green peppers over a bed of wild rice. Maybe it’s the scenery, or the happy hours, but everything seems to taste really good out here on the boat. Last night we enjoyed peanut butter brownies over on Awesome Asset made by Lori (AKA Martha Stuart) for dessert.. It was a REAL treat!!!

We can restock out fresh vegetables here at Black Point, buy bread, and we’re good to go for another week and a half. By then, we will probably be near Georgetown, and we can re-supply there. Our boat has most everything we need for the two month cruise. We have a freezer with frozen chicken, and steaks, and lots of dry goods stored throughout the boat. We keep a list of where things are so we can find them. Bill made up a rough menu before we left, and we bought items needed for this meal plan. The only problem so far … is that fresh fish is on the menu, and Ol’ Capt Billy hasn’t brought home the first fish or lobster. Our friends on Awesome Asset did catch a few nice mahi mahi, and we did feast on that with them.

Staniel Cay March 17

We did have a St. Patrick’s Day celebration! We went out to dinner for the first time since our departure from Nassau on March 5 th ! It’s the first anchorage that we have been in that even had a place to eat!!! We dined at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club and enjoyed a delicious dinner with our friends, Gordon and Lori. Don’t let the name “Yacht Club” fool you. It is a very casual atmosphere. I know that everyone had shirts on but I am not sure about shoes!
On Thursday, we made sure that we were in town by 9 AM so that we could put our order in for fresh baked bread. There is a woman in town who bakes bread in her home and sells it. We walked to her house and knocked on her door and put our order in. She told us that it would be ready at 5! We were fortunate that she had gotten flour from the supply boat the previous day. Otherwise, we would have been out of luck. We were amazed at the small kitchen and the regular oven that the woman uses for baking. She must have her oven going all day long!

While we were around Staniel Cay, we snorkeled Thunderball cave, hiked the town, fished, read books and relaxed. The weather was very nice here, and we enjoyed several nights of calm sleep.

Tomorrow, we’re off to Black Point, where we’ll do laundry, and fill our water tanks.

Cambridge Cay, Exumas

About the pics: The yacht pictured here is called Freedom, it's Trumphy and boy was it magnificent! The picture of the boats at anchor, we are in the center of the picture.

Life aboard TRIUMPH is very relaxing, and simple. Simple, that’s what makes it so relaxing I suppose. How does life back home get so complex and stressful anyway? Here, we watch the weather, and make plans for our next anchorage. There isn’t a lot of planning beyond this.

Our days usually involve a morning hike around a nearby island, and an afternoon snorkeling expedition. We see all kinds of beautiful scenery and wildlife. Mostly “fish” wildlife, but we did see a few Hutia the other day. Yesterday we dinghyed over to a nearby island that had two very impressive caves for snorkeling. There were very nice reefs around this area and they were full of tropical fish. The snorkeling was terrific. The day before, we went over near some private islands near Soldier Cay. One island had very nice sandy beaches complete with beach lounges and umbrellas, and, security cameras on every beach. There is another nearby island, Bell Island, that we are told belongs to a Saudi Prince. So... some places are very accessible, others not so much.

Last night we had dinner aboard our friends’ boat, Awesome Asset. Earlier we had talked about a pizza party, and together, we came up with all of the ingredients for a great pizza dinner. Lori had a special surprise for Elaine, a tossed salad. We were out of lettuce on our boat, so it was very nice of Lori to share her produce with` us. The grocery store is still a few days away.

Our next consideration is what to do for St Patrick’s Day. We’re hoping to find a boat with an Irish name who is looking to throw a party. Say tuned.

Global Warming Explained

Bill writes: I am the utility company. Think about it. On the boat we have to be totally self sufficient. We must produce our own power; provide water, and fuel, for cooking. Here on Triumph we have two big 120 watt solar panels that provide us with our electricity. We store the power from the solar panels in our batteries. Generally, we produce enough power for all of our needs, provided that it’s a sunny day. As a back up to “Mr. and Mrs. Sunshine”, we have “Eco” our little Honda generator. We’ve only fired it up once in two weeks, and I was a little premature that day, thinking that it would stay cloudy all day. As the generator ran, the sun came out, and stayed out.

Our power consumption includes lights, water pumps for pressure water, and music on the stereo. We have Sirius satellite radio so we have great tunes and entertainment. We also have an “inverter” that changes 12 volt power to house current, so we can charge the computers, run the blow dryer, charge the shavers, and run the microwave. Our refrigeration system is 12 volt, and it is probably the biggest user of power on the boat.

We do our cooking on a propane stove and oven. We have a propane barbecue grill that we use often. We carry a spare bottle of propane because there are only a few places here in the out islands where you can refill. In the oven, we can cook bread, pizza, and anything else, just like home.

Water, precious water. We started off with 100 gallons, and in that last 10 days we’ve used about 20 gallons. We have three sources of water. We can buy it at a marina along the way, for about $.35/gallon, we can catch rainwater, or, we can ask for a gift from our friends on “Awesome Asset” who are our cruising buddies. They have a water maker, we do not. We conserve water as much as possible. Elaine used about 1 ½ gallons for her shower, I use ½ gallon. We use a spray bottle to rinse the dishes. The other day it rained, and I caught water, and used some of it to do a load of laundry. I was able to put about 5 gallons in our tanks before it quit raining. We also washed off the boat.

So, since we burn so little fuel, we have a very low “carbon footprint” as they say. Since we are not contributing to global warming, this explains the cool weather we’ve all been having this year. And now you know the whole story.

Warderick Wells Adventures

We are still in Warderick Wells. We have had somewhat of a weather change. The good news is that we are no longer starting our day in long pants and jackets! We have had lots of wind both in the daytime and at night.

Yesterday we went hiking on the island with our friends Lori and Gordon from "Awesome Asset". We hiked up some steep rocks and were able to enjoy the beauty of the islands and beaches that surround our anchorage.

Because we keep a close ear to the weather report each morning, we were prepared for the rainstorm that blew in early this morning. Bill was really prepared and hoping that it would be a "coconut dropper". He had figured out a water catchment system for our boat a few years ago and never had the opportunity to try it out. He was like a little kid on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa Claus! Well, we got quite a bit of rain and we are happy to report that he had enough water to wash down the boat and do a little laundry. Doing laundry on the boat consists of a bucket of soapy water and an additional bucket of rinse water. Fortunately, the storm was short lived and we were able to get the clothes dry on the lifelines.
This evening we went to a little gathering on the beach that was sponsored by the park. We met many fellow cruisers who are in our anchorage. It is fairly windy tonight so they had to cancel the bonfire.
Our plan is to leave here tomorrow (Sunday) and head to Norman's Cay. It's an old drug runner's haven. We don't know where or when our next internet access will be. We will do our best to update this blog.

Warderick Wells update

Once again, thanks to the delivery crew of Matt, Tim and Drew for the help in bringing Triumph from Tampa to Nassau. A great crew and a great passage. To beat a strong frontal system we kept pushing the boat hard, and made it to Nassau in exactly three days, 72 hours. That’s fast. It’s about 450 nm so that means we averaged over 6.25 knots. We got a big boost from the Gulf Stream, which at times lifted our speed as high as 9.3 knots. Because we got into Nassau early, we went into town, toured the fort, and visited with other boats. Lori and Gord on “Awesome Asset” invited us over for a pork tenderloin dinner Tuesday night. Then on Weds night, we had a big steak dinner on board to celebrate our safe passage, and my retirement.

On Thursday Elaine flew in. We visited the grocery store and bought a few things, including a rack of pork ribs that were on sale. We departed Nassau after the big winds of a frontal system passed through. We spent the first night not far from Nassau at an island named Rose Island. We had a nice walk on the beach, had a rum drink with our friends on Awesome Asset, and watched the sunset. I know you can only imagine how beautiful it is here, but if you haven’t done it lately, grab a chair, a cocktail, and watch the sun go down until there is no light left. Somehow, this seems to minimize what you might consider problems in your day. It’s good medicine.

We visited Allen’s Cay, first after leaving the Nassau area. It’s about a 30 mile sail, and the wind was perfecto. The anchorage there is just gorgeous, and the iguanas, well, not too handsome looking. We had bought grapes to feed these creatures, and they gladly accepted our gifts, but, iguanas don’t smile, wag their tails, or even act like they like you or appreciate the food.

Due to the potential of another semi strong front, Awesome Asset and Triumph set sail for Warderick Wells after a very nice stay at Highborne Cay. At Highborne, Dave and Leslie on “Texas Two Step” (a cat) organized a bonfire on the beach. We met a lot of other cruisers there and had a good time talking about many things, but, the main topic with cruisers always seems to get around to the weather. We listen in to Chris Parker on 4045 Khz on the single sideband radio at 6:30 AM every morning. Just imagine listening to the weather for 45 minutes? Sounds impossible, but our planning and daily lives revolve around the weather. Will we stay put, or move on? Is there good protection from a north wind where we are?

Yesterday's activities included a hike to Boo Boo Hill where we posted our Triumph sign board. Thanks to our friend Chib for the professional lettering on our sign. We also had a snorkeling expedition where we saw many giant lobsters, which are protected here in the marine park.

To my friend Frank – everything on the boat is working well. The only failure is the LED light on the propane switch. There have been a few other fixes, but all systems are still “go”.

I’ve posted a few pictures of our current location, Warderick Wells, where we’ll sit out a front coming through on Saturday. We’ll do internet about every other day while here.

If you have time for a comment every now and then, we love hearing from our friends.

Arrived in Nassau safely

We left Friday night the 26th at 8PM from the tampa Sailing Squadron heading the Nassau. There was a crowd of well wishers there to send us off in style. The master of ceremonies was Paul Slatter, who presented Elaine and I with a host of canned fish, and a very nice bottle of wine to wash it down with. Paul owes Elaine a Lobster dinner and once again, he was trying to see if he could weasel out of the deal. She is not letting him off the hook. Thanks to all of you, your friendships mean the world to us, and we will miss the Friday night gatherings on the back porch at TSS.

As we departed, it was cold the first night, lights winds, so we motored the entire night. The winds the next day were behind us and we got in some nice sailing. At one point, we poled out the jib, and sailed wing on wing at 8 knots for hours on end. This got us to the Keys, Channel Five, earlier than planned, so we anchored, put our extra fuel in, had a nice breakfast. We let the strong north winds die down a little before we set out across the Gulf stream.
There was a real strong, I mean, a coconut dropper heading our way and we wanted to get to Nassau harbor before it hit. We once again, motored most of the way to Nassau, arriving Monday night about 8PM. That means we made it from Tampa to Nassau in only three days. That's FAST, and ahead of schedule.

Elaine Flies in on Thursday the 4th, and we'll set out from Nassau for the Exumas.