Good hunting!

We slipped out of Elizabeth Harbour Monday morning, left the bounds of Moriah Cay National Park, and dropped the hook in such a strange place that one of our friends called on the radio to see if we were in trouble. 😁 It was all part of the plan and the plan paid off with three good-sized lobsters. 

One was a full-on team effort—I had to call Frank over as there was a barracuda making moves on me, then he speared the lobster, I got it out of the hole, it freed itself of the spear, I grabbed it by its antenna, and passed it off to Frank for the return to the dink! Oh, and then one of the buggers pulled the drain plug on the dink in an effort to sink their captors! Good times! 

A great start to the day!

We continued on to Calabash Bay at the north tip of Long Island with hooks in the water. We didn’t bring in any fish, but we did loose a good hook to something! We anchored away from the crowd in the southern part of Calabash Bay—a friend had told us of some good lobstering nearby. The water here is beautiful and the sunsets spectacular, though the swell can make the bay a bit rolly. 

We all went snorkeling this morning and after about 15 minutes started having some luck with spearing lobster. Both Frank and I tangled with one in a ledge, with Frank finally landing it. We came across a few pretty, promising coral heads and Frank and Katreina left to move the dinghy closer. I dove down thinking one head looked like a great spot for a spider crab to hang out and stumbled upon the biggest lobster I’ve gotten yet! It was in 15-20’ of water (I really need a depth gauge), but the real challenge was holding it above the water while waiting for the dink to arrive. 😂

We moved along to some other coral heads and tried to nab grouper that were at least 20’ down. While taking a shot at a grouper I saw another big lobster. Frank, Trent, and I all took shots at it, but I ended up landing it. It was a tough swim back to the surface with that big guy! We were starting to tire and abandoned the grouper. On the way back to the dinghy Frank spotted two lobsters and got one. With four lobsters on deck and a tired team, we called it a day. 

His & Hers

How do we enjoy these lovelies? Grilled, steamed, as lobster rolls, butter poached...all yummy! We find them to be less sweet than Maine lobsters, but they are still really good. We may hunt a few more times here...the season ends at the end of the month and we are hopefully headed to a no-take national park after this. 🦞 

Cleaning and prepared lobster

We ended the day with a great view of the sunset from the beach with our fellow cruisers. These have been some great days! 

~Jo, 1st Mate

George Town—a birthday, a blow, and a blast!

We kicked off our time in George Town with a 15th birthday celebration for our 2nd Mate! Breakfast at the Driftwood Cafe, shopping for a new swimsuit at the Sandpiper Boutique, fun at Chat-n-Chill (including getting serenaded with “Happy Birthday” by dozens of cruisers!), and a chocolate cake made for a fantastic celebration!

Happy #15!

A large chunk of our week-plus stay was spent weathering a 5-day long, 20-30kt blow. We tucked in off of Monument Beach for what we thought would be days of school, projects, some hiking on Stocking Island, and baking. The reality? It was just as busy and social as ever in GT! Hearty souls attended water aerobics, a book exchange, teen meet-ups, and beach parties. As expected, I was exhausted at the one-week point (introvert...love the social stuff but in small bites!). 

So much wind...so much FUN!

The wind abated, we topped up on provisions (the kids even made a solo grocery run!), and had a great bonfire on the beach with friends. 

Cruising=work+fun

We shifted south to Sand Dollar Beach for a night, basking in the “country”’feel after a week at Monument and joining friends for our first visit to the Peace & Plenty Beach Resort. Loved the powdery sand, food, and vibe there! We had one last trip to Chat-n-Chill for the kids to say bye to their friends as we’ve decided to move on in the morning. 

Such a great way to end our visit!

This trip to George Town was really awesome. We were able to reconnect with folks we met down here last winter and with crews we met in New England over the summer, as well as spend more time with boats we’ve met this year. We also met boats that we had only seen on AIS up and down the east coast! And the best part? Our kids met tons of great boat teens! We really look forward to continuing to meet up with these guys as our journey continues.

#boatfriendsarethebestfriends

~Jo, 1st Mate

Want to join our crew?

In our first year and half of full-time cruising we haven't had any overnight visitors, but that could be changing soon!

When we lived in marinas we had a few friends that would spend a night here and there, grandma joined us for a few days underway on the Chesapeake Bay (she's adventurous!), and there was that one time where my sisters and families joined us for a 10-person overnight trip to Poulsbo, WA, but since 2019 it's just been the four of us. Why? Well, four people and all their belongings and food takes up a lot of space and a lot of boat resources (water, power, waste, etc.) on a 39' boat, and probably the biggest reason--LOGISTICS. But as our 2nd Mate prepares to leave us to study abroad for almost a year, leaving a whole cabin empty, the remainder of the crew has discussed sharing this life with some of our friends and family, whether solo or as a couple. 

The crew, August 2021-June 2022

What attributes would our ideal guest(s) have?

1. Be available. If there is a specific place (say, Acadia National Park, NYC, St. Augustine, the Berry Islands, the Exumas, etc.) you want to experience as a guest cruiser, you need to be able to travel there in the season we will be there. Retired, a digital nomad, or unemployed? Great! Only have a week of vacation and willing to join us wherever we are? Great! Only have one week of vacation and want to visit Bahamas in the summer? Not-so great. 

2. Be flexible (travel). There's a saying among cruisers, "You can pick a time or you can pick a place, but not both." Whether we are traveling in the U.S. or especially when we are in another country, our guests MUST be flexible. Once we plan to meet up with someone we will do our best to get the boat to the agreed meet-up, but weather and mechanical issues happen. If you can't go with the flow or spring for an unexpected night in a hotel, this is probably not for you. 

3. Pack small. Suitcases have no business on a boat! Whatever bag you bring will likely "live" in your bed with you, so small and flexible is best. If you're the master of traveling with only a backpack or carry-on, you'll do great on a sailboat! We also do laundry by hand, so bringing a wardrobe of swimwear, merino wool, capilene, bamboo, and quick-dry items will make the resident laundress happy.

4. Be flexible (activities) and adventurous. We are an active crew. We can have a rough plan of what we will do while you are on board, but weather drives EVERYTHING out here. Or maybe once you're here, you'll change your mind about what you want to do! We don't offer a glossy pamphlet of promised experiences. We are currently sitting in George Town, Exuma in the Bahamas in the middle of a 5-day blow. We know some boats that had guests join them right at the beginning of this. THAT is experiencing true cruising life for sure! Ideal crew aren't looking for lounge chairs and rum drinks, but rather hiking, snorkeling, fishing, and cultural immersion (and THEN rum drinks/beers), and they aren't afraid of getting dirty or salty.

5. Use a marine head. Ah, this one may be the deal-breaker for many...it was for one of my daughter's friends! The "guest" head on Lehe Paine is a manual, hand-pumped toilet that feeds to a blackwater tank. While gents are welcome to use the urinal on the leeward rail, there won't be trips ashore just so you can use a "real" toilet or dig a #2 hole on an island when nature calls. Nope. Not happening. If the manual head really freaks you out, you can opt for the composting toilet in the forward head, but I suspect that may be even less cool for some folks. 

6. Conserve water. Depending on where we are, this isn't a huge deal (we pretty easily make water in the Bahamas), but this is not the land of Hollywood showers. In fact, if you've served on a DDG or FFG in the Navy or are a current boater or RV’er, you've pretty much passed this wicket! We do cook, take showers, and do laundry on board so it's not like you'll be totally roughing it, but this is the time to bring out your super eco-friendly side.

7. Eat my cooking (and hopefully enjoy it!). Our menu spans American, Italian, Asian, Mexican, Mediterranean, and Indian cuisines, and I like to hit them all to keep it interesting. Some days are a simple grilled meat with rice and veggies, others are homemade hummus and veggies served with fresh naan. I can work with vegetarians (we are a 50-50 veg-meat crew at present), but rice, pasta, and bread are definitely part of the menu, especially when our fresh produce is running low (sorry, Keto folks!). I'm not the best cook, but I try. Breakfast is just coffee, maybe some eggs or oatmeal, and lunch is usually pretty simple, too. But sunset cocktails and a nice dinner usually round out the day. Oh, and you must like garlic! I was challenged while staying with my friend to not use onions in my cooking as she didn't like them--that was hard! Trent would mutiny if I didn't use garlic and he uses plenty when he cooks, so...

8. Don't smoke. That's a deal-breaker on our end. Certainly not on the boat, but also not ashore unless it's on your way to the airport to fly home. Can't deal with the stench! 

9. Be willing to help out. Whether it's taking a turn at the helm, carrying groceries, showing up with a part we need, holding that obscure boat part at an uncomfortable angle while we fix something, chopping veg with me before dinner, or letting Trent beat the crap out of you on some game on the Xbox, your help will be much appreciated!

10. Be fun and easy-going! Anyone that stays with us will be slammed right into our family life. It's close living--we will share routines, jokes, frustrations, potty humor--but surprisingly we all are able to have our own space. Be willing to share the blissful, sunny days along with the dreary, rainy days and you will fit right in with our crew. 

So what do you say friends and family? Do you have what it takes to join our crew?

Want to join us?

Some galley magic (I try!)

The fun

~ Jo, 1st Mate (with significant input from Frank & Trent)

(the other) Leaf Cay

Knowing that a big group of boats was at Rudder Cut Cay, we passed by (even though we love it!) and headed for Leaf Cay. This is the “other” Leaf Cay—there is one in the northern Exumas that is famous for its iguanas, whereas this one is more to the south (and also has iguanas!). Winds were forecast to have a westerly component the next day so Leaf Cay would actually provide some protection. It would also put us near where we nabbed a few conch last year! Holding wasn’t amazing, but we got a decent set about an hour before sunset and enjoyed the view. 

While the kids did school I mended a glove and we snorkeled! We swam with a huge ray, found a stromatolite, and found a nice conch. While we were out a few other boats came in and definitely struggled to set the hook. That’s what we learned about Leaf Cay—some westerly protection, but strong current and a semi-hard bottom can make setting the hook a challenge. Oh, and we returned to find our kids in full-on dress-up mode!

After school the whole family went to Leaf Cay. Amazingly no tour boats visited the entire time we were there. We got chased around by the iguanas, explored the tide pools, and eventually went to the east side of the cay where we were treated to a pristine, empty beach with powdery sand. We had planned to explore other cays, but instead just stayed on this beach for the afternoon. Loved it!

Our friends on Kohole joined the anchorage, too! The next morning, they had a little anchor tangle that we helped them out with, but then Katreina and I ran to Lee Stocking Island to check out the building I lived in a long, long time ago when I was there for a class. It was more boarded-up this year, but it still stirred up some great memories.

Tropical Marine Science, ‘97-‘98

After one last snorkel around the cove (and a spider crab on my spear!), we left to head to George Town. There is a big blow coming in a few days and we have a birthday to celebrate tomorrow—the birthday girl requested George Town so that’s where we will go. We have friends already down there so it will be nice to see them, too. And we managed to hook up on a tuna on the transit so it seems like this was a good decision!

Visiting my old “dorm”; helping Kolohe with their anchor; more crab; a nice tuna.

New (?) Great Guana stops--White Point and Oven Rock

We did one last load of laundry and grabbed a few more loaves of bread from Lorraine's mom before a great upwind sail south to White Point. 

Close-hauled!

A lot of our friends were heading to Oven Rock, but we wanted to check out a few coral heads at the point. Holding wasn't fabulous and we ended up with some waves wrapping around the point and rocking us, but we stuck with it. At first we didn't see much, but ended up on a nice coral head and decided to hunt some snapper (scored!) and got the real surprise of the day, a big spider crab! The kids gave up on us and headed back to the boat, but we hit another head and I'm so glad we did--there was a pair of spotted moray eels there and they were NOT shy! I've seen green morays before, but never a spotted one so that was pretty cool. Our friends anchored nearby on S/V Bella Vita found two really nice conch, too! When Frank took a book over to help with the cleaning process, he came back with one of the conch. Andrey and Natalia had fish and conch and shared their bounty with us! So we decided to have "Bella Vita conch salad" and pan fried snapper for dinner, and cooked and cleaned the crab for the next day. 

The bounty of the sea!

🐟A note on hunting/fishing--we do it for sustenance, not just for fun. We like to supplement our provisions with fresh fish, conch, and lobster when we can. We don't often hunt reef fish due to risk of ciguatera poisoning, but sometimes we do if the locals are. If we get a big fish, we will freeze some of it or gift it to friends. The closest we come to "sport" is shooting lion fish as they are an invasive species. While you can eat them, we aren't quite ready to handle the poisonous spines and most that we hit are so small that it's a lot of risk for a little meat. When we get them we will either put them in the dink and run them somewhere away from anchored boats or swim them away from the reef and let them out in the current, figuring sharks will enjoy the meal.🐟

Ok, so more fun! The next day we ran a few miles south to Oven Rock. It looks like an oven! The draw there is a trail to a cave and as we didn't visit last year, this was new to us. Or was it? As we descended into the cave I instantly felt like I had been there before. But how? That feeling intensified as we got further into the cave, saw the bats, and started swimming in the water. This is a seriously cool cave, with cool, clear water, stalactites, stalagmites, bats, and fun rocks to climb over. So glad we came. And thanks to the power of the internet and my old college buddies on Facebook, we confirmed that I HAVE been in this cave before! We snorkeled it during my Tropical Marine Science class in the late '90's and one of my classmates had a photo that confirmed we were in the same cave. So it wasn't an entirely new experience for at least one member of the crew! 

The cave at Oven Rock

With daylight to burn and smooth seas, we continued south, out of Galliot Cut, and are headed for Leaf Cay/Lee Stocking Island for the next few days. 

~Jo, 1st Mate