Celebrian Returns to The Exumas

We arrived at Highborne Cay in the northern Exumas after a pleasant day of sailing and motorsailing. It took us about nine hours to cover the close to fifty miles. The passage over what is called the Yellow Bank is always the scariest of the whole trip as we dodge coral heads for a couple of hours. Their dark purple colour makes them easy to spot but looking into the sun makes it tricky nonetheless. The bank is sometimes only 7 to 8 feet deep so you do not want to run over any of the coral. Celebrian draws about 5 foot 4 inches. In the Bahamas you have to get used to sailing in water that often leaves only a couple of feet under your keel. That is just the nature of sailing on the banks.
Unlike Royal Island, Highborne Cay had lots of boats. Many arrive daily from Nassau as it is only about 30 miles across to New Providence Island. What surprised us was the number of mega yachts of 100 feet and more. Usually we don't see them until the spring when the Gulf Stream crossing is easier from Fort Lauderdale and Miami.
The next morning we headed south about 15 miles to Shroud Cay where we did some paddling and exploring of the mangrove creeks. Shroud Cay is part of the Exuma Land and Sea Park so it is very pristine. We saw some water birds and fishes along our excursion and enjoyed the first of some real warmth.
The following day we made a short five mile hop to Hawksbill Cay, another park island and a new anchorage for us to explore. We anchored Goldberry off a small beach and bushwacked our way over a path to the ocean. As you can see by the picture the path was rather crude...notice the blue string on the bottom left hand side cornerof the picture marking the trail. Gratefully it was only about a half a mile across but an adventure just the same. On our way we came across two large Bahamian snakes. We have only seen one other snake in all our time spent hiking in The Bahamas. They are harmless but both of them were close to four feet long. We saw and heard lots of birds as we crossed the island to the ocean side. The ocean side was quite lovely....beautiful white sand, casuarina trees lining the shore and the clear blue ocean of Exuma Sound. After doing some beach combing...nary a shell we had our picnic under some casuarina trees.


Today is Wednesday January 5th and we have finally caught up with First Edition. They are in Georgetown which is the largest settlement in The Exumas and about 70 miles from here. They are on their way to Long Island to attend to a couple of matters and then on to the Jumentos. We look forward to meeting up with them in the Jumentos in the next week or two. We are on our way to Bell Island today to hide out from a cold front for a couple of days. After the front moves through we will head to Sampson Cay to pick up some diesel and on to Black Point to do some laundry and find something lettuce like if possible? Black Point is the only settlement that has a laundry facility in the Exumas until you get to Georgetown. Black Point may have a population of one or two hundred so having a laundry is quite impressive. Ida is a smart business woman and she and Lorraine, who runs Lorraine's Cafe have put Black Point on the cruiser's map. From Black Point we will disappear for a couple of weeks in the Jumentos or what are also called the Ragged Islands. The Raggeds used to be really off the beaten track but there are now charts available and more cruisers are going there; however you still have to be self reliant because the sailing is in very remote areas and not recommended for everyone. We spent a couple of weeks there two winters ago and had hoped to return last year but couldn't get there because of the weather. We are hopeful that this year's weather patterns will be more normal.

New Year's Eve in Royal Island, Abaco

We are on our way to the Exumas after a wonderful layover day in Royal Island. The sun is shining, the temperatures are climbing and we are motor sailing in the mid to high six knot range....all is well on the good ship Celebrian.

We left Marsh Harbour on Thursday afternoon and made our way down to Lynyard Cay. Friday morning we were on our way as the sun rose over the Atlantic ocean. The passage to Eleuthera is about 50 open ocean miles. We had one of our best sails down with speeds in the 7 plus knot range; however we were sailing closer to the wind than normal and were heeling in the 15 plus degree range. I prefer sailing with less heel but we were safe and making great time. With the old yankee sail we would not have been sailing anything as well so it was a good purchase and Celebrian is sailing like she is a young girl again!? First Edition will be impressed when she sees how spry Celebrian has become. We arrived to a Royal Island anchorage with no other cruising boats and that is after sailing down alone. Usually Royal Island is a popular anchorage with upwards to 30 boats but we spent two nights anchored with nary another cruising boat. Maybe everyone wanted a livlier New Year's eve? Afer our boisterous sail down we were both done by 8:30 and didn't even manage to stay awake to what we call sailor's midnight (9:00pm)!?! After a good 10 hour snooze we welcomed the new year by spending a lovely day at rest. We paddled the north end of the anchorage and found a small beach to get on shore. The island is supposed to be part of a huge development of new homes; however it would seem that things are on hold and the only activity we have seen is the odd security person coming and going by small boat. We walked the north part of the island and found an area that was cleared of scrub for a golf course. The first year that we stopped here there was some activity but over the last couple of years development has ceased.

I had my first dip in the sea before showers and I found it a little cool...barely 20 degrees/not quite 70. Here is hoping that the water in The Exumas is warmer? We enjoyed our turkey so much for Christmas dinner that we decided to do it again for New Years and once again we enjoyed a delicious feast of turkey with all the trimmings. It is a little more challenging in the galley with every pot brought into service and keeping an eye on an oven that likes to either go out from time to time or climb higher and higher in temperature but it is all worth it when you have a scrumptious meal to enjoy.

The Joys of Marsh Harbour

Before we left Man O War on Tuesday we decided to do our laundry at the marina. Generally marinas won't let you do laundry unless you are tied up there; however we did say that we had been on a mooring ball for three nights that cost us $17.00 a night. The machines have a hard life and only one out of two was operational and it was acary to watch as soap suds came out the bottom of the door. At $5.00 a wash and $5.00 a dry you hope that the machine makes it through the cycle. We picked up some diesel for our jugs while we were ashore as well.

Marsh Harbour is not busy and there are fewer boats around. Perhaps it is just earlier in the season and the cruisers are still on their way? The provisioning has gone well but we have had a couple of very tiring days. We have spent about $1,500.00 dollars at the two grocery stores and the liquor store; however that allows us to cruise for over three months with spending very little on food, liquor and fuel. Just think about what you spend at home week to week and it comes into perspective. Celebrian is full to the brim and more; however we always marvel at what she can stow away. The bilge has swallowed four cases of Guinness, two cases of Kalik and a couple of cases of juice. The forward bilge has many other assorted things including a dozen grapefruit. Our little fridge and freezer is full to the brim and it is quite an ordeal to find anything. In fact the captain won't go near it for a couple of weeks. One just has to have patience when looking for anything. We store our canned and bottle goods on the port side and our dry goods on the starboard side under the settees. Just picture removing the cushions of your livingroom sofa to search for your spaghetti dinner?

We have just finished listening to Chris Parker's early morning 6:30 am forecast and it sounds like we may be able to sail to Eleuthera tomorrow. This morning we will have to install our new starting battery, fix one more leak on Sir Anthony the Third and finish stowing the provisions. We will have to sail to Lynyard this afternoon in order to be in place to leave at dawn for Eleuthera. Lynyard is about a 3 hour sail from Marsh and we have to leave from there in order to get to Eleuthera in the day light and get safely anchored at Royal Island. From there we may be able to sail to the Exumas on Sunday or Monday. It looks like we will be spending new Years in a quiet harbour in Eleuthera afterall.

Man O War Memories

Man O war Cay is a small boat building settlement primarily of white Bahamians. The Albury name is well known all over the Bahamas for their well built boats. The people here are very religious and the per capita number of gospel halls and churches is quite high. Interesting enough Man O War, similar to Spanish Wells in Eleuthera is a dry community. The beach is quite nice; however not appealing in the temperatures we were having.

I had to include a picture of the captain in his upside down position...actually a boat skill. I often marvel at how Rob can work in cramped small places with little room to maneuver but I now know that it is his many years of working on Celebrian. If you have been following our blog you will have read the definition of cruising; however it is worth repeating..."Cruising is fixing things in exotic places." You will also know that my captain keeps everything both at home and on the boat. This picture shows his hose collection. Truth be known being well prepared and self sufficient is the only way to survive cruising.

Today is Monday Dec. 27th and we are trying to stay warm. Today's high is only 61 degrees/ about 20 degrees celcius....and not very Bahama like. The wind is still howling; however the sun is shining so we are hoping to take Goldberry into shore and go for a walk out of the wind, if that is possible. We are charging the batteries with the engine right now so we are getting a little warmth from the engine running and starting to thaw out. The captain is reading in the cockpit. He is trying to stay warm behind the enclosure which is a god send on a day like today. I have been reading below under a warm comforter. We definitely need to go further south and can only hope that the Exumas are warmer this winter than last.
Tomorrow the weather will let us return to Marsh Harbour to do our chores...new battery, fill two propane tanks, provisioning and a few other tasks and we are good to go. With any luck we should be able to get to Lynyard Cay and staged for the passage to Eleuthera by Thursday.

Man O War Christmas

Today is Christmas Eve day and we have just motored over to Man O War to spend the evening and Christmas day. We have the anchorage all to ourselves and it is a nice quiet spot. The temperature is cool but it has been a mostly sunny day.
Our luck seems to be a little shaky these days as we began the day with Mr. Yan not wanting to start. It would seem that our Surette starting battery is on its last sea legs and we are going to have to purchase a new one. Our batteries are only four years old; however they have had a busy and hard life. One thing you can not do without is the confidence that your motor will start when you turn the key. We always leave Celebrian's key in the ignition because you never know when you might have an emergency and have to move in a hurry.

Rob moved the contacts to one of our running battery banks and we started the engine. Our next challenge was to run the water maker to see if there are any leaks and of course we have leaks...gratefully fresh water ones. We have to run the water maker for an hour initially to make sure all of the pickling solution is out of it. Obviously this can not be done until the poison is out of the equipment and filters. We have emptied the berth once again and Rob is trying to fix the leaks. This morning he was upside down over the engine and this afternoon he is upside down in the pullman berth. This work he is doing while still fighting his miserable cold. He is using his cortisone inhaler to try to settle his cough. We are feeling a bit frustrated by all of the things that have been going wrong; however better that we have these things happen now when we are closer to a town where we can buy what we need. Marsh Harbour may not be our favourite place to anchor; however it is a good spot to provision and get boat parts. Speaking of provisioning we scouted out the new Maxwell's and it is like going into a big city supermarket anywhere. The old store burned down a couple of years ago and they have replaced it with a wonderful new store so we will have no problems getting anything we want and more. We will also go to Save A Lot which is the local Costco type bulk store for our staple supplies but what a bonus having such a great store here. The days of saying that you can't get fresh produce in The Bahamas are over. That being said...where we are heading it will be true so we might as well live it up while we are here. Tonight we are cooking a 4 pound turkey breast on the BBQ complete with stuffing and other goodies. Tomorrow we may row into town and join the community in a festive breakfast. Of course we have to see what Santa brings us first.

The first year we brought the boat to The Bahamas we had a very unique Christmas day by crossing the Gulf stream from Florida to the Bahama banks. Our second year we had a very memorable Christmas with Lynn and Peter on First Edition. Last year we were at home and spent a lovely day with Brian and Gayle. This year we will celebrate at Man O War and make new memories.

Santa managed to find us on Celebrian and both of us felt a little spoiled after opening our gifts. Rob didn't feel up to going to the breakfast so we had a quiet morning on board. He says that he is feeling better; however once his cough disappears we will both be getting more rest. By the afternoon he felt a little better so we went for a kayak into Man O War harbour to see if there were any available moorings. Luckily there were still moorings available so we decided that the safest place to go for this next front was into the harbour and to take a mooring. Today is Boxing day and we are grateful to be on the mooring as we have had 35 mph winds with higher gusts in thunderstorms for most of the day. Despite being on the mooring we are getting a good rock and roll motion too. Rob is in his usual position....this time upside down replacing Celebrian's anchor locker hose. This hose is one of the last original hoses on the boat and since a broken hose can mean leaks it is important to replace them before you have a problem. The heat in The Bahamas over the summer is hard on everything so we have to be particularly diligent looking after things...particularly the things that you can't always see but can sink you. I have been spending the time going through our food storage and continuing to organize our major provisioning list for next week. Since we are planning on staying in The Bahamas this year we have a good feel for what we will need over the next four months. For the most part we load up with staples that are either hard to find in the out islands or cost three times as much as here in The Abacos. For instance we just bought seven grapefruit for $5.99 at Save A Lot but those same grapefruit will be $2.00 or more a piece in The Exumas. In the smaller settlements we try to buy fresh fruit and veggies when we can but if all else fails we have our canned fruit and bean salads etc. to get us through.

Through The Whale to Boat Harbour

First night anchored in Boat Harbour was a little chilly but we had the place to ourselves.



The new Yankee looks and performs just great...Celebrian will be so fast now?!

The day before we left Green Turtle Cay there was a rage at the Whale Cay passage and not a day to sail there. Yesterday was as rough as we have seen it but we had no problems going through the passage. Most of the time in the Abacos you are sailing in protective waters; however you have to go out in the ocean to get from Green Turtle and Scotland Cay to Guana Cay. Nothing like going out in the ocean in good sized waves for our first day but at least now we have our sea legs. The new Yankee performed beautifully and Celebrian is very proud.

We had a bit of a scare with the hot water tank because the element sprang a leak and partially filled our bilge with very expensive water. At first we were worried that the hot water tank had failed where it had been fixed or right next to it; however we were grateful to see that it was something the captain could fix. Today we are in Marsh Harbour picking up a few things to keep us going until after Christmas. The stores don't open up again until Tuesday so we hope to do our major provisioning then. Until then we will hang out at Boat Harbour and perhaps Man O War for Christmas depending on what the wind is doing.

Today I am sitting in the Bahama Wimax office using their wifi signal because I can't pick it up on the boat since we are in Boat Harbour and not inside in Marsh Harbour where the signal is directed. At least I can do a blog entry and then it may be next week before you hear from me again.

Merry Christmas from Celebrian

The captain, despite still fighting his cold took a breather from installing a second membrane in our water maker and toured Black Sound with me on our kayaks.




More festive decorations....you have to just love the wreath with Let it Snow on it. I haven't found many Bahamians who like snow. How about that red bow on Celebrian's bow?



Christmas Day is coming...Sea Bear is excited. Merry Christmas from us both.

Tomorrow we hope to go through The Whale down to Boat Harbour, near Marsh Harbour. We had hoped to go to Manjack Cay today but once again west winds kept us at the dock.

Green Turtle Cay ...Celebrian's Second Home

Kevin runs the gas dock at The Outer Shore Club and has worked there for 29 years. He is also somewhat of a local celebrity because he plays in a local band called The Gully Roosters. Two years ago he gave us a CD of his music.



We had hoped to leave the dock today; however between the cold front, Rob's miserable cold and trying to get the big girl's batteries charged it was not going to happen. As it turned out we took the opportunity to go to town and do some shopping. Our plan is to leave tomorrow, weather permitting and head north to Manjack Cay until after Christmas. From there we will head south to Marsh Harbour where we will do our major provisioning and then off the the Exumas.



It is easy to forget that Christmas is coming; however there are decorations all over Green Turtle Cay and now Celebrian has her red bow on her bow. The golf cart is the main mode of transport on many of the small Bahamian islands and this one is particularly festive. Rob is laden down with assorted groceries on our trip to town.



This what your living area looks like when the captain is working on the engine Mr. Yan and other projects that require everything be removed from the quarter berth. Things are going well and we had no leaks in the new/old hot water tank installation and Mr.Yan has had his first engine run and so has Little Harry Honda generator. Now we just have to get the captain well and we are good to go sailing.

Boat Jobs at the Dock

Celebrian at the dock at Abaco Yacht Services, Black Sound in Green Turtle Cay.



Stranded Naked is the name of this funky house boat that arrived in The Bahamas in 1988 and has never left. It is now home to the Black Sound Yacht Club.



The admiral organizing the medical kit. Gratefully we have only used one script of antibiotics, one tube of cavit, polysporin, bandaids, and assorted medicines for sea sickness over the three years we have been cruising. The captain getting Celebrian's hot water tank ready to install. It fits under the quarter berth mattress. It fills with hot water when the engine is running and is one of my favourite luxuries.



The captain making love to the batteries.

Today's job is more stainless polishing for the admiral while the captain wreaks havoc below decks installing the hot water tank.

Floating Again

The captain putting our dinghy Goldberry together.


After a busy day of getting ready to launch it was time to ride the travel lift to the launch well. It is always exciting to see Celebrian picked up, moved across the yard and gently put into the water....all 12 tons of her! Once in the water the boat has an entirely different feel from being on the hard. We filled the water tank and Phillip, bless his heart let us hose Celebrian down with fresh water and didn't charge us for the water. We pay 20 cents a gallon for water to fill our tank so that was very nice of him. Water is a precious commodity in a country that is very dry and surrounded by the ocean. Abaco Yacht Services collects rain water over the summer season when it usually rains more; however this year they had an especially dry and hot summer. We take water for granted in Ontario because we are surrounded by large fresh water lakes. One only has to live on a sailboat for a few days in a salt environment to begin to treasure and appreciate fresh water. Everytime I come home and look out at Lake Huron I can hardly believe it is fresh water.

Rob installed our new water pump so we are now not only able to use our new foot pumps but we are able to turn on the tap and have water....what a great concept and one that we take for granted in our homes.

Today's first job after making love to the batteries is to get the new yankee sail on before the southwest breeze picks up. The main we can put on in some wind but the yankee needs calm conditions. So far the day looks good so we should be able to get all the sails on.

The captain thought his allergies were acting up yesterday; however today his voice is scratchy and he feels like he is coming down with a cold. This does not bode well for the admiral because there is no where to escape from a sick partner on a sailboat. Here is hoping that my antibodies are up to snuff and can hold this virus at bay. Flying in a tin can of recyled air is no doubt the culprit.

Since we have arrived at the boat yard the power has been off and on several times a day. I just went to post this blog and realized that Bahamas Wifi is not able to broadcast their wireless signal. I guess that means I have to start my next job...polishing the stainless before the bimini goes on. The captain's next job is putting in our hot water tank again. Crystal took our tank to Marsh Harour for us and had it welded after we left last year. The folks here at Abaco Yacht Services are really great people.

It's the Journey not the Destination

Over our last few years of travel we have had a few challenges now and then; however this morning's trip from Bayfield has to be near the top. Brian, our shuttle driver picked us up at 4 am and eight hours later we arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. We tried most of the back roads and finally ended up going over to London and along the 401 to Windsor. We passed dozens and dozens of cars and trucks in the ditches. We kept hoping that the weather would let up but we didn't get our break until an hour out of London on the 401. Hindsightot says that we should never have left Bayfield; however hindsight is always 20/20. As Rob reminds me we are safe and warm and poor Brian has to make the trek back to Goderich. Needless to say we missed our flight but we were hopeful that we could catch another one this afternoon. I knew the choices would be poor; however we now have seats on a flight to New York with a change of planes and on to Fort Lauderdale....arrival time midnight. For this pleasure we handed Spirit another $600.00. Then it will be a very short sleep at The Ramada and up at 5:30am to catch our Yellow Air Taxi to The Abacos. It feels a little like an endurance expedition so far but in a couple of days and a good night's rest things will look different. Besides, how often do you get a chance to have dinner in New York?

It would seem that it is just one of those days. We were paged and told that a number of items in our checked luggage have been removed as they are deemed hazardous. Losing our water maker lubricant is a bummer and we can not replace it in The Bahamas. They also removed our stainless steel polish, polyurethane sealant, butane lighter and a tiny key chain torch. Just the price we pay by flying instead of leaving the boat in Florida and driving down to her. And one more thing....the flight to La Guardia is delayed so we have to hope that we get there in time to make our connection. As for now we try and amuse ourselves by reading and people watching.

Our flight to New York was delayed two hours and we were fearful that we might not make our connection to Fort Lauderdale; however as it turned out we rushed to connect with our flight just to learn that the plane to Fort Lauderdale was delayed by two hours. Weather related problems were causing flight delays to and from Detroit. By the time we reached Fort Lauderdale the shuttle to our hotel was no longer running so we had to take a taxi. We collapsed into bed at 1:30 am just to be jolted awake at 5:30am for our Yellow Air flight to Treasure Cay, Abaco. There was just one other passenger on our plane so once again we were lucky and all of our luggage made it on to the Cessna. All of our luggage but Rob's electrice toothbrush that is. What else can happen? We were a little concerned about getting through customs but we were three times lucky and had no problems with our boat laden luggage including our brand new yankee sail. Treasure Cay is definitely the best place to check in to The Bahamas.

We took a taxi to the grocery and liquor store and then off to the ferry dock for our trip across the Sea of Abaco to Green Turtle Cay. We arrived at Abaco Yacht Services around noon and spent the rest of the day opening up the boat and getting things on board. Celebrian's circus tent had stayed on this year; however she is very dirty under the tarp with no rain showers to wash the dirt off. Evidently this summer was very hot so she got a good baking. We were so exhausted by dinner time that we made an emergency meal....Kraft dinner and washed it down with copious amounts of Kalik (Bahamian beer and California White Wine)! After eleven hours we awoke to a sunny and pleasant morning. Another long day of cleaning, organizing, unpacking and fixing in preparation for our launch on Friday. The captain installed two new foot pumps...one for the galley and one for the head. The galley pump failed near the end of our cruise last year and the head pump failed yesterday....good thing the captain always brings spares of everything. Today the captain is putting in our new water pump so that we can fill up with water at the dock. When you are your own public utilitie's commission it can be challenging at times. We are also charging our batteries which is in itself a very detailed process. Rob calls it making love to the batteries.

Lots to do so I had better get back to the admiral's list of jobs!

Dressed for The Bahamas

Courtesy of our good friends and cottage neighbours Doug and Jane we have new outfits for The Bahamas this season!?!? We will get lots of wear out of these new clothes at the cottage as well. It kind of reminds me of The Emperor's New Clothes?!

The next blog entry will be from The Bahamas. Winter well everyone!

Chrissymas Celebrations Continue

Rob's special Christmas present...The Hartley Cottage Book



One can really see by looking at the pictures side by side the amount of work that has been done on the building. I hope that my mom is as excited as we are to spend some time there next summer.



The book that I made for Rob on line was dedicated to my mom and dad and the picture shows the three of us sitting at the front of the cottage in 1957.





Rob and I decided to open a few gifts that were too large to travel south with us. He has a brand new weather station that is wireless and we will mount it on top of the roof of the cottage. We will now be our own little weather station complete with wind speed, rain guage, barmometer,humidity and temperature. We each gave the other beautiful coffee table books...dolphins, an ocean atlas and the companion book to the DVD Sharkwater. They are beautiful books and we will have many hours of enjoyable reading to look forward to at the cottage.



Huronview hosts a Christmas Tea every year. We picked up mom's friend Jean and joined mom for the afternoon. There was no shortage of goodies and lots to sample. It was hard to say goodbye to mom; however I know that she is in good hands.

Let it Snow... Let it Snow...Let it Snow

The snow just kept coming earlier this week....about 70 cms/ almost 3 feet.



We love to get our snowshoes on at least once a year...several times these last few days.



We love the view out our bedroom window.





In the winter our home reminds me of a ski chalet and certainly with this snowfall it has looked the part. The lake is beginning to build some ice up along the shore and the Canada geese are riding ice bergs in the river. I am not sure why they haven't flown south yet but perhaps that is why we use the term "silly goose" to describe someone who is not thinking straight. Rob and I, on the other hand are looking forward to some warmer weather. We enjoy winter too; however we know that our southern lifestyle is best done while we are healthy and able.

Varnish Magic in December

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What a difference central heating makes? Rob has been able to varnish the loft floor this month and after six coats the floor looks spectacular. Before closing the cottage Rob wants to frame up the loft wall so that Dave, our stair builder can take his final stair measurements. This has proved a challenge due to the winter weather we have been having these last few days.