Duncan Town Delights

From Hog Cay we motor sailed back south of Ragged Island to Southside Bay. From the anchorage it is about a mile and a half walk to Duncan Town. Duncan Town has a population of about 80 and is the only settlement in the Jumentos. As you can see by the map it is quite far south in the chain in the Bahamian Islands. From where we are it is only 60 miles to Cuba.

I spent some time in the morning doing internet and talking to my mom in the post office/town hall building. Both the town hall and school have internet that they let the cruisers use; however using internet here is not like using a signal at home. The signal can come and go and depending on the number of people it can be a long and onerous task getting things done; however I did manage to do three postings without totally going crazy. Besides we were waiting for our grocery order from the mail boat. Maxine's order seemed to be the last delivered and by late afternoon we still didn't have our groceries. We were determined to wait so we joined a group of other cruisers in the local bar and had a drink to put in the time. We trundled our bundle buggy and back packs back to the anchorage as the sun was setting. It had been a loooooooonnnnnnnnggggg day but a good day.

Our refrigeration system has been acting up and we were afraid that we were going to have to change our cruising plans and head to Nassau. You can well imagine the fear one gets when you see your freezer start to melt. We talked to some other cruisers and got some suggestions for trouble shooting. I am both relieved and happy to say that we seem to be back in business. Rob soddered one of the wires and we are hoping that the problem was electrical and has been solved.

We spent a glorious day paddling out in the ocean from Southside and doing some shelling and snorkelling. The limestone rock in this area is quite stunning and in the picture of Rob in the kayak it almost looks like snow. Today we are going to trek back into town to go to the school lunch fundraiser. It will be Bahamian staples of peas and rice, macaroni, coleslaw and conch or chicken. It should be fun and Lynn and I hope to do a little computer work before the BBQ.

From here we hope to make our way north back up the Jumento's chain visiting some cays that we have not seen and returning to some favourite spots with First Edition. I think we are planning on staying in the Jumentos until Valentine's Day when there is a big party in Hog Cay. After that we will head to Long Island for provisions and to do five weeks of laundry. I do what I can by hand but two sets of sheets and towels are all we have so we have to make due. Sometimes Celebrian's lifelines look like a clothesline. It is all just part of life living on a sail boat.

Why is this man smiling? He was so delighted that I wanted to take his picture. This is my favourite picture taken in Duncan Town.

First Edition and Celebrian Together Again

First Edition and Celebrian decided to rendezvous at Coco Bay which is as far south in the Jumentos as you can safely anchor. From there it is about 60 miles to Cuba. This is the fourth year that we have met up with Lynn and Peter and we try to spend a little time sailing together. It is always a joyful reunion and we just take up from where we last left off...a true sign of a good friendship. Lynn and Peter are taking a year off next year to live in their new house on Chesapeake Bay. This is after 4 years of living full time on First Edition so needless to say they are excited. We saw their plans the first night we had dinner with them. Peter had caught a mahi mahi a couple of weeks ago and Lynn had frozen some for us....a treat for Rob's birthday. She also surprised him with a cake since she knew he was only getting birthday bread from his wife.

The next day in Coco Bay we awoke to a surge and decided that we should look for a more comfortable anchorage. We headed north to Hog Cay which is a popular cruising anchorage because it is usually surge free. For the first day we were here it was so windy and cloudy we decided that it would be a good day to stay aboard. I read one of the books Lynn had saved for me from First Edition's library called The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. The story is narrated by Enzo the dog. He lives with Denny who is a race car driver. It is both heart wrenching and funny look at human life....as only a dog could tell it. I would highly recommend it for everyone, not just dog lovers as it has a message for us all.

We spent a night at Johnson Cay and then first thing on the captain's birthday we motored a mile over to Man O War Bay to be ready for the cold front. The captain had a choice of either birthday bread or birthday oatmeal cookies and as you can see from the picture he chose the bread. I had been trying to come up with a nice meal idea for Rob`s birthday dinner but after a month after provisioning options are not too exciting until Raphael came into the anchorage. Raphael lives in Duncan Town and makes his living diving for conch and lobster. We were able to buy 6 small lobster tails from him for ten dollars. So the birthday boy had lobster for dinner and what a treat that was. Many cruisers dive with pole spears and spear their own lobsters. Rob used to have a spear but it didn`t get put on board when we left Bayfield and it is not exactly the kind of thing you want to carry in your luggage. Peter has one so we are hoping that he can be the great white hunter for both First Edition and Celebrian.

I decided to go paddling at Man O War before the wind picked up and also do some snorkelling. The reef on the one side of the bay was beautiful and had lots of fish. We had decided that the smart thing to do in the Jumentos was to snorkel off the kayak so that if we got rattled we could always get out of the water. We see lots of rays and the occasional nurse shark but we know that they won`t bother a swimmer; however I saw my first pelagic shark, a bull shark about 20 feet away that I learned from other crusiers in the bay was close to 8 feet long. Unlike a nurse shark they are unpredictable and can be a problem with divers. Needless to say I was grateful of my kayak and have little recollection of getting out of the water and up on my kayak. Evidently the folks I spoke to had speared a couple of lobsters and nothing brings sharks faster than blood. I also didn`t know that Raphael had been cleaning conch and lobster in the bay or I would have stayed out of the water. It was something amazing to see; however that will do me for a life time.

Today, sunday January 23rd we are sailing south to meet up with First Edition. It will be wonderful to see them both. Later in the week we will be in town to pick up our mailboat grocery order from Maxine and do some blog entries.

Christine at the helm on a warm day in the Jumentos.

Life in the Jumento Cays

From Flamingo Cay we had a great sail south about 25 miles to Nurse Cay. From Nurse Cay we headed another 12 miles down the chain to one of our favourite anchorages Johnson Cay. Johnson provides good protection from every direction but the north as it is wide open to the ocean. It has a lovely crescent beach for walking and lots of rock for climbing and exploring. Unfortunately most of the Jumento beaches are on the bank side and are poor for shelling but they are great for walking. Buenavista Cay has a beach that is about 1.5 miles long and we walked the whole beach without finding any treasures; however we did make a rescue.

At low tide we saw a small pile of sand moving on the beach. Rob uncovered a beautiful helmet shell and its occupant who we named Herman was high and dry and definitely in trouble. As much as we love helmet shells we have never taken a shell with a live occupant and so while singing Born Free we moved Herman further out to sea. Just to make sure that he was indeed healthy and happy we returned to see how he was doing the next morning. We had suggested to him that he get a move on and by the next morning Herman was no more to be seen.

Before going to Buenavista we spent a night at Man O War Bay as it is a good spot to anchor for protection from the north and the west. We did some kayaking and snorkelling right off the boat. We often see sting rays around the boat and it almost seems like they associate boats with food. While the weather is forecast to be good we decided to head up the chain a few miles to Buenavista Cay. The beach is the longest in the Jumentos. The day we found Herman was the warmest day we have had in The Bahamas and we had to keep dipping in the ocean just to stay cool enough to walk. This seldom happens in the winter as the trade winds dominate the weather patterns. From Buenavista we motored down to the northern end of Raccoon Cay where once again we spent a glorious day paddling and snorkelling. It is such a pleasure not to fight the trade winds.

We have talked to Lynn and Peter on the VHF radio and we are hoping to connect with them by Monday. This weekend we are expecting a front that will keep us pinned down for a couple of days and even though we are only 12 miles apart the weather gods rule. We have been anchoring by ourselves for the most part; however we may have to share the anchorage for the front as there are fewer places to hide in poor weather. Next week we hope to get to Duncan Town, population less than 100 and the only settlement in the Jumentos. The local little store will order groceries for cruisers and then you can pick them up when the weekly mail boat comes. We may try and do this as we are as of today officially out of lettuce. Thank goodness for cabbage and canned bean and potato salad. We are not starving yet?! The little school lets cruisers use their lunch room for internet and just asks that you leave a donation so that is also on our Duncan Town list of things to do. When you are sailing down here you are really in the remote Bahamas and last night we didn't see a single light except for the full moon which has been absolutely stunning.

Today we had hoped to move to another Raccoon Cay anchorage but the wind and the surge is making us change our mind. We will head back to Johnson Cay and be comfortable for the day. Besides I want to make yoghurt and the bacteria don't like to be jostled so we need a relatively settled anchorage. That being said you have to realize that rocking gently is as good as it gets anchored in the Jumentos. Not having a surge is a pleasant surprise.

This picture shows how the conch shells have become part of the limestone on many of the beaches. It must have taken a thousand years or more we thought. I think that there were more conch alive in those days that died natural deaths and just washed up on the shores of the various islands.

A Dolphin Welcomes Us Back to the Jumentos

We spent an enjoyable evening at Deshemon's Restaurant eating our old favourite, conch pizza. Simon and Dianne run a small restaurant in Black Point with a nice patio and a free internet signal. It is popular with the cruisers. I sent off my last update and called my mom as I knew it would be awhile before I would have internet again.


The next morning we left at dawn for our motorsail to Coakley Island. We had our first dolphin come to play in our bow wave and it is always such a joyful sight. After ten hours and about 50 miles we anchored safely in what felt like the middle of nowhere. The sunset picture was taken the evening at Coakley. Coakley offers some protection out on the banks and allows us to get within sailing distance of the Jumentos. Wenesday January 12th will see us sailing about 35 miles to Flamingo Cay dodging coral heads a good part of the way. We will seek shelter at Flamingo Cay for the next 3 days as the wind is to blow 20-25-30 knots and squalls are expected. Gratefully the wind is from the north and east and we can get good shelter at Flamingo.


It is now the third day we have been hunkered down in Flamingo Cay. We are getting good shelter from the wind; however the surge here, like many of the anchorages in the Jumentos can be pretty ugly at times. Surge is the term for the waves that refract around the islands and end up rolling into the anchorage. These waves start the boat rolling and just like a child on a swing we continue to roll after being pushed. This is the motion that we hate the most and we call it the death roll. The first day we put out a stern anchor to try and keep Celebrian from lying in the trough of the waves. It has worked quite well and now we are doing a motion we call cork screwing and it is not nearly as bad as death rolling. The first night Rob slept in the salon so that I could sleep across the berth and not feel like I might roll out of bed. Picture lying in bed and rolling from side to side without any control and that is how our first night felt. Sleeping while moving is definitel a cruising skill. Lynn and Peter will be glad that they decided to stay in Long Island for this front.

The remora or shark suckers that are attached to Celebrian's keel think that she is a big shark. They use a suction cup action with the top of their heads and attach themselves to sharks, turtles or in our case Celebrian's keel. They eat the cast offs of their host;however they didn't think too much of the cabbage leaves we tossed overboard. They must be getting quite hungry. They are obviously not the brightest of fish.

Yesterday we managed to get ashore for a walk and a break from the boat. We are hoping to do the same this afternoon. Tomorrow the wind is dropping enough to allow us to head further down the chain of islands. Gratefully the forecast is for some settled weather so we are hopeful of getting diving and kayaking. The water temperature is about 23 degrees C / mid 70s F. That is an improvement from The Exumas of a couple of degrees and it makes a big difference when you are in the water for a period of time.

The Lives of the Rich and Famous at Bell Island, Exumas

From Hawksbill Cay we motorsailed on Exuma Sound, the ocean side of The Exumas and tucked in behind Bell Cay for protection from the upcoming cold front. Most of the anchorages are on the eastern side of the islands and they are fine when you are anchoring in the trade winds; however when the wind comes from both the north and the west it is trickier finding places to be safe and comfortable. Last year we had anchored at Bell and had enjoyed some snorkelling right off the boat.
This year we arrived at our anchorage to find a much more happening beach. Since the island is private we don't venture onto the beach but this year there was a Bahamian police boat that stopped by and made sure that we had no intention of landing on the beach. Evidently someone from California had landed on Johnny Depp's island this year and gone right up to his house. We anchored beside his island last year and I put my big toe on one of his beaches while snorkelling by. Often the islands that are privately owned will have posted signs that say please do not come ashore unless you have been invited. We weren't sure how to get an invitation from Johnny so we just had to be content with watching one of his movies.



As the day unfolded we watched a half a dozen helicopters come and go, an 80 plus foot speed boat fully crewed arrive from Grand Cayman and a sea plane land. The police officer told us that the island was owned by some diplomat and he had other friends in high places. Obviously so as we were not invited to the cocktail and beach party under the various palapa and tiki huts but whoever was on Zarkava, the big boat beside us was. Zarkava had passed us on the banks going about 50 miles per hour. Now she was anchored beside us and once night came we watched as her neon red sign glowed and her underwater lights frightened all of the sea creatures in the anchorage. It was fascinating watching all of the comings and goings on the island. There had to have been at least a million or more dollars worth of play toys out in front of the beach....six sea doos (sea maggots we sailors call them), several ribbed dinghies, three high speed fishing boats and more. Life is certainly different for the rich and famous.

Today we are anchored just off of Sampson Cay Marina. We arrived here yesterday and anchored in a westerly chop which was a little uncomfortable. We spent most of the afternoon ashore doing chores...the laundry, filling diesel jugs and of course the internet...hoping that the wind would drop and the boat would be more comfortable. Finally in the night the wind went down and things settled down so this morning I am able to work on the boat without getting sea sick. In fact we are dead calm this morning and there is a star fish sitting on top of Big Bruce, our anchor.

We are going to go to shore for one more load of diesel and then for a walk before we move south to Big Major off of Staniel Cay. Tomorrow morning we will pick up some groceries in Staniel Cay and then we will be ready to head to the Jumentos.

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.