We decided to stay in Nassau for a day and night in a hotel with a real bed. After 8 monthhs sleeping in a shoebox, some hotel therapy was in order. So we’re still here. We’re about to sail to west bay on the west end of the island this afternoon, and then tomorrow we plan to cross the tongue of the ocean to Morgan”s Bluff, Andros.

Seems pretty vacant here. Most cruisers have gone home. hurricane season is approaching. The last few days have actually been cloudy, the first cloudy days we’ve had in months. We are so spoiled!

After a couple of days in Andros, we plan to cross the banks back to Bimini and then the gulf stream back to Fort Lauderdale Florida. It’s time to go “back to the real world”.

One of the greatest things about traveling in our sailboat in the
Bahamas is that we have had access to remote islands that no one
else goes to except for adventurous sailors and megayachts. A
strange combination, it’s true, but these have been basically the
only other people we’ve seen in the Exumas. (actually, we haven’t
seen much of the megayacht people, as they seem to operate in their
own separate universe even though we shared many of the same
anchorages.) We haven’t been in any really “touristy” places, as
the islands we have visited are out of reach of the average mass
marketed tour. Sure, all the sailors are technically “tourists”,
but tourists of a much different sort than the mobs that get off
the cruise ships in Nassau.

Today we spent the day in Nassau and we decided to venture to the
tourist center of the city, the Straw Market, which is right next
to the cruise ship docks. While the historic district of downtown
Nassau was charming, the Straw Market itself was a disgusting
assault of hundreds of tiny stalls in a big tent covered
marketplace, staffed by somewhat desperate looking Bahamians who
tugged at your sleeve and practically begged you to buy something
from them. The problem was, they were all selling the exact same
crap that we didn’t want. I mean, who wants this stuff, really?
Lots of straw bags with the Bahamas printed on them, straw hats,
gaudy cheap jewlery, and other random tourist stuff that has no
real use. Sure, the straw things are made my the local women and
they do a very nice job making the same things over and over. I
couldn’t help but feel that our version of bringing dollars into
the local Bahamian economy was actually just an insult to the local
people. I don’t think they really want to be there hawking stupid
stuff to drunk sunburned tourists. So why did we go there? Well,
actually, there was a locally made item that I wanted — a straw
mat to put on the floor of the cabin in Wee Happy. My friend Mimi
had bought one at a small town in the Exumas, where the women were
also making straw items. It was a perfect size for the boat, and
we really need something like that. So I figured they would have
them at the Straw Market. But no, they did not. Out of a hundred
vendors making straw stuff, none of them had mats. They all just
had the same baskets and bags and hats. How do they stay in
business all competing against each other selling the exact same
stuff? Come on, people, diversify a little bit!

Anyway, it was an experience to check it out, but we were fully
ready to get out of there after about 10 minutes. To recover, we
had to stop for a drink at the famed “Senor Frog’s”, where we got a
Bahama Mama drink for a staggering $14, while cruise ship partiers
with balloon sculpture hats hooted and hollered drunkly all around
us.

Last night after we arrived in Nassau after a long, slow sail
across the Exuma banks, we decided to go check out Atlantis, a
giant hotel/mall/casino complex that is a “recreation” of the lost
city of Atlantis. We putt putted our dinghy past a bunch of
imposing, impressive megayachts until we reached the towering
columns of Atlantis, each column with a big sculpted seahorse on
it. Then there were waterfalls coming out of big shells, and
arched gateways leading into a castle like tunnel that we magically
rode our dinghy through. Impressive! There was no dinghy dock, so
managed to tie up our dinghy on the side of a concrete wall and
climbed up a ladder to the lower level of the complex, where we
found an unmarked door and entered it. Immediately we felt like we
were tripping, as we found ourselves suddenly in the middle of an
upscale, busy, loud bar filled with well dressed people. And then
there’s us, looking pretty salty with sand from the Exuma beaches
still between our toes. We walked through the bar pretending we
came there all the time, and ventured out into the casino.
Blinking lights, dinging noises, people who look like they came
from another planet than us…..were we really tripping or was
this real? We blew $5 on a game we barely knew how to play, then
blew some more money on a slice of pizza, and decided to find the
real reason we came there — to check out the Aquarium. Atlantis
has a famed aquarium that numerous people had told us about with
rave reviews.

To get to the Aquarium we had to go into the hotel portion of
Atlantis, where there was a fabulous, and I mean fabulous lobby
filled with delightful murals on the walls, giant marble
staircases, and a gorgeous wall of elegant windows.
Below the
lobby was the huge aquarium. The aquarium had a LOT of fish in it.
Whole schools of big and little fish swam around. The aquarium
looked like it was in an underwater ruined city. But, even though
it was fun to see such huge fish, and they had a stunningly huge
manta ray and some gorgeous spotted eagle rays, I have to admit
that the fish we have been seeing while snorkeling in the Exumas
were more spectacular than even the fish of Atlantis. So there you
have it. We didn’t pay thousands of dollars to stay in the lap of
luxury and have experiences handed to us on a sugarcoated platter,
and in the end I think we had a better experience than the tourists
whose only view of the Bahamas is Nassau. Although I had moments
being surrounded by the beauty and wealth of Atlantis that I wished
desperately I could afford to stay in a place like that, when it
really comes down to it I wouldn’t trade the experience we had on
our wee humble little sailboat for anything.

Maffick’s Rich and Mimi had their son Timmin visit. he flew out in his Cessna and we went spear fishing.

After poking around a few coral heads for a while, I noticed a large yellow fin underneath one rock. After repeated dives I got a glimpse of the whole fish, and he was huge. I kept diving until I got a good shot, but I knew that if I tried to pull him out through the small hole in the rock, I’d end up pulling my spear out of him, and then he’d be hurt and lost.

So I had Timmin help me. It took both of us to get this awesome fish. He dove and got a shot with his spear clear through the fish which locked him onto the spear. Then I was able to wriggle the fish through the rock holes to get him out.

Man was he heavy and tasty! He fed all six of us that night. That’s the biggest fish we’ve ever caught, and it took two of us to do it! Yay teamwork!

On another note: we’ve turned around and are heading back to the States now. We’ve made it all the way to Nassau now, and our plan is to return to Andros and then go back to Bimini and then cross the stream to Fort Lauderdale. The exumas were fantastic, but we have committments in the States this summer, and we want to return before the storm season begins.

Thanks for checking in!

Each day we are in the Bahamas we become a little more relaxed. We have had one idyllic day after another. One lovely sunny warm day after another. The days start blending together like a watery turquoise dream.

There are hundreds of postcard perfect, empty, white sand beaches around here. Every island has at least a couple of them. And we rarely see anyone on them. Lying on the beach in the sun is not really a big activity around here, strangely enough, since one of the main reasons people come to the Bahamas is for the pristine beaches. We have not “sunbathed on a beach” the whole time we’ve been here. Maybe because the sun is so intense and hot, that we really don’t want to be out in it more than necessary, especially in the heat of the day. And unfortunately, almost none of these beaches has any shade whatsoever. But we have been longing for at least one sterotypical day at the beach. Even though we’ve been in relaxation vacation mode the whole time we’ve been here, believe it or not, we haven’t had any days where we actually just lounged around and read books all day, sipping iced drinks. Until today. We finally found a beach WITH SHADE. And lounge chairs. We decided to declare the day an official “do nothing but hang out lazily on the beach” day. We brought blankets and books and hats and drinks, and set up camp in the shade for a whole day of hanging out. I went for little cooling swims every hour or so. We didn’t even talk about where we are going next or any of the “future planning” we are always in the midst of figuring out.

We were reflecting on the fact that even though we have been getting so good at relaxing, being in the moment, and letting life unfold rather than operate off of to-do lists, we still have that little voice that tells us we need to be productive, DO DO DO, WORK WORK WORK, GO GO GO. Cap’t K. has had his boat to-do list at hand the entire trip, constantly working on project after project. I’ve been tackling a steady lineup of weaving projects, with yarn actively on my loom almost our entire trip. While we’ve been travelling, there has been a constant agenda to “get to the next place”. And that’s great. It feels good to be productive and get things done. There is such a satisfying sense of accomplishment in getting to the next place or finishing the latest improvement project. But we also came on this trip to experiment with giving ourselves a time-out from all that, and to develop a new relationship with the word “relaxed”. So it was interesting for me to notice a certain inner resistance to really taking one whole day to do nothing and go nowhere. Even during times that we have been in one spot for awhile, there has always been a never ending list of errands to run, water to fetch, stuff to clean, projects to do.
But then I remembered times in my life when I have been in an isolated, pristine wilderness environment where I was completely away from the busy blur of modern life. Those times have usually consisted of a few short days. And each time I was in that type of setting, I desperately yearned for weeks, months of that kind of downtime from the busyness of society. And finally, now, for the first time in my life, I have it. It is a gift and I have to remind myself that IT IS OK TO RELAX. IT IS OK TO RELAX. Perhaps this is the most difficult lesson of our whole trip…..if we learn it well will we be able to bring this quality back to “the real world” with us???

As we bask in the most perfect dreamy part of our long journey so far, there is often the nagging thought in the back of our minds that we have to “go back” soon, and our time to return to New England and get off the boat for awhile is drawing nearer each day. It is so tempting to want to hang onto this, to not go back, to make these ideal, happy days last forever. But today we read a passage in a book called “Euell Gibbons Beachcomber’s Handbook” that reminded us of an important truth:
“Never say ‘I have found the road to happiness’, for happiness is a gypsy, and the same road does not lead twice to her dwelling place. Say rather, ‘Happiness walked with me on the road I was taking,’ for happiness walks on many roads. Welcome her as she falls in step beside you, revel in her companionship, but don’t attempt to lay permanent hold of her, for she easily slides from the hands that clutch too tightly….there is another sense, however, in which happiness, once she has shared our path, never deserts us entirely. I am not speaking of those pleasant daydreams of the past in which all of us occaionally linger, for that is a phony, substitute happiness with little resemblance to the real article. I’m talking about how past experience affects present activities….and how faith had led me from one joyful experience to another, and on each new adventure I have had at least a brief rendezvous with happiness.”

May we continue on our path touched by the relaxation and happiness we are finding here in these healing turquoise waters, and may happiness find you on whatever path you are on as well!

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On the north half of Norman’s Cay is a lake or a pond. It’s reputed to be a hurricane hole, but it’s very tricky to get inside. There’s also a few caves there, and I really wanted to check it out. Better to take the dinghy, I thought, than to take Wee Happy the first time. Even though Albin Vegas only draw four feet, I still would rather check it out by dinghy the first time. Who knew I would ever be so prudent?!

Lala and I loaded up the uber dinghy for the expedition. We carried water, a radio, food, a good anchor, etc… We picked up Mimi from s/v Maffick to come along with us while her husband Rich went conching again. We slowly wove our way through the shallow waters of the southern anchorage. This place dries up to standing sand at low tide, so we were careful to stay in good water. We were leaving around high tide too so we wouldn’t get stranded.

We made it out to the eastern shore of the island with no difficulty, although the cut from the inner lagoon to the ocean side was rolly and a bit confused. These cuts often are. When the wind and current oppose each other, it gets hectic. If either are really strong (or heaven forbid both are really strong) then a “rage” can happen. Rages are impassable. Just stay home.

Once on the outside, we skirted north along the coast, oohing and aahing about the lovely water colors and beautiful beaches. I found and memorized landmarks along the way so I’d be able to get us back. If something happened to us out here, no one would be able to assist for a while, especially after the tidal current kicked in with the ebb tide.

We found the entrance to the pond. It was a narrow cut between two rocks with a million sharp jagged edges only maybe 20 feet apart. All the waters bottleneck here, and it was rolly and the currents were confused and weird.

We made it in carefully and then took a hard right to hug the eastern shore so we could find the caves. We spotted the first and went right up to it and anchored. It was absolutely filled with conch shells! Some fisherman must have been throwing their empty conch shells for many years. It was stunning with the contrast of smooth enameled organic shell shapes in a hard limestone cave.

Ooh was the coolness and shade of the cave a welcome treat! The sun here is unbearable in the middle of the day. We continued on and explored two more caves that we found on the eastern shore as we traveled north. The lake was a calm water can possibly be. There was no noise. It was eerily silent and calm. What a difference it was from the reversing-current of the southern anchorage!

After finding a few sailboats and houses at the northern end of the pond, we headed back, reversing our route. The high sun made the waters absolutely electrify. We snapped pictures in every direction and breathed in the refreshing colors all around us.

High tide had passed, and now we would face an ebbing tidal current to get back into the southern anchorage. At the bottleneck the current was so strong that we needed 80% throttle on our 15 horse power outboard to make forward progress! That was only an hour after high tide! I wouldn’t want to try that cut in full mid-tidal current! You probably wouldn’t make it! I sure was glad we had enough power to force our way through it! No smaller motor would have made it, and we’d have been calling for help.

All’s well that ends well. We made it back safe and sound to find everyone in the anchorage on shore conching. That means cleaning conch shells and getting the meat out and preparing it to be eaten. What a place! If you ever get to go to the Bahamas, be sure to make it to Normans Cay. You can get here by boat or plane, and it is well worth the trip!

Espin and Barbara are sailing on another Albin Vega sailboat named s/v Min I Pearl. Actually Espin sold us our dodger back before we left on our trip, but it was an internet transaction, and we’d never met! They gave us a tour of their little Vega and showed us all their little tips and modifications.

Espin had replaced his dodger (the one he sold to us) with a hard dodger that he constructed himself and painted red. It’s a pretty sweet device to keep the wind and pray off of you while under way. He also tutored me on his SSB radio installation, which he says he wa able to accomplish for under $550 total! The SSB radio allows radio and email communications over hundreds and thousands of miles, and they often cost $5,000 or so to install! We want one, but always thought it was beyond our reach. Espin’s SSB install gives me hope that we’ll be able to have one some day!

Barbara sewed some bags for hanging clothes in the v-berth, which are really handy.

Mini Pearl has no inboard motor, so there is cavernous storage space under the cockpit floor. The mainsheet traveler is also moved forward of the dodger, so it doesn’t clutter the cockpit any more. What a great and useful design, although I wouldn’t want to have mine set up that way in a serious storm. Espin also turned the hanging closet into a cabinet with shelves. What great little modifications!

It’s always so nice to explore another Albin Vega and talk to its owners. It gives us ideas about our own boat and reinforces our belief in how great our boat really is. Mini Pearl inspires us to consider removing our inboard motor to gain the storage space and speed up our boat by making her lighter!

So that totals three other Albin Vegas that we’ve met on our trip now! 1) Wes’ s/v Gemini Dreams, 2) Marsha & Volker’s s/v Raindrop, and 3) Espin and Barbara’s s/v Mini Pearl. Funny that all three of them are going to be based out of Panama City, Florida! Maybe that’ll become the home base of the southeast U.S. “Vegatarians” rendezvous this year!