Busy, Busy, Busy

Al and I dressed for Valentine's Day Dinner

For the last two weeks it has been a very busy and social time. Valentines Day found us at St. Francis Resort for a wonderful meal with our friends Toni and Dave and Cathy and Tom from Perseverance II. It was the best meal I ever had in the Bahamas. They offered limited choices but all were delicious. Crab cakes, conch chowder or Greek salad for an appetizer. Main dish choices were Grouper Dijon or Rack of Lamb with real vegetables like baby carrots, cauliflower and broccoli and Strawberry Cheesecake or Chocolate Cake for dessert.

The luscious lamb entree.

A glass of champagne was also included. It was a lovely dinner and afterward we went to dance under the stars on the deck at another bar/restaurant called Chat 'n Chill with Rockin' Ron and Cool Karen spinning the tunes once more.

Dancing the night away.

They must really get into Valentines Day in the Bahamas because even at church on Sunday it was decorated with red and white hearts and it was packed with couples, most of who wore red and/or white. Even many of the men had on red pants or red shirts. After Mass they did a renewal of vows for couples too.

We have had some calm weather to once again go snorkeling and so I got a few more underwater scenes.

Snorkeling the reef with friends from Bristol Creme

One of my better fish pictures.

Elk Horn Coral

Ladies enjoying the lu;ncheon.

As I mentioned it has been a very social time. We have been on the beach for Happy Hour, to another person's boat for dinner and games. We have had some people on our boat for dinner as well. I also organized another ladies luncheon and followed the same format as before. It worked great because almost everyone was new except for about 4 people. The women got to know a little about someone they never met and introduced each other. We also had 3 door prizes again. One which was a homemade loaf of bread I baked. You would have thought they had gotten gold!  Here we have Ann from Annteak, Chris on Tilt and Dorene on Delcia.

Al blowing his conch horn in a contest.

Another day we went for a Seven Seas Cruising Assoc. lunch meeting on the beach. After the meeting they had a conch blowing contest and Al came in second losing by a hair.

I have been doing yoga on the beach each morning and also a core/pilates type class as well. My body has been screaming sometimes during that class but hopefully it is screaming less now.

Regatta started Friday, February 21^st. Sign ups were on the Volleyball Beach and the crowds came out to sign up. Not only are there sailing races but also all sorts of athletic and non-athletic events. I am in charge of the Arts and Crafts Show so I signed up those who want to display their arts and craft talent.

People signing up for all the events from sail races, volleyball, bocce to scavenger hunt and much more!

This is the lead boy for the junkanoo band.

The same night was opening night talent show over in town at Regatta Park. All sorts of acts from Bahamians and cruisers were included. Several types of bands as well as the young junkanoo group were there.  This fellow is not giving a naughty sign.  He is signaling to his group with two fingers up!

The Blues Brothers doing there thing!

Some Bahamian dancers and several cruisers who sang or played instruments were also part of the entertainment. The “Blues Brothers” also visited who were a real hoot! Al was in the conch horn blowing contest. Once again he came in second. He just can't seem to reach that first place!

Al on stage this time, but still coming in second!

The crowds enjoying the show.

Sailing on Dejavu a catamaran.  A bit different experience.

Al and I also participated on the “Around Stocking Island” race but not on our boat. We joined our friends on Dejavu a 45' catamaran with another couple from a smaller catamaran. We were sailing along at 10 knots once out of the harbor and all of a sudden a very loud bang occurred with the furling system breaking away from the bow. It flailed a few times at the back of the boat until the men got in under control. They hand rolled the sail in and got it tied to the life lines. Luckily, no one got hurt badly. The furler hit the one man on the back of his head to give him a lump but nothing more serious.

The men getting things under control after the furling breaking.

That ended our competitive race but we still went the entire course under a smaller staysail because he had an inner forestay as well. We ended the day at the after race party at St. Francis Resort with almost everyone else on the 250 boats in the harbor!

Even though we have been busy with regatta, we still find time to go into town or walk the trails or beaches. One find that I wanted to share with you is the beautiful helmet shell Al found. 

Helmet shell find!

It is rather small for a helmet, but it was a great find because shells and sea beans have been very scarce this year probably due to the fact that there were not any hurricanes last fall. 

A hummingbird nest was discovered on a branch at eye level.

Another interesting find was a hummingbirds nest we found at eye level. I should have put my finger next to it so you could see the size. It was about the size of my thumb. How many times do you get to see a hummingbird's nest!

I also worked on my “Bay Bean” jewelry. You can see what I got done for the Arts and Crafts show.

My Bay Bean jewelry.

I made bracelets with jasper, tiger eye and fresh water pearl beads in between. I also did one necklace and bracelet to match. They were given to the Chinese auction we held to raise money for the commercial oven for the culinary program at the high school. We raised $720 which we felt was very good. At the Arts and Crafts show, I displayed my rug hooking, jewelry and baskets I made. There were artists with paintings but most were a variety of crafts such as knitting, quilting, jewelry, junk art, rope art and my rug hooking.

I am explaining the rug hooking process to fellow cruiser.

Even the young displayed their creations.

People enjoying the arts and craft show.

These were the items for the raffle that netted $710 for the high school commercial oven.

Some beautiful cut work and dyeing.

Al in the Beach Golf Tournament

Two other activities Al participated was the golf tournament held on the beach and Coconut Harvest Challenge. Al said it was like playing in one “big ass” sand trap. 

 The children had small boat races with the boats they made.  It was fun to see all the different ideas they and their parents had!

The kids and their boats.

You can see their creations.

Our team ready to go!

The Coconut Challenge was a team of four doing three different challenges with coconuts. There were at least 17 teams. They release about a thousand coconuts in the small harbor and the teams jump in the dinghy and propulsion is only with one swim fin per person or their hands. They paddle and try to collect as many coconuts as possible.

Our team trying their best!

But they only came back with 8 coconuts!

 Our team had a rough start getting into the dinghy and were not in a very good spot for the direction of the flow of coconuts. They only got eight while one team got over 100. 

The next challenge is throwing 2 coconuts each over the volleyball net and into a target area. You can see what finesse our team had and the results.

Not too many points there.

They caught every one but not enough to win!

 The last challenge is one person hands coconuts to the person who has their back to the other two teammates. They have a garbage bag between them and must catch as many coconuts as possible in 10 seconds without going over the designated line. Our team had a lot of fun but no beer, wine or rum for them! Better luck next time.

I played in the bocci tournament with as much success as the coconut challenge team had. No win but had fun!

Trying my hand at bocce.

All these busy times are interspersed with a few quiet moments as you can see early one morning when even the wind quieted down and at sunset one evening.

Morning stillness.

Sunset from Sand Dollar Beach.

We will be moving on next week to start heading our way slowly back through the Abacos possibly after exploring the Exumas just a little more.

The Happenings of Blue Heaven

We finally did leave George Town for a few days but not until we went to the local Catholic Church picnic fundraiser and the next day we went to beach church on Volleyball beach.

Ladies at the picnic serving the Bahamian food.

Beautiful Volleyball Beach where Beach Church is held.

Social hour after church.

The service is all done by volunteers leading the nondenominational Christian worship in song and prayer. Afterward there is a social hour with goodies also brought by those attending. It is such a beautiful spot to hold church. This year on one of the branches of the casaurina tree there is a hummingbird nest and you can often see the hummingbird sitting on her nest. Unfortunately, it is just a little too high for me to get a picture.

Animated speaker of the culture.

After lunch on the same beach, we had a local Bahamian speak on Bahamian culture which was quite interesting and helps you to understand the local people better.

Watching the Super Bowl commercials.

In the evening we were invited to a boat called Sloop John Dee for a Superbowl party. Could not have had it much better. John and Denise have a bigger TV on their boat than we have at home. It was a disappointing game but we had all the usual fixings for the party, pizza, hot wings, taco layered dip and much more, which made it a fun time.

The next day we finally left to meet up with Dave and Toni on Sequence up at Twin Beaches, one of my favorite spots. During our time here, we hiked to the beach where at low tide we found some sea glass and a small helmet shell. I also am showing you some creatures that are very typical on our beach rounds. 

A neat view through the rock.  How did that hole get there?

National shell of the Bahamas.

This is a chilton which suck fast to the rocks.  The underside of the segmented shell is a pretty turquoise.

We hiked several trails on Lee Stocking, the Loyalist Trail took us across the  defunct airstrip to another beach.                              

Someone built a huge cairn here!

Planes used to land here.

 We did not have much luck on the beach but coming back we found a lot of vines that have Bay beans which people use for making jewelery or put on baskets. 

The Bay Bean Pod.

What the beans look like out of the pod.

 I have been looking for them since our first trip, so it was a real find for me. Now, all I have to do is use them! We once again got some beautiful views at Perry's Peak one of the highest spots in the Exumas.         

Just another magnificent view!

 

Al the zinc changer.

The water was so crystal clear here that Al decided to change the zincs on the propeller shaft. He was very successful without dropping anything and said it was good he did it, because they were quite worn down.

 After a few days we returned to George Town. We had a rather vigorous sail in the beginning so I stayed in the cockpit the entire trip until we reached the entrance to Elizabeth Harbor. I went into the head (bathroom) and noticed liquid soap all over the counter top. It did not leak out of the liquid hand soap container next to the sink, so I opened the closet in back of the sink and discovered the problem. A brand new bottle of Oil of Olay shower wash fell over when we were tilting so much and it fell in such a way that just knocked the flip top lid open so that it not only leaked over the entire sink top but onto the shelves in the closet too. What a job cleaning that mess but our head never smelled so good!

Once back in George Town we got into the usual routine. Yoga, hikes on the trails and beaches, happy hours at various boats and sometimes on the beach too.

I found 11 sand dollars walking Sand Dollar beach at low tide one day.

Once in a while you find a small starfish.

The interesting stromatolites.

Previously I had a picture in one of my earlier blogs of the edge of the beach on the sound side and I said I forgot what the structures were called. I found out these are called stromatolites which according to Wikipedia are “layered structures formed in shallow water by the trapping, binding and cementation of sedimentary grains by bio films (microbial mats) of microorganisms, especially cyanobacteria. Stromatolites provide the most ancient records of life on earth by fossil remains which date from more than 3.5 billion years ago.”

The Rake and Scrape Band

We also got to a place called Eddies Edgewaters to hear “Rake and Scrape.” It was more a modern version because there were electric guitars, but the usual upside down wash tub with a string, a guy playing the saw with a screwdriver and some hand drums were included. There was a great jam session of cruisers on the deck of a local resort that we enjoyed another evening.

The cruiser jam session.

My new rug project is coming along so I thought I would show a picture of it for all my “hooking” friends. She will definitely be a wall hanging due to using various hooking materials such as glittered ribbon, silk and tulle. She has been fun to hook with all the bright colors.

Lastly I finally decided although my ear still isn't quite right, I used my special ear plugs and we finally got in the water and did some snorkeling. I stayed at the surface and did not dive down to see anything closer. However, the one reef near our anchorage is so close to the surface that I got some nice shots of things close up. Enjoy the pictures, maybe it will warm you up a little for those in the north dealing with all the snow and ice.

This one was really neat seeing the fans swaying in the current.

The gold is some elk horn coral.

Aren't they all a sight to see!

Our Daily Life in Georgetown

While anchored near town so we could do the usual chores of laundry and food shopping, there was a powerboat nearby that had sunk over the weekend. We happened to be right next to it while the divers worked on getting it pumped out and floating again. 

Sunday Driver (the name of the boat) did not do so well. 

They used plastic barrels to pump air into it to get it floating again. No one knows why it sunk. There was no storm or anything so perhaps they forgot to close a seacock (for non-boaters that a spot which goes through the hull like a drain). The boat did not have anybody on it. They must have been away. It upright and floating but I can't imagine what the inside would be like. It has been a week and we still see no one aboard.

Sunday Driver up and floating again.

Toni and I had a girl's morning shopping the few gift shops in town. Afterward we both moved our boats to Sand Dollar Beach for a change of scenery and got invited to Happy Hour on Runaway.

The weather has been rather cool and dreary, very uncommon for the George Town area , but it is good for hiking. So Al and I hiked a trail called “Sally's Path.” Unfortunately, it was very over grown. 

You could barely find the path!

I am clipping and clearing the path of cuttings.

The next day I called on the net for those who would like to help clean up a path to meet on

Women and men came to help.

Sand Dollar Beach. Around a dozen people showed up, with half having machetes to clear the path. Those who did not have clippers or machetes were the cleaner-uppers of the cut branches and leaves. It worked great and we cleared one of the longest paths along the ocean side. The hiking paths are one of our favorite things about this area, so we feel that they need to be maintained or we will lose them. One fellow who stopped cruising used to do much of the work, so somebody has got to take over.

 That afternoon we dinghied over to town for the Tourist Bureau's reception for cruisers and visitors.  It is always very nice to sample various Bahamian dishes. They had a type of pea and bean soup, conch salad, lobster salad, crab salad, jerk chicken, conch fritters and various desserts of coconut cake, casaba cake, corn bread and pineapple cake. They also had a drink which I cannot think of the name, made with lots of rum and coconut milk. All I can say was it was strong! 

The young Junkanoo Band played for the tourist.

 A school age Junkanoo band with drums and bells played for us and some fun dancing took place. It was a great time as usual.

And dances too!

Sunday was church and Trivial Pursuit in the evening. Monday evening was the first dance of the season with “Rocking Ron and Cool Karen” as D J's. As usual it was a night of non-stop dancing and good time to meet up with cruisers you might not have seen for awhile.

Rocking Ron and Cool Karen

Toni and Dave shaking their booty's!

Was Lawrence Welk there????

The rest of the week we have just been hiking and walking the beach. I got this interesting shot of this starfish in the water on the sound side, but I thought the underside was even prettier, so Al held it up for me.

They are so beautiful in the clear water.

But they are just as pretty on the underside!

We also have been having a fun time watching the canine crowd get around. This one dog you might think was adrift on the dinghy. 

 

His master is taking the dog for a walk on the water!

But if you take a closer look at the next photo, you will see his master swimming back to the boat towing the dinghy and dog. They do this most mornings.

Another way many dogs get ashore with their masters is on paddle boards. This particular dog did not seem to be enjoying it as much as the owner. He whimpered the entire way in.

All sorts of ways to get your dog ashore.

Another day I worked the tee shirt booth in town. Every year they take last year's winners design and put it on tee shirts and hats to raise money for the regatta.

This years design.

One day we took the dinghy to the “blue hole” nearby and looked at all the fish. I took my underwater camera and just aimed and shot to see what fish or plant life I could get. There are quite a few fish in the hole, so is one of the more interesting spots. 

Lots of fish in the blue hole.

 

I wish I was in the water with them!

Happy hour beach party.

 A beach party on Hamburger Beach took place one evening.  Some guys brought their instruments and so a jam session took place too.

Lots of fun to listen to our cruising musicians.

 Once in a while we have an educational function and not just fun, games, eating and drinking.  Al attended the seminar on the beach about batteries and electric on the boat.  He could probably have given the seminar but he is always trying to learn something new.

That's Al in the turquoise shirt and his red hat.

Our battery finally came in, so Al is working on putting it all back together. Hopefully, if the wind gods are with us, they will blow in the right direction so we can go visit some place else for a change of pace. There is so much going on around here, sometimes believe it or not you need to just get away!