After we decided to take on this new adventure, I spent some time daydreaming about what we would do all day, every day, as we wended our merry way half way around the world. Laying out in the sun, drinking exotic drinks, hiking deserted islands all sprang to mind. The reality so far is a little different. Well, a lot different actually.
Quickly leapfrogging the early weeks of the refit in Fort Lauderdale when life was just completely miserable, since departing Florida for the Bahamas just four weeks ago, things have definitely improved. We have had some angst - waiting for parts to fix unforeseen but critical repairs, but also we have enjoyed this new cruising life. For sure the Bahamas (outside of Nassau and Freeport) is quite beautiful with some of the most incredible waters. Many of the islands lie on the Great or Little Bahama bank, which is basically a plateaued reef making the seas anywhere from only 4 to 20 feet deep almost everywhere. You could literally anchor wherever you are, dive to the bottom for fun, and enjoy your sundowner cocktail. Everyone speaks English, they use the American dollar interchangeably with the Bahamian dollar, and all is good with the world.
As I write this we lie at anchor in the southernmost part of the Abacos, the north eastern island chain of the Bahamas, ready to depart into the Atlantic ocean with its abyss-like 14,000 feet depths on our way to Eleuthera. A trip of 60 miles, nine hours, and hopefully some fish to be caught en route.
But back to the subject in hand - what do we do all day? What does a typical day for Dara and David look like now?
As I said it is improving daily. We were lucky enough to find an amazing espresso/latte machine on board when we bought the boat - a Krups! It’s great and is our friend every morning as we prepare lattes brewed with Sexy Seven - a fantastic blended deep french roast coffee we found at Coastal Coffee Roasters in Summerville, SC. My band back in the day, Forty Mile Detour, played there often and we were hooked on the their blends, and this one in particular. We never set an alarm anymore, we wake with the movement of the ocean as other boat owners start their days and as early as the previous evening will allow :) So after a leisurely coffee we discuss plans for the day. Usually there is a project for us to complete - some of those in the last few days include changing out the main 12 feet long waste pipe in our bathroom due to it being completely clogged by the chemical reaction between seawater and uric acid; fitting a new VHF radio in the helm station ; changing the front main crankshaft seal on the port engine due to its dumping oil in the engine compartment; changing out the autopilot drive motor because the original one was burnt our and left us with no autopilot.
When our deliveries from the US arrived last week, it contained most of the parts needed for the jobs mentioned, so we spent time each day attending to those so were better prepared with a fully functioning boat for our further travels. As of today, everything is working!! (But not for long I am sure...). The last few anchorages have been in lovely places where we could use our new inflatable Stand Up Paddleboards (SUPs). Now whilst these are wishfully named Stand Up paddleboards, so far we have only used them in sit down mode, or maybe kneeling mode for a few moments. In the sometimes choppy waters, with wakes and winds, it isn't all that easy to stand up, without falling off - a lot. But nevertheless we are getting used to them and using them more as canoes for now. We will paddle to a point on the shore, them tie them up and jump off and snorkel up and down the shoreline watching the reef fish going about their day. Just yesterday we saw a lionfish - an accidental import from the pacific which is now taking over the Atlantic and Caribbean since it has no natural predator. I wished I had had my GoPro with me...a very cool looking fish.
After our daily exercise we try to visit the local town. We'll launch the dinghy (named Tuk-Tuk of course) and buzz into the local harbour which is never more than a mile or two away and find the public dinghy dock, tie up and wander about. Today we visited the lighthouse in Hope Town, a beautiful candy stripe picture-perfect lighthouse which you can climb to the top of. We could see our boat india in the distance. So far but so near.. After that, we popped into the local wine store to buy rum, wine and beers for our daily sundowner happy hour tradition. Then on to the local grocery store to see what fresh produce we could acquire. Usually some veggies, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, milk and so on. Dara did a fantastic job of provisioning the boat in Ft Lauderdale before we left so we have our two freezers stuffed to the gills with steaks, chicken, bacon, cheese and all manner of usual suspects so we just need to find fresh goods on the way. So far we have managed to make fresh bread, fresh pizza, homemade hummus, curries and some amazing meals!
We have internet by buying a local SIM card and unlimited data plan, so we are able to watch TV if we feel like it and have even been able to hack HBO so we can keep up with Game of Thrones!! But that's not every night by any means - tonight we sat outside and ate a beautiful steak dinner with a 1996 Barolo, and watched a lightning storm coming across the water. It doesn't get much better than that.
Tomorrow our day will be different - it will be a sail day - 60 miles due south across the Atlantic - so we will be up early preparing the boat, planning our route on the electronic charts we live by, and importantly setting up the fishing lines for Tuna or Mahi-Mahi. We'll arrive in Spanish Wells, Eleuthera, around 6pm and find our anchorage for the night, set anchor - and relax.
The down days when you are waiting for weather, or just hanging out, are great, but the travel day when we move our whole home and belongings to a new spot on the this earth are what we live for.
Quickly leapfrogging the early weeks of the refit in Fort Lauderdale when life was just completely miserable, since departing Florida for the Bahamas just four weeks ago, things have definitely improved. We have had some angst - waiting for parts to fix unforeseen but critical repairs, but also we have enjoyed this new cruising life. For sure the Bahamas (outside of Nassau and Freeport) is quite beautiful with some of the most incredible waters. Many of the islands lie on the Great or Little Bahama bank, which is basically a plateaued reef making the seas anywhere from only 4 to 20 feet deep almost everywhere. You could literally anchor wherever you are, dive to the bottom for fun, and enjoy your sundowner cocktail. Everyone speaks English, they use the American dollar interchangeably with the Bahamian dollar, and all is good with the world.
As I write this we lie at anchor in the southernmost part of the Abacos, the north eastern island chain of the Bahamas, ready to depart into the Atlantic ocean with its abyss-like 14,000 feet depths on our way to Eleuthera. A trip of 60 miles, nine hours, and hopefully some fish to be caught en route.
But back to the subject in hand - what do we do all day? What does a typical day for Dara and David look like now?
As I said it is improving daily. We were lucky enough to find an amazing espresso/latte machine on board when we bought the boat - a Krups! It’s great and is our friend every morning as we prepare lattes brewed with Sexy Seven - a fantastic blended deep french roast coffee we found at Coastal Coffee Roasters in Summerville, SC. My band back in the day, Forty Mile Detour, played there often and we were hooked on the their blends, and this one in particular. We never set an alarm anymore, we wake with the movement of the ocean as other boat owners start their days and as early as the previous evening will allow :) So after a leisurely coffee we discuss plans for the day. Usually there is a project for us to complete - some of those in the last few days include changing out the main 12 feet long waste pipe in our bathroom due to it being completely clogged by the chemical reaction between seawater and uric acid; fitting a new VHF radio in the helm station ; changing the front main crankshaft seal on the port engine due to its dumping oil in the engine compartment; changing out the autopilot drive motor because the original one was burnt our and left us with no autopilot.
When our deliveries from the US arrived last week, it contained most of the parts needed for the jobs mentioned, so we spent time each day attending to those so were better prepared with a fully functioning boat for our further travels. As of today, everything is working!! (But not for long I am sure...). The last few anchorages have been in lovely places where we could use our new inflatable Stand Up Paddleboards (SUPs). Now whilst these are wishfully named Stand Up paddleboards, so far we have only used them in sit down mode, or maybe kneeling mode for a few moments. In the sometimes choppy waters, with wakes and winds, it isn't all that easy to stand up, without falling off - a lot. But nevertheless we are getting used to them and using them more as canoes for now. We will paddle to a point on the shore, them tie them up and jump off and snorkel up and down the shoreline watching the reef fish going about their day. Just yesterday we saw a lionfish - an accidental import from the pacific which is now taking over the Atlantic and Caribbean since it has no natural predator. I wished I had had my GoPro with me...a very cool looking fish.
After our daily exercise we try to visit the local town. We'll launch the dinghy (named Tuk-Tuk of course) and buzz into the local harbour which is never more than a mile or two away and find the public dinghy dock, tie up and wander about. Today we visited the lighthouse in Hope Town, a beautiful candy stripe picture-perfect lighthouse which you can climb to the top of. We could see our boat india in the distance. So far but so near.. After that, we popped into the local wine store to buy rum, wine and beers for our daily sundowner happy hour tradition. Then on to the local grocery store to see what fresh produce we could acquire. Usually some veggies, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, milk and so on. Dara did a fantastic job of provisioning the boat in Ft Lauderdale before we left so we have our two freezers stuffed to the gills with steaks, chicken, bacon, cheese and all manner of usual suspects so we just need to find fresh goods on the way. So far we have managed to make fresh bread, fresh pizza, homemade hummus, curries and some amazing meals!
We have internet by buying a local SIM card and unlimited data plan, so we are able to watch TV if we feel like it and have even been able to hack HBO so we can keep up with Game of Thrones!! But that's not every night by any means - tonight we sat outside and ate a beautiful steak dinner with a 1996 Barolo, and watched a lightning storm coming across the water. It doesn't get much better than that.
Tomorrow our day will be different - it will be a sail day - 60 miles due south across the Atlantic - so we will be up early preparing the boat, planning our route on the electronic charts we live by, and importantly setting up the fishing lines for Tuna or Mahi-Mahi. We'll arrive in Spanish Wells, Eleuthera, around 6pm and find our anchorage for the night, set anchor - and relax.
The down days when you are waiting for weather, or just hanging out, are great, but the travel day when we move our whole home and belongings to a new spot on the this earth are what we live for.
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| india anchored outside Hope Town, such beautiful waters |
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| I had to fabricate this tool to extract the crank pulley to change the oil seal on the port engine. It worked!! |
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| Fitting the aforementioned oil seal |
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| Just down the road from out Hope Town anchorage we found the Firefly resort - a great place to have dinner and drinks and it turns out it is owned by the owner of Firefly sweet tea vodka distillery on Johns Island SC!! |
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| As soon as our appetizers appeared so did this fabulous boxer, drool and all |
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| Our packages finally arrived! |
So happy you're not miserable anymore. The pics are beautiful (and impressive re your technical expertise) and look forward to many more. Will you stay in Eleuthera long? When do you anticipate the US Virgin Islands? You guys are my heroes. If I weren't so old, I would nag you to let me hitch a ride. lol Much love to you both, Jude.
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