The Fab Four are reunited

Wannabe iguana

Chasers

Clear waters at Bitter Guana Cay

Iguana chewed  sunglasses?

Wahoo!!!

Miss Canada

Cracking coconuts for pina coladas

"Barely a cuda?"

The full monty!

Preparing to go snorkelling

Jenn snorkelling

Look who is  under our boat!

Drying towels on the lifelines

Sunset "happy hour"

Enjoying the moment with our kids aboard

Our son and daughter joined us for a week in the Exumas.  Each of us will write a short account of our time together starting with our son, Andrew.

Once again we are together on my parents' boat.  Last time I was on the boat I was in between jobs.  I enjoyed approximately two weeks in the Chesapeake Bay.  On this trip in the Bahamas we have done lots of snorkelling.  We have seen many varieties of coral and fish.  I have also had good luck fishing.  My first fish in the Bahamas was a barracuda.  Well, it was half a barracuda.  As I was reeling it in a bigger fish, possibly a shark, had a snack on my catch before it was in my hands.  However, the next day I had just cast out my line about a quarter of my reel, and I got another hit.  This was another barracuda.  This was followed by another barracuda.  I hope to have a chance to catch another variety of fish that we can eat!

Jenn's next:

Wow!  This is much better than the Ottawa winter, and so much better than working.  My favourites of this trip so far:

-Discovering that flying fish look just like budgies when flying above the water

-Swimming ashore at Bitter Guana Cay to be greeted by iguanas.  While Andy and I tossed a Frisbee on the beach, the iguanas waddled over to snap at the disc as it flew overhead!  They're just like little dogs.

-Cracking a coconut with a screwdriver and butter knife, then devouring it with Mom

-Snorkeling with little black and yellow fish at the Sea Aquarium reef.  These fishies were so curious that they'd swim right up to my mask.

-Having Mom accuse me of messing up the order of the cupboards every time I try to put dishes away!

Walter:

-Constantly sweeping up hair of various lengths and colours from every hiding place on board!

We have been blessed with a total spectrum of Bahamian winter weather which allows our kids to appreciate the many weather related contrasts which continuously govern our daily activities, from calm, gentle waters ideal for snorkelling and dinghy explorations to howling cold fronts which dictate visits ashore to experience the fury of wind and waves on the exposed ocean side Here,on uninhabited beaches, one can spend hours sifting through myriads of natural and man-made flotsam. Heavy weather makes us appreciate the sanctuary our good boat, Windspell, provides us.  A feeling of coziness pervades when we are safely tucked behind the lee of an island. Having our kids with us has been the highlight of our wanderings both in anticipation of their arrival and sharing precious days as a family, as we have done in the past with equal fortune. We are truly blessed!

Donna has the last word...

It has been wonderful to share these activities with Jenn and Andrew, creating new memories for our family.  Although I will be sad when they depart, the memories are ingrained in my heart.  We have learned that our good friend, Frank Brouse, will be joining us shortly after our kids depart.

We have headed north again away from the relative bustle of Georgtown to enjoy the serenity and pristine waters of the southern Exumas. Also, we want to explore more possibilities to show our kids when they arrive in two days. We caught our first lobster two days ago at Windsock Cay and had a candlelight dinner in the cockpit that evening of BBQ lobster and Mahimahi. So it can be said that we are "acclimatizing". Our days consist of snorkeling,hiking,sailing,reading,eating,sleeping,socializing and occasional maintenance of Windspell. We do a lot of navigation in preparation for the next sailing foray and we pay attention to the weather. We get a forecast on our single side band radio every morning at 0630 when we don't have access to the internet.We continue to explore coral heads with our inflatable dinghy which we then snorkel  on to see many varieties of marine life. Twice now we have had to get out of the water when the guys in grey suits start snooping around.We enjoy hot showers in the cock pit with a plastic solar heated bag that we keep on deck.It's a great way to get the salt off and warm up after being in the water for several hours. We truly enjoy our refrigeration system which allows us to enjoy fresh fruit and vegetables as well as meat and dairy products, not to mention cold beer and chilled wine. Going ashore to visit the local population has been a pleasure as everyone is very welcoming, polite and friendly.

Two more sleeps and our kids arrive!!

School children taking a break from basketball at Black Point Settlement

This is "Pappy" popping a wheely  to entertain the school kids .  On his second  pass he stood on the seat!!

Enjoying a cool one with the park warden and his Bahamian Defence Force assistant at  Warderick Wells

The bar at Staniel's Cay where Sean Connery probably had a few  cool ones  while  on location  for the filming of 007 Thunderball

Bahamian C-class racing sailboat out for  repairs

Typical street on Staniel's Cay

Stocking Island Exuma

Stone wall built by the Loyalists who colonized the  Exumas in the mid to late 1700's. This  was taken on Lee Stocking Island

The Loyalist trail on Lee Stocking Island

Atop Perry Hill looking down on the bank side where boats anchor in sheltered coves.

The highest point in the Exumas, 120 feet....

Sailing with a Catalina 40, Bolero I, to Georgetown, Exuma 

Sailing with a Island Packett 40', Navigator, also to Georgetown, Exuma

Safe & snug in Georgetown harbour

After listening to the weather forecast that was predicting wind strengths to increase over the next week (15 knots rising to 30 knots) followed by a strong norther (cold front) coming through, we decided we had better get down to Georgetown in order that we would be there to meet our son and daughter before their arrival on  January 19.  Although the winds were forecast to be 15-20 knots they were going to be "right on the nose".  We sailed from Black Point Settlement on Great Guana island to Cave Island where we staged for going onto the Exuma Sound (ocean side) the next day to get to Georgetown.  We were being joined by  Cliff aboard his boat, Navigator.  Three other boats joined us in the lee of Cave Island that evening and we discussed our departure the next morning.  The difficulty is going between the islands where the outgoing ebb current off of the Exuma Banks is in opposition to the southeast wind.  It sets up huge standing waves.  We departed at 7:30 a.m., but unfortunately,  the current and wind were already in stiff opposition.  It was a "little" hairy going out.  The only thing that kept us going was 3 other boats had made it through safely ahead of us!  Once we were through, it settled down to 5- foot seas that we could motor sail against.  Our five boats motorsailed side-by-side down to Georgetown.  I'm  not sure what our boat looked like, but taking pictures of the two boats on either side of us....it didn't look too reassuring.  As the winds increased later in the afternoon to 20  knots, we turned into the safety of Georgetown harbour and anchored in the lee of Stocking island.  It felt great to put the hook down.
Georgetown has a cruiser's network-it's a boater that comes on the VHF radio every morning  to tell us the weather, welcome new boats to the anchorage and share news, exchange gear, charts, seek help or advice, etc.  Ashore in Georgetown there are hardware stores, restaurants, and internet cafe,  and a supermarket that is well-stocked compared to the out islands.  It's a great spot to meet other cruisers.  We are surprised at the number of boats that Walter & I have met since we began our voyage and are meeting up with again.

Windward side of Warderick Wells island

Leeward side calm anchorage in deep water of tidal flow

Boo Boo Beach on windeard side of  Warderick Wells island

Native hutias-a small  nocturnal mammal

Friendly pigs swim out to greet you (and take food handouts) at Big Major island 

Black Point settlement in Great Guana Cay

 We had New years eve on Warderick Wells Cay.  The anchorage is lovely and there are lovely hiking trails ashore.  On New Years eve the cruisers got together ashore for "Happy Hour" and then later in the evening we watched fireworks that were being let off from nearby Highbourne Cay marina.  We discovered little critters scurrying around in the dark called hutias.  The next day was still blowing hard, so we hiked ashore to watch the easterly winds making huge waves crash ashore on Exuma Sound side.  We departed from there and went to Bell island.  Unfortunately, there was a big complex there with jet skis roaring about.  As we looked at each other deciding whether to move or not, an older chap on a seadoo came by and offered us a bottle of wine to move along.  We happily picked up anchor and moved over to Cambridge island, still part of the Exuma Land & Sea Park.  It was a lovely quiet anchorage and we had our best snorkel yet at the site called, "Sea Aquarium".  The little fish came all around us and below us swam huge schools of jack fish.  It was truly magical.  From there we sailed to Big Major Cay where we dinghied over to the beach to visit the friendly pigs that swim out to your dinghy to accept handouts.  Right around the corner is Staniel Cay island and we explored it the next day.  We snorkeled at the famous "Thunderball grotto" shown in the 007 movie, Thunderball.  You have to swim underwater to get into the grotto, but once inside  a shaft of sunlight illuminates the inside of the grotto.  There were tons of small and large fish just milling around.  Yesterday, we sailed over to Black Point settlement on Great Guana Cay.  It's a lovely clean and tidy community.  It's a day to do laundry, buy some fresh coconut bread and tomatoes.

Arrival in Alice Town, Bimini

Clearing customs, exchanging the Q-flag for the Bahamian flag

Walt caught an albacore tuna crossing the Bahama bank enroute to Chub Cay

Nassau, New Providence.  Atlantis resort in background

Iguanas at Allan's /Leaf Cays, Exumas

Moonrise at Warderick Wells, Dec. 28, 2012

Going ashore at high tide to hike Boo Boo Hill, Warderick Wells, Exuma State park

Oops...low tide left us high & dry

Walt asking the gecko for directions on the trail at Warderick Wells

Sand dollar decoration with "Windspell 2012" painted on it

Boaters add their boat's name to driftwood/natural item and leave it atop Boo Boo Hill, Warderick Wells

It has been 11 days since we left Miami and had a picture-perfect crossing to Bimini Island, Bahamas.  The transition to the "out islands" was very obvious as we raised the Q-flag (quarantine) and cleared into a new country.  The water was clear and turquoise, the pelicans and sharks were fighting for scraps of fish offered  at the fish cleaning station and locals were singing Christmas revival spirituals in the street.
As we crossed the Bahama Bank the next morning in light winds and with a Canadian single-hander following us since Miami, the fishing reel sang a high note and we landed an Albacore tuna.  Our Canadian friend caught 2 inedible barracudas.  We anchored in 15 feet of water that night in the middle of nowhere in calm, but surging seas.  The BBQ tuna that night was tasty!
We entered Chub Cay by early afternoon, took on fuel and went for our first snorkel. A large catamaran from the US hosted the entire anchorage and entertained us with guitar and fiddle music, with some mandolin thrown in as well.
We left early the next morning for Rose Island, but had to divert because of a storm which wasn't supposed to catch up with us until the next day.  As a result, we "experienced" Nassau and Paradise Island's City of Atlantis Resort/Casino.  Our Canadian single-hander friend suffered some damage and was lucky to make it in to Nassau.  He will be making repairs to his 27' boat.  A few days later Windspell had a great sail across to the Exuma's  to Allan's Cay where we really got into the snorkeling and had to share a beach with a group of iguanas-always waiting for the next tourists from Nassau to feed them grapes on a stick.  With us, they had to settle for goldfish crackers-probably a nice change for them!
Now we are slowly making our way down the Exuma islands (cays), stopping on various islands to hike ashore, snorkel the reefs (morning and afternoon slack tides), plan our next sail, read books, paint, and make mental lists of marine wildlife encountered so far.  Currently we are in the first Land and Sea park in the world, established by the Bahamas in 1958.  We have seen spiny lobster, reef and nurse sharks, spotted mantas, sting rays, turtles, large groupers, and a multitude of coloured reef fish with a background of hard and soft corals.  The list goes on....We wish everyone a Happy New Year and all of the best for 2013!

Exercising at nearby park

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Visiting Andy's workplace and sampling the wares...

Checking out the dough...

Back onboard Windspell with our new Christmas gift from Heather  & Hayden..a handmade quilt!

We arrived at Coconut Grove on November 27th and took a slip at Dinner Key Marina.  We have enjoyed being able to jump off the boat and go for a daily run and workout in a local park.  Being dockside also made it easy to re-provision for going over to the Bahamas.  We stocked up on dry goods, spare parts, and fuel.. We had a quick visit home December 6-11 to have an early Christmas with Jenn, her partner Eric and his parents-Heather & Hayden, and our son, Andy.  We decorated a tree,  had a great Christmas dinner at Jenn & Eric's, and exchanged gifts.  Eric's mom, Heather, blew Walter & me away with her gift to us...a handmade quilt with sailboats on it.  Each sailboat has our boat's name, "Windspell" on it.  On the Monday we toured Jenn's workplace, Iogen and Andy's workplace, Swiss Pastries.  It was a wonderful opportunity to have a window into their worlds and we are very proud of them!

We returned to our boat and continued to stock it with fresh produce and water.  We are hoping to have a weather window on Monday, December 17 to cross over to Bimini Island, Bahamas...it is supposed to be south winds.  We wait for south winds so they are in the same direction as the Gulf Stream to make the smoothest crossing.  It will take a full day to cross the 43 nautical miles. Once we clear customs, we will have several more day sails to get over the the Exumas -a chain of islands that stretch south.