Caribbean
Providenciales – Turks and Caicos Islands (Part 2)
Everything on Providenciales is new. In the early 1960 only about 500 people lived on the island. There were no cars or electricity. Then the building started. A huge Club Med was one of the first resorts. Exquisite beaches like those found on these islands attract tourist. Today the full-time population is about 30,000. And […]
Providenciales – Turks and Caicos Islands (Part 1)
On our way to the Turks and Caicos Islands we sailed south of the Tropic of Cancer. This is a line of latitude at about 23° 26′. This marks the northern edge of The Tropics or West Indies. We are now in the West Indies. To answer the question posed in my previous post about […]
Passage from the Bahamas to Turks and Caicos Islands (Part Two)
Hanging out in Abraham’s Bay on Mayaguana, we killed time until the winds died down. Well actually, they died down yesterday but we are giving the sea a day to settle down a little bit from the 2 days of strong northeasterly breezes. And, it rained yesterday most of the day so we stayed put. […]
Passage from the Bahamas to the Turks and Caicos Islands (Part One)
We have sailed south this year down the Exuma Islands of the Bahamas. These beautiful islands offer a glimpse of a time gone by. The local residents are happy and content with island life. Unlike the metropolitan areas of the USA and Europe, there is not very much to spend money on here on these […]
Trash Day
We have not been in a place to drop off trash since we left Bimini. The Exuma Land and Sea Park’s rule is what you take in you must take out. We had a month’s worth of trash. Two contractor size bags full of smaller trash bags. We double bagged the larger bags to keep […]
Hunkering Down for a Blow
The cruising life is not all grins and giggles. We are currently working our way southward down the Exuma Islands of the Bahamas. In previous posts, I have mentioned we have held for weather or moved to a safer area. We received a few questions about what this really means. I thought a couple of […]
Seeking a Safe Harbor at Cambridge Cay
To quote my favorite author, “It was a dark and stormy night…” Well, it isn’t stormy, yet. But, is sure as heck is dark. We have been blessed with really clear skies the past couple of days. This is good for three reasons. First, it’s not raining. Second, our solar panels work better without clouds. […]
A Tale of Two Snorkelers
We had a little bumpy start to our cruising season this year. We were stuck for weather. Then, stuck again for weather. Stuck for engine troubles. On our way again. Hop. Hop. Hop. Then Ahhhhh….we arrived at our long awaited destination. The beautiful Exuma Land and Sea Park, (ELSP). Last season we rushed through the […]
Close Encounters of the ELSP Kind
Every now and then we have a day that puts a bounce in our step and wind in the sails. Last year I posted an encounter with some dolphins generating a memory I will cherish forever. I didn’t think that could be topped. I was wrong. We are on a mooring buoy at Warderick Wells […]
Communication on a Boat-Part One
It has been an exciting couple of years cruising. We have really learned a lot and we have so much more to learn. One of the many things on the learning curve is how to communicate with friends and family back home and with other cruisers. It can take a bit of patience and planning sometimes. […]
Shroud Cay
A friend in Canada sent us this picture today: We sent this picture back to him: We departed Highborne Cay knowing we were in for some strong north winds for one night so we tucked in behind a small island called Elbow Cay just a little west of Shroud Cay and set the anchor. […]
Highborne Cay – Exuma Islands
Yey! We are in the Exuma Islands of the Bahamas! Our route here was a little unconventional. We departed Bimini and sailed (meaning we motored) for a full day across an area called the Great Bahama Bank. For miles and miles, the water is only about 20 feet deep with no land in sight. At […]
We’re In The Bahamas – Just Barely
We are in the Bahama Islands, just barely. We sailed (meaning we motored) from Ft. Lauderdale across the Gulfstream. We departed Ft. Lauderdale about 3:30 am to ensure we made a daylight landing in the Bahamas. The Bahamian government is pretty lax about maintaining navigational aids such as buoys and channel markers so it is […]
A Quick Stop in Key West
I have never met a person who has been banned from a restroom/shower facility before. Here is how the conversation went: Marina official: Next please Live-aboard boater lady: I need to get a new key for the bathroom (Weekly and monthly rate for use of facility which includes showers. Often purchased by boaters who are […]
We Made It – Back in the USA
It took us 7 days of sailing to cover the 850 miles from the southern Bahamas to Tampa Bay. Our trip was uneventful. Uneventful is a very good thing. We really really like uneventful. We made one stop unplanned stop in Key West. When we started out, we knew the winds would be moderate. We […]
