Weightwatchers beware of boats

For my weightwatcher friends it has been hard to use the scale. When the anchorage is calm the scale works great, but in the last two to three weeks the boat has been in motion most of the time. No big deal as we are used to motion, but when I hop on the scale it reads from 128 to 136 and continuously goes up and down. This morning I got an accurate reading (this anchorage is very protected and the water is flat) of 133.5 which I was happy to see! (My goal is to stay under 135 so I am doing well.) My food scale has been put to very good use as well.

Reservations at the Upper Deck

John of Celtic Dream got to Luperon a few days before we did so we have been visiting with him and had dinner last night at ‘the Upper Deck”. I had homemade lasagna and the guys both had grilled grouper. It was nice to have ‘reservations’ for a change.

Corn rows for Chris

I was smart enough to say STOP after 6 small braids…just a little accent. She was changing 75 pesos per braid (we SUCK at bargaining) which is 12.50 US so if I had had my whole head done it would have been about $150.00….

Hair cut island style

So now we are in Luperon and really like it, again folks are so friendly. Jacqueline noticed that Mark needed a hair cut and that my hair needed some braids. So we went to her house and had both done. Mark on the front porch gets a haircut as good as our friend Deb used to give him.

Why do MY clothes have to be the 'wet ones'?

On our trip from Mayaguana to Big Sand Cay then on to Luperon, Dominican Republic we took a huge amount of water over the bow, no big deal right? I went below to get some ‘warm’ clothes for the overnight part of the trip from my hanging locker (which is in the V-Berth). I discovered that the ones in the back were wet. CRAP. (This picture is of the hanging stuff in the Nav office while I figure out a temporary fix.) Once in Luperon I sorted everything out, washed all that were wet, had a friend pick up a heavy duty shower curtain and lined both the hanging locker and the cabinet with shelves to keep water away from my stuff. The rub rail is the culprit so we have added it to ‘list of things to do’.

Bread from the boat

Here are the results from baking bread all day.

Homemade bread...my KitchenAid rocks

We finally got to a place where bread was not readily available so I went into action. I made two loaves of white bread, two wheat and a pan of rolls for sandwiches. I got the best compliment ever from Mark…he told me the wheat bread was the best he had ever had.

Internet and Insurance...

Internet has been one of our biggest challenges (or lack thereof) and in Mayaguana the local ‘internet café’ was outside of the administrative building. Notice I am sitting on a very comfortable ½ 55 gallon drum (can you say potential BBQ?), the laptop is sitting on the ground (mostly dirt), I have a headset on so and on Skype talking to my folks. Notice the-tech wind preventer…my shirt draped over my head to shield the headset microphone.

We stayed in Mayaguana longer than expected due to problems with our insurance company. They did not want us to travel overnight without two crew…well short of asking Dad and Mom to move in with us this was impossible. It is imperative to arrive at 90% of the islands in broad daylight (10 AM to 3 or 4 PM) so you can see the coral heads and sand bars. We finally sorted it out (got a new company) after only two weeks and one phone call at $6.00 a minute for 33 minutes…again, gulp!

Conch is King, or is it Queen

Near the dinghy dock local fishermen cleaned their catch of fish and Queen Conch. It is amazing to see the piles of conch shells on the beaches…and this is NOT only one. You would think that Queen Conch would be scarce but that is not the case. There are many places where Queen Conch is protected but not in the Bahamas

Mayaguana, the last of the Bahamas

We sailed from George Town to Mayaguana (the last of the Bahamas). This lady (Clydina) was our favorite bar tender. Beer was $3.00 per bottle which in American terms is a pretty good price. However, if you want a case of the stuff, guess what? Multiple 3 times 24 and you guessed it, only $72.00 a case….gulp!

Needless to say we did not restock beer….

Girls day out, different girl, different day

We met some folks (Steve and Kelly aboard Selkie) at the Chat ‘N’ Chill. Kelly and I had a ‘girls day out’. Which in cruising terms is not the same as a land based day out. We went for a hike around town, wandered through a straw market, had lunch at Peace and Plenty (pictured here) and then went grocery shopping. We had a nice time and hope to see them again down island. They have a cute little dog (name forgotten) and needed some extra deck screening which I happened to have. I gave what I had to Kelly she said she would use what was needed and give the rest back next time we do meet.

Hammock on the beach, does it get any better?

Of course I had to try out the hammock. The last time I remember being in a hammock was in Canada on the island in Lake Temagami.

Had to get an outside picture

Had to get an outside picture of the Chat 'N' Chill

Black Pearl just for Jack and Karen

Hey Jack and Karen this one is for you….taken of the door inside the Chat ‘N’ Chill. (Jack wants to name his next boat ‘Black Pearl’)

A little beach fun

One of our favorite spots in George Town was the Chat ‘N’ Chill (previously mentioned but we actually got some photos. This is the beach in the front of the beach bar and Mark decided to take a test run on the beach-ball swing. His words when he got off? “Ouch, guess I will leave that swing for the kids!”