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Iguanas, Jack Sparrow and swimming pigs…

We left Nassau on Monday the 22nd and spent 1 night at anchor near Rose island, we had intended on going to Allen Cay that day but it was blowing 20 knots right in our face and had 2-4’ waves that we would have beat into all day so we opted to sit it out overnight instead and the next day we were rewarded with smooth sailing all the way to Allen Cay.

It’s TJ’s Birthday today and we have no Communications of any kind, well VHF but I don’t think I can reach Albany Oregon on it!  Happy late Birthday TJ!

We pulled into south Allen Cay to meet some guy from another country (probably France) anchored in the middle and was having none of us anchoring anywhere around him and since we are kind of non-confrontational (well I am) we opted to move around the corner where there was plenty of space and set Monte to work (Monte is our Mantis anchor), he gobbled up the sandy sea floor and dug in deep.

We took the dinghy over to the beach and fed the Iguanas, man they are aggressive!  I had one little skinny guy almost run up my arm to get the celery I was holding but most of them just sat and waited for us to throw them some food.  There was one really large pink one that was kind of docile and would take food out of your hand, he seemed docile right up till one of the others got too close then he would swing his tail and smack them with it.  We had a very rough and sleepless night and we both stayed in the salon instead of the bed, but Monte did his job and never failed.

We then moved to Shroud Cay where we spent a couple days just dinking around as Jac was a little ill, we took the Dinghy through a little river that meandered through the north end of the island from the west side to the east side where it broke out to a beach that was breathtaking!  I mean seriously the prettiest beach I have ever been on and we were all alone!

After a couple days resting and trying to install the water maker that is kicking my Ar$#$# at every turn we up anchored and headed for Little Halls Pond which is an island owned by Johnny Depp, we anchored just off of the beach on the SW corner.  The sign on the beach was the skull and crossbones from pirates of the Caribbean and all it read was “Restricted Access” We stayed on the boat and never went ashore.

On the 27th we sailed south to The Big Major Spot (yeah its another Cay) where we went to the beach and this time fed Carrots to the swimming pigs, everyone should see this once in their life!  These big spotted pigs come running down the beach as soon as a boat approaches and they swim right out to you to beg for food, pretty funny!  While we sat there we saw Sting Rays, long needle fish I think called Dog fish, seagulls of some kind ummm making little seagulls of some kind on the beach(lots of them), a rooster and of course the pigs!

We have purchased net access from the local company for $10.00 per 24 hours or 200MB whichever comes first and at the speed it seems to be running I think it will be the 24 hours…  The satellite login portal says to click on the link and have a drink of your Kalik (local beer) and repeat until it appears to be blazingly fast!  That will take a lot of Kaliks!

Tomorrow is a trip to Staniel Cay and a snorkel into the Thunderball Grotto (look it up)

Talk soon and we will upload pictures as soon as we can get some good internet access,

 

Jac and John

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Land Hooooo! Bimini Bahamas

We left Angelfish Creek off of Key Largo at around 6:30am on Sat April 13th for our crossing to the Bahamas.  The weather prediction was for 8-11knot winds with 1-2 foot seas, the real was 15-20knot winds with 3-5 foot seas that decreased to 2-3 foot seas as the day went on.

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We crossed into the gulf stream a little after dawn to some deep blue waters and flying fish!  Yes these are the first ones we have seen, I ran 2 rod all the way across and never had a hit, was hoping for a Dorado or Tuna.

About 10 miles out from Bimini a group of larger Catamaran in the 40′ range caught up with us after one passed I pulled out the head sail that I had furled earlier due to wind right on our nose and was able to keep up with the pack after that.

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Welcome to the Bahamas!

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We arrived in Bimini at app. 4pm traveling the app. 65nm in 10 hours.  Once docked I took all the paper work and did the immigration/customs dance for the first time and it wasn’t that bad, it appears all they really want is to have all the blanks filled out and to be paid.

We spent the last day and a half exploring Bimini and all I can say is Wow not at all what I expected!  Bimini is run down and in a pretty sad state, the people here are very friendly and we have not had any issues anywhere we walked, well except for the local mutt that adopted us for awhile, all the locals kept yelling at him “Brownie go home” but he was just a happy guy that didn’t care and he stuck with us all the way to the end of the island and back to our marina where we were finally able to shake him with the gate.Bimini_00008

The water here is amazingly clear and we can see all types of fish right at the boat: Porgy’s, Jack’s, Barracuda, Sting rays, a Nurse shark and so far 3 rather large bull sharks.  Yesterday one of the other boats caught a small porgy for me to use as bait and I hooked a 4 foot Barracuda off the dock, yeah that was fun for a few minutes until he ran through the pilings and all over.Bimini_00010Bimini_00009Bimini_00007Bimini_00006Bimini_00005Bimini_00004

 

We are leaving Bimini to go to a place called Honeymoon Harbor and we will try to spend the night there, this place is supposed to be full of sting rays that swim at your feet, rubbing up against you begging for food.  Should be fun.

Tomorrow morning bright and early(before the sun) we will be heading across the Bahama Banks for Hog Cay, then on to Nassau.

 

We will not have any cell or net access for at least the next 3 days  but you can follow us on the spot page.

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Marathon, Florida

The city Marina is a nice place to be, the other sailors/boaters are friendly and the people that run the office is helpful and friendly.  We went exploring and discovered that there isnt a whole lot here. 1 mile North is home depot, Kmart,Winn Dixie, Publix  Ups and other little shops and some out of buisness shops/stores.  If you go almost a mile South you will find West Marine, Tom Thumb, Salvation Army and The Turtle Hospital. Thats about it that we have walked to so far. The weather here has been between 77* and 82* with a light breeze to no breeze.inn Dixie

our New Headsail finally came in, we havent decided if we will put it on or use the other til it dies or use the new sail and use the old one for a spare.

We had all four hatches open the other night, since it was so hot outside and no breeze, when during the night I realized that my pillow was getting a little wet from the sprinkle but I didnt think it was that bad, so i closed my eyes and just as I heard thunder I jumped out of bed and started to close the hatch and as quietly as I could I went around the boat in the dark closing the other hatches so that I wouldnt wake up John, I realized it had already been raining more than a sprinkle so now I was putting towels down on the floor.   Im so glad I heard the thunder and went ahead and closed the hatches, because it started down pouring.

We are still in Florida since our documents on our boat is still being looked and whatever else the govt. wants to do with it. I am starting to get the feeling that this is where our journey will end.  John is more hopeful than i am today. I guess if you have to be stuck waiting somewhere the  Florida Keys is a nice place to be stuck.

 

 

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Key West, Florida

We went to Key West hoping to go to the Dry Tortugas, well not so much the weather just wouldn’t work with us. We stayed out in the mooring field that is a laugh this time of year, the first night wasn’t so bad but for the next week WOW the winds made it tough to even enjoy taking a ride in the dingy. We loved Key West. We could probably live here, Talk about a happening place for people watching and partying. One day we took the dingy into the dock and we walked around very nice time in town, however on the way back to the boat once we left the bay and went out in the mooring / anchor field we got hit with the windy waves which means that we were drenched by the time we made it back to the boat, at one p0int I started laughing at how wet we were and the waves just kept splashing us more and more.

The day we left for Marathon,Florida we thought we would out smart the wind and waves, we took our boat in closer to the bay and anchored up and ran into the dock. While I took a shower John walked over and got generator fuel and water and took it back to the boat put the water in our boat tanks and came back filled up the water jugs again and picked me up. Well the joke was on us. I noticed that John was a little wet when he came for me, thought I was clever yet because I wore my rain jacket this time. HAHA the wind and waves were ready for us now, yep we got wet. the rain jacket helped for most of it but my butt still got wet and John was soaked by the end of this two trip dingy ride. SO glad we bought a solar shower to rinse off with.

We are at Marathon and we are moored up, what a very nice calm relaxing night, even tho it was fairly warm outside and windows were open.  Now to explore Marathon.

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  • Welcome!

    We will use this space to document our ever changing sailing adventure! We will leave from Corvallis Oregon on Sept 1st 2012 and Drive across country to Rouses Point NY where we have purchased a 1995 Gemini 3400 Catamaran, we will move aboard and from there is pretty much unknown, everywhere I hope. Please feel free to read and comment on anything you see here.

    Jac & John

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