Captain Ron, Squalls & Support Groups | Back To The States From The Bahamas

Note: Our blog lags reality by many, many weeks. So, while you're reading this post about our cruising adventures in the Bahamas, in reality we're back in Indiantown Marina for hurricane season working on dreary boat projects. Cruising in the Bahamas was far more fun. {Sigh} 

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Image source vis The Graphics Fairy

As I was looking back through our log book at the entries for our last days in the Bahamas before we crossed the Gulf Stream and headed back to the States at the end of the season, one thing stuck out at me - squalls.

Then I remembered that famous line from the classic cult movie, Captain Ron:

"It's just a squall. They come on ya fast and they leave ya fast."

A few seconds later, I looked at Scott and screamed:

"What have you done to me? I'm quoting lines from Captain Ron to myself! What kind of monster have you turned me into?"

He looked up from his computer and shrugged his shoulders. Then he went back to what he was doing. I'm guessing he was probably on some sailing and cruising forum chatting with other folks about how much they love the movie Captain Ron.

For those of you who haven't heard of Captain Ron, I'm guessing you don't have a boat and aren't into sailing. Because, at least here in the States, you're not allowed to buy a boat and sail in US territorial waters unless you've watched Captain Ron at least ten times.

Knowing navigational rules, sure that's kind of important, but being able to quote Captain Ron, that's the golden ticket to becoming a full-fledged sailor.

As an aside...you realize that you folks who haven't seen Captain Ron are the only ones who are going to read this blog going forward. All the boat-loving sailing types are going to shun me now. They'd probably be understanding if I said that I ate stir-fried kittens for breakfast, but not loving Captain Ron, well, that's enough to get you marooned on a deserted island somewhere.

When we were visiting our friends in Atlanta during our Hurricane Irma evacuation, everyone got all excited about watching Captain Ron one night. Everyone except me, that is.

While they chuckled away during the movie, I messed around on my computer looking for support groups for folks who aren't obsessed with Captain Ron. There aren't any by the way. There are, however, support groups for folks who eat bugs, mothers of alien hybrid children and people who yell at inanimate objects. You'll be reassured to know that I don't feel the need to join any of these groups.

So, anyway, back to squalls. We had a number of them. There you are, happily sailing along when >>Bam!<< the wind kicks up, it starts chucking down rain, visibility goes down and you see lightening circling around you, threatening to strike your mast and sink your boat. Lightening can be kind of evil that way.

Most of the squalls were minor annoyances. As Captain Ron says, they did in fact come on us fast and leave us fast. Some had heavy enough rain that we were able to strip down and take a shower on deck. (I know that might sound weird to some of you, but, hey, when you don't carry a lot of water on board and your last shower was a couple of days ago, the chance for a fresh water rinse courtesy of Mother Nature, is always welcome.)

Then there was the squall that had us bobbing around for an hour trying to wait it out rather than sail through its ominous clouds, thunder and lightening strikes. That one was annoying. But it eventually passed too.

Oh, well, that's part and parcel of sailing. Sometimes the weather is with you, other times, it isn't. As Captain Ron says:

If anything is going to happen, it's going to happen out there.

See, there I go again, quoting Captain Ron. Where's a support group when you need one?

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Cruising Log | Thursday, 20 July 2017 - Friday, 28 July 2017

20 JULY
Anchor up at Marsh Harbour at 9:30 AM. Two fun-filled squalls. Calm conditions thru the Whale Cay Cut. Had to wait for the tide to go into White Sound at Green Turtle Cay. Anchor down at 2:45 PM.
Nautical Miles = 22. Engine = 5 hrs 15 mins. Spending = $9.97

21 JULY
Got 5 gallons diesel and 5 gallons water at Green Turtle Club Marina. Anchor up at 9:45 AM. Depths in channel out of White Sound lower than expected. Catamaran came into channel as we were making our way out. Wish they would have forewarned folks on the VHF and waited until we got out. Tight maneuvering, skinny water, fortunately no grounding occurred. Three fun-filled squalls. Squall #1 okay. Had to wait for Squall #2 to move on. Squall #3 brought lots of heavy rain and an opportunity to take a rain shower on deck. Anchor down at 3:15 PM at Allans-Pensacola Cay. Only one of two boats anchored there.
Nautical Miles = 23. Engine = 5 hrs 30 mins. Spending = $25.24 (diesel and water).

22 JULY
Anchor up 8:45 AM. Anchor down 6:00 PM at Great Sale Cay. One fun-filled squall. More rain showers on deck. Lifeline broke, same place as before.
Nautical Miles = 35. Engine = 7 hrs 45 mins. Spending = Nil.

23 JULY
Fixed lifeline. Cleaned off knot meter. Made bread and put soup in Wonderbag to cook while en route. Anchor up at 9:45 AM. Sailed without chartplotter for fun. Never know when it might stop working (like that time we were trying to get out of Georgetown). No squalls - hallelujah. Anchor down at 7:00 PM near Sandy Cay on the banks. Got really rolly overnight. 
Nautical Miles = 43. Engine = 9 hrs 15 mins. Spending = Nil.

24 JULY
Scott got up at 2:30 AM to prep engine and boat for Gulf Stream crossing. Ellen got up at 5:30 AM to make passage food. Anchor up at 6:30 AM. The crew is feeling cranky and tired. Fought the tide getting out of the banks. Not a great day for sailing. Should have been great, but it wasn't. Wind was either non-existent or on our nose for the most part. Boo. Challenges with tide getting into Lake Worth inlet. Went to our usual spot to anchor but folks were there. Didn't they know we were coming? Ended up anchoring further south in Lake Worth. Finally got anchor down at 8:00 PM. Cleared in with Customs & Border Patrol over the phone and then off to bed.
Nautical Miles = 64. Engine = 13 hrs 45 mins. Spending = Nil.

25 JULY - 26 JULY
Very hot overnight. Moved up to North Lake Worth. Stopped at fuel dock at Riviera Beach Marina. Very hot during the day. Went to Publix (close by anchorage). Very cold inside. Air conditioning is awesome. Lazed about and complained about the heat.
Nautical Miles = 6. Engine = 2 hours (including oil change). Spending = $99.10 (groceries & diesel)

27 JULY
Anchor up at 8:50 AM. Anchor down in Pendarvis Cove (near Stuart) at 3:00 PM. It's still hot. Nautical Miles = 28. Engine = 6 hrs 10 mins. Spending - Nil.

28 JULY
Anchor up at 9:00 AM. Back at Indiantown Marina that afternoon and into our old slip. It's still hot. #1 priority after docking - plugging into shore power and getting the portable A/C unit turned on.

Ever seen Captain Ron? If so, what did you think? What are your favorite movie quotes? What movies have you seen more than once?

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Wordless Wednesday | Shadow People

Wordless Wednesday is supposed to be about posting a photo(s) without any words. But, I'm a rule breaker, so here are a few words:

1 - Sometimes you just have to take a moment and be silly.

2 - I look so much taller in shadow form than in real life.

3 - That's a really weird pose that I'm making. 

4 - Scott's shadow makes him look like he's wearing a long skirt. 

   
What words does this picture(s) bring to your mind when you look at it?

For more Wordless Wednesday fun, click here. 

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Thoughts On Hurricanes & Jungle Cruising In The Abacos, Bahamas

EDITOR'S NOTE: It feels really weird to be publishing blog posts about this past season cruising in the Bahamas on our sailboat knowing that there are so many people out there who lost their own boats as a result of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria. For some of these people, their boats were also their homes. They don't have a base on land to go back to. For others, these boats were also their livelihoods. The trail of devastation and destruction that these hurricanes left in their wake is almost inconceivable.

I know some of you who follow our blog aren't sailors or boat owners and it might be hard to imagine what it's like to live through a hurricane and lose your floating home. If that's the case, then you might want to check out this blog post on Where the Coconuts Grow.

The folks behind this blog are a young family (they have a 3-month old baby) based in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. The mom and baby left the island two days before Irma. The dad stayed behind to secure their boat, as well as the boats for the charter company he works for. Fortunately, the dad survived the hurricane and mom and baby were safe back in the States, but they lost everything. Their post describes what it was like to be apart, surviving a hurricane and their hopes for the future.

Sadly, there are many, many stories like this one throughout the Caribbean and in the States.

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If you want to read about some of our final days cruising in the Bahamas, have a read below. We've got a couple more posts scheduled which will wrap-up this past season's cruising adventures and then it will be all about what we've been up to since we've been back in the States while we're getting working on boat projects and getting ready to head to the Western Caribbean this coming season. If there's anything in particular you'd like to see us blog about, let us know.

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Do you remember how we weren't sure which way to head back to the States from the Bahamas? After flipping a coin, we headed back via the Abacos, which turned out to be a good decision. One of the reasons why is that our friends, Bruce and Michele on s/v Wind Spirit were there.

This is them at the dinghy dock in Hope Town. Notice that dinghy next to them? The orange one? That's their dinghy. I love it for a lot of reasons, mainly because of its orange dinghy chaps. {Dinghy chaps protect dinghies from the elements, kind of like chaps protect cowboys from nasty stuff like thorns, thistles and the like.}

Orange is a great color. It's cheerful and happy. Orange never complains. Orange is always excited to greet the new day. Orange can't wait to go out and play. There are other colors I'm not very fond of, but I won't mention them here. Let's just say that there were certain crayons in my crayon box that didn't get used very often when I was a child.

The other reason I love Michele and Bruce's dinghy is because it picked us up from our boat and took us on fun adventures. I don't think we had to use our dinghy once while we were hanging out with the crew of Wind Spirit. I really think I could get used to getting chauffeured around in an orange dinghy.

One day, they took us out for what they call "jungle cruising," which basically means messing about in the dinghy and checking out the scenery. Bruce chauffeured us around the shallower waters of Hope Town's Harbour.

As you'd expect, there were lots of boats.

But what you might not expect is an old canon. At least, that's what I think it is. What do you think? Is it a canon or something else?

Check out this boat. It's boom sticks way out over the stern of the boat. It's a well known boat in the area, but for the life of me I can't remember it's name or anything much else about it. If you've cruised in the Bahamas, have you seen it before?

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Cruising Log | Tuesday, 11 July 2017 - Wednesday, 19 July 2017

11-13 JULY
Hung out at Marsh Harbour. Laundry, provisioning, snorkeling at Mermaid's Reef, beers at the Jib Room and sundowners with our friends on Wind Spirit. Not a bad way to spend a few days.
Nautical Miles = Nil. Engine Hours = Nil. Spending = $86.22 (laundry, groceries & drinks).

14 JULY
Got Tickety Boo ready to go and turned the engine on. Plan was to head to Hope Town, but our buddy boat ended up having to sort out their solenoid.
Nautical Miles = Nil. Engine = 30 mins. Spending = Nil.

15 JULY
We finally escaped Marsh Harbour. Anchor up at 9:45 AM. Anchor down outside of Hope Town at 11:30 AM. Issues with our roller furling. Scott may have said some naughty words. Showed the crew of Wind Spirit around Hope Town. Very, very hot. Did some jungle cruising.
Nautical Miles = 8. Engine = 2 hours 15 mins. Spending = $37.03 (groceries & drinks)

16 JULY
Lazy, lazy, lazy. Hot, hot, hot. Steak sandwiches for dinner - yummy, yummy, yummy.
Nautical Miles = Nil. Engine Hours = Nil. Spending = Nil.

17 JULY
Anchor up at 9:00 AM. Anchor down at 1:20 PM at Sandy Cay. Had lunch and then went snorkeling. Some of the best snorkeling we've done in the Bahamas. Scott narrowly avoided having a remora attach itself to him. Anchor up at 4:30 PM. Anchor down at 6:00 PM at Tilloo Cay. Delicious dinner on board Wind Spirit. If you're ever in an anchorage with them and they invite you to dinner, say yes.
Nautical Miles = 24. Engine = 5 hours 30 mins. Spending = Nil.

18 JULY
Anchor up at 7:45 AM. Back to Sandy cay for more snorkeling! Very roly-poly. Storm cell came in and we got the heck out of there. Anchored off of Great Abaco Island so that the boys could do some "hunting" with their Hawaiian slings. Another storm cell came in and we got the heck out of there. Headed over to Marsh Harbour where an evil bee stung Scott. I've never been stung by a bee. Seems painful.
Nautical Miles = 24. Engine = 5 hours. Spending = Nil.

19 JULY
Got the boat ready to make our way back to the States and did some provisioning.
Nautical Miles = Nil. Engine Hours = Nil. Spending = $117.01 (diesel, water, groceries, coconut bread and tin foil).

What's your favorite color? Are there any colors you dislike? Do you prefer to drive or would you rather be chauffeured around? Do you have a hurricane story that you want to share?

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Saturday Spotlight | Black & White By Nick Wilford

In addition to the usual blog posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday about our eccentric travel adventures and day-to-day life living aboard a sailboat, I also occasionally post on Saturdays, focusing on things related to writing such as cover reveals, book launches, reviews, interviews with authors etc. So if you're a bit of a book nerd like I am, check in on Saturdays - you never know what might pop up.

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Today, I'm featuring Black & White by Nick Wilford. Nick is one of my blogging buddies from the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Turns out Nick lives a few minutes away from where we used to live in Scotland. It sure is a small world. Shame we didn't meet before I left Scotland and headed off to New Zealand. 

Nick, over to you!

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Hi Ellen! Thanks for having me over as part of my blog tour. Today I’ve got something fun – the young heroine of my novel, Ezmerelda, is attending a careers interview. Let’s see if it goes well.

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Hello! It’s Ezmerelda Dontible here, a student at Magnificence High School. But everyone calls me Ez. To be honest, I just put up with the place. Bit too cliquey with the power structures… anyway, today we’ve got a careers adviser coming in to talk about our aspirations for the future. Wonder what’ll happen in my interview. Oh, looks like it’s my turn… just got to head to this little office here.

Framble: Hello… Ezmerelda. Nice to meet you. My name is Arthur Framble and I’d just like to have a little chat about your future.

Ez: Nice to meet you, Mr Framble. Call me Ez.

Framble: Okay, Ez. Now, according to my notes here you’re an extremely conscientious student, putting in a lot of extra study hours.

Ez: Well, I do enjoy learning as much as I can. Besides, the library is my favourite hangout during the lunch hour. My friends don’t really enjoy the same passion for learning, shall we say…

Framble: Oh, that’s a shame. Well, it seems that a smart young lady such as yourself could do anything she wants after graduation. What are your dreams?

Ez: I don’t really know. I mean, my dad works for the government as an adviser and keeps saying I could follow in his footsteps. But I wouldn’t mind being a teacher or something. I’d like to help people. I don’t think the current system is that fair… I mean, it’s meant to be fair, with everyone receiving a guaranteed pass in their grades, but it’s this study log thing. People forget you’ll get a better job if you put in more hours, so I’d like to do something that makes studying more… fun.

Framble: Do you have any particular ideas on that?

Ez: Quizzes, maybe. That could be done on an individual basis online, or even some sort of organised event – people could take part in teams and their friends would come along and cheer.

Framble: I think that would be very popular. What would the prizes be?

Ez: Just extra study points, because that’s what makes a difference to your chances.

Framble: I’m sure you’d be a fantastic teacher, but if that doesn’t work out, do you have a backup plan?

Ez: Erm, yeah, well, I mean the government thing… I’ve thought about it and I can’t say I haven’t wondered about what really goes on. It’s all a bit shrouded in secrecy. Maybe I could bring about some more transparency… oh no, I’ve probably said too much, haven’t I?

Framble: Don’t worry. Between you and me, I can say that once you join the government, things become a lot more clear.

Ez: But only on one side of the wall, right? That doesn’t seem very democratic.

Framble: Look, Ez, you’re young and very idealistic, which is admirable but…

Ez: But that’ll get beaten out of me once I sign up with the powers that be? (Stands up) Okay, Mr

Framble, this interview’s been very helpful. I am going to join the government, and then you’ll see some real changes around here.

(Walks out)

Framble: Oh, dear. What have I done?

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Title: Black & White

Author: Nick Wilford

Genre: YA dystopian Series #: 1 of 3

Release Date: 18th September 2017

Publisher: Superstar Peanut Publishing

Blurb:

What is the price paid for the creation of a perfect society?

In Whitopolis, a gleamingly white city of the future where illness has been eradicated, shock waves run through the populace when a bedraggled, dirt-stricken boy materialises in the main street. Led by government propaganda, most citizens shun him as a demon, except for Wellesbury Noon – a high school student the same age as the boy.

Upon befriending the boy, Wellesbury feels a connection that he can’t explain – as well as discovering that his new friend comes from a land that is stricken by disease and only has two weeks to live. Why do he and a girl named Ezmerelda Dontible appear to be the only ones who want to help?

As they dig deeper, everything they know is turned on its head – and a race to save one boy becomes a struggle to redeem humanity.

Purchase Links:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Smashwords / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / iBooks

Add it on Goodreads

Meet The Author:

 
Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those early morning times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction, with a little freelance editing and formatting thrown in. When not working he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. He has four short stories published in Writer’s Muse magazine. Nick is also the editor of Overcoming Adversity: An Anthology for Andrew. Visit him at his blog or connect with him on Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook, or Amazon.

 
Enter the giveaway for a chance to win a copy of my collection A Change of Mind and Other Stories or a $10 giftcard! a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thanks again to Nick for stopping by the blog and sharing Ezmerelda's careers interview!

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Making Difficult Navigational Decisions By Flipping A Coin

Note: Our blog lags reality by many, many weeks. So, while you're reading this post about our cruising adventures in the Bahamas, in reality we're back in Indiantown Marina for hurricane season working on dreary boat projects. Cruising in the Bahamas was far more fun. {Sigh}

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How do you make really difficult decisions? I mean seriously difficult decisions, not decisions like whether to have extra sprinkles on your hot fudge sundae or not (the answer is always yes, by the way).

Are you one of those people who puts together lists of the pros and cons and then makes a sensible decision after careful consideration? Or are you like us and just flip a coin, letting fate decide what to do?

There we were, anchored at Royal Island near Spanish Wells in the Bahamas, trying to decide which way to go to head back to the States. Should we go north through the Abacos and over to West Palm Beach or should we go west via Bimini and then over to the Miami/Ft Lauderdale area?

We went back and forth and forth and back and around in circles for a while. By then we were so tired from our mental exertions that we took a nap, followed by sundowners in the cockpit. That's because we're strong advocates of the school of thought that says:

"Have a difficult decision to make? Why not put off until tomorrow what you don't want to do today?"

We're good at procrastinating. We put the "pro" in procrastination. All you have to do is look at our very long list of boat projects that haven't been completed to know that.

But, eventually, you have to make difficult decisions. We got through the Egg Island Cut near Royal Island and had to decide which way to go. And so we did. By flipping a coin.

Heads meant that we would go via the Abacos and tails meant that we would go via Bimini. At least that's what I thought they meant. Turns out Scott thought heads meant we would go via Bimini and tails meant we would go via the Abacos.

Yeah, you read that right. We can't even decide what heads and tails stand for. It's a wonder we get anything done or manage to sail anywhere.

Eventually, we headed north towards the Abacos.

Turns out it was a good decision. The weather was favorable and we had a pleasant crossing. There were even rainbows and dolphins. Who knows, maybe going via Bimini would have been a good decision too. Then again, maybe we would have had bad weather and scary sea monsters in our path.

I don't have any good pictures of our crossing to share with you, so here's one of Scott's feet at anchor while we were having sundowners in the cockpit and procrastinating difficult decisions.

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Cruising Log | Saturday, 8 July 2017 - Monday, 10 July 2017

8 JULY

Went through Egg Island cut - not sure which way to go. Flipped a coin and headed to the Abacos. Sea state variable - 1-3' to 3-6'. Light winds. Several freighters - two passed close to us. Current slowed us down off of Great Abaco Island. Rainbows and dolphins spotted. North Bar cut was easy-peasy. Nautical Miles = 60. Anchor up at 6:30 AM at Royal Island. Anchor down at Tilloo Cay at 6:30 PM. Engine = 12 hours. Spending = Nil.

9 JULY

Anchor up at 9:00 AM. Anchor down in Marsh Harbour at 11:30 AM. Hit the grocery store, did laundry and got water. Bunch of kids hanging around at dinghy dock messing with boats. Nautical Miles = 12. Engine = 2 hours 30 mins. Spending = $33.46 (15 gallons city water - $2.70, 15 gallons RO water - $6.00, groceries/household - $23.26, laundry - $2.50).

10 JULY

Went in early to town before "dinghy dock gang" got there. Nautical Miles = Nil. Engine Hours = Nil. Spending  $28.75 (groceries).

How do you make decisions? What's the hardest decision you ever had to make?

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Wordless Wednesday | Ship Wreck At Peck Lake, Florida

EDITOR'S NOTE: A few months ago as we were walking along the beach at Hobe Sound Wildlife Refuge in Florida, we came across a shipwreck. I wrote this post several weeks ago. Sadly, with the latest hurricanes (Maria and Irma) there are so many other boats that have been wrecked and washed up on shore. There are so many sad stories behind each shipwreck. It just makes our hearts break.

Wordless Wednesday is supposed to be about posting a photo(s) without any words. But, I'm a rule breaker, so here are a few words:

1 - We came across this ship wreck when we were walking along the beach at Hobe Sound National  Wildlife Refuge near Peck Lake.

2 - This is every sailor's worst nightmare.

3 - The boat has been stripped of everything of value. Not sure if it was by the owner or by someone else. 

4 - I wonder what happened? Was anyone hurt? Did the owner give up sailing for good or get another boat?

   
What words does this picture(s) bring to your mind when you look at it?

For more Wordless Wednesday fun, click here. 

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Going For A Walk With A Load Of Laundry | Spanish Wells, Bahamas

Note: Our blog lags reality by many, many weeks. So, while you're reading this post about our cruising adventures in the Bahamas, in reality we're back in Indiantown Marina for hurricane season working on dreary boat projects. Cruising in the Bahamas was far more fun. {Sigh}

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I have this great picture of Scott carrying a bag of laundry on his back through Spanish Wells in the Bahamas but he won't let me post it on the blog. Party pooper. So, you'll just have to use your imagination instead. Go on, you can do it. I bet you have a very creative imagination. What you imagine is probably better than the picture anyway. I'm not a great photographer.

Are we all set? Have your image of Scott lugging laundry on his back firmly in your mind? Okay, then let's carry on and tell you about our time in Spanish Wells.

We motored over to Spanish Wells from our protected anchorage at Royal Island intent on accomplishing five things:

1 - Get diesel;

2 - Get groceries;

3 - Get drinking water;

4 - Dump off trash; and

5 - Do laundry.

You could just feel the excitement in the air as we got in our dinghy and headed into town. Spanish Wells was going to be the answer to all of our first world cruising problems.

It was a dark and gloomy day, but that didn't get in the way of our enthusiasm. Look, cool fishing boats!

Look buildings on shore that surely had laundromats, well stocked grocery stores, abundant supplies of water and the like!

The first stop on our adventure - Pinder's supermarket. Yes, they have diesel! We tick that item off the list gleefully. We head into the store confident that this is our new nirvana - we'll be spoiled for choice when it comes to groceries.

Well, turns out we were spoiled for choice, but only if we wanted to choose between different Jello products. I never knew so many varieties of Jello products existed. I might of even have bought a box of Jello if I had water to make it with, but guess what....yep, no non-salty drinking water available at Pinder's or anywhere else on the island for that matter.

We left the store slightly disheartened, but determined to carry on and find a laundromat. The lady at Pinder's said that there might be one at a small store over the hill. So we dumped off our trash and carried on.

Even though the Bahamian election happened weeks ago, houses were still decked out in their preferred party's colors.

It was an interesting walk, although I imagine the sack of laundry Scott was carrying on his back was starting to get a bit annoying.

Okay, just in case you're wondering, yes, I did offer to carry it multiple times (remember his bad back?), but he said he was fine.

We found the store that might possibly have a laundromat at. It turned out to be a small corner market that had been recently reopened (I think it was the old CW grocery). It was run by a really nice woman who was deaf, but read lips. After a few attempts to explain what we were looking for and a lame attempt on my part to spell words out in ASL, she showed us to a shack outside of the store with an old washer and dryer. Unfortunately, they weren't operational. She did suggest we try the marina and see if we could use their machines.

So off we set, feeling a bit deflated, but determined to carry on and enjoy the adventure.

Then we ran across this really cool cemetery. I love cemeteries. This one had such colorful flowers.

Then  we poked down a side street to check out the beach. I don't think there's a bad beach to be had in the Bahamas. Just look at that water.

Remember how it was dark and gloomy? Well, then it started chucking down rain. Fortunately, we stumbled across Buddha's. They were getting ready to celebrate Bahamian Independence Day and the place was decked out in blue, yellow and black bunting.

If you're looking for a delicious and inexpensive cheeseburger, Buddha's is the place to go. Plus they have a giant, glittery gold Buddha head. Who doesn't like a giant, glittery gold Buddha head?

After the rain let up, we headed back down the hill in search of the marina. By the way, when I say "hill," I'm using the term loosely. The Bahamas are pretty flat. These aren't like San Francisco kind of hills.

Just around this bend is the marina. Hang in there Scott, we'll find a washing machine soon.

But wait, here's some really weird stuff to look at first.

Okay, here's a handy tip for you if you ever want to do laundry at the marina at Spanish Wells - don't say this:

"Hey, do you have a laundry machine I can use? You do? Cool. Is it only for folks who are staying at the marina?"

Guess what the answer is. Yep, it's something along the lines of:

"Get lost!"

Obviously, much more politely worded than that.

After that we kind of gave up on Spanish Wells. At least we accomplished two items on our list - trash and diesel. Who needs water, groceries and clean clothes, really?

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Cruising Log | Tuesday, 4 July 2017 - Friday, 7 July 2017

4 JULY
Anchor up at 8:20 AM at Rock Sound. Anchor down at 4:30 PM at Hatchett Bay. Very pleasant sail. Crazy entrance to Hatchett Bay - very narrow. Pretty much had the place to ourselves. Nautical Miles = 39. Engine = 2 hours 15 mins. Spending = Nil.

5 JULY
Anchor up at 6:30 AM. Anchor down at 2:00 PM at Royal Island. Motorsailed entire way. Lots and lots of flies. Very hot. Nautical Miles = 36. Engine = 7 hours 45 mins. Spending = Nil.

6 JULY
Lazed about. Scott went out for dinghy ride and disappointing snorkel (very murky water). Still very hot. I guess summer is here. Nautical Miles = Nil. Engine Hours = Nil. Spending = Nil.

7 JULY
Motored to Spanish Wells and anchored on south side of channel. Spotted some squalls so waited for a while on the boat. Still squally, so Ellen stayed on boat while Scott went into town to get diesel and water. After a while, we both went back into town and walked around. Nautical Miles = 10. Engine = 2 hours 45 mins. Spending = $56.90 ($43.30 - 10 gallons diesel, $2.15 - 2 cans of pop, $11 - snack at Buddha's & $9.45 - groceries).

Do you like Jello? What's your favorite flavor? Ever carried laundry around on your back for a few hours?

If you're interested in more of our Going for a Walk posts, click on Walk underneath Labels on the right hand side of the blog or just click here.

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August In Numbers

Clockwise from upper left: (1) Washing off the anchor chain; (2) Emptying and stowing the water jerry cans; (3) Too many chilies, too few chilies or just enough chilies?; (4) Making rogan josh curry; (5) Checking in to see what tropical cyclone activity might be headed our way; (6) Visiting friends at Sunset Bay Marina and having a wee bit of marina envy.

EDITOR'S NOTE [9/14/17]: I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago and it's kind of strange to look back at it now after Hurricane Irma - especially the part about "waiting out hurricane season" in Indiantown and the picture above showing how we monitor the National Hurricane Center daily. We ended up evacuating Indiantown as Irma's track at one point showed her heading up the middle of the state. Turns out there really aren't any "hurricane holes" when it comes to monster storms like Irma. We're currently still in Atlanta, but will probably head back to Indiantown in a couple of days once traffic clears up, gas is more readily available and, hopefully, Indiantown gets power and cell service back on.

It's time for our usual monthly recap in numbers. We spent all of August back at Indiantown Marina in Florida. We're waiting out the rest of hurricane season here and working our way through our list of boat projects and upgrades that we need to do before we head off to the Western Caribbean.

All in all, it's been a pretty quiet month as we readjusted to life tied up to the dock, which isn't an easy adjustment after you've been out cruising in the Bahamas. It's been so sweltering hot and humid outside, that we've haven't wanted to leave our air conditioned boat and venture outside very often, which means not as much as gotten done as we would have liked. Hopefully, September will be a bit cooler and more conducive to ticking things off of the boat project list.

Anyway, here's the very random list of what happened last month by the numbers. 

• 3 - Number of curries we made - rogan josh curry, Thai green curry and panang curry. We love, love, love Indian food, but finding good Indian restaurants can be challenging at times. So, we've decided to try our hand at making Indian and Thai curries from scratch (rather than relying on ready made powders and pastes). They take a lot of time and ingredients, but the initial results haven't been too bad and it's been a fun activity to do together. 

• $392.95 - How much we spent on groceries. One of the great things about being back in the States are the grocery stores - so much selection and much better prices than you find in the Bahamas. A large chunk of our spending was on stocking up on a specialty ingredients and spices for our curry-making.

• $658 vs $570 - Price comparison of a monthly slip for a boat our size. When we visited our friends at Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart, we had a bit of marina envy. In some ways, it's a much nicer place to keep your boat than Indiantown Marina (in the center of a city, nice views etc.). But, we're happy at Indiantown for a few reasons - it's cheaper, you can work on boat projects more easily, it has a real community feel and it's considered to be a hurricane hole.

• 100+ - Number of items on our boat project/upgrade list. Some are small things (like replacing a hand pump and getting a new hose for the grill), some are big things (like sewing a new headsail and replacing the chain plates) and some things we might end up deciding not to do (like installing a composting toilet). 

• 5 - Number of things we ticked off of the boat project list. That leaves 95+ items to go. So depressing. Will we ever get out of here? Will it ever stop being too hot to work outside?

• 2 - Number of Powerball tickets we bought. Nope, we didn't win the jackpot. If we had, we could outsource all of our boat projects rather than do the work ourselves. Heck, we could probably buy a new boat that doesn't need any work done to it.

• 2 - Number of times we went to Taco Tuesday with friends. Mmm...tacos.

• $1.59 - Cost of a Redbox rental. I watched The Arrival. It lived up to expectations. Isn't that nice when things live up to expectations? Too often you're excited about something, only to have it disappoint.

• 1 - Number of new Kindles we bought. We are now officially a two Kindle family. Much easier to use on a sailboat, but I have to admit there are times that I miss reading old-fashioned paper books.

In case you missed them, here are some of our favorite blog posts from last month:

The Coolest Laundromat Ever | Black Point, Bahamas
Dumpster Diving in George Town, Bahamas
Here Piggy, Piggy | Big Major's Spot & Staniel Cay, Bahamas

How did last month go for you? What are you looking forward to this month?

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Wordless Wednesday | Fishing Nets

Wordless Wednesday is supposed to be about posting a photo(s) without any words. But, I'm a rule breaker, so here are a few words:

1 - Fishing nets are kind of cool looking.

2 - Of course, they're not so cool when one gets tangled up in your prop.

3 - We had zero luck catching fish while in the Bahamas. But maybe that's a good thing because you can run the risk of getting ciguatera poisoning. That sounds nasty.

   
What words does this picture(s) bring to your mind when you look at it?

For more Wordless Wednesday fun, click here. 

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Evacuating The Hurricane Zone | Stinky Chickens & Dodgy Motels

674 miles, 22 hours on the road, two dodgy motels and way too many stinky chickens to count. Those were the highlights of our evacuation from Indiantown in southern Florida (it's near the east coast between Stuart and Lake Okeechobee) to Atlanta.

Okay, maybe highlights isn't exactly the right word. They were more like lowlights. Actually, lowlights is probably too nice of a description.

We had been monitoring Hurricane Irma's path for days, going back and forth as to whether we should stay or go. It became an easier decision once we saw this projected track and the "cone of uncertainty" on Wednesday. Indiantown Marina was smack dab in the middle of a major hurricane's path with projected wind gusts over 120 MPH. Yep, it was time to make plans to head on out.

Before we could go, we had to finish prepping our sailboat, Tickety Boo, to ride out the storm.

If you're never prepped a boat for a hurricane, you're really missing out. You get to do all sorts of exciting tasks like taking down the sails so that they didn't become unfurled in the high winds, taking down our bimini and dodger (the canvas over the cockpit that protects us from sun and rain), making sure everything was off of the deck, tying a thousand lines and fenders to our boat to make her as secure as possible in her slip, getting the solar panel off, removing the steering wheel, filling up our water tanks and jerry cans and doing a million other jobs that always took longer than we thought they would.

Not to mention we were working in hot, sticky weather with real feel temps over 100 degrees, while constantly swatting at bugs intent on extracting every last bit of blood from our bodies. Maybe that's how they prep for hurricanes. Humans stock up on food and water, they stock up on blood.
Good times.

We checked on some of our friends' boats which are stored on the hard. They're tied down with hurricane straps so that they don't topple over in the high winds. That's the theory at least. Nobody really wants to test it out and see if it's true.

And the most important thing we did as part of boat prep was go out for a "last supper" with our friends from Sailing Wind Spirit and MJ Sailing on Thursday night. It's becoming a bit of a tradition. We did the same thing last year before Hurricane Matthew. To be honest, it's the kind of tradition I'd rather not have.

We got up at 3:00 AM on Friday morning and did some final boat prep. Then, after saying one last goodbye to Tickety Boo, we headed off at 5:00 AM northwards. Our goal was to go northwest, into the Florida panhandle and out of the cone.

At first, the evacuation seemed to be going okay. We drove west on the back roads to Okeechobee then up to Sebring and then on Route 27 up towards Minneola. Not too much traffic, gas readily available and no stinky chickens.

But then things went downhill from there. We made the fatal mistake of getting on the Florida turnpike over to I-75. Did you know 6.3 million people were ordered to evacuate? That doesn't even include people like us who voluntarily chose to evacuate. That's a lot of people on the roads. I think we met half of them on I-75. It was pure insanity.

Needless to say we got off of I-75 near Ocala and got back onto the backroads. That's when we started to notice some serious gas shortages. We were still okay for gas, but it's a bit nerve wracking to wonder when and if you'll be able to fill up again.



Some of you know that we have a tiny travel trailer, Scamper and have asked if we took her. We hemmed and hawed about what to do. If we left her at Indiantown, we could lose not only our boat, but our camper and have no place whatsoever to live. But if we took her, we'd really have to worry about gas towing her. In the end we decided to leave her behind. Given the gas shortages, it was probably a good call.

The backroads worked for a while and we were zipping along, singing songs and having a great time. That might be a bit of an exaggeration - there wasn't any singing or having a great time, but we did go faster. Then we got on Route 98. It took us 1 hour and 20 minutes to go 5 miles. {Sigh}

We got off of there as soon as we could and headed north on some county roads towards Live Oak. This is the good thing about not having any firm plans or destination, you can be flexible. The bad thing about not having any firm plans or destination is that when you go to try and book lodging, you find out that there is nothing to be had. Not just where you are, but in all of northern Florida, Alabama and Georgia.

By the way, one disadvantage of taking the back roads is that you might find yourself stuck behind a truck carrying lots and lots of chickens. We've got the old fashioned kind of air conditioning in our car - you know the kind that involves rolling the car windows down. Nothing quite as refreshing as getting a big whiff of a chicken truck as you're driving along. Turns out chickens don't smell great, especially when its really hot outside.

By the time we got to Live Oak, we were shattered beyond belief. We were desperate for a place to stay. Then we spotted a motel on the side of the road. There was a reason why they had rooms available - it was dodgy and gross. We decided to pass and keep on heading west into the panhandle.

We took Route 90 into Monticello. A super cute town. If only we weren't trying to flee from a hurricane, it would have been fun to explore. We ran across yet another dodgy motel. We checked out the room and it was gross, but for some reason, we handed the guy $60 and said that we'd take it.

Big mistake. One of the clues should have been the fact that you have to hand your money through a hole in the window. The other big clue was the fact that they normally rent rooms by the week or the month.

We dropped off some stuff and went for some fine dining at Burger King. When we got back, I noticed the owner was evicting some of the residents. Um, yeah, another big clue. Then we looked at the room more carefully and took the bedspreads off. What we saw took gross to a new level. Plus, to be honest, I was a little scared our car might not be there in the morning. We fled the scene and kept driving.

By this time, the cone was shifting west into the panhandle so we decided to go north into Georgia. We contacted some friends of our who had offered us a place to stay in Atlanta and asked them if there offer was still good. Thankfully, it was.

We took the backroads to Tifton and then got on I-75. There were times that we were going 60 MPH and then there were times we were lucky to be going 5 MPH. But in the end we made it to Atlanta and collapsed in a heap grateful to have a safe place to sleep.

Two important lessons learned:

1 - A dodgy motel is never a good idea no matter how exhausted you are.

2 - Don't drive behind trucks full of chickens.

But more importantly, we were reminded of how lucky we are. Sure, we could lose our sailboat and our camper, but we have the financial resources and a car and were able to evacuate and great friends who were willing to shelter these Florida refugees. There are so many other people who have been impacted by Irma, with no place to go and so many people whose lives have been devastated by her wrath.

Have you ever stayed at a dodgy motel? What's the longest you've driven? Have you been impacted by Hurricane Irma?

NOTE: If you've emailed or left comments on Facebook or our blog, apologies if I haven't responded. The last several days have been crazy and exhausting. I'll try to get around to it soon.

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