The Bahamas, aaah!

The water in the Bahamas is truely amazing. It's as clear as tap water in shallow places.The shades of turguoise and blue make you want to get out a paint brush and capture the beauty. The Bahamas are easy and relaxing. We first stopped for one night near Crooked Island and then went to Clarence Town to get fuel. We walked around the little settlement in Clarence Town and swam in our own private anchorage surrounded by coral and beaches. The photo above is from Conception Island where we stopped next. Conception is an uninhabited nature preserve. 

George Town, in the Exumas was our next stop and we ended up staying there 10 days. Our friend Herman is there for the summer on his boat White Wing. Larry on Restless another Tampa resident was there, too. They showed us around George Town and the nearby beaches. We all went the the Bahamas Independence Day celebration on July 10th. They celebrate the night before and raise the Bahamaian flag at midnight. The whole town turned out and they had Rake and Scrape music and a small Junkanoo parade. The dancers and drummers in the Junkanoo group move so much it was hard to get a clear photo! The group had elaborate costumes, dancing girls and men playing horns, drums and cowbells. Simply put, It Rocks! We will definitely be heading back to the Bahamas for a full fledged Junkanoo parade. 

George Town has some gems. J & K computers is located in a historic house and run by a lovely couple Julius and Crystal.  They have computer services and sell drinks and groceries so you can have a snack while working on your blog. 



  

On the last day we were treated to a visit from a pair of wild dolphins that swim with people. For hours a mother and her calf swim next to you just out of arms reach. They turn their head and look at you when you dive down and swim along with them under water.

One advantage to cruising is that your plans change with the weather. After having two going away parties we reluctantly said good bye to our friends on July 15th. 

We sailed to Staniel Cay which  took one day. It is just as beautiful as the rest of the Exumas. Years ago, the locals put their pigs on a separate island and fed them by boating over from the main town. The pigs learned to swim out to the boat when ever they heard an outboard motor. Now the pigs are lucky enough to be fed many times a day by tourists. The Thunderball Grotto is in  Staniel Cay, too and it's a great snorkel. It was used in the James Bond movie, Thunderball.

This is the Atlantic beach on Staniel Cay. We did a little "End of the Trip" ceremony and talked about what the cruise has meant to each of us. We left Staniel Cay Tuesday July 24th and sailed straight to the Florida Keys. We are now anchored in Marathon.

We are leaving the Keys tomorrow and will be home in St Petersburg Monday morning, weather permitting.

The next blog will be our last. It will include photos and an short article with some of our thoughts on the trip for those thay may be interested.

All our best,

Frances and Al

First stop on the way home - Puerto Rico

Even though we are heading home there are a lot of stops on the way and it will take a month or two. We might as well enjoy ourselves!                                                              

We stopped in Salinas, Puerto Rico after leaving Dominica. Life is slow and easy in Salinas, a small town on the southern coast. On the sidewalk outside a restaurant someone had a basketfull of sugar cane they were selling by the piece. In the restaurants you can pick your crab for dinner. There water is nice for swimming and several small beach cafes are on the main street. We also went to the city of Ponce for the day and enjoyed the architecture and the shops. On one historic building this poor girl is stuck holding up a column for all time.

Puerto Rico has good shopping so we loaded up for the trip home through the Bahamas. If you have ever wondered how we shop this is Al with the dinghy loaded to the top with groceries. After getting everything up on the boat from the dinghy we find places to put it all away down below. Food and supplies are stored in every nook and cranny of the boat.                                We were amazed by the mangrove trees at the marina in Salinas. The mangroves had the longest roots we have ever seen. 

We left Puerto Rico but had to come right back to Boqueron on the west coast. A couple of things just plain wore out on the boat and Puerto Rico is a great place to get supplies. We drove to San Juan twice to get parts so we had a tour of the whole island! We stayed at a nice marina in Boqueron. Our first night there a group of people on the dock included us in their weekly dock party. That lifted our spirits after having to turn the boat around. The Puerto Rican people are some of the friendliest we have met on the whole trip. They love to gather in groups, chat and have a good time.  

If you have to be stuck some where Boqueron is not a bad choice. It's a favorite beach of the Puerto Ricans and the whole town is hopping on the weekends. Their specialty is local oysters and clams sold on the street from these carts. Al said thery were really good.

We visited the cliffs of Cabo Rojo on the south west corner of Puerto Rico. There were some other people there, too having a good time and enjoying the wind.

We got every thing taken care of in a week and sailed to the Bahamas. We will continue to post on our way home. It's a bitter sweet time for us. A journey's end of also part of the adventure. 

Thanks to everyone for following our blog. The trip is not over yet!

Frances and Al

Decision Time - Heading Home

We came to a point about a month ago when we needed to make a decision. We had planned to spend the Summer and Fall in Grenada and come home in January but several things changed our mind. Al would like to be available to visit his father more often and the heat in the summer is a little tough to take down here. We also need to get normal life started again. Cruising was more expensive than we thought it would be! The end result of all this is that we have decided to head for home. After living with the decision for a while we are satisfied that it is the right thing to do. We feel so fortunate that we have been able to take this trip and will always have so many amazing memories to look back on.

However. The trip is not over yet! 

We sailed from Dominica to Puerto Rico which took four days. We then spent two weeks in Puerto Rico staying in Salinas and Boqueron. Salinas was fun and we saw our friends Gary and Barbara on PaLaOla. Boqueron is a popular beach town and we loved the small shops and restaurants there.

From Puerto Rico we sailed straight to Crooked Island, Bahamas. It took 5 days which was our longest trip without additional crew.  After about two days we got into a good watch pattern that worked for us. The first part of the trip the wind and waves were behind us so we could sail. The last two days the wind died down and we had to turn on the motor but the seas flattened out and that gave us a rest. We were very happy when we threw out the anchor behind a quiet island. If we did these long trips more often we would probably get very good at it!

We are still in the Bahamas, in George Town, on Exuma Island.  The beaches are incredible here and the water is so clear.  We forgot how beautiful the Bahamas were. We came to George Town especially to visit with our friend Herman Bips from Tampa. That must be why we are still here! Herman has been showing us around and we have been enjoying this area.

We are working our way home and hope to be back in St Petersburg in August.

When we can get good internet access again we'll do a proper blog with photos!

All our best,
Frances and Al