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June 2nd, 2008 (Plagued By Bad Fuel) We’re alive! Alive! I am now writing from Nassau, Bahamas. We are anchored in the harbor – close to the famous hotel Atlantis. We got into the Nassau Harbor last night around 9 pm and it was very harrowing! The scariest thing we had to do so far. Our motor has been very unreliable and it literally shut off at least 10 times (at my last count) while we were motoring. That is scary shit when we are expecting to motor all the way and than poof – NO MOTOR. And it’s hard, because from Bimini, Bahamas to Nassau and along all the stops is pretty much upwind. And for people who don’t know what upwind is for sailors – it’s when the wind is blowing directly at you and you can’t sail a straight line. If the boat faces the wind directly, the sails STOP and stalls. So we had to tack back and forth, back and forth, pretty much all the way from Chub Key to Nassau. A nice day of motor sailing becomes 19-20 hours of tacking back and forth, back and forth. We had to sail in the Nassau Harbor only under sail power (it’s a good idea to motor in a harbor so you have better control) and the harbor can be pretty scary because there are outcroppings of rock, a lighthouse, and lots of things that can’t be seen in the dark. We got through there around 9 something, but it was in the dark, and thank God for our chart plotter most of the way – because it helped us sail at night through shallow areas with rocks. It’s a good thing we got there at night, because all the cruise ship traffic was gone and there wasn’t a lot of traffic with smaller boats either. We tacked in the harbor 5 times – fast tacks to avoid the rocks. Chris turned to me, and said, you are good at tacking now. I said, “NO SHIT SHERLOCK! It’s our life on the line!” When you are afraid of getting squashed by a huge cruise ship, you better believe you will move fast as lightening. Chris kept yelling, do it fast, faster, and I was thinking, shit, I can’t see in the dark and it’s hard to align the winch at night. But we made it – we’re ALIVE. I can pretty much say with fact that to be a cruiser, you can’t be faint of heart. You have to be open, flexible, ready at any given moment to act fast when your motor stops because let me tell you this, your motor will stop at the most inopportune time. There are a lot of highs and lows to cruising. Seriously, every other day – there is something wrong with our motor or something else. Something is ALWAYS breaking down. Our to-do list is getting longer and longer – there is no end in site. For most of today, our first full day in Nassau, we had to do chores before we could hit the town and sight see. The most important – to get our motor to work so we could motor over to the designated anchorage spot. On the way to Bimini, from Key Largo, was when our motor shut off on us – twice – while we were close to the harbor. There were a lot of big yachts and motor boats just whizzing by FAST just like drunken sailors. That was the start of our motor problem and it all leads to bad fuel that we got at the Ocean Reef Yacht Club. That was where all our problems began. The worker asked us when we motored to the dock what we wanted and Chris stated to get gas (just saying that’s the purpose of why we were heading towards the dock. We turned around, and that guy just handed Chris the pump. So naturally Chris takes it – and puts it in the tank. Than a few minutes he realized OH SHIT, it’s gasoline and NOT diesel. The worker should have asked, diesel or gasoline – not just hand us a pump. But now we learned to our mistake is that you can’t just say I need gas at the fueling dock. And the person may not ask you to clarify when you get closer and just hand you the pump. The worker was all apologetic and stated, don’t worry, we will get the problem resolved. So he calls in a mechanic to pump out the gasoline (of course we were not charged for the gasoline). That took hours and Chris thought that might delay our trip to Bimini. But when we went to pay for the diesel, the bill for the mechanic turned out to be over $250. When the worker said, don’t worry, we will handle it – we assumed that they would cover the bill since it was mostly the workers fault to not even ask us what we wanted and just handed us the pump. Chris was partly to blame because he did say, we were there to get gas, but gas usually means just to get fuel. You better believe that if we were a member of that yacht club, that we wouldn’t get charged. They shouldn’t have said, don’t worry, we will fix the problem. They should have stated how much the mechanic would be and let us decide so since they didn’t, we thought it was on the house. Even the mechanic agreed it was the worker’s mistake to just hand us the pump without clarifying what kind of gas we were there to get. So the bill was lowered to $167. We left it at that but if we knew what SHIT DIESEL they gave us – we would have complained more. It was the WORST diesel ever!! It made our engine STOP and splutter for the last 8 days. We know it was their fuel because Chris cleaned out the gas tanks and we didn’t have any problems with our motor until we put THEIR DIESEL in. And they were the first place we went to – our tanks were half full and we wanted to top off before we crossed the Gulf Stream. Chris didn’t’ use a baja filter because he thought, oh, we are in the states, in a yacht club no less – where there were million dollar yachts going in for fuel. Another big mistake. We learned it the hard way – always use a BAJA FILTER! The Ocean Reef Yacht Club has the WORST FUEL. They probably gave us the bottom of the barrel or something because the sendiment that was in our fuel which we filtered it was full of GUNK and sediment. It’s worse fuel than what you can get at TJ!! Maybe since they knew we were not members of the yacht club and were just there to get fuel, what you would call a “transient”, they decided to give us whatever was left. So BEWARE everyone – AVOID THE OCEAN REEF YACHT CLUB!!! From Bimini to Chub Key – it took us over 28 ½ hours to get there – because the bad fuel messed up our motor. Sailing a 12-16 hour day is rough but imagine over 24 hours. We were exhausted, beat. I wanted to cry. It’s not smart to sail beyond 12-16 hours, but we had no choice because we were going upwind and there wasn’t a good safe anchorage except in the middle of the ocean with no protection. We were lucky our motor only stopped when we were close to Bimini because if we stalled in the middle of the Gulf Stream, we would have drifted far because of the strong current even if we had our sails up. Just thinking of the bad fuel we got still PISSES me off. We were plagued with motor problems ever since we got it, but earlier today, Chris had to take the tanks out again and clean it all over again. We were in Bimini for 5 days because the weather and wind was not conducive to going to Chub Key to get to Nassau. There were thunderstorms, high swells, and powerful winds. We were the ONLY boat that anchored there that weekend and we felt so lonely. 4 other sail boats anchored for a few hours, but no one stuck it through the night. I must say the first night we anchored there, the winds picked up to at least 20 knots, thunderstorms, showers – and anchoring in Bimini is very rocky and doesn’t hold too well. We thought about getting a slip but with the winds the way they were, it would have been hard to maneuver safely into a slip. We met our first Gemini comrade there – Steve, his daughter Britney, his gf Mary Kay, and Jacqui. When they saw we had the Gemini too, they went to look for us at our anchorage, and were so friendly, It’s really true what they say about Gemini owners, they are FANATIC about it. It’s like being in a sorority or fraternity of some sort. Gemini owners flock to each other like birds. We had a lot of fun with them. Jacqui was so sweet that she even gave me a great book to read when she found out that I am a voracious reader and that I am on a spiritual quest. Thanks again Jacqui. Britney was a real blast to party with and we will definitely see Steve and Mary Kay again since he’s a proud owner of his brand new 2008 Gemini (lucky bastard)! We were looking for the famous hotel where Ernest Hemingway used to stay at, called The Compleat Angler. We walked up and down Alice Town – a very small town – but could not find it. Later in the museum, we found that it was burned down in January 2006. Our latest Lonely Planet didn’t have the updated version. Chris and I went in search of the famous Bimini Wall – but it was really hard to find since it was not on the charts and we didn’t have a GPS coordinate for where they were. Usually when people want to see it, they just go on a tour and the boat takes you there, but since we have a boat now, it was very hard to find. When the guide states off Paradise Point, it could be ANYWHERE since the sea is so huge. But we did find it – since we found a mooring and we saw a small part of it. The water was very choppy that day, and Chris didn’t want our boat to drift away (just in case – did you see that Shark Movie where two scuba divers were accidentally left in the ocean and they had to fight off sharks?) So we had to snorkel in choppy bad weather one at a time, but it’s not safe to snorkel alone either so it wasn’t as much fun as it could have been. But I did get to do the Bimini Skinini though! It’s a great name for a drink in Bimini don-cha-think? The drink would be a nice refreshing alcoholic drink of deep blue (maybe hypnotic mixed with something?) Anyways, what the bimini skinini is – is skinny dipping in the bimini wall. It was great fun – and I wish we had more time to do it before the swells got too high and we had to leave. I like saying that – bimini skinini. Everyone should at least do a bimini skinini at least once in their lifetimes. I can’t describe how BLUE the water is – a deep rich cobalt blue sometimes – the bluest deepest blue you have ever seen and a gazillion shades of other brilliant luminescence colors. If I were an artist, I would be inspired. I can stare at the blue waters forever. May 17th was when we left our Loch home in Florida. We were just very antsy to be leaving – but the day before our departure date, we realized the chip we ordered from West Marine was wrong and called the manager, Justin. Well, he did the NICEST thing I have ever seen a manager do, he actually went to pick up the chip for us at another store, and met us under the El Jobean Bridge to drop it off to us because Chris just sold his car and we didn’t have transportation there. That was the coolest thing. The funny thing is that we gave him a safety deposit box – one of those waterproof, fireproof ones that is heavy as shit since we realized it was too heavy for the boat, but while we were dropping him off under the bridge, there were two guys fishing, and it was maybe 8am, and you see Justin hop off a boat under a bridge, carrying a safety deposit box. Hhhhhmmmmm. Looks suspicious – like a drug deal going on or something. But after we dropped him off, we just headed down Florida to start our 4 day journey. That first day ended really strangely because we went under some electricity wires that spanned the water in the causeway and even though the chart printed 85 ft, it did NOT look that high. As we got closer, and closer, I really thought we were going to hit it – perception is blurred when you get that close to something and the mast is so high. It was the scariest thing that actually happened so far – even scarier than having to sail through the Nassau Harbor. I had to run inside just in case we did hit it, and I wanted to avoid any sparks that would start shooting off the electricity wires. Plus, Chris was steering, so I would have to do CPR on him if we got hit, there’s no use in BOTH of us getting hit by sparks. But the strange thing that happened to us, was that, a few minutes after going under the wires, ALL our electronics went out. Completely. Cold turkey. It was like a Bermuda Triangle phenomena or something. So we sailed with no electronics until we dropped anchor. That was one of our first trials sailing. (The weirdest shit just happens when sailing and you gotta be ready for them!) It is scary to sail without electronics because it’s nice to know how DEEP the water is and if there are any rocks or boulders under the water. But thank god we were also using regular charts so we could just continue tracking. The old fashioned way of charts is always reliable whereas, high tech electronics will go bonkers on you, and if you don’t know how to use a chart and navigate that way, you will be pretty much FUCKED, when the electronics goes out at the most inopportune times. Anything that a sailor relies on – motor, electronics, dingy, will stop working when one needs it the most. That’s why I say cruising is not for the faint of heart. The good news is the second day out sailing, I learned how to steer better! Before, I was zig zagging like a drunken whore on stilettos. The first time I steered the Gemini leaving Fisherman’s Village out the harbor, I was going back and forth, back and forth and ALL the boats were trying to get out of my way. I just could not steer in a straight line, or any conceivable pattern whatsoever. The wheel is so sensitive I kept going too much to the right, too much to the left – ZIG ZAG WHORE style! Hey that would make a great drink name – give me a ZIG ZAG WHORE please! But after sailing for 2 days, I was able to clear the red and green buoys and stay where I was supposed to stay. Slowly, ever so surely, I’m beginning to become a better sailor. I still can’t pump up the lever to pump up the motor out of the water. I have no arm muscles for that, plus how to kill the engine – takes me a while – I have to use both my hands and leverage my whole body on one of the steps to lift it up. I wonder if that is normal or if I’m just really weak. I have to use two hands to rev up the motor or to put it into gear. I wonder if ours is super tight and we have to grease it or something. But my arms are getting leaner, thanks to all this activity plus rowing the dingy since surprise surprise, our dingy motor doesn’t work and has not worked for 99% of the time that we’ve had it. I LOVE the Bahamian people – they are so warm, welcoming, laid back, and just so damn NICE. Happy people. I see it in their eyes and smiles. Chris and I took the tram in Bimini, just up and down the town – and Britney told us you can ride on it for as long as you want all day for only $2 so Chris and I just stayed on it – back and forth – at least 2 times round trip – that’s 4 times each way. The windshield of the bus did say $2 each way but since we were assured by someone who took it earlier, I didn’t give it a thought and just thought the islanders were really causal about rules. When we got off, the driver pointed to the window, so we were thinking OH SHIT. We rode it 4 times each way EACH PERSON so that would be $16 just to sit there. So Chris said, oh sorry, we didn’t see that sign, is it okay if we just adhere to the rule NEXT TIME and get off this time. Well to my utter surprise, he just shrugged and said, “no problem. “ He would have been in the right to INSIST we pay up, and it would have been our fault but he let us off the hook! I’ve been to around 50 countries, and believe me, this type of thing does NOT happen too often. In many other countries – mostly third world countries, they would hike up the fee 10 times the price even if we did get a price settled, it would later get changed. So many things happened in the last 2 weeks that I can’t remember most of it. I should try to write them as they come, because it’s hard to update the fog when so many events happened in such a short period of time. The funny thing is that there is a restaurant in Nassau in the harbor called the Poop Deck. I’m sorry but that name does not whet my appetite in the least. But it’s hilarious anyways. Speaking of poop (skip this part if you hate TMI – too much information) – since I am always too lurid in my details, Chris wants me to mention that we have a water bottle that we spritz in the toilet for hard to get rid of dingle berries. He didn’t want people to think we were always manually trying to wipe the leftovers. The hole in the toilet is very narrow and I have the hardest time getting my poop to flush. Sometimes I still have to call Chris over to help me flush down – for some reason, my poop gets STUCK in the hole. Most of the time. Chris says it never happens to him, but obviously, I do not get enough fiber, and my poop goes plop to the hole, and hugs the sides and sticks there. Now we spray spray with the bottle. It doesn’t work all the time for the stubborn ones but works for most of them. I love it when we get 3 miles out to sea we get to dump our crap in the ocean. It’s legal and I love releasing our shit tanks. The first time, we stared at the water to see all the crap come out. I was amazed at how much you DO get to see! Let’s just say we ate corn, and everyone knows that when you eat corn, you can see the kernels in your shit, but I saw our corn shits in the water CLEARLY and I could recall when I dropped those puppies. It was funny to see the different types of shit in the water and try to identify who’s is whose and when. Trust me, when one is sailing, there is a lot of time just gazing at the sea, sun, sky, clouds, and it can be monotonous. Okay, maybe I am the weirdo and other “normal” people don’t do that. But I do call Chris to come over if I crapped out an unusually large offering and I want to share it with the world. Do other girlfriends like to share like that or am I REALLY weird. I’ll holler for him to come over, and make him look and marvel at how spectacular it is. A side note is that Chris does NOT want to look but I make him, and he knows that in order to shut me up, and get me out of the bathroom, he has to comply. Are other girlfriends as romantic as me I wonder? Is this normal behavior that people do but NEVER admit to or do they really don’t do it. I am very curious. Human behavior really intrigues me. Especially bizarre ones. I have other questions but as it is, I have reached the TMI point already for this entry, so I will pull back. Here’s in the same subject range but more of a normal tone, but what really works for our toilet paper situation, besides just throwing all toilet paper in the trash can, is that we also use baby wipes. I found them at the Dollar Tree (where everything is $1) and thought, holy shit, this is BETTER than toilet paper, smaller to pack, and CLEANER everywhere! Plus, I thought we would put the shit toilet paper in a separate zip lock baggy from the rest of our toilet paper, but with baby wipes – we haven’t even had to do that. We just throw the whole bunch in the trash can, and there it doesn’t smell horrid. For extra protection – I put a deodorizer in the trash can. I try to be green whenever I can and reuse things or recycle or not use them at all. So it’s nice to not have to use an extra plastic baggy if we don’t have to. Which leads this fog to all the ways I could think of to be green. When I see all the packaging that we have thrown away just preparing the boat, and all the trash we have daily just to get rid of, I am boggled at the amount of trash each person produces in a first world country. Marketers are hired to spruce up packaging and everyone LOVES to buy something spanking new, with it’s great packaging, go home, and open it. Boxes in all different sizes, plastic, cardboard, everything bad for the environment, you name it, packaging has got it in oodles. Well ever since living on the boat, out of necessity, trying to carry less stuff, to have less trash, and to save money, for the first time in my life, I concentrated on ways to make the earth greener. Instead of using paper napkins – we use cloth napkins. Since it’s only Chris and I, we reuse it over and over – than just wash it. I have a dozen of them – so we just swap them out if it gets too grimey. For dish washing soap, instead of using the full dose, I use a half and half mixture – and that seems to work better for most dishes, because the full dose can be too thick sometimes and hard to rinse off. All the Wal-mart bags that we got (which is A LOT since we practically lived there while we were in Florida) –instead of throwing those away, I kept them, and we use them as trash bags for the little trash cans we have for the bathroom and the galley. Instead of using plastic baggies all the time, I bought plastic containers with lock handles so that I can put leftover food in the fridge or to marinate meats. We bought a lot of zip lock baggies but we haven’t had to use them nonstop like I thought we did. I use the plastic containers instead. I got a shitload of solar lights for the boat so we are saving a lot of power on our batteries – I especially LOVE LOVE LOVE and highly recommend the lightship – sold at West Marine. You can also purchase them at attitudes&latitudes website (but it’s more expensive). They are suction cup solar lights and although you can’t read with them on, they give enough light that you don’t have to turn on any for when you go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. We cleaned out the West Marines in Englewood, Venice, Port Charlotte area. I want more of them to light up each room. Chris thinks I’m crazy, but what’s new? So becoming a sailor – I’m a lot more conscious of the products I consume, and the trash that comes along with it. It’s a real hassle for boaters to find a place they can dump their trash if they are anchoring, to dingy it to shore and walk it to a trash that is available. Sorry this fog entry is so damn long, but I haven’t written so long, I just want to update on things as much as possible. Chris promises to put pictures in MY section, but we are having problems with the pictures that are posted in HIS section. Now that I am away from the Mangroves, my bites have gotten a lot better, now I just have scars from the dozens, and I mean DOZENS of bug bites I got. The salt water has helped dry them out a lot, I started to spray rubbing alcohol on them to dry which worked, but swimming daily in salt water is the best. I still get occasional bites in the Bahamas, although I have NOT seen or heard a mosquito, I get one big lump nightly but I do not know what origin the bug is. When we were in the supermarket in Bimini, the lady looked down at my legs and literally had a frown on her face, I noticed her eyes zero on my legs and the scars (I look like I had the pox or something). Outside the store, Chris said he also saw her look down at my legs and frown. I didn’t know I looked so disgusting, but there you have it, the truth. I generate frowns and not whistles or smiles or winks. Just disgust and frowns. It’s a good thing Chris has a lot of bug scars himself all over HIS body, or else he would cast me aside to date someone that didn’t look like she escaped the smallpox epidemic. Thank god for small mercies I guess. Every morning we wake up to beautiful crystal blue clear water and sunshiny warmth. It's spectacularly disgustingly GORGEOUS. Each sandy beach we go to is as pretty as the postcards or magazine pictures everyone have seen. Sometimes, like this morning, we are in Redshanks anchorage in George Town, and it's craggly rocks, but the water is still as gorgeous. Living on a boat is definitely a great way to live life - if you are up to the challenge of fixing things on and on. It's been a peaceful few days (knock on wood) and our motor has been running very well (knock on wood). The second day in Nassau, when Chris and I "thought" our motor was finally up and running, we went to get fuel at the dock and lo and behold, SMOKE was billowing out from our motor. OH SHIT. Not again. We barely made it to the fuel dock and Chris thought we would have to put up our sails in the harbor AGAIN. I don't know about you, or anyone else for that matter, but I do not like to sail in a harbor, especially if it is narrow and has a lot of boat traffic. My heart quivers at the thought and I cringe, but thank god we made it to the fuel dock, and from there, we were clueless as to why it had so much smoke. Thankfully, the Germans gave us pointers on where to check when you have smoke. There are many colors that the smoke can be and that is an indicator of what to look for. Since ours was white, than we checked our strainers and it turned out to be clogged with seaweed. We had to mosey on back to our safe anchorage place (just outside of The Green Parrot where they have FREE WIFI and a dingy dock AND a big ass bag of ice for only $3)! The anchorage outside of The Green Parrot is very fun and there are a lot of people staying on for months, even years. We met the town resident, Captain Ralph, who was wearing a captain's hat and dingyed over to us to welcome us to the anchorage. He is a German that has lived in the Bahamas for over 10 years and he has a lot of very colorful stories to share. We than met another German, Hans, who has a trimaran, with a transmission that was not working and he was sailing outside the harbor for 3 days, NO SLEEP, until he radioed The Royal Bahamian Defense Force (or something like that) to get rescued. Than we met Eddie, an Englishman, living in Nassau for some months now, and an American named Kenny. There were other boaters, but it seemed we were the younger people who liked to drink and party so we naturally gravitated towards each other. Most cruisers are MEN so needless to say, I was the only girl in our party for the two nights we threw a get together on our bow. You know your boat party is a success when: 1. One of the crazy Germans fall over his dingy and loses his watertight case with his ID and all the money he has 2. When the hostess and another crazy German jumps overboard naked (not remembering that there is a very upscale restaurant terrace 40 feet from the boat where EVERYONE can see with full blazing lights) 3. When the next morning you hear a noise on the bow, and you pop your head outside the hatch to see what it is, and it's Captain Ralph looking for his clothes because apparently he dingyed home naked the night before and left ALL his clothes on our boat Boaters sure love to party and DRINK. Did I say that they love to DRINK?? Let's just say that when you have guests over, they don't leave until ALL the alcohol is consumed and it's late in the hour. The second night, I invited them over for Thai Chicken Panang and we had a more mellow night. We ended up staying 4 nights in Nassau - harbors can be very alluring because of all the fun people and it's very hard to leave. Captain Ralph warned us that if we were serious about heading south (to Venezuela) than we better go FAST because the more we saw of the Bahamas, the more enticed we would get and we would not be going anywhere. The strange thing is that we thought we would be supplementing our diet with lots of fish, but we have NOT caught any fish - we always forget to take out our fishing poles. We have only caught 2 conch, the first in Bimini which now we know was an underdeveloped one with hardly any good meat so almost every bite had NO conch in it, and the second in Norman Cay, which was so meaty that for the conch salad I made, we had 3-4 pieces of conch to every bite. And our diet has been consisting of mostly meat from the supermarket. Before this trip, I thought red meat would be expensive, but chicken, spare ribs (pork), and pork chops are the way to go here because it's one of the cheapest items you can get at the market. 4 chicken thighs for only $4.80 and 6-8 spare ribs for $3.80 at the supermarket on Bay Street where most everything else is expensive. Wheat bread here was $3.99 so we decided NOT to eat bread. Also, a dozen eggs was under $2 so we got 2 packs. A can of peaches was $2.85. CRAZY. I'm glad I loaded up on canned goods because they are EXPENSIVE in the islands. Plus, produce is very expensive and the selection is limited. It's very hard to get fish in the markets, they only have frozen ones. I thought there would be a lot of fresh seafood to choose from, but nope, they don't carry that in the markets. Chris was astounded the other day when we went into the market in George Town to find a box of Tide for $30 something. It was the most expensive detergent he ever saw. So I'm happy to report that poultry and red meat is the way to go when buying food at the supermarket. Those seem to be the cheapest items so far and bang for your buck! I still want fresh seafood but we are not avid fishermen and sadly have NOT caught any fresh fish. I just found fresh okra at the market in George Town for only $2.50 and they are the freshest, PLUMPEST, biggest okra I ever saw in any market, and for such a good price too! They were fantastic! I am going to get more to stock up. Potter's Cay in Nassau is a fun place under the bridge with dozens of stands where you can eat anything conch, fish fry, and other local dishes. It's also a good place to buy produce on the stands because there is more variety and it is cheaper. Of course, we forgot our camera so we have no pictures of how charming this place is. There are a lot of locals who hang out here and it's a fun place to sample food (although not cheap - conch salad is usually around $8 in a stand and more expensive in a restaurant, conch burger $6, conch fritters $8, red snapper $12, Kalik beer - a Bahamian beer is $3). You would think a stand would be cheaper but the prices in the Bahamas for food is pretty pricey. Chris and I munched down a conch burger and a fresh cold kalik beer at one of the stands. It was DELICIOUS. Bahamians sure know how to make conch in different ways - in salads, conch fritters, conch burgers, in soups like chowder and curries, scorched, you name it - they make it that way. Conch is EVERYWHERE in the Bahamas, everywhere you look, you see shells or a stand selling fresh conch. Raw conch tastes a little rubbery so that is why lemon, lime, and bitter orange is used in the salads to mellow out the taste. As a sashimi, it's very similar to the octopus - that chewy thick texture, but a little more flavor than the octopus. When cooked, it's thick and chewy. That's why when a conch is caught, they should be tenderized by beating it for several minutes - it becomes less chewy. Conch doesn't have a strong flavor, but it's a good thick meat that picks up flavors when cooked. Captain Ralph said that the Bahamians make very good macaroni and cheese - the real thick creamy kind, almost like a casserole. He also said that breakfast tuna and grits, or hash brown and grits is delicious. Tuna and grits sounds very interesting and very tasty. Chris and I have not ventured out that early yet so we have missed the breakfasts. It seems the most popular Bahamian beer in the Bahamas is Kalik. Everyone is drinking them - locals and tourists alike. Beer in the Bahamas is expensive too - a case is around $65 and the cheapest you can get is around 3 Kalik beer bottles for $5. Thank god we loaded up on beer for our trip, it would be nice to drink local beer every single day, but for that price, we would be home in 6 months. Chris and I eat and drink what's cheap. Thank god for RUM! The cheaper variety of rum in Nassau was only $5.95 for either dark or white, so of course we got those. They also have flavored rums - mango, pineapple, banana, and coconut. Those are a good sweet rum for after dinner drinks - sort of like sherry or port. Hard liquor in the Bahamas is very reasonable and lots of it is cheaper than in the states - gin, vodka, cognac, etc. Wine are more expensive here, not as much selection though. Yesterday Chris went into a liquor store in George Town, and they only sold imported rums and not local ones so they were far more expensive than the $5.95 we got in Nassau. They had a Haitian Rum for $14.95! That was the cheapest rums they carried. I don't have anything against Haitian products, but I rather get the CHEAP LOCAL stuff. As long as it's alcohol - I opt for QUANTITY over QUALITY. I'm not picky. Give me moonshine and make me blind - I don't care! Just get me DRUNK! Somehow, anyhow! We wanted to load up on rums in Nassau because it was so cheap, but we were assured by the other boaters that rum was about the same price in all the other islands, with maybe a dollar difference. But $14.95 over $5.95 is a HUGE difference - now I wish we loaded up in Nassau. From Nassau, we went to Rose Island. OHMYGOSH. Rose Island is only 2 hours away from Nassau, but it is GORGEOUS. Picture perfect. It was the first white sands, deserted island we went to. I nearly swooned when my feet touched the white sands. When I say deserted - they had maybe 3 other boats that stopped for the day and 1 other catamaran that anchored. There were coconuts that we loaded up - and with Chris' machete we ate the meaty white coconut on the beach. It was heaven. We threw off our bathing suits and ran around like children. The water was so blindingly clear and the color a clear clear white blue. Stunning. If we knew how gorgeous this island was, we would have spent less days in Nassau. Some people prefer a busy harbor with all the entertainment, but I prefer to live like Robinson Crusoe, away from civilization, and living off the land. Across from Rose Island, was Gilligan's Island, which was a very cute island with palm trees. We wanted to stay longer at Rose Island but we had to drag ourselves away to Norman's Cay. That's where we caught our BIG FAT CONCH. I made a very meaty conch salad. Than we went to Warderick Cay - another picture perfect beach. We sailed up to our own cove and private beach. We nearly beached Gypsy Cat and off went our clothes again. In the Exumas, you can go naked most of the time because there are so many deserted beaches. Warderick Cay had a fossil of a huge sperm whale, Boo Boo Hill where its said to be haunted, where some nights singing can be heard. There was a shipwreck here and everyone died onboard so the island is said to be haunted by their lost souls. Boo Boo Hill is where sailors put up plaques of the name of their boats, and we wanted to do that, but we were too lazy to find drift wood and I forgot my marker. So no plaque for us this year. Warderick Cay also has swimming pigs at Pig Beach but we didn't know about it until after the fact (so many cool sights to see but it's hard to see them all). There were also blow holes (no NOT THOSE BLOW HOLES) - the natural holes in rocks that blows with water in high tide. Of course we were there in low tide, so no blow action for us. Warderick Cay is part of the reserved park so it is very pristine and natural. There are many walking trails and lots of white sandy beaches. I LOVE Warderick Cay. I could spend the whole season here. But sadly, we had to leave to head south, so after that was Staniel Cay where the Thunderball Grotto was. It was SPECTACULAR. A natural site worth seeing. I've been to a natural grotto before in Cancun but the size of the grotto in Staniel Cay was STUNNING. Several movies have showed the Thunderball Grotto, most notably one of the James Bond's movie. Just imagine snorkeling under some rocks and than popping up under a huge cave and seeing holes from the roof that highlights the water in the cave. The water where the sunlight hits is a blue that you can only see there, and the underwater snorkeling is bursting with fish. There are low corners in the grotto where it is very easy to bump your head, and since I'm not too proficient with my snorkel and mask, I was always bumping my head every which way. It hurt a lot - I still have bumps in my head. It's best to go at low tide because it's easiest to go under the rocks to get to the grotto. There are two sides you can enter and exit from but one of the sides is VERY LOW, and that's where I almost freaked out because I popped up and hit my head on the rock ceiling. OUCH. Than my snorkel filled with water and I had to get to the other side - which isn't very far but it is when one is filled with unease and some panic. I get very claustrophobic so snorkeling under rocks can be scary. Just being under the grotto with its natural beauty was breathtaking - surreal almost - I couldn't believe such beauty was created and still existed for humans to see. Speaking of surreal, most of the sights I'm seeing seems almost surreal some days. The natural beauty of everything I'm being immersed in. The sea, the land, the sky. At night, the sky is EXPLODING with stars; in the morning, the water in the sea is every shade of blue that is unimaginable - different facets of the same shade but every shade so pure a shade that it cannot be replicated; and the land - different outcroppings from white sandy beach to craggly rocks with low shrubs, to well developed islands with buildings and cell towers. Especially at night is when I feel that I'm in a middle of a dream - sitting on the bow with Chris, sipping wine, and eating garlic cheese - the white sands glow brighter in the night sky, and the stars overhead just dripping with sparkles, the water calm with no ripples to be seen, it just looks UNREAL and feels unreal since it is so beautiful. I've only seen and touched such beauty in my dreams and now it's a daily and nightly occurrence. A magazine picture could only catch a small percentage of the surreal beauty of what the islands hole. I don't know how I can describe the beauty of the islands any better, it's very hard to put into words but it is SO BEAUTIFUL that it is impossible to put it into words or capture it in a photograph. I feel that I'm in a dream in these moments and that it is even better than any of my dreams, because the moments last for more than a fleeting glimpse like in my dreams and it lasts for however long I want to stay conscious of. I feel that I've reached heaven on earth and that life doesn't get better than this. In my normal life before with its busy schedule, I would catch only glimpses of these moments - very brief like a shooting star but than it would fade too fast - but here, I can not only glimpse them, but actually sit for hours enveloped in this spiritual splendor and feel at one with the earth, and BE ONE with the earth. It's an awesome feeling that is indescribable but it makes me feel small and powerful at the same time. I was never a religious person before, and I still am not religious, but I can say that I've become more spiritual and more connected to the universe since beginning this adventure. So when my friends ask me if its everything I imagined it to be, I would say YES and MORE. It's an awesome feeling to have when I know I'm living out my dream and not just dreaming it and to be doing what I want out of life. It's that surreal feeling again - thinking - is this REALLY happening? Am I really seeing, feeling, hearing, the things I'm seeing, feeling, hearing? There is LIVING and there is EXISTING. But with all these highs - there are a lot of lows too. Like anytime something doesn't work on the boat (which is often) - there are too many things that didn't work on the way or broke, but that's the cost of living on a boat. The elements are HARSH on everything. Also, living on a boat this small with someone can be very irritating and challenging. The quarters are small and it's hard to be that close to someone day in and day out. Chris and I never argued before, but now it seems like I get more annoyed with him - because all I see is HIM. Little things about him start to BUG me, but it's something I'm working on. It's not HIM, but just the CLOSENESS. Traveling with someone can be very stressful because of all the change that is happening, a day is never static, there is always something NEW, that's what I love about traveling - the newness of everything seen and felt, and all the people met, but living on a boat is something new for both of us. Since everything is breaking down at the most haphazard time, that itself brings stress, but the tight quarters can be challenging. VERY CHALLENGING. Some days I want to jump off the boat or better yet, PUSH HIM in the water. No wonder they say that a lot of couples break up when they start cruising. You either break up or become STRONGER. I don't think it's healthy seeing that much of someone, but hey, we are stuck together for the time being. It could be a hormonal thing - females being way more hormonal. We have our monthly cycles - but we are really only normal once a week for the whole month. There is the PMS week that every females and males that are closely associated with the females DREAD, that's the whole week where we are cranky, bloated, craving strange foods, than there is the actual period week, where we are bleeding profusely without dying and putting strange objects up our orifices to plug the flow of blood, or just wearing thick diapers to do that. Than there is the Post PMS week where we know our PMS week is coming and we are starting to feel a little cranky - saying we are getting PMS early. So the only week we are normal is the week AFTER our menstrual comes. Speaking of which - this is the first week I have my menstrual period since heading off from Key Largo - and I was pondering a myth and wondering if it was FACT OR FICTION. I heard before that large sea animals - like dolphins and sharks - can scent the smell of blood from miles away - especially sharks. I heard that male dolphins can smell menstrual blood and that they get excited by it and attack the person with the blood. I don't know if it's true or not, I don't have good access online to conduct a thorough search of the truth of this myth. I'm sorry but I do not want to get attacked by dolphins because they are stimulated by the smell or attacked by hungry sharks who think I'm a bleeding fish. What IS the truth? Some people laugh at me when I mention this myth, because they have never heard it before, but I read a lot, so I pick up tidbits of info here and there that may pop up later on. I was also a biology major in college for 7 years (yes I know, I was a BAD STUDENT with no focus). And in biology, you learn about behaviors of animals and I remember reading something about how certain male sea animals can pick up on the scent of menstrual blood and get aroused by it, and than attack the SOURCE of the blood.. I don't want to be popping out baby dolphins or sharks if I get raped by a whole gang of them. Also, I don't think Chris wants to be the adopted father to a pod of dolphins or sharks (I don't think pods apply to sharks) - he would for sure know he wasn't the father when the baby dolphin comes out bluish gray or the baby shark comes out to bite his fingers off. So FACT OR FICTION. I don't want to test it out with my person, so if anyone knows, please email me and inform me. So now I'm scared to be in the water for long periods of time, but if it looks shallow and no fish in sight, I'm fine. We are anchored at Redshanks in George Town, waiting for propane. Chris was frustrated that we had to wait 2 days to get it, but I reminded him - ISLAND TIME. That's what we have to get used to - ISLAND TIME. Everything takes longer here because island time is much slower - no one is in a hurry - except us tourists who want what they want when they want it. We always have to remind each other of island time. In an island, if the propane truck is not working or out of propane (usually they have one per town) than they have to wait for a cargo to load it in. Hopefully, the propane gets here today. We are anxious to head to Turks and Caicos because the weather is good for the next few days and we don't want to lose the weather window we have. Also, we want to head as far south as we can get because of hurricane season. Supposedly it doesn't get nasty until August or September but we don't want to take that chance. So we cannot mosey as we want - we have to head south, south, farther south. The good news is that we have INSURANCE with Bluewaters Insurance. Hurray! It was dicey there until the last moments because a lot of companies WILL NOT insure you past the Bahamas and if they did, it was an outrageous sum. Chris did research on boat insurance and most companies said NO WAY. He was staggered at the information he found. Most boaters do not have insurance apparently because it costs and arm and a leg and it doesn't cover you past a certain point. But Bluewater's Insurance will cover us all the way to Venezuela although they don't cover you in Haiti or Columbia. Some companies make it a policy for you to be a certain latitude south (south of Grenada) when hurricane season hits, but Bluewater doesn't care if you are pass that point. We worked with a very nice lady named Rita with a British accent. When we submitted our application for insurance and our check in the mail, there was a holdup. We needed a survey done on our boat. We never got one when we bought the boat because there was one done the previous year by someone interested in the boat, and both our agents didn't see a need for it, so we never got one done. We were unable to get the previous survey except one page of it, because it belonged to someone else and the agent didn't have the full copy. So when the Bluewaters Insurance wanted one, we were already heading to Key Largo and Bimini - we were well underway of our trip. Plus, when Chris stated that we didn't have one, they said that probably one wasn't needed because our boat was a 2001 and it was a relative "newer" boat. They said that any insurance claims we submitted would not be evaluated without a survey, we than decided to cancel our application via email. We asked for our check back, but to our surprise, we got another email stating that Rita talked to the people at the insurance company, and they decided to waiver our survey until next year. So we have next year to complete a survey for the boat. Hurray! We are insured! We were debating whether to get it the first place, but it's nice to have peace of mind. The insurance company probably rightfully thought, that if we were comfortable taking the boat to Venezuela, than the boat MUST be SOUND. No one would risk their lives for insurance fraud if their boat wasn't sound. Also, the pictures we submitted to the insurance of the boat, validated that the boat wasn't a heap of shit. We got a pack of ice (a real luxury) and made daiquiris. We had strawberry margherita mix, and wanted to make that, but our alcohol cabinet showed no tequila, only vodka so our margherita became daquiris. Brilliant me decided to make an ICY drink so I bust out my Magic Bullet (that's NOT a sex toy, but a blender,food processor that is very compact and FAST) - I LOVE LOVE the Magic Bullet. It's the BEST to have on a boat to make icy drinks, etc. anything a blender can do - the magic bullet can do better. Anyways, since I was cooking, I told Chris to make a PITCHER of daiquiris for dinner, and he did. Well DUH. Our icy pitcher melted REALLY fast and all we were left with was lukewarm drinks. In the heat, our ICY drink became a NOT so icy drink. DUMB of me to suggest icy drinks. DUMB of Chris to do it. If it's just individual drinks, the Magic Bullet is GREAT, if you do one drink at a time, but NOT a pitcher. We were making great icy rum-aid (rum and lemonade) in Nassau - but that only worked b/c we were making one at a time. So the moral of the story is NOT to BLEND your precious ICE in HOT weather in a pitcher to savor - it's better to have ice cubes in the drinks and NOT icy blend - because it will MELT - and FAST. Chris couldn't believe that we had actually blended our ice cubes down to water. Everyone has their dumb moments. The other dumb moment was when we got our Natural Ice Beers. There is light and regular. Chris likes the lighter one because of less calories so we got around 10 cases of the light, and 2 of the regular, but as I was going over the inventory - I realized - DUH - we should have gotten the regular beers because the lighter beer had LESS ALCOHOL than the regular beers and why do we want to load up on beers with LESS ALCOHOL?? No reason too, so that was Chris' DUMBER moment. Calories over alcohol content? Calories lose every time. We had to drink what we could of the light beers so we could get regular. It's a sad state of affairs when the dumb moments appear, but at least we learn from them and can pass our wisdom down.
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March
08
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