December 6, 2011

We took the dinghy over to Crab Cay, which is a small Cay just North of Green Turtle Cay. The winds were out of the East so we had an easy dinghy ride over there. The beach is beautiful white sand, and the water was shallow for quite a way off of the beach. Dahlia was able to explore on her own and she found tons of sea biscuits, small conch, and she even found a starfish to play with.
Deason and Chris went off towards the Southern end of the Cay and tried to swim around to the reefs, but the waves were still pretty rough on that side. We still have yet to catch any fish with our Hawaiian sling. Maybe tomorrow, the winds are supposed to turn more to the South. Hopefully, the seas will settle down on the East side of the island where all the reefs are and we can do some more snorkeling.
We ended up having to leave the beach rather abruptly, there appeared to be a small rain cell that was heading right over Green Turtle Cay, and we had left all of our hatches open. We had to hurry back. You would have thought that we would have learned that lesson by now, thankfully, the rain must have been more towards the South of us because the boat was completely dry.
On the way back Dahlia fell asleep again, so she had to stay behind while Deason and I went over to our new friends house to hang out. I will let him blog about that!

December 4, 2011

We met some great new people yesterday, we even went to their house for lunch. Deason's spirits seem to be renewed having had the opportunity to play with some great kids. Hopefully, we will see them all again soon. Who knows if we don't like it down in Georgetown, we will might definitely head back here for the remainder of the winter.

December 3, 2011

We had a great day today. Since it wasn't beach weather with the 20 knot winds, we rented a golf cart to explore the island. We went on every road and cart path we could find, it really gave us a different feel for the island. It made it feel more real. I know that sounds strange, but it is kind of a warped view being anchored out sometimes. It is not just here, when we are on the boat at anchor, and have to go to shore, it sometimes feels like we have never been on land before, like we don't belong or something. Driving around, really gave us a feel for the place. We really like it here, the majority of the East side of this Cay is a beautiful beach with a reef not far off of the beach. We would have loved to have gone swimming, but the waves were pretty big and we were told that they get a pretty good rip current through there too.
There are three areas of the island, New Plymouth is the main town on the island, Black sound seems to be more residential, and where we are on the Northern side is a lot of seasonal/rental type properties, and resorts.
We found a small little beach on the North West side of the island which was more protected from the wind, and we had a picnic lunch and hung out until we had to bring the cart back. Something of note....food here is expensive. I love orange juice, and we just paid $6.50 for a half gallon! Chris and I got back to the boat and waited for the kids to go to sleep before we opened it, I felt like a closet alcoholic that has to hide to have a drink. It was a little different, we were only hiding because we didn't want to share. At $6.50 I want to act like a 2 yr old and say "my orange juice". Actually, I am not sure that being an alcoholic is much worse than that????? Maybe I will share tomorrow!

December 2, 2011

We didn't do much today. We did some laundry, and while we waited between wash and dry cycles we hung out at the little beach at the Green Turtle Club. Not a bad place to do laundry.
The winds are suppose to be NE 20-30 knots through Sunday, so we will hang out here in this nice little anchorage until this front passes.

December 1, 2011

I can't believe it is December, we have been talking to Chris's Dad almost daily on the high frequency radio that he got us, and his reports are that it is getting cold up in New England. While we were walking around in New Plymouth (the main town here at Green Turtle Cay) they had all of their Christmas decorations up, and it seemed so odd. I have never really been anywhere for the holidays that weren't cold, it doesn't seem natural.
We like it here, but we are all feeling semi disappointed that we haven't met up with any other cruising families with kids. I guess most families stay state side until after the holidays, but we thought we would have at least seen some others, but not a one. Hopefully, we will get to hang with some people soon. Deason has had his fill of his dear old Mom and Dad. I can't say as I blame him.
Dahlia on the other hand seems to be really be enjoying herself. She is so comfortable with this lifestyle, that while driving back from New Plymouth in the dinghy today she fell fast asleep while sitting up by herself. It wasn't exactly a smooth ride either, her little head was bouncing all over the place. I guess that is why they have the head rest on the infant life jackets. It is not for safety, it is for sleepability.

Post by Deason

We went from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas. The crossing was good. We trolled on the way there we did not catch anything. We still had fun. We went to West End. We swam at the pool. We were there for three days. Then we went to Mangrove Cay. We went kayaking. Then we went to Little Grand Cay. We went to shore. We walked around. Me and Dad went snorkeling. Then we went to Green Turtle Cay.

November 30, 2011-Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas

Well, we have had better and worse anchorages. The wind picked up at around 10pm last night and we were only partially protected from the NW winds. We ended up getting rolled around by the westerly swells, which made for terrible sleeping conditions. Fortunately, it was only one night.
We left Spanish Cay and sailed down to Green Turtle Cay. The winds were a little lighter today than they were yesterday, so we only averaged about 4 knots, but since we only had to travel 14 miles, no one minded the lack of speed. We anchored in White Sound on Green Turtle Cay, the anchorage is a natural harbor with wind protection from all sides. It will be nice to spend a couple of nights laying low here.
The winds are suppose to pick up tonight and we heard that the anchoring here can be tricky, so I had the pleasure of swimming and checking out our anchor. It was completely buried, as well as half of the chain we have out. Amazingly, that was my first swim in the ocean since being in the Bahamas, and the water was actually warmer than Cape Cod (vineyard sound side) water in the summer. I will sleep so much better now knowing what our anchor looks like down there. If I could only come up with some tricky underwater camera that could show us our anchor from the cockpit, it would prevent a lot of wondering and worrying when my head hits the pillow at night.
We went to shore briefly, the town is at the other end of the island, and we will visit it tomorrow by dinghy. Today we just wanted to stretch our legs, so we went ashore to the Green Turtle Club Resort. We just walked around and hit the small store that they have there at the marina. The only thing we bought was candy. I was so excited to have a snickers bar, you would have thought that I had never had one before, it was great to have some junk food.
This is something that I would like to remember in the future, which is why I am putting it in the blog. I am embarrassed to admit, that today I butchered my first chicken. We are so use to going to the grocery stores back home and buying any cut of meat that we want. I am not a big fan of handling raw meats, so I usually buy the boneless cuts so I can just marinate and cook. Here, you get what they have. While we were at Little Grand Cay they had two kinds of frozen meats for purchase...whole chickens, and ribs. We bought the whole chickens, hence me having to butcher them today. I can honestly say it wasn't that hard, but also not my favorite thing to do. At the same time, I like that I am forced to do things that I would never have chosen to do back home, even if it is hacking up a dead animal.