LET IT RISE, LET IT SHINE....................

This beautiful home-made loaf of banana bread has just come out of the oven. This is no small feat. The oven rarely rises over 250 degrees but after reeming out the gas line we got it up to 380 degrees. Baking bread has been high on our list of priorities. Who knew you could bake a loaf of bread in a silicon-type molded flexi called a "loafpan". The wonders of science and silicon valley. There is more to follow. Now back in the really old days, bread must also have been on the minds of many, for the British Colonial Government authorised Capt. William Bligh RN, of "BOUNTY" fame, to sail to Tahiti to collect breadfruit plants for transplanting in the West Indies as a food source for the population. The photos below show the happy transplants now growing in the Abacos. The seed is just beginning to thicken out and will grow to football size. These trees are from that original source, albeit a little delayed by Fletcher Christian and the mutiny boys, but that's another story.......



The sun's back out and so is all the Bouganvillea...... And speaking of history.....



One of the really intersting things found in the ABACOS, are some wild horses that date back to Christopher Columbus's second voyage when some horses were brought over from Spain. These horses have roamed wild in the Abacos since then, but their genetic pedigree are original Barbary bloodlines that are now extremely unique. The herd, once over two hundred strong, is down to a very small number and a dedicated group of people is attempting this worthwhile preservation. www.arkwild.org

In Marsh Harbor there is a converted cargo container made into a library/bookstore where for "A-buck-a-book" you too, can assist the "horse cause". Cruising yachts over the years have donated the books, and "Mimi" the librarian, yachtswoman, horse preservationist, lobbyist and PR person, does a great job in maintaining the hotbox, because in August, the hottest time of the year, you are in and out of there faster than Anne Hesch. I don't want to be name dropping but even one of the horse's curly mane bears a resemblance to Howard Stern............ but that can't be................Anyway, all librarians have their place reserved in heaven.




Moving much more slowly is this conch critter. The two little eyes are found on the end of the lugubrious stalks. The rest of the foot seals the conch opening when he( or she) is pulled out of the water. The residual sand visible, gets filtered by the conch for its food source .......... try that sometime.... filtering your food through sand....



The vast quantities of rain have thrown the 'Flower Switch'. Whole trees are now bursting into flower like these 'Poinsianas' that are also found in the Florida cays and in Key West. Beautiful orchid-like blooms everywhere, though it is hard to beat this chocolate like swirl in a cup that also comes in strawberry, vanilla and black cherry for sheer artistic splendour, and we don't need to describe the taste, let alone the cooling temperature on a day when it is 85 plus in the shade.



What makes the flowers take the "Winner's Trophy" is that the panorama doesn't cost a penny unlike the ice-cream which costs significantly more than several dollars. Bahamian dollars are on a par with the US dollars and are of various colors, almost as colorful as the scenery. The " George Costanza " wallet is an absolute necessity in the Bahamas, causing you to walk with a limp. Poor people walk up straight.

FINDING A DRY SPOT

In the last posting we said that the Abaco islands definitely needed the rain......... Well, thats enough now. More than enough. The weather forecast calls for another five days of winds E-SE 15-20 knots gusting higher in T-storms with rain and squalls. You only need to look out of any of the portholes or windows that "they got it right". Everything is wet, not from leaks or incoming rain, but it is impossible to keep the moisture out that is driven by the powerful winds. You can't see the droplets, but you can swim in it as you get about the cabin. 100% humidity and a temperature of 85 degrees fahrenheit and climbing, not that we are alone in this. On every yacht anchored in the area at Marsh Harbor, there are heads peeking out, all feeling the same thing, and trying to formulate an escape plan. .............
Time to slip on a rain jacket, dinghy to town, buy some lettuce, some tom-toms and a cuquee and a packet of pork chops and do some "RAININ' ENTERTAININ".



Anchored close to us is the yacht "VIRGINIA B", a valiant 40, with Jim, Sandy and Roberta on board all ready to see the islands and stuck in the 'muck' just like us. We have swapped stories and adventures, videos and tools, and now we'll share dinner. Normally the BBQ is clamped to one of the stanchions (the upright poles that carry the life-lines), but with the rain we clamp it to one of the support posts in the cockpit, and under cover and it works beautifully. Awesome chops.
Meantime the girls share stories of their own. Sandy had baked a beautiful loaf of cheese-filled bread, hot out of the oven and delivered by dinghy.



Our conch shells on the after-deck and the sea-biscuit have been thoroughly washed in the rain, as has everything else. In walking through town, we found the remnants of an old house now partially occupied by a rain tree. After this week's rain it should have taken up full residency and grown at least to four feet in diameter.
The front hatch on "ARITA" now has a tent over it, with six inch (150mm) clearance at the deck. Air can flow through the boat, but the rain is kept out.(Well most of it anyway).

The grey skies and rain continue. The crew of "MOANA" also came by, for a visit bringing beautiful hand-crafted presents for the Queen. Their guests, David & Joanne were given the celebratory first drink of 'Ricardo's Mango rum' in a conch shell, sipping it from the fluted foot (spout). This has become our new custom with first visitors. If they come back we know they liked it. If they swallow it too quickly and fall over dead, we are fully set up for a quick buriel at sea. We certainly don't want to lose our reputation over this.



And tonight Claudia and Lino Basilico are joining us for dinner. They are from the Italian yacht " U.D.F.( no, that is not the name of their yacht. The real name is "L'Uomo del Faro III", which is longer than a sleepless night, if you are going to spell that over the VHF radio, like Lima, Uniform, Oscar, Mike.......It means 'Third man in the lighthouse'. Now who would have guessed that one.Maybe they have run out of good boat names in Italy) They were on board ARITA once before, while we dealt with copying navigational charts. Ours to them for the US East Coast, and theirs to ours for the Bays and anchorages of Cuba.

BY NOW.......ITS RAINING BIGTIME.

By now, the whole of the US East coast is being bashed by some serious gale weather and we in the Bahamas are getting our fair share with winds and squalls in the 30 knot range. Not fun, but the rain part is definitely needed in the islands. We have made it ashore in the dinghy, to a delightful little "Cafe-la-Florence", for a club sandwich,a bacon-turkey melt, a drink and some glorious fast speed internet.(Forgot what that was like). Out there in the rain, the yachts are 'rockin & rollin' but we are just "dandy and eatin candy".

Everywhere in the sand dunes we have found bushes of 'sea grapes' growing, but here in Marsh Harbor, we actually found sea grape trees. These trees were laden with unripe clusters and the leaves are the size of a six inch plate. We tracked down a Mrs. Paranell Darville from whom we bought some home made "SEA GRAPE JAM". Normally the birds get the grapes long before people do, but she still had some jars from last year's harvest.



Now here are two Classic yachts for you. "SVEA" on the right and this John Alden designed gaff-ketch " CARIB II" on the left. The white-hulled "CARIB II" was built in 1927, and as its age progressed, it became almost impossible to save it, because the planking had been fastened to the frames using iron fastenings, most of which had corroded away. The current owner then encased the hull in fibreglass, some 3/4" (20mm) thick and put a de-humidifier down below decks, to suck up the moisture from the planks. By the time he had removed more than 300 gallons of water, the yacht floated no lower than it did before, despite the addition of the fibreglass. A great solution worth bearing in mind when my skin starts to fall apart and my bones go rusty.

Boats really are fascinating. We met a delightful couple on a vintage Dutch-built steel yacht " MOANA", designed for shallow waters and with an enviable fridge/freezer, that would make even an urban dweller do a double take. We need to spend more time with Tom & Lorraine Serwatka, to learn the secret of this design since their fridge motor is the same as ours and we barely see the remains of where ice might once have been.
Amongst their many quaint fittings on board, was this signal flag locker. A work of art, now replaced with VHF and "Romeo, romeo, bravo, charlie stuff". Then again by the time you selected the flags and strung them up on your halyard, your signalling party would have left town and sold the boat..................... progress has its price.



Had to go into town to a hardware store to get some fittings, and saw the Queen strolling through the plumbing section. Caught her a few times looking enviously at some impossible hardware for a yacht. (Not exactly hard to figure out what she is thinking, now is it?) Caught her again, in the on-board shower later. This is a hard one to solve except that we manage to go ashore wherever we can, to take endless (and I mean ENDLESS)showers, to wash hair and clean the nooks and crannies. On shore showers are big and we can double-up to save water.

WAITING FOR ANOTHER FRONT

WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MARSH HARBOUR AND VICINITY
6 AM EDT MONDAY 18 MAY 2009

OUR WET WEATHER PATTERN CONTINUES AND INTENSIFIES...

FROM THE BAHAMAS MET OFFICE: SMALL CRAFT SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS

COLD FRONT MOVES INTO CENTRAL FLORIDA TONIGHT WITH GALE FORCE WINDS EXPECTED BEHIND IT AT THE SAME TIME A 1010MB SURFACE LOW WILL LIFT NORTHWARD FROM CUBA SENDING A WARM FRONT INTO THE SOUTHERN BAHAMAS. THE LOW WILL REACH THE STRAITS OF FLORIDA TOMORROW EVENING WITH GALES BUILDING BETWEEN THIS LOW AND THE REMAINS OF THE COLD FRONT OVER NW WATERS.
EXPECT THE LOW TO MOVE WEST INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO WED WITH GALES DIMINISHING THURSDAY. NOAA GALE WARNING NORTH OF 27N AND WEST OF 75W TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY.(NORTH OF ABACO)

ISLANDS IN SUMMER

"It's such a hard life", the Queen keeps telling me............. and I very much want to believe her, but with that smile she again fails to convince me (or anyone else for that matter). Our trip to FOWL CAY was great. Excellent snorkelling, none of which we can show you since the underwater camera died a salty death. Beautiful parrot fish, corals and fans, irridescent blue and orange fish and yellow and black angel fish................there was so much to see and every few minutes Corina's or Joel's head would surface with an exclamation of " Awesome, fantastic" and these are people who have done Queensland's Great Barrier Reef. A living, thriving aquarium. Then into the shallow sand spit, on the other side of the Cay, where rays were again found in a foot or two of crystal clear water and the search was on for 'sand dollars', the soft skeletal remains found buried about an inch under the sand. This is as close as one can get to tropical Paradise and unspoilt beauty. Most plant life on the islands is stunted from poor soil and a shortfall in rain, and yet the propensity to burst out in flowers of such brilliant colours catches us every time, just like this dwarf pink frangipani (plumeria).



THE BAHAMIAN NATIONAL TREE
This is an excellent example of "Lignum Vitae" the much sought after tree originally logged from the islands almost to extinction. It is so dense it sinks in salt water. It is also known as 'ironwood'. We found a piece that now holds our front hatch open. We would never have picked it up if it wasn't rolling on the bottom. Coconut palms are found only where there is at least some minimal soil but they certainly flourish.



While we are deeply respectful of the deceased, we couldn't help but observe the 'delightful' resting place of the very senior citizens of this fair isle. The Queen and I both agree that a 'good spot with a great view over the ocean' beats being buried at sea, hands down, even if it is in the middle of some shifting sands.



Comments received have indicated that pictures of the Queen are welcome anytime but the Captain in speedos, not so much.(Speedos in Oz are known as 'Budgie smugglers' and in the US as 'banana hammocks') "Someone buy that man some board shorts, please". Point taken..... no more speedo shots.......



" .................So you like my sand socks...."




Absolutely no idea what these flowers are called, just that they are exquisitely beautiful and Laurie does such a great job with her camera catching perfection and the unusual, like these mangroves deeply rooted in the sand and salt water and this old fishing shack and dock at the end of one of the bays. Almost a timeless oil painting.(double-click on the photographs and check it out).



Joel & Corina riding around in the dinghy once more, with another outboard engine. Your dinghy is more than your lifeline, it is your taxi, your U-haul, your truck, your everything and as you can see, anchoring off can sometimes be more than a mile away in shallow waters. Needless to say, it gets locked and chained at night to the back of the boat......... Oh, and by popular request here is some more of the JUNKANOO street parade held during the Heritage Island Roots Festival in Green Turtle Cay, a week or so ago.....and you'll see how much the Queen loves it......

A CHANGE IN PLANS

Joel and Corina (Rob's niece) have decided to end their voyage on SVEA. A painful decision but a very sound one. It is always hard to put a dream on hold, but the logic of the circumstances could not be avoided and some things take priority. The sea is as unforgiving as a bank and the skills required to sail a traditional yacht all the way to Australia are sizeable. We all applaud the decision. They will continue to sail on SVEA here in the beautiful Bahamas for the next six weeks until they fly to Australia at the end of June. The Yacht "SVEA" will revert back to us and we will try to find a new buyer for this beautiful classic world cruiser, who will need to love it as much as Joel and Corina have done.
OK, moving on................ The sun is shining, the water is blue and all of us are blessed, that's true.....................................There is a video clip below of the ocean's edge at Little Harbour..... One mistake and generally speaking, it is well and truly over........................................... There is also a little video clip of "curlytails" the unique lizards that live on the islands and the Abaco frangipani photos are for Anne (the Queen's daughter) who has grown several frangi sticks at home that are now in full flower in Jacksonville FL and growing more quickly than a bank account.



Her Royal Highness hard at work. Laurie may be the "Queen of Florida and the Bahamas", but some things more humble, never change. Washing day for the finer things like bikinis and "delicates". The lifelines serve as drying lines while the local 'bus' charges on by. We have been fortunate to be able to use laundromats on shore for the bigger loads. Water is a scarce commodity in the islands and most locals also use the laundromat and in many ways it is the hub of the community. Whereas the Captain also has his chores to do, as you can see from the shots below, the balance works for us. The Queen makes magnificent meals in the galley and I help her eat them............. and we have certainly had some great meals on board, not the least of which was the wonderful dinner we had last night onboard "SVEA", masterfully created by Chef "JOEL". A great job in a tiny galley. A real celebration of joy and peace after the difficult decision-making process.



The remains of a once beautiful outboard motor. It is to be returned to Florida for replacement. A sad saga that even John Grisham would have difficulty in making into a case. We will see what happens after we return to Florida to sit out the hurricane season. It is hard to dwell on negatives, when all around us is such beauty and we have health and freedom. The plan for tomorrow is for the four of us to go snorkling on a reef behind "FOWL CAY", which is bountiful in coloured fish and living coral........................ We would like to think that one of the effects of the blog is to inspire others to follow in our path, if for no other reason than to "see and feel and get a new perspective on life", and thus your comments are always welcome, inspiring and gratefully received.