VISITING THE YACHT CLUB

The excellent company of Dale and Lorie Boyd on the Yacht " GYPSEY PALACE", a beautiful 45 ft, centre-cockpit Hunter, made it possible for us to visit the ALLENS-PENSECOLA Yacht Club. Membership is free, but you definitely need a dinghy to get there. In the photo below, you will see Captain Dale leaning on the bar. It will take a good hour to read all the plaques left behind by all the visitors to this "Yacht Club". We also left our small contribution.............. Nailed up with silicon-bronze nails, guaranteed to outlast humanity. So in a zillion years and at least one hurricane, the nails will still be there.



Oh, ...and this is what our anchor looks like when anchored in the sea-grass bottom, two metres down...........

Not that we were alone........ There was some very serious lizard love going on. Check out the photo below. The boy on the right, was making some very suggestive gestures with his tail........ which clearly upset his girlfriend who turned away in disgust.........................



After visiting the "Yacht Club", we met with a couple of local fishermen, whose diving compressor had given up the ghost. We came to their rescue with a tool bag and an Allen-Wrench. You would have thought that at Allens-Pensecola, the obvious thing available would be Allen wrenches. The compressor got fixed, and they returned that evening, with two huge hog snappers. Cleaned them for us and presented the skinned fillets. Feasting again, like Kings and Queens. A big thanks to Kirk Darville and Junior Mackintosh (Uncle Junior Mac). We promised we would visit them in FOXTOWN.



The crew of "Gypsey Palace" had the GPS co-ordinates of a sunken ship from the WW II era, or more correctly, a liberty ship that ran aground after WW II. The wreck site was more than a mile offshore, but spectacular, when we found it with GPS. Steel beams overgrown with coral and algae. Even an anchor chain link was brought to the surface. The ships propellor shaft is visible on the left. Lorie and Laurie took some of these beautiful underwater pictures.



One could spend all day looking at the range of life and colour in the underwater world ........... The Queen swimming over the top of the wreck. Occassionally a little wave would break in the shallow depth. Much of the material from the shipwreck is spread more than a mile along the fringing reef and we were able to locate the ship's anchors as well as the stern section and the propellors. Below is a photo of the remains of the anchor winch and at least one of the deck fairleads. Huge chunks of steel plate and girders everywhere, like a lost city.



Inside the Allens-Pensecola anchorage, at the head of the bay, we found a pile of old conch shells ready for serious cleaning. They have to be dead for a while, because the 'smell' of the animals's remains is pretty powerful. Cleaned and inspected, they are now on board drying and ready to be put away, as future "presents from paradise".



As with everything else in this world, there is bureacracy and hierachy. The photo on the left is our own "Anchor Inspector". This nurse shark lies quietly on the bottom and waits for the unwary..... a fish, you,....... me ................ dipping your hand in the water and splashing, while sitting in your dinghy, is a good way to do it......



Our trip to the wreck in the morning, and our subsequent afternoon trip to swim on the coral reefs, in near perfect conditions, was a highlight, after so many stormy days with tempestuous winds and powerful squalls. The wreck-site is so vast, that the few photographs included here, do not do it justice. When we finally returned, nothing beats the ending of a day shared, than some delicious hog snapper fillets, with peppers, lime, onions and spices, wrapped in foil and slowly cooked on the BBQ grill. a glass of chilled something, and topped off with a magnificent sunset....... Well, almost nothing......

We are very grateful to Dale and Lorie Boyd, on "GYPSEY PALACE" for a memorable visit to some special places, and great company, and for bringing our 'care package' from the Queen's daughter, that included two underwater cameras and a tin of our favourite coffee. The morning after the beautiful sunset is just as good, and we are off to find FOXTOWN and some fishermen......................

HIT THE MOTHERLODE.............................

For all those that hit the highway in the morning, to rush to work, in order to make house payments and put food on the table, for those that take care of the kids and those that spend days on the phone or stand behind counters, or sit at desks, all of this may be totally irrelevant, but yesterday, the Queen and the wonderful crew of the yacht "GYPSEY PALACE" hit the motherlode. The "MOTHERLODE" is when you find a beach, that no-one has discovered, and you collect the most beautiful pieces of glass, all rounded and polished by the timeless ocean waves, and you painstakingly adore each piece, not for its shinyness or its size, but for its dullness and roundedness. This bowl-full is an hour's work but priceless in its value and more beautiful than diamonds. Just ask the Queen and she will confirm it. Competitive beach-combing could become an Olympic sport, they way they went about the search on Powell Cay.................... and each wave would expose new pieces.....

After returning to Green Turtle Cay, I was able to take a quick look around the storeroom of the Island's Electrical Supply services. They do have a lot of outages and I was wondering if there was a connection.........................or lack of one...



Truly, without doubt the high-light of this day, was to meet Mr. Alton R. Lowe, seventh generation of Lowe's in the Abacos, who is not only extraodinary for his magnificent creative talent and artwork, but for his organizational ability and vision in the various arts and cultural events, and tops it off with a garden beyond description. His works, many of which are displayed in the gallery, and range from island scenes, portraits and flowers, are to be found world wide. The Queen has at least three of his paintings as presented by the Prime Minister of the Bahamas ( I mean the other Queen, Elizabeth Rex, of the England and the United Kindom). One leaves the gallery, in absolute awe of a lifetime filled with achievements and dedication. A prince of Tides in the truest sense, living on an island far from the mainstream, who organises 70 piece orchestras and stages drama plays, on a island that doesn't have enough flat land for a football field. The blessings were all ours.



Yes, Alton's paintings are as beautiful as this orchid we found in his garden, and when he annually organises a classical concert in this garden, more than seven hundred people attend. The island's population is less than a quarter of that and our guess is that not a lot of those play the "oboe" or the "clarinet" and for whom "castinets" are ...... " Well Mon.....dat is a ting you catch dem fish with". Kind of speaks for itself. ........ Perhaps this was the "MOTHERLODE"...............

The Crew of "Gypsey Palace returning with their treasures.

The time has come to give the real Queen a 'promotion', but not before we got her Highness to pose with her Royal mangoes.



The smile certainly says " GODDESS ".

Laurie may have to wear that T-shirt for quite a while before I can accept the change to "Goddess"....... meantime these fine two gentleman, Captain Bob & buddy Buck, sailed the trimaran in the photo below, all the way from Florida to the Abacos, during this period of extreme weather. Bear in mind, the trimaran is 23 ft long, a foot above water and a foot below water. That's the same as camping on a moving waterbed at between zero and ten knots, and if you need the outboard, well then its three knots, if the water is flat........ Champions in a class of their own, which explains why their yacht is called " WET MONKEY".............. Good call.



And these last few photos speak for themselves................(feel free to double-click on any of them) including these multi-flowering 'Oleanders', also known globally as Municipal flowers. Three squalls per afternoon, all coming in at over 30 knots, ripping and tearing, and then the rain hits, and our hearts stop racing............... while the horizontal rain becomes more vertical............. and ..... never mind................... one mistake and you end up like this piece sitting in and on the water on a deserted beach........................
Now ask us if we're having fun yet?

ROLL-CALL ..........PLEASE..........

YES, WE REALLY NEED A ROLL CALL. We have had so many wonderful comments, from so many people, all of which has been so appreciated, even the ones about 'budgie smugglers', that we need to be able to sometimes reply to people individually. Some comments have come as far away as a guitar band in Taiwan, someone with an invitation to come cruise Thailand and one to come to New Orleans, to see some of their flowers. Very many of the comments are "Anonymous", which gives us no means of replying. So,............ if you have enjoyed the blog, please help us by sending an email to Rob at "robarita@yahoo.com" or to Laurie at "laurendehaan@yahoo.com", so that we can put your email address in a separate folder. (This will be completely confidential) There are times when we have special photos or stories that we can share. We may also take some time off during the hurricane season, in August and September, when there is not a lot to see or say,(other than plain nasty weather) and we can then notify you personally, when the "cruising" will resume, which if all things work out, will be to CUBA, yes................ CUBA.. Imagine sailing to "forbidden" places and dealing with mountains of 'red tape' and Spanish........Could be fun....

Laurie picked up these small long-spine star shells, only to discover that all of them had a little hermit crab tucked away inside................ who knew?



On the Island of Manjack, someone has cut a wonderful nature trail right through the island to oceanside. A jungle trail with signposts made of hand-painted palm fronds. Once committed, you end up running along this one mile trail, simply to out-distance the mosquitos, who have multiplied and multiplied again since the rains. A great run, a good exercise, with an ocean beach at the end. (Double-click on the Queen in the undergrowth). We passed a mangrove spot with a yacht already secured for hurricane season. Even the rudder had been removed, then again, maybe it is still there from last season. This is exactly what we will need to do, when we get the yachts back to Vero Beach in July. Secure them nice and tight. Sell beautiful SVEA to a lover of wooden yachts and be on our way again in November on ARITA.



And just when we thought we had the beach all to ourselves, and busy collecting shells and things, who should come ambling along but Mr Scrawny Pig. Scared the Queen no end. Approached us to within 10 feet, and then a second one came out of the scrub......... Oh well,...... time to get in the dinghy. No roast pork for us. These pigs scrounge whatever they can find on the tide line. I had enough trouble cleaning conch shells, let alone skinning a wild pig, not that I even contemplated the thought. We buy pork chops, we don't make them................

In the afternoon, when the Heavens open up, and the downpour begins, we wait till the decks are cleaned and open the water fill plug on deck. In no time at all, our tanks are once again filled with delicious fresh water, free of charge. Our drinking water still goes through special carbon filters, but the bulk of it is used in washing. This is a luxury that neither Robinson Crusoe nor Tom Hanks had. On 'Pig' beach we found this make-shift raft...................Now we know that pigs are supposed to be smart, and they are definitely marooned on this island................Kind of makes you think......................Could they?.

YACHTS, DOLPHINS, MANGOES & FIGS

It took all of thirty seconds to get off the boat when the rains finally stopped. It felt like it had rained for forty days and forty nights. Long walks on the beach and more trips to discover interesting things, like this "Beach Throne" for the Queen with the perfect setting, worthy of a double-click. Corina on the yacht "SVEA", sent us the photo below of "ARITA" passing the mega yacht "P2". When you have double-clicked on this photo you will then realise that "ARITA" is 52 ft long and 55 ft above the water and you are dealing with a serious comparison in size and money. Yes,"P2" is a serious yacht, the kind that you don't just take out for a quick sail in the afternoon. "P2" belongs to someone, who also bought the little island shown in the sunset in the next photo. Nice island, about 3 acres of hard coral rock, and no more than 10 ft above water at high tide, and at a staggering cost of $ US 25 million. Not that you could anchor there. All around it, the water depth is about 10 ft, but it is very close to Baker's Bay on Guana Cay, so presumably that is where "P2" could stay for a bit. Now here is the real interesting thing so we have been told. The owner of "P2" and the island, is an 80 years old gentleman in a wheelchair.....................so the moral of this NIKE story is simple. "Just do it". There is going to be no luggage on the last trip................Look who's talking.



Our fishing has been a miserable failure so far. We have blamed it on "food-chain-interruptus", though we did catch this yellow-finned snapper, which tasted soooooo good ............. Then early one morning, there was mother and "kid" dolphin, playing hide-n-seek under our keel. She would swim around and hide on one side of the keel, until the "kid" gave chase, and then she would be off again for another round. We, meantime, would run on one side of the boat to take a photo and they would be on the other. Someone must have rung a pre-school bell or something, for suddenly they were off, frolicking the whole time. Never did get any decent shots.



Getting the conch shells off the bottom is the easy part. Cleaning them, and preparing them is like skinning an eel. Lucky to end with all my knuckles intact. The Queen made a superb dish of " Conch Tortellini " with spinach, and I bet that's not in any of the recipe books. Used conch shells are found everywhere and are turned into garden walls and flower bed edges or in decorating driftwood sculptures as on this beach below. Speaking of decorations, how about this one, stencilled, on a cistern, that will be buried in the ground. 'God' must be very busy, blessing everything from whole Nations to deeply buried water cisterns.

In Green Turtle Cay, we found the island's gaol painted in 'posthumous' pink, with a stairwell going nowhere, or perhaps the landing once housed the hanging noose which has been removed. We don't want to scare anybody do we.............. They could have had pretty much the same effect if they made them climb this tree.................with bare feet and hands.



Now for the mangoes, juicy green mangoes, ripe for the picking in about a month. Nothing tastes sweeter than stolen fruit. We might get to see the inside of " Ye Olde Gaol" after all.

Oh......... and about the figs......................Well, once upon a time, there was this Spanish nobleman riding on his magnificent friskie stallion, when he spotted a bent-over old man in a stony field. He pulled in his horse and called out to the old man, who hobbled over to the stone hedge. "What are you doing out there" asked the nobleman to which the old man sedately replied " Why, I'm planting fig trees ". The nobleman nearly fell off his horse with laughter, and could only barely get the words out " Ol' man, have you any idea how long it takes for those trees to grow, and to bear figs, and look at you...........". " Well," replied the old man, " Have you ever tasted fig jam?". " Why yes, when I was young, I used to put it on bread, and even ate it straight out of the jar " replied the nobleman. The old man turned to walk away, then stopped, and slowly turned to the nobleman and said " and who, may I ask, planted those trees?" ...............................

So as we walk, and wander, and see the beauty and the splendour, we too owe heaps to those that came before us.........................




There are no two beaches the same, and with a view ever-changing, it is like a walk through paradise. A treasure to behold and a blessing to share with others, so we thank all those who are walking along on this journey, this gentle cruise, no matter where you might be.