TERRORIZED BY TRAFFIC

Finally it was time to set sail for FLORIDA, when nothing could be done to fix any of our electronics that had been "fried" by the lightning strike. Arriving and departing are always emotional times and leaving Green Turtle Cay, where we had spent a lot of our time, and said our 'good-byes' to everyone including the 'Rasta' dockmaster. Even the three houses on the beachfront seemed brighter in the fading light. At least we will be back within a couple of weeks, to pick up SVEA and sail her back to Florida as well. So early in the morning of 17th July, we motored through to Spanish Cay to anchor for the night and watched the sinking sun. The evening dip in the water was out. The sea was filled with thousands of Jelly-fish. By late the next day, we again anchored, this time at Mangrove Cay, far out on the Bahama bank, slept for four hours, and took off again to cross the edge of the bank and into the Gulf Stream, at first light. The Queen of Florida had filled the whole cabin with memorable Island fragrance and the cup 'overfloweth' with frangipanis........................



Gone was the turquoise and the aqua water colours. Gone too, were the pastels of water-colour green, now to be replaced with the deep indigo blue of 1200 ft of Gulf Stream. When the wind died, we motored on a mirror sea, with only flying fish breaking the surface. Our destination port was Ft. Pierce and we pushed to be in by nightfall, and in late afternoon, it became a race to beat the inevitable thunderstorm that had built up after a cloudless day. It was hand steering all the way without the auto-pilot, or in the case of 'Queen' Laurie, it was foot-steering. Apples, water and shade..................... and she steered a good course too.



We had heard that in order to clear in at Customs, you need to go to the airport. Kind of hard to do to take the yacht to the airport, so we caught a taxi. Before sunrise we were on our way up the Intracoastal once more to Vero Beach. Pelicans in the morning sunrise, and high rise condos on the Oceanfront. We went about ten miles past Vero to look for "Jones's Fruit Dock", a place to leave ARITA for the hurricane season. Met the 90 yr-old Mr Jones after docking, but he was not allowed to have live-aboards, nor had he the electrical power available for the A/C, which is a must-have, so we departed for the Municipal Vero Beach Marina. Picked up a mooring at Vero, and into town to rent an AVIS. Then the terror began. Not my terror, oh no, it was the Queen who became terrorized. Way too much traffic, going way too fast on the highway, and it seemed, she said, I was driving way too fast..............At least I was driving on the same side as them...................... Here's Mr Jones's Fruit dock below. It really is wonderful being back in Florida where the supermarket is overflowing with healthy goodness, where everything is fat, fast and furious, and where you can definitely get a good laugh most of the time...........



We made it safely to Jacksonville, where the electronics and alternators are being repaired and Queen Laurie and little Laurie are happily re-united and engrossed in talking wedding plans for March 2010.



And it surely will be quite some time before we get back to anything like this picture, considering SVEA that has to brought back to FLORIDA, the electronics and wiring on ARITA that has to be replaced, a new propellor shaft put in and hurricane season and.......................................................whatever......
Yes, you can double click on it........................

LEAVING THE ABACOS

Leaving ABACOS is not quite the same as leaving VEGAS, although there are similarities, one of which is that the wallet is no longer as thick as before you came. We are the last of the yachts still around, and the anchorages are empty, though the soul is filled with awesome memories. Even the weather has improved remarkably, with trade wind breezes from the South-east. What little sailing we have done, has still necessitated keeping the awning up. IT IS HOT. This morning was "check-out" time with Bridget, presenting the paperwork to Customs and Immigration for official clearance into the US. While there, I did a quick repair job on the security system. Have to keep my hand in........at the rate we spend, I just might need to go back to work before long. Shortest retirement in history. We came upon a "real" classic yacht in Marsh Harbour. Hate to think what that would set one back, but it is bound to be a few sackfuls of coupons. This "Cherubini schooner" called HARMONY, out of Vero Beach, FL, is magnificent, inside and out, and the detail is exquisite. What a pity you have to put it in the salt water instead of in a glass case.



Some are out there sailing still including charter boats and us, sort of..................on the left,........ and the picture below, is a locally-built schooner, used by the Boyscout Association to provide kids with an exhilarating experience for a week, with a different anchorage every night, in unforgettable locations. The scouts come from all over the US and Canada.







Just as we were leaving Green Turtle Cay, after clearing Customs, a barge came in with the weekly supplies for the island. High activity at the dock with forklifts flying down narrow alleys. We have been in the ABACOS Islands, three months and a day....................and whereas we should be in ANTIGUA by now, here we are heading to FLORIDA, to weather another huriccane season. Two weeks from now should see us back again in Green Turtle Cay, to collect our other beautifu yacht SVEA. How do you describe something like that........ Could you call it an "inconvenient truth" or simply just a "painful blessing"..................

ISLAND STYLE

We found out the other day that kids born in the Abacos are called "CONIANS". When my niece Corina left a few weeks ago, and she was eight months pregnant, it was touch and go whether she would have a 'Conian". Conians appear to be very happy and healthy and definitely not shy, like these three dancing in the street at one of the functions. There are some other things that are definitely also "ISLAND STYLE". Take this bank sign for instance. You need to get your act together if you are going to get to the bank on time in the dinghy and get some money out. Let me explain. The Bank staff travel between islands. Ever see a bank employee with two fishing rods and a tackle box? Then when they get to the bank, there are phone calls to be made, " Nellie, how are you...... yes, I'll be here till at least 3pm,......Let Charlotte know I'm in town......OK, see you then" and if you think that's different, you should see the one-man SWAT team (Badge No. 001) guarding the bank. He has to start a fight and break it up every once in a while, to keep in practice.................
The yacht racing continues as the fleet travels down islands, and they take it very seriously. Some sail right into the harbour. Perhaps they had engine troubles................... Getting a sponsor like "Hospice" never hurts when it comes to the race committee. Meantime Captain Bligh, on ARITA, has his crew working on hands and knees varnishing the deck. This is a wonderful remedy we have found to stop the micro-leaks from the wooden plugs in the teak, compliments of a Harley-Davidson biker from Alabama.............................. Who knew.



All you need to make good music is a microphone and two wood saws to do some 'rake & scrape" This is "BROWN TIP's Band. Personally I would go for a name like "BAND-SAW". The parties continue, as the fleet travels down-island. While the yachts race from island to island, someone else has to bring the dinghies to the other end. A strange sight in the middle of the Abaco Sea, if you didn't know what it was all about.



Meet the "collector" just above water and just outside of Fisher's Bay on Guana Cay. Many wished they hadn't. The fleet is at anchor in the bay while the occupants are partying big-time at the famous "NIPPERS" Beachbar. Everything that arrives in the Abacos has to be transhipped in Marsh Harbour to smaller flat bottomed freighters and barges that can get into places often only six feet deep. The tanker below squeezed through the channel markers where the depth is 6 ft 6 inches at high tide to deliver a load of gasoline and diesel. The other barge delivers containers for the local stores, like the department store below where Young Miss Lorian Russell came up to Laurie and said " Can I help you Madam?".......... We were shopping for Bahamian colors for the 10th July, Independance Day Celebration.



Double click on the photo to the right and you will see that life begins a foot above the waterline..............



But here is one thing that most definitely is not ISLAND STYLE. Things do not move fast. Thus it is all the more amazing, how fast some people can be, when they want to be, even in the islands. As one local person put it so beautifully.......... "It took forty-eight hours to have these Micheal Jackson memorial T-shirts (Tears included) made available out of Miami, for sale in the islands, and about forty-eight years to fill the potholes in the street.

R & R AND THE 4TH JULY

"R & R" stands for remembrance, reflection, revelation, but mostly for "rum & recovery". The STRANDED NAKED PARTY on the beach at Fiddle Cay, was an outstanding success. At the end of the day, the volunteers cleaned the beach, removed all the trash and disposables and left it pristine once again. The next day, Bob and Patricia brought their houseboat into the inner harbor at Green Turtle Cay (picture below), to continue with the festivities of RACE WEEK. We all woke up on the 4th of July, to an anchorage overshadowed by one yacht's huge US flag and a bunch of smaller ones on the forestay. This is how to celebrate in style. ARITA, for her part, hoisted the signal flags and a bunch of international ones, to give the appearance, no doubt from a distance, of 'chinese laundry'. Admittedly the China flag was one of them. (You can double click on any of the photos to enlarge them). Barely had all of the competing yachts made it to the start line for the first race, when a squall moved in with a vengeance. Temperatures went from 100 degrees to 50, in minutes, as very cold rain lashed all those on deck. Some claimed it was the best cure for a hang-over, others said they were forced to take the cure. The array of competing yachts is amazing, including the Bahamian sloops, with their huge sail areas, and their "pry", which slides from side to side during each tack as the crew clamber for a butt-hold. Some butts just don't hold, which becomes a factor in crew selection. 'Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, just get your butt down on that stick'.



Hang on Jack, just hang on.....

And you would have to see it to believe it but the race fleet became totally becalmed in the late afternoon. Ghosters on the pond, shimmering in the sun, breatlessly beautiful but breathless just the same. Meantime, back at the ranch the street party is well on the way. The band is grooving, literally. Double click on the 'Rake & Scrape" musician holding the wood saw. There was some serious street dancing well into the night. Even the hypnotic drummers from the Junkanoo returned after dark to bang their drums and our ear drums. Young and old, white and black, cruisers and racers, all got into it. Bare feet and in the dirt.......



Bob & Joan from the yacht "SPLASH" out of Palatka, Florida, on a cat-rigged ketch with half wish-bones (I would have to draw it to explain it, if you didn't know). We have gotten to know them quite well, and they too, danced the night away.

Too hot below, too hot on deck........... this might work......... Shade and breeze, to cool the knees.



And who can resist 'ham & eggs' for breakfast on the 4th July, hand-made by the Queen herself. The ever-lasting American breakfast........ Sunny-side up, served on Bahamian raisin toast.

A humungous decision has been jointly made..................... The next party at Treasure Cay, on the 5th July, is going to have to be without us.................

We need a rest.......