WHO DAT......................................

Good question................ We didn't know either. We were waiting for the bus after buying some more oil filters in Nassau, when this little girl slid up to me, slipped her hand into mine and said " You got some candy?"........... Laurie took the picture of this little DIVA who said her name was 'Riah' and that she was two, but her grandmother later said she was actually three. Where do they learn that skilful seductive art or are they just born with it for she totally ignored Laurie? The other DIVA, the one in the photo above and in the one below, has been busy with me to repair the mainsail with its huge tear that runs right across the sail. There is no sailmaker to be had in Nassau, so we removed a sail batten pocket by un-stitching the seams and glued the dacron cloth piece over the tear with 3M "5200" fast-cure, a kind of super flexible caulking. Now this will never come apart. Dems-de-tings-yu-hav-to-do. Glenn's daughter Leigh, together with her boyfriend and girlfriend have arrived from the frozen North Pole in Plattsburgh upper N.Y. state to the balmy weather of the Bahamas. Today was a quick trip to the straw market and a ride to the "ATLANTIS" resort on Paradise Island.



We have seen it all before, but you never grow tired of the magnificent "Chahuly" blown glass that has to be seen to be believed and the magic clarity of the aquarium. The photos do neither attraction much justice. So get on a boat or a plane and come see it for yourself. Every day there are at least three cruise ships in port. ARITA is there in the foreground with her international flags flying in celebration of New Year's Eve. The festivities do not start until 1am tomorrow which will be next year, with a huge mardi-gras "JUNKANOO" parade that lasts till at least 9am. Those that hang out in bars in expectation of the event will probably be both exhausted and broke by the time the parade takes place. Drinks in Nassau are not cheap............. Check out the crew of "TREEHOUSE" in the bar at 'Senor Frogg' who soon found out.......................



See that bridge in the background......





We all walked back across that giant bridge to the anchorage, and on the way took a closer look at the Bahamian sloops that annually race in various island regattas. Way more exciting than a horse race. These sloop are constructed meticulously of local timbers and carry large crews suspended on an outboard plank to keep the vessel upright. The masts are huge and un-stayed. The purple vessel is named "ANNA NICOLE" no doubt after the famous (or imfamous) blonde bomb-shell Anna Nicole Smith, who now rests in a local cemetry in Nassau. The very last photo, should you double-click on it, will show you that this racing machine goes by the name of " WHO DAT "

And now it is nap time. We'll get up at 12.00am and see what's going on.............

AND ON TO NASSAU........................

A serious attempt was made to repair the main-sail at LUCAYA. We put the sewing machine out on the cabin top, took down the main-sail and proceeded to stitch the tear, but try as we might, there was no way to get the huge bulky sail to slide under the arm of the machine. This heavy-duty sailmaker's sewing machine goes by the trade name of "SAILRITE" but it ended up being absolutely "SAIL-WRONG". By the time we hoisted it, there were still two huge holes in the sail, but at least the leach (the back edge) was together again.
We left the following day in the early morning mist, sliding past a ghost ship of former days (It was even called GHOST, do a double click on the pic) and out into Providence Channel, on our way to the Berry Islands for an overnight stop at Grand Harbour. A rolly anchorage, far from 'Grand' but we slept right through it and then another full day's run to Nassau.

Providence Channel is the main shipping route for global shipping to the ports of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale and there was plenty of shipping to be seen, including cruise ships with all-you-can-eat guests on board. (The food is eaten, not the guests.) We did however have our own share of culinary delights, by catching several beautiful painted mackerals (Cero Mackeral). We also caught a barracuda which was released, and a big one got away with one of our lures. You have to lose some to win some. Our exquiste on-board chef "Laurie" produced sashimi in soy sauce with wasabi, seviche with key lime juice, and grilled mackeral in 'Paul Prudhommes's' Seafood Magic. It's a rough life but someone has to do it.......... Surely nothing tastes better or sweeter than stolen fruit or caught fish.................






I KNOW IT LOOKS THE SAME AS THE ONE ABOVE, BUT IT IS ANOTHER ONE.............just want to make sure that you know that these are not exaggerated fishing stories.....

Glenn on "TREEHOUSE" had left from Grand Hbr, Berry Islands early in the morning, just before sunrise but we passed him eventually under full sail. He had even managed to fix his auto-pilot with "5200", which is a story in itself. Glenn's daughter and friends are due to arrive in two days' time so his 6.5 knots is not for nothing........... He's excited............













Late afternoon sees both of our yachts entering Nassau Harbour for a one week stay to celebrate the New Year, The Junkanoo festival, shopping, and the repair of auto-pilots, sails, other equipment failures and the purchase of that magical elixer, "RICARDO's Mando rum". Now let's get that dinghy in the water...........



MORNING SUNRISE IN NASSAU HARBOUR, BAHAMAS

THE LONG ABSENCE........................

For all those of you that have HIGH-SPEED INTERNET, go out and hug someone or something and count your blessings. I'm sitting here watching the little green blocks slowly come up, like that hour-glass on 'Days of our lives' and waiting, waiting............... to upload some pictures. Now this is entirely different from crossing the Gulf-stream to the Bahamas yesterday............. ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. That was like being inside that clear plastic bowl on Saturday night when they draw out the LOTTO numbers. A wild ride from Hell. Tore the mainsail, broke the autopilot and Glenn on "TREEHOUSE" also broke his autopilot. Stuff went flying on deck and below deck despite our good stowage and the flying fish on deck were living proof that we went places we really should not have gone. In a nutshell, there was a 6-hour weather window to cross the gulf-stream before winds would be too strong and from the wrong direction, but having said that we knew that the left over seas from the previous weather systems would be a little rolly-polly. Forget ROLLY-POLLY................ It was full automatic four cycle washing-machine turbo thrust inside-out upside-down sleigh-ride stuff. Not to be repeated for at least several years. There were some much smaller yachts from Canada also waiting to do the crossing.............. having escaped the snow and ice they were now in for the full monty...................
BUT BACK TO WHERE WE LEFT OFF. After the big party at our most wonderful hosts for the summer, we did a huge renovation on the house, that took up every waking moment for both Glenn and I, while the 'Queen of Florida' got busy on the sewing machine to make a new awning for Glenn's TREEHOUSE', amongst many other things. (The former owner of Glenn's yacht had it in his backyard and the kids would play in it all the time, hence the name "TREEHOUSE". The yacht left, the name stayed)
With not enough hours to spare, we finally left VERO BEACH on the 22nd and were waved by as we passed STUART, FL by By John & Maryanne King of the Yacht "PURA VIDA" who are two cruisers of the very best kind and really fall into a category of their own. Generous, thoughful and incredibly supportive. Splendid people. We have been so fortunate in meeting so many wonderful people this summer....... OUR THANKS TO YOU ALL...



And so, after an 18-hour crossing of the waters that separate Florida from the Bahamas, we arrived at LUCAYA entering a narrow channel into the inner harbour with Bahamian blue water and a chance to finally get some sleep........... weary, weathered and worn out, but free.................... and just to show that we haven't lost our sense of humour, Laurie took this photo of the light house at LUCAYA on the left. Don't exactly know why they needed the lighthouse, as the channel on the charts shows only five foot depth. Not exactly a big ship harbour. The other lighthouse above was at Jupiter's Inlet just north of West Palm Beach...........................Oh, and all those provisions on ARITA's deck above, are for Glenn Miller on TREEHOUSE. He used to have this nice blue stripe just above the waterline..................... and it will probably come back when he has eaten and drunk this lot..................



The "BOUNTY" or at least a replica, at Peanut Island, WEST PALM BEACH, as we went to anchor for our 8pm departure and our night crossing that will not soon be forgotten............

BOATYARD BLUES EXTENDED.........................

Unlike previous times when we have managed to get in and out of a boatyard in five days, this haulout seems to have gone on forever......... The sanding, grinding, priming and painting was painful but slowly the hull began to look better. The "Queen" and I had booked into a motel for the week, Never did find out what the owner thought of that dirty couple who would arrive at sunset each day.............I'm guessing he has seen worse............. for an early breakfast we would go to the Post Office. The Post Office doubles as a Cuban restaurant where they served us with super-size eggs, Cuban bread and fried plantains and some really good coffee to face yet another day. Alongside us in the boatyard is the familiar "7" logo from Australian television channel 7, and sure enough the head of a fellow Aussie mate appeared. His name is Gus. He bought the yacht on ebay. Good on you, mate........



Managed to find a replacement propeller, have it machined to fit the key-way only to find 'Queen Laurie' holding the old propeller with the 'blues extended' look, and that expression that says "I WANT TO GO SOMEWHERE"........... Soon, baby, soon. Now pulling a fifty-year old shaft out is no easy task (and I'm talking about the propeller shaft here) Step one: cut it off in the bilge with an angle grinder, STEP 2: remove the new propeller, STEP 3: swing the rudder sideways and extract the shaft. and WOW look at the state of it................ totally worn through with old age. STEP 4: Find a new one, which we did, measuring a bare 2" (50mm) longer. Beautiful shiny stainless steel, the right size and only $400.00 Believe me, that is cheap in marine terms......... Thus within 24 hours we have a new prop shaft, a new prop, and an empty wallet, but we are still smiling if somewhat over-it-all,



The Cuban restaurant/ Post Office is beginning to treat us like family. Those are not windows above my head in the photo below, but reflective vehicle tags (number plates). A fine collection from all over the American continent, and the photo above on the right is of "DAVID", a superb gentleman, who dropped everything else, to help us with the prop shaft machining and got it all done in under four hours...................now that was real genuine service. The man is a perfectionist................ throughout these last few weeks we have been following "GLOBAL GLENN MILLER's" progress from the Canadian border in upper state NY down to Florida in his yacht "TREEHOUSE". 'Staying a mile ahead of the ice' as he calls it. Staying ahead is good. Saw this quaint church in Ft. Pierce with a couple of old cannons sticking out of the brickwork....... whatever it takes, I guess.............(Do a double click on this photo)



Down in the bilge again adjusting the new packing on the stern gland to keep the water out when the propeller shaft is turning. Take a close look at the licence tag (number plate) Laurie is holding. Now we bet there are not too many of those floating around without a chain and padlock on them...............



And finally after 1400 miles of single-handed, and single-minded ocean sailing, our friend and future 'buddy-boat' cruising companion arrived in Ft. Pierce, worn-out and very tired, but excited to be in Florida where the snow and ice can't get him anymore. A fine sailing feat. The photo below on the left was taken some four months ago when 'Global Glenn' was cruising on his yacht with his son Spencer, in the Bahamas. It is not really that difficult to work out why he named his 31 ft yacht "TREEHOUSE"................... so here on the right is Glenn, now fully rested and transformed, hobb-knobbing with high society, at a social function in the 'Moorings' at Vero Beach, Florida. Glenn will make it anywhere............ and that's the plan.



THE CLOSEST ANY OF US INTEND TO GET TO ICE, IN THE FUTURE, IS IN A DRINK, EVEN IF WINTER HAS ARRIVED AGAIN WITH A VENGEANCE.......... BRRRR........