Vero, Titusville, & Daytona Beach

     I have never been the biggest fan of Florida. I imagine that it was incredibly beautiful a hundred years ago, but now that it's plastered with asphalt and condos it doesn't appeal to me as a pleasant place to live. Returning to Florida after a stay in the very laid-back, low-key Bahamas has been harsh. Even though these places are only separated by a narrow band of ocean, they're worlds apart.

     In the Bahamas you say hi. When you pass anyone on the street they greet you with a cheery "Hello, how are you today?" and you often end up having full out conversations across the street with locals. If you need to go somewhere far away, just stick your thumb out and you'll catch a ride from the first person who drives by. Smalltalk isn't just a brief ordeal; we once ended up chatting and laughing with one cashier for about a half hour after purchasing a bag of groceries from her. You never have lock your boat and I was always allowed to go for walks around town by myself. The fear of strangers that America had instilled in me was erased in the Bahamas.

     Coming ashore in America was kind of happy but also a rude awakening from my happy Bahamian state of mind. I walked into Publix and experienced a major sensory overload. All of the food stores in the Bahamas could have fit inside of the Publix in Fort Pierce. The food in the Bahamas is twice as expensive as it is here so my mother and I had an absolute field day stocking up on things like Wheat Thins and chips that had been prohibitively expensive for the past four months. We're eating well on White Seal now!

    We left Vero Beach on Thursday and made an impressive 73.5 miles up to Titusville for the night. We anchored out and went in to the marina to catch up with friends and an Irish family of five that we had met around Thanksgiving. We ordered pizza and chowed down. I felt disgustingly American sitting there with my soda and pizza in front of the TV. It was scrumptious.

     Yesterday we headed up to Daytona Beach. My second cousins were vacationing in the area so my dad decided that we could pay for a marina for the night. Our marina was wicked nice and I managed to shower off before going out to dinner with my great aunt, second cousins, and their parents. (Not really sure how to refer to them, but the dad is my dad's cousin. Does that make him my second cousin once removed...? I'm clueless.) The two girls were seniors in high school and identical twins. And man, they were REALLY identical. If they had been wearing the same outfit, which thankfully the weren't, I would have been completely incapable of remembering who was who. They were very nice and it was cool to get to know them for an evening.

    This morning we're motoring up to St. Augustine, if the tides will allow us to go that far. St. Augustine was my favorite place in Florida last time we went through, so I'm excited. There's a great used book store that I really want to stop at, as well as a little cafe with the world's most heavenly cinnamon buns. 

     If we continue to make good time up the coast, we might be home around June 1st. No promises or anything because boats and plans don't mix at all. But tentatively, possibly, maybe, we could PERHAPS get back around then. I have a job lined up at the Basin Harbor Club as a hostess, which I am quite excited about. I've gotten to talk to a bunch of friends since coming back to the States so I'm thinking a lot more about home. It will be sad to give up the boat life, but hey- I've got another full month. May as well live it up!

     Since I have good Internet now, here are some pictures from the Bahamas. They aren't particularly recent but I thought I'd include some that show the people and buildings that make the country so special and unique.

Water spouts on the horizon. When we were sailing to the States earlier this week,
we had to stay out of the way of these bad boys.

Local kids at Green Turtle parade around town practicing Junkanoo music.

Roberta's Faith Grocery store in Green Turtle Cay. Little smaller than an American Stop & Shop, eh?

I thought that this tailor's shop in Bimini was absolutely adorable.

My mother at the helm. This was taken as we crossed the Tropic of Cancer
on the way to Salt Pond, Long Island.

There are many abandoned homes taken over by nature on Cat Island.

The US of A

    Well everybody, White Seal is back in the States. I have had a few very long days and am rather worn out, but everything has gone very well.
     On Saturday we left Manjack Cay in the Abacos and sailed 52 nautical miles to Great Sale Cay. It was a really hot, muggy day, but jumping overboard when we anchored did wonders for my mood. We moved to another more protected anchorage on Sunday and spent another night there waiting out bad weather. The sky was pretty dark and there were water spouts, which are mild, short-lived tornadoes that often form in unsettled weather. I spent a lot of time in the water, savoring the magnificent, clear Bahamian water. We explored the island for a while, but the vegetation was thick and venturing inland was quite a challenge.
     That night we had dinner on another boat and chatted about the upcoming crossing with a bunch of other cruisers. Boaters get really worked up about that sort of thing and always make a point to discuss their past near-death crossing experiences over cocktails with whomever will listen. I found it rather dull, but hey- there was good food.
     The next morning we pulled up anchor and sailed away along with a dozen other boats. We fired up the motor and cruised along the banks, trying to avoid the squalls that you could see dumping rain off to the south. I watched Great Sale Cay sink below the horizon, then West End, then Mangrove Cay. We got to the GPS waypoint by Memory Rock then headed off of the Bahama Banks and into the Straits of Florida. Memory Rock is just a nondescript chunk of rock in the middle of nowhere, but I watched it until it disappeared behind us. Memory Rock was the last of the Bahamas that we would see.
     Leaving was sad. I have had wonderful experiences there that I will never forget as long as I live. Fortunately, I didn't have much time to become a sentimental mess. We had to cross the Gulf Stream.
     It got dark shortly after and the temperature dropped to a much more comfortable level. My mom took a nap while my dad and I steered west. The water in the Gulf Stream is much more choppy than your typical stretch of deep water so I took a motion sickness pill as a precautionary measure. It was very effective, though it made me rather tired. I slept from about 9:00 until midnight, at which time a particularly large swell tossed me out of my bunk and onto the floor.
     I steered from midnight until about 3:30. My mom slept the whole time, but my poor dad probably only got about 5 minutes of shut-eye. Every time he'd lay down and things would be going uneventfully, I'd see a ship coming towards us and he'd want to stay up until it was safely by us. I handed the tiller back to him and fell asleep for another hour or so.
     Crossing the Gulf Stream is pretty awesome. The whole concept that it is basically a huge river plopped in the middle of the ocean fascinates me. The route we took was only about 60 miles, but 20 of those are provided by the strong current. Plus you just feel really accomplished when you  and your little boat go from one country to another in one day.
     Luckily for us, we were traveling with friends on another sailboat who had all the gadgetry that helps make encounters with ships as easy and safe as possible. With their handy-dandy AIS, we could see nearby any large ship's name, location, speed, and course. Their radar also helped us locate any other vessels that the AIS missed. Using this, we managed to effectively avoid getting obliterated by several massive ships that came nearby during the night. I made some snide remarks to my dad about our boat's lack of such equipment, but I'm sure we would have been fine even without access to such information.
     We drifted outside of the entrance to the channel for a while to wait for daylight. As the sun rose we motored in the cut and into the ICW. Everything seemed so oversized in Florida. So well-developed. So manicured. After spending a winter in a more primitive country, Florida overwhelmed me. (This also might have been due to my extreme exhaustion at this point.)
     The first thing that really stood out to me was that America smelled funky. It seems like a stupid thing to say, but it's really true. The Bahamas are made of rock and sand and always smell like a beach. As we came closer to the US I smelled the strong smell of soil, which is something largely nonexistent in the Bahamas. There was also a faint but definitely noticeable odor of exhaust fumes.
     We anchored by the Harbor View Marina. My mom fell asleep, but I was still functioning pretty well so I cleaned up. It's amazing how gross a boat can get after a passage. Everything gets tossed around the cabin and I spent a good half hour picking up miscellaneous items off of the floor and stowing them away. My mom had spilled coffee all over the galley and I tackled the onerous task of scraping the coffee grounds off of the stovetop.
     We got a cab and went to the airport mid-morning to clear Customs. Our Customs guy was very friendly and made the process of re-entry quick and painless. The whole ordeal lasted about 10 minutes. We zipped on back to the boat and left for Vero Beach.
     After a pleasant 15 mile sail to Vero, we got a mooring and went in to the marina to shower. During the Gulf Stream crossing I had gotten encrusted with a layer of salt so standing under a stream of hot, fresh water was fantastic. After we were all squeaky-clean, my mother laundered everything launder-able on the boat. I went back to the boat and crashed, content and cozy in my fresh sheets.
    I was revived this morning after a good night's rest. This morning we got on the bus and headed into town to do some errands. My dad did some chores at West Marine while my mom and I went to AT&T to activate my phone. I forgot how much I love having a phone, it certainly makes communication with friends so much easier. My mom and I split a five dollar foot long sub at Subway. It was then that I really knew we were in America.
     This afternoon I'll be lounging around the boat reading and doing some schoolwork. Tomorrow we'll head north towards Titusville, but the likelihood that we'll actually make it there tomorrow is pretty slim. Our trip north is going to go a lot faster than the trip south did, but hopefully there will still be some time to explore on shore a bit.
     Here's a picture of my parents looking super cute in Hopetown, Abaco. I'll try to upload some more later if the Internet is faster.

 

The Abacos

            I’ve been having a lovely time in the Abacos. I know it’s only been a few days since my last post, but as long as I have Internet I thought I’d update everyone on what I’m up to.

White Seal spent two nights on the dock at Hopetown. It was a mere $20 per night to keep the boat there and the facilities were top-notch. Rachel, Jake, and I were psyched to get unlimited use of a fresh-water pool and the added benefit of laundry made it a truly great experience.

As for the actual town there, it was great. The narrow streets of Hopetown are lined with clapboard houses painted every imaginable color and the well-tended gardens add to the cheery, colorful atmosphere. There were lots and lots of little touristy shops that sold things like Bahamas T-shirts and little shot glasses and all that junk. The majority of the homes are upscale vacation homes/ rentals so expensive that only the uppermost crust of America can afford to stay there. Despite the all of the wealth, Hopetown has retained a distinctive charm.

We checked out the town’s museum one day and were impressed by how well done it was. I got a crash-course in Bahamian history there and was surprised to find it rather interesting. I learned that when the first Europeans came to the Bahamas back in the 15^th century, there were about 30,000 people already living there. These native Bahamians, (called Lucayans) were completely obliterated in the next 40 years and very little is known about them as a people.

We went over to Marsh Harbor on Tuesday and anchored among about 50 other cruising boats. I went over and met up with some friends I met in Georgetown, Courtney and Olivia. Courtney was eager to show Rachel and I a boutique in town, so we immediately set out on a shopping mission. My wallet was completely empty, but it was fun to try on ridiculous dresses anyway. (I’m a teenage girl, what can I say…)

We spent Thursday in Marsh Harbor as well. The whole ambiance of the town is remarkably similar to a city in Southern Florida, complete with a KFC, sprawling shopping centers, and the perpetual stink of car exhaust. Needless to say, I am not a big fan of this type of town so I was eager to get out of Marsh Harbor and spend some time in one more truly Bahamian town before heading back to the States. This town was Green Turtle.

Green Turtle was a friendly, peaceful little settlement. It wasn’t as flawless as Hopetown, but that was almost a good thing. My parents and I met everyone from Sisu on the street and we came to the horrible realization that we are separating soon. Our family has to start moving north quickly and we’ll be crossing back into the United States ASAP. Sisu is going to be lingering in the Abacos for a while longer. 

We all stopped by Vern’s model boat shop and checked out his masterpieces. We chatted with the owner of a gift shop for a while and heard all about her experiences as an airplane pilot in a small community. We said hello to the kids as they left school for the day and walked home. We gleefully skipped along the streets, our arms linked.

We had dinner over on Sisu last night and said goodbye. The worst part of cruising isn’t the lack of showers or the bad food. It isn’t the cramped living quarters. It’s all the goodbyes that come with the lifestyle of a traveler. Fortunately their family lives in Maine so I’ll be able to visit Rachel and Jake every now and then, but leaving behind people that have become a big part of your life still just plain stinks. I thought I had said all my goodbyes when we left home back in September. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

After a few lovely, leisurely months of slow-paced travel, it’s time to move. We’ve been dragging our feet and wishing that this could go on forever, but alas we’ll be returning to the States soon. After a cold front on Sunday, we’ll be awaiting a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream. From there we’ll cruise back to Vermont as quickly as possible, skipping many of the places we visited on our trip down last fall. I absolutely love the Bahamas and am very sad to leave, but it’s time to come home.

Up to the Abacos

            After a lovely stay at Governor’s Harbor, we sailed up to Hatchet Bay to wait for better weather. Hatchet Bay is very well protected, but we had some trouble setting our anchor and awoke one morning to discover that we had dragged across the bottom. My dad then decided that getting a mooring was a priority, so we spent a couple of nights on a ball there. The town there was rather gritty, but I had the opportunity to get on Skype for a bit and chat with friends back home, a much needed diversion.

            From Hatchet Bay we sailed up to Royal Island. Back in the 1930s, some wealthy foreigner built quite the estate on the island, with multiple fancy buildings and manicured terraced gardens. It fell into disrepair though and today is only a handful of decrepit stone structures, covered in graffiti and choked by the jungle. Exploring this place was fun, I felt like an adventurer that was uncovering Mayan ruins for the first time or something.

            My dad and I also did a little snorkeling at Royal Island. We tried spear fishing, but without success. Fortunately, our friend Erik fared a bit better and we enjoyed a scrumptious dinner of fresh fish on his boat that night. After living on a diet on beans & rice, mac & cheese, and other ‘boat foods’ for many days, fresh triggerfish was seriously heavenly.

            We sailed over to Spanish Wells on Monday the 4^th. Due to an upcoming storm, my dad miraculously decided to spring for dock space, a frivolous expenditure entirely unlike him. The marina where we tied up had a laundry facility and, drum roll please, SHOWERS. I couldn’t get into the shower fast enough. Normally I would have been disgusted by the grittiness of the facility, but after so many days of bathing in the ocean, any shower was a luxury. When I finally got out, we went and laundered the sheets. Clean laundry and a shower. Dang, my quality of life is improving!

            After using the marina’s amenities, we ventured out into town. This Bahamian island is unlike any other town I’ve been to. Most villages thus far have been a bit unkempt in appearance, lots of peeling paint and covered with trash. Spanish Wells is the opposite. The roads are lined with beautifully maintained, brightly colored houses with gardens overflowing with bougainvillea of every hue. The grocery store is giant, almost as large as the one back at home. There are trash bins at every corner and not a speck of litter ends up on the streets. There aren’t any stray dogs lying around and a single beggar did not approach us the whole time. It was entirely different than the Bahamas I had been traveling previously.

            Why is this town so much more prosperous than the others, one might ask? Spanish Wells is homeport to the most extensive fishing fleet in the Bahamas. This small settlement produces about 75% of the nations lobster, an impressive figure considering that the town has only about 1,700 people.

            Spanish Wells is a predominantly white island, another thing that makes it so different than the rest of the Bahamas. The first settlers there were American loyalists who left the U.S. shortly after the Revolutionary War in hopes of making a go of it in the Bahamas. (Since then, the gene pool hasn’t had much diversity. I swear, half the people there have the last name Pinder.) Some of the Spanish Wellsians I talked to were incredibly racist, an animosity I found interesting considering whites are by far the minority in this country.

            We spent a ton of time walking around town, just taking it all in. One day I went to an assembly at the high school with Rachel and Jake. It was the school’s annual “Cultural Fair” and this year the focus was on Spanish. We met some local kids there who ended up giving us a brief tour of the island later that afternoon. I also bought a cup of cookies and cream ice cream, which completely made my day. It’s funny, when you live on a boat; the simplest things cause such great happiness.

            After a pleasant stay in Spanish Wells, we left for the Abacos. The Abacos are the northernmost Bahamian archipelago and the last group of islands we will be traveling through before returning to the States. Our sail up took us over a section of the ocean that was 15,000 feet deep, a fact I probably would have thought was awesome if I hadn’t been face down in the cockpit dying of seasickness. I arrived alive however and spent the evening watching Shiloh with Rachel and Jake over on their boat and eating a pan of brownies.

            The next morning we motored over to Little Harbor. The entrance into the bay is very shallow and we barely made it in even at high tide. The harbor has lots of sea turtles and there is a big cave on one side that my parents and I climbed around in. There is a foundry on this island that was started by Randolph Johnson, a reclusive artist that spent the latter years of his life out on this island casting beautiful works of bronze. We got a tour of the foundry, which is still in operation, with a bunch of other cruisers. It was very interesting to see how something so dense can be melted into a liquid and turned into art.

            Saturday we left Little Harbor and anchored off of a nearby island called Sandy Cay. My dad and I went snorkeling on a spectacular ocean reef right off of the island. There were mountains of corals of every shape and size and brilliantly colored reef fish darting about everywhere. Sea fans waltzed gracefully as the oncoming swell rolled over. Angelfish nibbled algae from the menacing looking columns of elkhorn coal. It was the most fascinating, mysterious, and serene place ever. We anchored at a neighboring cay for the night.

            Yesterday morning we pulled up anchor and headed up to Hopetown. My father, ever the diehard sailor, insisted that we sail there, despite the fact that the winds were under 5 knots. After inching along under the hot sun for a few hours, even my dad became a bit disgruntled by our painstakingly slow pace and we fired up the engine. We got dock space at a lovely marina for only $20 per night, with access to a pool, Laundromat, and lovely gardens.

            We climbed the lighthouse here, which is one of three lighthouses world that still uses kerosene to produce the light. The panoramic view from the top was amazing. We walked around town for a bit after that. The island is dripping with charm. Brightly painted houses sit poised in their gardens along the narrow streets. Little shops sell flip-flops, groceries, sunscreen, and other necessities.  A large number of the homes are second homes to wealthy Americans, but it still has a nice, friendly atmosphere. Hopetown is very sweet.

            Today we’ll spend another day here in Hopetown, thanks to a whole lot of pleading on my part. My dad anticipates that we’ll be back in the US in about 2 weeks, but this is weather dependant and thus very subject to change. Leaving the Bahamas and returning to the fast paced life of America is going to be a major culture shock. I’m not sure that I’m ready to be headed north, but I’m sure that I will have fun. Here are some pictures of our adventure!

The view of Royal Island from the ruins.

Fishing boats at Spanish Wells.

Going for a golf cart ride with my cruiser friends on Spanish Wells one evening. From left to right there is Katie,
Jake, Eli, myself, Rachel, and Jessie.

Elkhorn coral off of Sandy Cay. The colors are much more vivid than this, my camera
doesn't quite do it justice.

Cat Island & Eleuthera

Well folks, White Seal has finally pulled anchor and sailed out of Georgetown, Exuma. It was sort of sad leaving, but to be completely honest, I was ready for a change of scenery. Since departing Georgetown we have visited three towns on Cat Island, the island of Little San Salvador, and Rock Sound, Eluethera. I’ve had the privilege of sharing these adventures with my friends Rachel and Jake which has made everything 32948x more fun.

            Cat Island was another island that is almost surreal in it’s beauty and peaceful atmosphere. Our first stop there was at the town of New Bight. From the beach it is a pleasant walk up the highest mountain in the Bahamas, a whopping 206 feet above sea level. Atop this hill there is a little churchlike castle known as The Hermitage that was built about a half century ago by Father Jerome, a well-known architect and priest. From The Hermitage one can obtain a 360-degree view that can best be described as indescribable. I know of no adjectives that could effectively convey how astonishingly pretty it is up there. We hiked up there one sunset with Sisu with the intention of viewing the green flash, but alas the clouds foiled that hope. But seriously, it was prettiest man-made spot in the Bahamas.

            From there we went on to Orange Creek, a pleasant little town on the northern end of Cat Island for a few days. Orange Creek is a sleepy little town that consists of little more than a handful of houses and a general store. One day we embarked on a long walk that ended up taking us to a blue hole and a cave, both of which were pretty awesome. I also picked up a bunch of sand dollars from the bottom while snorkeling. I meticulously packaged them in hopes that they make it to Vermont intact, but the likelihood of this happening is rather slim.

            We also spent one day exploring the town of Arthurs Town on Cat Island. It was a very sweet, quiet place. We struck up a conversation with an old woman who owned a bar there for quite some time. She was full of strong opinions and seemed to enjoy offloading her thoughts onto my dad.

            After Cat Island we went to Little San Salvador. Fifteen years ago this island would have been paradise; peaceful, uninhabited and unscathed by humanity with a magnificent sandy beach to boot. A few years back however, the Holland-America Cruise line purchased the island and proceeded to wreak havoc upon the shores. It has now been transformed into a tacky American outpost of sorts, with three thousand plastic beach chairs, restaurants, water slides, and a gargantuan pirate ship/ bar plopped right in the middle. A guest can even ride ponies on the beach if they so desire, but of course only while wearing a helmet, life jacket, and under the strict supervision of a professional. The morning after we arrived we were joined in the anchorage by a 1000-foot cruise ship that had come to deposit their passengers onto the beach for a day of genuine Bahamian relaxation on their private cay. We pulled up anchor and got the heck out.

            We arrived at Rock Sound, Eleuthera mid-afternoon after motoring all day in heat that nearly boiled me alive. We went ashore and were greeted by two high school students who introduced us to their delightful town and told us all we needed to know. Rachel, Jake, and I hung out with a couple of local kids and walked around town and browsed the local CD/ DVD store. My parents and I walked over to an inland blue hole which was really, really awesome. I wanted to swim in it but I didn’t have my bathing suit. While returning to the boat my parents got slightly sidetracked and we ended up in a bar. The three of us played dominoes and got absolutely obliterated at it by the Bahamians. The fellows there were a lot of fun and talking with them while I munched away on my chicken and fries was very entertaining. I’ve resolved to master dominoes.

            Thursday morning we woke up and headed into town with the intention of going to the Island School. I stuck out my thumb and we managed to hitchhike very successfully about 25 miles to Powell Point where the well-renowned high school is. (Note to Aunt Annie or anyone else who is horrified by the idea of me hitchhiking: Hitchhiking in the Bahamas is considered far safer than doing so in America. It’s a common mode of transportation here, but you may rest assured it’s not something I’ll ever do in the States.)

We got a tour of the campus and learned about what they’re studying there. It was an extremely cool school. They have an extensive ‘wet lab’ with huge fiber glass tanks full of fish, as well as hydroponics gardens, a small farm, a windmill, and the largest solar panel system in the country. They compost everything, recycle everything, and produce enough energy on site that they sell some of it back into the grid. In addition, the location is on a pristine section of beautiful Eleuthera. Perhaps if the tuition wasn’t so obscenely expensive I would apply to go there for a semester.

            For the past couple of days I’ve been exploring the extensive cave system located just outside of Rock Sound. In the afternoons all the kids generally migrate towards the ocean hole to impress one another with daredevil dives and other highly treacherous antics. I went to church Sunday morning, (a rare occurrence) and found it to be a very interesting experience.

           I went to the public high school at Rock Sound on Monday. It was a very interesting experience, I hadn't been in an actual school in months. Religion is a central aspect in their educational system, which was quite different from what I was used to. I attended biology, math, commerce, business, and PE classes while there. I did have to wear jeans and I ended up sweating more than I thought humanly possible.

          Tuesday we headed up to Governor's Harbor. We reunited with friends on the boat Curiosity and went out to the movies with them. The only thing playing was The Roommate, a movie that we all agreed was imminently forgettable. The village here is very sweet, but due to the weather we have to leave today for a more protected anchorage. We're going to be pulling anchor soon and heading north to Hatchet Bay where we will wait out a norther. Hopefully I'll be able to get internet access there and upload some pictures, my mom has been a little camera crazy and we have a bunch of awesome shots from the past weeks. Hope all is well with all you readers!

Regatta

     Many cruisers look down on Georgetown and the boaters who choose to reside there all winter. The scores of people and the assortment of organized activities make the whole place seem like a summer camp for retired people. Many scoff at the idea of staying in one place all winter when the Caribbean is full of other wonderful places to sail and explore. I happen to greatly enjoy Georgetown, and even though spending the duration of the winter here seems like too much for me, I can understand why many people love to do so. The harbor is safe, the people are friendly, the atmosphere is happy, and of course the supermarket is well stocked. The cherry on top of the winter season in Georgetown is the annual Cruiser’s Regatta, which is currently under way.

            The Regatta is a blast. It would be easy to laugh at it’s corniness and just not participate in the various events, but if you’re willing to make a fool of yourself and have a good laugh, Regatta can be a whole lot of fun. The first Regatta event we entered was the Coconut Challenge. Rachel, my mother, our friend Marilyn, and I all donned t-shirts with drawn on coconut bikinis and piled into an engine-less dinghy to paddle our way around the harbor on a desperate quest for floating coconuts. We didn’t do particularly well, but we had so much fun dousing our friends with bucketfuls of water while in pursuit of coconuts.

            I spent one day volunteering at the Regatta Children’s Day events in Georgetown. Rachel, Jake, and I were too old to participate but we helped supervise and oversee the games that the little kiddos were playing. It was very cute. They all beat me at Simon Says though, a slight hit on my ego.

            My parents and I also signed up for the rowing races since we are one of the few boats with a dinghy that has no engine. My dad won in the men’s category, beating even a couple of very strong young fellows. My mother came in first in the women’s category by a large margin as well. When it came time for the kid’s rowing race, I discovered that I was the only person signed up. The race never happened but I got to claim the candy prize just for showing up. My parents each won a blue flag and a bottle of rum for their achievements. The next night they went to Trivial Pursuit and ended up winning more flags as well as ten dollars in gift cards to the grocery store. The Langworthys are cleaning up the prizes around here!

            My friend Reg from the sailboat Messenger invited me to be a part of the Regatta’s inflatable dinghy sailing race with him. We spent the better part of one afternoon lashing an extremely tippy mast and two sails onto his dinghy. We got slaughtered in the race against the other home-made sailing rigs but it was very fun. I made up a little flag with our names and everything.

            We entered White Seal in the Elizabeth Harbor Race next. The course had the boats sailing through the anchorage, which meant we had to be on our toes at all times. Fortunately, White Seal is very nimble and quick to turn so maneuvering through the haphazardly anchored boats wasn’t too sketchy for us. We got third in our class and it was so much fun. It was my first race and I discovered that I really enjoy the intensity and strategy that define sailboat racing. The wind was around 20 and we were MOVING.

            We also participated in the around Stocking Island Race, which as you might infer took us all around Stocking Island. The course was about 18.5 miles, half of which were out in the ocean. The wind was 16-18 knots and the pounding of the waves offshore caused me to be quite ill. We were one of the first boats to cross the start line and we quickly established a solid lead over the other small boats in our class. Much to our surprise and delight, the larger, faster boats that started a few minutes after us didn’t catch us until we were about 3 miles from the finish line. As we rounded the buoy back into Elizabeth Harbor we were still the boat in the lead, which gave everyone aboard a feeling of extreme satisfaction. We crossed the finish line third, a dang good race for us considering our competition. We got third in our class again.

            In addition to the constant stream of organized Regatta Events, my life has been loaded with parties and girls nights with my wonderful cruising friends. In addition to Rachel and Jake, I’ve been hanging out with Michelle, Reg, Eric, Courtney, John, and Michaela. Unfortunately we all will be splitting up soon, but until then we are all just living it up and spending a ton of time together. It is so nice to have a social life again after months of being home with your parents on Friday nights. I’d almost forgotten how nice it is to have an Oreos and peanut butter feast/ toenail-painting extravaganza with your girlfriends. (Depressing, eh?)

            Regatta ended this weekend and tomorrow we will slowly begin our long journey back north. Yes, north. Back towards home and the life I sailed away from last fall. I thought I’d be relieved and happy to turn back, but to be totally honest I love it here and leaving Georgetown is going to be as sad as leaving Vermont was-if not more so. I’m trying to soak up as much happiness from this place as possible; I haven’t yet wrapped my brain around the devastating concept that I am soon leaving my Georgetown friends and adopting the solitary life patterns of living and traveling on the ICW. But enough with this sadness. Regatta has been great, but heading north will be wonderful too!

            Tomorrow we will go to Cat Island along with our dear friends on Sisu. From their we will head up to Eleuthera and maybe then to the Berry Islands. It will be nice to be on the move and see new places for a change!

            P.S. Enjoy the pictures, the Internet finally cooperated and decided to let me upload them!

Our Coconut collecting team and our classy uniforms...

White Seal crossing the finish line after the around Stocking Island Race!!

My old man crossing the finish line at the rowing race. Go Charlie!

My fam up by the monument on Stocking Island.

The L.N. Coakley High School band in Exuma plays some songs for visitors.

Reg and I preparing to set sail in our home-made sailing rig.

The ocean side of Stocking Island

Georgetown & Long Island

           Georgetown has been a lot of fun, but like all things- the excitement wears off. It was wonderful to meet so many people and once again have a social calendar jam-packed with bonfires and girl’s nights. After almost two weeks however, the crew of White Seal got itchy feet and decided that a little solitude was in order. The destination was Long Island; a long island (go figure) located about thirty miles from Georgetown.

            Long Island was wonderful. We spent our first night anchored up at the north end in a large bay called Calabash Bay. The entrance was littered with coral heads, which was cause for some confusion and anxiety, but we made it in with no problems. We jumped in the water immediately after anchoring and snorkeled around the boat for a while. There wasn’t any coral or anything to look at, but the phenomenal clarity of the water and the graceful ripples of the sand across the bottom made the masks and snorkels worth it. My mom even got out the underwater camera and she and I had an underwater photo-shoot.

            The next day we sailed down the island and anchored by the town of Simms for a few hours. My dad and I went ashore and walked around the charming collection of churches and houses that make up the village. To say that this town is quaint would be an understatement. Simms represents a small sliver of humanity that hasn’t been tainted by the hectic, uptight attitudes that plague most populations. I got the sense that things in Simms hadn’t changed in the past half-century, from school children outside playing some sort of ball game to the badly peeling paint on the church. I felt as though my presence was somehow contaminating their peaceful, undisturbed island existence- although everyone was very friendly and accepting of visitors.

            That evening we had an extremely pleasant sail down to Thompson Bay and Salt Pond. There were a few dozen boats there and the next morning we even discovered that they have a cruiser’s net on the radio, much like Georgetown. We spent two days walking around Salt Pond. The grocery stores there were remarkably well stocked for such a small community and we did a bit of provisioning there. I was also able to obtain an ice cream sandwich, which was quite possibly the single most delicious snack I have ever consumed. We also walked over to the ocean beach, which was quite beautiful if you overlooked the thousands of trash items that were strewn about high tide line.

Also, while we were there I had the most magnificent experience. It was an answer to my prayers and altogether everything that I had been wishing for. It was cleansing, purifying, and utterly enlightening. What, you ask? A shower! Oh yes, it’s true. After a whopping 53 days without a real shower, I actually shed genuine tears of joy while shampooing. It cost five dollars at a small resort, and though my dad was rather squeamish about coughing up that much, I’m sure he was glad since it put an end to my “you’re-a-neglectful-father-for-not-letting-me-shower” speeches. 

We returned to Georgetown on the 26^th and dove right back into social swirl. I’ve been on my toes trying to attend as many fun events as possible; from beach walks with Rachel to surprise parties to dinghy poker runs. The Annual Cruising Regatta is starting today, so the already bustling schedule is about the increase in intensity even more.

Boaters here organize a very wide array of events for regatta, ranging from things such as dinghy races to bocce tournaments, seminars on weather to disco dinghy dances. One event that sounds particularly absurd and intriguing is the Coconut Challenge, a contest where people attempt to harvest the 900 coconuts floating in a small lagoon into their dinghies with flippers on their hands- and all without the aid of an outboard motor. I will be participating in this event on a team called the Coconut Bikinis. Yup, that should give you some good insight into the culture here.

I’m having a really good time and I’m looking forward to Regatta. It’s pretty much a nonstop, two week long party. I’m not sure that we’ll stay for the whole thing, but I will certainly try my hardest to post some pictures of the Regatta shenanigans. I hope that all of you readers are doing well, and my apologies once again for not posting as often as I used to.

Despite my best efforts, it looks like only two photos will upload. Ugh... such slow Internet...

I went on a trip to a farm in Georgetown, we all had to pile into the back of a pick-up truck to get there.
It was a ton of fun and we got some great veggies out of it!

Bahamian sail boats racing when we were at Little Farmers Cay.

Black Point- Georgetown

            The past couple of weeks have been a delightful mixture of action-packed adventures and laid-back afternoons on the beach. We traveled slowly southwards from Black Point down to Georgetown Exuma, stopping for a few days at Farmer’s Cay where we attended the a regatta put on annually by the Bahamians. My apologies once again for neglecting to post in so long, it’s just that access to unsecured WIFI is a rarity in the Exumas.

            Black Point was awesome; it was the first place where I really got to know some of the locals. Rachel, Jake, and I volunteered at the educational center reading to kids for a couple of afternoons, and after they were done reading their books we’d go play basketball in the street and give them piggy-back rides and such. All the kids were really friendly and I think that they really benefited from having the undivided attention of a tutor for 45 minutes in the afternoons. I really hope to return to Black Point on our way back north through the Exumas because I will never forget the time I spent there.

            From Black Point sailed down to Farmer’s Cay. The famous First Friday in February Farmer’s Cay Festival (which is nicknamed the 5F for more convenient pronunciation) was two days away and the harbor quickly became filled with over a hundred boats. We went on a dinghy expedition over to a nearby beach with a bunch of other boats one afternoon. We hiked up the hill and explored a very cool cave that I got to go swimming in. After that, we spent some time on the ocean-side beach swimming around in the surf and searching for treasures that had washed ashore.

The 5F was a blast. There were a half dozen C-Class Bahamian sailboats, and watching them as they raced around on the Banks was really exciting. A friend of ours got to crew on the winning boat and he found the whole experience very exciting to participate in. In addition to the races, the festival involved activities such as wet T-shirt contests, men’s butts contests, and of course the consumption of lots of alcohol. I did not partake in any of those events, but rather walked around town with other kids drinking overpriced sodas and dousing people we knew with Silly String. A good time was had by all.

We departed Farmers Cay for Georgetown on February 8^th. After a delightful sail down on Exuma Sound, we anchored for the night by Stocking Island at the section called Hamburger Beach. The area cruisers commonly refer to as Georgetown is actually a large harbor called Elizabeth Harbor that is on Great Exuma Island. On the mainland side of this harbor is the town of Georgetown, and on the east side of the Harbor is Stocking Island. Most boats anchor by Stocking Island, commonly along Hamburger, Monument, Volleyball, or Sand Dollar Beach. Georgetown has been a ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ for me throughout this trip because every boater I’ve met has promised that I would meet lots of other boat kids there. I was very eager with anticipation as we arrived here.

Every morning on the VHF radio here in Georgetown, boaters get on the Cruiser’s Net and announce activities for the day. Activities include volleyball, bridge, basket weaving, nautical discussions, art, and various other things that change on a daily basis. (If you ask me, the whole scene is remarkably like a daycare for adults.) Every winter, hundreds of boats come to the Georgetown area, and many stay for the duration of the season. The grocery store here is good, you can obtain boat parts in town, and there are always interesting social events to attend, thus making this place heaven for many cruisers. I’d personally rather continue to explore new places, but many boaters are content to call Georgetown home for the winter.

Since we’ve arrived, I’ve met over a dozen boat kids. Most of them are quite a bit younger than me, but I have met a few girls my age. It is so, SO great to finally socialize with a bunch of other kids after going so long without seeing any cruisers under the age of forty. I generally hang out at Volleyball Beach in the afternoons and we play soccer, go on the rope swing, and just sit around and chat. I also have learned basket weaving, which is surprisingly entertaining to do during your down time. I went on a farm tour yesterday on Great Exuma and had a lot of fun. Last night I went to the Valentines Day dance in at Chat’n’Chill. There are lots fun people to meet and there is plenty to do, I like this place!

I am afraid that it might be a while until I can post again, but be assured that I will continue to try my hardest to post ASAP. We might go to Long Island, Exuma for a few days later in the week, but we’re undecided. The Cruiser’s Regatta is in two weeks here at Georgetown and I would really like to be here for that. I’ll try my hardest to post more pictures soon too!

 P.S. Fun Fact: I have not had a honest-to-goodness shower in approximately 46 days, 5 hours, and 20 minutes. (Not that anyone’s counting…) Fortunately, I go swimming on a very regular basis so the grossness factor is relatively minimal. Shampoo is really effective even when used in salt water. But seriously, who would have thought that a 16 year old girl could handle such deprivation of civilized comforts?!

Loving the Exumas!

             Hello, everybody! Sorry for the long delays between posts... having Internet access isn't a regular occurrence in these parts. I will try my best to update you all on what I've been doing as of late:

            We’ve spent the past couple of weeks travelling around the beautiful Exumas. We typically spend a couple of days exploring one place then tuck ourselves into a protected anchorage somewhere else for a little while a cold front passes. We only ever travel a few miles at a time, and the sailing down here is very pleasant. I’m in Black Point right now, taking advantage of the Internet access at a local restaurant called Lorraine’s Café.

Our days on the uninhabited islands are mostly spent swimming, snorkeling, and hiking around with friends. It is a pretty nice life, I must say. We’ve spent a lot of time at Cambridge Cay, a spectacular island with lots of lovely beaches, a nice little hiking trail, an abundance of coral around it to dive on. The Exuma Land and Sea Park has about a dozen well-maintained moorings there that can be rented for $15 per night. White Seal spent two cold fronts moored there, protected by the islands from the waves.

We’ve also spent a few days in Staniel Cay and a few in Black Point, both of which are friendly, small communities with small grocery stores and other important amenities. We get fresh fruits and vegetables whenever possible from these little stores, even though their selection is extremely limited. Also, we got to do a load (eight loads, actually) of laundry at the Black Point Laundromat, a chore that had been ignored for FAR too long. You become very, very grateful for things like clean T-Shirts when you live in a salt-water environment and every garment you own becomes encrusted with a damp, crisp layer of salt.

These towns are different from any settlement I’ve ever been to. The buildings are a lot more modest than those in the States and many give off an appearance that would be considered disheveled by American standards. No one has grassy lawns and no one has landscaping, other than perhaps a flowering bush and some conch shells lining the driveway. A lot of people use golf carts as means of transportation around the island since it’s cheaper and keeping a car running when you’re an ocean away from NAPA is a challenge at best.

Also, Bahamian grocery stores are very, very different from the Winn-Dixies and Stop& Shops that I have become used to. They’re extremely small and have barely more food than we would ordinarily keep stored in our house at any given time. The sell the essentials, but when we tried to get Parmesan cheese and chocolate chips, there were none to be found. Also, everything is vastly overpriced. An average sized box of Fruit Loops would set you back almost $8.00. We are very glad that we stocked up on food while we were in the States!

There are actually more kids here too! There are fourteen of us boat kids in Black Point now, split between five boats. We all met up yesterday for an exciting game of Ultimate Frisbee on the beach. (It was girls vs. boys and we tied- just in case you were interested.) We will all probably spend a few more days here in Black Point playing football on the beach, splashing in the water, and feasting on candy bar’s from Adderly’s Friendly Grocery Store. It is so, so nice to hang out with people under fifty when you’ve been associating with older cruisers all the time. I am very grateful that I can share the adventure with these other kids and I hope that we can all get along and have fun together.

We’ll be continuing south after we leave Black Point, probably arriving at Georgetown within a couple of weeks. Georgetown is the final destination for many cruisers and the large harbor will undoubtedly be choked with hundreds of cruising boats when we get there. I have heard rumors of constant parties, bonfires, and lots and lots of other boating kids, so I am rather excited about getting to Georgetown.

This lifestyle is great, I am really, truly loving it. Hope all you readers are doing well! I'll post again whenever I get the chance!

South to Staniel Cay

     White Seal is now at Staniel Cay, Exuma! It is 80 degrees and sunny and I am having a marvelous time! We have spent the past few days snorkeling, swimming, and exploring the beautiful Bahamian islands.
     I had a birthday party on the beach at Warderick Wells the day before my birthday with a bunch of boater friends. I had a delicious chocolate cake and all sorts of other goodies. I got serenaded by a Bahamian fellow playing 'Happy Birthday' on guitar, which was lovely.
     After departing Warderick Wells we headed to Cambridge Cay where we spent two lovely days exploring the island. We snorkeled at Rocky Dundas which was a beautiful underwater cavern loaded with fish and overflowing with coral. We had to leave because the current got really strong, but it was very fun while it lasted. We also found a surfboard on the beach and played around on that for a while.     
     We left Cambridge for Staniel Cay yesterday. We jumped into the water shortly after arriving here and swam over to Thunderball Cave where we did some fabulous diving. The cave is magnificent, part of a James Bond movie was shot here. After that, my parents and I went in to Staniel Cay and got some groceries (WOOHOO!) including a loaf of famous homemade Bahamian bread. It was very delicious, we polished it off very quickly. I hung out on the beach last night with Rachel, her family, and some other boaters that were anchored nearby.
     In the next few days we will be continuing slowly southward in the Exuma island chain. We will be stopping to do some laundry at Black Point, a much needed chore at this point. We may spend a few days there, but as always, plans are tentative for the crew of White Seal. Weather always dictates what we do, as well as what friends on other boats are doing. Hope to post again soon, but WIFI access is very limited in this region so no promises. I have included a few pictures... hope you like them!

Exploring Thunderball Cave...

Face to face with the wildlife...

My parents and I at my birthday party

The beautiful view on Cambridge Cay