On the move

Bonjour mes amis. It is coming! We are on the move to get to Grenada before the end of the month. Be assured that there will be an update soon!
We are currently in Guadaloupe heading to Dominica tomorrow. We have lots to tell so keep checking!!!!
Au revoir,
Kylie and Mike

Oh...the dreaded mona

It’s been another long time between chats and I’m sure this will turn into another novel, which I am apologizing for now. Last I wrote we had just landed in Luperon, Dominican Republic. What a fantastic country. Although Republica Dominican is a 3rd world country, the poverty is not evident throughout the area. Yes, the people do not have as much as most, but the Dominicans always had a smile on their faces and the food cooking in the little homes smelt like restaurants everywhere and of course the music was pumping from every street corner.
Motorconchos zip around you everywhere and it is apparent that this is the best way to see the countryside. So Mike and I rented a motorbike.
It was fantastic. We left the little town of Luperon and travelled on back roads to make our way to a town called Los Hidalgos. Along the way we biked through little villages where laundry hung out to dry on barb wire fences and the smells came from the smoke huts along the side of the road. Every village we encountered the people would look upon these 2 gringos and once we smiled and said “Beunas dias” we were returned with big smiles and big waves, it was great. We ascended a mountain pass and luckily the bike made it up and were rewarded with the most amazing view of the most beautiful countryside. We rode around for about 6 hours and put about 250 km on the bike…only an introduction to Dominican.
The harbour in Luperon is rated one of the best hurricane holes in the Caribbean so the calmness in the night was a welcome after spending a lumpy 3 weeks in G-town.
The harbour has a marina and a yacht club both of which proved to be a great spot for happy hour. We met some great people during our happy hours at the yacht club, people who have been in Luperon for years, people heading west to Jamaica, people heading north to US, and people heading east and south like ourselves. We were especially happy to meet the people heading east and south, and to our enjoyment we met 2 more “young cruiser” boats. Wuhoo! More young people. We met a couple from the states whom we had been told about and we also told that we HAD to meet them. So we finally hooked up with Scott and Kim on Anthyllide, and we also met 2 young kiwis, John and Paul (like the Beatles) and Laura who boarded ship in g-town with these two great guys to enjoy the adventure aboard Double Bryun. So needless to say the young cruisers were having mucho fun!
Once we arrived in Luperon we called our parents to assure them we were alive and eating well and bathing (moms huh!). When we called Mike’s dad he told us he and Ann we ready to jump on a flight and head south to see us. What a great surprise. Seeing how we haven’t seen family in over 9 months we were very excited. So a week after we arrived, Tony and Ann landed in Puerto Plata only 40 miles away. We were thrilled they had arrived and had a ton of activities planned. Tony informed us they had rented a car, so the options were endless. We headed out for Santo Domingo, the capital of Dominican Republic, with a stop in Jarabacoa a small place way up in the mountains. Our trip started out great…the sun was shining, the traffic wasn’t too bad and we were excited to see the country….then we got to Santiago. Let me just say that it is a wiser decision to hire a driver to take you into the big cities. The drive through Santiago was…hmmm…how do you say…..insane! The driving in DR is crazy….absolutely crazy. So we finally made our way through the city and again the road trip was good…little traffic, beautiful scenery and we were almost at our destination. Arriving in Jarabacoa was outstanding. We were able to rent a little room in a beautiful hotel, somewhat like a eco hotel in the jungle with a view of rushing rapids below. It was very beautiful. The next day we hiked up to the local waterfalls which were outstanding. Unfortunately the drive through Santiago sort off turned us off going to Santo Domingo which is a shame as I’ve since found out it is an amazing city. Next time>
Before we knew it, a week had gone by and it was time for Tony and Ann to head home. We said our sad goodbyes and began preparing for our long trip to Puerto Rico.
Finally the window arrived and we were anxious to leave the safety of the Luperon harbour and man…were we ready. As much as we love this country, the harbour is anything but clean. The water is brown and you don’t dare dip your feet in as you fear you may come out with extra toes. Because this is such a poor country, there is no money for a proper sewer system and /or garbage disposal so without going into detail you can imagine what the water is like. We anchored our boat near the mouth of the harbour so we could at least clean our prop as an inch of barnacles had grown on it in the 3 weeks we were there. Mike had the fortunate job of jumping in the water and cleaning the prop….ewww!
So our window had arrived to cross the mona passage from the DR to PR, a 270 nautical mile passage, a crossing I had been dreading for a year…no joke! We left the harbour at 6 pm and were greeted with much larger waves and way more wind (18 knots) than we had thought there would be. Normally we like wind, but when you are doing a windward passage (which means the wind right on your nose), you don’t want a lot of wind. Needless to say our 1st night out, we made very little progress and it was a real struggle just to average 2 knots….(which is very very slow). Finally by mid morning the next day the seas died down a bit and the wind eased off and we were able to put down some miles….UNTIL we rounded one of the capes. Cabo Frances is along the north coast of the DR and it took us 5 hours to get around as the wind picked up again (on the nose) and we were smack dab in the middle of a lightning storm…not fun. We were the tallest thing around us and with all electronics turned off we hoped it would pass quickly.
Finally we saw the light at the end of the tunnel (literally..the sun was setting). The sky cleared, the waves decreased and finally the wind switched to the south so we could actually sail! We had a great 2nd night and really began to put the miles down. Finally by the next morning we were off the tip of Cabo Samana (the north eastern tip of DR) and we were entering the MONA. To our delight we were able to sail for most of the day with light winds and small seas, and at about 5pm we felt the fishing line go taught….another mahi. We knew this guy was big. Mike hauled the line in by hand and after somewhat of a struggle pulled in our biggest mahi mahi yet. 50 inches from head to tail…he was sooo big. We looked at each other and wondered aloud what the hell we were going to do with all this fish. Mike filleted the fish and I cooked fish everyway I knew how to until about 10pm. Luckily our travel buddies aboard Double Bruyn weren’t far behind so we planned to share the wealth. We had another uneventful night under motor sail and by the next morning Double Bruyn had caught up to us and we did the “fish pass off” mid ocean style. They in return did “fresh pineapple pass off” mid ocean style. We were very happy to have our DB companions along the way.
You have to remember that we were out for 77 hours, so the conversation can begin to get a little bizarre, so it was a treat to tell jokes, play trivia and just chat with another boat over the radio (hopefully the coast guard didn’t hear our dirty jokes).
Finally after 70 hours on the boat Puerto Rico came into view and as the sun set and the night overtook, the millions of lights lit the mountainous country of Puerto Rico. By 11:30 Sunday night we had the anchor down in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico…77 long hours, 11 hours longer than I had calculated. We were all exhausted and excited, but exhaustion overtook and we were all fast asleep by 11:35.
I know…another long one. I’m sorry!We are now in a little town called Boqueron planning to head to Cabo Rojo today and then jump across the southern coast this week and hopefully be in the Virgin islands in 8-10 days.
As always…keep the comments coming and know that I will write again soon.
Thanks for listening…
Adios..
Kylie and Mike

Sailing the ocean blue...for real

Hmmm…where to begin! Seriously…where to begin. Last I left you we were in Georgetown waiting for weather to leave for the DR. Little did we know that instead of waiting for 3 days like we had intended we would end up being there for 3 weeks waiting for the crazy weather to subside. Our plan was to provision the boat and pick up some last minute items and head out asap. We listened to the weather guru (Chris Parker) everyday on our SSB radio hoping and waiting for good news to head south. Everyday Chris would come on and chuckle as he said “anybody heading south…it’s not looking good.” Everyday…we had fingers, toes, arms and legs crossed in hopes the wind would change…and everyday the forecast was the same “25 knots gusting 30 out of the NE-E with chance of squalls”.
No hope for little Megs to get our of Georgetown…so we made the best of it. We were fortunate enough to meet some very special and great people while we were stuck in Georgetown (aka: hotel Georgetown…you can check out but you can never leave).
One day while checking my email in the little shack known as the internet café, I met two young fellers from Canada, Eben and Jordan aboard Laboris. Instantly we clicked and so an everlasting friendship began with 2 23 year old boys from the west coast of Canada who soon became like my little brothers. (To hear their story…which is hilarious, check out www.jordanandeben.blogspot.com)..Eben and Jordan were hoping to make the DR by April 1st, but with the weather being so horrible for heading south they had to unfortunately end their adventure in Georgetown where they hauled Laboris and we celebrated their adventure with a bonfire on the beach for their last night on the water. We also met a single handing Aussie (Michael) who had just purchased a 47’Catamaran who soon became like our father (or older brother!!!!) who hosted our dinners and drinks pretty well every night. Add Tashmoo, Cat Lady and Wee Beastie into the mix and we have an extended family with whom we spent many interesting and entertaining nights together.
We also met a great couple Neil and Stephanie aboard Rhapsody who were so kind and lovely to us and we enjoyed meeting them so much. I never actually told Neil this….but he really resembled the lead singer from the Beegees during the filming of staying alive. Now Neil…if you’re reading this…I would take it as a huge compliment…and never cut your hair.
During one of the interesting and entertaining evenings, while eating a spectacular dinner aboard Sommerset Cat, knowing there was a chance of squalls, Mike perked up and said “Something isn’t right…I’m going back to Meggie”. Before I could even stand up the dinghy was gone and Mike was back at Meggie, only about 100 yards in front of us. A couple of the guests aboard Sommerset Cat told us we were paranoid and everything would be fine, but Mike’s instincts are good and I didn’t doubt him going back to check. I proceeded to tell them that piece of mind is much better than wondering if everything was alright and that Mike would close the hatches and probably be back in 15 minutes. I poked my head around the side of the Cat and to my surprise the wind nearly blew my over. I turned to Michael (from Sommerset) and said “This is serious…we need to turn on the radio”. As soon as we did, the radio came to life with terrified shouting, angry voices and paranoid screams. We soon heard “Cat Lady is dragging and no one is on the boat and they’re moving backwards at 6 knots” meanwhile Cat Lady is sitting right beside me on Sommerset Cat. Eben dinghied Mike (from Cat Lady) back to his boat and they were able to save Cat Lady and the other boats in the line of fire. Meanwhile I am frantically trying to get a hold of Mike on Meggie to make sure everything is ok and ifind out f we were dragging or if someone was dragging around us. Finally Mike came on the radio and put my mind at ease that everything was ok…..
I finally got back to Meggie once everything calmed down a bit and Mike told me that the previous cold front of 42 knots was like a walk in the park compared to what just happened. He said Meggie’s rail was in the water about 8 times and we later found out that someone had clocked the winds at 59 knots!!!!!!!!! SCARY! BUT…Meggie held like a champ and we were ok. The anchorage was crazy with people dragging everywhere and we were a little unsettled for the rest of night, but Mike was most upset that he left half a plate of food and half a glass of rum unfinished aboard Sommerset Cat.
So we just enjoyed playing volleyball, beaches, rum and great people, but it was seriously time to go…big time! FINALLY…we got good news from Chris that the weather was going to calm down…and he promised. So we waited about 3 more days for the sea to subside to about 6 feet instead of 12 feet (YIKES) and we finally left hotel Georgetown…(also aka: Chicken harbour as people are notorious for heading back north instead of their intended route south). We pulled up anchor on Monday morning, April 2 at about 6:30am along with Tashmoo and another singlehander we met named Joe from Seneca. However Joe isn’t alone, as his first mate is his black lab, Leah. So we all headed out to the unknown in hopes we would make Luperon, Dominican Republic.
We first headed to Conception Island about 50 miles from our anchorage and although it was a long slog out the cut to the ocean we started out on a close reach but unfortunately we couldn’t hold our rum line (the line from point A to B) and we ended up having a brutal current against us, so at 4:30 with 10 miles to go we bailed out as we knew we wouldn’t make landfall before dark. So we headed the 12.5 miles to Calabash Bay on Long Island and once we turned the boat around we went from barely 3 knots to 7.3 knots…so we made the anchorage no problem and enjoyed a comfortable and relaxing evening. The next day we pulled anchor and had an awesome close reach sail to Conception. With the rail in the water almost the whole way (which is unusual for Meggie) we averaged about 6 knots to Conception and were able to enjoy one of the most beautiful islands in the Bahamas.
We went snorkelling and spear fishing with some friends and Mike and the boys were yet again scared away by another shark.
We were on a roll, so the next morning at 6:30 we had the anchor up again and were off to Rum Cay a short 20 miles away. Meanwhile, because we had turned around to Calabash Bay, Tashmoo and Seneca and another boat were a day ahead of us. We heard that night that Tashmoo had some problems and during their rough slog of a sail to Rum they had to dive into the ocean in huge waves and discovered their centerboard hanging loose and had to cut it from the boat. So all of a sudden their trip to the DR became a trip back to Florida. Needless to say they and we were totally bummed, but they made the right choice and they’ll be back out before we know it. Seneca, continued on to Mayaguana or so we thought.
So we had a lovely sail to Rum that day and arrived at the waypoint at around 10am. The conditions were good and the seas were calm so we thought….lets keep going. Our next stop was Mayaguana some 125 miles from Rum, 150 miles from Conception. So we just kept going. We had a beautiful 1st night under a bright beautiful moon and sky full of stars. The next morning we were closing in on our target, but unfortunately were going slower than we had hoped so once we reached Mayaguana it was 8:00 pm the second night and we didn’t want to land in the dark so we decided to keep going…next stop 60 miles away, landing in Turks and Caicos! During our second day, we saw groups of pilot whales and were fortunate enough to see a sperm whale who was only about 40 yards from Meggie. It was sooooo excited yet a bit scary as I thought it might think Meggie was a whale and try and mate, but that didn’t happen! We also saw huge dolphins thumping Meggie's belly, but they're harmless....we think!!As we continued to Turks and Caicos and the sun set on the horizon the waves became a little lumpier and the wind became a little stronger. Before we knew it we had 20 knots on the nose and the waves were building to 6-8 feet with the odd 10 footer just to keep us on our toes. We had 30 miles to go, but our guides say to arrive in the Turks in morning to approach the banks and at the rate we were going we weren’t going to make it. We had to sail way off our rum line and we were struggling to make 3 knots…not good. Should we bail and go back to Mayaguana a short 25 miles back the way we had come? What to do??? We were getting hit with squalls and we couldn’t battle the wind on the nose anymore and we were absolutely exhausted!!! All of a sudden at 4:30 in the morning the radio came to life and were heard “Braveheart this is L’Attitude”. L’ATTITUDE…..OH MY GOD…..(We met L’Attitude back in the Chesapeake if you don’t remember…we had Thankgiving with them and enjoyed crab night). Holy @#%*!!!! We were soooo excited we hailed them and sure enough there was Doug on the other end and they were heading from Peurto Rico to Mayaguana. Our minds were made we tuned back. Before turning though…we put 2 reefs in the main, dropped the storm sail and mizzen sail and flew at 7 knots back to Mayaguana. We pulled into the most uncomfortable anchorage but we didn’t care as we were soooooo tired and soooooo excited to see L’Attitude, we slept and then had easter dinner at the L’Attitude bar and grill…very suiting.
The next day we planned to head out around 6 pm to Turks and Caicos as the seas had settled and we would arrive the next morning as we had to fuel up. I listened to the forecast and we had the perfect window to head straight Luperon…some 185 miles away. BUT…we needed some fuel. The closest place to get fuel was the Turks….what to do???? On the radio we get to the other boats in the anchorage and we were able to scrounge 10 gallons…enough to make the trip to Luperon. Anchor up by noon out the reef surrounded anchorage and off to Luperon!

We had a uneventful motor sail the rest of the day and all night across the Caicos passage and pretty soon the sun was rising to unveil another beautiful day. We motor sailed for part of the day and soon the wind was picking up and off with the motor and we had a great beam reach for about 8 hours. Unfortunately as the day came to and end the wind began to clock around onto our nose and we were forced to turn Stg. Major (our engine) on again and buck into the waves…but we only had 45 miles to go!!! We had an uncomfortable next 5 hours and of course it was my watch…which sucked but we got though it and with 30 miles to go I could smell something in the air. I had read that you can smell the DR well before you see it, and I instantly called Mike out and told him to sniff. No question….we smelled the most fantastic smell… earth. There is no other way to describe it. It was the smell of lush earth, 30 miles away. With 15 miles to go (on Mike’s watch) we entered into the lee of the island so the waves and the wind died down and we cruised along at an easy 4.5 knots the rest of the way and by sunrise we had the most spectacular sight in front of us. Mike woke me up with a big smile on his face and told me to get into the cockpit. As I came out of the cabin into the cockpit I turned around and saw mountains. Mountains as far as the eye could see. After the Bahamas the mountains were a welcome sight. We carried on into the tricky harbour and as we entered we marvelled at the lushness of the trees, the blow holes that lay to our left and the sound of a kazillion birds singing. Suddenly we weren’t tired anymore and we had huge smiles on our faces and as we entered the rest of the harbour we were greeted by familiar faces like Grace, Allouette and Seneca. We were on a high and absolutely thrilled to be out of the Bahamas and entering a new beautiful lush fantastic country. Mike turned to me at one point and said “There is a fine line between cruising and sailing and for the last week we were sailors”.
I sit here now in the small tiki bar at the yacht club overlooking the harbour as Meggie sits in calm safe water. After covering over 450 nautical miles in exactly one week, she deserves a good rest in a safe harbour. We sit with presidente beer in our hands and watch the sun set into the mountains and can’t believe we’re here. We’re soooo happy. Another freaky crazy thing that happened…..The morning after we arrived we heard “Meggie….Meggie….Meggie” at about 8 am…I poked my head out the hatch and to my disbelief and surprise it was Kim and David aboard Amanzi. I know…your thinking who’s that. We bought Meggie from David and Kim almost 5 years ago and here we meet again in Luperon of all places. Needless to say we had lunch, drinks and then more drinks catching up and getting info from them about the different islands they’ve been to and discussing the work we’ve done on Megs. Pretty weird.
The people in Luperon are fantastic. We really feel like we’re a long way from home, but we’re so excited to keep going.
Seeing and being in these places makes all the downs we experience so worth it. We are now waiting to hear if Mike’s dad and step mom will visit and have plans to rent motorbikes and explore the mountains and coast as well as visit Santo Domingo and Santiago. Lots to do…lots to see.
So…I apologize for such a LONG blog, but lots has happened and I want to share it all with you. So until next time….
Hasta Lleugo
Kylie
Ps….Eben, Jord, Cindy and John: We wish you were here with us, but we know we’ll see you along the way somewhere, someday!

Sunny Exumas

Well the last time I left you all, we were enjoying our travels along the exuma chain. We left you while we were in Compass Cay, one of the most beautiful cays in the Exumas. Even though this anchorage had a wicked current running through, the protection for the N - NE wind was relatively good and we were expecting a brutal cold front to come through with winds forecasted to be in the 30 knot range. We decided to hunker down and wait out the front. The winds started to pipe up in the early afternoon which meant the pre frontal winds had arrived, so we took everything off the deck, lashed everything down and got another anchor ready on deck just in case. Before we knew it a black line appeared on the horizon followed by an ugly sky. The winds proceeded to pick up and before we knew it the winds were blowing 30 knots steady. We sat in the cockpit and just waited and hoped our trusty anchor would hold. All of a sudden we saw a white line about 5 feet above the water moving towards us and all I heard was Mike say “Hold on…this isn’t going to be good. If the rode breaks I want you to take the tiller and I’ll drop the emergency anchor”. Holy crap…The white line hit us and we were in 42 knots of wind. For those of you who can’t relate 42 knots is almost 70 km winds. The 42 knots didn’t last very long but it was scary. At one point Mike asked me to pass him his snorkel goggles cause the rain was driving so bad into his face. Here we are dealing with gale force winds and I’m killing myself laughing at Mike who looked like an absolute dork with these goggles on. Yes people I got a picture! Our anchor did the job and held us through. Not too long after, we saw the other side of the front moving quickly south above us…a sigh of relief. The winds died down to about 20-25 knots through the night and everything was fine.
While we were in Compass waiting for the front to move through we did a ton of hiking and snorkelling and fishing. Mike was determined to spear something so we would make our way out in the dinghy for the afternoon in search for coral heads. We found a great head filled with snappers and school masters….Mike didn’t want to settle for the smaller fish, he wanted the biggest school master there. The school master toyed with Mike for about 45 minutes jetting in and out of holes in the coral. If the school master could talk he would be saying “Catch me if you can….come on…I dare ya”. What we didn’t know was that Mike wasn’t the only one who wanted the big school master. Out of the corner of his eye, Mike saw a silver flash. As he turned to see what it was he stared at a big black tip shark. I was in the dinghy and saw Mike quickly look up to see where I had parked the dinghy, then I saw flippers flipping as fast as I’ve ever seen flippers flip and before I knew it Mike shot out of the water and into the dinghy similar to a seal jolting out of the water. I thought maybe he had seen a barracuda (as these aren’t the most friendly creatures), but then he said “shark”. Normally I wouldn’t have believed him, but the way he swam to the boat, I knew he wasn’t kidding. Since then he has encountered another black tip and this time he didn’t bolt, he just slowly made his way back to the dinghy and the shark went the other way. Needless to say we weren’t the ones that ate the school master that night.
We were anxious to get a move on after waiting so long in Compass for the front to come through so the next day we weighed anchor and made our way to Staniel Cay Here we met up with Caretta again and we had made our way down with Hasten Slowly, so all of us went into Staniel and enjoyed a fundraiser bbq for the all ages school..
Staniel Cay was the first real civilization we had come across since we had left Nassau. We had just run out of toilet paper and were in desperate need of fruit and vegetables so Staniel was a welcome stop. We anchored in a great anchorage with many other boats and visited the beaches along the anchorage, one of which hosts wild pigs. Well…they’re not really wild as they’ve been somewhat tamed by the cruisers who feed them.
You think they’re kinda cute but man…they’re aggressive suckers. We took our little friend Steve from Hasten Slowly and had to abort the mission once we were out of food as we thought they were going to feast on Steveo.
Staniel was also the place that we were expecting a visit from Paul and Karen from Thornbury. We spent a couple of days getting used to the area and awaited the arrival of our friends.
We had a wonderful 9 days with Paul and Karen. The weather was superb and we were able to anchor in front of their cottage the whole time. We spent our days biking the island, snorkelling the grotto (from the James Bond movies “Never say Never” and “Thunderball”), eating great dinners, drinking lots of rum and luckily Mike and Paul were successful at fishing. The 2 boys went out in the 8 foot dinghy to try their hand at fishing (as they weren’t having much luck with finding lobster). After a brief engine problem in the middle of the inlet with the current ripping they finally were off fishing about 2 miles offshore (in an 8 foot dinghy!). The minutes ticked by as I waited patiently at the boat (as Mike had our only vehicle) and finally I saw the dinghy coming in. The first thing I saw was a huge grin on Paul’s face, so I knew it had to be good.
They pulled up to Meggie and held up a 10 pound Mahi. Mmmm dinner! On our way back to the cottage we ran into a German couple that were staying at the main house for the night. Luck would have it that Dominique was a pilot and he had a cesna on the island and offered us a flight.
So Paul, Mike and I went up in the cesna for about 40 minutes and had a beautiful flight over Staniel Cay and the surrounding area. We flew at only 250 feet over the islands and were able to see Meggie suspended in the most amazing water. During the flight I noticed something felt a little different and when I looked up front Mike had the wheel (or whatever it is). Yup, Mike was flying the plane. Dominique turns around and asks Paul and I if we want to fly. So there we are in this little tiny tiny plane and Mike and Paul are switching positions so Paul can fly. Finally we got repositioned and Paul was flying the plane. It was interesting! We invited Dominique and Brozenic (sp?) to dinner and had the best mahi dinner I’ve had yet.
What a day. Sadly the 9 days came to and end and we had to say goodbye to Paul and Karen. The time went so fast it doesn’t even seem real that they were here. We thoroughly enjoyed their visit and we thoroughly enjoyed Staniel. We hung out there for a couple of more days and said our goodbyes to the lovely people of Staniel and made our way to Georgetown, making a few stops along the way. We stopped in Cave Cay and waited out some NE winds until we could get out the cut and head to Georgetown. We had a great sail down the exuma sound, even though it was a bit rolly. We put our lines out asap in the hopes of catching another mahi and having dinner with Hasten Slowly once we arrived in Georgetown. Around 8 am the line went taught and Mike pulled in a huge mahi…however, once we got the fish to the side of the boat the wire holding the hook, snapped and we lost him. We couldn’t believe it…he was within our grasp and we lost him. We immediately put another line in but with no luck. The miles ticked down as we closed in on Georgetown but still no fish. Then with 5 miles left the line went taught again. This time we weren’t going to lose him.
We pulled in a beautiful huge mahi. This one had to have been 15-18 pounds. We hailed Hasten Slowly and enjoyed a great dinner once again.
Now we sit in the Georgetown harbour as the winds blow 20-25 knots yet again. This place is unbelievable. It is basically a summer camp for retirees. It’s a great place to meet people, reprovision, and source anything you need before making the jump to the DR, but a week is plenty for us. Some people arrive in November and stay all the way until April and May…it’s crazy. Once the winds subside we’ll make our way to Conception island , Mayaguana, possibly Turks and Caicos and then to the Dominican Republic. We have sourced the charts that we needed and we’re almost ready to go. The next leg of our trip will be more difficult than the last couple of months and the leg after that (the mona passage) will be even more difficult. Weather windows are key for a successful trip, but we want to keep going, so we’ll give it a go. We considered making our way north again but have both come to the conclusion that if we don’t do it now, then we probably won’t get the chance to do it again. So for now we’re preparing and waiting.
So until next (and I’m not sure when that will be, but please be patient).
Later mon
Kylie and Mike

da Bahamas

Well…I’m sitting in the cockpit writing this. As I sit here, Meggie is suspended in liquid blue and aqua as the waves calmly break on the sand bar beside her. As I watch the sun setting, an unbelievable show of pinks and oranges unfolds again. I can hear the distant calls by other cruisers on their conch shells as it is a custom to do so as the day falls to an end. Mike and I sit in the secluded anchorage with not a soul around, Meggie is the only boat anchored here and the beauty that surrounds us is outstanding. (Really…I’m not kidding…it’s amazing out here). We’ve had the best month or so since we have left. We spent a few more days in Nassau and checked out the city and of course Atlantis resort (only visited…too rich for my blood!). We had a great time exploring the streets and markets of this bustling city. We also experienced the many cruise ships that arrive each day and after a couple of days we were ready for peace and quiet…with no tourists. We left Nassau and headed for the northern part of the Exuma chain. We decided to head for Allans Cay where the iguana resides. Apparently Allans Cay is the last island that these historic dinosaur looking reptiles reside. Once you go to the bare sandy shore, sure enough one by one the iguanas begin to emerge from the bush until the whole beach is full of them. Unfortunately they are looking to be fed by the tourist powerboat that arrives everyday with a boat full of people who jump off, feed the iguanas and then power back on the boat and head back to the mainland. All of this takes about 20 minutes. The iguanas know that the sound of an engine means food. Unfortunately Mike and I don’t have any food for them…we have just come to watch. Allans Cay is our first introduction to a Bahamian island and we’re thrilled. The islands are protective, clean, filled with sandy beaches and surrounded by great reefs. We spent our time there snorkelling the reefs and Mike getting used to his new Hawaiian sling (hunting for lobster), swimming and camp fires on the beach with friends. Allans was also the place that we met Caretta a 29’Bristol from Charleston (wuhoo…and they’re 30!!!!).
So Caretta, Hasten Slowly and Meggie amongst other cruisers have been making our way down the chain. Our next stop was Normans Cay. This semi famous Cay (pronounced key) was under the operation of a man named Carlos, and Carlos was a drug lord. Carlos had a very successful drug business running out of Normans Cay which included an airstip and everything (HAD being the operative word). Rumour has it that the D.E.A. used to hide out on nearby Wax Cay and watch the happenings on Normans Cay. A undercover marine biologist told Carlos he wanted to study the hammerhead sharks in the nearby Normans pond and was accepted to do so, and this is how Carlos was captured. So the island is very interesting needless to say with the main house, guest houses (for “the women”) are all still intact and up until the early 90’s police still maintained a presence on Normans. There is also a plane wreck that is most interesting to snorkel. We spent a few days exploring but with a cold front approaching it was time to move on to seek shelter from the N-NE winds that were forecasted to be 25 knots gusting 30...yikes. So off we went to Shroud Cay which is a whoping 5 miles south, where we were able to seek protection from the wind. Although we were protected from the wind, the swell rolled Meggie back and forth for 2 days straight. Not too comfortable but a good excuse to dinghy along the mangrove lined canals to the other side of the island (only accessible during high tide). We also were introduced to Barney at Shroud Cay. Barney was a 4 possibly 5 foot barracuda that decided to take up residence under Meggie’s belly. Barney kept us on our toes when we decided to take a swim. Shroud was our first stop along the Exuma land and sea national park, so no fishing or taking of shells etc. Once the winds died down we continued our travels to Warderick Wells Cay.
We had a fantastic sail along the exuma bank. Meggie reaching at an easy 6 knots in the 10-12 knots of wind, the sun shining, and the seas flat...it was a perfect sailing day. We arrived at Warderick Wells which is host to the headquarters of the park and offers mooring balls at an inexpensive rate which you can volunteer to work off, which is what we did. John, Erin, Mike and I volunteered our time and were given the task of sanding fibreglass on a boat they were repairing to use as their fuel barge. All of us had had previous experience with fibre glass but it was for a good cause, so we went for it. Warderick Wells is an amazing island.
None of the reefs in the park have been touched so the life surrounding them is truly outstanding, and the island itself is full of trails which offer surprisingly good hiking. Hasten Slowly, Caretta and Meggie spent a good 4 hours hiking the island. We also left our mark on BooBoo hill which is where travellers have left a piece of wood with their names on it. This is a custom that has been done for years, so now Meggie sits among the others.
From Warderick Wells we made our way to Compass Cay where we now sit. With just a taste of the island yesterday, I think it‘s the nicest island we‘ve come across. The island is full of trails and hosts a mile long beach and incredibly there are nurse sharks that hang out in the shallows of the small marina which is quite the site.
Tucker (the owner) was telling us that the sharks have been here for years, just hangin out and people can actually swim with them (just not at feeding time). So maybe on the next blog you’ll see a picture of me surrounded by lots of nurse sharks...hmmm...maybe not.
So just an update as to where we are and what we’ve been doing.
We’ll be in touch soon. As always keep the posts coming.
This be Kylie chillin in da Bahamas mon.

Kylie and Mike

Mini update: We're now in Staniel Cay and I've spent 2 weeks trying to send this blog, but it's proven to be difficult to download the pics. I will update soon as we've had a very interesting couple of weeks!!! Hint: enduring 42 knot winds, black tip sharks, more barracuda and visitors!

FINALLY...

Hello everyone. Wow…where to begin. When I last left you we were headed to Stuart to spend Xmas. Well we made it to a little place called Manatee Pocket and dropped anchor for 2 weeks. We had been receiving emails from a guy we met in the Hudson river telling us that if we made it there to look him up. Just as we dropped the anchor we saw the familiar very red north star that we had seen 5 months earlier and standing in the cockpit was Marcell. We were thrilled to meet up again and so began not only a friendship but our family for the next 2 weeks.
Marcell, Gail and their 2 daughters visiting for the holidays made us feel welcome just like family over the xmas holidays, and although we were missing our own families at this time being with Marcell’s family made our Christmas. Between drinks and lovely dinners with the St. Onge family we worked like mad on Meggie. We were able to provision Meggie for the Bahamas with the help of the St. Onge van and managed to get the last few jobs on Meggie completed before heading across, small little things that we thought we would have done along the way but proved to have no time to do. We installed our second set of hand rails, fastened our dinghy tie downs to the cabin top, pulled apart the interior and javexed the whole boat and then filled it with a ton of food all wrapped in ziplock bags, but most importantly Mike installed our old but new to us Icom 720A SSB radio. We bought this radio and tuner from Doug in Oriental for $70, and it has been our new favorite piece of equipment. Having an SSB allows us to receive weather for all over the Bahamas and the Carribbean and also allows us to download weather faxes, not to mention it will also allow us to communicate up to 5000 miles away (pretty amazing). This is very important as you cannot receive extensive weather on VHF as you can in Canada and the US. It was a lengthy process to install but I cannot express the relief I feel having that piece of equipment on board. So…with the boat provisioned and our jobs completed we were ready to go…except we had to celebrated new years and why not do it with people we know and like! So the 2 girls and Mike and I went out on the town for New Years…Mike was a lucky guy that night not only did he have me as a date but 2 other beautiful women. We had a great time and although we made it back to the boat at 4:30 am we managed to wake up feeling relatively good.
Now that the holidays were officially over, and after listening to the weather constantly for the past 3 days, it was time to move on. We planned a hop from St. Lucie inlet to Miami, but were warned by the locals that the inlet was not a good idea to attempt and concern was evident. So we travelled via the ICW once again to West Palm Beach and anchored there with the intention of heading out that inlet to Miami. I should also mention here that Twice Loved and Meggie went separate ways just after new years. With Twice Loved’s time restrictions they decided that visiting the Abacos would suite them rather then heading further south to the Exumas. So off they went to experience a different part of the Bahamas, and we’re so glad to hear they’re there safe and sound. Once in west palm we waited 3 days for an east wind of 20-25 knots to subside, but to our disadvantage we had no such luck, so we made our way down to Fort Lauderdale. Finally the winds had subsided and we were able to jump our the inlet to Miami. We had a pretty good sail, but we were just thankful to be out on the ocean again. We entered Miami refreshed and ready to tackle the Gulf Stream. Once in Miami we met up with Snowday and were able to enjoy their company on the beach and although we had to wait for a weather window to cross we couldn’t really complain about our surroundings.We ran around Miami Beach getting the last few things done before our window opened and we were able to go. On our dinghy ride back to the boat one day we met a couple heading in to do the last minute rushes as well…we got to talking and found out they were from Newmarket and so began our friendship with our travel companions for the next week. Hasten Slowly moved to our anchorage and we began our preparations and discussion to head across the Gulf Stream, which always ended up being drinks on Hasten Slowly including another boat Surfer Girl. Both boats are Sabre 38’s, and luckily they excepted Meggie even though she’s only 30 feet long and slower..We planned a 3:00am departure on Monday morning and upon waking up discovered the wind was still blowing from the east instead of SE like predicted so we delayed our departure until 5:00am. We headed out the long Miami inlet and were only met with massive monstrous waves in the inlet. Meggie pounded her way out but we just were not making any headway. We radioed the 2 other boats and even though they were further out there was no change in the conditions….we made the call and bailed out. Hasten Slowly, Surfer Girl, and Meggie made our way back to the anchorage and were settled down again in our same spots before anyone around had woken up for the day. Ok…so our new plan was to wait for the wind to switch to SE and lessen so the seas had a chance to lay down and we would try again. It didn’t look like this was going to happen until around midnight. We really wanted this window because missing it would mean another week in Florida and we were desperate to get to Bahamas. Early that night we again sat on Hasten Slowly to discuss our plan…which only led to drinks. We caught an hours sleep and Mike and I weighed anchor at 10:30pm and headed out the long inlet again. It seemed better…we were going! The light from Miami lit the inlet for us but as we approached the end of the inlet and the open ocean it got very dark and it took my eyes awhile to adjust to the darkness. Finally we were clear of all hazardous buoys and we were in deep dark water. The waves had subsided and the wind was bowing SE at about 7 knots, not enough to just sail as we had to keep our speed up so the Gulf Stream didn’t send us more north than planned. We adjusted our heading to head more SE than the rum line heading of E as we had to compensate for the 2-3.5 knot current that runs north. As we headed out into the night my eyes adjusted and the stars lit the sky and we were having a great time. We were introduced to bio-luminescent, which are little organisms that sparkle in the wake of a boat…it was magical. We plotted our course every half hour to make sure we weren’t being pushed to far north and our course proved to be bang on.With a watchful eye for ships transiting the Gulf Stream we plodded our way along until finally the sun rose directly in front of us revealing the deep purple color of the water. Mike thought he would try the fishing thing again. On our way to Miami he did have something on the line, but whatever it was took all of our line as Mike couldn’t stop the drag and we decided that we didn’t want to know what was on the end of the line because whatever it was…it was BIG. So up until the Gulf Stream we had caught 0 fish. Mike put the line out and soon enough Mike told me to take the tiller. He pulled in the most beautiful looking Mahi..It was the most amazing color and it was quite a fair size. Needless to say Mike was thrilled as you can tell by his face in the photo. We continued on and finally saw land…Bimini, but we decided to keep moving along the banks. The water goes from 3000 meters to 40 feet just like that and the color change of the water is unbelievable. Before we knew it we were seeing the bottom in 40 feet…unreal. We travelled along the banks in calm weather and when sunset arrived we decided to drop anchor after about 20 hours. Now…anchoring on the banks…you have to understand that the banks are shallow waters with mostly sand bottom, but there is no land in sight…so you’re anchoring in the open. We dropped our hook and marvelled at the clear water, even at night you could see the bottom and the amount of stars was staggering. We anchored with Hasten Slowly and although the evening started out no too bad by midnight Meggie was bouncing around so badly it was hard to stay on the bunks….no sleep that night. By 5 am we were ready to go. Just before first light we pulled up our anchor and were off again. Our next stop Chub Cay. On route is where the banks meet the tongue of the ocean. We had a pretty slow day, wind on the nose but light. We made our way to Chub and anchored in the safety from the E winds.We knew it was only temporary safety as the S-NW is open to the open ocean…yikes. By midnight the wind had switch to SE and we could start to feel the swell bouncing Meggie around. By 2:00am the wind had switched enough to make our anchorage begin to feel uncomfortable. By 3:30am we had the anchor up and started heading out into the ocean again. We set sails turned onto our course and turned the motor off. We had one of our best sails. In the early morning darkness we sat in the cockpit drinking coffee and once again marvelled at how many stars existed. All of a sudden the sky lit up like a spot light and we were amazed to watch a comet falling turning a green color as it descended…it was truly amazing. I laid down in the cockpit to have a bit of a nap, and heard a thump on the cabin top and then in the cockpit…Mike and I looked at each other wondering who was the careless one that left something on deck…only to find a flying fish thumping around just by my feet….it almost landed right on me.We threw it back in the water and once daylight appeared began to see these funny little bird fish skimming across the ocean. The winds increased and Meggie sailed along at 6.5 knots and we made landfall 2 hours earlier than we expected and pulled into the Nassau harbour at 10 am. Finally….we were in the Bahamas…where we could actually go on land.We took a slip at a marina so we could check into customs (which didn’t end up being until 4:00pm) and finally raised our Bahamian flag. Once we were cleared we were thrilled to be heading into town with Maddy (aka: guardian angels).We had been keeping tabs on where they were and they spotted Meggie and came right over. It was great to see them after so long. We headed into Nassau and went by the market and down by the little food huts to have our first conch salad. Mike and I were invited onto Doc’s boat to watch the process of getting conch out of it’s shell. Doc was so fast at doing this and we felt privileged to have been able to witness it. We watched as the lady rubbed the raw conch meat with lime and chopped it up into the most wonderful tasting salad I’ve ever hadWhat a great introduction to Nassau. We wandered back to our boat satisfied, thrilled and exhausted.The wind is howling 20-25 knots and we were glad to be in the safety of the harbour….for now. So…again I apologize for the lengthy blog, but I was determined not to write until we actually made landfall in the Bahamas. So we’re safe and the long slog is over and we will begin our travels down the Exuma chain hoping to visit Paul and Karen from Thornbury along the way at Staniel Cay. I don’t know when I will be able to write again but please be assured as soon as I get a connection I will do so.
Ok…well this is Kylie in the Nassau Bahamas signing off.
Until next time….
Cheers
Kylie and Mike