Blogs from Bahamas, Central America Caribbean

17/5/13 Nassau, Bahamas Avast there me hearties! Up, fed and out, Nassau awaits, the proper pirate stronghold, home of Blackbeard and other fearsome and fascinating buccaneers of the high seas. Arrrr Jim lad this be the place I wants to see. First though we had to get off, walk the plank I mean along the pier, go through the welcome centre, run the gauntlets of taxi touts, hair braiding ladies, tour touts and eventually escape through the gates and out into the city. Once more the line of jewellery and souvenir shops but we had a map and things to see so we carried onwards. We had a quick look in the straw market, which was basically a large building full of craft and souvenir stalls with very forceful ladies trying to get you to buy ... read more

Well, the other two boats (True North and Bucket List) left on Sunday, but we weren’t quite ready and thought we would be able to leave today. Wrong. The winds were a bit brisk overnight and continued all day, finally dropping off this evening. If things look good and our forecaster gives the OK, we’ll take off tomorrow for Shroud Cay in the Exuma island chain. Our forecaster is Chris Parker, well known among the boating crowd. He broadcasts on the SSB from 6:30-9:00 AM every day but Sunday. You can listen in for free or subscribe for a fee and get to call him for a detailed forecast for your cruising area. He simultaneously does a web cast for those who have internet and can’t get the signal clearly. That’s what we’ve had to do ... read more

Those darn cold fronts are still following us! The Bahamas are high enough in latitude to feel the effects of a strong cold front and the most recent one knocked the temperatures down about 20 degrees from earlier in the week. We had to dig out the long sleeves, long pants, socks and sleeping bags. Oh well, it’s still better than snow. (sorry) Last Monday, during our exploratory walk in the morning, we stopped to chat with an employee of the resort who generously offered to take us out to the beach. We hopped on his golf cart and got a tour of the place as he made his security rounds. Sometimes it was hard to understand his accent over the noisy engine (carts here are gas, not electric), but I did learn that the owner/developers ... read more

Yep, Bahamas! Those of you who know us, know that we are not really resort kind of people. In fact, we very often speak critically of people who travel to another country only to never leave the resort and as a result, never experience the actual country. Resorts always seemed to us to be overcrowded, overcharged, overdone, and lacking in any real sense of history, culture, and authenticity. There is the argument that resort guests are offered daily excursions, activities, and tours which can provide the opportunity for history, culture, and all things authentic. Then, there is the counter argument that such excursions, tours, activities, and the like are limited and superficial. And so, the argument can continue indefinitely. We have always preferred to travel the road less travelled, to steer away from resorts and their ... read more

Bonjour tous le monde, On profite de l'occasion pour vous souhaiter de joyeuses fêtes et de profitez de chaque instant de votre vie ainsi que tous les gens qui vous entourent. Passez un joyeux Noël! Après la visite de Bruno et Josée nous sommes retournés a Georgetown pour une navigation de 7 heures en mer afin de rejoindre nos amis virage, Magie et Misty. L'envie de pêcher en mer était aussi très grande, mais malheureusement pour l'aller nous n'avons rien pris. Nous n'avons même pas eu une petite morsure sur aucun des appats de Seb. Une fois arrivée a Georgetown nous avons joué au Volley ball et Sébastien a même fait un atelier sur la fabrication de collier avec des cornes de langouste. Après notre petite escapade de 2 jours nous sommes revenu sur nos pas ... read more