Blogs from Bahamas, Central America Caribbean - page 4
June 1st 2011
We stayed in a hostel where the main selling point was that you get a free beer that they brew on site every day. A bit different but it had a nice bar on the top floor. We arrived at 6 in the morning but had to wait until 2 to get a bed and shower. We had a walk down the main street and checked out some travel agents for going to the amazon. It was in one of these that I left my bag only realising half an hour later and I was very relieved that they hadn't even noticed. Panic over. La Paz is much more of a city city with more people in suits etc. but still the Bolivian market stalls everywhere and people traffic. There are snowy mountains in the background ... read more
Virtual Pot-Luck
Published: May 8th 2011Central America Caribbean » Bahamas » Grand Bahama » Freeport
May 8th 2011
YOU are invited to a virtual pot-luck. Please bring a picture of your favourite, tasty dish of food when you visit this blog. How do you do that? (It's a piece of cake if you know how to download pictures or a picnic if you get someone to help you.) Take a picture of your favourite dish the next time you make it and download it here in the message section. "What's the occasion?", you might ask. Well it is Mother's Day today, so that's good for a start. Fortunately I was up this morning to receive a beautiful surprise. Lavonnia, a terrific person from the marina office brought all the boaters a gorgeous rose for Mother's Day. As you can imagine, flowers aren't a big part of the boating scenario, so this one was really ... read more
GREEN Garden of the Groves
Published: May 8th 2011Central America Caribbean » Bahamas » Grand Bahama » Freeport
May 6th 2011
This is us, balancing our BLUE WATER overload with some GREEN EARTH 'get our feet on the ground' time. Step inside, hide in the shade and enjoy the deep earthy smells at the Garden of the Groves. The $15 fee, $10 for seniors, is worth it. But just for you, on the blog ... FREE! : ) Now we've started videoing a little, we're amazed at the hussle-bussle of nature. If it works, try our video of crazy hummingbirds diving into the last call of afternoon nectar. After that, check the waterfall video, complete with ducks on the edge. This park was privately owned by a couple who donated it to the public. Coincidentally, the family's name was Groves. It's located almost in the centre of Grand Bahama Island, near the Grand Lucayan Waterway that dissects ... read more
May 6th 2011
"You want to take me on a cruise? Are you kidding me? Next thing I know you'll want to take me to Hawaii or lord forbid VEGAS!" "Just calm down Andrea," he says. "I thought you might actually benefit from a vacation. You know, something relaxing, self indulgent....easy." Those are the last three words that come to mind when I plan a trip. I thought to myself, "I'm a traveler, not a vacationer." Travelers come home completely wiped out from exhaution due to bad beds in cheap hotels. Travelers come home depressed because their adventure is over and they're faced with their reality. Travelers come home sick from eating street food too tempting to resist. They come home with a backpack stuffed with filthy t-shirts and socks worn inside out. They come home feeling accomplished, more ... read more
It's All About Family
Published: May 6th 2011Central America Caribbean » Bahamas » Grand Bahama » Freeport
May 5th 2011
Bluewater Cat is still in the Bahamas. We left the Georgetown area around the middle of March and headed north to the Abacos, the northernmost islands of the Bahamas. We flew to the Abacos about 15 years ago and spent a week there scuba diving while staying at a resort, but had never been there with the boat. I was surprised when we reached the popular cruising area of the Abacos to see so many sailboats plying these waters. The Abacos include the main islands of Little Abaco and Great Abaco and then multiple smaller cays like Man O War, Green Turtle Cay, Elbow Cay, Manjack Cay, and so on. It reminds me a little of the BVIs because you can take short day sails from island to island and yet stay within the protected Sea ... read more
Exploring in Good Company
Published: May 6th 2011Central America Caribbean » Bahamas » Grand Bahama » Freeport
May 1st 2011
Remember the old Pennsylvania Dutch expression: "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get"? Well we're working on a corollary of that, something like: "The less we do, the less we do-dee-do-dee-do". Hmmmmm? That's catchy. Maybe there's a song in that. See what I mean...? Since we've taken to indulging ourselves as dock-huggers at the Grand Bahamas Yacht Club, we have had more time to do what we do most willingly... hanging out in good company. So we find ourselves relaxing as we had hoped to do, when we started the boat project years ago. There are no worries about dragging anchor or being mowed under by a mega-yacht although we do have our big red fender balls out to prevent being shoved up against the dock by wind and wakes. Ultimately, finding company can be ... read more
May 1st 2011
Ok I'm about a month behind but it's too hard to catch up. Also they've changed the website so that I can't choose South America on my iPod so might as well call it the Bahamas. We stayed in a hostel in Leblon which is one of the safest/nicest parts of Rio. It was a nice hostel with a bar and the like. The first night we went for a meal at a per kilo restaurant recommended as cheap by an Aussie guy we met but it wasn't cheap at all. The next day we spent on the beach, the weather was a bit cloudy but it was nice. One quite annoying thing about the beach was that the waves are really powerful so it's not easy to just have a swim and just the backwash ... read more
April 26, Great Harbor Cay, Berry Islands, Bahamas
Published: April 26th 2011Central America Caribbean » Bahamas » Berry Islands
April 26th 2011
April 26, 2011 Hello again, we are sitting in Great Harbor Cay in the northern part of the Berry Islands. We had a great crossing of the Gulf Stream to North Bimini Island and cleared customs there. We spent several days there and then left to cross the Great Bahama Bank to Chub Key at the south end of the Berry islands. We went up to Bonds key and spent several days in the bight behind the Cay all buy ourselves. Got 7 Conch and fried them for dinner one night. They were great and we could have gotten all the conch we wanted. (No lobster yet)After several days we sailed to Great Harbor Cay to wait out some higher winds and waves before crossing to the Abacos. We caught a lot of fish trolling off ... read more
Georgetown Winter 2010/2011
Published: April 18th 2011Central America Caribbean » Bahamas » Exuma » Georgetown
April 18th 2011
Georgetown, Bahamas 2010-2011 After arriving in Georgetown on December 5th, we quickly settled into our new routine of living at anchor in Elizabeth Harbor. This harbor is made up of 6 or 7 different anchorages, each with its own personality. We prefer Volleyball Beach anchorage because it is at the heart of the cruising activities. Because Double-Wide draws less than 4’, we are able to anchor very close to shore. Our life at anchor is strictly, “off the grid”. We must depend on our battery bank to power the electrical appliances we use, including radios, PC, cell phone and lights. We have several ways to replenish the batteries. Primarily we depend on our solar panels, then our wind generator and finally, we have a 4.2 kw generator that can power a battery charger. The daily routine ... read more
April 15th 2011
Freedom Sea Day. This is our first full sea day and I planned to have breakfast and play a little poker at 10:45. Heard MaryLu wandering around so got up and stretched and sat down to write the blog. I am having trouble logging in so I’ll have to find a hot spot. MaryLu flabbergasted me with the information that it was 9:50. I haven’t slept that late in months. The dining room was closed so we went to the Windjammer and low and behold they have my smoked salmon too. That along with fruit, juice and coffee set me up for the day. We went to the casino where there was actually and game in progress and I was able to sit in. When it broke up I was ahead $13. Observations on RCL: Fresh ... read more
