April 31, 2009

Hey, how are you all?

Well, I wrote just 10 days ago that we were on our way to Eleuthera and then to the Abacos. I love to have a plan! And, yet, I do not mind a course change when wind and sea combine their forces in opposition to our plans. We spent 9 beautiful and very windy days in Warderick Wells. Only the most hardy sailed in the Exumas over the last week or so, perhaps the foolhardy. The winds were a steady 25 to 30 knots and the seas in the sound were 10 to 12 feet.

While enjoying refuge on Warderick we immersed ourselves in the beauty of the land and sea park. Though it was quite windy, there were abundant sheltered spaces to swim, snorkel and hike. Warderick Wells continues to be one of my favorite islands in the Exumas.

Tomorrow Namaste will spread her luminous, white wings and join the collective migration of cruisers heading north. We have learned to alter our course with the ease and grace of dancers stepping from a meringue to a rumba. We realized that we would enjoy little time in the Abacos during May as the long-range weather forecast is predicting strong winds and squalls for the second two weeks of the month. A timely weather window has granted us the opportunity to sail with fair winds and following seas all the way to Charleston from Nassau.

We are both excited about traveling north to Charleston. Using the strong current in the Gulf Stream to provide additional momentum to our sail, we believe Namaste will arrive in Charleston on Tuesday evening after 4 days at sea. We look forward to a week at the Charleston Maritime Center Marina in the heart of the city. And, of course we can’t wait to see family.
We spent last night at Highborne Cay and tonight we are in Nassau refueling and provisioning for our journey to Charleston. I have butterflies, hundreds of butterflies, creating a stir of excitement and anticipation regarding our trip up the Gulf Stream. This kind of rousing has been good for me. I am glad to have this opportunity to stretch and to challenge my perceptions. Only 5 months ago I would have identified more with trepidation than this swarm of animated eagerness fluttering in my core.

Chris and I have both loved our voyage to the Bahamas. We have only begun to explore these beautiful islands. I don’t believe I will see water reflecting these clear blues and greens, aqua’s and azures until we return some day to continue our adventure into the northern and southern Bahamas. These islands are truly the sparkling jewels of the Atlantic and they will beckon to us yet again. The Bahamians have welcomed us at every turn and we are grateful for our glittering and spectacular experience here.

I will write next from Charleston.

Peace and Love

Warderick Wells

April 20, 2009

Ahoy from Namaste, Warderick Wells, Exumas

Hello all,

How is everyone? Hope you are all well, happy and enjoying spring. We just arrived in Warderick Wells on this beautiful Bahamian afternoon. We had a great sail up here with brisk wind and a following sea. The Exuma Land and Sea Park is one of my favorite places in the Bahamas. We took a nice walk up to the highest point on the island and then through asmall palm forest before heading back across the flats. Today the little lizards were out in numbers and they were brave enough to allow me to take a picture. They usually run away faster than you can catch a glimpse of them.  Back at the boat for the evening, we realized we have a good Internet connection so I thought I would update the blog.

We enjoyed our second stay in Georgetown. We were able to take care of the blossoming rust spots on the deck. Namaste is all sanded, painted and lovely again. We also worked on a puddin for Derby our dinghy. Chris crafted a protective covering for the front of Derby modeled after the puddins on the front of tugboats. The netting we used is recycled from our walk on the beach on Long Island. It is a work in progress and we are having fun with it. We enjoyed taking some time to get boat projects done before we begin our trek north for the summer.

We left Georgetown on the 17^th of April and sailed north on Exuma Sound to Blackpoint.  As usual we put out our two fishing lines hoping to catch a mahi mahi, a yellow snapper or some grouper. We sailed right up the 100-meter line just as we were told. We used our pink and orange squid like everyone else. As we reached Dotham Cut I heard the line snap and I was sure we had finally caught the big one. I tugged on the line and felt the fight at the other end. I slowly brought the fish toward the boat only to realize we had caught yet another barracuda. Some people will eat barracuda but we prefer not to since it can carry ciguatera. We have not had much luck catching fish, except barracuda, but it does not keep us from trying. Our fishing skills have long been a family joke.

We needed to bring in our lines anyway as we were already taking in sail to prepare for the squall we could see looming over Dotham Cut, our entrance onto the banks and Blackpoint. As it turned out there were two squalls and when the second one caught up with the first one they changed direction from west to south and headed right toward us. Rather than being quiet observers of the blackening sky, strong winds and blinding rain we became participants in this dark adventure. Since we can not outrun a 30 knot wind, the only thing to was go through it. It was our first squall. We were literally blinded by the amount of rain and the winds got up above 30 knots. It all ended as fast as it began, we were save in our little ship and in the end we witnessed a colorful rainbow arch its way over the sound. All was well. We were well prepared.

Blackpoint is a small settlement on Great Guana Cay. There are 3 churches and a few commercial establishments including two restaurants and a small grocery store in the settlement. The children were on spring break so we saw lots of activity in the streets. There were also some local sailors loading theirsail boats onto the mail boat to be delivered to Georgetown for the Family Island Regatta. We enjoyed our walks about town and meeting cruisers in the anchorage. On one of our walks we saw the large blowhole you can see in the photograph of the roiling ocean.

We plan to leave Warderick Wells early in the morning for Rock Sound, Eleuthera. We will probably be in Rock Sound through the weekend as the wind and seas are going to kick up the day after our arrival. I am looking forward to seeing the ocean hole at the edge of town and the 4 blue holes in the anchorage.

From Eleuthera we will head to the Abacos for a few weeks before we cross the Gulf Stream and head for the eastern U.S. coastline. We are looking forward to both our exploration of the Abacos and our trip up north for the summer.

That’s all for now.

Peace and Love

April 5, 2009

Ahoy from Namaste!

How is everyone? Hope you are enjoying a beautiful spring.

I am posting two blogs today since I could not post the one I wrote for March 27. So take a look back one also.

Well, here we are back in Georgetown for a couple of days after spending a most wonderful 5 days on Conception Island.

We continue to be amazed at the beauty of the water world that surrounds us. I thought I had seen all the blues and greens that the Bahamas had to offer until we arrived on Conception Island. The east side of the island is surrounded by crystal clear green water. The west side, where we anchored, is surrounded by crystal clear blue water. These are colors we have never seen before! I have tried to capture them in the photos for you. The center of the island is a large mangrove that is home to green sea turtles. The outer edges of the island hold white sand beaches and rocky cliffs. We snorkeled, collected, took a tour of the mangrove with two friends to see the turtles and hiked along the cliffs.

The sea turtles are very shy and only come up to the surface of the water to take a quick gulp of air before returning to the deeper water. We sat for hours just to continue catching glimpses of these graceful swimmers. An egret dancing on a nearby beach also entertained us. It was a solo performance of leaps, pirouettes, and rhythmic wing flapping. There were a variety of birds not seen anywhere else we have been so far. There were long tailed, white, tropicbirds, oystercatchers, egrets, osprey and lots of seagulls.

While snorkeling we saw lots of the fish we have become acquainted with while traveling here in the Bahamas. We also came upon a 7-foot nurse shark. It is the one shark that I do not fear so I was able to follow it to capture a picture. Nurse sharks are bottom feeders and are much more predictable than many sharks. The only time they are known to bite people is when someone tries to pet one. Needless to say I did not get close enough to pet this guy.

We arrived back in Georgetown ready to do some work on Namaste. She is showing some wear after six months in the water. Chris is working on the small rust spots that appear every so often and I am giving her a good cleaning. We will be here for a couple of days and then we are not sure where we are going. The weather is really nice now in the central Bahamas so we are not ready to head to the Abacos just yet. We may go south to the Jementos or north up to Black Point in the Exumas. We will wait and see what the wind and weather are up to as we finish up our chores.

We will be in touch.

Peace and Love

March 27, 2009

March 27, 2009

Ahoy from Namaste, Thompson Bay, Long Island

Hi Everybody!

It is hard to believe we have been on Thompson Bay for almost 2 weeks! How fast time passes on Namaste. I wish you all a Happy Spring! I can almost smell the cherry blossoms.

We were greeted by many of the cruisers we met while in Georgetown upon our arrival on Long Island. While here we have been getting to know each other better. We have especially enjoyed some extended time with 3 couples on sailing vessels Loafer’s Glory, Fox Sea and Adamant. We first met Vicki and Bob from Fox Sea in Beaufort, North Carolina and again in Charleston, South Carolina. I believe we will meet up with them again in Eleuthera. Pat and Lynn from Adamant designed and built their own boat and traveled here from Georgian Bay. Anne Marie and Larry from Loafer’s Glory are traveling for two years. They plan to spend the summer in Luperon, Dominican Republic before traveling down to Trinidad next fall and winter. We continue to enjoy making friends on the water beginning with the greetings “Where have you been? Where are you going?”

As we get to know more of the cruisers we are discovering many self-reliant individuals. Some of the cruisers are retired. Some have retired early. But many are couples of modest income that decided to sell their homes and alter the course of their lives dramatically. We also meet many like ourselves who rent their homes are take some extended time off before returning to their careers or finding new endeavors. While this is a unique adventure from the perspective of friends and family back home, it is something more and more couples are choosing after their children leave home and they are free to make different choices.
We rented a car for a day to explore more of this 80-mile long island. We explored the beaches at the north and south ends of the island. One thing that is still hard to get used to is the amount of trash on the ocean side beaches in the Bahamas. On Stocking Island the cruisers clean up the ocean side beach and it was lovely. The park beaches are also kept clean by rangers and volunteers. Still, on many of the beaches through out the Bahamas one will find plastic containers, shoes, ropes, nets, barrels, glass bottles, toothbrushes, batteries, television tubes and more washed up on shore. At the edge of beautiful and pristine water lies the underbelly of our culture.

So we tend to ignore or make use of what we find when walking the beaches. Chris has been gathering colored netting to make a protective cover for the front of Derby, our dinghy. He is pictured on the deck beginning his weaving project. I overlook the garbage and center my attention on shells and sea beans. The sea beans are dark, round pod seeds that can be polished and made into jewelry. There is another umber and ochre pod aptly called the hamburger bean. These small and fragile seeds float to Bahamian shores all the way from distant Africa. I am not sure what plants they come from yet, but will soon find out and let you know.
We also visited Dean’s Blue Hole, one of the deepest blue holes in the world at 660 feet deep. The photo I have included does not capture the sea green and blue colors of the water. At present there are young men and women free divers from all over the world gathering and practicing for the upcoming free dive competition in April. We watched as a woman from Japan and a man from New Zealand dove down 275 feet before rising again to the surface. The scuba divers who go down with them during the competition will take an additional 4 to 5 hours to surface after authenticating depth for the contest.

There must be 100 churches spread among the 35 settlements here on Long Island. The two churches shown in the photographs are in Clarence Town. Father Jerome, the hermit cleric of Cat Island designed the large, blue and white St Peter’s Catholic Church and the St. Paul’s Anglican Church. He arrived from England in 1908 to help rebuild churches after a hurricane. He built 4 churches on Cat Island as well as a medical clinic, convent, monastery and a technical school. He chose to live as a hermit in a cave while living on Cat Island and is buried there now.
I just finished reading The Story of the Bahamas by Paul Albury, which Pat and Bim so generously left for us. I continue to gain respect for the resilience of the Bahamians. Throughout a 400-year history here they have overcome every adversity handed to them by man and nature. A life lived mainly from the sea is not an easy path. Island life can be harsh and isolated with few of the modern conveniences we have become dependent upon. Yet these people are ready with an understanding smile and yielding grace. We continue to enjoy the generous spirit of our hosts here In the Bahamas.

I mentioned how fast time flies here on Namaste. We purchased Namaste a year ago March 17th. We moved aboard just over 7 months ago. We have been traveling on her for 5 months. Over the last few months I feel like I am shedding time like layers of winter fleece. Chris and I are thankful for the gifts of a life tuned to the rhythms of nature. At first it was hard to release the secure furry feeling of a scheduled life. How will I know what to do? Or when to do it? I now have ample opportunity to nakedly practice not knowing every moment’s outcome. I am continuing to open myself to the mystery of each moment. How rewarding to let go of the confining cloak of expectation, image, and judgment. I continue to catch myself looking for the warm, sheltering blanket of a plan, a picture of the future or a conclusion where my mind can firmly seek cover. And again I alter my thought’s course toward presence, open, naked, presence. And I thought I knew what my work was before we even embarked on this journey! So many surprises!

The upcoming weather is looking good to sail to Conception, a small island just east of us. It offers little in the way of protection from strong winds so cruisers must find a good long window of opportunity to sail there. It is part of the Bahamian National Trust. It is uninhabited and surrounded by clear water and lots of coral. There are several other boats headed in the same direction. We are lucky to have been provided this opportunity to go there.
I will upload this and upcoming blogs as Internet access allows. Connections will be fewer, weaker and further between for the next couple of weeks.

Hope you all have a great spring.

Peace and Love

March 15, 2009

Ahoy from Namaste, Georgetown, Great Exuma

It has been three weeks or more since last I wrote. The time has gone by so quickly. After Pell and Betsy left us in Georgetown we took some time to do a few boat projects and to get to know the Georgetown area a little better. We are meeting some of the cruisers, continuing yoga on the beach, enjoying the weekly dances in addition to our regular activities.

Pat and Bim arrived on March 3rd after a delay caused by snow in Virginia. We had a great time with dear old friends on board. It was good to catch up with Charlottesville news and to spend time together. The 4 of us lived in the same house for 2 years in the late 70s and we easily moved into the space of sharing Namaste together. We relaxed a lot, snorkeled, walked, read, played scrabble, cards and dice games, cooked and spent hours talking politics, children and dreams. We were sorry to see them go after 10 really great days together.

We also watched the first of the two Regatta races together. We viewed the “Around Stocking Island Race” from the top of a hill overlooking both the sound and the harbor sides of the island. The cruisers were not only competing to win first place in the sail race, they were also challenged to a fishing, cooking and photography competition while racing in the regatta. The second of the two regattas was held in the harbor. About 30 boats participated in each. We chose to be spectators as Namaste is set up more for cruising than racing. Racing can be hard on a boat. One of the boats in the regatta blew out a jib sail and two of the boats lost steering. Another ran headlong into one of the spectator boats. We were glad to be sitting on the distant sidelines this time.

We have not moved the boat in 3 weeks and have enjoyed spending some extended time in one place. Beyond enjoying the company of friends I have had some time to paint. I continue to be awed by the beauty of the land and seascape in the Bahamas. We have also been making some new friends. We met a couple who spent 8 years cruising the canals of Europe and also the Mediterranean including time spent in Turkey and Croatia. We just spent the morning with them on Namaste. They told us all about their adventures and how one would equip a boat to travel the canals with all the varied locks, quays, anchorages and other challenges. Susie and Rod spent 6 months in both London and Paris alone. Their courage, spirit of adventure and curiosity about the world is very inspiring. They are both very generous with experienced tips, advice, and knowledge that will serve us well as I am certain an Atlantic crossing is in Namaste’s future. Our meeting has us dreaming about new possibilities in our blue water cruiser.

I have included some pictures of the turquoise colored “internet café”, a great sand sculpture (especially for Pru), the “fleet” at Georgetown and the race around Stocking Island, and the sunset tonight.

We also enjoyed a yet to be explained phenomenon after sunset last night. We were on deck looking for the March 15 shuttle taking off in the southeastern sky. It was twilight time and we could barely make out the light of the shuttle and then the separation of the rockets. I turned to look at the eastern sky, which was quite dark by then and observed a small and yet brilliantly light up “white” cloud. There was much discussion on the cruiser’s net as to the cause of the illumination, from aliens to angels. We will have to go on the Internet later and look it up. None of us in Elizabeth Harbor had ever seen such a thing.

There is not much more news. We are planning to set sail for Long Island on Tuesday. We have some topsides work to do on Namaste and will do that in Thompson Bay. We also lots of beach glass to be collected. Long Island is home to a flock of flamingos. There are also two blue holes and more snorkeling sites there. I will never tire of snorkeling. It is one of the most peaceful and breathtaking activities I have ever experienced.

Peace and love to all

February 23, 2009

Ahoy from Georgetown, Great Exuma, the Bahamas

Hey, how is everybody. Hope you all are doing great! As always we miss you.

We spent the last two wonderful weeks with Chappell and Betsy exploring some of the more remote islands in the Exumas. Pell and Betsy joined us in Nassau for the sail down to Georgetown, Great Exuma. They are the best of traveling companions and we were sorry to see them leave on Saturday.

Over the last two weeks we visited Highborne, Shroud, Warderick Wells, Cambridge, Staniel and Cave Cays and Lee Stocking Island on our way to Georgetown. We sunned, sailed, hiked, cooked, read, played games, explored, laughed and snorkeled together.

Snorkeling was one of the favorite activities especially in Exuma Land and Sea Park cays. Warderick Wells, Cambridge and Staniel Cays offer great underwater exploration. Warderick Wells has many beautiful coral heads. Cambridge is known for its Sea Aquarium, a 150’ wall of coral and reef fish and the Rocky Dundas underwater caves. Staniel Cay is home to Thunderball Grotto, a large cave entered by water and open to the sun at the top. It was used in the set for the James Bond movie by the same name.

In our underwater explorations we saw a diverse variety of fish including blue tang, queen triggerfish, banded butterfly fish, scrawled cowfish, yellow tailed snapper, rainbow parrotfish, squirrelfish, wrasse, hogfish, stoplight parrotfish, barracuda, rock hind, fairy basslet, grouper, damsel fish and many others not yet identified. We also saw 5 lionfish. The lionfish were introduced into the Florida waters from home aquariums. They have poisonous spikes and no natural enemies. The lionfish are growing in population and killing the lovely reef fish. In many areas (except the park) there is a kill on sight request. We also saw strange and colorful corals of all forms including staghorn, elkhorn and finger corals, flower and star corals, tube, branch and leaf corals, brain, fungus and pillar corals and the lovely lavender sea fans.

We sailed into Georgetown on a windy day and a 9-foot swell. It was a very exciting entrance into Elizabeth Harbor. The swell was breaking on either side of Namaste and the wind was blowing the tops off the waves. Elizabeth Harbor runs northwest to southeast with an approach from the east. As we turned the corner south into the harbor we were met with a forest of masts. There are about 300 boats in the harbor at present. We arrived just in time for the yearly Georgetown Regatta and the many events planned by the cruising community to benefit the town of Georgetown.

There are boats that arrive in November and stay all winter, some boats come and go as they visit more remote islands south and then there are those who return each year for the regatta. There is a fully developed community of cruisers here in Georgetown, many of whom have been coming for 20 years. Each morning one can tune into the “Cruiser’s Net”, a volunteer run information network, on VHF 72 for the weather, local business and community announcements and events for the day. Swimmers meet 3 times a week on Honeymoon Beach, there is yoga on Sand Dollar Beach every morning, volley ball behind the Chat and Chill every afternoon, afternoon bridge games, a regular game of Texas hold ‘em, planning events for the Regatta, beach art groups and more. There was a sock hop last Saturday night and another dance planned for this coming weekend.

We are just becoming acquainted with all that is offered by the vast network of volunteers who put in place all the activities. There are folks here that we have met along the way from Deltaville, Beaufort, Charleston, No Name Harbor, Nassau and the Exumas. It is always a pleasure to look about and see friends we have met along the way. We are also just getting to know Georgetown where one can find fully stocked markets, laundry services, shops, restaurants, mechanics, church services, a clinic and a school. Children who live on islands in the Exumas can go to school near home up through middle school and then they go to Nassau to complete their high school education.

Apart from some extended time in Charleston, Key Biscayne and Nassau visiting, touring, provisioning and preparing for the trip south we have been traveling every day or couple of days since we left Deltaville on November 7th. We are planning to be in Georgetown for the next few weeks. I look forward to some extended time to get out my oil paints and settle into a more predictable rhythm. While I am learning to open to the possibilities of each moment, I do adore my creature habits and look forward to a little routine. We also look forward to a visit from Pat and Bim. Can’t wait to see friends from C’ville and to hear all the news!

Toward the end of the month we plan to head east to Conception and Long Island and then turn north to Eleuthera and the Abacos for April and May. In late May or early June we will turn to the east coast and begin our journey north to Maine before heading back into the Chesapeake in the late summer or early fall.

The photos shown are a few of the many fish and corals we saw on our travels, including the lionfish. I am enjoying my underwater camera, but, still not getting the hang of negative buoyancy for sharp, clear images. Chappell took most of the underwater pictures in the blog this time. He has a good eye and a steady hand. Of course my favorite fish are the ones wearing masks and snorkels.

Well that is all for now. We are experiencing a day of high wind and possible squalls so we are on Namaste for the day and I am about to get out the oil paints. Chris is studying for the ham radio test offered this Friday. With his ham license we will be able to get free email service, Windlink, on the boat through the SSB. I look forward to being in touch more readily.

Have a good day.

Peace and Love

February 7, 2009

Ahoy from Nassau,

How is everyone? We are doing great, enjoying ourselves, exploring, adventuring, dancing with the wind, sea and each other.

It is good to make a plan. That way there is some direction upon which to focus activity. On the other hand it is not good to attach too much to that direction or activity because we live in a constantly changing universe. Living on Namaste and taking this journey continues to magnify that truth.

We are back in Nassau for a couple of days. During our lovely week in Warderick Wells we realized that Namaste was due new house batteries. We also knew it would be easier to acquire the batteries here in Nassau than somewhere farther down the Exuma chain. Luckily we were able to get the exact same (almost) batteries on a shipment from Miami the day we called, resulting in a very quick and straightforward exchange (hopefully). And, Chappell and Betsy fly into Nassau today and are saved an extra flight down to Staniel Cay where we originally planned to meet them.

Nassau has been good to us. We ran into some friends from Deltaville and have made new friends as well. Chris was able to work out a problem with our steering. I completed some sewing projects begun in Deltaville and put aside so we could head south. We will also provision here where there are more fresh foods available. All is well.

We hear from the locals that the weather we are experiencing is unusually cold. While we were able to swim and snorkel in warm weather last week, we are in pants, sweaters and socks this week. Nassau Harbor is cloudy, choppy and chilly although that in no way dampens our experience.

When we began this trip I was so new to sailing and living with the wind. When the wind speed rose to 25 or 30 knots I had an immediate conditioned response of fear and anxiety. Is the wind too strong to sail, will our anchor hold? I would also travel down the road of What If for quite a long way only adding to conflicting emotions.

I am still new to sailing and wind at 25 knots is the norm. The Bahamas are quite breezy in the winter months. “Rocky” our Rocna anchor is the champ of anchors and gives us both a degree of security. I am practicing staying present rather than traveling down the What If road. I am finding a more relaxed and unburdened path in the present moment, in each moment that I can be aware and awake. The internal journey is as much of an adventure as the external.

We hope to head again down the island chain of jewels that is the Exumas tomorrow, this time with Betsy and Pell exploring along with us. If you are reading from Charlottesville, give Isaac a hug for us. And if you are in the eighth grade at Tandem, I will be thinking of you during Emphasis Week.

Included are some photos that did not load last time, the painted engine covers and the banaquit birds. There is also a photo taken of Chris and I with Dick the Dog who is famous in Key West for motorcycling, skateboarding, jet skiing and his very cool look.

Peace and Love