Lisa and David's Excellent Adventure

Arizona Hiking and Camping

2009-06-24T21:33:00.017-04:00

6/24/09

The past two weekends found us hiking in and around ancient ruins during both a day trip to Red House Ruin and Loy Butte Ruin and an overnight camping trip to Sycamore Canyon where we saw the Two Roof Ruin. The ruin sites were really incredible the way they were all perched high up the mountainsides in overhang and cave-type areas. At the ruins in Red House and Loy Butte Ruins we were also able to see some pictographs which were fascinating. I got so many great pictures that I will try and figure out how to put a slideshow of them on this site - but, until then, here are just a few.

I did great with the hiking and the camping parts of the trip but had some trouble during our second day in Sycamore Canyon with my stupid “fear-of-falling” thing and just could not make my mind and body cooperate to get me to two ruin sites that David wanted to show me. These things literally are on the side of a rock face and you have to scramble up loose rock high up on the mountainside to get to them. I was on my way from one to another when I just froze and couldn’t go any further. I guess that’s something I’m going to have to work on. The good part was that it caused us to just sit where we were for a while and the views from that kind of vantage point are wonderful. David was kind and gentle and patient, as always, and managed to get me down from the perch safe and sound despite my lack of confidence in myself that I could ever actually move from that spot.

One of the most amazing things out here is how far you can see in every direction and then how beautiful and changing the view is from one moment to the next. Another amazing thing is how few, if any, people you encounter out in the park areas. A reason for the latter could certainly be the roads you have to take to get to the “really good” spots. We borrowed a 4-wheel drive Land Rover from one of David’s friends to make the trip to Sycamore Canyon and I don’t think we could have made the trip without it. The only other vehicles we saw way out near our camping spot were of the 4-wheel ATV-type and there were only two of them the whole weekend. Not to mention that the main access to even get to the park area was a narrow (used to be a railroad there) gravel road right on the side of the mountains with no guard rail! Lord have mercy. Try that in a jeep that has no doors!

Other than that it has been business as usual here in Jerome. David is busy with his job and home projects and I’ve been busy hacking away at the blackberry vines, trying out different recipes to use all the apricots that are ripening on the trees (the plums are just getting ripe also) and doing my funky painting thing in my own little “studio”. We are due to fly back to FL on Sunday and I can hardly wait to see my sweet baby kitties. I can only hope that they are not going to be too upset with me for leaving them for a month.

I’ve been learning the names of some new-to-me plants and flowers and I think my favorite name to date is a Fairy Feather Duster! Oh, and before I forget, here is a picture of an alligator juniper.

Jerome, AZ

2009-06-10T17:49:00.021-04:00

6/9/09

Arizona is beautiful and Jerome is great. There are no pictures that I will be able to take and post on this site that will do the scenery justice. It is just amazing to me how every time you look at the mountains and the valleys here you see a completely different picture depending on the sun, the clouds, the time of day, etc. It is a continually gorgeous changing landscape and it feels as though you can see forever.

Last Saturday evening there was a Gallery Walk in Jerome and I was in art heaven. The incredible thing here is that at least every other store front is a gallery and the variety, intensity, and quality of the art in this town is spectacular. Other than art galleries, eateries and wine bars there is little else here other than houses for the few residents of Jerome. It’s a small place on the side of a mountain that is quite the spot for tourists on the weekends. All in all, a very cool place and it definitely feels like home already.

Last Sunday we took the day to hike around in the Prescott National Forest and, once again, saw some amazing vistas from the various overlooks. I’m also being treated to an entirely different vegetation landscape and was introduced on Sunday to one of the neatest looking trees I have ever seen called an Alligator Juniper. I’ll have to go back sometime soon and try to get some good pictures of these trees to show you. They are stunning in both their graceful beauty and their incredible age. The weather has been spectacular here with lows in the 50’s and highs during the day, depending on whether you are in the mountains or down in the valley, anywhere between the low 80’s and the mid-90’s.

The front porch of David’s house (one of my favorite spots just to sit) overlooks the valley and several mountain ranges and is visited all the time by all types of wonderful birds including constant action from the hummingbirds at the feeder. There are many different kinds of fruit trees on the property including apricot, peach, plumcot, and apple. Some of these trees were being taken over by way-prickly blackberry vines so I have been doing a slow constant battle with the vines and prickers so that we will eventually have a non-invaded orchard-garden space. I’ve also added to my skill set the ability to drill holes in steel plates and I’m now, if you can believe it, driving a big red pickup truck! What’s next is anybody’s guess. I say bring it on. David has set me up a little art studio space in one of his outbuildings and I’m having a great time getting back into paint and clay. And have I told you about David’s fantastic two kitties, Ace Cowboy and Fox Man? I do miss Cocoa and Puddinhead (and have reports that they are doing just great with their Sebastian Foster Mom!) but Ace Cowboy and Fox Man are making me feel right at home.

Here’s an amazing thing about AZ for those of you, like me, that have never lived out this way. The kitchen sink sponge actually gets completely dry between uses! Every time I pick it up I’m amazed. It’s the little things, you know. Here’s another factoid tidbit for the newbies like me – out here they outline the first initial of the town in big white stones up on the mountainside over each town. Here is a picture of Jerome’s “J”.

We are planning to go camping with friends this coming weekend so perhaps I will have some interesting camping-type photos to share in the next post. The real deal will be to see just what kind of a camper I make since I haven’t been camping since I was a girl scout – an even then, I only did it once or twice and don’t remember being very good at any of it. I think all I was good at in girl scouts was selling cookies!

Bahamas to Arizona

2009-05-31T18:47:00.006-04:00

5/29/09

Well, here’s the wrap up on our Bahamas trip. We stayed an extra couple of days anchored in White Sound off of Green Turtle Cay due to some really rainy/windy conditions. It was an excellent place to be for that kind of weather and a real plus since we continued to visit with our new friends in their house just off the Sound.

The weather cooperated toward the end of the week and we began our sail north to stage for a crossing to FL on Sunday. The days were filled with sailing/motoring and dodging intermittent thundershowers. We made it back to FL in the Port St. Lucie area late on Sunday, May 24th where we anchored for the night. Monday we headed up to Sebastian and anchored off of Captain Hiram’s and then spent Tuesday and Wednesday getting the boat secured in a dock space there, visiting with David's family and getting all our errands run before leaving early Thursday morning on a flight to David’s home in Jerome, AZ. The sweet babies, Cocoa and Puddinhead, are now with a wonderful Foster Mom in Sebastian for the month of June. We figured it might be better to spare them having to spend the month making the plane trip out to AZ to live in yet another new place – this time with two other cats – only to get back on a plane in just four short weeks. I think they were just pleased to be off the rolling seas for a while! Meanwhile, Carib II will be partying down at Captain Hiram’s while we are away.

We are now in AZ, David is back at work and I have already joined a gym for the month and squeezed in my first workout. Boy did that feel good. I’ve got exercise equipment on the boat but it just isn’t the same as really getting to work the machines, use the treadmill and the elliptical. I’ll look forward to getting some good pictures of the sites in this part of the world and the next installment will be brought to you from the mountains of Arizona.

Marsh Harbour, Hope Town, Man-O-War, Great Guana and Green Turtle Cays

2009-05-18T15:22:00.008-04:00

5/17/09

David’s last entry in the Blog makes a hard act to follow, but I guess it is back to the travelogue now. While staying in Marsh Harbor we met up with several boaters who were getting ready for their summer season of taking groups Boy scouts (or Sea scouts, or something of the sort) onboard for a week at a time for 6-8 weeks. It sounds like quite the adventure but I’m not sure it would be the kitties’ idea of a good time. Two of these boat owners had built their boats by themselves and we got to talk to them at length about their boats and share stories. We also met the woman who champions the Wild Horses of Abaco and also runs the Marsh Harbour Buck-a-Book store (or storage shed, as the case may be).

It seems that the boating world here in the Abacos is, at least from what we have seen, much different than what we experienced in the Exumas and Eleuthera. In the southern islands there was quite an abundance of REALLY BIG yachts – the kind that have good size fishing boats travel along behind them for whenever they decide to go for a fishing jaunt. Here in the Abacos we have hardly seen any of the mega-yachts. The waters are populated much more with smaller sailing vessels, many of which are vintage boats not unlike Carib II. It has been very fun meeting other boaters who will stop by in their dinghies just to say hi and to ask about Carib II. One of the guys we met while we were in Little Harbour is an artist who works from his boat there and we got to see some of his work in a gallery in Marsh Harbour.

After leaving Marsh Harbour we did go back to Hope Town just to see the sites. It is such a quaint, quiet, walking town. Very picturesque. This, of course, is where we delighted in sighting Carib III! From there we skipped over to Man-O-War Cay which is just as picturesque but in a different way due to the less ornate style of architecture. There is a wonderful historical museum on this Cay which was great fun because everything on display was just right out in the open – no bars, ropes or barriers to keep you away from the artifacts. Man-O-War Cay is also still quite a place for boatbuilding and we had some great conversations with some of the long-time residents. Another thing I have to mention – the flowering bushes and trees here on every island are absolutely beautiful! I don’t think I have ever seen bougainvillea like this anywhere else.

From Man-O-War we moved on to Great Guana Cay where our friends from Cocoa, Bob and Chris, stay for several months out of the year on their boat, Leap of Faith. It was such a rare treat to get to see them and they even surprised us with a big homemade welcome dinner! Our second night on the island we went with them to the infamous Nippers which was great fun and good food. The next morning Chris tracked us down around breakfast time and presented me with one of their new Sea Glass jewelry designs – a fabulous ankle bracelet! That night they were able to join us for a tour of Carib II and a dinner aboard. It is such a blessing to have good friends and makes me miss those of you I am not seeing now all the more!

Today we left Great Guana Cay and traversed the Whale area but instead of going off shore around the Whale (for those of you who have not traveled this way – it is an area that can be somewhat treacherous and you have to wait for just the right weather, wind and sea conditions) we went through what is known as the Don’t Rock Passage. This is an area where you also have to be very careful about weather conditions when traversing this passage but it is also very shallow. The good news is – we made it with no problems at all and the sweet babies didn’t even get seasick today. Yeah!!! So tonight we are anchored off Green Turtle Cay and we just got back from a short walk around the New Plymouth settlement. Once again – a very picturesque place with beautifully maintained old homes, some of which date back to the late 1700’s. We saw an interesting site here – they are actually using old cannons placed end up in the water next to the shoreline as a place to tie off your boat line. We also came across what appeared to be a “wishing tree” with old floats hanging from it painted with things like “Get Well”, “Thinking of You”, etc. Since it is Sunday the vast majority of the town was boarded up for the day so we will go back in the morning to take tour of the Albert Lowe Museum and the Model Ship Store and Gallery.

5/18/09

Yesterday some guys came up alongside of us in another older boat built in 1934. They traded stories with David and invited us to their house today for hot showers (yippee!), use of a strong internet connection, dinner and drinks. This life is just blowing me away. For those of you who might be interested, the house is one they also rent out when they are not here. It is a beautiful, spacious place with a great pool and barbeque deck overlooking White Sound in Green Turtle Cay. The whole place opens up to the outside and the breeze is just delicious everywhere in the house. Kind-of-like being on the boat!

A Bolt Out Of The Blue

2009-05-16T11:31:00.007-04:00

5/13/09 - A message from David

A most wonderful thing happened today. While walking around Hopetown, Lisa and I came to the north end of the island where the footpath ended at the water with a view of the harbor entrance and the bay beyond. Off in the distance I could see an old U.S. Army landing craft approaching, a smallish one about 50 feet long known as a LCM-8.

Remembering my last trip to the Exumas and Staniel Cay 3 years ago when my friend, Flo, told me that the natives needed a freighter because the mailboat was charging exorbitant freight rates and that her people could not afford the materials needed to maintain their homes, I said to Lisa, “That is what we need for our next boat”.

Not that we would ever let go of Carib II, no way, only that it was the correct craft to assist us in following our inspiration to help out the native population in the spirit of the brotherhood of man that we feel so evident here in the Out Islands of the Bahamas.

It would also be the best boat to freight in materials to build our own place when we finally are ready to commit to an island home here in the nearest thing to a paradise that we have found.

As the landing craft rounded the curve in the channel, the stern swung into view and revealed the name painted there upon it,,,, “Carib III”. The powerful shockwave of such a blatant affirmation washing over my consciousness was immediate and continues yet within me, moving me to sweet tears as I write this. I have to take this event as ratification by my Creator of the rightness of such an idea.

As one who has spent his whole life looking for clues about my largest Purpose and sifting my experience for them, it is beyond my ability to imagine being delivered a more powerful message than for me see Carib III written on her stern. It was one of those soul changing moments of God manifested on this plane, jumping up and down and yelling, “Yes!” in my face. It blasts the mind out of thinking that we are anything but a connected piece of an Infinite Perfection that is usually more subtle but will on occasion come out and yell at us about something important. It comes to me as an instruction, that the doing deserves the effort to make it happen.

The Out Island native Bahamians started their existence as slaves newly freed in the 1830’s. They were given their independence and encouraged to settle on the uninhabited islands of the 700 total Bahamian islands, but had very few resources or tools. The hardships continue to this day. In a nation where food costs twice what does in the US and ways to generate money are few, merely living simply is an ever present challenge.

The genuine friendliness of this native population has always impressed me deeply. It comes from an ability to rise above what could be suffering and to live with an appreciation for what they do have. There is a spirit more in evidence here than in any other place I have traveled that accepts me as another fellow human member of the Brotherhood of Man. The usual greeting is a sincere, “Hey, how you doing?”

All real boatmen also show me this higher sense of human conscious evolution too. It manifests as a willingness to help another who is personally unknown to them. The willingness to risk one’s own safety to assist another in imminent peril is a beautiful thing that I first experienced while serving in the US Coast Guard as an engineer on their small boats running search and rescue duty in the late 60’s in Florida’s Gulfstream.

There seems to have to be a scarcity of fellow inhabitants on this planet nearby in order to assist in the manifestation of this spirit of involved concern for an unknown other human. It is a demonstration of the inclusive nature of our earth tribe. Too much exposure to large populations quenches this drive for most.

Gregory Town, Spanish Wells, Little Harbour, Hope Town and Marsh Harbour

2009-05-11T16:12:00.013-04:00

5/9/09

Staying an extra couple of days anchored in Annie Bight just off Gregory Town was really great. The Laughing Lizard Café not only had an excellent lunch menu (yumm – a big green veggie laden salad covered with a mound of jerk chicken!) but it also had free internet and lots of interesting local traffic and conversation. It is right across the street from where Lenny Kravits (sp?) has his place. We took that afternoon to walk all around an old family compound that was on the bluff overlooking Annie Bight. The views were quite spectacular from all different areas of this spot and we got some great pictures of the boat in the bight.

At one point during our stay in Annie Bight a guy named Adam and his big dog swam up to the boat to just ask about it, came aboard for a tour (fortunately the dog went ashore because I’m not sure we could have gotten him on the boat) and it turns out he is a former competitive sailor. He is a local native from Nassau and realtor who also happens to work tending Lenny Kravits' organic vegetable farm. He asked if he could hitch a ride with us as far as we were going the next day so he and his French wife came aboard for the sail to Spanish Wells. They were really a great young couple and it was lots of fun to hear all about the local culture, land deals, history, etc. all along the way. During this trip David caught a Barracuda which was much better than the string of Lizard Fish he had caught during previous sailing days. As we came into Spanish Wells Adam gave us the local take on the Spanish Wellsians (always makes my mind go to the Ellen Jamsiens from John Irving’s The World According to Garp just because my brain is weird that way) and it really is quite different from the Bahamian Islands we have visited to date. It almost puts one in mind of a small New England fishing village. Adam and his wife also were very generous in their gift to us of several grocery bags full of freshly picked vegetables, fruit and herbs. What a treat! We found out later that night that Cocoa has thing for dried Coriander. Go figure!

The next day we left Spanish Wells and went to the ocean by way of Gun Point which was really quite beautiful with loads of coconut palms and wide sweeping vistas of both the harbour and the ocean. It was a beautiful day with a light breeze and big, easy, evenly spaced ocean swells. At least the swells seamed OK to me until I went below and found out that they were definitely not OK with the kitties. Poor babies. I really need to get better at determining just when to administer the Dramamine. But, we made it safely to Little Harbour in the Abacos, after a 60 mile run across the open Atlantic, passing along the way the visual spectacle of the “boilers” which is where the big ocean surf runs into a reef just off the coast of the southern part of the Abacos. It looks as though there are just huge bursts of water being spit directly up into the air out of the ocean. We anchored for the night just outside of Little Harbour and then moved this morning into Little Harbour where we picked up a mooring for the day and went ashore for lunch at Pete’s Pub and a tour of the Randolph and Peter Johnston Gallery – beautiful sculpture! We took a little dinghy tour around the harbor and found on the far side away from Pete’s Pub what looks to actually be a cave for sale. Do you suppose that is anything like having swamp land for sale in Florida?

5/11/09

Yesterday we took a quick tour through Hope Town and saw the sites from the Hope Town Lighthouse. It was a beautiful day and the views were spectacular. The lighthouse itself was pretty impressive, as well. Since it was Sunday there was not much open in the town so we are hoping to go back there in the next day or two to take in the galleries, little shops and hopefully, a coffee house before moving on to Man-o-War Cay and Guana Cay.

After Hope Town we came into Marsh Harbour to anchor for the night and today we have done some wandering around town. It is quite different here in that it is like a real town with real shops, grocery stores, hardware stores, etc. I feel as though we have come in from the outback. David and I were just wandering around one of the grocery stores like we had never before seen fresh produce or fresh packaged meat. It is quite amazing what we get used to and take for granted every day in the States. We have met some folks here that spend the summer months taking boy scouts out for a week at a time on their vessels and they have some great stories to tell. The kitties are happy that we are anchored in a calm harbour and right now it is all hands and paws on deck to enjoy the sunny afternoon. It is another fabulous day in paradise!

Eleuthera

2009-05-06T14:02:00.004-04:00

5/6/09

Our trip up the Eleuthera coast has been wonderful. We started out anchored off of Powell Point and then made our way to Tarpum Bay on Sunday where we went ashore to see the sites. There is an interesting castle there that we found out was built by a transplanted British (I think) artist of some note. It is abandoned now as the gentleman died a few years ago, but is still quite interesting in a great “artsy” sort of way. There was even a resident goat hanging out in one of the doorways. Supposedly there are several interesting art galleries in Tarpum, but we never found them. Instead we had lunch at a local spot after walking through the town and listening to all of the very loud and boisterous Sunday worship services that were going on on most every street corner. It seemed as though they were each trying to outdo the service next door and the music and sermons made a very interesting soundtrack as we walked among the rundown, overgrown old houses. I’ve never seen so many churches in one small place in all my life.

Next we moved on to Governor’s Harbour where we found a grocery that actually had some fresh – and very expensive – fresh produce. Yeah – fresh salad for both lunch and dinner! We had had fun chit-chatting with the locals in Tarpum Bay but Governor’s Harbour didn’t seem quite as friendly. We were going to stop the next day in Hatchett Bay and maybe take a walk over to Alice Town, but the entrance to Hatchett Bay really was quite narrow and it didn’t seem worth the effort when we got right up to it. So we moved on to Gregory Town to anchor for the night. We pulled into a little spot just north of the entrance to Gregory Town called Annie Bight and are, at this writing having a great time here. On the shore of Annie Bight there are four houses, one of which has the big “goombay” smiley face painted on the roof. There were some folks in this house that came out on the front porch as soon as we came in to wave and take pictures. The next day a guy, Tom-from-Baltimore, swam out to the boat and said that the ladies in the “smiley-face-house” wanted to invite us to a Cinco-de-Mayo” party the next evening. The winds have been cooperating and look to stay the same for the next few days so we decided to stay over an extra day for the party. What a treat! It turns out that three of the four houses are regularly rented out by folks who have been coming here on and off for almost thirty years. The folks who threw the party are on one of their regular “girl-trip-getaways” and some of them run beach-type tourist stores in the Sarasota area. Very, very nice people and the party was full of fun, good food, local folks, and great conversation. One of the women had a diving mask that has a built in video camera and she and Tom-from-Baltimore had been out that day taking videos of the Lion Fish that, we understand, are taking over the local sea environment. They got some incredible shots of these fish and the way they just sit and stare at you as you come toward them. It’s almost as though they are waiting for you to get close enough to be devoured. No fear at all. We are having such a good time here that we have decided to stay on another day. One of the women we met last night has a little lunch place up the road, The Laughing Lizard, where we will go a bit later to check out and, now that we know one of the end houses in Annie Bight is vacant we are going to take a walk along their seashore property into town. Having a great time. Wish all of you reading this could be here with us to share the fun. More later.

Staniel Cay - Chapter 2

2009-04-29T16:24:00.009-04:00

4/28/09

We have been a week now in Staniel Cay and are just waiting for the winds to die down just a bit before we take off to a new spot. This really is a wonderful place to just hang out, though. On Sunday we took the dinghy over to Thunderball Cave at slack tide and did some snorkeling. It is truly one of the most beautiful snorkeling spots I have ever seen. The fish were everywhere and every different kind and color you can imagine. I wish that I had had an underwater camera so that I could show you some pictures. The vegetation was absolutely incredible, as well. There was one thing that David kept pointing out to me that looked just like a bland ol’ thing until you got over it just right with the light shining in just the right spot and then it suddenly became this marvelous purple luminescent beautiful site. Unbelievable. The real treat, though, for those of you with rather bizarre senses of humor like mine, would have been watching the two of us, cold and encumbered with our wet suites, trying to get back into the dinghy from a little plastic ladder David had rigged up just for the occasion. I’m sure a video of it would have won prizes on one of those “funniest video” programs. Of course it didn’t help that I couldn’t stop laughing the whole time. What a hoot!

I’ve told you all about meeting and talking with David’s friend Flo that owns the “Pink Pearl” grocery. Well, we had noticed that her sign for the grocery on the main road had fallen to the ground and was looking pretty pitiful, if I do say so myself. So during one of our visits with her I mentioned that I would be happy to get her sign back up to speed if she would like for that to happen. She arranged for us to get some paint from one of her sons who manages the Staniel Cay Yacht Club and David rigged up a small paint brush for me made from a lock of his hair (very much like a fairy tale, isn’t it?) and to work we went on the sign. It’s not the most artistic thing I’ve ever done but we were able to keep the integrity of the original lettering intact and seal it up pretty good with a few coats of paint all the way around. It should be good for a few more years at least and it was fun to have a project. And here is a fun sidebar on visits with Flo – In some of our conversations with her she has talked about her family and friends on the islands and it has been so interesting to hear from her the Bahamian word used to describe lighter-skinned, mixed-race Bahamians – they are “Bright”. I figure if they are “Bright” then David and I must be “Blindingly White-on-White”!!

Yesterday we had a bit of a scare. The catamaran that is anchored next to us has a sweet old (11 years old, we found out) Golden Lab on board. The family had left in their dinghy and I was just watching the sweet baby when he decided to go for a swim. Well, all fine and good, except he couldn’t get back up onto the boat by himself. It totally freaked me out that he was struggling to get back on board and couldn’t do it on the slippery steps. So – David took me over in our dinghy and I was able to get him, with a bit of a struggle, on deck again. Yeah! It felt so good that the doggy-shaking-water-shower I got was a wonderful thing! I won’t go into how upset I was with the owners that they would even let their sweet baby get into that kind of a situation. Some people……. Harrumph.

This afternoon we went fishing for our dinner and actually caught some fish! Now, for me, this is really something seeing as how the last time I went fishing was with a cane pole and I was in elementary school. The real test will be to see if I can actually make a decent dinner out of the little things. I have to tell you though, it kind of freaked me out the way they grunted when David was taking the hooks out of their mouths. But, hey, at least they didn’t scream and cry “Auntie Em, Auntie Em, There’s no place like home….”

Have I told you yet about the sunsets here? Absolutely wonderful! There are days that the sun literally seems like it is mmmeeeelllltttiiinnnggg right into the water. (Say that kind-of like the wicked witch did in The Wizard of Oz – but without the “wicked” connotation! Oz must be the theme today.) And then there are other days in which a small cloud formation will be in front of the sun as it sets and it looks like a picture superimposed on the ball of light. One evening it seemed to me as if a beautiful bird was winging its way up to heaven through the sun the entire time the sun was setting. Stunning!

Do you remember me telling you in a previous post about the swimming pigs? Well, here are some pictures David took of them the last time he was down this way. Very fun!

And from David - - -

Greetings All,

Lisa has asked me to add some comments. I think she is doing such a fine job on this blog that there isn't much to fill in but one thing I'd like to share is,,,,

One of the most fascinating things I have seen on this voyage happened some nights ago while here at anchor in Staniel Cay. I had our HydroGlow fishlight deployed over the side about 9pm and slowly drifting by on the tidal current was what looked to be a piece of seaweed, except this seaweed was swimming against the tide keeping near the light and closing the distance with a group of minnows. The minnows were cavorting around the light's glow as minnows do. As this, "seaweed', drew near it turned around, became a cylindrical shape, lost all the frilly trim, and transformed into a minnow hunting 9 or 10 inch squid. With a quick suction powered lunge it captured a hapless victim in its forward facing tentacles and sank toward the bottom with it prey.

Ten minutes later it was back and up to the same camouflaged tricks, looking all frilly and innocent with tentacles drawn open in a very apt depiction of some drifting sargasso weed. Its coloration was that same greenish brown and only at the last moment did it again pull its tentacles into a tight cone that it sucked in through to give it a burst of speed into the minnow school. As it darted toward the minnows the tentacles also stretched out nearly double their original length to snag their next meal.

I've seen squids feed before but never such a squid as this. Besides the usual squirt that we most know of to avoid an enemy, I've seen the inhale powered forward dart to grab some poor prey. It's enough to make you glad you're not a minnow and that giant squid don't feed at our beaches!!

I'll keep the video camera battery charged and will try to get some footage to share if one comes by tonight.

Be well fellow travelers,

Cap't Davie

And P.S.,,, Lisa is just the greatest shipmate! So helpful in all ways and a such great sport when we have some rough passage to make and the cats are hurling their breakfast because their meds are slow to kick in,,,, Yay!

Staniel Cay

2009-04-23T17:40:00.016-04:00

4/22/09

Well, yesterday we got into Staniel Cay and it is wonderful. We will be staying here for a few days and just enjoying the island and breakfasts at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. David was here three years ago and made some good friends of some of the folks here that he is enjoying seeing again. On the way in we passed close to Big Major’s Spot and were able to look over to the shore and see the “wild pigs” (they really aren’t wild – they belong to some Staniel Cay folks) running around on the beach and swimming out to people in dinghies looking for treats. First iguanas and now pigs! I wonder what other creatures are in store for us as we continue this trip.

But – a few things that I have forgotten to tell you about to date. The first was the “pretty-little-bird-incident”. On our trip from Bimini to Allen’s Cay there was this pretty little bird out in the middle of nowhere just flying around and decided to take a much needed, I am sure, rest on the boat. We were enjoying visiting with the bird when it decided to go below and check out the cabin. We weren’t too worried about the cats being down there since that had been one of their not-better days stomach-wise and in a bit I thought I saw the little bird fly away again across the water. I really thought nothing of it until that night when I stepped in something icky (hate it when that happens!) on the main cabin. And – wouldn’t you know – there in the middle of some kitty upchuck was a bird wing. Poor little thing. I guess the cats weren’t as sick as I thought they were!

The other thing I forgot (I’m sure there are many others – but this is what is coming to mind at the moment) to tell you is that on that same trip we saw three Pilot Whales playing in the surf. (They were some kind of whale anyway – someone else told us there was an official report of Pilot Whales in that area at that time.) What a treat!

Back to Staniel Cay – Today we took a walk through the island over to where David had anchored his other boat, Patience Green, the last time he was here in a shallow creek in the middle of the island. We took a nice swim there and just as I was commenting on the fact that I didn’t see many fish up came a huge stingray right at my feet. I’m not sure who was more scared, me or the stingray. Right up on the beach there was a wonderful, colorful picnic area where we just rested for a while and enjoyed the sound of the wind through the Australian Pines. On our walk back into town we passed a homestead where there was a custom made 4-wheel drive off road vehicle with a Morris Minor body (or so says David) mounted on what appeared to be a Jeep chassis. Take a look at the picture. It was really quite cool. We then took some time to visit David’s friend Flo at the local “Pink” grocery. As we were taking the dinghy back out to the boat we were buzzed really low by three old single engine military trainer planes. They were having a ball just roaring in and out of the harbor as low as they could go. Looked like great fun if you are into that sort of thing.

4/24/09

Today, after taking care of some business we had lunch at Thunderball Café which has a really incredible view of the water, rocks and cliffs all seen through bougainvilleas full of blooms. Then we wandered along a hiking trail that ran along the uppermost cliff overlooking both sides of Staniel Cay. There is really no way to describe how breathtakingly beautiful it all is. The pictures I will post here only do the scenery partial justice. Then back at the dinghy dock some folks were cleaning fish and there where a good number of little sharks and stingrays fighting the seagulls for the leftovers that were thrown in at the edge of the water. The birds were, by far, getting the best pickings.

Warderick Wells Cay/Compass Cay

2009-04-21T16:49:00.000-04:00

4/20/09

Last night found us anchored off of Warderick Wells Cay. It was the first spot on our trip that allowed us a wi-fi spot for email which was nice and I was able to get an update on my mom who is in the hospital with some heart difficulties. Warderick Wells Cay is part of The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park and today we were able to take advantage of some of the marvelous walking trails filled with great information about all of the local flora and fauna and much of the history about how the islands were formed. The rock that makes up much of the surface of the island is really porous and actually sounds hollow when you hit it with a stone. It is fascinating and there were caves to explore, beautiful beaches and magnificent rocky walls on the easternmost shore. We had seen a plant loaded with some kind of fruit on Shroud Cay and I found out that it is something called a Seven Year Apple. The fruit actually takes 7 years to ripen and supposedly the fruit is edible, but it tastes so bad that if you do actually eat one it is said that you won’t eat another one for 7 years. I guess that is enough time to forget how bad it was??!!

I made it up to a place called Boo Boo Hill where visitors leave mementoes of their vessels and from this point on the island you could see for what seemed like forever in all directions. Just a short walk from Boo Boo Hill was a place called the Blow Holes. If you stood still, you could hear the wind rush through holes in the cliff overlooking the ocean and it sounded like people whispering. Legend has it that this is actually the voices of sailors who have died in shipwrecks off this coast. Back along the beach next to the Park Office there was an actual whale skeleton which was fascinating to see up close.

We met up with some folks there that we had seen the day before Shroud Cay and it turns out they are New Jersey transplants that are now living in Cape Canaveral. Such a small world.

It was an easy sail this afternoon to Compass Cay where we will spend the night. The kitties just got catnip treats and are happy campers.

Shroud Cay

2009-04-21T16:35:00.001-04:00

4/18/09

Today finds anchored off of Shroud Cay. What a beautiful, unspoiled place. We took the dinghy up into the creeks through the mangrove swamps and walked along the beach – sand like pure flour! – and then up a hill to a place called Camp Driftwood. From on top you could see for miles in all directions and the color of the sea was, once again, exceptional. It was from this vantage point that drug agents once spied on cocaine operations in and out of Norman’s Cay (or so one of our guide books tells us). We saw some beautiful tropicbirds (?). White with very long graceful tail feathers and stunning black markings. What a treat.

Kitties happy today with just a short easy sail and both have been on deck sunning and trying to find out where David hid the Cat Nip plant.

Coconut Grove/Bimini/Allen's Cay

2009-04-21T12:27:00.000-04:00

4/17/09

How does one begin the telling of an adventure such as this? I suppose the only way to begin is to just jump in, or jump onboard, as it were, and tell whatever comes to mind. Thus far, almost two weeks into our Bahamas run, we are having a really great time – of course! I think Cocoa would agree that times are good, but Puddinhead is still a bit undetermined. We did find out on our second day out that cats DO get seasick. Poor babies. Fortunately, though, Dramamine works as well for them as it does for people and they at least got a good sleep out of the day. I found out on one of our sailing days down to Miami just what it is to be a “crusty” sailor. I never knew that you could accumulate so much salt on your body at one time and have it actually stay there. Boy was I ready to rinse off that night!

We spent three nights anchored off of Dinner Key Marina in Coconut Grove and had fun seeing friends and getting some chores done. On Saturday before Easter I think we became part of the Coconut Grove tourist entertainment. As we were nearing the time to pick up some laundry from the cleaners the heavens opened up and it began raining like crazy. Since we needed to get back to the boat in time to move it to No Name Harbor that day, we made a break for the cleaners and, once there, asked if they had any extra plastic laundry bags we could use to protect ourselves from the rain on the way back to the dingy dock. Lo and behold – out came two beautiful, very pink, bags. Once we had donned the bags with expertly cut head and arm holes, we proceeded to parade through the downtown Grove looking like two big pink stuffed sausages. What a trip. We stayed dry, though, and made is safely back to the boat and to No Name Harbor early that evening.

The sail over to Bimini was a good one. Dramamine early on for the cats saved us from flying kitty puke! The various color of the water has been absolutely magnificent. Not to mention the incredible sunrises and sunsets. It is all like being in a Technicolor dream. There have also been some amazing sites such as the remains of an old grounded concrete ship from WWI just off the Bimini coast.

I seem to be having the most trouble with my stupid fear-of-falling-thing. As David goes to drop me at docks here and there, as we did in Nassau, I find that the leap from the boat to the dock, (or step, rather) and vice versa, is a bit mind blowing. Somehow in my feeble brain it feels like I am leaping from one tall building to another with nothing but a death drop in between rather than just a simple step. I will definitely need to work on that one if we are ever to get more ice and make a phone call here and there. Perhaps I could train Cocoa to do the ice runs??!!

Today finds us taking a day off anchored off of Allen’s Cay in the northern Exumas. Later today we are hoping to put in some snorkeling time and go to shore to see the Rock Iguanas that I can see many of just on the beach. Yesterday afternoon I watched them chase some girls off the beach and into their dinghy. They’re big and fast! I’ll try to get a picture or two if they don't chase me down as well.