Exumas, A Rainly Sunday and our Coconut Internet

We are currently lying in Big Majors in the Exumas. As has been typical, a front is coming through with wind and rain. The anchorage has about 20 plus boats riding it out as well as using the anchorage as a staging point to explore the local and beautiful waters in addition to boat migrations both north and south.

The winds are out of the ENE about 16 knots with an occasional gust up to 26knots. To be honest if we were not looking at the gauge we would not have known it. Our anchor watch has us holding to a tight arch as we have swung around with the wind and current. We don't really notice it unless you watch out the window; Seabright rides well at anchor.

Yesterday before the rain started I checked the anchor using the dinghy and it was completely buried (the waters are so clear that it is easily seen, didn't need the lookie bucket ), the only visible part was about half of the roll bar on the top of the Rocna anchor. We have about 145' of chain out in anticipation of a bit of a blow. This includes about 10-12' for the snubbers. We always set our snubbers low into the water line. This not only transfers the stress of the anchor and chain to the snubber lines but just as importantly helps keep the angle of the of the shaft to the sea floor below 9 degrees, which will keep it from popping out in strong winds.

Because it is so rainy we are focused on indoor boat chores. We made water and topped off our tanks. Jeannie is making a chicken stew in the crock pot. After some chores around the boat I will work on some navigation issues which are mostly centered around some areas we want to anchor  while we are here.

Our internet is through the Bahamas Telephone Company. We are not near any high speed connections since leaving the Abacos. While some use SAT links, it can get quite pricey and our need is not that great......just a reasonable link. To accomplish this we purchased a Zoom broad band modem  and then paired with a BTC sim card for data only. If we can anchor near a BTC tower we are good to go. The down side is that it is quite slow, averaging 16.4bps, sometimes more and sometimes less. It is better in the early morning and late in the evening. Good for basic email and related things. Pictures and lots of graphics just take too long and can be frustrating.  I would say so far it has worked great and is a good inexpensive method to connect. If you want to surf the net and need lots of graphic downloads a SAT link is a much more costly but better option.

Crossing to Eluthera

Just a brief update...more to come later when we have a better internet

We departed the Marsh Harbor and currently anchored at Lynyard Cay. Tomorrow bright and early we will depart the Abacos via North Bar channel and cross to Eluthera. We will fish across and hope to have some luck with a dinner, a Mahi or Tuna would be quite nice!

We will have our SPOT tracking on for those interested in watching our progress. We are crossing with  4 other Outer Reefs as we head to the Exumas; Copeing, Risky Business, Jambo and Ginger.

First Officer Alexander Wichser

A very good friend Karl and his son Alexander visited over spring break weekend so we could fete them Bahamian style.
Watching the weather and tides, we decided to anchor out in two different locations: off Tiloo and Fishers' Bay near Guana Cay. This gave them a great sense of boating while exploring two quite different Cays.

While this was a vacation for them both it was also a working one. It began with some basic seamanship that included terms and jargon of what is where and why. For Alexander,  this meant a bit more in-depth understanding of how to work the lines and boat. He learned how to make a square knot, half hitch, and running hitch. Meant to add the bowline but lost track of time. The last rope skill was how to tie unused lines so they are easy to use when needed and how to stow. Smart kid! Showed him once and he had it down pat.

The next big effort was instruction in ship handling. Starting in the engine room we went over the various components and what they did. Then we moved to the fly bridge and went over the controls for maneuvering.  Next we reviewed how to pivot the boat using the engines and the thrusters. When we departed the dock Alexander helped with engine controls as well as the hydraulic bow and stern thrusters.

Once out of the marina basin he learned how to steer and use the auto pilot. All of the routes and previous tracks we have taken to date appear on all of the charts.

He learned how to lower and set the anchor and and secure the running gear.  He was excellent in anticipating what was needed and then accomplishing the task once understood with little to no supervision.

Alexander did a great job, so good in fact that on the the majority of the trip he manned the helm and is officially the "First Officer" of M/V Seabright.

While actively crewing meant some work time, there was certainly plenty of play time too.  Here we are at Tahiti Beach as the tide was coming in.

 We found plenty of interesting shells and a few small critters that kept us active and looking heads down.  Since the tide was coming in, there were a few areas that we could find some dry land to stand on. All in all we saw several eagle rays, dolphins and lots of fish. The eagle rays were in the shallows in clear water and were quite visible. The dolphins came over to the swim platform to check us out and gave us a great opportunity to see them. 

We anchored out all the time so our principal method of getting around was our dinghy. We could zoom around and we beached the boat at a nice local restaurant,  Grabbers at Fishers Bay where Alexander became the local ring toss game expert.
In other places we tied off at the dinghy dock, always using a stern anchor to keep the boat perpendicular to the dock.  Alexander was the bow line handler which helped immensely when climbing the ladder to get in and out of the dinghy.

Our last night we went to The Jib Room to enjoy the barbecue ribs and the fire limbo.

Now certainly everyone can do this at home......Alexander in rapt attention sitting next  to our good friend Bruce, off of  M/V True Colors.

A great way to end a wonderful time with Karl and Alexander, we truly enjoyed their company and it was wonderful to get to finally meet the future captain who was such a fantastic help during their visit!

This week we will participate in the annual Outer Reef  rendezvous through Sunday here at Marsh Harbour. Then after almost five months here in the Abacos we will depart for a 6-8 week cruise through the Exumas. We will buddy boat with Ray and Susan Cope aboard Copeing as well as potentially four others Outer Reefs.   Will have a captains meeting later this week to see who is interested and plan a bit of the cruising itinerary. It would be a lot of fun exploring some of the more out of the way cays with a really nice group of boaters. We anticipate a good deal of anchoring, using the dinghy to explore, a bit of snorkeling and for some scuba diving.

Blue Holes of the Bahamas

We had a great opportunity, while Billy and Courtney were visiting, to take a tour of the Blue Holes of the Abacos. Until fairly recently I  like so many others, was completely unaware of the structures we were walking on and the uniqueness of this environment.
The Bahama Islands are all coral and calcium deposits that were created over a very long time. You can see the stalactites in the first picture. These were formed during the last ice age when the sea level was close to 200 feet lower than what it is now. These form by dripping down from above and can only form while exposed to the air and later, as the sea level rose, they became submerged in a mixture of fresh and salt water. To give you some scale, the Abacos are anywhere from to 3-30+ feet above sea level. Moving off shore it rapidity drops to thousands of feet deep! 

Our tour guide for this expedition was Ricky Johnson of abaco nature tours . He is such an interesting person who knows so much about the local natural history and wildlife of the Bahamas. We dubbed him the "croc hunter of the Abacos". Aside from being extremely knowledgeable, he has a very energetic and engaging style. Part of the joy of going was being entertained by Ricky as he spun around quickly to point out some exotic bird or a unique physical attribute of where we were. He was no ordinary tour guide;  this was high drama, fun and a fascinating learning experience; the sort of quality you might expect while watching a NATGEO program. In fact National Geographic did an article on theAbaco Blue Holes in 2010, national geographic.bahamas-caves.

We visited all of the Blue Holes that were discussed in the article. These are all land based and found in the interior woodlands. They typically are rounded openings that descend into the ground and can be quite deep. They have fresh water for the first 25-30 feet then a shallow but caustic layer of dilute sulfuric acid, followed by deep salt water. The lowest layer has no dissolved oxygen.

As a result of this harsh environment and no dissolved oxygen in the sea, water animals who for whatever reason, fell in and sank to the bottom  are preserved in pristine condition. This fossil is an extinct alligator which was well preserved.















Here is a picture of the night dive...
(taken from Nat'l. Geographic magazine)

...followed by our visit to the site

Billy, as well as Susan and Ray Cope who joined us on the tour in the foreground listening to Ricky's commentary.  Ricky was actually present at the sites when many of the dives took place.

Not all of the blue holes are round and sitting symmetric on the surface.
This one was under a cliff overhang and was quite lush and tropical.

While going to and from various caves and blue holes we did enjoy seeing a tree full of Bahamas Parrots right after a rain shower. They are much better looking when they are dry, but the weather was on and off rainy the day of our tour.

Our final adventure was kayaking through the mangroves on the western side of the Abacos.

All in all, this tour was one of the highlights of our time spent in the Abacos and we feel a bit closer to these beautiful islands as a result.